Title: Legend of the Liquid Sword
Release Date: December 10, 2002
Producers: Arabian "Q-Base" Knight, et al.
Review: Wow. In terms of record labels, the Wu could not catch a break in 2002. Loud Records, who put out every Wu-Tang album to date, was dissolving, and MCA Records made Legend of the Liquid Sword their next-to-last release before Geffen bought them out.
Legend of the Liquid Sword turns its namesake on its head immediately, offering a child's monologue about his father's journey - but instead of sampled dialogue from the classic film Shogun Assassin, a boy reads a script written by GZA about hip-hop. The first proper song is "Auto Bio," detailing GZA's early days. Its lively strings and staccato piano loop provide an ample background for The Genius's lyrics, which - surprising no one - are top-notch as always. I've heard plenty of people declare that GZA is the best lyricist in the Wu, and I wouldn't argue against it. Not to knock the other Wu generals, but the man has just never turned in the phoned-in verses that have plagued other rappers' careers. I've always loved Wu's 1-2 combos of sharp couplets and GZA fires one off in his first verse, describing his subway commutes with RZA to hip-hop parties and clubs: "Myself and RZA made trips to the BX / A mass of ferocious emcees and talent t-rex."
Next, GZA offers "Did Ya Say That?" It's a sequel of sorts to Liquid Swords' "Labels," the classic track that name-dropped record labels and described GZA's distaste with record companies' policies. According to the lyrical interpretation at Rap Genius, it starts with a reference to a record promoter who tried to sue Wu-Tang and GZA for getting trampled on at a show by fans, but his case was thrown out by a judge: "The herds start stomping the promoters that be frontin' / They sue for Cash Rules but the courts they give 'em nothing."
Ghostface and Wu-affiliate Streetlife have guest verses on "Silent," which is a decent track but is followed by the much stronger "Knock, Knock." Now here's my biggest problem with Legend of the Liquid Sword - I triple-checked my copy of this CD when I bought it to make sure I had the explicit version. I do, and I know because Ghostface Killah drops an F-bomb in "Silent" and I'd also heard "shit" and the n-word several times up to this point. So why then, why, why, WHY is the hook for "Knock, Knock" (and "Fam (Members Only)" which I'll get to later) censored? I don't believe in "bad language." I believe there are words that can offend other people, but if an artist wrote a "curse word" into a song, I want to hear it. It's their intended representation of the song, right? So apparently GZA intended to edit the hook here, leading to the awkwardly-silenced bits we used to hear when MTV played music videos. "Knock knock, who the ... is bangin' at my door? Is it abstract, commercial or hardcore? Better know who the ... they lookin' for." I want to hear "who the fuck is bangin' at my door?" It's a hook that expresses the ballsy confidence I expect from one of the world's best emcees, so it's a shame it's cut out where it punches.
The best answer is the opening pair of lines: "I'm the obscene slang kicker with no parental sticker / Advisin' y'all that wise words is much slicker." Ok, I agree that sometimes we resort to "parental advisory" type words (aka cursing) because we don't know what else to say, but if that's the case Genius is making, why not ask Ghost not to say "fuck" in "Silent?" And the album actually DOES have the parental advisory sticker in the top right, so...? Not calling GZA a hypocrite by any means, just not feeling the arbitrary censorship. Had he left the "fucks" in this track, it would be making the case that language is free and using profanity isn't the same as falling short of a good vocabulary.
Ok, beef aside, "Knock Knock" is still tight. A great double entendre in the second verse reads, "I gift-wrap the sawed-off, the DJ pump it / March to the sounds of Armstrong's trumpet." Concise lines like this encompass the place of hip-hop in culture, especially Wu-Tang. GZA often tells us he wants his lyrics to enlighten and spread wisdom, so he uses the metaphor of his lyrics having the impact of a shotgun with music the DJ "pumps," but also embodying the spirit of classic Black-American culture by referencing Louis Armstrong as a fellow force of culture.
