DPAC: Nas and DMX Concert

I have been extremely busy the past few weeks, so I have not been able to write much. The weekend before last, I went to Charlotte for the CIAA tournament.  By the time I returned to the RDU area Sunday afternoon (Nas and DMX concert day), I was exhausted.  I honestly did not know if I would be able to muster enough energy to enjoy the concert.  Thank God I was wrong.  I stopped at Starbuck's and purchased a grande refresh tea.  I do not know what extra ingredients were included in that tea, but I felt revived after drinking it.  

By the time I arrived at my boy's house, it was nearly 6:00 p.m. and almost time to head to the show.  When we arrived at the show, the fact that I was about two see two living legends perform finally dawned on me.  I thought about all the years I had listened to Nas and DMX, but had never seen either perform.  Nas is in my top five emcees of all time.  When I put it all into perspective, I knew I would be in for a great night.  That said, I was a little nervous that DMX would not show up.  His problems with drugs and the law are well chronicled.

DMX was supposed to perform at 7:30 p.m.   7:30 p.m. came and went and DMX was not on the stage.  My confidence in him was fleeting, but he ended up coming to the stage about 8:00 p.m. and absolutely tearing it down.  His performance was exactly what I thought it would be like.  If I had to describe his performance in one word it would be "ENERGY."  He did not have a hype man; he came to the stage and controlled the crowd by himself.  I think that is the true definition of an emcee.  Someone who can move the crowd.  He did songs from his first album, It's Dark and Hell is Hot as well as more current songs.    

Nas was the headliner.  Again, Nas is one of my favorite artists of all time.  I hope he would perform tracks off of Illmatic.  When he arrived to the stage, he was on his A-game.  He performed songs from Illmatic to Stillmatic.  He even performed his verse from the song of "Live from the BBQ."  He performed for about an hour and his dialogue in between his songs was always relevant and interesting.  After seeing him and Jay-Z perform, I cannot say who is the better performer.  They are both great in their own right and I am glad I had the opportunity to see Nas perform for the first time.  I hope to see him perform again on a bigger stage, such as New York.  

Peace