Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber
BOK Center
June 16, 2025
Thirty years ago, Wu-Tang Clan’s first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) solidified the nine-man collective as icons and protectors of the art of hip-hop. Since then, they’ve not only made a way, but they’ve done it their way—and that includes choosing how to wrap it up. Their 27-date farewell tour, The Final Chamber, extends from Baltimore to Philadelphia and included a stop in Tulsa along the way. Fans from all over Oklahoma and surrounding states packed the BOK Center for the show last Monday night, and even the bootleggers showed out, selling bargain-priced imitation Wu-Tang concert shirts across the street from the arena. Opening up for Wu-Tang, Run the Jewels performed under their iconic logo, a fist and a hand made into a gun, which was suspended high enough for even those in the nosebleed seats to see. The duo—Killer Mike and El-P—hasn’t played in Tulsa for quite a while, but Killer Mike has been here multiple times recently, as last year’s headliner at the Neon Prairie Festival and as a cast member for Sterlin Harjo’s show The Sensitive Kind. From the BOK stage he said he’d reassured El-P that Tulsa is a Run The Jewels town.
As the group started, the floor seats were about half-filled, but by the time they hit their fourth song, every seat was taken. I caught the occasional smell of marijuana, whose white smoke blended with the stage production's and which may have been one of the reasons El-P dropped the mic multiple times and why Killer Mike named Douglas High School in Oklahoma City as a Tulsa high school. I’ll let that one slide; Run the Jewels made up for it with their raps. Killer Mike is a master lyricist who finally got his recognition by winning three Grammys. I was blinded by his huge gold rope chain, which seemed to shine extra bright when he performed “36 Chain.” El-P had just as much swagger with his Ray-Ban shades and his lyrical display of versatility while performing “Lie, Cheat, Steal.”
During intermission, Eminem’s “My Name Is” played through the speakers as latecomers shuffled in and came face to face with people who’d taken their seats. I may or may not have moved closer to the stage myself, but I figured, what would Wu-Tang do? In that moment, I think they would’ve been proud of me.Then the lights went dark. A video of thousands of killer bees played on the huge screen, their buzzing like trumpets announcing the arrival of hip-hop royalty. RZA stepped to the middle of the stage and threw up his Wu-Tang “W,” and the crowd mirrored him; he played this role of conductor throughout the night. At times he even led sort of a Wu-Tang meditation, directing the crowd to put their hand into a fist to control their energy and then to release that energy. Maybe we have Wu-Tang meditation to thank for the range of multidisciplinary projects shown during the concert: the Wu-Tang video game, a new movie written and directed by RZA called One Spoon of Chocolate,” and a mention of Raekwon’s documentary The Purple Tape Files, which included never-before-seen footage of the making of his first album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The group has been busy.
The Wu-Tang Clan has always been an incredible collective, but just as importantly, its individual members stand strongly on their own. Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Cappadonna (performing hits like “Ice Cream”) kicked off a portion of the show that highlighted these legendary solo projects. To a huge eruption from the audience, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah took the stage together to rap songs from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, which played like a mafia soundtrack. Raekwon “The Chef” still cuts up beats with his masterful delivery of what he called “reality rap.” As he served up hits from that album, such as “Knuckleheadz,” the crowd ate up every word.
Method Man is no doubt the superstar of the group; his “M-E-T-H-O-D Man” song became a chant as he walked onto the stage. He performed his breakout hit “All I Need” from his 1994 project, Tical, which led the way for the Wu-Tang Clan’s other solo projects. Recognizing how important the Thunder game happening that night was to the state, he let the crowd know that the Thunder were beating the Pacers, but jokingly said for the finals to hurry up and be over, probably because his beloved New York basketball team had been knocked out of the playoffs. Method Man’s aura took over the room each time he touched the mic. Some fans even passed him a joint, which he graciously took and passed back later. He’s not new to this happening at his concerts.
The rush of solo performances continued with RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Fans upfront got a surprise champagne shower from RZA: an up close and personal taste of his rock star status. GZA was in prime form, showing how great an artist he is and how prominent a figure he has been in the group. Throughout the show, the hits were definitely played: “Protect Ya Neck,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit,” “Triumph,” and of course “C.R.E.A.M,” the song that changed the lives of all these rappers and has been sampled and remixed so many times. The crowd went bananas as soon as they started it.
One member of the group was noticeably absent: Ol' Dirty Bastard, the unpredictable, unfiltered wildcard. With his passing in 2004, the world of hip-hop would never be the same, but his son, Young Dirty Bastard, the oldest of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 13 children, has been accepted into the Wu-Tang Clan as one of their own. Young rapped his father’s lyrics word for word, looking like the spitting image of his father. He jumped from the stage to just in front of the seated audience to rap his father’s lyrics; it may be the closest some will ever get to hearing that “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” hit. ODB’s spirit was in the building as his son keeps his legacy alive.
The Wu-Tang Clan’s Final Chamber tour was one of those concerts where people will look back and say, “You were there?” They gave us almost two hours worth of music from their amazing catalog, with sharp performances that showed they still have it. It was like a time warp listening to these classic songs from an era when you wouldn't even dare to rap over your lyrics. Although the group may never go on tour again, what this group of kids from Staten Island has done for the culture will really last forever. No matter how many TikTok rappers blow up, it still won’t change the fact that “Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit.”
