MUSIC: GZA Enlightens Minds At Fete

MUSIC: GZA Enlightens Minds At Fete

This past Friday at the Fete Lounge in the Olneyville section of Providence, GZA from The Wu-Tang Clan graced the room with his intellectual presence to an excited crowd. Last year he sold out Firehouse 13, so you knew coming in that it was going to be one hell of a time. New Hampshire's Eyenine and fellow New York City rappers Ratking were opening up the show as well, the feeling was just right for genuine hip-hop to be laid down for the masses.

Eyenine

A couple DJ's started the show off by spinning all sorts of awesome hip-hop, funk and jazz tracks and then Eyenine took to the stage with his crazy curly haired fro and ballistic lyrics. "Wasted", "Typewriter", "Teeth", "Cataract Vision", a amazing lightning fast freestyle and "We're Alive" had me thinking that this kid drank 8 pots of coffee and topped it off with a bunch of ritalin before the show, very intense and he definitely made his presence felt. Eyenine has a new album coming out this year, I can't wait for it and I'm amped to see what the album is like.

Ratking

Straight from the hoods of NYC, Ratking came up next and this duo possessed an old-school dub style to their sound that I found to be very interesting and then the beats came and it was a full arsenal of rhymes that got the room in a trance. Reminding me a little bit of Alt-J and Das Racist, Ratking had a chill set with "Snow Beach", "Piece Of Shit", "Eat", "Cocoa 88", "Comic", "So It Goes", "Protein" and "Canal". 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for music of all kinds, and Ratking are putting out a new album later this year so keep your eyes peeled for some electric relaxation.

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GZA

After a little while of old-school hip-hop going through the speakers courtesy of the DJ and making everyone going absolutely crazy along with a couple hype men in Bad Lad and Kurt Dominant getting the crowd revved up, GZA came up on stage and the crowd went wild. You could have heard what was going on in Fete all the way down in Westerly, it was that loud. "Luminal", "Living In The World Today", "Gold", "Cold World", "4th Chamber", "Shadowboxin'", "I Gotcha Back" with GZA immersing himself into the packed audience and going right into Wu-Tang's "Clan In Da Front", "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit" and then returning to the stage with "Crash Your Crew", "Guillotine (Swordz)", Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", "Ice Cream", "Protect Ya Neck", "Reunited", "Liquid Swords" and "Triumph" for a memorable performance.

Bad Lad then went up and started freestyling to the beat and then people in the crowd started getting in on the action, even Eyenine came back on stage to spit some hot fire into the mic, absolutely insane. GZA then grabbed the mix again to throw down "Illusory Protection (War Drumz)" to finish off a show that I'll never forget. A cool time that was all sorts of in your face, log on to fetemusic.com and check out whats happening next at one of the coolest places to catch a show in Providence.