Last year, Rock The Bells’ “Festival Series” was scaled back to just four dates (two on each coast) and introduced one of its strongest selling points — classic artists performing classic albums in their entirety. Among the highlights — Snoop Dogg performing Doggystyle with the late Warren G and other Dogg Pound members; Wu-Tang doing Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) with Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s son, Boy Jones; and KRS-One, Rakim and Slick Rick re-creating their albums that helped shape Hip Hop to come. The four-date 2011 fest series (which began last weekend) features more heavyweight artists playing their legendary full-lengths, including Lauryn Hill, Nas and Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s Black Star.
This year’s club tour version of RTB showcases two other acts performing on the 2011 fest dates — Wu-Tang’s Raekwon, who is joined by Wu pal/collaborator Ghostface to re-create his 1995 solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and Mobb Deep, who will deliver its breakthrough ’95 set The Infamous from start to finish.
The full-album-live concept is a cool twist to shake things up for fans and artists’ touring regimens, but is there a danger that the trend might trap some acts in nostalgia at the cost of new material? Maybe. While Mobb Deep is working on a new release, Raekwon is coming off touring duties for his latest release — Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … Pt. II. And his other big project? A movie about his past (starring Cee Lo Green as his father). Seems The Chef’s future will have to wait until his legacy victory lap runs its course.
