J. Cole What Dreams May Comes Tour Trailer

I've seen him live for his Dollar and a Dream show in NYC for his first album and he is great live.  I also saw him as an opening act for a Jay-Z Blueprint III tour and Drake's Club Paradise tour and while a lot of people have seen him as an opening act, he can definitely carry he own show.  Wale is great live too.  I saw him on his college tour with Big Sean and the Clipse in 2010 and he was great live.  Energy never diminished.  Tour dates for What Dream May Come Tour are here.

J. Cole Featuring Wale What Dreams May Come Tour Dates

 

Sept. 10 – Miami, FL – James L. Knight Center

Sept. 12 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live

Sept. 13 – Tampa, FL – David A. Straz Performing Arts Center

Sept. 14 – Jacksonville, FL – Moran Theater

Sept. 15 – Augusta, GA – William B. Bell Auditorium

Sept. 17 – Charlotte, NC – Halton Arena @ UNC Charlotte

Sept. 19 – St. Louis, MO – Fabulous Fox Theatre

Sept. 21 – Chicago, IL – Arie Crown Theatre

Sept. 24 – Boston, MA – Agganis Arena @ Boston University

Sept. 25 – Philadelphia, PA – The MANN

Sept. 27 – Cleveland, OH – State Theatre

Sept. 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE

Oct. 2 – Norfolk, VA – Chrysler Hall

Oct. 4 – Atlanta, GA – The Fox Theatre Atlanta

Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall

Oct. 10 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Theatre

Oct. 12 – Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom

Oct. 13 – St. Paul, MN – Myth

Oct. 15 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland by AMC

Oct. 17 – New Orleans, LA – Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena

Oct. 18 – Houston, TX – Reliant Arena

Oct. 19 – Austin, TX – Austin Music Hall

Oct. 20 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie

Oct. 22 – Broomfield, CO – 1st Bank Center

Oct. 25 – Las Vegas, NV – The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

Oct. 27 – San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre

Oct. 30 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre

Soundtrack to Summer: 10 2010 Summer Songs

Show Me a Good Time-Drake Thank Me Later
Your Love-Nicki Minaj Pink Friday
Who Dat-J. Cole Still Untitled
Find Your Love-Drake Thank Me Later
Never Been-Wiz Khalifa Kush and Orange Juice
Deja Vu-Mike Posner 31 Minutes to Take Off
Dueces-Chris Brown and Tyga Fan of a Fan
Power-Kanye West Still Untitled
Up All Night-Drake Nicki Minaj Thank Me Later 
Downtown-Wale More About Nothing

It was hard to pick a top 10 because summer basically started end of April and I tend to hop from song to song a lot, but these are the ones that came to mind quickly, in no particular order.  Thank Me Later was definitely the soundtrack to my summer, even though my relationship to that album is strange.  Its like I grow to love it more everyday, but it was still somewhat of a disappointment.  LOL I think this was the reaction Drake was expecting when he titled the album.

Other random favorites of Summer
Favorite Movies:
The Other Guys, Takers
Favorite TV Shows:
Real Housewives of NJ, Jersey Shore (I'm Jersey obsessed obviously) and of course The Boondocks

"Diary"-Wale

I'm actually surprised that Wale put "Diary" out as a single.  I think its a great song, but not as commercial as his other songs.  But its a very beautiful, very honest song.  I think its interesting to have a male perspective on a relationship issue that is common.  I do think a lot of females are "incapable of a first impression" as he's mentioned in the song which is problematic, but so are males.  I don't really want to go into personal feelings and experiences in this blog but I can see how this is problematic, especially when I was on the other side of it before and its like, I have nothing to do with your ex so move on.
I also thought it was interesting that he didn't use the stereotypical, long hair, ethnically ambiguous looking girl in his video.  Not that I have anything against girls that look like that, because I basically fit into that category, but I liked seeing other forms of beauty celebrated in the video in a non vulgar way.
P.S. I think the performance aspect of the video in which he's sitting in the chair with one spot light is funny because that's how he performs the song at concerts.

College Drop-Ins

This past Tuesday I went to the Wale, Clipse, and Big Sean concert at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. I was in the 4th row and paid $15 for all 3 of them.  It was CRAZY!!! Big Sean actually has a lot of fans, despite not having actually put out an album, Clipse was sooo intense, I swear they had the look in their eyes like they were battling, and Wale did every song on his album except "Let it Loose" and "Shades," plus additional songs off of previous mixtapes.  What I noticed in each of their performances is that they did not act like this was a $10-$15 show on a Midwest college campus, they performed the same way they would as if they were in NYC or LA.  I of course appreciated their artistic integrity of not doing a half ass job because it was a smaller venue but I made me think about why college tours are essential to an artists success.  It may be a way for artists to pay their dues and develop a fan base that use social media frequently enough to create a buzz.  It might also be a test market for record companies to see how the public responds to them.  Who knows, but I definitely take advantage of the cheaper tickets even though I'm still pissed that I paid $30 to see Drake at Oakland University at an outdoor venue, also where I graduated from high school.

P.S. I've seen Wale live twice and both time he tries to get the crowd to reenact a scene from 8 mile since he's in Detroit.  Both times I feel the crowd was unsuccessful lol


Wale - University of Michigan (Live) from Pure Optics on Vimeo.


Big Sean - University of Michigan (Live) from Pure Optics on Vimeo.


The Clipse - University of Michigan (Live) from Pure Optics on Vimeo.