The Roo threw me into a big-time Wu-Tang phase. You know those serious musical phases you get into? As in, you have trouble listening to anything that isn't the artist you're obsessing over?
Well, it's a particularly bad one with me and Wu-Tang. Almost two weeks since the Roo and I can't escape the Clan. And I wanna talk about it!
Might be a stretch, but any love for the Clan here? Favorite member? Favorite album?
I never really dove too much into the solo albums when they initially came out, and I'm so very glad I didn't. Because to only NOW discover a classic like Liquid Swords by GZA is like stumbling upon a trunk full of gold in your basement. Good lord, the Genius rhymes like no one else. He's not exactly a motor-mouthed fast rapper, but the words and rhymes flow like such a hard-rushing river, and while listening, I feel like a rock in that river, getting soaked as all the beauty flows by me. And the beats! My God, the beats! RZA is a genius.
I hated Wu Tang's roo performance, but then I expected to. But I do love to listen to them live. Protect Ya Neck and C.R.E.A.M. are my two favorite songs. The Tao of Wu by RZA is an interesting read if you want to get into the minds of the Clan. Enter the Wu Tang:36 Chambers is the best jumping off point imo. Have digging through Wu Tang's catalog.
Always love Dirt Mcgurt, RIP, and the rest of the crew. Probably not the most talented member but he was always doing something different than the rest.
I agree with Beth that the first two albums are by far the masterpieces as and as far as songs go it was Bring the Ruckus, Uzi, Cheesboxin, Truimph, Brooklyn Zoo were always my favs.
I can't vouch for the newer stuff, but the older stuff was classic and some of the best hip hop that ever came out IMO.
As far as I'm concerned, it's impossible not to love Dirt. What a talent. There has never been another like the Ol' Dirty Bastard. I often catch myself rapping his lines, which is not a good thing for a white boy to do, but fuck, his verses are always so damn catchy. And funny! I don't think it's a coincidence that the Clan used him for the "chorus" of so many of their tunes. He gets in your head and stays there.
I just got my hands on a copy of his unreleased posthumous album "Ason Unique" and I think it would have gone down as his masterpiece. This record smokes from start to finish, I urge fans of McGirt to track it down! Here is the opening track, in which ODB kicks the fucking door down and announces he's here to fuck shit up, Dirt-style. If this doesn't get you bouncing, you may need inflation.
Ol' Dirty Bastard Feat Missy Elliot - Lift Ya Skirt (Excellent Quality) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDN5T6mmyU#)
First off, I apologize if I'm cramping your style with my username, I didn't realize there was an oistheone when I registered, but I should have known. Is it possible to change it, because I would if so.
Now onto the Wu, who I am a big fan of. If you're just getting into the solo albums (extremely envious) the next ones I would listen to are Rae's Only Built for Cuban Linx (I and II) and some of Ghostface's releases- Ironman, Supreme Clientele, Fishscale in that order. If you haven't heard any other Gza albums, I would recommend Gza vs DJ Muggs- Grandmasters. A few others that come to mind are Masta Killa's No Said Date, Method Man's Tical, and Deck's Uncontrolled Substances. Deck also just collaborated with 7L & Esoteric on a project called Czarface that turned out pretty well.
There are also a lot of Wu family releases that are great. Here's a list of some of my favs.
Gravediggaz- 6 Feet Deep
Killarmy- Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
Bronze Nazareth- The Great Migration
Wisemen- Wisemen Approaching
Sunz of Man- The Last Shall Be First
Hell Razah- Renaissance Child
Hell Razah & BSBD- Razah's Ladder
Black Market Militia
Killah Priest- Heavy Mental (this guy is the actually the emcee on BIBLE off Liquid Swords)
Cappadonna- The Pillage
What a good thread to start up. Who can't appreciate some Wu Tang?!!?
As far as the solo stuff goes, I love Ghost and Raekwon. Lyrically they have to be the best two, add Method Man in there probably also.
1- Raekwon: Only Built For Cuban Linx
2- Ghostface: Supreme Clientele
3- GZA: Liquid Swords
4- Method Man: Tical
5- Raekwon: Only Built For Cuban Linx II
Those 5 albums are essential listening to any Wu Tang or hip hop fan. I listen to rap so rarely these days (except for my man Action Bronson who any Wu fan should check out if they havent already) but can still bump these any day
Wu Tangs for the kids!! Pretty easily still my favorite rap artist/group. GZA is my favorite as Im all about the lyrics, but Ghost and the Chef arent far behind, and ODB will always have a soft spot in my heart.
