Step Fifty: Ghostface Killah: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City.

Artist:  Ghostface Killah
Album:  Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Producers:  Sean C & LV, Anthony "Acid" Caputo, etc.
Release Date:  September 29, 2009

Review:  I'm gonna level with you, readers - modern R&B is not really my kind of music.  I appreciate it, I respect it, but it just doesn't do it for me.  Outside of a few incredible talents (Erykah Badu and Ne-Yo chief among them), I rarely - if ever - listen to it.  So please take my review of Ghostface Killah's eighth album, Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, with a grain of salt.  Now, let's get into it.

Don't be fooled by the title.  Ghostdini is about as far removed as it gets from its namesake, the RZA-produced '90s New York hip-hop track from Supreme Clientele.  Here we get Ghostface Killah offering 14 tracks of R&B-infused rap focused exclusively on love and sex.  In terms of themes and genre, it's a great idea.  Ghostface gets to depart from the gangsta braggadocio of his previous albums and look at a sincere lady-loving persona, weaving between soulful vocals by John Legend, Radio Raheem and more.  However, the result for me is hit-and-miss.  I think it's because sometimes the R&B takes over Ghost's rapping as the dominant force on the album, which Wu-Tang often dissed in the '90s.  Even on "Intro," the first track on the second disc of Wu-Tang Forever, RZA says "A lot of niggas tryin' to take hip hop and make that shit R&B, rap and bullshit, y'know what I'm sayin'?  Or make that shit funk.  Fuck that."  But maybe times change, so I want to go into Ghostdini giving it a fair shot.

"Not Your Average Girl" sets it off, and it's probably a good idea to ease the audience into this totally difference idea with a track with instant classic Ghost rhymes ("You can have the keys to the boat / Money follow me I got the cheese and the yolk / Plus the juice that's fresh, squeeze with the pulp / Mama got a big butt, Tiffany chain the stones freeze in the throat").  Nor does it hurt that Shareefa's sung hook is clear and concise, showcasing her beautiful voice without grandstanding or note scaling.  It also foreshadows Ghost willing to step back and let his collaborator take the stage that will be fully realized on "Love Don't Live Here No More" five years later on 36 Seasons.  Excellent start to the album.  It also sets the tone for Ghostdini's first act 1) using plenty of live instruments and 2) successfully selling the listener on Ghost's sincere romantic side.

Radio Raheem sings on "Do Over" and "Baby," and here's my first frustration with the album.  Raheem has a Hell of a voice (as is evident throughout "Do Over"), but on "Baby" he buries it in autotune.  It's clearly an intentional and conscious decision on the producers' part to fit the dreamier side of the song (which has catchy piano and themes of optimistic, expectant parents), but since he slayed it on "Do Over," I think I'd like it more without the autotune.  Even when he breaks the fourth wall and asks the producer to drop the beat, his voice is autotuned.  Damn.

"Lonely" goes four for four with sincere romantic themes - this time, instead of regretting infidelity ("Do Over") or sticking up for his pregnant girlfriend ("Baby"), Ghost laments his ex and their kids as they move on without him and she finds a new man.  "Now he's getting all my kisses, stroking my lovin' / That supposed to be me but I was stupid and stubborn."  I heard that, Ghost.  I think we all heard that.  So it's difficult when all this earnestness is followed by "Stapleton Sex," one of the nastiest tracks this side of "Doo Doo Brown."  In just two and a half minutes, this track practically undoes all the work the first four tracks labored over, taking a wrecking ball to the foundation set up in the first 15 minutes.

Here are some typical lyrics from the song (my apologies if my mother or in-laws ever read this):

"Get up, suck that dick, spit on it, slob on that shit
More bubbles at the knob of that shit
It's my word, you's a whore - taste good right?
Turn around, get on all four."

Even the hook is as nasty as it gets, with lines like "You can put my dick in your mouth and play with my nuts / Before I bust babe I think I'll cum in your butt."  So much for the sweet, lovelorn Ghost from tracks 1-4.  He's a really talented rapper, but you have to wonder: is this secretly the saddest track on the album, with Ghost going full Hedonistic and looking for meaning in the basest of pleasures...or just a dude bragging about getting laid?  Question for the ages.

"Stay" has some great bass guitar and a sample from Yvonne Fair's "Stay a Little Longer," but the interludes accompany every four bars half the time so Ghost only gets a couple eight-bars out here and there.  "Paragraphs of Love" helps salvage the damage done by "Stapleton Sex."  It's a four-minute ode to love at first sight; Ghost sees an engaged pregnant woman and respects her and her fiance but can't resist telling her he's fallen in love with her.  It ends a little syrupy, awash in vocal harmonies about how wonderful life and love are, but it's good to get this album's old Ghost back.

Having the tables turned on him, Ghost catches his wife cheating on him in "Guest House."  Then comes "Let's Stop Playin'," with John Legend on some understated vocals.  Another new theme, here Ghost and a girl he's been secretly in love with for some time find themselves trying to figure out how to cheat with each other without ruining four lives.

