| Product: |
Wu Tang Clan in general |
| Date: |
17/03/02 (50 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Yeah
Disadvantages: Did go a bit rubbish
For reasons unbeknown even to myself, over the last couple of months I appear to have turned into a complete Wu-Tang Clan obsessive. I've always really liked them and flirted with a mild mania a few years back, when their debut LP 'Enter the 36 Chambers'refused to leave my walkman, but now I'm really hooked. I think it started when my friend and I were in the Virgin Megastore, and I proclaimed that I wanted to buy the Ludacris LP. However, being a bit of a hip-hop puritan and only liking 'music with a message' he informed me that he wouldn't give me a lift back home if I bought it. So, therefore, I was forced to purchase the Wu-Tang Clan's latest LP 'Iron Flag' (being unable to leave a record shop empty handed), an album that I didn't have particularly high expectations for. However, after tentatvively placing it in my CD player, I was very impressed by the solid album that followed - if not a Wu classic, it is very good. Since then I have bought about five of the Wu-Tang solo albums and I'm going to include them all in this category because they are, after all, part of the Wu-Tang Clan.
If you don't know anything about the Wu-Tang Clan, here we go. Back in the early 1990s hip-hop was in a very sorry state, N.W.A had been and gone, Dre was yet to make his comeback and all of the old innovators were now out of touch. However, the Wu-Tang Clan came out with their debut LP 'Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers' in 1993 and singlehandedly reinvigorated the ailing scene. The Wu-Tang Clan is comprised of about nine individuals, (members seem to keep on coming and going Capadonna, an associate who became a full time member has now been chucked out, and Mastah Killah did not join until after their first LP), a very novel idea back in the day and one which has been taken on board by many UK garage crews. The core members of the group are RZA (the leader and producer), GZA/Genius, Ol Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ghostf
ace Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Method Man. Their debut LP changed the face of hip-hop forever, instead of rapping about rapping as most MCs had done throughout the 80s, the Wu-Tang told tales of their grimy lives on the streets of New York (which they insist on calling 'Shaolin'), hustling, drug dealing and observing the sadness and grief that come with it. They also added a twist of philosophy, religion, chess strategy and most notably kung-fu samples to the mix to produce one of the best debut LPs ever, and as prone to exaggeration as I am, I do not lie.
Following their debut LP, the Wu released a stream of solo LPs from core members which if not bettered their debut, at least equalled it. They seemed invincible, up to about 1995 and then....nothing. For two years the Wu went quiet and the expectation for their new LP reached fever-pitch. When it finally emerged 'Wu-Tang Forever' received favourable reviews (a fact which most critics now seem to deny) and hit Number one on both sides of the Atlantic. However, people were soon dubbing the admittedly very long double album a sprawling mess. It seemed as if the Wu had made one of their first mistakes. A subsequent stream of solo LPs emerged and were by all accounts very disappointing - especially efforts from members who had released previously classic LPs such as Raekwon and GZA.
2000 saw the Wu re-emerge once more with a new album entitled 'The W' which was considered a return to form by most, even if it wasn't the commercial hit that it could have been. Lead single 'Gravel Pit' saw 'The Tang' in an almost...well, jaunty mood and had a great video. The recent burst of solo albums has been promising especially from Ghostafce Killah, the most consistent force in the group. 'Iron Flag' is a good LP as I have said, though it seems unlikely to return them to their commercial/critical glory days when they were groundbreakers.
What makes
the Wu-Tang so special is the almost mythical aura that surrounds them. they were perhaps the first rap group to be accepted by the rock mainstream because they showed some signs of (macho) sensitivity and intelligence. Each member bring something to bear on the group which makes them more than the sum of their parts (but that would be more than enough anyway).
Lets Meet and Greet the Wu-Tang Clan:
RZA - Referred to as the 'Abbot' produces 90% of the group's output and when he doesn't it tends to be rubbish. He truly is one of the greatest producers of our time and has been copied a great deal by lesser-acts. He has still to release a proper debut LP, but has made two albums under the guise of Bobby Digital, 'Bobby Digital in Stereo' and recently 'Digital Bullet' - good title, crap album.
GZA - often considered the best lyricist in the Clan. His role seems to have diminished a little over the years. His debut LP 'Liquid Swords' is a bona fide classic (again I do not exaggerate). Though recent effort 'Beneath the Surface' was considered to be unimportant and was largely ignored by the sensible.
Raekwon - Better known as the 'Chef' and the man who brought aliases to hip-hop, the curse of the moral majority who want to accuse Eminem of being homophobic, but can't because he'll just say 'It wasn't me, it was that Slim Shady chracter'. Anyway, Raekwon is obsessed with the mafia side to crime and his debut 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' is considered to be a hip-hop landmark. Its follow-up 'Immobilarity', however, is considered to be a hip-hop skidmark.
Ghostface Killah - Raekwon's partner in crime, as they appear on each other's LP's. Ghost is the soul-man of the Clan, not afraid to show his emotions (the wet) and let it cry on the mic. From his debut 'Ironman', through 2000's 'Supreme Clientele' to 2001'
;s 'Bulletproof Wallets' Ghost's profile has risen and he has failed to put a foot wrong yet.
Method Man - Now seems fonder starring in Hollywood movies with Redman than hanging out with the Clan. In the early days Meth was the most popular member of the group and his 'Tical' LP was a huge smash, its follow-up 'Tical 2000' was just O.K. Likes a smoke this one.
U-God - Doesn't really do much, is quite ugly, and unpopular is certainly nobody's favourite member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Released an album in 1999 'Golden Arms Redemption' but I don't care.
Inspectah Deck - same as U-God, not quite as ugly though, released a solo album but Icare even less and so don't even know its name. Its 'famed' for having the worst front cover of all time though.
Mastah Killah - The only member of the Wu yet to release a solo album. The world isn't exactly waiting with baited breath though. Despite this he is a competent MC and probably makes the Clan a better place.
Ol Dirty Bastard - officially the coolest man in the world. Got arrested for stealing a pair of trainers, despite being a millionaire. Got arrested for sun-bathing naked on his hotel balcony naked. Got arrested for possession of crack cocaine. Got arrested for wearing a bulletproof-vest when on house arrest. Whilst being a fugitive fro the law, ODB got up on stage in a venue full of police, performed a song and then scarpered. Called a judge a 'sperm donor' and when the narcotic evidence was shown at his trial urged them to 'make the drugs disappear because he considered himself to be a role model. He also has about 234,567,002 children. All of this would be enough to mark him out as greatest living human being, but as well as that, he has released two great LPs 'The Dirty Version' and 'N@GGA pLEASE' gENIUS.
I'll end with a rhyme of my own. This is why I love the Wu. I hope you
do too.
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