In 1993, we were invited to “Enter the Wu” and 13 Staten Island natives were our hosts.
RZA, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, GZA, U-God, Master Killa and Inspectah Deck all came together and started a phenomenon that had kids from the inner city to the suburbs all wanting to be a part of the all mighty Shoalin.
One of the members of the group, Method Man, was on hand to promote his new album “Tical 0: The Prequel” at the Avalon Ballroom last Wednesday.
Doors opened at 6 p.m. and patrons started to file into the club waiting for the animated rapper to take the stage. However, before they were served their main dish, they had to go through a few appetizers. Boston-based deejay Static, of Hot 97.7, entertained the crowd with his mix of beats and club songs.
Following Static’s stint on the turntables, New York nobodies MIMS took the stage. The duo, who undoubtedly had to have connections in the music industry to allow them to tour with Method Man, performed a few unoriginal hits. All the songs they performed, with the exception of one, were put over the beat of songs that are currently getting airplay, like “Through the Wire” and “Tipsy,” and all they did was rearrange the words to the original song.
Finally, arriving an hour and 45 minutes behind schedule, Method Man commanded the stage. Before his performance, the crowd had grown restless and began an inaudible angry chant.
Once the rambunctious rapper took the stage, he was forgiven for his tardiness. Method Man came on stage with the ever-present accessory of a hype man. He performed songs from Wu-Tang albums like “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” and “Wu-Tang.” He also revisited tracks from the “Blackout” album his collaboration with Red Man like “How High” as well as the Grammy Award winning song “All I Need” with Mary J. Blige and two selections from his new album.
Method Man was there to entertain – he unexpectedly ran off stage left and right with his security guard trailing him and jumped on the bar to get a little closer to his fans. After finally getting back on stage he took his antics a step further by continually diving into the crowd. Before leaving the stage he engaged the crowd in a peace chant, leaving them with a lasting message.