After this, the album peters out for me.  "Forever" doesn't leave me with a place to hang my hat, possibly because I feel like by this 10th track Ghost's love themes are starting to overlap.  "Because I love it like that, stretch-mark fat, plus let me show you my crunches / To burn it off, just lay right on your back / And let me do my love dance, I pop it to the left / I pop it to the right, I get it all night."  Meh.  "I'll Be That" is another least favorite, with Adrienne Bailon and Ghost trading less-than-memorable lyrics about her being whatever he wants and her giving her the business.  "Goner" doesn't stick either, and the bonus tracks are "She's a Killah" (with a phat club beat but little else) and a remix of "Back Like That."  And maybe that's the problem with Ghostdini.  While some of this idea flourishes, enough songs feel like they're trying too hard to throw back to that single from Fishscale - Ghostface utilizes his excellent but typified storytelling over fresh R&B-based hooks and overproduced sugary-sweet music.  This is one of the first Wu-family albums in which I haven't felt the need to pay homage to a lot of the music.  There are occasional classic/throwback soul sounds and '70s guitar, and a hot bassline or two, but after you get past the first few tracks, Ghostdini overall is not an album desperately in need of an instrumentals release.

Legacy:  Ghostdini received mixed reviews, with some critics loving the humorous side of things and others finding little to enjoy.  I think I'm somewhere in between.  In my opinion of Ghost's whole career, Bulletproof Wallets and The Pretty Toney Album may not have been my favorite, but I can call them solid from front to back; Ghostdini struggles to rediscover its footing after a solid first 1/3 and an awkward middle.  Then again, like I said at the beginning, contemporary R&B doesn't usually attract me, so it's hard for me to mine a lot of gold from this mountain.  But despite wearing out its welcome a bit, I really love about half of the record.  I admire Ghost's ambition to try something truly different from his other releases, and that hunger has paid off so well in the last three years (with 12 Reasons to Die, 36 Seasons and Soul Sour) that it's worth taking the risks that don't always pay off completely.  Good on him for sticking with it instead of trying to copy the impeccable Supreme Clientele with every new release.

Recommended Tracks:  Not Your Average Girl, Do Over, Baby.

Quick Review: Raekwon: Fly International Luxurious Art.

Artist:  Raekwon
Album:  Fly International Luxurious Art
Release Date:  April 28, 2015
Producers:  Various

First Listen:  At the beginning of Fly International Luxurious Art, Raekwon finds himself unable to fly to Abu Dhabi because his passport is full.  Fans surround him, cameras flash, and the album kicks off with "4 in the Morning" featuring Ghostface.  Chef Raekwon takes the first two verses before letting Ghostface off the leash to spit furious rhymes over the big drums and two-note nervous piano that build the foundation for the song.

It's clear from the get-go that this is a different beast than Rae's grittier Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... series, but as usual he knows how to rock an album.  Next up is "I Got Money" with A$AP Rocky, which has some hot xylophone and electric bass over some full kick-kick-snare drums.  It's followed by "Wall to Wall" featuring Busta Rhymes and French Montana, with more "full-to-bursting" drums and bass.  French Montana kills the hook, singing in a borderline-Jamaican style before opening a killer verse with "Clear view, dark tints, hustle by the park bench / White top blue tops niggas I don't call friends."  This beat is also perfect for Busta, who sounds as gravelly and angry as ever with his high-energy style.

"Heated Nights" is next, with Miami keyboards awash in reverb and echo.  Then comes "F.I.L.A. World" with a guest spot by 2 Chainz.  This track is a bit silly compared to the rest of the album, its dreamy plucked strings and keys setting a tone way too bright to be counteracted by the booming drums.  Luckily it's followed immediately by the uptempo "1, 2, 1, 2," the advance-release single featuring Snoop Dogg.  Bleating horns and turntables punctuate this beat as Rae and Snoop sound perfectly comfortable rhyming.  Snoop has some fun lines throughout his verses, like "Glock hot, crock pot, on the block with The Chef / Out of bounds on the ground with a hole in your chest."

On the second half of the album, we start with "Live to Die," which keeps the rich, full sound the album has set up in its first half.  The hook is classic Raekwon, although I'm a bit fuzzy on the last word:  "Kill niggas, let it die, live with the feelings / We don't know no other way, just get millions / Pyrex kings and the cartels / Connect in Scarsdale, put your money on the (?)"  "Soundboy Kill It," like "Heated Nights" and "1, 2, 1, 2," sounds less New York and more Los Angeles or Miami, but isn't that the point?  The opening skit is about Raekwon traveling around the world and "Heated Nights" opens with a skit of Raekwon arriving in Argentina, so maybe getting out of the Big Apple is part of the point.  Speaking of which, the real star is the guest appearance by Assassin, who sounds like an angry Elephant Man or Sizzla.  This is the second track on F.I.L.A. (after "Wall to Wall") with a distinct Jamaican feel to it, and it's a good sound for Rae to explore.

The huge, humming and buzzing synths on "Revory (Wraith)" set the stage for that track, but it's not as remarkable to me as some of the others.  I'm also a bit conflicted about "All About You," which has an identity crisis:  Estelle's (well-performed) sung hook and the bass guitar sound really bright and romantic, but Raekwon's gangsta verses and shocking horns are mired in sinister nighttime deals.  Either way the song would've gone would've worked fine, but putting both together is a strange dichotomy that will throw some listeners off, at least for their first listen or two.

