Raekwon & Ghostface Killah Nokia Theatre NYC 'Wu-Massacre' Concert Recap

via Entertainment Weekly

Wu-Massacre, the album that Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah are dropping March 30, whittles down the Wu-Tang Clan to three of its finest. Last night, that line-up was pared further to just Raekwon and Ghostface, for what was billed as an early Wu-Massacre release celebration at the Nokia Theater in NYC’s Times Square (Friday, March 5). There was some sense in making the trio a duo. Rae and Ghost, in particular, have often felt like a group within a group on the Clan’s releases. These guys go together like peanut butter and jelly, or pasta and tomato sauce — speaking of which, they collaborate often enough to have come up with the acronym R.A.G.U. (for “Rae and Ghost United”) to identify their joint efforts.



The concert began with a string of unimpeachable cuts from 1995’s classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… — technically Raekwon’s solo debut, but one to which Ghostface contributed heavily, earning prominent billing on the album’s cover. Their undiminished chemistry was evident in the show-opening string of “Criminology,” “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” “Ice Cream,” and “Verbal Intercourse.” Both rappers are essentially storytellers, Ghostface narrating crime sagas with a jumpy urgency, Raekwon doing the same in gravelly and matter-of-fact tones. Together they strode the stage like giants, joining in on one another’s lyrics at key points for emphasis.



After a few more tunes from their catalog (notably Ghostface’s “Mighty Healthy”), the pair retreated to the back of the stage while random New York mixtape rappers like Grafh and Red Cafe appeared to perform unannounced mini-sets. I’ve got nothing against those dudes, but as far as surprise guests go, I was hoping more for, well, Method Man, or at least Masta Killa. No such luck. At least we got to see Smif-n-Wessun do 1994’s “Bucktown,” whose rough NY sound isn’t so far removed from Rae and Ghost’s territory.



Thankfully, Rae and Ghost took center stage again before long. The crowd of die-hard Wu fans flipped out when they ran through several necessary selections from the Clan’s epochal 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), including “Bring da Ruckus,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F— Wit,” “Shame on a N—-,” “C.R.E.A.M.” (You can see Raekwon do the latter song’s opening verse last night below, thanks to the magic of YouTube; some NSFW language, obviously.) It is never less than thrilling to hear these songs in any context, even when only two members of the nine-man group are present. Rae and Ghost paid tribute to their late friend Ol’ Dirty Bastard by performing his solo single “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” before returning to a few more of their own solo tunes (Raekwon’s “Canal Street,” Ghostface’s “Holla”).



Then came another series of guests, for some reason. A rapper identified only as “Ghost’s son” sounded like a much less experienced version of his dad (only fair, I suppose). Jim Jones walked on for “We Fly High” to much applause. It was interesting to see Rae and Ghost as the kind of elder statesmen who would cede so much of their own concert for the benefit of competitors like Jones — not something either of them have necessarily been best known for in the past. That generous spirit still wasn’t enough to make these interludes feel like smart uses of the audience’s time.

All was more or less forgiven by the crowd when the beat for the Clan’s 1997 single “Triumph” kicked in. No further members made last-minute appearances as Rae and Ghost closed out the show, sadly. Still, my only real complaint last night was that the two main performers didn’t go even deeper into their shared catalog. Concerts can have far worse problems than that. Were any of you at the Nokia Theater last night? Are you looking forward to Wu-Massacre?

Photos:
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More fan shot footage below.



(video courtesy of t2optimus, ladiemare & eja688)

Raekwon: 'Wu-Massacre' Entertainment Weekly Interview

Entertainment Weekly: Moving on to this album you’re doing with Meth and Ghost, Wu-Massacre, when did you start working on that?

Raekwon: I’d say probably four or five months ago. We just wanted to make another album that really represents our brand, which is the W. When you think of Wu-Tang, we’ve been in the business for damn near almost, what, 17 years? We just want to make sure that people still know that we didn’t go nowhere — musically, passionately about hip-hop. When you get records like this, it helps keep the W flag up high. You know what I mean? Like the American flag. We gotta take care of that flag.

Entertainment Weekly: How did you decide to make an album with those two guys specifically?

