Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
December 18th, 2007
I’m going to keep this short and sweet, Lupe Fiasco is a beast. The concept for The Cool
“I expand on the story, I introduce two other characters, the Game and the Streets. The Streets is a female. She’s like the action personification of the streets, the street life, the call of the streets. The Game is the same way. The Game is the personification of the game. The pimp’s game, the hustler’s game, the con man’s game, whatever. Then they’ve got supernatural characteristics. Like the Cool, his right hand is rotted away. The only thing that rotted away was his right hand. It represents the rotting away of his righteousness, of his good. And the Streets and the Cool kind of have a love affair going on. So she’s represented by this locket. And the locket has a key and it’s on fire. And as a gift to the Cool on his rise to fame, she gave him the key. And the key represents the key to the Streets. So she wears a locket around her neck at all times. And the way the story goes, she has given that key to tons of people throughout time. Al Capone, Alexander the Great, whatever. She’s giving them the key to the Streets. Fame and fortune– but also the prices. The Game, he’s represented by a stripped-down skull, a skull with dice in his eyes and smoke coming out of his mouth. The billowing smoke is actually crack smoke. It’s not a full concept album; it’s more spread over like five [tracks], really abstractly.”
You can see clearly what path it’s taking. The albums is just solid and I’d recommend all of you to go grab it.
The Cool
1. Baba Says Cool for Thought - Lupe Fiasco
2. Free Chilly - Lupe Fiasco,
3. Go Go Gadget Flow - Lupe Fiasco
4. Coolest - Lupe Fiasco
5. Superstar - Lupe Fiasco, Matthew Santos
6. Paris, Tokyo - Lupe Fiasco
7. Hi-Definition - Lupe Fiasco, Pooh Bear, Snoop Dogg
8. Gold Watch - Lupe Fiasco
9. Hip-Hop Saved My Life - Lupe Fiasco, Nikki Jean
10. Intruder Alert - Lupe Fiasco,
11. Streets on Fire - Lupe Fiasco
12. Little Weapon - Lupe Fiasco, Nikki Jean
13. Gotta Eat - Lupe Fiasco
14. Dumb It Down - Graham Burris, Lupe Fiasco,
15. Hello/Goodbye (Uncool) - Lupe Fiasco,
16. Die - Lupe Fiasco,
17. Put You on Game - Lupe Fiasco
18. Fighters - Lupe Fiasco, Matthew Santos
19. Go Baby - Lupe Fiasco,
20. [CD-Rom Track]
Buy Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool
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Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision
December 18th, 2007
The Hieroglyphics are considered by many to be hip hop visionaries, combining fundamentally sound deliveries and intelligent lyrical content with smooth, original and sometimes jazzy or funky beats and samples. Since their inception, Hieroglyphics have amassed a dedicated following of die-hard fans largely through their live concerts, podcasts (”Hierocasts”), and promotion through the collective’s own website. So to you, we offer the 3rd Eye Vision album, one of my all time favorite old school hip hop albums.
Buy Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision
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Woah…
December 18th, 2007
I just posted...a new post. First one in like half a year. Cool. Well, i've been behind on debts and my computer is still in remission (actually the first part is a lie). But after Christmas, I expect to get a new desktop, and you should expect some new uploads rolling around January-ish. Not like anyone cares though, they've probably thought this site was dead for hella long.Filed under: General | No Comments »
Slug (from Atmosphere) Interviewed
December 16th, 2007
Haha, this interview is hilarious. I’d enjoy it a lot more with no white noise in the background.
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Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
December 15th, 2007
Buy Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
In account of The Cool being released in a couple days, I will throw up this review on one of my favorite newer albums, Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco.
Jay-Z called his word play “refreshing,” Mike Shinoda exclaimed this emcee will definitely make an imprint on the music industry through his words, Twista deemed him the next big thing out of the Chi, Fader magazine deemed him a “hip hop whiz kid,” Complex magazine said he would be apart of “Chi Town’s next big wave,” XXL magazine placed him, a rookie, in their line up of all stars for 2006 and the list of approbation continues. The emcee that peers and industry insiders alike are bestowing the title of “next big thing” upon is Lupe Fiasco. This practicing Muslim, skateboarding nerd, and sneaker fanatic has been ripping up the airwaves and doing it with an ode to skateboarding coined “Kick Push. It’s kind of shocking that a cat can change the game with a track about skateboarding but he’s done it. With “Kick Push” airing on major outlets, BET and MTV, the world will soon get to appreciate what industry insiders have been blown away by on Lupe’s debut Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor.
