Below is a stellar performance of Wu Tang's "Protect Ya Neck" by a London street busker and one-man-band, Lewis Floyd Henry.
The Soup (a good read on any day) supplied a great critique of NYC busker culture:
"When I see La Suena del Inka on the L platform, rocking pan flutes and a baritone 12-string uke (!), something larger stirs in me. There’s a multiculturalism there that the dum-dums of the rat race aren’t likely to expose themselves to, even with the aid of the Internet – there’s a spirit, something beyond the tunes."Wu Tang put us on the map in the early '90s. Their brand of spitfire verses, and cryptic soul samples signified a culture of its own - specifically underground hip-hop in the boroughs including Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten. It was an untapped market of creative genius. And it's nice to think of an SI export as multicultural on a London street corner.
The 'culture' attributed to our borough in the past few years has been decisively exploitative and of the outer-boro whitebread (or tanned) variety. But this is a passing fad. The authentic will always outlast the artificial. They will know us for something other than our vapid guido aesthetic.
Video:
Wu Tang Clan. Yeah I remember them from the Projects. Nothing but Mama's boys and not street at all. But they had Mafia connections that made them famous. Italian American Social Club, right next to da Projects.
ReplyDeleteThe Wus didn't hang out. They didn't deal or take drugs. They didn't get into trouble. They didn't have girlfriends. They were quiet kids. They stayed in their rooms, writing lyrics and watching kung-fu movies. Their whole image as thugs was MANUFACTURED. They were nothing like that in real life.
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