Title: Uncontrolled Substance
Release Date: October 5, 1999
Producers: Inspectah Deck, True Master, 4th Disciple, RZA et al.
Review: Uncontrolled Substance feels more like a Wu-Tang solo release than anything since Ghostface's 1996 debut Ironman. Destroying the "RZA's Production or Bust" theory that post-Forever haters love to tout, Inspectah Deck's rhymes jab, hook and uppercut on all 17 tracks over beats by himself, True Master, 4th Disciple and others. RZA does produce the opener "Movas & Shakers" and the slow burner "Friction," but the other songs hold up just fine on their own. Inspectah Deck actually takes the lion's share of music duty on Uncontrolled Substance, performing on all 17 tracks and creating the sounds for five of them - "Femme Fatale," "Word on the Street," "Elevation," "Hyperdermix" and "The Cause" - and he clearly knows how to match music to his voice.
True Master produces three tracks here, all of which fit like a glove: "Longevity" and "R.E.C. Room" would sound right at home on Forever (especially "Longevity," which is rapped by Inspectah Deck and U-God), whereas "Lovin' You" reminds me of the Ghost Dog soundtrack. True Master is most famous for co-producing the Ol' Dirty Bastard hit "Brooklyn Zoo," though by the time Uncontrolled Substance came out, he'd been responsible for over 25 tracks across albums by Wu affiliates Gravediggaz, Cappadonna, Killah Priest, Sunz of Man and Method Man (most notably "Torture" and "Sweet Love" on Tical 2000).
4th Disciple is a fitting and logical choice for this album for several reasons. First, he produced Deck's solo track "The City" on Wu-Tang Forever as well as some of the other tracks on the double-disc release ("Older Gods," "Cash Still Rules," "A Better Tomorrow" and the co-production on the award-winning "Impossible"). He offers "9th Chamber" with a gamut of Wu affiliates on the mic (La the Darkman, Baretta 9, Killa Sin and Streetlife) and the bouncing piano-and-horns "The Grand Prix" featuring U-God and Streetlife.
If the musical credits are a bit esoteric, the emcees are much simpler. Besides the guest-happy "9th Chamber," Inspectah Deck carries most of the album by himself. U-God guests on "The Grand Prix" and "Longevity," Masta Killa provides two verses on the RZA-produced "Friction," and Streetlife and La the Darkman bring tight verses as well - but Inspectah Deck is clearly the winner on his first record. The first several tracks sound great, with plenty of his energetic style to go around, but it's the title track where we catch the first of many classic-sounding INS rhymes. He kicks off his third verse with these four lines:
"My style's so underground I write rhymes on fossils
Use as directed and wear protective goggles
Shaolin's the borough, rap Picasso
Blow like a hollow-point, foes sure to follow."
It's pure Wu-Tang, and it only gets better. The whole album is full of bangin' rhymes like this stanza from "Femme Fatale"...
"She froze with the Playboy pose
Centerfold body rose through her clothes
My Love Jones rose
The stereo blow
Scenario: the lights low, the hydro's rolled
Two tokes without the nympho, we went slow."
But perhaps what makes this such a classic Wu solo record is the sheer amount of shout-outs and throwbacks to other Wu-Tang members and releases. "Hyperdermix" has a hook featuring someone skratching Ghostface's appearance on "Wisdom Body" from Raekwon's Cuban Linx; Masta Killa says that he's like "Iron Lung, be the first to set off shit, last to run" - a reference to Cuban Linx's "Wu-Gambinos." "The Grand Prix" is an in-character song where Deck, U-God and Streetlife spit rhymes while an announcer narrates them winning a grand prix, calling them "Team Wu-Tang." "Longevity" opens with an intro from INS, using a classic acronym: "Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game," even before its hook declares "Not many last in the game / Wu-Tang comin' through, breakin' out the same way we came." I could go on for three more paragraphs.
Legacy: Uncontrolled Substance is the first release in what's been a prolific and reliably superb-quality career from Inspectah Deck. He rapped with the same energy when I saw him this year as he did 15 years ago on this debut, and much of this album is a great foreshadowing for his impeccable sophomore release, The Movement. But perhaps the most surprising memory the album leaves is its original intent of release in 1995 or 1996 alongside the other first-run Wu solo classics: Tical, Return to the 36 Chambers, Cuban Linx, Liquid Swords and Ironman. A flood at RZA's studio destroyed over 100 beats, including most or all of his material for this album. It was postponed indefinitely but reconstructed almost from scratch in '97 and '98 by its final producers. Many can ask "What if?" in regards to the lost RZA beats, but one listen to this album and I have to wonder "Why bother?" It stands as one of the best immediate post-Forever releases.
Recommended Tracks: Movas & Shakers, Uncontrolled Substance, Longevity.
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