From the beginning it’s easy to see that this one will be special. As the “Intro” unfolds to the words of the sample singing “No one does it better,” the listener is rushed with bars that flow without seam, transitioning from detailed description to elaborate story to elongated metaphor fluidly. Word play like “It’s harder then sitting with a blind man and trying to describe yellow” and “not at the bar, but trying to put him behind the bar like a bartender/he laid the law, like the bar, so I put in a bar for dude/he said bar my jewels and bar the fools/because they’ll play you…like the space bar and tools/theme music to a drive by…put it in your car and cruise” make it easy to see why Lupe is receiving the props he does. The flipping of nouns and verbs is a constant throughout the album. “Might Just be Okay” is another exhibition of lyrical exercise. The vast track with its glorious drums and horns provide a proper background for Lupe to display his lyricism with well thought out lines like “my vida loca was built like Bob Vila via God,” “now we hold the coming like contracepts” and “I’m cool I don’t foretell best/I ain’t nicest emcee/I ain’t Cornel West/I am Cornel Westside/Chi-Town Guevara…” This guy murders the track unmercifully. And meanwhile, Lupe is telling a story of a troubled youth trying to maneuver through life. It’s an incredible lyrical performance. Lupe also kills the concept song “Never Lies,” which is heavily influenced by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. Lupe rhymes through the track using an extended metaphor to flip the word box to have multiple meanings including that of the TV and radio while telling the narrative of those who are trapped by these boxes. This is undoubtedly a clever track. “No Place to Go” has an introspective Lupe rapping about various hip hop artists’ work’s influence upon him and later in the track listing all the ills of society. “Make Sure” takes the listener to a less serious place describing the different types of characters that run game telling about the “virgin girl” and “pimpin’ male” archetypes. Yet at the end of the song, Lupe drops some political knowledge on the listener giving the track balance. On “Real Recognize Real” Lupe personifies the streets, the game and righteousness with in depth-descriptions of the aspects of each. The album is capped off with “Close Your Mind.” This political track delves into various aspects of current politics of America even retracing American history through the races. “Close Your Mind” is an intelligent commentary of American politics and the iniquity in it.
Lupe Fiasco with Food and Liquor will become the future of hip hop. Food and Liquor provides you with the balance that the title suggests. The production on the tracks matches the words that are delivered providing a soundscape that is as varied as the diction. The subject content covers the whole spectrum going from love to politics and beyond. It gives the listener the food/the good in society and liquor/the ills of society. If you want to feed your mind, there is plenty of intellectualism, and if you just want something that sounds good, it’s that too. This album caters to people from all walks of life, which is what makes it a classic. The album is a true reflection of the emcee in that it’s an intelligent “eclectic mix” of ingredients that will serve as the knowledge and entertainment that true hip hop heads crave.
ref. nobodysmiling.com
Buy or Preview Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor
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Dr. Dre - The Chronic
December 15th, 2007
Buy The Chronic
Now THIS is an excellent rap album: This was the big CD that turned heads and caused controversy. It also placed one of the most notorious and dangerous record labels on the map. While Dre has admitted he was never a gangster, he does a great job of portraying one in each of his songs on this album. ‘The Chronic’ is Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg’s celebration of the hedonism of the ghetto gangster lifestyle- Weed, money, women, and killing. Dr. Dre creates catchy rhymes and raps with authority. His portrayal is hard and confrontational and the magical G-Funk beats and sounds he produces are rarely anything less than fantastic. You can tell that Dre did a lot of experimenting in the studio to develop his sound. The guest appearances are from RBX, Daz, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Lady of Rage and Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Now as for the music itself there are signs of age; sure there are faster rappers, funkier beats, and flashier lyrics but this comes out in a time when rap music was struggling to even get on MTV.
