Raekwon & Skyzoo Tear Down L.A.‘s House of Blues (Event Coverage & Video)

If you're a fan of real hip-hop and you weren't at L.A.'s House of Blues on Wednesday night, I won't lie, you missed out. Not to rub it in, but yours truly was in attendance for the a show that was about as real as it gets, thanks to blistering sets from up-and-comer Skyzoo and legendary Wu-Tang emcee Raekwon. If there's still anyone claiming that hip-hop is dead, then Wednesday night was a heartbeat so loud you could hear it from blocks away (my ears are still ringing).

Touring in support of his new album "The Salvation", Brooklyn born and bred emcee Skyzoo started off the night with a set that got the crowds off the wall and away from the bar (not a small feat) and he showcased his commanding stage show and always on point rhymes. This may have been his first time performing in Los Angeles, but the man obviously knew a few things about how to make the hometown crowd happy, expertly mixing in some local flavor (a.k.a. he played "California Love" and everyone went pistachios) along with his own material. L.A. crowds are notoriously hard to get hyped, but Skyzoo assuredly won over more than a few fans.

As good as Skyzoo was, the real story of the night was Raekwon. You can instantly tell when a seasoned performer steps on the stage, and Raekwon looked as comfortable in front of the crowd as is he was in his own living room, though by his admission the alcohol he'd consumed backstage may have helped. While The Chef made sure to play some tracks off his newly classic album "Only Built for Cuban Linx 2", he also dipped into the Wu-Tang vault, illiciting near riots when he launched intro "C.R.E.A.M." and "Da Mystery of Chessboxin". On a side note, the man does a mean Ol' Dirty Bastard impression. I guess if anyone could pull off an ODB verse it'd be him. Check out some live video of the performance below (shout out to 57th Avenue for the footage).

"Catalina"


'Heaven and Hell"