Wrapping things up are "Nautilus" and "Worst Enemy."  "Nautilus" brings the darkness back in full force before a single rhyme, with foleys of guns loading, angry drums, ominous synthesized strings and turntables sampling Rae saying "Murder you..." and someone else saying "Bring the head, leave the body."  Raekwon's verses follow suit:  "If you wanna hit me you couldn't / Bullet range, door wooden / Hop out, y'all niggaz is puddin' / Why try to leave? / The federation, this is all legislation, we kill you right in front of your seed."  All-around phat track and one of my early favorites.  Liz Rodrigues sings on "Worst Enemy" between Rae's verses, but it's hard to pay attention when there's such a great ensemble of music behind them.  The scaling piano and somber drums sound like early Tricky, which is just another (amazing) risk this album takes.

Overall, my first impression of Fly International Luxurious Art is that there are some real winners throughout the record.  My reactions ran the spectrum from blown away ("4 in the Morning," "Nautilus," "Worst Enemy") and very pleasantly surprised ("Wall to Wall," "Heated Nights," "Soundboy Kill It") to just a couple tracks that didn't grab me at first listen ("FILA World," "All About You").  I'll have more in a few months when the album has had some time to spread its influence and I get to it at its appropriate time on the Map of Shaolin, but for now, it's a really good record that's a step under the Cuban Linx series but far above Immobilarity and even The Lex Diamond Story.  This is solid hip-hop from front to back that may not smash the industry but is easily worth your $10.

Step Forty Nine: Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. 2.

Artist:  Raekwon the Chef
Album:  Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 2
Producers:  RZA, Icewater Productions, J-Dilla, etc.
Release Date:  September 8, 2009

Review:  If you slept on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 2, go cop it right now, come back and read this review.  I'll wait.

Ok, now that your Wu catalog is one album richer, let's talk about this return to form, which is one of the greatest recent Wu-family releases.  Cuban Linx 2 was a long time in the making - when I saw Wu-Tang at the Hard Rock Live club in Orlando in 2005, Rae sported a t-shirt saying "CUBAN LINX 2 - COMING 2006," although the album was released in fall 2009.  Reasons for this included producers and performers coming in and dropping out, leaked tracks, sample clearance, other projects and the rest of the usual gamut of delays that plague hip-hop.  In the end, though, is it worth the wait?

Good God yes.

Cuban Linx 2 starts with "House of Flying Daggers."  Inspectah Deck rocks the first verse, opening with "I pop off like a mobster boss / Angel hair with the lobster sauce."  Deck actually sticks with the same final three syllables in rhyme his entire verse, which is pretty amazing.  He rhymes mobster boss, lobster sauce, top the scorch, dropped the Porsche, watch the force, lock my source etc.  Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Method Man all follow with hot verses - Meth especially kills it with lines like "Don't get it twisted, we twist it up and even mixed with dust / See these fans can't resist the rush / They Wu-Tang for life / Scarred for life they can't forget the cuts."  All this is done over a phat beat from J-Dilla, who gave all his beats for the album to Raekwon before his unfortunate death in 2006 of a rare blood disease.

After such a killer four minutes, we get a breather with the under-two-minute "Sonny's Missing" (with a mafioso beat by Pete Rock) and the 54-second "Pyrex Vision," produced by the legendary Marley Marl.  Both tracks lean more towards a modern gangster feel than the kung-fu-sampling "House of Flying Daggers," which evokes classic Wu, but it's an effective time jump from martial arts to street warfare.  Rae takes his time getting back into "Cold Outside," with a lovely and soulful hook by Suga Bang (whose name you may recognize from the soundtracks for Ghost Dog and Afro Samurai).  Ghost raps a lament about a girl from around the way who's hooked on drugs, backed by a dramatic beat by Icewater Productions.

RZA turns in his first beat on "Black Mozart," which also features a guest verse by Inspectah Deck.  Deck is nearly as impressive here as he was on "House of Flying Daggers" - where that was a high-energy track, "Black Mozart" is slightly more laid-back with a mid-tempo beat and complex lead riff.  Copying down some of the lyrics from Deck's verse, it may not sound as legendary as it sounds:  "Borough-hopping, copping bricks, bags, burners and kicks / City slickers circling the strip working them tricks / Like Friday night cruise in the Coupe, new valor suit / Fruit-flavored kicks takin' flicks out in 40 Deuce / Farmer jeans hammer swing tucked in the loot."  However, the way his flow bounces off the beat is some of the most fun to be had on this album - and that's saying a lot.

Next up is "Gihad," with a gorgeous beat by Necro.  Rae gives us a verse about dealing; Ghost responds with a story about getting head from his son's girlfriend then getting caught.  Ghost's verse is full of his trademark dirty-as-hell imagery ("Pyrex in one hand, large amount of grams in it rocked up / And she pregnant, my little man got her knocked up") but it's really funny for some reason.

The sheer enjoyment of the record definitely does not let up on RZA's "New Wu," with guest verses by Ghost and Meth.  Meth also provides the hook, which could be the best hook on the record.  Check it out.

