Clan in da Front

Which Wu?

The impending release of Wu Tangs new album has encouraged me to go back through some Wu favourites, and there are HEAPS of them. Like "Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers" with each member of the clan spitting rhymes like their life depended on it. RZA's beats coming through sparse and almost scary, like a dark alley in the Wu's home - Stanten Island. This was the breakthrough.

Then the solo albums came, and these were outstanding too. GZA's "Liquid Swords", with deft rhymes, full of imagery from martial arts movies (and several excellent samples too) but reflecting street life; Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" with soul samples, huge contributions from Ghostface and leading a new sub-genre of "Mafioso Rap". Both of these showcased RZA's production and increasingly, his diversity. RZA himself joined up in a seemingly unlikely collaboration with Prince Paul (best known for producing De La Souls "3 Feet High and Rising") and formed Gravediggaz. Their debut "6 Feet Deep" is a hidden gem in Wu's enormous back catalogue to this day. These were underground hits though mostly considered classics today.

Then... well then it went to pack.

Wu-Tang Forever was sprawling, sure it had some singles and the production was better than ever, but 2 disks is almost universally long for a hip hop album. Even a Wu-Tang joint. There are those who disagree, but 2 disks and over 2 hours later it gets tired. The solo albums became notoriously hit and miss, with the exception of Ghostface. Most notably though, RZA produced the score for the film Ghost Dog.

Fastforward to '07. Ghostface and RZA seem to be the only ones who've grown and developed. RZA went from strength to strength, Bobby Digital, Kill Bill Soundtrack, The World According to RZA all the while experimenting with his production style, never getting pinned into a corner. Ghostface built up from his average Ironman to the brilliant Fishscale.

So Wu, what will your 8 Diagrams bring?



R.I.P. Big Baby Jesus