Raekwon: It was something that was going to happen sooner or later. Us three, we always work good together throughout the years. On a lot of records, me, Ghost, and Meth was always next to each other. If you look at [the Wu-Tang Clan] as being the Lakers, we are the MVPs of the team. We are the ones that everybody may feel like takes us to the championship. Everybody else is going to play their position, but these three are definitely going to have to control the ball at some point. This is what the fans been wanting, man…You know, I work for the fans.

Entertainment Weekly: From your perspective, what do you three bring to a project? How do you balance each other out?

Raekwon: When we get together, it’s a lot of energy in the building, because everybody knows Meth, Rae, and Ghost for being super-lyrical, but still got that great character inside their rhymes. I guess that’s why people really is excited about this record. They’re saying, “Yo, these dudes put the Wu where they need to be at.” I don’t look at it like that. I look at us all as being one, still. I understand some may have a little bit more special gift than others, but it’s still a team effort. I love to get on tracks with brothers like Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, the GZA. The whole crew is golden, man. When you think of us, you gotta say, “Yo, these are the Jacksons of hip-hop.” But for me to get in a room with Meth and Ghost and do an album, it’s serious to me. I know it’s going to be a lot of lyrics in there, it’s going to be a lot of great energy, stories. We all master these different departments of rhyming. So you’re just going to get a great album.

Which producers did you work with on Wu-Massacre?

Raekwon: Being that everyone was so spread out, we didn’t really get a chance to be hands-on on everything. You’ve got Meth doing a movie, you’ve got Ghost over here super-touring, you’ve got me just dropped an album, having to move around. So we did a lot of phone tag. But we did get [some opportunities] to sit around and vibe out. As far as the producers on the album, they did their thing as well. Shout out Pete Rock. Shout out everybody, man. Cats realize that hip-hop is going back to its beats and rhymes format again. Everybody came in and did their part. It’s just about staying busy. If you look at this as a sport, we gotta stay in practice, man: Stay going to practice, stay looking at the tapes, stay looking at the things that you may have done wrong and learn from them. That’s what we did. We came together to make another great album and keep that flag alive.

Read the full interview here:
Entertainment Weekly - Raekwon: The Music Mix Q&A

Kidz In The Hall Entertainment Weekly Feature

Allow Kidz in the Hall to reintroduce themselves.

Rapper Naledge (pictured, left) and producer Double-0 (right) are spending the afternoon riding with me in a black SUV as their driver takes us on a full circuit around the island of Manhattan. Along the way they blast their third album as a duo, Land of Make Believe, which is due March 9. The University of Pennsylvania alums see it as their most personal release yet. “As an emcee, I’ve been good at expressing generalities and being playful and witty and telling allegories and fables and third-person stories,” says lifelong Chicagoan Naledge. “That’s not what this is. This album is me.”

Like Naledge, then, Land of Make Believe’s opening jams sound upbeat, ready to party, confident verging on cocky. By the time its 15 tracks are through, though, an anxious edge creeps in, mirroring what both Kidz have been feeling lately as they assess the state of their career. “The dream of putting the first album out, it’s come and gone,” says New Jersey’s Double-0. “We still love to make music. (But) how can we dig deeper? How can we be more evolved?”

Naledge’s doubts along similar lines were thrown into sharp focus by the violent death of a close cousin last year. “I had just come from doing shows and being on the road. I put myself into the casket and I was just like, ‘Who am I? If I were to die today, what is it? Are you VIP tables and bottles and girls? My bio says I’m an Ivy League graduate and I’m the smartest guy in the world, but are you really living that way?’…As a rapper, I feel sometimes we don’t show that vulnerability. We’re real people, and there’s dimensions and layers to who we are, and we should explore them.”

Yet that aspect of mainstream rap has shown signs of changing in recent years, as Kanye West’s superstardom has opened the door to a new generation of introspective artists. “You see that self-reflection in what Drake is doing and what (Kid) Cudi is doing,” notes Double-0. Those newcomers’ success makes it conceivable that a fun yet thoughtful album like Land of Make Believe could actually spawn a hit single.

Whether or not that happens, though, chances are we’ll hear all about the Kidz’ thoughts on the matter come next album. “It’s therapeutic to talk to yourself and evaluate yourself,” says Naledge with a smile as we get ready to leave the now-parked SUV and part ways. “It’s an ongoing conversation. I just tend to do it on beats.” (source)