Post by Dark 7 Invader on May 25, 2005 14:21:28 GMT -5
When the Wu-Tang Clan emerged on the hip-hop scene in '92 for the first time, it actually wasn't the first time. Wu producer The RZA had already released a single one year earlier and cousin GZA/Genius even a whole album, both with less success than expected from their respective labels, Tommy Boy and Cold Chillin' and both were dropped. RZA then mastered a plan of bringing together a bunch of guys, who already had been rhyming since the late 80's, charged 100 $ from everybody, took them in a studio and produced an album that had mad influence on the whole music world.
After sellin' their first single 'Protect Ya Neck' out of trunks in '92, the 9 man, Shaolin-based rap crew put out their heavily anticipated first full length release on LOUD Records. On the business side they had signed a ground-breaking deal with their record company. While the Clan as a whole was signed to LOUD, each member had the opportunity to move to another label for releasing solo material.
The album itself can undoubtedly be claimed as one of the pure classic hip-hop albums overall. More than that, it brought a completely new sound to the surface. Dark and gritty beats, laced with Kung-Fu movie samples and the outstanding talent from each of its members quickly made the Wu-Tang Clan a trademark as an explosive and hungry rap squad. To be honest the album has not one standout track. In actual fact, it has 13. When the 9 MC's get on the mic they make sure that everybody knows that Wu is number one. From GZA's smart lyricism and memorable metaphors to Inspectah Deck's razor sharp lines to Ol' Dirty Bastard's insanity, each member comes with the triple R sound: raw, rough and rugged. All have the talent to shine alone but as a crew they just cut heads. From auto-biografical street life stories like in C.R.E.A.M. or Tearz to the in Wu-standards almost commercial self-titled Method Man solo the album covers a lot of topics wanted to be heard. When listening to the album you can feel the seemingly endless amount of unusual raw energy the Clansmen put into this project, it's almost like a whirlwind that catches you throughout the 60min of superb music this LP offers. As I said the beats on the album are pure gems: simplistic, yet still catchy; eerie and at times dramatic; in RZA's unique style shaped as sharp swords to the ear of the un-trained listener and most of all matching perfect with the flows of Staten Island's verbal acrobats.
In each track the Clan sparks the fire that's nowadays hardly to find on a hip-hop album even besides the commercial material. Nomen est omen on the first track, Bring Da Ruckus; On Clan In Da Front The Genius blesses us with lines that stand for its own like "I don't give a god d**n/ all the shows you did/ how many rhymes you got, or who knows you kid/ Cause I don't know ya therefore show me what you know/ I come sharp as a blade and I cut you slow". Ghostface Killah and Raekwon reminisce how easy it was back in the days on Can It Be All So Simple, while on the next song Da Mystery Of Chessboxin U-God opens with one of the rawest verses being heard on the album.
To make it short: this albums has everything a classic needs and is definitaly one of the best hip-hop records ever. Easily, every new LP can be measured by this output and most likely every new LP will fail to top it. Hip-hop in its purest form is what even critics call this album. That's why it surely deserves a rating of 10.
P.S. If you like clean-as-a-bar-of-soap music this might not be the album you're looking for. Be careful, it also may cause damage to your ear and brain!
Rating: 10/10
Written by Sphinx Props: Wubloodkin
After sellin' their first single 'Protect Ya Neck' out of trunks in '92, the 9 man, Shaolin-based rap crew put out their heavily anticipated first full length release on LOUD Records. On the business side they had signed a ground-breaking deal with their record company. While the Clan as a whole was signed to LOUD, each member had the opportunity to move to another label for releasing solo material.
The album itself can undoubtedly be claimed as one of the pure classic hip-hop albums overall. More than that, it brought a completely new sound to the surface. Dark and gritty beats, laced with Kung-Fu movie samples and the outstanding talent from each of its members quickly made the Wu-Tang Clan a trademark as an explosive and hungry rap squad. To be honest the album has not one standout track. In actual fact, it has 13. When the 9 MC's get on the mic they make sure that everybody knows that Wu is number one. From GZA's smart lyricism and memorable metaphors to Inspectah Deck's razor sharp lines to Ol' Dirty Bastard's insanity, each member comes with the triple R sound: raw, rough and rugged. All have the talent to shine alone but as a crew they just cut heads. From auto-biografical street life stories like in C.R.E.A.M. or Tearz to the in Wu-standards almost commercial self-titled Method Man solo the album covers a lot of topics wanted to be heard. When listening to the album you can feel the seemingly endless amount of unusual raw energy the Clansmen put into this project, it's almost like a whirlwind that catches you throughout the 60min of superb music this LP offers. As I said the beats on the album are pure gems: simplistic, yet still catchy; eerie and at times dramatic; in RZA's unique style shaped as sharp swords to the ear of the un-trained listener and most of all matching perfect with the flows of Staten Island's verbal acrobats.
In each track the Clan sparks the fire that's nowadays hardly to find on a hip-hop album even besides the commercial material. Nomen est omen on the first track, Bring Da Ruckus; On Clan In Da Front The Genius blesses us with lines that stand for its own like "I don't give a god d**n/ all the shows you did/ how many rhymes you got, or who knows you kid/ Cause I don't know ya therefore show me what you know/ I come sharp as a blade and I cut you slow". Ghostface Killah and Raekwon reminisce how easy it was back in the days on Can It Be All So Simple, while on the next song Da Mystery Of Chessboxin U-God opens with one of the rawest verses being heard on the album.
To make it short: this albums has everything a classic needs and is definitaly one of the best hip-hop records ever. Easily, every new LP can be measured by this output and most likely every new LP will fail to top it. Hip-hop in its purest form is what even critics call this album. That's why it surely deserves a rating of 10.
P.S. If you like clean-as-a-bar-of-soap music this might not be the album you're looking for. Be careful, it also may cause damage to your ear and brain!
Rating: 10/10
Written by Sphinx Props: Wubloodkin