The Chronic (Intro) - The album begins with a brief intro that features Dre talking in a semi-coherent stream of consciousness style. He uses this time to declare that the era of NWA is over and the era of Death Row Records has begun. This is where you see the first swipe at Eazy, the first of many throughout the album. 3/5
F*ck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’) - This is a diss song aimed at Eazy-E. It’s quite sad that these 2 became enemies because they were a fine team around their N.W.A years. ‘F*ck with Dre Day’ invites you into the joys and pain of ghetto life with it’s catchy and enthralling lyrics. “So strap on your Compton hat/ and gloves/ and watch your back/ ‘cos yo might get smoked loc!”. This is the first overuse of Gangster bragging and immature disses of old N.W.A. members in place of Ghetto consciousness or morality. But it is one alternating hilarious and soulful song, all the way down to the female backing vocals that close out the track. 4.5/5
Let Me Ride - Let Me Ride’ with it’s laid-back sound and description of a day in the life of Dr. Dre- scrappling with car-jackers, collecting weed, hitting on women, being stopped by the police and being adored by the community for his rap superstardom. 4/5
The Day the Niggaz Took Over - The Day The N!ggaz Took Over” is a tense, angry song that is one of the more sociopolitical numbers on the album. The song opens with some rather militant dialogue, before the opening chants of “Break em off some” kick the song into high gear. The lyrics deal with the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. 4.5/5
Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang - This is simply the best song on the CD. “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang” was voted 2nd best rap song ever made. It features Dre and Snoop. It’s quite chilling and kind of a relaxing song to listen to when you’ve just had mary-jane. It was the first single i beleive. The video of this song is sort of boring, but its funny looking at how skinny Snoop was yet he was acting all tough!: 5/5
Deeez Nuuuts - ‘Deeez Nuts’ is one of the most raw tracks on the album. Everybody has a good verse and Nate Dogg makes a great debut at the end of this track. The best part of this track however, is the instrumental at the end. The beat breaks down and then slowly builds back up and lets you enjoy Dre’s beats without any of the gifted MCs rapping on it. 5/5
Lil’ Ghetto Boy - I LOVE THIS SONG! ‘Lil’ Ghetto Boy’ is a Ghetto-conscious rap about Dre and Snoop observing the sudden increase of gun-culture in the black community, and the rise in black on black killings. This is perhaps the only morality tale on the C.D. Dr. Dre is even sincere enough to describe himself having overconfidence of his Original Gangster status which leaves him unprepared for the moment when he is shot and wounded by an armed thirteen-year old boy. The way Dre describes his shock and confusion at the moment of being shot, he genuinely sounds sad and even scared for the community he lives in. This level of openness and vulnerability would not be heard again on a Dre song till ‘The Message’ from the ‘2001′ album, where Dre admits to feeling suicidal over his brother Tyree’s death. 5/5
A Nigga Witta Gun - Here we get further comments on Urban Violence, much like the previous song. From this point one on there’s really no stopping Dre and the Death Row Crew. 4/5
Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat - “Rat-tat-tat-tat” is quite similar to A Nigga Witta Gun. Again it’s just just Dre being quite aggressive. The chorus just sticks in your head. 4/5
The $20 Sack Pyramid - This is just a skit. It’s fairly amusing to say the least 4/5
Lyrical Gangbang - This song consists of mainly Lady Of Rage, Kurupt, and RBX. No Dre. That’s why the lyrics are sort of poor. I think RBX’s lyrics are excellent in this song though. All Dre says is “Some cool shit, some cool shit.” 2.5/5
High Powered - I could do with out this song. It has to be my least favorite track on the album, though I like RBX’s innovative lyrics. 2/5
The Doctor’s Office - This is a sick track… It’s just mostly the sound of Dre and a women having sex…so…5/5 …just kidding. 3/5 because it funny.
