Words By: Michelle Swami
Photos By: Brendan Lee
Barely a year has gone by since Raekwon graced the stage at Fortune Sound Club. He came this time in support of his new album FILA (Fly International Luxrious Art) due out in the fall.
Wu-Tang fans have always had a sense of community. That night was no exception. Wu-Tang fans that have followed them since the beginning, to fans that weren’t even born when ’36 chambers’ was release, all came together to welcome one of Wu-Tang Clans most prolific members, Raekwon. Mostly donned in Wu-Wear and even a chef’s hat, the crowd was anxious in anticipation to see one of the members of one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time.
W’s were high in the air as Raekwon graced the stage. Starting things off with ‘Method Man’, Raekwon didn’t need any of the members to fill the energy the crowd and stage had as he rifled through the track. Unlike a lot of hip-hop artists that do only their verse, Raekwon did every members verse. Fumbling here and there, the crowd was there to help him out. But who can blame him? This was one man doing the part of 7 and it was equal parts amusing and amazing.
Despite his notable absence from Wu-Tang’s performance at Bonnaroo that weekend, Raekwon did a crowd pleasing set full of Wu-Tang material. At one point in the night, the DJ and Raekwon did a draw to see what song he would do with a lucky fan. The result was ‘Triumph’ and of course the lucky fan would be doing Cappadonna’s part, which is one of the more difficult. This lucky, yet intoxicated fan was chosen. The stipulation was if he got the verses right Rae and his DJ would down a whole bottle of Henny and vice versa. Unfortunately, as soon as dude came on to the mic to say his name, Raekwon decided the dude was drunk and the whole idea was axed. We never did get to see that fan fumble which probably would have been the most entertaining part of the night. Regardless, Raekwon did the whole song on his own, impressively doing the whole song, every part, by himself.
Raekwon rifled through a set of fan favourites including ‘CREAM’ &’Protect Ya Neck’ before calming the crowd down a bit to talk about the state of hip-hop. Rae spoke about how the hip-hop scene won’t be dead if you won’t let it. And of course, no rant about the current state of hip-hop would be complete without a mention of Molly. Rapped about by rappers such as Trinidad James and Rick Ross, Raekwon doesn’t seem to be a fan. “I’ve done everything man, I still smoke weed now and then, but I’m telling you I don’t do anything anymore, and I don’t fuck with Molly. Whatever you do, don’t fuck with Molly”. Ironically enough, after that rant, kids in front of me popped two pills of what appeared to be Molly.
After that mini lecture, Raekwon went on to play one of his biggest hits as a solo artist, the classic ‘Ice Cream’. Surprisingly one of few songs of his solo career that he played. After that, Raekwon went on to calm the crowd again. If anyone has seen Wu or any of the members solo, you know what is coming, The obligatory ODB tribute was about to take place. Throughout the show, fans were chanting “ODB! ODB” as if they were anticipating this moment to come. “ODB! REST IN PEACE!” is what Raekwon got the crowd saying as he went into, yes, ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’.
Raekwon finished his set off with another chant of “WU TANG WU TANG” to saying “Wu-Tang is forever y’all” into a classic cut off that album, ‘It’z Yours’. W’s up in the air as they walked out of Fortune, The Sunday night crowd was clearly buzzing as the show ended
LINKS: