Back in 1995, Loud Records were continuing to make history as they released two of the most influential Hip-Hop albums of all-time: Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… and Mobb Deep’s The Infamous. These two albums would help shape the sound of ’90s Hip-Hop and would go on to have a monumental impact on the culture. Raekwon’s album would open a new chamber in the Wu-Tang mythos, introducing a mafioso style of rap inspired by mob flicks, which would influence artists like Jay-Z, Nas and The Notorious B.I.G., while The Infamous could be seen as a comeback album for Mobb Deep that saw them emerge as leaders in hardcore street rap, and further elevating Queens as one of the strongest New York boroughs when it comes to Hip-Hop. With both albums celebrating their 30th anniversaries in 2025, Mobb Deep’s last surviving member, Havoc, has joined forces with Raekwon for a co-headlining tour to mark the occasion.

Although this tour would be mainly focused on celebrating the classics, both Mobb Deep and Raekwon have been heavily active in recent years. Both have performed in Toronto on separate occasions just last year, with Raekwon hitting the Opera House in August 2024 and Mobb Deep’s Havoc performing at The Phoenix Concert Theatre last December, and Raekwon has also joined the Wu-Tang Clan on The Final Chamber Tour, this stretch of time being a break between the North American and the European/Asian/Australian legs of that tour. Not only have they been touring heavily, but they’ve also continued to make waves in the studio, each being a part of Mass Appeal Records’ Legend Has It series, which has seen new album releases in 2025 from legends like Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah, De La Soul, a posthumous album from Big L, and a future release from the label head himself, Nas, dropping later this month. As part of this run, Raekwon released his eighth solo album, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and Mobb Deep released its first (and possibly last) album with authentic posthumous contributions from Prodigy, Infinite, arming them with new music to celebrate on this tour as well.

While this show at HISTORY wasn’t quite sold-out, the venue still got fairly packed on a Tuesday night with Hip-Hop heads of all ages; you had the core fanbase with fans in their 30s-50s, some younger heads in their teens or 20s possibly getting their first opportunity to see Raekwon and Mobb Deep perform live, and even a toddler enjoying the show from their dad’s shoulders. The show would get started with some Toronto legends warming up the stage, with DJ Mastermind spinning classic Hip-Hop records and Kardinal Offishall hyping up the crowd between songs. Even when he’s not performing his own songs, Kardi still knows how to get a crowd energized, as he had us vibing with Mastermind as they played hits by Jay-Z, Nas, KRS-One, and would close out their set with Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.” (for the Toronto heads: CL Smooth will be performing at The Phoenix Concert Theatre December 19th, tickets here).

After the quick warm up by Kardi & Mastermind, DJ Scratch would take over the main set of turntables at the top of the stage, along with drummer Medrick Greely getting set up behind a drum set to the side of the stage. Scratch would play an epic introduction with music from The Matrix Revolutions, building up the hype as he announced the artists and albums we were there to celebrate, and both Havoc and Raekwon would come out to grace the stage together!

Going into this show, there was no telling how it would be structured, whether it would simply be two separate sets between Raekwon & Havoc, but the crowd got hyped once they saw both emcees would be sharing the stage together at the same time, each wearing #30 football jerseys with their album titles on the front. They’d let Raekwon kick it off with a couple Only Built 4 Cuban Linx joints, as he covered Ghostface Killah’s verse on “Ice Water” followed by his opening verse on “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” all while casually holding a cigar and glass of whisky in one hand. Havoc would follow up with one of the most epic moments right out the gate, as he’d perform The Infamous deep cut “Right Back At You,” and seasoned heads recognized the rarity of being able to see this song performed live with Raekwon there to perform his & Ghostface Killah’s featured verse. To make it even more epic, this is where Mobb Deep affiliate Big Noyd made his entrance on the third verse, getting a big reaction out of the crowd as he graced the stage.

