Artist: Kanye West

While many wondered whether the show would go on after burying his mother on Tuesday, Kanye West made it to the stage in fine form this evening in London.

Producing one of the most ambitious shows in the history of hip hop, the producer-slash-rapper delivered a performance rarely seen in rap. Set on a futurist stage that was somehow reminiscent of the bit in Superman 1 where the thong-wearing hero goes to the north pole to hear his dad Marlon Brando talking about who he was (i.e. Superman), Kanye wowed the crowd with robots, weird women in sheets, an enormous parachute, an incredible light show, a string section, a number of costume changes, a collar that lit up and, most importantly, a strong of anthemic hits that had the whole of the 02 hollering along.

Arriving to the intro of Stronger, that faded into Good Morning , West ripped through classics including Touch The Sky, Spaceships, Through The Wire and All Falls Down. Delivering his lyrics with passion, emotion and fierce flow, the College Dropout proved that the days of two turntables and a microphone might work for some people, but had no place in West's sci-fi-centric world. Dude didn't even roll with a hype-man, while despite rumours that Jay-Z would show up, the only special guest was Common, who is supporting West throughout his European tour. Kanye didn't need anyone else though; he's more than able to make enough noise all on his own.

A couple of technical hitches aside, this was truly a concert that was painstakingly thought-out and well-executed. There was none of that turning up, mumbling into the mic and getting the audience to 'throw ya hands in the air.' In fact, he didn't even do the rap requisite (and downright boring) thing of dividing the audience into three and 'right side let me hear you make some noise' malarky.

This was a straight-up rock show and West was a straight-up rock star.

A while ago at a Graduation playback in New York, Kanye talked about how he wanted to create songs that worked well live on his third album; tracks that would have stadiums singing along. Well, perhaps he didn't realise, but he'd already created them with Golddigga, the phenomenal Jesus Walks, Diamonds Are Forever and Touch The Sky. That said, Can't Tell Me Nothing, Flashing Lights, Champion and, of course, closer Stronger were amazing live too, with all 20,000 people throwing up the Roc sign and singing along.

An emotional moment inevitably arrived when West performed Hey Mama. Choking up towards the end of the song, he took a minute to collect himself. "I got quite far tonight," he said of managing to do two verses before the tears fell. "I want to dedicate this next song to my mother too," he announced, before leaving the stage and allowing his backing singer to perform a cover track of Journey. RWD definitely wants to extend another Rest In Peace to Dr. Donda West.

But like the closing song says, 'Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger,' as Kanye closed the night on an incredible version of his latest hit song.

Overall, the effort, emotion and thought that went into this show must be commended. Considering how many non-hip hop heads were in the crowd, it made me proud to see a rap act put on a show not only as good as any rock act, but better.

Kanye West, RWD salutes you. You are really and truly biggity-biggity-big.

Tickets are still available for Brighton and Manchester. We highly, highly recommend you see this show; one of the hip hop events not only of the year, but perhaps even the decade.

Welcome to Kanye's Universe City . Other rappers better get studying...

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