MTV
invades The Beach
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
 Students
of Cal State Long Beach erupted into cheers
and hollers, as they crowded around the
main stage where MCA hip-hop recording artist,
Talib Kweli performed his hit songs as part
of the CSULB Campus Invasion Tour.
Sponsored by Program Council and brought
by MTV, this was the first time the tour
was ever held on the campus of CSULB, and
students were more than appreciative.
DJ
Chaps, Kweli’s right hand man on the turntables
provided the beats to some of Kweli’s most
popular songs. Kweli, half of the group,
Black Star, gained popularity after dropping
his first solo album, “Reflection Eternal,”
in 2001.
Kweli ripped through the mic with songs
such as “Keep on Dancing” and “Move Something.”
The crowd of students crowded around him,
waving their arms and hands in the air.
The music blared loudly from the many black
speakers on the stage. Kweli asked the crowd
to “rock with him,” and “put an ‘L’ in the
air if they believed in love.”
While the music pumped the crowd, other
events of the tour went on, giving students
the chance to be on MTV. For “Rock On” students
had the chance to live out their rock n’
roll fantasies by grabbing a mic and singing
to one of their favorite songs, Karaoke
style.
One student stepped up to the mic to sing,
“Hot in Herre,” by Nelly. For the “Two Turn-tables
and a Microphone” event, the students had
opportunities to cover their favorite hip-hop
tracks by entering the DJ and MC battle.
After the performance, students were able
to meet Kweli and get posters and t-shirts
signed by him, along with getting their
picture taken with him.
Ashley Jeff of Program Council got his Campus
Invasion Tour shirt signed. Portia Edmonson,
biology major got a poster signed. Virtually
a ton of students lined up to have their
chance to meet the rap star.
Sandra Riley called Kweli her “all time
favorite. I told him how much of an inspiration
he was to me as an artist,” she said. “He
is such a genuine person, very humble, and
he is all about love.”
Keya Allen, Program Council coordinator
for the tour, said that she planned to have
more tours come to the CSULB campus.
“We finalized this tour on Friday at 5 p.m.,”
Allen said. “It was hard organizing it on
campus because security was afraid of hip-hop
and its implications. They thought that
there might be trouble. But Talib set a
precedent for us to have very positive,
fun hip-hop events on campus. He is all
about diversity and multiculturalism.”
The tour went on throughout the day until
5 p.m., giving virtually every student a
chance to take part in its events during
breaks between classes.
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