Young Jeezy ‘Puts On’ at Convo Center

By CHRIS KRAPEK

As the end of President-elect Barack Obama’s historic election night speech echoed throughout the Convocation Center Saturday night, Young Jeezy asked everyone to sing-a-long to “My President Is Black,” even if they only knew the beginning.

The crowd, of course obliging, sang in unison as Jeezy led the crowd with “my president is black / my Lambo is blue.”

Using Obama as the catalyst to draw the biggest applause of the night, the politically charged song off of the rapper’s latest album, “The Recession,” was more of a victory cheer than rap track.

Young Jeezy first took the stage to deafening applause as the first recognizable bars from “I Luv It” caused the politely raucous crowd to spring to its feet.

Wearing black shades, a blue shirt, a blue stocking cap and a chain so icy that it made the audience cold, Jeezy thanked everyone for coming out to the show as he tore into another verse.

Ripping through hits like “Soul Survivor,” “Go Crazy” and “Put On,” the self-proclaimed “Snowman,” who was accompanied with a live band, brought out the bangers from his first album that put him on the map (“Trap Star,” “Bang (Peace Up),” “Trap Or Die”) as the crowd bowed its heads in approval.

Also in the show was the R&B lothario The Dream, who had women vying for his attention at every end of the stage.

It’s now finally easy to see why he wears big sunglasses all the time, as in person, he resembles an innocent pug.

Performing jams like “Falsetto,” “I Luv Your Girl” and “Shawty Is Da S—,” The Dream was easily able to captivate the females at the Convo with his impressive vocal range.

The same cannot be said for the males, as many were sitting down looking uninterested as their women swooned to Dream’s voice.

Of course, it can’t be a successful rap concert without a slew of up-and-coming emcees to make the headliner look just that much better.

Different rappers opened the show for over an hour, doing a few songs each.

The crowd seemed minimally interested. Some were good; NIU’s own School Boys provided for impromptu dancing from the female attendees; however, most of the acts were much worse.

Many of the emcees flowed over the beats to “A Milli” or “Dey Know,” something that’s about as fresh as “The Humpty Dance.”

Others, including Rockford native Pootie Tang, just went on and on, putting himself over as the audience seemed like it couldn’t care less.

The show came to a screeching halt when up-and-comer Melo performed between The Dream and Jeezy.

It wasn’t that he was bad on the mic, it’s just that Twista came to the stage as well, but didn’t perform.

People were more preoccupied with looking at the Chicago-native and NIU frequenter, rather than focusing on the music.

Even though people made it rain $1 bills, gang signs were displayed proudly and a fight happened within the first 30 minutes.

Jeezy, the first rapper to come to the Convo since the iconic Soulja Boy, provided the formula for a truly entertaining night in DeKalb.