Block Party 2004 became a Jamaican carnival last night when Wyclef Jean took the stage in the Carrier Dome.

The famed hip-hop artist and former member of The Fugees asked the audience to come to the stage during the final portion of the show, while playing only Caribbean drum music. Men removed their shirts, waving them above their heads as Wyclef requested that the women remove their bras and do the same. The stage and the seats erupted in a sea of skin and screams.

Joining Wyclef on the Block Party lineup were Talib Kweli, Da Band and Northern State. The event, sponsored by University Union Concerts, Greek Unity Fest and the Division of Student Affairs, has been hip-hop-themed for the past two years.

Wyclef brought together an eclectic mix of styles and sounds to complement his performance, sampling from ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain, ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees and a song by the Jackson Five. To start the set, though, Wyclef freestyle rapped about his trip to Syracuse.

‘I don’t wanna bring no drama, but the police stopped me ’cause I was smoking marijuana,’ he rapped.

Wyclef advocated marijuana use during his performance, asserting that the Twin Towers would still be standing if Osama bin Laden smoked the herb.

Wyclef integrated his old styles with the new throughout the set, performing a ‘Fugees Flashback’ consisting of ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Fu-Gee-La.’ He also said he has been talking to Lauryn Hill about getting the group back together.

Wyclef performed a number of covers during his set as well. He launched into a rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and later performed Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry,’ a song which appears on The Fugees’ The Score.

‘The whole time, Wyclef’s energy was everything,’ said Veanna Black, a freshman acting major.

Kweli performed in his usual smooth style, with songs from his Black Star and Reflection Eternal albums. Kweli had audience members on their feet, waving their hands in the air and shouting lyrics back to him. His set ended with the hit ‘Get By’ from 2002’s Quality, but he later reappeared alongside Wyclef.

Northern State opened the show, bouncing onstage and greeting the audience energetically. The three women karate-kicked and danced through their set while referencing pop culture and politics. They brought their own heritage into the mix during ‘Menscala,’ advocating the use of cowbell to the audience.

Though Dylan and Freddy of Da Band were absent from the show, the remaining four members brought the volume level to a roar as Chopper threw his hat and shirt into the audience. He then did a back-flip off the stage and climbed over the barrier into the crowd. Screaming girls whipped out their camera phones to get a shot of themselves with the MTV star. Babs, Ness and Sara combined their sounds for an energetic but brief performance.

‘It was good, but I was robbed of my T-shirt,’ said Kibra Yemane, a junior finance and marketing major who barely missed catching Chopper’s shirt. ‘But where’s Dylan?’

Published on April 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm