We Waited Two Hours to See Ghostface and Raekwon Perform with BADBADNOTGOOD

Photos courtesy of Scott Blackburn

Toronto hip-hop jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD had played Halifax Pop Explosion last night, and hours later, their gear was still onstage, leading to much speculation about who could possibly be a special guest. Adding to the conspiracy was the fact that just last week, Ghostface and BBNG announced a collaborative album, Sour Soul. Suddenly, after a short two hour wait, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon appeared on stage. Although they were caught on Instagram sipping drinks at the hotel while hundreds of white kids in Wu shirts yelled at an empty stage, no one gave a shit after the duo finally appeared without any introduction. They went hard into "I Can't Go To Sleep," "Incarcerated Scarfaces," "Criminology," "Nutmeg" and "The Mystery of Chessboxing." They did, however, stay light on the 36 Chambers tracks.

Photos courtesy of Scott Blackburn

I'm not going to say that the show wasn't great or high-energy. Ghostface still has an aura of tangible passion. Raekwon was sweating, but didn’t seem as hyped, so if it wasn't for BBNG coming on later, I wouldn't have much more to say. Still, they hit "The Grain," "Eye for an Eye," "John Blaze" and many classic cuts. Ghostface pulled randoms onstage to rap, saying: "It takes a lot of balls to get up here." Local Trailer Park Boy Tyrone Parsons (Knucklehead) jumped on for ODB's "Protect Ya Neck” bars, and thank U-God, it was perfect. Ghostface hugged him and said "I'm so fucking happy right now, man." Every moment was heartfelt or sincere. This whole BBNG and Ghost collaboration felt weird to me at first, but when you think about it, how many times can you can rap over the beat of "C.R.E.A.M."? How else do you keep it fresh for yourself? Get a jazz band!

Photos courtesy of Scott Blackburn

"This is the first time you ever heard some shit like this," Ghostface said as BBNG jazzed up "C.R.E.A.M.", "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", "Brooklyn Zoo", and "Mighty Healthy". "These are my guys, man, I love these motherfuckers, straight up," Ghostface said, "Get your cameras out! Listen to some good soul music." And it sounded new, in some way, like stumbling on 8-bit versions of Metallica or other novelty adaptations. Then again, hip-hop and jazz aren't so foreign to each other and the stretch wasn't huge. It's still "C.R.E.A.M.", but Ghostface appeared genuinely excited. He yelled "February fourth" about fifteen times.

Photos courtesy of Scott Blackburn

"They call Wu-Tang the black Beatles of rap," yelled Ghostface, as if he assumed anyone had forgotten. Wu-Tang has a visibly influential and inimitable niche. I don't know if we need the reminder, but I guess that's how you keep selling Wu- Tang stuff. There wasn't one slip-up or fumble. It was clear and pure quality. But everyone gets bored at some point, and this BBNG collab is the promise of something. "The world is yours," Ghost yelled. But isn't it his?