Wu-Tang Clan members Raekwon and Ghostface Killah are considered one of the greatest tandems in rap history, often appearing on each other’s solo albums throughout their careers. During a recent appearance on Drink Champs this past Saturday (November 20), Rae and Ghost talked about a potential Verzuz matchup against The LOX. According to the Staten Island reps, their Yonkers contemporaries would make worthy opponents, given their similar approach to music and New York grit.
“I love The LOX, man,” Raekwon said of Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch. “Them n****s is like us. We love them in real life.”
Ghostface continued the praise, adding, “The LOX still make me go write. I don’t get inspired by rap no more… but when I hear a couple of pieces coming from LOX and all that sh*t like that, it’ll be like, ‘Oh sh*t.’”
Raekwon, who went hit-for-hit against Ghostface in a celebratory Verzuz matchup earlier this year, reveals that the key to performing well in a Verzuz battle is to have your playlist correct and be able to adapt to whatever your opponent throws at you in the moment. “One thing about Verzuz, anybody could win if your list is right,” The Chef said. “It’s all about your list. So it ain’t really about your head getting blown off, it’s just all about you being strategic with what you think he may come out with, and counter. But I’ma be honest with you, when they were doing all of that, whylin’ on each other, I respect it, because it was a night of battling. When you battling, you battling, even though it’s friendly competition.”
Rae also took credit on behalf of himself and his Wu-Tang partner for helping originate the sort of competitive aggression in their appearance on Verzuz that The LOX duplicated against Dipset in August. “To be honest with y’all, me and [Ghost] set it off with that, because we was the ones that came before everybody else,” he notes. “So me knowing how important it is to see real competition, I knew I had to start talking sh*t with this dude.”
A showdown between the two crews wouldn’t be far-fetched, as members of both crews have worked together before. In 2012, Ghostface and Sheek Louch teamed up for Wu Block, a joint album that included appearances from LOX members Jadakiss and Styles P, along with Wu-Tang Clan’s own Raekwon, GZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna and Masta Killa.
In addition to The LOX, another legendary rap act that was mentioned as possible opponents for Rae and Ghost were Kurupt & Daz Dillinger, who released their own debut album, Dogg Food, the same year as Rae’s 1995 solo offering, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx….
Watch the full episode of Raekwon & Ghostface Killah’s Drink Champs episode below.