Step Sixty Four: Wu-Tang Clan: A Better Tomorrow.

Artist:  Wu-Tang Clan
Album:  A Better Tomorrow
Producers:  RZA ("Ruckus in B-Minor" co-produced by Rick Rubin; "40th Street Black / We Will Fight" and "Keep Watch" co-produced by Mathematics), 4th Disciple ("Miracle" and "Necklace").
Release Date:  December 2, 2014

Review:  Hoo boy.  Now we get to the tricky shit.  I knew when I started Map of Shaolin that more group or dolo albums would be released in the 14-16 month period that I was writing.  I figured I'd do my best to talk about them at their release then come back to them at their proper space on the Map, and now here we are.

So for starters, please look back at my first/quick review of Wu's sixth group LP, A Better Tomorrow, by clicking right here.  If you'd rather not, here's the summary.

In 2012 or so, rumors started buzzing that Wu-Tang would release another LP for the 20th anniversary of their debut Enter the Wu-Tang.  Unfortunately, a very public rift between Raekwon and RZA seemed to dash hopes for bringing the full group back together.  It reached the point where RZA stated that they'd do the album without Rae if they needed to, but their conflict resolved in mid-late 2014 and Rae ended up putting in verses for five of the album's 15 tracks before its release on December 2nd, 2014.  In the year or so leading up to the album, Wu put out several tracks - "Wu-Tang Reunion," which started its life as "Family Reunion;" "Keep Watch" and (premiering on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) "Ron O'Neal" all debuted well before the release.

So what's on it?  Musically, the sound expands on RZA's post-Iron Flag love for live instruments that we've seen on 8 Diagrams and their collaborations with The Revelations - we hear some of the full band motif in "Ruckus in B Minor" and "Preacher's Daughter."  The album covers a wide tonal range, from the positively bright and glowing old soul sounds of "A Better Tomorrow" and "Wu-Tang Reunion" to the darker "Pioneer the Frontier" and "Necklace."  A couple of those bold choices don't quite pay off.  For example, the Wu get a pass on making a rap ballad in "Miracle" since everyone else seems to get to do it without taking shit (I'm looking at you, "Stan"), but its rock-solid verses clash with an ending that ventures too close to nu-metal or '00s rap-rock territory for my tastes.  I love it right until the end, and then I fake it.  Lyrically, I think the Clan are all on point.  U-God has struggled a couple times in the past but not here, and I was surprised at myself for how pleased I was with the tracks that Cappadonna leads off on.  RZA also picks up the slack from his "bitches and blunts" Bobby Digital persona, which is a big relief.

Now a bit more on the album.

Every emcee gets several chances to shine throughout the record.  RZA's tightest appearances may be his quick verse/bridge on "Crushed Egos" and "Ron O'Neal" while Rae kills "Crushed Egos" as well.  GZA's best may be "Ruckus in B Minor" although his other verses aren't to be taken lightly.  Inspectah Deck is an extinction-level-event opener for the album; U-God makes his mark the strongest on "Pioneer the Frontier" while Ghost spits bold lines in-character on "Necklace" and "Preacher's Daughter."  Masta Killa brings "Felt" to life as well as slaying his verse on "Miracle."
  Method Man is as fun as he's ever been on "Keep Watch" and "40th Street Black / We Will Fight," but he's got great life and energy on "A Better Tomorrow."  Cappadonna, who I've often bemoaned as hit-or-miss, really tightens up most of his appearances on the album, especially "Keep Watch" and "Necklace."  For specific lyrical quotes, check the quick review link up top.

By the numbers, here's how everyone checks in.  I didn't count hooks since so many are provided by samples and non-Wu vocalists.

Masta Killa and Method Man - 10 verses and one bridge each.
Cappadonna - Nine verses.
Inspectah Deck - Eight verses.
Ghostface Killah - Seven verses.
GZA, Raekwon, U-God - Six verses each.
RZA - Four verses, three bridges (plus production on 14 tracks).
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Hype lines on three tracks, taken from samples.

Legacy:  Now that I've gotten eight months hindsight on the album, I stand by most of my first impressions from last December.  I still think it gets a bit awkward somewhere between "Felt" and "Hold the Heater," but I warmed up to those tracks (and "Never Let Go," which I was iffy about) over time.  Some will argue that no song should ever need "warming up to," but I vote for the reward from that effort every time.  I love instant classics, but if something takes me awhile to appreciate, I tend to dig it a lot more.  Now, I will apologize for saying that Method Man is the "clear hero" of A Better Tomorrow, since I counted verses (as I do) and realized Masta Killa is on the album just as much as Meth  - sorry MK!  I recognize that Meth is one of the most popular Wu members, so it makes sense for some reviewers to praise his involvement - which they imply glued the album together - but I'd hate to sell the other guys short.  I was also mistaken thinking that MK was on "Hold the Heater," so my apologies.

