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Tag: prodigy

  • Wu-Tang’s Raekwon and Mobb Deep’s Havoc rock the stage at Tabernacle

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    The tour has already made stops in Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Detroit. There are dates in St. Petersburg and Miami after this show in Atlanta. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon and Mobb Deep’s Havoc hit the stage at Tabernacle on Thursday night. The tour stop was a celebration of three decades of hip-hop music and New York rap at its finest. From start to finish, the crowd was into the show for every minute. 

    Raekwon’s debut studio album, “Only Built For Cuban Linx,” was released on August 1, 1995, on Loud and RCA Records. Long before buying music involved tapping screens on your phone, albums were readily available in cassette form and could be purchased at your local Sam Goody. In New York City, they were also available at Beat Street, located in downtown Brooklyn. That’s where I bought the purple tape. If you know, you know. 

    “Cuban Linx” was distributed on a purple cassette, and not only did it look like nothing I had ever seen before, but it also sounded original in its own right. That music blasted from the speakers, and it felt nostalgic, according to Raekwon.

    “I’m feeling like I’m 17 years old right now,” he said, followed by a laugh. “What’s going on, I’m 56.” 

    Raekwin performed verses from “Glaciers of Ice,” “Verbal Intercourse,” and the classic, “Heaven & Hell.”

    Mr. Cheeks performed “Lights, Camera, Action” as a guest during the show on Thursday, December 11, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Mobb Deep’s second studio album, “The Infamous,” hit the streets on April 25, 1995. Hit songs from the album include “Survival of the Fittest,” “Eye for an Eye,” and the timeless track “Shook Ones Part II.” The latter remains one of the signature rap songs of the ’90s. All of those songs and more were performed on Thursday night.

    Both albums were brought to life despite the absence of Prodigy, the other half of Mobb Deep. Prodigy passed away in Las Vegas in 2017 at the age of 42. His signature flow, combined with Havoc’s production, was a key factor in the group’s consistent success, resulting in gold and platinum albums. 

    The set list also included “Right Back at You,” which featured Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Big Noyd, who accompanied Havoc on some songs while on stage. 

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The show was a New York show through and through. The special guests for the evening included Benny the Butcher, Cormega, and Mr. Cheeks. Each performed verses from popular songs, and all three were roundly applauded while on stage. When Cheeks performed two verses of “Lights, Camera, Action,” the hardcore hip hop show turned into a dance party.

    During the show, which was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but began at 9 p.m., Raekwon and Havoc performed songs not featured on their albums. On “It’s Mine” off the platinum-selling “Murda Muzik” album, Havoc performed his verse and brought the already standing crowd further on its feet. 

    There was a moment where it felt like prodigy was in the room when DJ Scratch played the beat to one of the new songs off the latest and most likely last Mobb Deep album, “The Infinite.” Prodigy’s verse on “Against the World” was rapped by the crowd word for word. 

    “One finger in the air for Prodigy,” said Havoc. “It’s Mobb Deep against the world.” 

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The tour has already made stops in Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Detroit. There are dates in St. Petersburg and Miami after this show in Atlanta. If they are lucky, it will be as good as this one was.

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • Loudoun Co. student gives back to middle school that sparked her interest in writing music – WTOP News

    Loudoun Co. student gives back to middle school that sparked her interest in writing music – WTOP News

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    Loudoun Valley High School senior Addison Miller started learning how to write her own music in middle school. Last fall, she conducted her own composition for the school’s orchestra.

    Addison Miller recently returned to the school that gave her the chance to capitalize on her creativity.(Courtesy Addison Miller)

    Bored of the music she was working with, Addison Miller started learning how to write her own as a student at Blue Ridge Middle School in Loudoun County, Virginia.

    She played the cello, and started recording herself playing different melodies. For fun, she recorded multitrack song covers. Sometimes, she’d look up sheet music of the baseline, then the melody line and the harmony line.

    Miller wondered if that was something she could do with her own music. That curiosity prompted her to write her first piece, called “Forest,” and show it to her teacher, who inquired whether it should be played at the spring concert.

    Miller conducted while her teacher played the cello, marking the first time she got to conduct her own piece.

    Addison Miller conducting a self-composed piece titled “The Final Encounter.” (Courtesy Addison Miller)

    Now a senior at Loudoun Valley High School, Miller is writing music for school plays and leading her peers. She’s auditioning for colleges, and still figuring out whether she wants to take the composition path, write music for movies or be a private teacher and performer simultaneously.

    “Composing has taught me to always jump at the opportunity, even if I’m unsure,” Miller said.

    When Miller was 4 years old, her parents bought her a toy piano, which sparked her interest in music. She started taking piano lessons soon thereafter, but said she quit, because she didn’t like the teacher telling her what to play.

    She decided to start playing the cello in the third grade, and has stuck to it ever since. After she finished writing her first piece, she had an itch to continue.

    “I just wanted to keep writing and keep experimenting,” Miller said.

    As an eighth grader, she wrote “Marvel’s Backup Song,” but it was never performed because the pandemic hit. That changed late last year.

    Jennifer Galang had Blue Ridge Middle’s orchestra learn the song, and invited Miller back to conduct. The students had been practicing and enjoying it, Galang told Miller.

    Addison Miller playing a cello on stage. (Courtesy Addison Miller)

    So in December, with her sister playing violin in the orchestra, Miller returned to the school that gave her the chance to capitalize on her creativity.

    “It was kind of surreal,” Miller said of the experience. “I mean, just being back on that stage where I first conducted anything, and it was the same podium, and I was conducting kids that were my age when I wrote that piece. It was a lot to wrap my head around.”

    Miller has always been advanced, playing with the seventh grade orchestra as a sixth grader and with the eighth grade orchestra as a seventh grader.

    As a junior, she wrote 20 to 30 minutes of a piano score for the spring play. Miller wrote more music for a different play, and most of the critics at the show mentioned her music in their reviews.

    Kelly Holowecki, director of choirs and orchestras at Loudoun Valley, said Miller stood out during her audition at the high school. Now, she’s catching the attention, and ears, of her peers.

    “They eat up everything that she says and puts in front of them,” Holowecki said. “They love her music. She’s a great leader for the orchestra. And when she’s in front of them, you can see the attention, and they’re very ready.”

    Miller also plays field hockey, and is in the top 5% of her class. But still, it’s her love of creating music that motivates her every day.

    “I really couldn’t imagine myself not doing music full time,” Miller said. “I couldn’t really see myself being happy doing anything else.”

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    Scott Gelman

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