Hobart and William Smith Colleges

28 April 2008 Kweli Impresses with his Unbeatable Beats

You might expect shouting, incomprehensible lyrics and an intimidating posse from one of the biggest names in rap, but during a live performance at the Smith Opera House, Talib Kweli demonstrated that he does not fit into the archetypal mold. On Friday, April 18, hundreds gathered to observe Kweli bare his rhythmic dexterity, his performance the culmination of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges 2007-2008 Live from Geneva music series. The earnest and omnipotent artist indisputably gained the respect of Geneva, one beat at a time. After much anticipation, Kweli took the stage amid an uproar. Beyond the blaring stereos and boisterous crowd, Kweli s performed tracks from all four of his solo albums. With the enthusiastic crowd standing just a few feet away, the concert had an extremely intimate atmosphere. Before Kweli took the stage, the audience was entertained by Broadcast Live featuring Oddy Gato, known as Albanys wildest hip-hop MC. The act performed an eclectic range of songs, which merged hip-hop, reggae, rock and folk. Broadcast Lives mission, which is to uplift and empower people through their music, proved to be the perfect prelude to Kwelis performance. This concert was made possible, in part, with support from the New York State Music Fund. The Fund named Hobart and William Smith Colleges a recipient of a $200,000 grant, designed to provide underserved populations with concerts from artists who receive limited access to commercial broadcast or other mass distribution vehicles.