"Tell a friend, it's that symbol again, the W
Comin' through, bust a shot on your block, give me a Soo
Get it right, all my chicks hold your tits, let's get it in
All my niggas take a toke off this weed, let it begin
(Here we go!) Yo, y'all already know what it do
Brand-new nigga back from the slums, it be the Wu
Throw ya W's up, back from the slums, it be the Wu."

Ghost references Qi-Gong meditation and middle linebacker Brian Urlacher for good measure, whereas Meth's verse isn't quite as solid as "House of Flying Daggers" but still damn good.  Next up is "Penitentiary," with Rae and Ghost sharing a verse with the same camaraderie they've had since the first Cuban Linx.  Much like "Sonny's Missing" and "Pyrex Vision," there's a one-two punch of short and sweet tracks with "Penitentiary" and "Baggin' Crack" (each under two minutes if you cut the short skit at the beginning of "Penitentiary").  Rae's lyrics are tight for both, but especially in "Baggin' Crack."  "Choppin' like a lumberjack, up in the gate / One plate, a rock on the table, movin' that flake."

My play-by-play of the album breaks its streak with "Surgical Gloves" and "Broken Safety."  Both are good tracks and give us another breather, this time for the middle of the album, but I don't have much to say about them.  "Canal Street" has one of the most dramatic beats on the record, with nearly-monotone horns and a steady tempo, and some of Rae's lyrics are as visual as they are visceral:  "YSL frames in the rain, Marvin Gaye on / Goose bubbles on, stuck in the huddle tryin' to transform / Every gram action into a sandstorm."  In other words, wearing Yves Saint-Laurent glasses and listening to Marvin Gaye while hanging out in goose bubble jackets, talking with his boys trying to turn tiny amounts of drug-selling into an empire (trying to transform every gram action into a sandstorm).

On the other hand, "Ason Jones" is a sweet tribute to the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, who had died five years before the release of Cuban Linx 2.  Rae blesses ODB with lines like "He had a heart of gold, intelligent soul from day one" and "Knowledge of self, good health / Fortunes that came with the game had my brother insane / It's like wealth ain't enough to live for / But if you got love in your heart, just believe in yourself."  It's sincere, heartfelt and a great start to the final third of the album.

Blue Raspberry, who guested extensively on Cuban Linx 1, returns for "Have Mercy."  It has a cool, subdued beat with verses by Beanie Siegel and Raekwon, followed by "10 Bricks" - another J-Dilla beat with Ghost and Cappadonna.  It's the type of music that would be comfortable on Masta Killa's No Said Date, with two-tone twangy guitar and horns.  Good stuff, but not my favorite on the record.

"Fat Lady Sings" is the fifth short-but-sweet song on the record, which takes as much time to get started (over a full minute) as it does to run its course (another single minute).  RZA produces, but it's an understated and sneaky sound creeping under Rae's verse.  "Catalina" follows, with a great California beat by Dr. Dre that sounds as Hispanic-influenced as RZA's "La Rhumba" from Digital Bullet.  The sound is all sunset with shades and a good buzz on, driving near the beach with the top down.

Next up is "We Will Rob You," based on - no surprises here - "We Will Rock You" (although it also heavily samples Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street").  Slick Rick guest stars, but only for the intro and hook.  GZA and Masta Killa provide guest verses over this sick beat by Allah Justice.  Masta Killa opens his verse quoting from "Incarcerated Scarfaces" ("My clan run from Japan to Atlanta with stamina"), but the real hero is that beat.  The same could be said for "About Me," Rae's collaboration with Busta Rhymes produced by Dr. Dre.  It's a simple but solid kick, snare, kick-kick-snare drum loop with two-chord piano and swelling last couple of beats, and both emcees hold their own.  Rae offers tongue-twisters like "Politics, pop collars and drive violent whips / Stay fly, hungry and wise, you know the code - honor it."  Busta gets in some good rhymes too, like "Here comes the lethal presentation / Taking you places you never been / Deadlier than the combination / Of coke and heroin."

Suga Bang kills his final guest spot, singing on "Mean Streets" and lending a real sense of urgency to this whistle-and-string-laden Allah Mathematics beat.  Rae ducks and weaves around the beat like a boxer with his rhymes, and Deck and Ghost return to slay the listener yet again, in case there were any doubts about their abilities on this record.

The album ends properly with "Kiss the Ring," which brilliantly makes use of the chorus from Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and the intro to "New Wu" earlier on this record.  Much like the first Cuban Linx, the album ends with a confident and relaxed "end credits" type song, with Masta Killa summarizing the album (and faring much, much better than he did on "We Will Rob You").  It's a hell of a way to end a hell of an album, and by the end you'll get the feeling like you've been on such a large-scale adventure you'll want to start it back up immediately and go through it one more time.

Do yourself a favor and do just that.

