Best Bridges of the 21st Century: Billboard Top 100
Wu-Tang Clan And Nas Prove They're Still Two Of Rap's Best
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It's not even the maximalism that's subsumed a crew whose strength was in its minimalism because an arena show needs all that jazz. It's the old chestnut of too much low end in the mix, which blows out completely (during a few Nas songs, too) into that rubbery flatulence that even makes the toilet roll dispensers shudder.
It's a good problem to have, though, because it confirms that the bass-heavy stadium sound, show-pony live drummer and sci-fi cartoons aren't even needed as none of it comes close to the charisma that Wu-Tang still contain in how they look, how they move and how they rap.
Reviewed by Kate Hennessy
MUSICDamien Rice ★★★★Opera House Concert Hall, until May 13
Damien Rice has a curious relationship with time.
It is not just a lyrical leitmotif – featuring in set opener Older Chests and closer Coconut Skins and frequently in between – but that he plays with its very substance, slowing its passage to his own languorous pace.
There is never anything hurried about Rice – the tempo of his music matches that of his output of a mere three albums in 20 years – and on this night a sold-out Opera House audience pauses under his spell.
Damien Rice's voice brims with emotional intensity at the Opera House.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The simplicity of Rice's work makes it accessible to even a casual listener but it lacks the complexity that rewards repeated listening. As a result, the show's set-up – just a slight Irishman and his acoustic guitar and an occasional cellist (more on her later), recounting stories of relationships gone wrong – could easily bore. It never does.
Songs that are undemanding on his albums become nuanced and deep live and stripped back. Rice's voice has always set the musician apart from his peers and, heard in the acoustical perfection of the revamped Concert Hall, you can see why: at turns, it is fragile and triumphant, and it is always brimming with emotional intensity.
A supposedly reclusive Rice is in surprisingly chatty form, filling in the backstory to songs that already had a narrative neatness about them. More surprising is the discovery of Francisca Barreto.
Brought in to perform plangent strings in the second half of the show, she breaks out a vocal of a naive purity that is the perfect foil to Rice's weathered yell. Hers is a voice and performance that depends on being unknown, undiscovered and untainted by celebrity and the harsh spotlight; it is worth the ticket price just to witness her before she finds the fame she is destined for.
Rice's set is stripped back but never boring.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Barreto plays a role through to the encores, but as the show closes with a breathtaking rendition of The Blower's Daughter, her strings and vocals recede, leaving us with just Rice's spoken, cracked, closing lyrics hanging in the air for a final moment – a moment that contains multitudes.
Reviewed by Shamim Razavi
MUSICStephen Hough performs Rachmaninov 2 ★★★★½Opera House Concert Hall, May 11
Since its first performance in 1901, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 has been loved to bits, often literally. But love is not always kind and the numerous film scores and cover songs that have mined its melodies have sometimes produced distorted performances of the original.
The popular melody of the moment, whether plagiarised from the second theme of the first or third movement, or the memorable adagio sostenuto, can, in lesser hands, be unduly highlighted and robbed of its natural place in the concerto's well-ordered structure.
Stephen Hough created a rich experience for the audience at the Opera House.Credit: Craig Abercrombie
We owe to British pianist Stephen Hough a debt of gratitude for restoring, on the one hand, the work's simplicity, allowing the shape of both the melodies and entire movements to unfold without coercion, while on the other, adorning them with the most imaginatively subtle rhythmic freedom – the freedom that comes from knowing and respecting its essence.
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Hough plays with unassuming mastery: astonishingly brilliant yet humble before the greatness of the work itself and devoted to creating a rich experience of it for the listener. It is playing that demands attentiveness. When he played the second theme of the first movement with rise and fall of graceful clarity, the entire capacity audience, from the school groups in uniform to carefree retirees, were breathing in unison.
In the second movement Hough supported clarinettist Alexander Morris sensitively in creating the melody's fragile beauty without breathlessness. When conductor John Wilson allowed the orchestra full throttle in the return of the finale's second theme at the close, Hough stemmed the tide of sound with titanic strength.
Hollywood has also relished makeovers of the orchestral pictorialism of Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome – the second half of this concert.
Wilson's approach, however, was disciplined and skilful. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra created swooping arcs of sound in the raucous opening, playing carefully orchestrated raspberries (describing children's games) with disciplined precision. The inner movements are quieter, evoking catacombs with finely shaded offstage trumpet (David Elton) and, in the third, a moonlit vista with a pre-recorded nightingale's song.
The last movement, The Pines of the Appian Way, was a stirring mirage as a brass choir in the gallery competed with the orchestra in a deafening blaze of faded glory.
Stephen Hough performs Rachmaninov 2 is also on at the Opera House Concert Hall on Saturday, May 13.
Reviewed by Peter McCallum
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Today In Hip Hop History: Wu-Tang Clan's Debut Single "Protect Ya Neck" Turns 30 Years Old!
On this day in 1993, the legendary Wu-Tang Clan began their reign as one of the most powerful and influential rap groups in history by releasing their debut single, "Protect Ya Neck." With this track, Wu-Tang took the rap game by storm with a style unheard and an attitude unseen. "Protect Ya Neck" set a tone in Hip Hop that shifted the genre toward a more hardcore, rugged sound.
Originally recorded in a different order with a completely different beat, group member RZA took the liberty to reconstruct the song in post-production to the Goliath that we all know and love. According to him, all he needed was the vocals of the group. The original beat used was just a placeholder used to get the verses. RZA's unique style also incorporated the kung-fu film dialogue and fought scenes throughout the track. This unique style of production became a trend for Wu-Tang Clan.
