The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Will Halsey

A sea of hands waved in the air as passionate voices sang the words, "we'll walk right up to the sun, hand in hand," into the microphone Nas held out to the audience.

The hip hop superstar's grin, while looking around the auditorium at a crowd of students, appeared to be a dead giveaway that even he could still be humbled by that type of audience response. "If I Ruled the World," was a song that produced the most moving response and demonstrated the "unity" part of the National Panhellenic Council's Greek Unity Fest.

The event brought rapper Nas and acts including two-time Def Comedy Jam performer Tony Roberts, local hip hop/funk band The Kid Fresh and the House Party and MO CHIPS band from Washington, D.C., to Goldstein Auditorium on Friday night.

When Nas finally took the stage about two hours into the show, the crowd immediately showed its appreciation. Not one person was sitting down throughout the buzzing audience; even the balcony was on its feet. Nas performed favorites such as "Made You Look," "Nastradamus" and "Hate Me Now."

Since his 1994 debut album "Illmatic," Nas has been hailed as one of the hip-hop world's top minds - spawning top Billboard hits such as "One Mic" and gaining a legion of fans. The rapper is scheduled to release his ninth album, "N****r," (except spelled out) this Tuesday.

Between songs, Nas voiced several social and political views such as, "If he ruled the world, he would give everyone George W. Bush's head on a platter."

"The ticket was great," said Brian Henry, a senior real estate and metro development major at Le Moyne College. "(Kid) Fresh threw down, the D.C. guys were great, and of course there was Nas, which goes without any explanation."

The highly anticipated event sold out about four hours after tickets went on sale - and that enthusiasm for Nas's appearance carried over to Friday's show. Excitement and anticipation enveloped the venue, bringing together a large group of students from various backgrounds under the common theme - Nas's smooth beats.

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