Unlike my thoughts on "Chrome Wheels," a great sung hook (by Santi White) sews together "Stay in Line," followed by some of the most "classic Wu" music on the album on "Animal Planet" - slow-paced, old-school soul sampled from Isaac Hayes. Mathematics pokes his head up to produce "Fam (Members Only)," which would likely be my favorite track on the album but it's once again censored. The odd thing is, n-words and "shit" are edited out here, though they weren't on "Silent." RZA's and Masta Killa's appearances are great - RZA rhymes biological with "True-I-Master-Equality / God body be flowin' like chi energy inside your artery" and Masta Killa brings lyrics like "Prepare for the mic onslaught swift with the sword / Slick lord, holding my weight, homing abroad." But here, not only are the curse words taken out, they're actually replaced with sound effects like in the classic Wu videos from Enter the Wu-Tang. I had hoped the version of the same song on the Masta Killa mix The Next Chamber would be uncensored, but it appears to be lifted straight from this album (though it cuts out RZA's first verse).
Sporadically, there is plenty to love across the second half of the record. On some tracks, though, it's minimal - a hook here, a beat there. Having said that, if you don't raise the bar to the original Liquid Swords standard, it's more than listenable. GZA continues to provide strong lyrics, some shining brighter than others; and the music has its ups and downs. Here's a quick rundown of the next few tracks.
I could do without Anthony Allen's "Shaft"-like hook on the title track, but the music is the real standout here. Descending staccato keyboard chords over full drums and the occasional orchestral fill help counteract things like the cartoonish "Gee...Zee...Ayyyyyy" moaned in the background. "Fame" follows the tradition of wordplay based on specific groups of the entertainment industry. On "Labels" it was name-dropping record labels; "Publicity" on Beneath the Surface listed magazines and here we get celebrities. "Tom Cruised the boulevard, Chris Rocked the song..." "Highway Robbery" features some great Jamaican-style hooks by Governor Two's but distracts with - yet again - censored lyrics. "Mix that shhh, y'all niggas can't do shhh..." Perhaps the most foreshadowing track on the album is DJ Muggs producing "Luminal," which likely led into their collaboration DJ Muggs and GZA: Grandmasters (review to come). Lyrically its closest thematic cousin is "Cereal Killer" on Method and Red's Blackout!, detailing a murderer and his methodology.
"Sparring Minds" is like a sudden wake-up call with fantastic music by Arabian "Q-Base" Knight and a guest spot by Inspectah Deck. Both emcees rock great rhymes on this track, too. Inspectah Deck rhymes "Find out what I'm about, know the legend / The slight disrespect of his name provoke tension / Known threat, bringing the force like Boba Fett / The old vet whose presence alone control the set." GZA closes with "I thought of this tune / On a blackout guided by the light of the moon / On a campout, the kerosene lamp out / To rewalk the road that we paved / With trails that left vinyl footsteps engraved." Sadly, the album closes with two uninspiring tracks: the only RZA-produced song on the album, "Rough Cut," only features GZA on the hook between verses by 12 O'Clock, Prodigal Sunn and Armel; whereas "What You Know About?" is GZA on vocals and production but doesn't hold a candle to the earlier tracks.
Legacy: Legend of the Liquid Sword fares better than Beneath the Surface - but fails to live up to its namesake. The grimy sounds and kung-fu samples from Liquid Swords are mostly absent here, and while The Genius proves his might as a lyricist once again, GZA's problem with finding producers to live up to his lyrics lives on throughout the record with a couple happy exceptions. Released a full year after the alienating Iron Flag, GZA's Legend of the Liquid Sword was followed by the European-only The World According to RZA, meaning that the June 2003 release of Inspectah Deck's stellar sophomore album The Movement is the brightest spot on The Map since probably The W almost three years before it.
Recommended Tracks: Fam (Members Only), Sparring Minds.
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