To clarify any confusion about who is who on the song, the order of verses is as follows: Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Method Man, U-God, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, RZA, & GZA. The single was first released independently through Wu-Tang Records and had "After the Laughter Comes Tears" as the B-side. Loud Records later re-released it with "Method Man" as the B-side. It sold 10,000 copies.
AdvertisementRihanna's Baby Son's Wu-Tang Clan-inspired Name Is FINALLY Revealed After She Kept Fans Guessing
The name of Rihanna's baby son can finally be revealed after she kept the moniker a secret for nearly a year.
DailyMail.Com has exclusive obtained a copy of the little boy's certificate of live birth, revealing he is called RZA Athelston Mayers.
The child, whom the superstar, 35, has with her partner A$AP Rocky, is thought to be named in honor of the producer and rapper RZA, 53 - the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan - the American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island in 1992.
Rihanna has hinted at the name by wearing clothing repping Wu-Tang Clan, which comprises RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty B**tard, multiple times since giving birth.
Fans had recently speculated that the little boy might have been named Noah, but there were few indications of his true name.
Finally revealed! DailyMail.Com has exclusively obtained a copy of the certificate of live birth for her son, revealing that his full name is RZA Athelston Mayer (Rihanna pictured in a Wu-Tang Clan top last month)
Under the radar: Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky welcomed the baby boy on May 13 of last year, but she has so far kept his name a secret from her inquisitive fans
Big fan? The extent of Rihanna's fandom for RZA and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan isn't totally clear; pictured April 15 in LA
Notably, the certificate of live birth indicates that RZA was given his father's middle name of Athelston.
However, Rocky's middle name has previously been listed by multiple outlets as 'Athelaston.'
Athelstan is a masculine name of English origin, meaning 'noble stone.'
It is derived from the Old English æþele and stān, which translate to 'noble' and 'stone,' respectively. Athelstan is closely linked to Anglo-Saxon nobility, with the first king of England sharing this aristocratic moniker.
The certificate of live birth also indicates that RZA was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
One of Rihanna's recent hints about her son's secret name was on April 5, when she was seen carrying the beaming boy while wearing a baggy black Wu-Tang Clan top as she was seen leaving a meal at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica.
The Umbrella singer wasn't particularly subtle on August 12 of last year, nearly three months after she gave birth, when she stepped out in New York City in a baggy white RZA T-shirt.
The whole clan: The group are pictured in 2007 - RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa (left-right)
Recent: RZA is pictured performing in Aukland in May
The extent of Rihanna's fandom for RZA and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan isn't totally clear.
Her partner Rocky is definitely a fan, though, as he previously collaborated with Raekwon from the rap group on the 2015 song Fly International Luxurious Art.
Wu-Tang Clan are one of the most iconic rap groups of all time, both as a collective and as solo artists and producers.
RZA, real name Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, is the most prominent members, having produced most albums for the group and its respective members. He has released solo music under the name Bobby Digital.
A$AP Mob, the collective that Rocky belongs to, also earned comparisons to the legendarily hip hop group early in its existence.
Like Wu-Tang, the group features a string of high-profile core members, along with peripheral members who are featured less frequently.
RZA almost had an opportunity to collaborate with Rihanna, but on screen instead of in the studio.
Wink wink: One of Rihanna's recent hints about her son's secret name was on April 5, when she was seen carrying the beaming boy while wearing a baggy black Wu-Tang Clan top as she was seen leaving a meal at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica
Back in 2008, the rapper told MTV News — which is now being shut down by Paramount Global after a 36-year run — that he hoped to film a remake of the 1985 kung-fu comedy The Last Dragon with Rihanna appearing in it.
She would have taken on the role of a video show host and singer, much like in the original film.
'That's the one I'm rooting for,' he said of the Barbados-born songstress. 'We're keeping that same concept of the girl being in the music business.'
However, in a fit of particularly bad taste, RZA later suggested to XXL in 2009 that Rihanna's ex Chris Brown should star with her in the film, even though he had beaten her severely enough to require a trip to the hospital just months earlier.
The film, which had already cast Samuel L. Jackson, never came to fruition.
She gave them all the clues: The Umbrella singer wasn't particularly subtle on August 12 of last year, nearly three months after she gave birth, when she stepped out in New York City in a baggy white RZA T-shirt
It's unclear if Rihanna plans to be as secretive about her second child's name.
She revealed that she and Rocky were expecting again when she debuted a new baby bump during her show-stopping Super Bowl halftime performance on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
During her stunning appearance at the Met Gala with her boyfriend, Rihanna shared with ET that her latest pregnant was 'so different' from the first one.
'No cravings. Tons of nausea. Everything's different, but I'm enjoying it,' she explained.
She added that she was 'in love' with her littlest one. 'I'm obsessed and I don't even feel guilty about it,' she said.
On record: Rihanna's partner Rocky is definitely a Wu-Tang, as he previously collaborated with Raekwon from the rap group on the 2015 song Fly International Luxurious Art
What might have been: Back in 2008, RZA told MTV News that he hoped to film a remake of the 1985 kung-fu comedy The Last Dragon with Rihanna appearing in it; seen April 5 in Santa Monica
Rihanna is being similarly tight-lipped about baby number two, and she has not yet revealed its sex.
Some fans thought she might have hinted that she was expecting a girl after she was seen looking at pink baby clothes last month.
However, she had also been spotted looking at girl clothes prior to welcome RZA, so she might have been shopping for someone else's baby.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been friends and collaborators for more than a decade, and they even attended red-carpet events together in recent years, but it wasn't until late 2020 that they officially became a couple.
What was he thinking? In a fit of particularly bad taste, RZA later suggested to XXL in 2009 that Rihanna's ex Chris Brown should star with her in the film, even though he had beaten her severely enough to require a trip to the hospital just months earlier; seen April 15 in LA
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