Legacy:  Even the bitterest naysayers of post-Forever Wu-Tang always concede that Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 2 is just about as good as any mid-1990s Wu gems.  Most critics agreed, with the album scoring seriously high marks.  Raekwon took his time to construct an incredible trip across 22 tracks of relentless New York hip-hop, sounding more polished and less grimy than its namesake but still damn near as outstanding.  It's got a AAA-roster of guests, including virtually every Wu general (except U-God) and legends like Marley Marl, Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre and J-Dilla.  It's a shame his collaboration with Nas didn't make the final cut, but with an album this good, any shortcomings or omissions are easy to overlook.  Rae's next effort would be Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, which is yet another great Raekwon record - although it's no Cuban Linx 1 or 2.  2009 was also a busy year for the Wu, with U-God's strong Dopium and the hit-or-miss Blackout! 2, but anybody who overlooked Cuban Linx 2 in the midst of these other releases is making a serious mistake.  At the end of the day, it's one of the best arguments that Wu-Tang is forever - 14 years after the first Cuban Linx and Rae hasn't missed a beat.

Recommended Tracks:  House of Flying Daggers, New Wu, Catalina, About Me, Kiss the Ring.

Step Forty Eight: Wu-Tang Chamber Music.

Artist:  Various
Album:  Wu-Tang Chamber Music
Producers:  The Revelations, Andrew Kelley, etc.
Release Date:  June 30, 2009

Review:  Of all the albums on The Map of Shaolin, Chamber Music may be the hardest to classify (along with its successor, Legendary Weapons).  It can't be said to be a full-on Wu-Tang Clan release, since it doesn't fit any of the regular categories (only one track produced by RZA, four or five Wu emcees missing, etc), nor is it a Wu-affiliate compilation like Think Differently Music (at least one Wu emcee appears on each track, often two).  To get a better idea of the album, it's probably best to discuss what it does do, right and wrong.

Wu-Tang: Chamber Music features 17 tracks, but that's incredibly misleading.  Every single odd-numbered track is an interview snippet with RZA or his personal recorded thoughts about the typical Wu themes: martial arts, Eastern philosophy, Allah, etc.  These are backed by minimal but pleasant music, reminding one of the "Samurai Quote" tracks from Ghost Dog.  It's cool to get into RZA's head and hear his opinions on many of the group's tropes, but I imagine plenty of fans were pissed to give it a listen on the way home from the record store and find there are just eight full songs, which clock in at a total of 26 minutes (without the dialogue tracks).

The music for the entire album is performed by The Revelations, a Brooklyn group who perform hip-hop-, soul- and jazz-inspired music.  They also produce much of the album.  I've read that RZA was impressed by them because they played the type of music live that he'd cobbled together from samples for Wu-Tang since '93, and I don't blame him.  They're really great tunes and bring an authentic sound to an often sample-based genre, with the added benefit of not sounding like abysmal '90s rap-rock (I'm looking at you, Limp Bizkit).  If The Revelations sound familiar, it's likely because they also performed all the music for Ghostface Killah's December 2014 release 36 Seasons.  This is the first collaboration between The Revelations and Wu-Tang, though, so it's good to have a recorded history of their collaborations and to see how it began.

On vocals, we get five Wu-generals:  Inspectah Deck on three tracks, U-God on two, Ghostface Killah on three tracks, Raekwon on two and RZA on two (besides his dialogue clips).  RZA also plays backup keyboards on "NYC Crack," the album's final proper song.  Several of the guest vocalists should look familiar as well, as most of them are legendary New York hip-hop talent (and collaborated with Wu-Tang before and after this):  AZ, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap and so on.

So with incredible music and an all-star roster of emcees, Chamber Music comes out the gate with a major head start.  In fact its brevity could be its biggest problem.  I've always been a music listener who wants to be taken on an adventure, and as long as it doesn't wear out its welcome, I say the longer the better.  It's definitely an album I'd listen to for twice as long - 26 minutes is really an EP more than anything.  Oh well.

"Kill Too Hard" pops and sets up Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Ace to spit some quick verses.  Deck rapid-fires some great rhymes, like "These dudes don't want it with Deck, no, my set glow / Hate it or you love it but you're gonna respect, though" and "On the flip side, nigga, it's them hammers and clips / Wanna live in high fashion and rich, so we scramble the strip / Camouflage with they hand on the clip."

Ghost, INS and AZ rock the more grooving "Harbor Masters" and are followed by Raekwon with Cormega and Sean Price on "Radiant Jewels."  The music here has lovely live drums and either sampled or keyed strings, and while Chef is always on point, Sean Price nearly steals the show from him.  "Listen, giraffe-neck niggas, I blast techs / Alejandro came through with the Mexican Aztecs" is a sweet opening couplet, and later in the verse he fires off "Ain't a problem that the god can't handle / I set it off First Blood, Sean John Rambo."  That last line works on several levels.  He says when there's trouble he's up and in action before anyone else ("I set it off first, blood") but it also works to say that he fixes problems like in the Sylvester Stallone movie First Blood, the first in the series of Rambo movies (eg "I set it off [like] First Blood").  Then he says "Sean John Rambo," which goes together a number of ways.  The first is that he could be calling himself Sean [Price, like] John Rambo, but of course Sean John is a clothing company owned by Sean "Puffy" Combs, so Price is also saying he's like a hip-hop Rambo (a "Sean John [kind of] Rambo").  In rap, I've always loved these mixed metaphors that imply so much while saying so little.

