Penn alumnus and musician John Legend captivated his audience last night in an intimate concert at the Class of '49 Auditorium in Houston Hall.
Legend, a 1999 Penn graduate, played a two-hour concert organized by the Social Planning and Events Committee's To Represent Undergraduate Minorities division, displaying his unique style -- a blend of hip hop, classic soul, reggae and gospel.
His sound has propelled him up in the ranks of the music industry, recently gaining him a spot on MTV's "The Truth Tour" featuring Usher and Kanye West.
"I heard some of his songs on the radio before the Usher concert and liked him," said Ciara Lipscomb, who drove from New Jersey for the show. "He was great tonight."
Last night, Legend -- originally Stephens -- accompanied himself on the piano, starting off with She Don't Have to Know, followed by his own remix of Slum Village's Selfish, drawing the audience into his performance by inviting everyone to sing along.
Next came his debut single off his upcoming album "Get Lifted." Co-written and produced by West, Used to Love You drew the loudest applause from the audience for the evening.
"I'm really excited about this song," Legend said. "It's the first introduction the world is getting to me."
Legend held a 10-minute question-and-answer session after these first few songs, saying he wanted to make his performance more "intimate, like we are all sitting in your living room." Students asked questions ranging from his experience on the tour to who his inspirations are and whether he reads his fans' posts on his Web site, which, in fact, he does -- "every single one."
To wrap up the night, Legend conducted an applause-mediated poll to decide which songs would be next. Refuge made the list, along with Sun Comes Up and Just In Time, which he wrote as a student here in his house on 42nd Street between Pine Street and Baltimore Avenue.
While at Penn, Legend was director of Counterparts, one of Penn's coed a cappella groups. The group warmed up the crowd before Legend's performance.
United Soul, a four-member group from Philadelphia, followed with a sensual, yet humorous, performance, serenading a couple of select females in the front row. They encouraged the audience to join in their singing and finger-snapping.
Since his graduation five years ago, Legend has been building an impressive resume.
He was featured as a co-writer, vocalist and pianist in several tracks on West's debut album, "College Dropout." In addition, he performed as a vocalist and pianist in Encore and Lucifer from Jay-Z's "The Black Album" and as a pianist in Slow Jamz by Twista, West and Jamie Foxx, along with appearing in the video.
Although most do not share the same success Legend has had in the music industry thus far, one could share the same passion for a certain class taught here at Penn.
He named his favorite class during his studies here as English 284 -- "Narratives of the Harlem Renaissance."
