Album: Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang
Producers: Scram Jones et al.
Release Date: March 7, 2011
Review: It's been occurring to me over the last few weeks that there has been, undeniably, a shift in the overall Wu-Tang sound at least twice in their last 22 years. There was the original chunky all-RZA sound leading up to Wu-Tang Forever, the pitch-raised/brass-laden feel of albums like Think Differently Music and a slow leaning towards a fuller and cleaner musical sound as has been evident on releases like GZA's Pro Tools, Ghostface Killah's Ghostdini and even Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 2. Each of those sounds has its place, and each have had hits and misses along the Map of Shaolin.
But for all the shit that people love to give Wu for any albums released after 1997, and all the articles asking "where Wu-Tang fell apart," Raekwon's Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang is a really great album that manages to mix several sounds from his own catalog and remind listeners of every era of the Wu. It doesn't hurt that, RZA aside, virtually every regular Wu producer is here. Bronze Nazareth gets behind the controls for "Butter Knives," Alchemist brings "Ferry Boat Killaz," Mathematics brings "Dart School" and Cilvaringz produces..."Silver Rings." And here's where the personnel gets interesting from a history/storytelling perspective. Cilvaringz has only brought us a few tracks on Wu-general albums, but is wholly responsible for being in the booth for Wu-Tang's upcoming and controversial single-copy album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. If "Silver Rings" is any indication, it should be a tight-sounding record - if anyone ever hears it. The only producer to have more than one or two tracks on this album is Scram Jones, whose first job working directly for Wu-Tang was on Ghost's Big Doe Rehab from 2007. Scram also produced several tracks for other Wu albums since then, including Wu-Massacre, Cuban Linx 2, Apollo Kids and now Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang.
There's also a bit of tangible networking going on with several producers and their tracks. Scram Jones produces "Last Trip to Scotland" here with guest star Lloyd Banks, who may have been called up due to his past work with Scram on Banks' 2004 song "Work Magic." Erick Sermon follows suit, producing the Method Man-featuring "Every Soldier in the Hood." Sermon, of course, worked extensively on both Blackout! albums but first popped up on the Map for his work on Meth's Tical 2000: Judgement Day. And while we're talking guest spots, there's Method Man on two tracks, Ghostface on three, Inspectah Deck, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Radio Raheem, Rick Ross and Black Thought. Nas and Rae date back to the first Cuban Linx in 1995, and Busta has worked with members of Wu several times in the past, but I'm guessing Radio Raheem and Black Thought both got on Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang through Ghostface's address book (having appeared on Ghostdini and Apollo Kids, respectively). I'm not particularly broken-hearted at the absence of members of American CREAM Team or Icewater Productions, because to be honest this record really doesn't need them. It's a seamless/non-stop album that's full to bursting with sounds and names to get your blood pumping - which, by the way, it's about damn time we got down to.
The album starts off with a bang: a title track that also samples the film after which it's named and a fast and furious two verses from Raekwon. They're all short lines often sticking with the same rhymes within each line as well (not too dissimilar from RA the Rugged Man's appearances with the Wu), which adds a real sense of urgency. "The gear dresser, the chop bagger, Marvin Hagler / Rap stabber, eat you alive, gold tarantula" is just one quick example. The beat is tense with a super-short violin loop and it leads directly into the next track (as just about every song on this album does). In this case it's that Erick Sermon/Method Man collab "Every Soldier in the Hood," which is only slightly more relaxed of a beat. It's a good track, but Meth does better later. For now, the first killer beat on the album for me is "Silver Rings" (which makes the Once Upon a Time in Shaolin secrecy sting a little more). It's like violin buzz notes and blues guitar loops that add up to better than the sum of their parts. It gets a little weird halfway in when it stops to fade into "As High as Wu-Tang Get" and come back, but overall it's a crazy awesome, blink-and-you'll-miss-it song with a verse from Ghost that's as live as his work on Ironman.
Another bright point on this album is that its sung bits work much better for me than a lot of previous Wu stuff has. "Chop Chop Ninja" has a protracted hook by Estelle and "Rock n Roll" contains a good deal of labored singing by Kobe...but both are just stellar. Estelle uses great harmonies singing about "the true keys to being a ninja" and Kobe sounds sincere without being melodramatic. I can't say the same for Radio Raheem's falsetto on "From the Hills" but we'll just sweep that under the rug. Inspectah Deck shows up for a quick spot on "Chop Chop" which is good enough but with few standout lines beside "I'm straight tear, tell 'em don't play fair / Then retaliation I'mma shake 'em just for scraping my suede pair."