While Big Noyd has been known to tour heavily with Mobb Deep in the late Prodigy’s absence, he’d fall back this time and let Raekwon & Havoc own the spotlight, as the two would go back and forth like it was a live Verzuz event. Rae would perform both his own & Ghostface’s verses off “Criminology,” and Havoc would follow with both his own & Prodigy’s verses off “Survival of the Fittest,” each emcee nailing the verses raw with minimal backup from each other. Rae would perform “Knowledge God,” and Havoc would cover Prodigy’s epic verse from “G.O.D. Pt. 3,” the crowd of course joining in to help cover P’s vocals. Not afraid to embrace imperfection, Raekwon would restart “Glaciers of Ice” midway after tripping up his vocals, coming back to nail both is own and Masta Killa’s verses on the song like a true professional, and Havoc would follow up with “Temperature’s Rising.” Raekwon would then get the crowd engaged by having them help him cover Inspectah Deck’s standout verse on “Guillotine (Swordz)” before him and Havoc would leave the stage for an interlude.

While the songs on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and The Infamous are mostly rugged and hardcore, Raekwon & Havoc wanted to bring some celebratory energy to the stage, and so they let DJ Scratch & Medrick Greely take over for a segment of ’70s and ’80s vibes. Scratch would cut up some Funk and Disco records on the turntables, along with the Hip-Hop records that sampled them (some Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC), while Medrick Greely went off on the drums to get the crowd moving. Eventually Raekwon & Havoc would return to the stage in a new set of outfits, now rocking Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 30th anniversary merch, and the crowd got turned up as they opened their second set with Mobb Deep’s “It’s Mine.”

Rather than trading songs 1 for 1, Havoc & Raekwon would take turns dropping several songs back to back. With “It’s Mine” coming from Mobb Deep’s 1999 album, Murda Muzik, Havoc would continue to go through his group’s extended discography, next taking it to 1996 with “Drop A Gem On ‘Em,” followed by a rare Hell On Earth album cut Raekwon said was one of his favourites, “More Trife Life.” Havoc would then take it back to The Infamous with “Eye For A Eye (Your Beef Is Mines),” and this would be used to pass the mic to Raekwon, as he of course features on the last verse of the song.

When Raekwon took over, he’d keep it strictly with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, performing fan favourites off the album like “Rainy Dayz,” his verse on the Wu-Tang posse cut “Wu Gambinos,” and “Heaven And Hell.” Some may have been thinking after the latter track that it would be a good spot to place Mobb Deep’s “Hell On Earth” in the setlist, but before we got there, Raekwon would rock one last Cuban Linx standout, getting the fans to help him cover the Nas verse on “Verbal Intercourse” before nailing his own verse. Havoc would then get to perform “Hell On Earth,” getting the fans to wave their arms to the beat, and him and Rae would continue to steer away from the predictable.

Raekwon would next perform his verse on Ghostface Killah’s “Daytona 500,” although it looked like him and DJ Scratch weren’t in-sync, as he gave a signal to cut the beat so he could rap acapella, but instead ended up rapping over the full track with his recorded vocals still on it. This is a big no-no for most emcees, but Rae was able to power through it, delivering sharp vocals on the mic that cut through and were timed well to avoid the sound clutter you’d expect when that happens. Rae & Hav would then take a moment to highlight their new music from 2025, Havoc performing the Infinite album intro “Against The World,” followed by a song that got the ladies in the building grooving, the Jorja Smith-assisted “Down For You.” The ladies segment was short-lived though, as Raekwon would come back with the hard-hitting “Bear Hill” off of The Emperor’s New Clothes, complete with horror imagery shown on the screen behind him, getting heads nodding to the beat.

Throwing another curveball at us, Raekwon & Havoc next brought out a special surprise guest, Queens, New York’s own Cormega, who also happened to pop out at both of their previous concerts in Toronto last year. Coming out to kill the mic for one long verse, Cormega performed his song “Beautiful Mind,” getting DJ Scratch to cut the beat off half way so he could spit it acapella. He’d get some love from the crowd, as well as both Raekwon & Havoc, and would step to the back of the stage so Havoc could take over again. Havoc & Raekwon would go back and forth for a few more songs, mellowing out the crowd with Mobb Deep’s “Get Away” followed by Raekwon covering Ghostface Killah’s verse on “Can It Be All So Simple Remix,” and they’d turn the crowd back up with the hype “Quiet Storm.”

