Slick Rick & Raekwon
9th June 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Leah Victoria.
In what had to be one of the sweetest old school double headers to hit Auckland on a Saturday night in quite some time, hip hop legends Slick Rick and Raekwon rolled into town with the promise of dropping some bonafide classics on all who attended.
While outside it may have been cold, inside the stage was being warmed up by a few of the local posse in preparation for the royalty that was about to arrive. A killer set by PHD was soon followed up by West Auckland, Avondale based legend and self-proclaimed ‘Young urban poet from the Liiightside’ Melodownz. When it comes to representing NZ hip hop, Melodownz is certainly one of the best; something he proved quite easily with his set at Laneway Festival earlier this year. Versatile, and with a chill factor that just infects the room Melodownz soon had the crowd wrapped around his finger as he dropped ‘Cool Like Dat’ [Rizvan feat. Diggy Dupe, Melodownz and Axeman] before sliding into fan favourite ‘$on of a Queen’ which he dedicated to “my mum and all the queens out there”.
The night also had a couple surprises up its sleeve as well, surprises that showcased the talents of the fairer sex in the hip hop scene. First was the stylings of Bailey Wiley who happily took the mic that Melodownz handed down to her in the audience – their rendition of ‘The Anthem’ as always going down a treat. Deciding that in the crowd was the place to be, Melodownz jumped down onto the floor to deliver his final track of the set ‘8ight 2wenty 8ight’ from amongst a circle of cell phones that had spontaneously appeared – many fans not believing their luck to be so up close and personal with one of their local heroes. Jokingly adding in that someone should buy him a drink from the bar and that he was not going to attempt to clamber back up onto the stage – his down to earth honesty yet another facet of his personality that makes him so appealing – and Melodownz disappeared through the side door in the wake of a multitude of whoops and applause.
By now the crowd were more than ready for the headline legends themselves, but to make sure that they were at peak anticipation levels Slick Rick’s own Djkaos7 took to the stage to throw out some tunes guaranteed to start the party. From ‘Disco Poppa’ by Tweet Unique to ‘I Get Wrecked’ by Tim Dog, DjKaos7 soon had the crowd jumping. Adding in some serious old school flavour that even your high school teacher would have recognised, the crowd went crazy for ‘It’s Tricky’ by Run DMC and the iconic ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain, a little ‘Ante Up’ by Busta Rhymes even making an appearance.
But while the crowd was expecting Slick Rick to take the stage, instead the second surprise of the night arrived in the form of a truly stunning young woman dressed head to toe in white. Chicago native Intelligenz is one hell of an emcee and has been making her mark on stages across the world. Delivering two of her killer tracks ‘Welcome to the Grind’ and ‘Round of Applause’ Intelligenz soon won the hearts of the crowd and especially those of many of the young men in the front row. A refreshing breath of fresh air in what tends to be a predominantly male based genre.
Kicking off a “I say Slick, you say Rick” chant Djkaos7 had the Powerstation chanting at the top of their lungs as Slick Rick the Ruler took the stage looking every inch the personality he is. With his hat whimsically tilted to the side and his shades firmly in place, Slick Rick appeared in a basketball singlet and enough gold to sink the titanic. Now fifty-three the London born artist and Bronx native since age eleven quickly proved just why he is one of the most sampled hip-hop artists in the world Throwing out signature songs such as ‘The Ruler’s Back’, ‘I shouldn’t have done it’ and ‘It’s a Boy’ it was immediately obvious that Slick Rick was rather impressed by the New Zealand fans who matched him word for word.
Periodically leaning forward and shaking the outstretched hands of those in the front row, Slick Rick continued his onslaught, hilariously throwing in some comical female orientated vocals before delivering tunes such as the Outkast track ‘Street Talk’ that he featured on and classics off his 1988 album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, ‘Mona Lisa’ another hit with the fans. Reminding the audience that he was here tonight representing “old-school hip hop” it was with great respect that both Slick Rick and Djkaos7 gave a shout out to some of the fallen heroes of the genre. Images of 2Pac, Eazy-E, ODB and The Notorious B.I.G among many others flashing up on the big screen behind the DJ booth as the audience cheered and raised their collective cups and cans to the legends whose music will forever live on.