Rae goes dolo again, for the first time since the intro, on "Butter Knives" and "Snake Pond." "Butter Knives" has a solid beat by Bronze Nazareth - who I think is underrated, especially after the first time I heard "The Road" - and "Snake Pond" has a beat that reminds me of the song "Masta Killa" from MK's solo album No Said Date. Light Asian instruments in the back make a really unique texture. Busta Rhymes shows up for "Crane Style" and I think the only thing I don't like about him at this point is that I feel like he always has to have a line where the producer drops the pitch in his voice until it sounds like a weird late-'90s B-horror film monster for a minute. He's a great emcee; he doesn't need the special effects.
It's hard to believe you're already halfway through the album at the end of "Rock N Roll," but if you look there's good reason for that: Despite there being no skits on the album (and thank God for that), there are four tracks out of 17 that clock in under two minutes. "Last Trip to Scotland" reminds me of "Sonny's Missing" from Cuban Linx 2 with its fast gangster storytelling and bright, clean, engaging beat. "Ferry Boat Killaz" is another Cuban Linx 2-esque track, with faint violins and a harpsichord-like keyboard for effect.
"Dart School" might have Raekwon's best lyrics on the album since the intro track - and as great as this album is, Rae's rhymes just don't always stand out as much to me. Here, though, it's all smiles. His first verse has his trademark style, using a metaphor of young animals to explain how his crew run compared to the always-serious hard life in prison: "So many soldiers, no soft niggaz in the slammers / We run wild like lil' gazelles and baby pandas." He finishes up with an instant classic rhyme: "So when it's over I'mma fly to my lady's mansion / And get riced up, some Japanese baby salmon." "The Scroll" also has some tight rhymes, especially its opening: "Kinda brief from the gold teeth era / Bro dreaming on C.R.E.A.M. / Complimentaries and beef." It's cool to hear that long E sound and the recurring rhyme of "brief" and "teeth" coming back two lines later for "beef." He's either describing RZA's quick brush with fame pre-Wu (as in he's still just dreaming of writing "C.R.E.A.M." from Enter the Wu-Tang) or someone else who was inspired by Wu-Tang but burned out quickly. This is because "gold teeth era" could be a nod to either the late '80s and early '90s (e.g. Flava Flav) or late '90s and early '00s (when everyone from Method Man to Trick Daddy was rockin' a grill or gold teeth).
Legacy: It's hard to believe it's a full 49 minutes all in, since so many tracks seem so short and there are no real gaps to speak of between songs. And besides leaving you wanting more, it also gains a couple points with nostalgia. Weird beats like "Silver Rings" remind us of albums like Tical 2000 in 1998, the sung hook on "Chop Chop Ninja" makes me think of "Wheels" from 2002's Iron Flag, cleaner-produced tracks remind me of latter-day Wu solo albums like Pro Tools from 2008 and INS's Manifesto, and several of the tracks are reminiscent of Cuban Linx 2. Also, the fuller, overproduced sound of tracks like "Rock and Roll" seem like they took the ideas of Ghostdini or Tical 0 and did them right. Even bringing back such an extensive amount of kung-fu samples for intros and outros is a great throwback to original Wu-Tang outings like Enter the Wu-Tang and Liquid Swords while sampling speeches from political figures like Winston Churchill is a good look forward to A Better Tomorrow. Sure, the lyrics don't often stand out as much as some of Rae's other stuff, but this is a quality record. Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang arrives just 18 months after Cuban Linx 2, which gets so much mention on this entry because it's one of the most widely recognized, undisputed successes from any Wu member in the last 15 years. He'd also recently appeared on 2010's Wu Massacre with Method Man and Ghostface Killah.
We can also use this opportunity to change our gaze from the past to the future. Since this album came out, Raekwon appeared immediately after this on the Wu comp Legendary Weapons, released a short collaboration album with DJ Fresh called The Tonight Show, made nice with RZA in time to appear on several tracks from 2014's A Better Tomorrow and he just released a brand-new LP, Fly International Luxurious Art. In terms of the entire group, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang was released about 2 1/2 months after the well-received Ghostface album Apollo Kids and they kept our attention after this release with RZA's directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists and what's appearing to be a collaboration-centered Wu-Tang renaissance. For example, Ghostface Killah has paired with Adrian Younge for two albums in their comic-based 12 Reasons to Die series as well as working with live bands for 36 Seasons and Sour Soul; and Inspectah Deck has partnered with 7L and Esoteric to release two albums as Czarface - both featuring a late-'90s sound with comic book art imagery. U-God also released what may be his best solo record yet - 2012's The Keynote Speaker.
Recommended Tracks: Silver Rings, Chop Chop Ninja, Rock N Roll, Dart School.
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