Quote from: Osistheones on Jun 26, 2013, 08:31 PM
Now onto the Wu, who I am a big fan of. If you're just getting into the solo albums (extremely envious) the next ones I would listen to are Rae's Only Built for Cuban Linx (I and II) and some of Ghostface's releases- Ironman, Supreme Clientele, Fishscale in that order. If you haven't heard any other Gza albums, I would recommend Gza vs DJ Muggs- Grandmasters.
There are also a lot of Wu family releases that are great. Here's a list of some of my favs.
Hell Razah- Renaissance Child
Hell Razah & BSBD- Razah's Ladder
Killah Priest- Heavy Mental (this guy is the actually the emcee on BIBLE off Liquid Swords)
Also some great recommendations here. Liquid Swords is my favorite Wu solo, but as I said GZA is my MC, and Grandmasters is easily my 2nd favorite from GZA and overlooked. Supreme Clientele is probably my 2nd favorite Wu solo, but all 3 of those Ghostface albums are fantastic. Raekwon isnt too far behind.
I love those 2 Hell Razah albums, and the Killash Priest one is also solid.
Great thread O! A throwback to the origins of my handle. I probably stopped listening to Wu by the late 90's but 36 Chambers and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx are gems and Liquid Swords is the end all be all masterpiece for all things Wu as far as I am concerned. I haven't seen a live performance by any of them in well over a decade so I am completely out of touch.
Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game!
I am thrilled so see so much love for the Clan 'round here! They really do stand apart from other hip-hop acts, mainly in that I can listen to them and actually enjoy it. There is something timeless about the run of shit the Clan (and affiliates) put out from 36 Chambers up to the early 2000s.
Thank you to everyone for the recommendations on solo albums! I decided to start at Ironman and am greatly enjoying it. I love Ghostface's verses on Wu tracks, but I thought an album full of his kinda high-pitched flow might grate on me. Not so! It's awesome that Raekwon and Cappadonna get pretty much equal time in the spotlight on that album too. Actually, I have to say that's my favorite thing about all these early Wu-MC solo albums -- they're practically Clan albums!
But of course, it's all held together by THE RZA! I just read The Tao of Wu where RZA preaches about knowledge, wisdom and lessons. Well, one lesson I've learned is that I am a sucker for RZA beats! What a fucking roll he was on production-wise in the first five years of the Wu. I am going to pick up the box set of Liquid Swords that comes with all the instrumentals (and also a fully functioning Wu-brand chess set) and I can imagine just zoning out to those beats for hours at a time.
Next up: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
I completely agree about the solo albums being great because of the copious appearances of other clan members. I think you'll find OB4CL is as much a Tony Starks album as it is a Chef album. It honestly might be my favorite Wu solo LP just ahead of LS.
[Excited Wu ramble begins]
GODDAMN Supreme Clientele is one hell of an album! Just dived in to this record the other day and I think this might be my favorite Wu solo effort outside of Liquid Swords. But ask me next week and that'll probably change.
I just can't get enough of this stuff. It's been almost two months since Roo jump-started my Wu fandemonium, and it's showing no signs of fading. There's SO. FUCKING. MUCH. It's overwhelming in the best possible way.
I am obsessed with the Gravediggaz right now, a RZA offshoot project started in 1994. He and Prince Paul combined to form one of the most potent production teams in history. Two months ago, I'd never heard their first album Six Feet Deep, yet now I can confidently say it will go down as one of my favorite albums of all time. Nary a dull track. The beats are sick, the rhymes are also sick (in a different and hilarious way), and the execution of the concept is perfect. I URGE any Wu fan to track this down.
Of course, my love for this album prompted me to track down everything that was created by the Gravediggaz in that era. Given how prolific RZA was in those days, it came as no shock that there is a HELL of a lot of non-album gems out there to be tracked down. I may or may not have dropped a hundred bucks to become a 1994 Gravediggaz completist -- but it got me a shitload of 12" singles with unreleased tracks and extended mixes, as well as a vinyl copy of Niggamortis, the ORIGINAL pressing of Six Feet Deep (which was understandably banned in North America) that has even more unreleased tracks.
When it comes to Wu shit, I'm completely immersed. Six feet deep indeed.
[Rant over. I apologize for doing this on a MMJ forum.]
Haha! Just got a flash back of '97... Trippin listening to "trippin" off 6 feet deep!!!
Thanks!!
O, you see this?
http://www.hiphopsite.com/2013/07/25/exclusive-prince-paul-breaks-down-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep-track-by-track/ (http://www.hiphopsite.com/2013/07/25/exclusive-prince-paul-breaks-down-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep-track-by-track/)
Quote from: dookie shoot bandit on Aug 01, 2013, 09:10 PM
Haha! Just got a flash back of '97... Trippin listening to "trippin" off 6 feet deep!!!
Thanks!!
