Ghostface Killah provides truth, dark lyricism to Bluebird crowd

As opening act Skyzoo performed, a large bus pulled up next to the Bluebird Nightclub.

There would be a lull before Ghostface Killah, a man of many names, performed, but it wouldn’t take long for him to begin questioning the crowd.

Without his usual robe-and-gold chained attire, the "Ironman" stepped onto the stage of the Bluebird wearing an oversized hooded Champion sweatshirt and jogging pants that were equally as large.

"How many of y’all into real hip hop," he said in a slurred New York accent. "Not that sucka shit that be going on right now – vintage hip hop."

"Pretty Toney" used the line to break into a profanity-laced set, equipped with every basic element of gangster rap. There were drugs, car chases and combative police. Many of the songs in his set subscribed to the darker sound of Wu-Tang Clan as he asked the question, "How many of y’all bought the first Wu-Tang album?"

Unlike the harder sound, though, Ghostface played tracks from his solo career that both shone vulnerability and personality, as many of them were filled with quirky lyrics that placed smiles on the fans faces and they slowly swayed to his rhythm-&-blues centered beats.

There was " Ice Cream" in which Wu-Tang talked about different women, "Back Like That" where he addressed the vengeful actions of a scorned lover and "Whip You with a Strap," an ode to his mother who used to put him across her knee.

The variety and blatantly random song choice was what fans said they expected beforehand.

Senior Corey Williams said there is never a dull moment with Ghostface Killah on the stage.

"You can’t explain it," he said in reference to a Ghostface show. "He always puts on a good show and does what he comes to do. When you leave, you’re satisfied – point blank."

John Carter, a junior at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, drove down to Bluebird for the night.

There was no question that he had come there to see Ghostface. He stood on the outside railing with the word "Cream" tattooed on the inner portion of his wrist, with his hair spiked toward the night and a drunken smirk on his face.

Carter saw Ghostface perform in Chicago as well and said there has to be a personal connection with an artist in order to get an homage to them tattooed on your arm.

"You have to appreciate the deeper meaning to the music," he said. "You have to be able to see how ‘Cash Rules Everything Around Me’ applies to your life. It’s like an unfortunate truth. No matter if you like it or not cash rules everything around, you gotta live life like that."

Ghostface was back on stage, talking about the good ole’ days of hip hop before a riled crowd; they cheered the mentioning of every past track, whether it was his or not.

He listed off a number of artists from the mid to early ‘90s, the era where he came into prominence with the Wu-Tang Clan. The group, was made up of New York rappers from Staten Island, although many members originate from Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Used to performing with a large group, Ghostface had hypemen share performing duties, while more loitered around the stage area, rocking and spouting of the lyrics.

But they had to stop rapping and start singing, as Ghostface started a string of songs honoring the late Michael Jackson, from which he matriculated to a number of songs by the fallen Ol’ Dirty Bastard, an original member of Wu-Tang.

It wasn’t long before he got into some of his more recent work, shouting "Ghostface" over the track entitled "Cherzez LaGhost," whichi means "Look for the Ghost" in Spanish.

He began the song with the lyric, "No girl could freak me, I’m just too nasty," as his hypemen pulled women on stage to dance.

Before he could finish out his "catalog" of songs, though, Ghostface was shut down by the bar’s early closure on Sundays.

"They said we gotta leave and shit," he said dejectedly. "Y’all been a real crowd."

He had one more plea.

Bringing everyone in the crowd to raise two fingers to the ceiling, Ghostface Killah closed the show with a countdown.

"One-two-three, Peace," said everyone in unison.