Surviving Da Ruckus

Word is born, baby. It has been a while since I really gave two shits about hip hop, as all my musical attention has been focused on three areas...hardcore, metal, and 70's rock. Growing up, I owned a few rap albums from Public Enemy and KRS-One, but it wasn't until I started hanging out with Rob that I really became interested in the style, and even then, it took some time for me to warm up to it. I remember hanging out at his house and playing Magic the Gathering while he would play all kinds of hip hop. Man, I hated it at first...completely closing my mind to songs about sippin' on 40's and smokin' blunts. Slowly, I started to get into the style...first with Beastie Boys, and rappers with a positive message like Jurassic 5 and Brother Ali, and then I became a fiend downloading hip hop albums left and right. Well, that love affair ended with my introduction to 70's rock, and I starting weeding through all those downloaded CD's, realizing that I downloaded a ton of crap...but still holding on to a few that became classics.

One of those groups that I never got into was the Wu-Tang Clan. Rob was a huge fan, and when they had a show scheduled for northern Maine on January 3rd, he wanted to go. We went to see Ghostface Killah a few years ago, and I wasn't impressed, but he offered to buy my ticket, so I figured what the hell, I'd go with him to the Wu. To my surprise the show was a ton of fun. Fights were breaking out all over the place. It was insane, but I guess that is what you can expect when you get a bunch of drunk, testosterone filled, white boys trying to prove something at a hip hop show. If this was a hardcore show, I would have been depressed at all the schism, but here at a Wu-Tang show, it was fun to watch these meatheads go at it. By the end of the show, security had stopped trying to bust up all the fights, and just let people go at it. I really didn't expect to have such a good time, but I got right up to the front and bounced to the beats...good times. A few days after the concert, I dug out the burned CD that I had for 36 Chambers, and again was surprised to find how fun this album is. A few weeks later, I got to work and found a box in my chair with the vinyl for this classic album...a thank you present from Rob for going to the show with him. My first, and possibly only, hip hop vinyl for the collection. Thanks, man.