Stranded on Death Row - This is definitely a real gem one the CD without a doubt. “Stranded on Death Row” is simply one of the BEST songs I’VE EVER HEARD but the sad thing is that Dre isn’t on the track. Such a dark but wicked ass beat, he should have released this song as a single. 5/5
The Roach [The Chronic Outro] - This should be the ending but it’s not. I love the song. The chorus is catchy. It’s about the drug chronic, which is if you didn’t know marijuana with cocaine on top. 5/5
Bitches Ain’t Shit - Poor ending imo. I am not a fan ‘Bitches ain’t Shit’, it’s an annoying tune and it has quite the offensive lyrics. But what offends me most about ‘Bitches ain’t Shit’ is that this garbage was chosen as a bonus track over such a classic like ‘Deep Cover’ which would have been a perfect close to the album in its description of the kinship between Dre and Snoop, and to show how Dre once was not all about creating Gangster Rap clichés. 3/5
I give this Album a 5/5. The only problem with it is that is spawned a tons of imitations. Today Dr. Dre is most famous for discovering and producing Eminem, so his vision of hip-hop continues to dominate the Billboard charts. Personally, I’d like to turn back the clock to a time in hip-hop before marijuana leaves were all over the disc and CD booklet with participants on the tracks getting high. I like Dre, but NWA was more enjoyable imo. I miss the anti-drug message of Ice-T’s “I’m Your Pusher” or even Too Short’s nasty but easy to follow lyrics. But maybe you’re right– I guess I’m just getting old.
The sarcastically titled debut CD from one of modern music’s most talented musicians is incidentally one of the most diverse and creative modern works to this day, from its release in 1989.
ref. sputnikmusic.com
Preview and Buy The Chronic
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Five Videos from The Pharcyde
December 15th, 2007
The Pharcyde - Runnin
One of my favorite chill songs of all time. The hook is great. The beat,the lyrics, and the flow all portray a real through and through boom bap sound, and Pharcyde portrays this very well. With lines like slim kid tre’s “there comes a time in evey mans life when hes gotta handle shit up on his own” and knumbskull #1’s “it aint never easy, to do any type of maintaining cuz all this gaming and famin from entertainin is hella straining to the brain and…”
The Pharcyde - Drop
Okay first off, the beat is amazing. It’s very unique but still has a very familiar sounding melody not too mention the simplistic but catchy chorus. This is by no means my favorite song but definitely one of my tops from these guys.
Sublime feat. The Pharcyde - Summer Time
I love Sublime. I love The Pharcyde., I love this song. Doin’ Time is one of my favorite non-hip hop songs. Production sounds a little shoddy but I really like it and will probably listen to it quite a bit.
The Pharcyde - Passin’ Me By (MF DOOM Mix)
I’m a huge fan of MF DOOM’s crazy unusual beats and this is no exception. Love the lyrics and singsong-esque style on the track.
The Pharcyde - Knew U
It doesn’t sound quite like everything else by them, in my opinion. A lot of people love this song, I like it but I’m not listening to it over and over.
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Jay Z - American Gangster
December 14th, 2007
Preview or Buy American Gangster
Jay-Z has never suffered from a lack of ambition, but what he takes on for his new album “American Gangster” (Roc-a-Fella) is a lot, even for him.
Not only does he set out to build a concept album that can stand next to the Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe movie that he clearly admires, he wants to raise hip-hop’s standards, while also fighting those who twisted the racist comments of Don Imus into an indictment of hip-hop. Throw in the sudden fall-off of his last album “Kingdom Come” and the questions about whether he has lost his touch and Jay-Z - Young Hova, Mr. Roc-a-Fella, Def Jam’s President Carter - has himself a challenge.
No worries, though. Jay has it under control, completing “American Gangster” in a handful of weeks after seeing an early screening of the movie in late August, no less.
“This is black superhero music right here, baby,” he declares in “Roc Boys.” And he’s right.
“American Gangster” is bold, both in concept and in execution, with Jay-Z telling the story of a Brooklyn teen getting into the drug trade and then getting stuck in it. Jay does it in character, as if it were a series of monologues crafted into a one-man play. However, it is no one-man effort, as the musical backdrops - many crafted by Diddy and the Bad Boy Entertainment’s production team The Hitmen, as well as Pharrell Williams, Jermaine Dupri, Kanye West and Just Blaze - are often just as remarkable.
“American Dreamin’” comes early in the story, as Jay rolls out his hopes and dreams over a gorgeous sample from Marvin Gaye’s “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” that provides a hazy aura of innocence. He offers some playful rhymes (”I need a personal Jesus, I’m in Depeche Mode…. It’s like Tony La Russa on how you play your cards”) and some serious ones (”I wish you health/I wish you wheels/I wish you wealth/I wish you insight so you can see for yourself”) in a flow that matches the song’s neo-soul vibe.
The songs get brasher and his flow gets darker as the story unfolds. On “Roc Boys,” the album’s victory lap, Jay packs in as much boasting as he did when he was coming up, back in the “Reasonable Doubt” days, over a dramatic, horn-filled funk celebration.
When things start to fall apart, in the ominous “Success,” which features onetime rival Nas, and the fiery “Fallin’,” where Dupri welds together ’70s soul and the Dirty South bounce, Jay’s delivery is fast and furious, rapping, “Fight and you’ll never survive, run and you’ll never escape, so just fall - from grace.”
As strong as the songs are on record, they sound even more potent live, which Jay proved at a recent taping of a VH1 “Storytellers” in Brooklyn, backed by a 12-piece band. That power wasn’t lost on him either, as he booked the band for a short national tour to promote the album.
As if “American Gangster” wasn’t compelling enough, Jay-Z adds one more layer with “Ignorant –,” which could easily be the album’s most popular track if the chorus wasn’t a string of expletives that radio can’t play.
The song was an outtake from the sessions for “The Black Album,” but it’s reworked here to fit in the story and to fit as a commentary on the current attacks on hip-hop.
Jay goes in and out of character, offering a disclaimer (”We’re all actors…. Don’t fear no rappers, they’re all weirdos, De Niros in practice, so don’t believe everything you hear”) followed by gangsta rap stereotypes filled with swearing and violence.
He takes those who seized on the Don Imus controversy to criticize hip-hop to task, saying, “I missed the part when it stopped being about Imus, what do my lyrics have to do with this –? ‘Scarface’ the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me.”
The result is a true guilty pleasure and he knows it, teasing, “You like it, don’t front.”
That could apply to all of “American Gangster.” For as much as people want to root for the underdog and knock off those at the top of their game, sometimes you also have to appreciate greatness when it comes.
There’s a writers’ adage that advises, “Show, don’t tell,” that Jay-Z has taken to heart. In his recent work, he’s been concerned about telling everyone how great he is. On “American Gangster,” he shows it - crafting not just the likely album of the year, but one that will likely go down as one of hip-hop’s greatest.
ref. newsday.com
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Army of the Pharaohs - Ritual of Battle
December 12th, 2007
Preview or Buy Army of the Pharaohs: Ritual of Battle
Somewhere along the way Hip Hop lost the thud of the warrior’s drum. That thump was replaced by the more pop-friendly synthesized keys, which in turn forced the aggressive head nod to evolve into a soft two-step. Subject content followed the same pattern with the harsh street realities that were presented in the 90s transforming into a never-ending cycle of YouTube dance moves and “making it rain.” Creeping in the shadows, there’s an East Coast assemblage of underground talent named the Army of the Pharaohs (Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah of Jedi Mind Tricks, Outerspace, Esoteric, Celph Titled, Chief Kamachi, Reef The Lost Cauze, Doap Nixon and Demoz) who are poised to bring back the boom bap and banish the happy-go-lucky version of rap that’s emerged in the new millennium on their sophomore effort, Ritual of Battle.
The album commences with the shocking and violent verse of Chief Kamachi who rhymes about knocking down the towers on 9/11 and putting dismembered body parts in a car trunk. Demoz follows with a rapid fire flow packed with quick-hitting punchlines, but the highlight of the track is the dark humor of Celph Titled who concludes the track with “who else but you Celph/no sandals on my shoe shelf, just a pellet gun that would leave a huge welt/Army of the Pharaohs never make love songs/we finger fuck bitches with Freddy Krueger gloves on.” Jedi Mind Tricks’ members, Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah, go at “Blue Steel” without the aid of fellow AOTP member. Despite the absence of the crew, Vinnie Paz displays why he leads this troop with his skillful verse chalk full of memorable quips like “I’ll take Jesus Christ and rob him of his Jewishness/it’s nothing anything or anyone can do to test/I live inside a jungle. All I need is fruit that’s fresh.” On the lead single of the album “Bloody Tears” DJ Kwestion accesses a palette of hard-hitting drums, turn table scratches, a looped piano sequence and a violin to set a grave tone with the production while Vinnie Paz continues to outshine other Army Of The Pharaohs members using his verse on “Bloody Tears” to take shots at the college dropout, Kanye West, while simultaneously dropping several lyrical napalms on the beat. All the members of the AOTP are lyrically sharp, but the violent and aggressive repetitive lyrical content makes the album drag towards the end. The album’s mood doesn’t lighten up until the final track, 15 tracks deep into the LP, on “Don’t Cry.” The track makes perfect sense in that it explains the aggression present on this LP that is caused by the poverty, grind and struggle that’s present in the ghettos yet after hearing several tracks about bullets ripping through flesh, impaling people and other random acts of violence, “Don’t Cry” comes off as too little, too late.
The collection of tracks on Ritual of Battle is so grimy and morbid that it would make your current favorite hard body emcee run and shudder and will probably have the same effect on your average Hip Hop fan. Army Of The Pharaohs’s group members all contribute their unique style to the cauldron reminiscent of another 9 member group from New York (Wu Tang) but their concoction, Ritual of Battle, lacks the chemistry and focus of early Wu Tang projects. Every track is a lyrical melee with no real direction which makes it difficult to run the album from top to bottom without the material getting monotonous. Ritual of Battle is an album for a specific niche of hardcore East Coast underground heads and despite the endless violence there are still some head bangers on Ritual Of Battle but if you’re not apart of the cult they’re targeting it’s safe to pass on Ritual Of Battle.
ref. nobodysmiling.com
Buy Army of the Pharaohs: Ritual of Battle
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Wu-Tang Clan’s 8 Diagrams is Released
December 11th, 2007
Holy hell, I love this album, go buy The 8 Diagrams
Getting the entire Wu-Tang Clan together seems as tough a challenge as acing the SATs or making Thom Yorke laugh. So it’s remarkable enough that the new Wu-Tang album — the Staten Island crew’s first in six years — actually exists. What’s more, 8 Diagrams is better than most would have expected: a terrific mix of classic Clan grime and enough new tricks to justify Inspectah Deck’s claim that “Wu-Tang keep it fresh like Tupperware.”Those tricks include more expansive production, most apparent on the great “The Heart Gently Weeps,” a violence-laden narrative built around the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Cuts like “Unpredictable” — where RZA’s ominous, screeching attack evokes a Scorsese flick about crack dealers– also prove that the Wu can still dish pummeling grit-hop as well as anyone. There are a couple of snoozers, including “Weak Spot.” And while ODB is missed, his taste for weird abides in “Sunlight,” an atmospheric, bullshit-philosophical tone-poem starring RZA, and one of several reminders that the Clan still sound unique as hell.
In the six years the Clan were on hiatus, Ghostface Killah was busy becoming one of the greatest MCs ever. The Big Doe Rehab isn’t as distinct as last year’s Fishscale, but it’s close. Ghost’s bouncy, more direct approach on cuts like “Walk Around” shows off his ability to turn crack-slinging narratives into big, hooky pleasures. By the time he lays his inimitable, Ginsu-sharp whine into “White Linen Affair,” a gloriously detailed rant that touches on baking soda, polar bears and Norah Jones, this much is clear: Right now is a good time to be a Wu-Tang fan.
ref. http://rollingstone.com
Here’s a track by track break down for ya guys.
