Hip-hop belongs to the world now, but there is no denying that its ancestral home is New York.
On Tuesday, rap legends Wu-Tang Clan and Nas announced they’re co-headlining a tour guaranteed to remind those who may have forgotten the state’s importance to the art form.
RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Raekwon, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna — who emerged from the slums of Shaolin (New York’s Staten Island) like the Voltron lions to form the rap supergroup Wu-Tang Clan — and Brooklyn-born, Queensbridge bred (raised in Queens, New York’s infamous Queensbridge Houses public housing development) Nas, NY State of Mind tour is slated to launch late in the summer.
The 25-city tour begins Aug. 30 in St. Louis, Missouri, before making stops across North America including Atlanta, Toronto and Houston before wrapping up Oct. 4 in Los Angeles.
The first official tour featuring the two icons, however, will not include any shows in their native New York.
Both acts began their careers with genre-defining albums in the 1990s. Wu-Tang Clan’s kung-fu crossed with hardcore hip-hop-inspired debut "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" dropped in November 1993, and Nas’ “Illmatic” hit the airwaves six months later.
"Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” ranks 27th on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while Billboard wrote in 2015 that “'Illmatic' is widely seen as the best hip-hop album ever.” It was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2020, and last week it was announced that “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” would be receiving the same honor.
Nas, who earned his first-ever Grammy Award for best rap album in March for his twelfth solo studio album, King's Disease, has appeared as a featured artist on several tracks by members of Wu-Tang Clan as well as with the whole group on a song titled "Let My N—- Live" off Wu-Tang Clan's 2000 album The W. He also appeared as himself in the 2019 Showtime documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men to speak about his time working with the group.
The first official tour featuring the two icons, however, will not include any shows in their native New York.
Both acts began their careers with genre-defining albums in the 1990s. Wu-Tang Clan’s kung-fu crossed with hardcore hip-hop-inspired debut "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" dropped in November 1993, and Nas’ “Illmatic” hit the airwaves six months later.
Courtesy Live Nation |
"Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” ranks 27th on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while Billboard wrote in 2015 that “'Illmatic' is widely seen as the best hip-hop album ever.” It was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2020, and last week it was announced that “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” would be receiving the same honor.
Nas, who earned his first-ever Grammy Award for best rap album in March for his twelfth solo studio album, King's Disease, has appeared as a featured artist on several tracks by members of Wu-Tang Clan as well as with the whole group on a song titled "Let My N—- Live" off Wu-Tang Clan's 2000 album The W. He also appeared as himself in the 2019 Showtime documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men to speak about his time working with the group.
NY STATE OF MIND TOUR DATES:
Tue Aug 30 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre*
Thu Sep 01 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center*
Fri Sep 02 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre*
Sat Sep 03 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre^
Sun Sep 04 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage^
Wed Sep 07 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center*
Thu Sep 08 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion*
Fri Sep 09 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre*
Sat Sep 10 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center*
Tue Sep 13 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center^
Wed Sep 14 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach*
Fri Sep 16 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live*
Sat Sep 17 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek*
Sun Sep 18 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion*
Tue Sep 20 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre*
Wed Sep 21 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
Thu Sep 22 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre*
Sat Sep 24 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center^
Sun Sep 25 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater^
Mon Sep 26 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion*
Thu Sep 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion*
Fri Sep 30 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre*
Sat Oct 01 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena^
Sun Oct 02 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre*
Tue Oct 04 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl*
TICKETS: Tickets go on sale starting Tuesday, April 26th at 10am local at livenation.com
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