Go hunting for the most successful Las Vegas Strip concert residency shows and you’ll find the obvious stars: Celine Dion, Elton John, Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks and Bruno Mars. Recent additions like Adele at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Carrie Underwood at Resorts World Theatre and U2 at Sphere will certainly join that list soon.
Pop, country and rock are certainly among the most consistently popular musical genres, on the charts and in the global cultural consciousness. But hip-hop and R&B have likely topped those genres for the better part of the last few decades, and yet legendary artists from those musical universes have been nearly shut out of the residency game. (We would argue that some of our favorite Vegas shows from Mariah Carey and from Anderson .Paak/Bruno Mars’ side project Silk Sonic would qualify as rare exceptions.)
That changes in 2024. Possibly the most unlikely resident act in Las Vegas history will take over the Theater at Virgin Hotels over Super Bowl weekend—the Wu-Tang Clan. Last month, the iconic Staten Island crew announced its first four concerts for February 9 and 10 and March 22 and 23 at the equally iconic 4,000-seat space at Virgin (formerly the Joint).
“This is a groundbreaking moment not only for this venue but for Las Vegas as a whole,” AEG Presents senior vice president Bobby Reynolds said in a statement, and for once, we have to agree with what usually sounds like hyperbole.
Hip-hop has had a somewhat troubled history on the Strip in general through the years, defined by artists and their music powering the programming at nightclubs without abundant headlining performance opportunities in casino theaters and showrooms. That’s been an issue in other cities as well, but time has finally turned things around.
And with Wu-Tang coming off its biggest tour ever—the N.Y. State of Mind run with Nas, which visited the MGM Grand Garden Arena in October—things couldn’t have lined up better. The East Coast collective has been one of the most influential acts in hip-hop since the early 1990s, and it’s not the only group from that era that will be launching a Vegas residency in the first few months of this year.
New Edition—the Jackson 5-inspired, Boston-born “boy band” that broke through as teens in the early ’80s and surged in the ’90s as innovators of the R&B subgenre New Jack Swing—is probably more popular now than ever before, thanks to a smash 2017 BET docuseries that inspired a reunion of all six members and subsequent tours. In a clear stroke of genius, New Edition will launch its residency with six performances beginning February 28 at Wynn’s Encore Theater, a refined room that will be more than welcoming to the group’s more mature fanbase.
And then there’s Jodeci, R&B antiheroes of the ’90s, a quartet that mixed hip-hop sounds and rap’s explicit, raw nature with traditional romantic ballads and harmonies for a unique and highly successful result. The Show, The After Party, The Vegas Residency, which takes its name from the group’s naughtiest album, kicks off March 15 at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, promising all the hits and hooks from one of the most influential (and maybe under-appreciated) acts of its generation.
This music is finally getting its turn in the Strip spotlight, and with these acts at these three dynamic and important venues, it will do so with uncompromising style.
