Monday, January 14, 2008

"ONCE YOU HEARD WU...

(I took this pic at the concert. It's bugged how it came out right?!
The WU "w" has sure changed since '93)



OUTTA THE BLUE YA FAMILY'S FROM SHAOLIN!"
Well, I went to the Wu-tang concert here in NYC on Saturday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom and lemme tell ya Shaolin DEFINITELY was NOT in the building. It was bugged really. I mean as an artist myself I make music for everyone to enjoy but I definitely am speaking directly to and from the point of view of the Black community so I like to see the Black community in my audience. When I do it's comforting and let's me know they hear me and connect. And it is of the utmost importance that we connect (This is not to say that I don't connect with audiences of all race, gender, and ethnicities but erryone luvs their people!)

Well, after seeing the audience at this Wu show it's safe to say the Black community in NY no longer "connects" with the Wu. Maybe folks just don't find them entertaining anymore. Maybe they've grown out of classics like, "Liquid Swords (I LOVE the GZA)," "M-E-T-H-O-D Man (and might I add that Meff is still an FBM to the fullest!)," "Protect ya Neck," "Ice Cream," and "Triumph." I know a lot of folks say they no longer feel linked with today's hip hop but we're not even showing love to the classics anymore? Not even to the legends!? Many in the hip hop and Black communities stay complaining about "the commodification of the music," about the "mainstream sell outs," etc., but ain't buyin albums or going to shows!

Raekwon had some good things to say on the topic at the show, too bad the folks who NEED to hear it weren't even there:






(It's bugged how he's sayin, "Ya'll niggas" but there were only bout 20 Black folk that were in that piece.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree people say they dont like the state hip-hop is in, but still dont support true classic hip-hop,
im in Oakland, and thats right, you can count black people at the shows on two hands with reggae music too, We dont Support good music.

Paul Cantor said...

Perhaps it was the $50 they were charging for tickets? I'm from Staten Island, and though I've never personally paid to get into a Wu show, on Saturday, when I didn't feel like blowing up people's cell phones for tickets or waiting at the back entrance to go in with the entourage, it was either a $50 investment or a no go. I made it a no go.

Tra said...

I said this on my spot:

"i miss good music, mainly old school hip-hop the fire and passion
of the art is slowly slipping away
from the world, music is a art form
that should spread knowledge to the
people not the junk that gets all the air play.
will the real Emcees stand-up!

Unknown said...

it's like that at EVERY concert I go to...only time I think the audience was majority black at a Hip-Hop concert was Rock the Bells last year in ATL...even a group like dead prez has a large white audience...it could be that these white middle-class suburban kids have more expendable income, but as black people we NEVER seem to support our artists...and then we wonder why we lose them...

Anonymous said...

WELL TRUTHFULLY I WAS NEVER A BIG WU-TANG FAN. IM A LATE 80's BABY. SO YOU WERE MORE ATTACHED TO THEIR MUSIC THEN ME. BUT GOOD BLESS THE LIVING LEGENDS. IF NOONES SHOWING UP THEN MAYBE THEY AINT DOING NOTHING RIGHT. I MEAN YEAH THEY ROCKED In the 90's But i was ROCKING UNDERWEARS THEN i aint listen to their LYRICS!!! (I DONT KNOW BABY... SIGHS)