Ghost returns, this time with RZA and Havoc, for "Evil Deeds."  Great piano-ish keyboards by Borahm Lee, but RZA's first quatrain slays this track:  "Bobby Steels keeps steel concealed, be still / Leave you 50-shot banana clips, free refills / Guns bursting, one person is curtains for certain / Most often fill coffins, no nursing or surgeons."

"Ill Figures" has Raekwon, M.O.P. and Kool G Rap rapping over a midtempo beat with all music (including the mysterious bass guitar) played by Revelations' bassist, Josh Werner.  All solid verses, but the music is the hero here for me.  The brass-led "Sound the Horns" also engages with its instrumentation, even before Deck and U-God get started with their collaboration with Sadat X.  U-God fares better here than he did on "Kill Too Hard," with lines like "Yo, you're hog-tied, I'm roping 'em, bitches I'm gropin' 'em / Open up your veins and cop three bags of Dopium" and "I keep it gloss, I'm suited up for my franchise / Your coins is tossed, manhandle bad guys."

RZA closes it out with "NYC Crack," with hook vocals by now-regular Thea Van Seijen.  The music is very 007, Thea's vocals are beautiful as always (see the Afro Samurai soundtracks) and RZA's verses aren't quite as solid as "Evil Deeds" but not bad either.

Legacy:  I love that Chamber Music is like a crossroads between the core Wu-Tang group (with over half the original members here), RZA's soundtrack work (Kool G Rap has been on board since Ghost Dog and Thea Van Seijen appeared on both Afro Samurai soundtracks) and what is now established as the modern sound of Wu-Tang: live instruments, diverse musical styles and older-but-wiser lyrics.  A short two years later, they'd return with Legendary Weapons, very much in the same vein but with just four interludes instead of nine, leaving 10 songs.  The personnel is similar too, adding Method Man and Cappadonna from the core group and familiar faces Killa Sin, Trife Diesel, Bronze Nazareth and Roc Marciano over The Revelations music.  Chamber Music was received well by critics, and aside from the sheer number of dialogue clips it's a solid extension of the Wu family and worth your $10.

Recommended Tracks:  All.  Now, that's not to say this album is stronger than any of the records on which I didn't recommend every song, but with just eight offerings, it seems a bit silly picking a top four/five.  They're all good, so take your pick.

Step Forty Seven: U-God: Dopium.

Artist:  U-God
Album:  Dopium
Producers:  Teddy Ted & J. Serbe, etc.
Release Date:  June 23, 2009

Review:  Just one month after Blackout! 2 and nearly four years after Mr. Xcitement, U-God returns with Dopium.  Luckily, Golden Arms has shaken off nearly all the problems that killed Mr. Xcitement and returned to the Wu-Tang fold (as is evident by the cover, which takes the Wu-Tang W logo and makes it a U for his name).  And while it may not be in most Wu fans' top five list, it's a really enjoyable and somewhat underrated record.

It's evident from the first track, "Train Trussle," that U-God has bounced back, with an engaging beat by Teddy Ted & J. Serbe (who produce 1/3 of the album by themselves).  The beat itself is uptempo and exciting in a way similar to the beginning of DOOM's Vaudeville Villain.  Ghostface gets the first verse.  It isn't long, though, before U-God's trademark bullfrog bass voice arrives on the scene to ride the music with a strong set of rhymes himself.  

Speaking of Wu generals, the Wu-Tang collaborations continue on "God is Love" which features Cappadonna and Killah Priest and "Stomp da Roach" featuring GZA.  Just two tracks later, Raekwon appears on "Coke" followed three tracks later by Method Man on "Wu-Tang" (more on this banger later).  This makes for Wu guest spots on five of the album's 11 new songs.  This is a far cry from Mr. Xcitement, which featured no Wu emcees besides U-God himself - even just one track on Mr. Xcitement was produced by a Wu-affiliate (4th Disciple), the rest standing completely apart from Wu-Tang.  It's definitely a step back in the right direction for Golden Arms, who sounds most comfortable surrounded by his fellow residents of Shaolin.  In terms of other returning U-God associates, only Lethaface (who appeared regularly on Xcitement) reappears on Dopium, performing the hook on "Rims Pokin' Out."  Hak da Navigator (who produced "Pleasure or Pain" and "Shell Shock" on U-God's 1999 debut Golden Arms Redemption) also makes a production appearance here on "Magnum Force."  Besides them, there are plenty of fresh new faces - including producers like Twilite Tone and Andre Clarke and rappers Scotty Wotty and Sheek Louch.

'70s strings and horns fill up "God is Love" with verses by Cappadonna, U-God and Killah Priest.  It's a listenable retro track but not the strongest lyrics on the record.  "Stomp da Roach" follows, and is surprisingly a metaphor for getting shitty people out of your life.  U-God comes alive here in a way he hasn't in a long time.  "I'm the drill sergeant, I'm the boric acid / The black flag nigga, the biohazard / The economist of the bio-standard / And he sprayed the mist on them flies that landed."  Boric acid is, of course, a pesticide; the company Black Flag also produce a range of insecticides.

The next several songs are really good but they don't blow my mind the way much of the rest of the album does.  For example, "Lipton" is fun with its insane amount of internal rhymes; "Coke" is very good all-around but without specific highlights to point out; "Magnum Force" suffers from an awkward hook but a high-energy beat helps save it (thank you Hak da Navigator).

