As the Wu Tang Clan gets older, they predictably go on tour less, meaning that their New York State of Mind Tour with fellow New York rapper Nas was a must see. I had been planning on attending this once-in-a-lifetime concert for well over six months, and that fateful evening finally came on Saturday, October 1.
As the homies and I found our seats and got settled in, we were immediately greeted with bass-heavy old school hip hop: Mobb Deep, Coolio (rest in peace), NWA, and more music curated by the group’s DJ, DJ Symphony. As this continued for over a half hour, we questioned how much longer until the Clan finally came out. Over a half hour later, one of the founding members of this legendary rap group, the RZA, was introduced to the stage with bright flashing lights, lasers, and the whole shebang. He came out rapping his verse from “Liquid Swords” by GZA. This song choice may have been foreshadowing, because as the RZA’s verse came to an end, the genius, GZA, came out swinging on his own verse. The introductions went on like this seemingly forever, each member receiving a lengthy introduction, and then entering the stage rapping either one of their solo songs, or one of their verses from a collaboration.
Finally, every living member had been introduced (rest in peace ODB)… except the Method Man? Finding out that Johnny Blaze was not a part of the show alongside the rest of the Clan was quite the letdown, but nonetheless, the show must go on. Wu Tang performed some of their most popular songs, “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’,” “4th Chamber” by the GZA featuring the RZA and Ghostface Killah, and a couple more. It seemed like they only performed for ten minutes before they vanished, and Nas was introduced.
Nas’ set was incredible. The effects were top notch: flames, an entire light show, and more, all for one guy. He performed all of his greatest hits, “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World is Yours,” “Represent,” et cetera, and more of his not so popular songs as well. Nas performed for upwards of a half hour, clearly compensating for Wu Tang’s three songs.
To sum it up, seeing the Wu Tang Clan together for all of ten minutes was somewhat of a letdown, but Nas easily made up for it with his lengthy, visually appealing, diverse set.