Raekwon, of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan...takes the stage at Pitchfork

From the slums of shaolin, Pitchfork was graced by the presence of Raekwon (the Chef) on Saturday afternoon. Under a 90 degree sun, the genius behind Only Built for Cuban Linx (one of the most highly regarded hip-hop albums ever) rocked the stage for his 45 minute set. Opening song, in true WU fashion "Cash Rules Everything Around Me, C.R.E.A.M. get the money...DOLLA-DOLLA BILLS YA'LL!" - Rae ripping cuts over the piano melody...even rapped to Inspectah Deck's verse.

Raekwon is smooth a grateful MC, giving much love back to his fans, the city of Chicago and Pitchfork of course. Unfortunately, his sound stage was out of sync for the first 15 minutes of the set...but Rae pushed through when he kicked a three minute freestyle. Then it was one classic after another, from "Da Art of Chessboxin" to "Triumph" - each song...the crowd had their "W's" in the sky. Another big hit off his set was "The New Wu" (even without Meth or Ghost).

To close out his set, he brought out four kids from the Chi-Town's Finest Breakers. These kids couldn't be more than 8-10 years old, maybe? Didn't matter, cause they had power moves that would leave most human beings with dislocated elbows. Breakin' on top, flares and head spins got the crowd roaring during "Protect ya neck" ~ final song of the show. Great Finale.

Sunday, 7/18/2010 - Big Boi

He has several nicknames. General Patton. Daddy Fat Sax. Billy Ocean. But for Sunday, he was known as Sir Lucious Left Foot (the title of his new album that dropped on 7/6/2010). Often thought of as the street gangsta of the hip-hop duo Outkast, Big Boi can light a fire under the crowd. I got a chance to see Big Boi last summer at Rock the Bells, and he does not disappoint. The entire time he is on stage, you would think he is eight feet tall...he brings so much energy.

The scratch of the record hits, and you know its time for the ORIGINAL dirty south rap. Big Boi bounces to center stage at "ATLiens"  drops...a perenial song in hip-hop during the mid 90s. Hands bouncing to the beat as I sang along, "cause I'm cooler than a polar bears toe nails, oh hell...there he go talkin that sh**." Then, of course...the chorus hits and we all just, "throw your hands in da ai-yer, and wave 'em like you just don't ca-yer...and if you like fish n' grits, and all the pimp sh**, everybody let me hear you say oh-yeah-yer."

With minimal breaks, Big Boi went from one classic Outkast song to the next. A few shout outs to the crowd here and there...but for the most part - Antwan just let the music play. Set list looked about like this...

• ATLiens
• So Fresh, So Clean
• Skew it on a Bar-B (wish that Raekwon would have joined him for this...)
• Rosa Parks (lots of clapping during this jam)
• Ms. Jackson
• Player's Ball(bring it back to 94' - Southernplayalisticadillacmusiz)
• Elevators
• B.O.B (classic...)
• Shutterbug (new single - got the crowd jumping)
• The Way You Move
• Kryptonite

Big Boi also gave props to the B-Boy community, and had Chi-Town's Finest Breakers show off some moves during the "The Way You Move" as one of the B-Girl spun on her head for two minutes straight (for realz). Not a bad way to wrap up a performance.

Written by Junu Phillips, courtesy of www.bopcitybeats.com