Wu-Tang Clan, Nas join to bring New York State of Mind to Pine Knob
Protect ya neck for this 'Illmatic' pairing of hip-hop history makers, headed to Pine Knob this summer.
Adam GrahamA pair of New York rap icons are joining forces for a tour that will make its way to Metro Detroit this summer.
Wu-Tang Clan and Nas will bring their NY State of Mind tour to Pine Knob on Sept. 3, promoters announced Tuesday.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. April 26.
Tuesday's announcement was teased Monday on Pine Knob's social channels, with lyrics from both Wu-Tang and Nas posted over pictures of the New York City skyline.
Both Wu-Tang and Nas emerged out of New York's rap scene in the early-to-mid 1990s, Wu-Tang with its kung-fu inspired debut album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" in November 1993 and Nas with his landmark debut "Illmatic" just six months later.
In the decades since, Wu-Tang's presence has been sporadic and Nas' has been steady, but both remain titans in hip-hop.
Wu-Tang's last area visit was a May 2019 concert at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, a 25th anniversary tour behind "36 Chambers"; a planned March concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was canceled. The collective last played Pine Knob, then-DTE Energy Music Theatre, in 2007.
Nas performed in Detroit in November when he headlined the Fox Theatre on the tour behind "King's Disease II," one of two albums he released in 2021. The "One Mic" rapper last played DTE in July 2019 with Mary J. Blige.
agraham@detroitnews.com
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