It's hard to believe that by the time you get to "Hips," the album is more than half over but it's the first song U-God rocks with no guest stars.  That's not a diss, either; he's done plenty before and since by himself that are awesome (especially his purely solo tracks on The Keynote Speaker).  It's just surprising.  And it's a fun song, but I gotta say the following track is easily my favorite on the album.

"Wu-Tang" has a beat that gets stuck in my head out of nowhere sometimes - a slow burner with piqued drums and big keys and skratching.  U-God busts out of the gate unstoppable with some of his best lyrics on the album:

"I'm from the tar pits, the hard target to squash the market
You're brainwashed, watch the starships
I make cars flip, Inspectah bomb atomic, Islamic arms
Kiss the comet, this time he's gone
I grip the don, rip arms out the socket, cock it
Fly logic, now watch me skyrocket, watch it
Hot as the tropic get, bulletproof esophagus
Steel cage confidence, burn it on a floppy disk."

The beat, courtesy of Andre Clarke, also fits like a glove for guest emcee Method Man, who sounds like he's having plenty of fun bouncing back and forth from rhyme to rhyme.  Check the bold words here versus the italicized ones.  "This is ghetto rap, where the pot be callin' the kettle black / My bullets tryin' to see where they head is at, I'm headin' back / To the slums, back to the block, I got the Clan on my back / And you know we headin' back to the top."

The title track has a great beat by Teddy Ted and J. Scribe, who brought the music for the first three tracks (a good stab at continuity throughout the record) and Golden Arms holds the track on his own with short lines and quick rhymes a la "Lipton."  Speaking of "Lipton," "Rims Pokin' Out" has a couple similarly fun and not-too-serious verses, but here about cars.  It's a good bumpin' track with fun lyrics like "I'm live on your set, pedestrians sweat / 'Cuz they catch whiplash when they turn they neck / With a multi-disc changer plus cassette / This is for them lowriders that burn the strip."  Dopium ends with the short-but-sweet "New Classic," with a beat that could easily have been on a Tricky album and one long verse by U-God.  Definitely one of the better songs on the album, but not as much a highlight as some other tracks are.

There are also three bonus tracks, all remixes of songs on the album.  It's good to hear different musical takes on earlier tracks ("Dopium," "Stomp da Roach" and "Hips"), but I've never been the kind of listener to hold remixes in the same regard as original songs, so I think this is a good place to stop.

Legacy:  Dopium received mixed reviews, but in my opinion it's a marked comeback for U-God.  It's no secret Mr. Xcitement fell short almost everywhere, so in a way this is really the first borderline-great U-God album in a decade (since 1999's Golden Arms Redemption).  There are a couple songs that don't wow me like the rest, but there are more than a fair share of gems across these 11 new tracks.  My personal favorite album of U-God's is either Golden Arms Redemption or The Keynote Speaker, but Dopium is nothing to sneeze at either.  Some will say that anything Wu-related that's been released in the last decade or so is a fluke, but I just don't see that.  Between Dopium, Cuban Linx Pt. 2 and the Afro Samurai: Resurrection soundtrack, even the year 2009 alone produced three very entertaining Wu-general releases.

Recommended Tracks:  Train Trussle, Stomp da Roach, Wu-Tang.

Step Forty Six: Method Man and Redman: Blackout! 2

Artists:  Method Man & Redman
Album:  Blackout! 2
Producers:  Various
Release Date:  May 19, 2009

Review:  Blackout! 2 came out almost 10 years after its predecessor, which I loved.  Blackout! was banging from the first track to the last and Method and Red were so tight it was impossible to choose a favorite.  Red's verse on "Da Rockwilder" has been my ringtone since I reviewed it last July.  So how does Blackout! 2 hold up?

Sadly, it doesn't.  Not entirely, anyway.  Of course if you're a curious Wu fan like myself, you're probably asking how the hell this happened.  As we sometimes do, let's start by looking at the package before discussing a single song.

Aside from an ad in the back for Method Man's next solo album Crystal Meth (which, six years later, still hasn't happened), the list of producers should give plenty of info away.  For 17 tracks (including two skits) there are 14 producers.  With practically a new producer for each song, it becomes too many cooks in the kitchen.  By contrast, the original Blackout! featured seven producers across 19 tracks.  Furthermore, two of the producers on the first album are RZA and Mathematics, and since Mathematics is a RZA disciple their sounds are pretty similar to boot.

Now, on Blackout! 2, most of those producers return (Erick Sermon, Redman, DJ Scratch, Mathematics and Rockwilder) but for a maximum of two tracks each (Erick Sermon, Redman and Rockwilder) and the rest for just one track each.  And sometimes a bunch of producers can each bring something strong and unique to the table, but that doesn't quite happen on Blackout! 2, which sucks because Method and Red deserve better.  So, onto the album.

