Walking into the Swinney Recreation Center on the UMKC campus two t-shirts set the scene of the primarily college crowd last Saturday, one girl rocking “I love nachos” and another wearing “Thugs need hugs” got me ready for a night filled with unexpected surprises.

Clipse opened and immediately  brought their street style to the stage with mix tape diss lyrics on Lil Wayne. The crowd went bananas when the “Me Too” track was dropped.  The lyrics slammed the style biting rap crew of Birdman and Cash Money Millionaires.   For any Clipse fan it was a great night to see them live and in full effect rocking their new clothing line called Play Clothes.

Pharrell and the N.E.R.D. crew opened up to the 300 person crowd on the UMKC campus here in Kansas City. Pharell came on stage wearing grey tux pants w/ a red stripe down the leg and a ivory cable knit zip up sweater and brought a dancy swagger that electricfied the crowd.

Two drum kits, a guitarist, bass, keyboard and another MC pumped up the small crowd as they brought fun energy to a small audience in the unique venue. Pharell is a one man promoter and hypeman leading his live hiphop band in rock anthem choruses mixed with hip hop and pop culture street lyrics.

Midway through the set Pharell started a chant for school spirit by saying this is our first time rockin Kansas! The disappointed Missouri locals were giving head shakes and soft boos but kept bouncing to the beats. They brought 9 crowd surfers on stage and dropped a new track w/ Santogold rhyming the hook. Pharell stopped the song and called for his “little sis” to come on stage w/ him and show KC how to dance. Rihanna made her N.E.R.D. cameo and danced with the crowd to a synthy dance, punk and pop influenced soon to be hit. Ska roots topped the musical influences brought to the fresh sound.  Soft ballad jams and rock anthems with mic flows was the vibe of the night.

The track “Everybody Nose” featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Clipse and Pharell brought 30 girls on stage that will after the night be fans for life. The girls kicking like a line of the NYC Rockettes lead by the lead Rockette Pharell made for great crowd interaction.

The last song was a Franz Ferdinand cover with the band and crowd Chanting N.E.R.D. Pharell, Clipse, and Rihanna in the UMKC Gym made for a fun show rare to be seen in KC.