Next would be a segment for tributes and shoutouts, as Raekwon took a moment to reflect on losing loved ones, acknowledging losses between both groups on stage with Mobb Deep’s Prodigy having passed away in 2017, and the Wu-Tang Clan losing Ol’ Dirty Bastard back in ’04. He’d also give shoutouts and show love to the local Toronto artists and DJs who came out to support, including Mastermind and his Loud Records jacket, between performing covers to honour Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang’s fallen members, including Prodigy’s solo track “Keep It Thoro” and ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” DJ Mastermind would give that love right back, as they took a moment for him to wheel out and present a couple cakes honouring The Infamous and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (aka The Purple Tape). With cake on the mind, DJ Scratch would get back into the show by dropping Raekwon’s “Ice Cream” for him to cover Ghostface Killah’s opening verse to.

Continuing on, Big Noyd would rejoin Raekwon & Havoc on stage as Havoc performed a couple Mobb Deep tracks with featured verses from him, including “Give Up The Goods (Just Step)” and “The Learning (Burn),” the crowd turning up as Noyd brought a ton of energy to the stage. The live drumming from Medrick Greely especially stood out here, as Havoc would rap the third verse on “Give Up The Goods” over nothing but the drums, and it transitioned smoothly into “The Learning.” Nearing the end of the set, the biggest hits between Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang would drop, as Raekwon got into a performance of “C.R.E.A.M.,” doing both his own and Inspectah Deck’s verses on the song with the crowd filling in bars for him, and Havoc got the crowd bouncing to Mobb’s 2004 hit “Got It Twisted.” Mentioning that they were going well over their time on stage, Raekwon would follow up with “Triumph,” only covering Inspectah Deck’s iconic opening verse, and Havoc would close out the show with an epic performance of one of Hip-Hop’s all-time greatest anthems, “Shook Ones Pt. II,” getting the crowd to wave their hands to the beat. They’d then thank the fans one last time before heading backstage.

Overall, this was as epic of a celebration as you could get for The Infamous and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, knowing that Mobb Deep no longer has Prodigy with them and Raekwon is left to tour solo with the rest of Wu-Tang doing their own solo endeavors. The combination is dope to see on stage, and it works well as both Havoc and Raekwon do a good job of covering their fellow group members’ verses while getting the crowd involved. These two albums capture the essence of raw, authentic Hip-Hop, and the performance on stage reflected this too, as you simply had a DJ, the only other instrument on stage being drums to give the beats an added kick, and two emcees spitting (mostly) raw raps without any flashy stage production or special effects.

If I had one gripe, it would be not seeing as many collaborations or mash-ups between Raekwon & Havoc even though they shared the stage together; there’s a video online of Rae spitting his verse from “C.R.E.A.M.” over the beat from “Shook Ones Pt. II,” and it would’ve been dope to see moments like that happen live on stage. For those who were at Raekwon and Mobb Deep’s recent shows in Toronto last year, a lot of the songs they performed were done the same way as always, with one of the unique factors being Havoc & Raekwon having each other to rock the few collaborative tracks they both appear on (although “Nighttime Vultures” was left off the setlist). Only seasoned fans who’ve seen Raekwon and Havoc perform live before could have that gripe though, as fans seeing them for the first time got an absolutely epic experience, and even the seasoned fans got to see rare gems like “Wu-Gambinos” and “More Trife Life” thrown in with the expected hits and classics.

The Infamous/OB4CL 30th Anniversary Tour continues through the east coast! Tour dates and tickets can be found here.

Check out this playlist of Wu-Tang concert videos from all the times I’ve seen them over the years.

Check out this playlist of Mobb Deep concert videos from all the times I’ve seen them over the years.

Check out the SYpherSights Youtube channel for more concert videos.

Also follow SYpherSights on social media below:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram