• AOL
  • MAIL
    • You might also like: 
    • Music | 
    • Movies | 
    • TV | 
    • Celebrity
    •  and More
    • Main
    • News
    • Features
      • The Hit List
      • Spinner Interview
      • Potent Quotables
      • Guest Blogger
    • Songs
      • MP3 of the Day
      • Listening Party
      • What's That Song?
    • Videos
      • The Interface
      • Sessions
      • Video of the Day
    • Our Widgets
      • iPhone App
      • Radio Toolbar
    • Send Feedback

    Spinner Exclusives

    • The Interface - Live Performances
    • Listening Parties - New CDS for Free
    • Spinner Radio
    • Listening Parties - New CDS for Free

    Features

    • Bad Song, Good Band
    • Bands With Brothers
    • Banned Bands
    • Outrageous Tribute Bands
    • Sad Songs
    • Worst Lyrics Ever

    All Categories

    • Spinner Says(7)
    • All About Jazz(26)
    • Clash of the Cover Art(1)
    • Lyrics(4)
    • Music A-Z(24)
    • New Releases(53)
    • Quizzes & Trivia(2)
    • Album(110)
    • Around the World(147)
    • Book Club(57)
    • Canada(317)
    • Celebrity Doppelganger(13)
    • Clash of the Cover Songs(45)
    • Coming Out Stories(20)
    • Concerts and Tours(1662)
    • Count Five(63)
    • Country(45)
    • Electronic(274)
    • Exclusive(2428)
    • Free MP3 Download of the Day(897)
    • Grammy Awards(87)
    • Guest Blogger(61)
    • Holy Hell(644)
    • I Fought the Law(31)
    • I Freakin' Love This Song(238)
    • Jazz(16)
    • Laugh, Rage, Cry(6)
    • Movies(163)
    • Music Appreciation(50)
    • New Music(304)
    • News(4706)
    • Politics as Usual(19)
    • Pop Culture(40)
    • Potent Quotables(613)
    • R.I.P.(183)
    • Road Report(17)
    • Rock Almanac(366)
    • Rock Hall(29)
    • RPM(25)
    • Schwag Hag(37)
    • Songs(201)
    • Spinner Interview(110)
    • Television(94)
    • The Chum Bucket(605)
    • The Crap Stack(17)
    • The Hit List(1127)
    • Total Dick Move(2)
    • Twisted Tales(125)
    • UK(512)
    • Video(922)
    • Video of the Day(706)
    • Wacked News(190)
    • What's That Song?(79)

    GZA and Cool Kids Prove the Best Things at NXNE Are Free

    • Posted on Jun 22nd 2009 2:15PM by Drew Berner
    • Comments (0)
    Print |  Email More
    A concert featuring blog-rappers the Cool Kids and Wu-Tang Clan legend GZA might look at first glance to be a passing of the hip-hop torch, but GZA isn't giving it up quite so easily.

    GZA, aka Gary Grice, rocked a crowd of thousands at Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square on Sunday to mark the end of another NXNE, giving everyone who showed up for the free show exactly what they wanted. The old-school traditionalists got a set heavy with classics from the Wu-Tang catalog and his seminal album 'Liquid Swords,' while new-school fans were thrilled by the now-ubiquitous presence of King Khan, who brought his dime-store guitar to the stage for a handful of tracks.

    The show opened with the classic '4th Chamber,' and the laid-back beat and Khan's twangy guitar built excitement from the start. Other highlights of the woefully short 40-minute set included 'Liquid Swords,' the call-and-response of 'Clan in Da Front' and a tribute to fallen comrade Ol' Dirty Bastard on his classic 'Shimmy Shimmy Ya.'

    Just as satisfying as the ageless rhymes was GZA's appreciation for the fans who came to see him. When the organizers told him he had five more minutes, he brushed them off and did 10, and when the set finished, he spent several more minutes shaking hands and signing autographs.

    When he finally left the stage, clearly exhausted and deserving of a rest, hands rose throughout the crowd to form Wu-Tang "W" symbols out of respect for the rap legend.

    The Cool Kids took a totally different tack to their set, evoking images of old-time comedy duos with the onstage banter and back-and-forth rhyming. Where GZA draws fans who were listening to rap in the early '90s, Cool Kids attract kids who were born in the early '90s.

