New Music
VERZUZ Wu-Tang Edition: Raekwon vs Ghostface Killah (Sat, March 20th 8pm EST)
Two legends of the revolutionary New York City hip hop conglomerate, Wu-Tang Clan are coming together this weekend on Saturday, March 20th at 8pm EST to treat fans to a Wu-Tang on Wu-Tang VERZUZ battle between two of the group’s greats, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah.
Fans will be able to tune in to this historic event via the Triller app or on the VERZUZ Official Instagram page.
Given that both participants in this weekend’s VERZUZ played for the same team, it seems as though we’ll be treated to something of a friendly match – more in line with the friendly west coast VERZUZ we saw between E-40 and Too $hort last December as opposed to a more oppositional stance like we saw in an instance like Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy in November.
As announced by VERZUZ founders, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland earlier this year, VERZUS has joined forces with Triller. As such, the Raekwon vs Ghostface Killah Versuz will be available on Instagram as it has been, but will be hosted on the Triller app – as part of the two companies’ new partnership to align the massive draw of the VERZUZ cultural phenomenon with Triller’s popular Tik-Tok competitor, audio/visual platform perfectly suited to host music-focused live stream events. As we learned when we saw Swizz and Tim on the Fat Joe Show last month, the other revolutionary aspect of the VERZUZ platform is that participants are granted equity (part-ownership) in the VERZUZ company (and now in the Triller app itself) – using the Jay-Z/Tidal approach to ensure that artists and our cultural icons are sharing in the profits and maintaining control of the culture they helped to shape.
Quick history lesson for those who may have not been present, Wu-Tang Clan is an unmatched cultural icon who has made history countless times, starting in 1993 with their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) – which quickly created legends out of its many members who went on to become stars in their own right including de facto leader RZA, Method Man, Redman, GZA, Remedy, Inspectah Deck, Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB), and of course Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. The group as well its individual members went on to make history around the music industry, creating countless timeless projects that today are looked back on part of hip hop’s golden age. Despite various controversies and tensions over the years – much of which is documented in various documentaries and biopics about the group including the recent Netflix documentary, 36 Chambers – Raekwon and Ghostface have always remained solid, making their coming together for this weekend’s VERZUZ that much more special. If you need more of an introduction (first of all shame on you) but definitely check out some of the recent films and series focused on the Wu-Tang Clan to understand their importance in the development of the culture.
In this weekend’s VERZUZ, we’re likely to hear more from Ghostface and Raekwon’s solo catalogs – but it seems unlikely we’ll get through 20 songs a piece without hearing some of our favorite Wu-Tang classics. This weekend’s event also serves to build up some Wu-Tang related excitement ahead of the release of Raekwon’s new memoir, The Story of Raekwon, set to release this Spring as well as the release of the long-awaited Supreme Clientele 2, the follow up to Ghostface Killah’s classic 1997 project.
Tune in to Triller or the Official VERZUZ IG this Saturday, March 20th 8pm on EST to catch this legendary battle between two legends of the Wu-Tang Clan, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah.
