Album: Digital Bullet
Release Date: August 18, 2001
Producer: RZA (except "Domestic Violence Pt. 2" prod. by Tony Touch, "La Rhumba" prod. by True Master).
Review: Bobby Digital in Stereo received mixed reviews when it was released in November of 1998, but RZA bounced back immediately on lyrics and production on the Ghost Dog soundtrack and Wu-Tang's The W. So when Digital Bullet surfaced in 2001 as another "RZA as Bobby Digital" album, it's easy to understand either way whether a fan would be on-board or hesitant to embrace it. Would it be tighter than Bobby Digital in Stereo? Could it measure up to the high bars set by Ghost Dog and The W? As it turns out, it lands somewhere in between. For its typical Bobby Digital lyrical problems, it still fares better than Bobby Digital in Stereo with far better beats and solid guest spots.
Digital Bullet opens with "Show U Love," whose only real problem is the number of times its hook repeats. "We come to show you love, son, we come to show you / Whether you my nigga, my bitch or I don't know you." Luckily the verse lyrics make up for it. "A room full of eyes, naked demons in disguise / As naked women, walkin' sour lemon airy head / High-pitch bird fly canary bodies vary / Wisdom is secondary, at most necessary." RZA brings the heat with guests Method Man, Masta Killa and Streetlife on "Glocko Pop," which may be the best realization and balance of Bobby Digital's id-driven egoism and key/synth-based beats and Wu-Tang's trademark rhyme skills and lyrical swordsmanship. It's like his alter-ego brought his own take on Wu's Ghost Dog track "Fast Shadow." Method Man sets his verse off lovely with "Yo who wanna play the hero? Your chances are slim / Less than zero, Shaolin laboratory friend." Masta Killa follows suit: "The marvelous bone-crushin' assassin / Appears to be blind in glasses / Daredevil bang head with shovel / Iron skin, Tony Starks, liquid metal." MK's verse on "Brooklyn Babies" doesn't flow as mercurial as he does here.
"Must Be Bobby" and "Brooklyn Babies" have great music and adequate vocals. Surprising no one, GZA slays on "Do U" with lyrics like "You know those jams in the park produced the spark / Made me feel words how I read books in the dark" and "I walked through the borough challenging the best that stood / Torch metal mics, they conduct better than wood."
At the halfway mark on the album, True Master's South American-steeped "La Rhumba" may have the most infectious beat on the album, evoking the pleasure-seeking Bobby Digital to some fun lyrics. "On the dance floor, yo, the way you glide / Make a club of thugs do the Electric Slide." Method Man provides a quick verse, but like Masta Killa, he did better on "Glocko Pop." As is the usual problem with this album, "Shady" has a great beat but the lyrics don't match up, telling the story of Bobby Digital ditching a girl after finding out that she's bisexual - wait, what?
"Bong Bong" and "Throw your Flag Up" have killer beats as well - the former utilizing what sounds like a shamisen or seung.
It's right on "Throw Your Flag Up" that the album decides to finish damn strong for its final five tracks. It offers an Ironman-esque slow soul tune with brass and grimy drums on a loop. RZA also returns to a classic lyrical style here, referencing Rollie Fingers (Inspectah Deck's Cuban Linx nickname) and ending with "Up in the 36 cell block I shadowbox / ship on weed grass and build up like a male ox."
"Be A Man" brings back more funk sax and RZA's best lines so far. For example...
"Peoples' eyes closed like envelopes by faux penmanship
With unpaid doctor bills, framed, got shot and killed
Cops poppin' pills, three pair cotton, steel closet, cabinet of no frills
More bills, sister got evicted from Park Hill"
and
"$50 ticket, about to strike and picket
And shout at the city hall 'Motherfuck the wicked
And greedy,' give to the needy
Down on my luck, about to grab a ouija
Board, that's when Bobby Digi seen me
Said 'Yo son, don't stress over no one
Learn the slogan:
Knowledge is half the battle, that's one to grow on
And don't be counterfeit
It's a bad situation being a man, but we got to handle it.'"
Junior Reid, who brought his ragga vocals on "One Blood Under W" and "Jah World" on The W, returns for "Righteous Way" and sings truly beautiful lyrics for the first half ot the track before RZA's verse. Tekitha backs RZA on "Build Strong," which seems to be the part of the story in which RZA wrestles his Bobby Digital alter-ego and wins, closing with "Sickness," which is much more in tune with RZA's Wu slang and street lamentations.
Overall it's a jarring album at the first couple listens: It starts and finishes strong, with a couple less stellar tracks before its halfway point and a few after. RZA slips in and out of Bobby Digital's mentality on the lyrics and the beats. Sometimes it seems like he wants to live both identities at once and in a couple places he seems to let the reins go entirely (eg "Black Widow Pt. 2"). Anyone who heard Bobby Digital in Stereo and is willing to grant Digital Bullet as much patience will be greatly rewarded, as it's ultimately the better of the two albums - if not quite as strong as when RZA just plays The RZA.
Legacy: Digital Bullet is about the last the world saw of RZA's comic book alter ego, with rumors and test footage of a Bobby Digital movie popping up here and there over the last decade. If "Build Strong" is any indication, RZA managed to put Bobby to sleep. It was received more favorably than its predecessor and holds an odd place in RZA's production career, between the excellent Wu-Tang release The W and their following album, Iron Flag, which earned the ire of much of the public. It's also one of the earliest points of reference for the tightly-spun latter-day RZA sound that permeated the Afro Samurai soundtracks. If this is Bobby Digital's last appearance, RZA sent him off with a bang.
Recommended Tracks: Glocko Pop, La Rhumba, Be A Man, Righteous Way.
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