‘CAMPFIRE’
Meth opens the album, spitting steady over a heavy warped plodding beat that definitely cocks a nod towards the ’36 Chambers’ days. Ghost declares “We gon’ have a ball – might as well pick a testicle.” We hope he’s talking to the ladies.‘TAKE IT BACK’
Subtle flip of a classic break with the Wu lining up to rhyme over it – these days there’s a good argument that you don’t really need your older rap gods to do anything more than that. Rae sounds fresh, and Ghost spits hard.‘GET ‘EM OUT THE WAY PA’
Big beastly electric bass tones underpin this, and it’s a reinvigorated Meth who takes the spoils again while Ghost and Rae tag-team on the chorus.‘RUSHING ELEPHANTS’
Rae’s talking about “Excalibur swords, T-Rexes”, GZA’s explaining “energy that shifts in colours”, and RZA’s mush-mouthing about, er, the Lord Of The Rings. This is the Wu getting their nerd on.‘UNPREDICTABLE’
Ramping up the tempo, this rattles along a fair treat with all sorts of percussion mixing with some punchy horn stabs. Deck destroys it with his verse (though “Wu-Tang – keep it fresh like Tupperware” might not be his most assured punchline) and RZA references Meth’s recent crowd surfing tendencies. A Wu-Tang toe-tapper and not a million miles away from U-God’s overlooked ‘Wildstyle Suppafreak’ or Masta Killa’s ‘Digi Warfare’.‘THE HEART GENTLY WEEPS’
AKA the one that’s meant to get indie rock kids to buy the album. Not as unhinged and exciting as Ghost’s original solo take, it admittedly sounds much better in the middle of the album than on its own, and Meth’s great on it, basically rapping as if he were his character Cheese from The Wire. It was blatantly meant to be titled ‘My Gun Gently Weeps’ though.‘WOLVES’
There’s some animal predatory nonsense going on in the chorus while the beat’s again got that mystical vibe to it. Not one of the essential album moments.‘GUN WILL GO’
Some late night dark alley business, Rae opens rapping in that hush-hush style he’s been rocking on and off for a while now, then Meth builds on it talking about “Poverty Island”. Two-thirds of the way through RZA throws in some almost dubby echo effects, but this would be a billion times more brilliantly menacing if they ditched the singing on the chorus.‘SUNLIGHT’
Basically a skewed Wu-Tang funeral march, with RZA holding down all duties on the mic. Not too far removed from ‘Jah World’ on ‘The W’, and a suitable mid-point for the set.‘STICK ME FOR MY RICHES’
Unless it’s sampled from an old soul record, you really don’t want to hear a modern Wu-Tang Clan track open with a whole minute of singing, as happens here. The bounce style hi-hats seem out of place too. Possibly the ‘Ugh!’ moment of the album.‘STARTER’
The Wu talk about girls, in their own inimitable way: “She acting all shy but she likes handcuffs”. Again, there’s a lot going on in the background with the beat, but the singing in the chorus could go. What happened to rowdy chanting?‘WINDMILL’
RZA in soundtrack mode, this is an atmospheric slow-burner with a low key vibe to it. At the risk of getting repetitious, it’s a pleasant surprise how motivated Meth sounds across the project, spitting self-referential boasts like “In living proof I’m the wittiest unpredictable/Most talented rap motherfucker you ever listened to.”‘WEAK SPOT’
Classic breakbeat with the Clan in straight braggadocio mode: “You can never find Zig’ weakspot – stop looking,” throws down RZA. There’s a small ODB interview snippet at the end of it to boot, which segues into…‘LIFE CHANGES’
Seven minutes of ODB tribute, with short laments from the Clan split up with a simple chorus. Deck gets the most introspective (“And I share the blame ‘cos you was calling for help kid/Shoulda coulda woulda had the time – I was selfish,”) while RZA’s tribute is the most comprehensive, revisiting Dirt Dog highlights. Not a verse or word from Ghost though, which doesn’t look good…‘TAR PIT’
Too much mentalist ranting at the end scuppers this. One to skip.‘16th CHAMBER ODB SPECIAL’
Bonus ODB from the vault business, suitably dusty sound quality and all, but it would have been nice if it followed straight on from ‘Life Changes’.THE VERDICT
RZA’s definitely on something different with the production here, but it’s definitely in the lineage of the original ’36 Chambers’ style – the off-key and warped moments just sound sonically clearer these days. (It wouldn’t be too out there to suggest that during the recording the Abbott was listening to a lot of vintage Bjork and Timbaland while taking breaks out from the board to watch the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.)ref. http://allhiphop.com
Now go buy The 8 Diagrams
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