Things start off with Mathematics' only beat on the album, "BO2 (Intro)."  It's a bit repetitive, but sets the stage for Meth and Doc to roam free.  Meth's best rhyme is "This nigga spit, don't he?  My flow is heavy / Like Katrina when she broke the levees."  He also gives off a clever mixed metaphor of cocaine and rap in the next track - the Havoc-produced "I'm Dope Nigga" - when he says "Put your nose in my notebook and go ahead, sniff you a line."  It works on the levels that a "line" can be referenced to a line of coke or one line from his verses (which are usually written first in a rapper's notebook), as well as that his emceeing is as addictive to the user as hardcore drugs are to junkies.  Given Meth's popularity the last 20 years, he can back up that kind of bragging.  The beat here is pretty phat, and Red holds his own, but it's not the best track on the record.

Ironically, "A-Yo" is one of the catchiest songs on the album, and I like it, but it's also indicative of the album's biggest problem.  With Saukrates' sung hook (which sounds admittedly great) and the clean, full sound and relaxed tempo of the track, Pete Rock makes "A-Yo" sound like a borderline-commercial West Coast rap track.  It sounds more like the type of tune specifically made for a soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto or an open-world Need for Speed, cruising around a Los Angeles-based area at night, than anything else.  But I still nod along and get the hook stuck in my head, so maybe I shouldn't complain?

Erick Sermon saves the lukewarm first act of this play with "Dangerous MCees" by providing an infectious bass riff, popping drum loops, a Biggie sample and tense strings for the boys to rhyme over.  Red's verse (as with the first three tracks) is solid but not insane, and Meth's features some good switching up on its rhymes like he did every other line on "Method Man" from Enter the Wu-Tang.

But then "Errbody Scream," "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights" happen, which suffer from a similar problem to "A-Yo" without the saving factor of Saukrates' hook.  All three tracks sound like they're trying too hard to be LA club hits.  "Errbody Scream" tries to appeal to bottom-rung club rats verbally ("When we in the house shit get retarded, when we in the house shit get retarded, when we in the house shit get retarded, we came to finish what y'all done started, ERRBODY SCREAM!!!").  Then, on the other hand, "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights" just try to be club hits (with Poo Bear on auto-tune on "Hey Zulu" and a crowd on occasional shouting/backing lines for both).  Speaking of auto-tune, why in the hell does Redman let half his verse suffer that shit on "City Lights?"  I'm good with Blackout! 2 being a party album, but damn does this first half suffer for it.

Ty Fyffe throws us a bone with his old-school blaxploitation beat on "Father's Day," where Redman shines with some slang-heavy lyrics.  "Pull out like boat motor streams, crack your shoulder wing / Def Squad decoder ring, psychopath bordering" and "Bricks to Staten Island where babies turn into killers / That's why my Cadillac bare more arms than caterpillars" come to mind.  The problem is, this is only the second real standout song and the album's already half over.

And the second half keeps the precedent, with several songs teetering between slightly interesting to pretty decent.  "Mrs. International" has a cool soul beat but little else to offer; "How 'bout Dat" is really listenable but guest Streetlife ironically disses auto-tune, which is straight-up confusing considering "Hey Zulu" and "City Lights."

"Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers" finally finds the plot and the feeling of the first Blackout!, with DJ Scratch sampling Nancy Wilson to provide a slow, retro beat while Meth and Red rap about smoking pot.  Their flows are smooth and the hook samples a live clip of an audience screaming "This is for all my smokers."  It's fun, weed-happy and self-aware and you can't help but smile, even if (like me) it's been over a decade since you smoked marijuana.  "Four Minutes to Lock Down" is another tight song with Wu guests Raekwon and Ghostface Killah.  With a roster of Meth, Red, Rae and Ghost, it's almost a guaranteed success and they bring a lot of energy that several of the album's other tracks sorely missed.  Producer Bink! offers an upbeat drum loop with '70s funk horns.  Raekwon provides the best verse with tight lyrics:  "G's in my pocket of juice, blue goose / I'm a goon under the moon, glow on the boosters / Yeah, deadly my sons, regret me / Windpipe writin', the mic fightin', respect me."  "Neva Herd Dis B 4" makes it a hat trick.  Three songs in a row I can't get enough of, representing infectious music and solid rhymes.

But is it too little, too late?  More or less.  The last two tracks don't do anything to add to the quality of the album, so what we're looking at is five really solid tracks (see the "Recommended Tracks" section), another eight or nine I could take or leave, then a few I'm thrilled to skip.  It's not all terrible, but rarely finds its way onto my stereo.

Legacy:  Blackout! 2 was received well, critically, which surprises me because I'm not nearly as fond of it as most were.  Meth and Red definitely proved on both albums that they have a killer chemistry together, but few enough songs stand out to me that I'm genuinely confused by the difference between my impression and most critics'.  It stands as the last solo(ish) effort from Method Man, since Crystal Meth and Blackout! 3 haven't materialized.  In fact, Crystal Meth has had no fewer than five release dates announced and missed, although the last two years have likely been filled with working on Wu-Tang's A Better Tomorrow - Method Man is famously present all over that record.  In a way, Blackout! 2 stands as a big question mark for Meth, since now that A Better Tomorrow is out we're all hungry for what he does next.  Of course, if A Better Tomorrow is any indication, Meth has still got it.

Recommended Tracks:  Dangerous MCees, Father's Day, Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers, Four Minutes to Lock Down, Neva Herd Dis B 4.