Peak levels of buzz surrounded the run up to the Gods of Rap concert, at London Wembley Arena, ever since its announcement earlier this year. The excitement at seeing some of the legendary Hip Hop artists from the acclaimed, formative, golden era years of Hip Hop, while these artists are still touring was too good an opportunity to miss, as evident by the tour being quickly sold out. Also mixed in with curiosity and increasing amounts of trepidation on which artists would actually show up, given the notorious reputation of Hip Hop acts.
Gods of Rap Concert Wembley Arena
The day of the concert finally arrived at London’s Wembley Arena, as crowds of the old skool Hip Hop generation thronged the queues, bumping into colleagues and music personalities whom you grew up with through those times, but had not seen in years, adding to the narrative of this being an introspective and reminiscing spectacle.
De La Soul
First act up was De La Soul, who were on very early in the evening and hence sadly missed out by many as traffic was only starting to build at the same time. Treating crowds to hits like the massive anthem ‘Me Myself & I’, colourfully illuminated by their iconic flowers and peace logo branding. The epic ‘Stakes Is High’ with the horns fanfare slickly reverberated around the venue, following a little tribute to J Dilla and a throwback to their classic album ‘3 Feet High & Rising’, marking a 30 year milestone.
DJ Premier
DJ Premier was the certified heavyweight DJ joining the dots between the musical acts, ranging between hype mode as his voiceover frontman levels roared to the sky, into cutting up some tunes that sound tracked Hip Hop’s legacy such as a little Tribe Called Quest segment and paying tribute to the much missed Phife Dawg & Guru.
Public Enemy
Public Enemy truly set the mission going at the gig. Sadly missing Flava Flav, Chuck D maintained a thunderous stage presence as he celebrated the group’s infamous legacy. A supreme moment that earnestly resonated with the masses was the performance of ‘Shut Them Down’, mixing that up with the euphoric Pete Rock remix.
The well received anthems like ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ & ‘Fight The Power’, sound tracked to a backdrop of militant dancers and commanding visuals on stage, with many references to Public Enemy Radio and how the evening line up of artists was Hip Hop Heaven. A brilliant special moment was DJ Lord doing a turntable routine with ‘Terminator X’, slowing the beat juggles right down, then speeding them up to lightning pace, blazing the decks with a hypnotising showpiece.
Wu Tang Clan
By the end of the Public Enemy’s set, the venue was rammed and crazily alive, clearly turning Wembley Arena into Wu Tang Clan District, as we awaited the headline act to emerge. Powering onto stage with ‘Bring Da Ruckus’, chaos ensued with fans moshing out, punching W signs in the air, as the clan made their bold statement of arrival. The whole crew appeared to be in full effect with only Method Man missing. In a spirited move, the deceased ODB’s place was taken over by his son, Young Dirty B*stard, performing with meticulous passion, shottin’ bars as he owned the performance of his fathers’ solo joints ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ that incited a crowdrush at the front as he jumped down to the stage floor, as well as ‘Got Ya Money’. Proving to be such a mighty honour to see ODB’s son, fully in his place with the Wu Tang Clan and progressing the legacy of ODB’s unique artistry.
A mixture of crazy Wu Tang visuals, the seminal Wu Tang logo blasted all over the spot along with various Shaolin and Dragon images all charting the messy and high octane atmosphere as all the rappers performed together. The sound system struggled to cope with the boom heavy hardcore rap sounds, which was a disappointment to those at the back. Raekwon getting down with his Ice Cream classic was a special favourite of the crowds. Performances of anthems like ‘C.R.E.A.M’, & ‘Tearz’ went down a storm and the biggest highlight was bearing witness to the jam packed venue of Hip Hop heads feverishly rapping along to ‘Da Mystery of Chessboxing’. DJ Mathematics also did a tight routine in the set with his Rane 12 decks. And amongst the horizon of fans in the spot, many grabbed every opportunity they could, to proudly bust out the timeless lyric ‘Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to F*** With’!
With the group signing out with ‘Gravelpit’ as their last tune, the Gods of Rap concert concluded with a bang, wrapping up the monumental event of seeing Wu Tang Clan, De La Soul, Public Enemy & DJ Premier all on the same billing. Delivering memories to cherish for a lifetime, heralding the defining music that we grew up with and checking those artists while we still have the chance to do so. Time and generations move on, but the music never dies.
Gods of Rap Concert (Review and Pics) Courtesy of Kishan