Kanye West pulls no hot-button political punches at the University of Florida

    While Kanye West's concert at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Thursday was an entertainment success, he did not shy away from any of the issues that stirred tensions on UF's campus last month despite a campaign for censorship by a student group.

The three-time Grammy winner played 27 songs to a West Florida-record crowd of about 4,811 against a backdrop of protest, alcohol-related controversy and racial undercurrents.

During the show, West reaffirmed his controversial comments about President Bush despite a protest by UF College Republicans held outside the O'Connell Center.

At a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims, less than a week before the announcement of his UF show, West said the president "doesn't care about black people."

During "All Falls Down," West changed "white man" to "George Bush" in the lyric "Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack, and a white man get paid off of all of that."

College Republicans Chairwoman Ashlee Black said that West's statements on television and during the concert "further the problem of racism" and that "in that aspect, he is very un-American."

O'Connell Center Associate Director Darius Dunn said he did not hear West's excerpt concerning President Bush. However, he did hear the 34 expletives West used, as well as the 14 instances of the "n-word."

Last month, controversy erupted about an editorial cartoon in the Alligator that depicted Condoleezza Rice using the "n-word" to criticize West's remarks about President Bush.

In response, the UF administration publicly decried use of the word, and some predominantly black student groups, such as the Black Student Union, pledged to start a letter-writing campaign to West asking him not to use the word.

BSU President Marie Denise Jean-Louis attended the show and said the petition went forward, but declined further comment.

In "Gold Digger," an audience favorite, West replaced the "n-word" with "broke" in the first two choruses. However, the crowd cheered as he yelled the chorus twice at the end of the song without changing the lyrics.

Dunn said there is no official stance by the O'Connell Center concerning BSU's efforts and that in no way were any of West's lyrics censored.

UF President Bernie Machen's own campaign against binge and underage drinking seemed to clash with West's request for 10 bottles of alcohol.

In February, Student Government refused to grant requests by Snoop Dogg because the tuition-funded Activity & Service Fee that SG controls cannot be used to buy alcohol.

However, West was paid to appear by UF and the O'Connell Center, a branch of the university's Finance and Administration office, which has a different stance on granting alcohol to performers.

"We provided absolutely no alcohol to [the performers] last night," Dunn said. "There are always things they ask for in the rider, but that doesn't mean that we can give it to them."

A rider is the list of needs and amenities requested by an artist as part of the contract to be honored at the venue hosting the event. For Snoop Dogg, the copy of the rider provided to the Alligator had all requests for alcohol crossed off. West's rider did not.

"There have been times when that request (for alcohol) has been granted," he said, citing for singer Elton John, his requested bottle of wine would have been provided.

Packaging science sophomore Natalie Lopez said she loved the concert even though her favorite artist, previously announced opening act rapper Common, did not perform.

Common signed a movie deal and dropped out of the tour just hours before its kickoff Oct. 11, according to MTV.com

"But Kanye definitely made up for it," she said. "He even got a 60-year-old woman in front of me to stand up and get down."