    Their music references the hip hop '80s, when rapping about parties and girls was the name of the game, so it wasn't surprising that the composition of the crowd itself changed drastically between sets. The hip-hop heads were replaced by legions who looked like they'd stepped out of a Bobby Brown video or an episode of 'In Living Color' -- all high-top fades, neon outfits and retro Run-DMC glasses.

    The duo -- Chuck Inglish and Mickey Rocks -- ran through the entirety of their EP and mixtape onstage, earning plenty of appreciation from the crowd. Tracks like '88' and 'Black Mags' got the most noise, while their slow-and-low beats had the folks dancing in the streets.

    And then, just like that, their set was over, and with it went another NXNE. But fans couldn't have asked for a better closing show than GZA and Cool Kids. It was free, it was mixed up and it was awesome. And that's pretty much what NXNE is all about.
    • Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Live It Out, Canada
    • Share & Bookmark :
      Print |  Email More

    Add your comments

    • New Users
    • Returning Users
    • AOL/AIM Screenname

    If you are posting a comment for the first time, please enter your name and email address in the fields above. Your name will be displayed with your comment. Your email address will never be displayed.

    Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Off-topic, promotional or otherwise inappropriateinappropriate comments will be removed.

    When you enter your name and email address for the first time, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, as well as a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

    Follow US

    Facebook
    Twitter
    RSS
    • Contact Us
    • Send News Tips
    • Advertise with Us

    Shop Now

    Listen to Full CDs

    • Hot Chip, 'One Life Stand'
    • Sade, 'Soldier of Love'Massive Attack, 'Heligoland'
    • Return of the Wu & Friends
    • Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
    • All Spinner Full CDs

    Relevant Posts

    • The Grammy Awards' Biggest Mistakes (13 days ago - 16 Comments)
    • Montreal's Red Mass Gives Broken Social Scene a Run for Their Money (47 days ago - 1 Comment)
    • Santigold Steps in to Produce Devo Tracks (33 days ago - 0 Comments)
    • Amanda Blank Is a Sex Machine (48 days ago - 2 Comments)

    Billboard

    • 1: Break, Three Days Grace
    • 2: Uprising, Muse
    • 3: Your Decision, Alice In Chains
    • 4: If You Only Knew, Shinedown
    • 5: (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To, Weezer
    • See All Top 100 Rock Albums at

    Hottest Artists on Tour: Lady GaGa, Taylor Swift, Pink, Black Eyed Peas, Kid Cudi,

    Also on AOL

    Quick Links

    • Celebrity Tattoos
    • Celebrities Without Makeup
    • Slipknot Masks
    • Christmas Music
    • 50s Music
    • 60s Music
    • 90s Music
    • 70s Music
    • 80s Music
    • Best Songs Of 2008
    • Horrorcore
    • Michael Jackson Songs

    Also on AOL Music

    • Concert Tickets
    • Country Music
    • Grammys
    • Hip Hop Music
    • Lyrics
    • Metal Music
    • Music News
    • Music Videos
    • New Music Releases
    • Online Radio
    • PopEater

    Blogs on AOL

    • Autoblog
    • Be Red
    • BloggingStocks
    • Cinematical
    • DownloadSquad
    • Engadget
    • Fanhouse
    • Joystiq
    • StyleList
    • TMZ

    More on AOL

    • African-American Culture
    • AOL Video
    • Breaking News
    • CityGuide
    • Food
    • Love
    • Media Player
    • Musica Latina
    • Pixcetera
    • Singles
    • Wallet Pop

    More on AOL

    • Television
    • Movies
    • Money
    • Mapquest
    • Horoscopes
    • Health
    • AOL Latino
    • Games
    • SHOUTcast

    Help Links

    • Advertise With Us
    • Mail
    • Notify AOL
    • Privacy Policy
    • Search
    • Terms of Service
    • Trademarks
    • Follow Spinner on Twitter
    • The Interface
    • Free Mp3
    • Full CDs
    • RSS
    • Terms of Use

    Spinner.com © 2009 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    Download and listen to free music, Internet radio and MP3s; or watch free music videos, concerts and live performances. Use the music search function and read the blog to find information on new, established and indie rock recording artists. Get free music downloads on the MP3 blog and more on Spinner.