:beer: :thumbsup:
Just a heads up. There is a hip hop thread buried somewhere here called Crate Diggin' Redux. I've been out of the hip hop loop for some time now other than some random underground stuff I dig up. If any of you guys active in here have suggestions, that would be great. Cheers! :beer:
Quote from: Osistheones on Aug 05, 2013, 10:04 PM
O, you see this?
http://www.hiphopsite.com/2013/07/25/exclusive-prince-paul-breaks-down-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep-track-by-track/ (http://www.hiphopsite.com/2013/07/25/exclusive-prince-paul-breaks-down-gravediggaz-6-feet-deep-track-by-track/)
GOOD GOD, MAN! This is fucking unreal! Thank you!
Quote from: Ruckus on Aug 05, 2013, 10:34 PM
Quote from: dookie shoot bandit on Aug 01, 2013, 09:10 PM
Haha! Just got a flash back of '97... Trippin listening to "trippin" off 6 feet deep!!!
Thanks!!
:beer: :thumbsup:
Just a heads up. There is a hip hop thread buried somewhere here called Crate Diggin' Redux. I've been out of the hip hop loop for some time now other than some random underground stuff I dig up. If any of you guys active in here have suggestions, that would be great. Cheers! :beer:
There's just something about Action Bronson. I think I like him more as a persona, but I can listen to him rap about food and doing splits all day. Check out the mixtape
Blue Chips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKBN_ENIJ4c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKBN_ENIJ4c)
Quote from: Murph on Aug 06, 2013, 04:45 PM
Quote from: Ruckus on Aug 05, 2013, 10:34 PM
Quote from: dookie shoot bandit on Aug 01, 2013, 09:10 PM
Haha! Just got a flash back of '97... Trippin listening to "trippin" off 6 feet deep!!!
Thanks!!
:beer: :thumbsup:
Just a heads up. There is a hip hop thread buried somewhere here called Crate Diggin' Redux. I've been out of the hip hop loop for some time now other than some random underground stuff I dig up. If any of you guys active in here have suggestions, that would be great. Cheers! :beer:
There's just something about Action Bronson. I think I like him more as a persona, but I can listen to him rap about food and doing splits all day. Check out the mixtape Blue Chips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKBN_ENIJ4c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKBN_ENIJ4c)
Love Bronsolino. I only have really given Dr. Lecter extended listens but I love it. I gave his EP from this year SAAAB Stories a listen. Decent but didnt like it as much.
He has quite a few mixtapes on datpiff.com that you can d/l for free.
I definitely gotta get into this Action Bronson character. He just announced a show at my favorite venue in town with one of my favorite acts around, Danny Brown, so I'll be upping my Bronson content big time over the next few months. Thanks for the recommendations!
For my money, Well Done is the best thing Bronson has done to date. Dr. Lector and Blue Chips are also solid to quite solid.
Fans of hip-hop/Wu would likely enjoy The Doppelgangaz. My favorite hip-hop act of the last few years, can't recommend them enough.
Bumping this thread solely to say my Wu phase is still hanging on strong as ever, and ALSO...
The Wu announced a show in Toronto taking place next month. There are no other shows scheduled. Just this one. In my hometown. I would normally be dying from excitement at such an announcement, but I'm pegging the odds of this show actually happening at a abouuuut 1.4%.
The Wu rolled into Toronto last night, and despite my fears that the show would be canceled, they brought the ruckus! People behind me must have thought I was on a pogo stick because I was bouncin' up and down the entire show. Was awesome to see Raekwon after he no-showed at Roo. Even got to hang out backstage with the Clan after the show! Casually talking to GZA was surreal. At one point some juicehead security guard tried to kick GZA out of the backstage area because he didn't have a wristband. "Do you know who you're talking to?! This is the Genius!", I instinctively (perhaps drunkenly) interjected. The security guard apologized to GZA, and GZA gave me the "props handshake". For a dorky-looking white guy, having a member of one of the most gangster rap groups of all time give ME props was fucking hilarious.
I've seen more hip hop shows this year than all the other years of my life combined, and I've realized that when it comes to these shows, energy is king. Rock shows can get by on low energy if the music is good enough, but a hip hop show without energy is just a fuckin' shitty show. I've come to the conclusion that a Wu show just can't be shitty, because when they attack the stage, the energy is unparalleled. Sure, you could complain that their voices are a little ravaged, that their words are a little slurred, that they occasionally forget their lyrics -- but does any of that really matter when they have the entire audience going batshit crazy? When it comes to hip hop shows, Wu Tang Clan SERIOUSLY ain't nothing to fuck with.
I love this story, Carson. The experience must have been mind blowing.
