RAEKWON PLAYED A SHORT SET AND I ATE SOME MUSHROOMS // GLENN VAN DYKE
The cool thing about New York is that, literally, anything can happen at any given time. I’m partially convinced this is the reason we all stay despite ridiculous rent raises and the generous 40% we dole over to the government from our paychecks. These ‘New York moments’ occur every so often, usually sparking hope that these pot-holed streets we call home still have a semblance of soul. Last Friday, I had one of these beautiful moments and I couldn’t be happier. It started as any Friday would. I ate some breakfast and did a little bit of work. However, I quickly caught the weekend bug, and around 3 I called my friend Dale to come over. Things remained innocent for a few hours as we gathered a small crew, let’s call them Chubby and Dax. Dax had promised another friend, Dipsy, that we’d meet up for a drink. So around 7pm we headed over to Pearl’s Social and Billy Club where we find Dipsy, and she has some news for us. “Raekwon’s playing a secret show over at The Acheron,” she says. “Let’s go,” she says. I was easily convinced considering I was already wearing my Huff branded Wu-Tang socks and the spot next to the venue has a killer burger and none of us had eaten. We pile into Dipsy’s old-school truck and are well on our way when Dipsy pulls out a sack filled with aluminum wrapped mushroom chocolates. At this point I realize there will be no burger. We get to the venue in time to catch the second act, a mediocre rapper whose name escapes me, but as my body started to digest the chocolate and the psilocybin worked its way to my blood stream, my head began to bop. The next act was an Alabama transplant by the name of Celeste, who was hosting the night for the purpose of her album release. She was wearing a back crop top with a leather skirt short enough to show off her well shaped upper leg (butt) area. I often find it hard to take the overly sexed solo girl act seriously, and although she did seem to be trying a little too hard gyrating her body around the stage, she didn’t totally lose me. Her voice is good, Lorde-esque with a twinge of a southern accent, and her beats are like soft trap mixed with R&B. The combination with her pop melodies is promising. I felt a lot of things during her set. Mostly because that’s what happens when you eat mushrooms, but I kept going back and forth between focusing on her music then on the slew of dudes in the front row trying to look up her skirt. It’s a topic for a different day, and hey, flaunt it if you got it, but sometimes trying too hard to air hump when you’re clearly a southern belle will make people who eat mushrooms feel weird.
30 minutes later, after Celeste takes her bows, and hope is almost lost, Raekwon takes over the mic and Boy is he (PH)FAT. That big ole belly looks incredibly cool on him and that’s exactly what I’m thinking as he goes straight into ‘Rich and Black,’ then ‘Wu-Tang Forever.’ He takes a pause to shout out to ODB then plays ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ which is cut short by technical difficulties so he comes back in with ‘Killa Bees,’ and then he was done. All in all it was a very short and very satisfying. Say what you will about the beef between the Wu-Tang crew, Raekwon killed it and everyone was happy. I think his belly has made him even better. Here’s some pictures.