By Daniel Paiz

**TW: mental health, suicide**

Both items that may be triggering are briefly mentioned in the opening section

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Run the Jewels and Wu-Tang Clan shows community is vital during 4th of July concert Friday night. Killer Mike and El-P of RTJ expressed how much they appreciate the crowd there, and also how important it is to communicate with each other. Mike brought up the passing of Young Noble, a member of Tupac’s group Outlawz who took his own life today, and how vital it is for folks to check on each other. There’s still this stereotype in 2025 of not needing help from others, but Young Noble was another example of how untrue that is.

Wu-Tang Clan’s orchestrator of sounds and music the RZA brought up how good it was to see all these fans together in one place. He briefly brought up how he has family that have served as police officers and military personnel, so he celebrates the 4th of July. It felt odd considering RTJ’s set minutes earlier, but let’s rewind the night from the beginning.

Step into the spotlight…Run the Jewels

There wasn’t really an “opener” per se for this concert, as RTJ came off more as co-headliners than openers. Mike and El certainly spoke as if they were openers, but their performance showed otherwise. Enthusiastically rapping back and forth like a well-oiled machine, this dangerous duo jumped all around their catalogue in typical RTJ fashion. Trackstar the DJ guided the emcees from one song to another, occasionally showcasing his dynamic scratching skills.

Mike delivered his usual candor and honesty about three-quarters of the way through the set, stating that he needed to have an intervention with himself about something he occasionally does:

(1st Mike): Mike, we can’t get this high before the show.

(2nd Mike): Why not, Mike?

(1st Mike): Because when we get high, we wanna run all over, and then Jaime has to chase us down, and we are a big man to chase down.

El-P: I’d like to join this conversation…

That honesty and authenticity is something you never have to seek out as a fan witnessing the head jewel runners in concert. Tracks they performed ranged from “Sea Legs” to “J.U.S.T” to “Stay Gold”, and many more from their first four albums. Most tracks did seem to come from Run The Jewels 2 and Run The Jewels 4, but 1 and 3 had some representation as well.

The set felt short at around an hour or so; however, it was a standard RTJ effort and set the stage nicely for a group speaking about the final chamber.

Protect Ya Neck, it’s the Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang Clan’s sets do not differ much after multiple experiences. For first timers, that set is likely amazing and fantastic and some form of what they were hoping for. For someone like me who has now experienced the Wu four times, it is slightly endearing and yet slightly off-putting at the same time. Yes, when something works, many would mention there’s no reason to change it. However, when things stay the same, they begin to lose some luster.

RZA in his head conductor role took the stage first and rapped and welcomed the crowd. As the music rolled along, so too did other members; GZA, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Inspectah Deck slowly entered the stage. U-God, Masta Killa, and YDB (the son of ODB who is a spitting image of his dad) all joined next. Cappadonna popped up slightly after these three.

Then, the evergreen question of the night played out for a few songs: would Method Man be there? Sometimes Meth shows, sometimes he is filming something or has a scheduled conflict of some kind elsewhere. RZA tricked the crowd, because it seemed too long for Meth to show up. However, show up M-E-T-H-O-D Man did.

What dictates who likely has the best individual performance of the night honestly hinges on if Method Man is there. For the shows I’ve witnessed without him, GZA and YDB tend to win the night, with close finishes from Rae and Ghost. When Meth is there, it seems to be the man of Tical and YDB who bring the house down.

This time, things seemed to feel different.

YDB and GZA seemed like they had the best performative consistency of the night, with a photo finish follow-up from Inspectah Deck. Don’t get me wrong, Ghost and Raekwon delivering their dynamic duo mini set was impressive as always. But, GZA seemed ready to go, and Inspectah Deck reminded the crowd how he’s always rapping (CZARFACE, guest features, Deck gets busy).

Every song you think of when it comes to Wu-Tang Clan pretty much graced the stage. The visuals for the performances behind the nine members were quite good. However, it did get kind of odd a few times. Wu-Tang seems to have grown bigger from just a rap collective to also being a brand. So, that means there are other aspects to highlight. Aspects such as movies, video games, and other forms of media.

It felt awkward to get ads for these things during Wu’s set. Some press is better than no press is still a common belief today, but it felt odd. Add in the performance Run the Jewels delivered minutes prior, and that made this part stick out even more. One can understand that breaks are needed for members of the Wu, especially with temperatures being above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. For this fan who’s experienced these guys several times it felt out of character. People have to make a living though, so while it was strange, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

After a night of heat both on and off the stage, fans in Denver once again witnessed two amazing Hip-Hop groups. Each collective largely delivered with their respective discographies. If this truly is the final chamber for the Wu, it was an evening to remember.