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St. Cloud State University
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Ludacris sets standard
By Nick Hanson
Published:
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Ludacris filled a capacity crowd of around 5,000 at Halenbeck Hall Wednesday night. He blasted through a set of songs that lasted about an hour. Local rap group Hydrophonics and Chicago underground rap group Primeridian opened for the MTV superstar.
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Fans cheer and put their hands up as Ludacris takes the stage in Halenbeck Hall. Over 5,000 people attended Wednesday, making the concert one of UPB´S most successful turnouts.
On a typical Wednesday night, most of the women at SCSU can be found at the library modeling studious habits and presenting a high moral integrity that would make their parents proud.
But last night, many of the SCSU women could be found at Halenbeck Hall, among a crowd of 5,000 chanting Ludacris lyrics chalk full of sexual innuendos that promote sexual actions most people would be embarrassed to talk about.
Perhaps the best example was displayed when Ludacris rapped his current radio hit, "Splash Waterfalls." His chorus was responded to by women asking Ludacris to, "Make love to me," and inevitably, "F- me."
However, St. Cloud men enjoyed the show too. When he finally hit the stage around 11:30 p.m., Ludacris received a deafening roar that fired him to blast through a barrage of non-stop hip-hop beats for nearly an hour.
"I've never been to a show in St. Cloud, but I want to start going to more," said post-secondary student Tony Negorski. "I have his CDs and he played all his good songs."
Although he was running about two hours late from his 9:30 p.m. start time, due to an equipment transportation mix up, nobody cared. The crowd was there to see what many considered the biggest show to ever hit SCSU.
"He's a superstar and he doesn't front," said Sasha Cotton, a graduate student who drove to SCSU to see the show. "He was looking right at us; I love him."
As a former radio DJ personality, Ludacris decidedly jumped into the rap scene with his own unique blend of southern hip-hop.
Since that time, he has become one of the biggest rap stars to grace MTV.
His lyrics, which focus on loose women, drinking and trash talking are jokingly light-hearted, and have become party favorites among many.
Quality sound in the studio doesn't always translate into a good live performance, but commuter from Lake Superior College, Cami Sorenson, believes that Ludacris surpassed the test as an enticing live performer.
"The whole thing was awesome and everybody was into it," she said. "He's a good performer and it shows."
Besides rapping new tunes such as "Stand up" and "Blow it out your ass" off of his new CD, "Chicken and Beer," Ludacris balanced the scene with songs from his first two albums.
He also delved into collaborations that he has done with other artists. Some included Chingy's "Holidae Inn" and Usher's, or as Ludacris would say, "Ursher's" new hit single "Yeah." The response probably would have launched Dave Chappelle to ask, "What?"
The show ended with an encore that brought Ludacris back out to sing "Move B-."
Ludacris' late arrival proved to be an advantage for the two starting rap groups, Hydrophonics and Primeridian. Originally, they were both scheduled to play about a half hour set, but received an opportunity to play longer to fill the waiting period.
"This is our biggest show by far," said Q of Hydrophonics from their revamped school/tour bus. "I felt great getting out there, I just absorbed it for a second. That's like a mainstream Ludacris crowd, they haven't heard us."
Besides playing a plethora of venues around St. Cloud at bars like the Red Carpet, Hydrophonics is trying to expand their horizons by touring the Midwest.
In specific, they are headlining the early May two-day music festival "Juliapalooza" with the newly- famed Minneapolis rap group, Atmosphere.
"I felt great getting out there, they had no clue. We were giving so much energy to the crowd," Q said. "That's a crazy thing, to jump from 500 to 5,000."
After Hydrophonics left the scene, Primeridian took the stage to present soulful underground hip-hop from Chicago. At one point the duo took out a trumpet and piano and jammed for several minutes.
Despite receiving a chance to step on the same stage as Ludacris, Q continues to remain humble.
"We're trying to strive for that," he said. "We're trying to do our best."
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