Heading into the tail end of his set and Slick Rick was starting to look like a walking treasure chest, multiple gold watches adorning his wrists, his neck weighed down by a hugely impressive collection of chains while the lights glinted off his custom bejewelled microphone. The sunglasses were now gone and in their place the iconic eye patch – Slick Rick having been blinded in his right eye by broken glass at just 18mths old – tunes such as ‘The Show’ [feat. Doug E. Fresh], ‘Mistakes of a Woman in Love with other Men’ and ‘Teenage Love’ taking the set out in style. As Slick Rick left the stage to the crooning’s of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ an almost tongue in cheek nod to the presence that had just performed for all, the fans quickly broke to hit the bar – the tunes of Black Sheep, Naughty by Nature and Onyx filling the room – before the one and only Raekwon was due to appear.
Wu-Tang Clan. Just the name alone is powerful and each and every one of the original nine members (Cappadonna not becoming a member til 2007) carries a little piece of that influential supremacy with them. While these days the chance of seeing the original line-up is no longer possible – the death of Ol’ Dirty Bastard [ODB] from an accidental drug overdose in 2004 ending many NZ fans dreams of doing so – Auckland has been lucky enough to have many of the members grace various stages over the last few years, including a slightly stripped back Wu-Tang Clan at Raggamuffin IX, while GZA certainly brought the house down at his show at The Studio in November last year [check out that review here]. And now, it was the turn of the member credited with being a pioneer of Mafioso rap, Raekwon himself.
As a sea of hands held the ‘W’ strong, Raekwon arrived with an air of lethalness. Wasting no time he quickly reminded all that he is still very much a current artist who is continuously creating new content, hitting the audience with three tracks in quick succession off his latest album The Wild released just last year. Following ‘Nothing’ Raekwon then plunged his fans back in time for ‘Glaciers of Ice’ from his 1995 solo debut album entitled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. In stark contrast to The Ruler, Raekwon kept the bling to a minimum, instead using his time to stalk the stage and deliver tracks that many of the younger fans here tonight had only ever dreamed of hearing live.
Periodically asking the audience to respond to his queries of whether they love hip hop or not Raekwon often dropped into acapella versions of his tracks, the fans transfixed as they watched him rap the lines with ease and an undefinable grace. Unsurprisingly some of the biggest moments of the set came in the form of Wu-Tang tracks such as ‘Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ Ta Fuck Wit’ and ‘Protect ya Neck’; the 1993 album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) a must have for any true hip hop fan. Calls for cell phones lights to illuminate the venue in memory of ODB were quickly responded to as was Raekwon’s request for a joint which he happily smoked on stage while the DJ played his requested track of ‘Master Blaster (Jammin)’ by Stevie Wonder. This turned out to be an act that Raekwon felt remorse for later on as he genuinely apologised for not abiding by the venue’s request not to smoke on stage. Declaring that this was indeed a “sweet spot” for a show he asked the audience to pay respect to both the venue owners and their staff as they had been nothing but accommodating to both himself and his crew.
Raekwon’s set was tight, delivering hit after hit that the audience lapped up with relish while illustrating over and over again to Raekwon that they truly were old school hip hop fans as they finished off the lines to several tracks for him; Raekwon shaking his head in disbelief and wonderment at their tenacity. Finishing his set on the deliciously recognisable ‘C.R.E.A.M’ followed by ‘Triumph’ and all too soon his amazing set was over, the sounds of ‘Quiet Storm’ by Mobb Deep playing him out as he strode off stage.
As Raekwon himself declared earlier in the night, true hip hop fans not only love it, they live it; a statement that all in attendance tonight demonstrated without a doubt.
Raekwon:
Slick Rick:
Intelligenz:
Were you there at the Powerstation for this old-school hip hop show? Or have you seen Slick Rick or Raekwan perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Raekwon’s Setlist:
- Marvin
- This Is What It Comes Too
- Nothing
- Glaciers Of Ice
- Guillotine
- Criminology
- Ice Cream
- Frozen
- Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’
- Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ Ta Fuck Wit
- Protect Ya Neck
- Eye For An Eye
- Shimmy Shimmy Ya
- Rainy Dayz
- Incarcerated Scarfaces
- Verbal Intercourse
- Can It All Be So Simple
- C.R.E.A.M
- Triumph
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