Album: The W
Release Date: November 21, 2000
Producer: RZA (except "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" and "Clap" prod. by Mathematics)
Review: For anyone who found 1997's Wu-Tang Forever too lengthy or bloated, their third full-length release, The W, tightens things up considerably. It clocks in at under an hour, bonus track included. It also features guest spots from some legendary artists, not the least of whom are Isaac Hayes and Nas.
With or without the cover art, I find that this is Wu-Tang's darkest - and maybe even most "gangsta rap" - sounding album. "Careful (Click, Click)" has a grimey beat and echoing wood block, group shout-outs saying "Fuck the police," and a hook that repeatedly references gunfire and box cutters (implying that they're used for violence). "Something in the street went BANG BANG / Making it hard for you to do ya thang thang," says Capadonna, followed by Ghostface's "Something in the hall went click click / The box cutter went click click." The unsettling "Let My Niggas Live," (featuring a verse by Nas that smartly references Marcus Garvey) has a Raekwon hook which mentions "making major moves," "getting caught in the caper" and advising others to "handle your bid and kill no kids." It's followed immediately by the Ghostface/RZA track "I Can't Go to Sleep" (with vocals by Isaac Hayes) that centers around children and civil rights leaders being murdered.
The other interesting thing about this record is the addition of several separate beats/verses after a song seems to end. "Conditioner," the only track which features Ol' Dirty Bastard or Snoop Dogg, stops around the four-minute mark and starts a new beat with a freestyle by GZA and a hook by Inspectah Deck. "I Can't Go to Sleep" starts about 30 seconds before the end of "Let My Niggas Live" - the track changes over with the proper start of Ghostface's verse. "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" also winds down around four minutes and picks up with a new beat, a hook and the first couple lines of a verse before Raekwon says to turn it down and the following track starts. Even "Clap," the secret song at the end, is only separated by the closing track "Jah World" by a couple seconds.
It should come as no surprise that this album sounds great from start to finish. "Chamber Music" starts off with some fast ride cymbals and simple piano notes - and a blistering opening verse by Raekwon. Slicker than snot he spits out "Peep the jump-off, ain't nothin' sweet, got dumped off / Frontin' like you won't get deaded and bumped off / Drastic son, master guns that'll run up in plastic ones / And then go crash in the slums." Despite his recent Immobilarity being his least impressive release to date, The Chef is back and proves it all over this album - even as the first to be heard on it. It's a good idea on RZA's part to feature every member of Wu-Tang Clan, including Cappadonna but excluding Ol' Dirty Bastard, on the first two tracks. Unlike Forever, The W guarantees most listeners will hear their favorite emcee inside the first nine minutes of the album. Raekwon, GZA, Method Man and Masta Killa take "Chamber Music" and RZA, Cappadonna, U-God, Ghostface and Inspectah Deck feature on "Careful (Click, Click)."
"Hollow Bones" continues the sound I described recently that became a real trend with the Wu. It takes their old soul-inspired sound and tunes up an instrument or two - in this case, the hook. Speaking of good ideas, "Redbull" features Redman and, likely due to the platinum success of Method and Red's Blackout!, he's followed immediately by Method Man.
Junior Reid provides lovely rasta vocals on "One Blood Under W," which is also Masta Killa's first solo track on a group album. That may sound like a narrow focus (he already had solo tracks on the Ghost Dog soundtrack and the Shaolin Style soundtrack), but to me it's an important track on the album. Here's why. Method Man had the only solo track on Enter the Wu-Tang, which featured just one Masta Killa verse in its entirety. On Forever, ODB, RZA, Inspectah Deck and U-God all had their own solo tracks. In the seven years between Enter the Wu-Tang and The W, Masta Killa came into his own on close to a dozen tracks and is here featured with his own song. Despite at this point being the only Wu-Tang general without a solo album released, this is the biggest sign that he's grown as an artist to the point of getting the spotlight on a track like the others before him. I also think he's fascinating, since so little is known about him; and very underrated, since Method Man, Ghost and RZA seem to be the most popular surviving members of the group; so I keep a close eye on Masta Killa's work. And his second verse really slays. "Don't ask this is genuine draft / Blueprint ultimate legit sting international, stone love classical / Coming back to attack in black fatigue / Wu-Tang and Junior Reid."
