Album: The Five Venoms of Poison Clan
Producers: Various
Release Date: N/A
Information: This week's retrospective is on Masta Killa's Selling My Soul, which is coming later today. For now, here's something new from Map of Shaolin.
After reviewing Masta Killa Presents: The Next Chamber, I decided I'd compile about 20 other tracks featuring The High Chief Jamel Irief to make into an hour-long playlist so I'd have my Masta Killa fix until he puts out his next record. The idea was, MK has been such a mysterious figure in Wu-Tang the last 22 years that most people still don't know much about him. I wanted to help round out his image with some of the ways he's portrayed himself on non-album tracks especially - like in a detective movie where Sam Spade follows the trail of clues left behind in order to understand the culprit.
But since there are so many personas that rappers put on (just look at the difference between RZA and Bobby Digital), I wound up with a few different ideas of who MK is: a young dude from Brooklyn with a rap sheet, a lover, a wise man, etc. So instead I grouped the songs together a few at a time, thematically, then sequenced them in an order that's pleasing aesthetically. The result is like the Akira Kurosawa movie Rashomon, where there's three sides to a story, only here it's the story of Masta Killa. I also threw in a few dialogue clips from the film Five Deadly Venoms, which MK used to open his debut album No Said Date. In the film, a pupil is sent to investigate the possible wrongdoings of five deadly martial arts experts, some of which are involved with a group known as The Poison Clan. So the name of this record is a cross between those two key factors in the film: The Five Deadly Venoms and Poison Clan.
So here's my tracklist and how it works for the story. There are links to the albums these songs are from, when possible; please buy them and support the artists!
01. Dialogue clip from Five Deadly Venoms - the pupil explains he's looking for a rich man who knows kung-fu
[Act I: MK's early days]
02. Masta Killa - Ghetto Gospel (from The Mix Chronicles: Freestyle Sessions; Buy on Amazon for 89 cents)
Freestyle that includes a scene about dancing with two women in the club - definitely living that wild clubbin' life.
03. Mathematics - U.S.A. (Ft. Ghostface Killah, Buddah Bless, Masta Killa, Todd P.I., Eyeslow and Hot Flames) (from Mathematics' The Problem)
From Mathematics' 2005 release The Problem, "U.S.A." has a really young troublemaker vibe to it. MK shouts out to Chi-town thugs and Killa Cali gangstas, and the hook details having a bad dream that you died and went to Heaven and couldn't find any weed.
04. Masta Killa - Shaolin Temple
MK's first 100% solo track, from the video game Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. Hints of wisdom and enlightenment poking through this early track.
05. Five Deadly Venoms clip - A villager explains that a killer broke into someone's house and smashed everything. This clip sets up the following track, "Break That."
06. Mathematics - Break That (Ft. Ol' Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa and U-God) (from Mathematics' The Problem)
What's more "young gun" than smashing shit up? Also, nothing says Wu's younger days like a verse from Ol' Dirty Bastard.
[Act II: Masta Killa's trials and tribulations with women]
07. 9th Wonder - Loyalty (Ft. Masta Killa and HaLo) (from 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years; buy this track at Amazon)
The sample, "You're the type of girl that I've been dying to meet!" sounds like young love to me. It's a good segue between the first two sides of the Masta Killa story.
08. Bounty Killer and Masta Killa - Eyes a Bleed (RZA Remix) (available on Amazon)
Maybe this weed-based track would've been better themed earlier on, but I liked the idea of breaking up the love songs with some ragga, plus we all love a last blast of partying with a girl on our arm.
09. Mathematics, U-God, Masta Killa, Buddah Bless and Solomon Childs - King Toast Queen (from Wu-Tang Clan and Friends Unreleased and Natural Selection 2.0 - buy the song on Amazon)
MK only pops by for a hype line here, but it's a tight track and love has definitely grown up - U-God and Buddah Bless each have a verse about sex and Masta Killa's hype line is "This is 'King Toast Queen,' we touch glasses / Sipping the finest imports, burn murs and Love Supreme." Definitely more grown up than previously.
