Those who did not attend the De La Soul concert on April 25 in the Holmes Student Center Duke Ellington Ballroom really missed something special.

The concert opened up with two NIU rap artists, Spike Rebel and Sir Fish.

Spike Rebel started with a rap called “Get On Up” which was very up-tempo and hyped. The second number was called “Keep You Dancin.” Both songs had a very deep Chicago hip house flavor. The third song was a slow tune titled “You’re a Special Love” which capped off Rebel’s set very well.

Overall, Spike Rebel’s performance was very good, but due to mechanical problems with the sound system, his lyrics could not be clearly heard.

Sir Fish started off the second set with a funky hip hop song called “My Style.” He then performed a duet with Spike Rebel titled “I Wanna Be With You” which tells the story of two men competing for a young lady’s affection.

Before ending the set, the whole group which participated with Spike Rebel and Sir Fish had the chance to rap to the background track of “Hold On” by the group In Vogue.

Next up was A Tribe Called Quest which may have been the best act of the whole concert, beating out De La Soul by a slim margin.

The group first started out with the song “Pubic Enemy” which got the crowd very hyped. The audience was either dancing, clapping their hands or pumping their fists.

The second and third songs were called “Description of a Fool” and “Push it Along” in which the “Hold On” track was used in the background.

They wrapped up their set with the songs titled “Bonita Applebum” and “Can I Kick It?,” to which the crowd replied, “Yes, you can!” and “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo,” a familiar tune with the audience which really got the crowd jumping.

For good measure they slipped into a reggae groove with their last rap which gave their performance a lot of flavor.

Then, on came De La Soul which the crowd had waited for in anticipation. They started out their set with the song “Plug Tunin‘” and went straight into “Potholes in my Lawn.”

Posdenous and Trugoy the Dove entertained the audience with jokes and screaming battles between the left and right sides of the audience.

They pumped out three more tunes, “Jennifer O’Jenny,” “Say No Go” and “Tread Water.” The crowd really jumped to its feet when De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest did a popular rap song called “Buddy.”

De La Soul wrapped up their set with “I’ll Love You Better” and the hit that made them famous, “Me, Myself and I.” During that song they invited all ladies on stage with them.

SA Academic Affairs Advisor Willie Fowler said, “The concert was good for unity at NIU. You were at an event where you had different students enjoying the show and mixing together. We know what adjustments need to be made to make the next concert even more successful.”

NIU student Rodney Purdy said, “I commend the fraternity (Omega Psi Phi) in bringing a diverse group to DeKalb.”

Diane Dravillas, Campus Activities Board concert coordinator, said, “CAB had a good time putting on the event. We want to feature more rap shows because we think the crowd had a great time.”