Mind blowing indeed. What also blew my mind was how nice these guys were when I got the chance to talk to them. I was expecting them to be cocky and street-talkin' like they were whenever they had a video camera in front of them back in the day. Their "hype mode" is definitely just an act, because in person they were as humble and down-to-earth as can be. Talking about my favorite Inspectah Deck verses with Deck himself was a moment I will never forget. Though, I was a little shocked to find out that he thought his "Hellz Wind Staff" verse wasn't anywhere near one of his best, especially when I frequently rewind that verse for repeated listening just like I do to after an unreal guitar solo.
Special recognition goes to U-God, who seemed genuinely flattered that I had some track-specific questions to ask him about his latest album. And for the record, Keynote Speaker is definitely worth tracking down!
This is a FANTASTIC profile on what's going on with the Wu on the 20th anniversary of 36 Chambers. It's an honest and, at times, sad profile of one of the more influential groups of my teen years.
http://grantland.com/features/wu-tang-clan-20th-anniversary-reunion-rza-gza-ghostface/ (http://grantland.com/features/wu-tang-clan-20th-anniversary-reunion-rza-gza-ghostface/)
Sidenote: Grantland is from the Sports Guy but I find myself enjoying their pop culture writers more than the sports guys.
What an amazing read. They are such a dysfunctional group, it's comically sad. RZA asking the writer what the other guys were thinking about the reunion says it all. Doesn't sound like they're gonna get Raekwon on board for the final album. A damn shame.
Bad management, group bickering, drug problems, death, complete lack of cohesive vision in their later days -- it all makes for one interesting group. I would read the shit out of a full-length Wu book by this writer. He clearly gets it.
As sad as the dissolution of Wu is, the article also provides plenty of anecdotes as to why I love the Wu so much in the first place. Especially all the Bonnaroo content. So I guess it wasn't in my head, RZA really WAS completely fucked up. Absolutely love Ghostface describing the lasagna in the artist's tent. Also love the image of GZA walking around with a bottle of vodka and announcing he was going to see Paul McCartney. I'm with Deck -- quiche is good, man!
Highly recommended reading.
completely blown away with the approach that the Wu is taking with this newest release. ONE COPY!
http://scluzay.com/ (http://scluzay.com/)
QuoteHistory demonstrates that great musicians such as Beethoven, Mozart and Bach are held in the same high esteem as figures like Picasso, Michelangelo and Van Gogh. However, the creative output of today's artists such as The RZA, Kanye West or Dr. Dre, is not valued equally to that of artists like Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst or Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Is exclusivity versus mass replication really the 50 million dollar difference between a microphone and a paintbrush? Is contemporary art overvalued in an exclusive market, or are musicians undervalued in a profoundly saturated market? By adopting a 400 year old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity and allowing it to take a similar trajectory from creation to exhibition to sale, as any other contemporary art piece, we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music. We hope to steer those debates toward more radical solutions and provoke questions about the value and perception of music as a work of art in today's world.
While we fully embrace the advancements in music technology, we feel it has contributed to the devaluation of music as an art form. By taking this step, we hope to re-enforce the weight that music once carried alongside a painting or a sculpture. The album will be put on listening display in renowned galleries, museums, venues and exhibition spaces around the world for only the most dedicated to experience before it disappears into the private collection of a buyer. The public will know that what they will hear will be a once in a life time experience.
A notable few have explored original and creative economic models. Prince, Radiohead and more recently Jay Z and Beyonce have all introduced new financial and distribution models and challenged the industry structure. In 1993, the Wu-Tang Clan introduced the revolutionary 'Wu-Tang deal' which allowed the group to sign with one record label as an entity, but sign separate deals with other major labels for solo releases. It was an approach adopted by many groups that followed. Now 21 years later a new approach is introduced, one where the pride and joy of sharing music with the masses is sacrificed for the benefit of reviving music as a valuable art and inspiring debate about its future among musicians, fans and the industry that drives it. Simultaneously, it launches the private music branch as a new luxury business model for those able to commission musicians to create songs or albums for private collections. It is a fascinating melting pot of art, luxury, revolution and inspiration. It's welcoming people to an old world."
Cilvaringz & The RZA
When it comes to gimmicks, I say the more audacious and hilarious, the better. So this concept gets five stars from me! If this museum tour actually happens, I won't be able to give them my money fast enough.
HOWEVER, part of me questions if this album actually exists. I could see this being a RZA marketing masterstroke -- is there a better way to drum up publicity for the real upcoming album than by dropping the news of an exclusive, mythical, "lost" Wu album?
Also, the new single, "Keep Watch" actually isn't that bad. Of course, in true Wu fashion, Meth isn't happy with it, saying that "it's got the wrong hook". But I dig it!
No way this actually works, itll get leaked or something, but bravo to trying to do it. Id easily drop $20 for a listen in a museum.