ODB makes his only appearance of the album (due to a stint in prison) on "Conditioner" with a weird verse about vaginas, bedwetting and farts; he also provides the awkward chorus "MC conditioner, you could never say this boy's a amateur" which repeats a dozen times. It's the most off-beat hook since the beginning, when Method Man says "Chamber music, fuckin' the party uppin'" on "Chamber Music."
The lead single "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off)" features every Wu general (minus ODB) plus Cappadonna. There are fantastic lyrics throughout, from Inspectah Deck's intro ("Dance with the mantis, note the slim chances / Chant this anthem, swing like Pete Sampras") to GZA's closer ("Run on the track like Jesse Owens / Broke the record flowin' without any knowin' that my word play run the 400-meter relay / It's on once I grab the baton from the DJ"). The beat is uptempo and really keeps the Wu on their toes: Method Man brings some killer similes ("Bust shots at Big Ben like we got time to kill") and RZA's quick verse finishes each line with a shout-out to his alter ego Bobby Digital ("Y'all might just catch me in the park playin' chess, studyin' math, signing 'seven' and a sun" "BOBBY!").
"I Can't Go to Sleep" and "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" both have incredible music in their own rights - the first is a slow, orchestrated '70s-style soul melody and the latter is an upbeat hip-hop beat with urgent keyboards and popping drums. "Gravel Pit" displays the most common complaint about RZA's music in the last 15 years - an ill-fitting, sung chorus peppered throughout the song. Wu-Tang just released their brand-new single "Ron O'Neal," 14 years later, and it's still the same problem: admirable idea, but just doesn't fit.
As always, let's take a look at presence on the album. In light of the recently-resolved Raekwon/RZA dispute and the personnel on the upcoming album A Better Tomorrow (with RZA ranking which Wu members have brought the most verses or the least), it's worth seeing who carries each album the most.
Ghostface Killah dominates with seven verses, a couple hooks and backing vocals.
Method Man does six verses and a hook as well.
Masta Killa has six verses.
Raekwon spits five verses, two hooks and extra vocals.
Inspectah Deck rhymes five verses and a hook.
RZA brings four verses and an intro and produces 12 of the album's 14 tracks.
GZA has three verses and a freestyle.
U-God offers three verses, a hook and extra vocals.
Cappadonna, the quasi-official 10th Wu-general, has two verses.
Ol' Dirty Bastard performs one verse and a hook.
Legacy: The W was highly rated by most critics. The music sees RZA and Mathematics taking plenty of risks that mostly pay off, the lyrics are a return to form for everyone (including members like Raekwon whose previous solo outings weren't as well-received) and it gels as a record overall. It features great guest spots too. It's a great example of how prolific Ghostface Killah can be: he has seven verses on this album, released his sophomore album Supreme Clientele earlier that year and put out his third solo album (Bulletproof Wallets) less than a year later. On the other hand, ODB's absence here is just one sign of the legal troubles that would plague him the rest of his life. The other minor hiccups are that it's often remembered for its Flintstones-esque video for "Gravel Pit," which is clearly a misstep; and there is the aforementioned sung hook that doesn't fill the shoes of choruses like "Can it Be All So Simple." However, The W is still a great listen, from the winning music on "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" to the tight lyrics throughout (especially Raekwon on "Chamber Music," Masta Killa on "One Blood Under W" and the whole clan on "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off)").
Recommended Tracks: One Blood Under W, Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off), Do You Really (Thang Thang).
Next Week: Can RZA improve on Bobby Digital in Stereo with his second Bobby solo album Digital Bullet? Come back next Wu Wednesday and find out!
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