Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour

SARA MARSH & SABRINA BROWN '09

Get ready for May 15th! Kanye West is coming to the Tweeter Center, located in Mansfield Massachusetts for his Glow in the Dark Tour directed by Larry Charles. The artist will be joined by popular R&B and pop singers Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. This fabulous line consists of Grammy winners and top seller artists.

Recently, Kanye West has been getting media attention for his top selling album Graduation that includes three top hits: Stronger, Flashing Lights, and Good Life. He released his debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004, and his second album, Late Registration, in 2005. He is a nine time Grammy award winner and also runs his own record label GOOD Music. West's mascot and trademark is a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of his three albums. He enrolled at Chicago State University but later dropped out to continue pursuing his music career, which is how he developed the name for his first album. In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. In the end, 50 Cent ended this bet. The album has been certified double platinum, with guest appearances from T-Pain, Mos Def, & Lil Wayne.

Rihanna, a native from Barbados, is currently heating up the charts with her new album Good Girl Gone Bad, which hit stores June 5, 2007. The artist has recently changed her image from a sweet innocent teen, to a feisty, sex image. Her hit “Umbrella” became the number 1 hit single for ten consecutive weeks in the United Kingdom, and was played all summer on the radio in the United States. Rhianna has won many awards including World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist & Entertainer of the Year at the 2007 World Music Awards, "Favorite Female Artist - R&B" at the 2007 American Music Awards. Her hit "Shut Up and Drive" won best R&B song at the 2008 People's Choice Award, while "Don't Stop the Music" won best international song at the 2008 NRJ Music Awards in France.

Lupe Fiasco is a Grammy-winning American Hip-hop artist, who is also the co-founder and vice-president of 1st & 15th Entertainment, a record label under Atlantic. Lupe is open about discussing his Islamic beliefs, and one of his musical influences happens to be Kanye West. Fiasco, a Grammy winner for the 2008 Best Urban/Alternative Performance ("Daydreamin' (feat Jill Scott)"), hasn’t been recognized for any other awards, however he’s been nominated for many. These nominations include BET Awards Best New Artist of 2007, Grammy Awards 2007, Best Rap Album: Food & Liquor, BET Hip Hop Awards 2007 for Hip-Hop CD of the Year (Food & Liquor) and Hip-Hop Video of the Year ("Kick Push”). His most recent hit song is “Superstar” from his 2007 album Lupe Fiasco's the Cool featuring Matthew Santos. “Superstar” was the first single off his album released September 25, 2007.

N.E.R.D. is an alternative rock band consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, and their friend Shay Haley. When asked what n.e.r.d. stood for, Pharrell Williams, the lead singer replied, “N.E.R.D stands for No One Ever Really Dies.” Their second album, Fly or Die, went on sale on March 22, 2004. The album went top 10 in the USA, featuring their hit single, “She wants to move.” Their most recent album, Seeing Sounds is due to be released June 10, 2008. The group is currently promoting it during their tour with Kanye West.

If you are anyone you’ll be at the concert Thursday, May 15th! We hope to see you there!