Australia has been spoilt of late by the legendary
Wu-Tang Clan; it all started with Ghostface Killah coming down for a
performance at The Forum, and then we just kept getting collective and solo
tours from each of the Clan’s prominent members. Our latest treat comes in the
form of one of the most celebrated members – Raekwon. His solo debut "Only
Built for Cuban Linx" is widely considered to be the best solo offering from a
Wu member, and with the recent sequel "Only Built for Cuban Linx 2" raising the
bar even higher for the Wu, you can be sure that Raekwon the Chef had more than
enough ingredients required to give us Hip-Hop lovers exactly what we came for.

First on support was Mt Druitt hip-hop group Krooked Kounty,
who did not seem to get over very well with the crowd. Individually, each
member had a good enough flow and enough rhythm to stay on the bass-heavy beats, but when they tried to complement each other - or rather act as hype-men to
whoever was rapping at the time - the whole flow messed up and they came across
as clumsy kids who you could not wait to be rid of. A track claiming that they
are "Fresh" was perhaps the only enjoyable of the short set whilst others, such
as one telling us to "Put ya hood up", did not do much to establish them as a
good Aussie hip-hop group, rather, it put them in the realm of pseudo-American
gangster rap; and no one likes a poser.

Thankfully the next support act was a huge step up; The
Havknotz hit the stage immediately hitting us with some harder, more
interesting beats which were given life by impressive lyricism and great stage
presence. Every track showcased during this short set was showed that
innovation which is largely missing from unestablished Aussie hip-hop groups. With
an already impressive history behind them, these boys deserve more recognition
within Australian Hip-Hop.

With no set times released, we all waited with
excitement for Raekwon to take the stage and it wasn’t until 11pm that the Chef
arrived, and immediately hit us with his classic verse from "C.R.E.A.M." From
then on, the legendary rapper guided us through a perfect mix of solo and
Wu-Tang hits, performing almost everything a Wu-Tang fan would want to hear.

The problem with Wu solo shows, however, is that most of the
records (even the "solo" ones) feature several clan members, and with only one
present, they can either rap the others’ verses or only do theirs, in which
case, the high you get from hearing your favourite track performed live is
short-lived; an issue which plagued the Ghostface Killah concert.

However, Raekwon also rapped a couple of other members’
verses, such as Ghostface’s impeccable verses on ‘Criminology’ and ‘Ice Cream’;
Raekwon even went one step further to ensure we were pleased and performed
classic verses from tracks which he is featured on, such as the chilling "Your
Beef is Mine" by Mobb Deep. The obligatory Ol’ Dirty Bastard tribute, followed
by another round of old Wu classics kept the crowd jumping around and going
nuts. By the time the set ended with the much-loved "Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nuttin’
To F*ck Wit" and "Incarcerated Scarfaces" the time was near 12:30am; Raekwon gave us almost an hour and a half of pure Wu madness. You can be sure that
we all got our money’s worth.