10. Ghostface Killah - Killa Lipstick (Ft. Method Man and Masta Killa) (from The Big Doe Rehab - track available on Amazon)
I didn't want to include every guest spot MK has done, but since "Killa Lipstick" is a standalone bonus track from The Big Doe Rehab, I figured it would be alright. Also, this track and the next one ("Shorty") are a good one-two story of saying goodbye to love.
11. Mathematics - Shorty (Ft. Cappadonna, Masta Killa and J.N.Y.) (from Mathematics' The Answer - buy here)
The end of love. Shit gets complicated with the emcees talking about other men's women, suicides and more.
[Act III: The Master Killer]
12. Five Deadly Venoms clip - An old man finds himself about to be murdered by Poison Clan
13. Wu-Tang Clan - One Blood Under W (from The W - cop the song here)
On Enter the 36 Chambers, Method Man had one song all to himself. On Forever, it was ODB, Deck and U-God. On The W, Masta Killa raps "One Blood Under W" on his own (with hook vocals by Junior Reid). Seems like a pretty prestigious honor. This is a real emergence of his career as a matured and solo rapper. Even the first line is "I was rollin', showing my age, unshaven."
14. Masta Killa - Street Corners (Doom Remix) (from Doom's Unexpected Guests - get the song on Amazon)
Nothing wrong with the original Bronze Nazareth-produced version of this track, but since it's on Made in Brooklyn and I was aiming for rarities when possible, I wanted to go for the remix from DOOM's Unexpected Guests. Some of MK's prophetic lyrics are here, too, demonstrating his refined skills: "The all great mind stays divine / My hands remain deadly, we shine."
15. Masta Killa and PF Cuttin - The Return of the Masta Kill (Ft. Capadonna and Young Dudas) (standalone single, get it here)
To date (July 1 2015), this is the newest cut I've heard from Masta Killa. As the name implies, the man reappears with new upcoming material, wisdom and knowledge.
16. Raekwon, Ghostface and Masta Killa - Execute Them (buy it on Amazon)
This track has popped up on a few mixes over the years. Love the acoustic guitar loop and the old-school energy from Raekwon, but MK's cool demeanor lends itself to sound indifferent and jaded to the gangsta shit he talks about.
17. Masta Killa and Superb - The Man (from the Ghost Dog soundtrack - get it for a buck)
This is MK and Superb on a serious horror beat by RZA. It's MK's earliest solo-ish appearance, but his lyrics look back on his younger days from the present. Can it be that it was all so simple?
18. Masta Killa - The Day After (from a mix by The Prof. and Nature Sounds - grab the track for 99 cents)
More wisdom and enlightenment from a grown Jamel Irief. "I awoke from oppression and began to write for y'all / Truth from a speck of light." This is clearly a more grown-up Masta Killa.
19. Bronze Nazareth - The Road (Ft. Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck) (from BN's School for the Blindman, also as a single - don't sleep on this one)
Expanding minds with tempo changes and abstract samples, Bronze Nazareth invites us to hear two masters at work: Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck slay it over chopped vocal loops and snare rushes. Damn this beat is hot. It ends with an ominous kung-fu clip sending a message out to an expert - a ninja - likely requesting help. And he brings a clan for our closing track, the epilogue, "In the Name of Allah."
20. Cilvaringz - In the Name of Allah (Ft. Method Man, RZA, Masta Killa, Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest) (from Cilvaringz' debut, I)
A seriously strong roster with Meth, RZA and Masta Killa, not to mention Shabazz, Killah Priest and Cilvaringz. Here, MK is relaxed, wise and stately. It's a great way to end the album with support from two other Wu generals.
Stay tuned later today for our proper entry for the week - Step Fifty Nine: Masta Killa: Selling My Soul. Keep it Wu!
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