Album: Immobilarity
Release Date: Nov. 16, 1999
Producer: Various
Review: Immobilarity, the sophomore effort by Raekwon the Chef, has enormous shoes to try to fill. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, let alone one of the all-time best debut releases. Vaulting Cuban Linx's high bar is essentially an impossible task - although 2009's Cuban Linx Pt. 2 comes close - so for Immobilarity let's just get that out of the way. Does it live up to Cuban Linx? No. For the most part, it's the lowest-rated Raekwon album to date, but at the very least it's a great reference point for the Chef's career following the end of RZA's 1992-1997 five-year plan for the Wu and that this album anticipates some ideas that worked better on future releases.
The personnel says it all. A quick look at the credits reveals that the only Wu guest stars are Method Man on "Fuck Them" and Masta Killa on "The Table." This is a massive departure from Rae's previous release, which featured every Wu member besides Ol' Dirty Bastard at least once and Ghostface Killah on nearly all its tracks. Likewise, Raekwon appeared on several tracks from Ghostface's 1996 debut Ironman, and the two have a track to themselves on Wu-Tang Forever so it's a huge surprise that Immobilarity has zero involvement from Ghost. However, in hindsight, it makes some sense. Set up for success from the popularity of Wu-Tang's 1993-1997 CD's, we've already seen what happens when each member of the Wu uses his brethren less: Method Man's Tical 2000 featured Streetlife more than any Wu member; the only Wu member on ODB's Nigga Please is RZA on production for three tracks. Even U-God's Golden Arms Redemption only features other Wu generals on two of its 15 tracks.
Instead, Raekwon sought to perform most tracks by himself and to bring some talent of his own - American Cream Team - into the spotlight. American Cream Team included Chip Banks, Rhyme Recka, Polite, Triflyn, Twiz and Lord Superb. Most notably, Triflyn produced several tracks on Immobilarity, Polite was in Raekwon's second formed group Ice Water Inc., Twiz later joined Ghostface's Theodore Unit (featured heavily on Ghost's More Fish years later) and Lord Superb - who had shared the track "The Man" with Masta Killa on the Ghost Dog soundtrack - later had a falling out with the Wu, declaring publicly that he gave Ghostface Killah his style and wrote a considerable amount of Supreme Clientele. Here, ACT appears on two tracks: "Power" and "Raw."
On to the album itself. Raekwon's lyrics are always on point, so it goes without saying that this is an album full of lyrics that, at their worst, could only be rated a B+. It also leads with some promising songs - "Yae Yo" is a solid opener and "Casablanca" reminds me of some of the more urgent Raekwon solo tracks on Cuban Linx 2. The piano on "Real Life" sounds sincere and dramatic, bordering on eerie in the sense of the scores for the Silent Hill games. "Live from NY," "Jury" and "The Table" are the other three standouts to me, for their combination of engaging music with the Chef spitting high-quality rhymes. It's no surprise that "Casablanca," "Jury," "Live from NY" and "The Table" are all brought in by the same producers - The Infinite Arkatechz.
Sadly, by the time I get to the 3/4 mark on the album ("Sneakers"), it feels like it's worn out its welcome. It took me several listens to figure out what doesn't work for me here, and the biggest problem is the production. Again, I'm not in the "RZA or Bust" camp - I love the music on Tical 2000 and Golden Arms Redemption, neither of which have more than one or two RZA tracks. With Immobilarity, the majority of the album seems to stem from one drum machine-and-synth combo with little variance in the beats or the mixing. There are enough "kick kick snare, kick kick snare" beats here to choke a pop-rock band. Even that sincere piano on "Real Life" is emulated effectively on "Live from NY" and "Jury," in a two-note progression on "My Favorite Dred," and to less memorable favor on both "Sneakers" and "Fuck Them." By the time the album takes an oddly-placed turn for the old-school on "Raw," "Pop Shit" and "Heart to Heart," I never feel like I've got much to go on.
There are also some near-misses. Method Man's verse on "Fuck Them" is great, but his hook - despite the message I love about encouraging kids to stop idolizing gangsters - is awkwardly paced. Raekwon's beautiful and sincere "All I Got is You Pt. II" is a genuine look at the Chef's childhood in the projects, remembering his mother keeping their family together despite some of its members being separated by prison bars...but the music is really hard to get past. The tubular bells / chimes are incessant and I tend to skip it more often than not. It's also no surprise here, then, that "All I Got is You Pt. II," "Raw," "Pop Shit" and "Heart to Heart" are all by the same producer - Naheen "Pop" Bowens.
Had Raekwon stuck with The Infinite Arkitechz to produce the entire album, I think we'd have a very, very different Immobilarity on our hands. Their tracks are the livest, and a rapper of Rae's caliber deserves backdrops that fresh. It's a damn shame, especially considering his later threepeat of great albums later on: Cuban Linx 2, Wu Massacre and Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang. Immobilarity could be up there with them, but it's bogged down by some sub-par music and a lack of the guest spots that always add flavor to Rae's other releases.
Legacy: Immobilarity closes out 1999, the year of the Wu, on a bit of a sour note, despite some very solid tracks. Looking back, it was a year of the group finding their footing in the post-RZA era. Some releases, especially Uncontrolled Substance, hit the nail on the head and did precisely what they needed to do. Others, Immobilarity included, gambled big and set out to do something on their own but fell a bit flat here and there. It's ironic that it would be followed so closely by the next album, Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele, which is one of the best-regarded albums in the solo Wu catalog. Besides, anyone can forgive the Chef for stumbling one time - especially in comparison to at least four other phenomenal albums he's released before and since. Take the hot tracks, skip the missteps and look forward to the rest of Rae's career.
Recommended Tracks: "Live from NY," "The Table," "Jury."
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