Clan in the front, all others to the back!
The ever-popular party-at-home Instagram Live series Verzuz will be taking it back to the streets with its next music battle, Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah and Raekwon are set to face off against each other this weekend.
Billboard reports that after the soulful debut of D’Angelo and Friends, Verzuz founders Swizz Beats and Timbaland announced in a post-show Instagram Live that the Clan rappers would be up next in an epic “Wu versus Wu” showdown.
“Raekwon vs. Ghostface, hold on bro,” Swizz exclaimed to Timbaland while they played snippets of each rapper’s songs. “Let’s take it back to the streets! Let’s take it back to the streets. What we talkin’ about, New York City? Staten Island stand up! Wu vs. Wu. Raekwon vs. Ghostface Killah. ... Dates to come.”
Both rappers have previously contributed to each other’s individual project, Raekwon adding his flavor to Ghostface’s 1996 album Ironman and Ghostface appearing on Raekwon’s 1995 Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album. The latter of which just turned 25 last year. Reflecting on the iconic album and his career overall, Raekwon told DJ Booth:
“When you’re in the streets all day,that’s a job, but that’s not a legal job. That job consists of risk. Once we were able to get a record deal, I felt confident that, you know, if the police happen to run up on me, I could be like, ‘Yo, I’m not out here throwing my life away. I have a job; I have something I have to do every day that requires my time, and it pays me.’
He later added, “The accolades are cool, but you always wanna show the world that you got ‘it’ and you got what it takes to be one of the best. That was the biggest thing I’ve ever wanted, for people to know I’m taking it seriously and that I bust my ass making an album I felt was dope. You always want to make sure people respect, what I call, your mustache.”
To catch Ghostface Killah and Raekwon (virtually) battle it out, be sure to tune into the official Verzuz Instagram page this Saturday starting at 8 p.m. ET