Also, my opinions on the Raekwon/RZA beef have changed in light of Rae dissing the album as "soft" since its release.  I think Rae's a brilliant rapper, from flow to rhymes to style to presence, but I'm not sure about him disapproving of ABT, then appearing on five tracks, then dissing it again.  Then again, I think it's important to have the whole Clan on the album and his appearances are great so I can't say they'd be better off without.

A Better Tomorrow was received with mixed reviews.  Adjusted to a scale of 1 to 10, the album was given about a 6 by The Guardian, Pitchfork, A.V. Club, Spin and Slant Magazine.  Rolling Stone wasn't as kind, rating it as just a 5.  On the other hand, AllMusic, Robert Christgau, The Independent and NME all rated it between a 7 and 9.  I personally think the album succeeds as a whole, with some standout tracks (listed below) balancing out the least impressive songs.  It seems like Wu-Tang's inevitable last record together has been questioned since ODB died between Iron Flag and 8 Diagrams, if not sooner.  I for one hope to see more great albums by each member of Wu-Tang even if A Better Tomorrow (or, optimistically, the odd-release Once Upon a Time in Shaolin) is the last group album we get.  Ultimately their future is up to them at this point.  A Better Tomorrow is not without its cracks in the armor, but it's an armor that can only be pierced by the Wu-Tang sword.

Recommended Tracks:  Ruckus in B Minor, Keep Watch, Pioneer the Frontier, A Better Tomorrow, Ron O'Neal.

Step Sixty Three: U-God: The Keynote Speaker.

Note:  This is the last album listed on the original Map of Shaolin last year April.  For info on what else is coming, check out this blog post about the remaining releases and upcoming albums.  We'll finish catching up then review future albums upon release.

Artist:  U-God
Album:  The Keynote Speaker
Producers:  Various
Release Date:  July 23, 2013

Review:  Maybe I've been a little kind on some of the least impressive Wu albums while writing this blog.  In hindsight, I hope I haven't turned into The Fat Guy Who Cried Wolf since I didn't rip apart some of these CD's the way other critics did.  I hope not, because today I'm making a serious statement that The Keynote Speaker is highly underrated and undervalued.  Babygrande Records, GZA's label (responsible for this year's Keynote Speaker re-release) even have the whole album streaming on YouTube if you haven't checked it out yet.  I may not put it as high as a Cuban Linx album or The Movement, but this is a damn good joint from U-God with only a couple stumbles near the beginning.  It's easily his best since Golden Arms Redemption if not his best solo album ever.  Here's what's up.

U-God's solo career has been troubled from the get-go.  I've seen bloggers unfairly call his debut Golden Arms Redemption the worst Wu-Tang release ever, or rate it a 2 out of 10.  After that came his actual worst release, the indefensible Mr. Xcitement - which stemmed partly from his brief departure from Wu-Tang and almost entire lack of involvement from any Wu staff on it.  Even U-God himself expressed disappointment in Mr. Xcitement.  I personally think he bounced back with some really cool tracks on Dopium, especially "Train Trussle" and "Wu-Tang."  It was another four years before he brought us The Keynote Speaker, in the meantime keeping himself busy with quick appearances on other albums.  Most notably, U-God appeared on the Wu-Tang/Revelations collaborations Chamber Music and Legendary Weapons and "Rivers of Blood" and "Six Directions of Boxing" from The Man with the Iron Fists.

Now back with his fourth solo release, Golden Arms opts for quick delivery on each song.  The Keynote Speaker boasts 19 tracks (including the final two "bonus tracks") but only runs a total of 48 minutes.  That means each song averages out to two minutes thirty - only one song on the disc sees the four-minute mark ("Fame" with Styles P).  This will tie in a lot with my thoughts on the album overall, so I'll get back to it.

The title track kicks things off for two minutes of fury with bleating horns and a catchy hook.  I like his rhyme "My nest is blooming, my heart is fuming / What you expect man?  The God is human."  It's a great way to start the album, as U-God tends to turn the focus on himself and talk about his triumphs as well as his troubles.

Next up is "Heads Up" with Jackpot and GZA.  Jackpot holds his own, U-God delivers an admittedly hit-or-miss verse ("The way I hear you talking to me is irrelevant / My laser sharp speech makes me relevant" isn't his strongest line) and GZA drops some solid science poetry on us with lyrics like "Mic masters, hip-hop's hallmark / The Big Bang of rap and the center was all dark / Then came the spark and we began to rhyme / And shine light on the world in the form of art."

If I have one real beef with the album, it's the hook on "Fire."  It's some seriously repetitive shit.  Check it out:

"The God said to put the fire on it
The God said to put the fire on it
One match, we set the world on fire
One match, we set the world on fire
The God said to put the fire on it
The God said to put the fire on it
One match, we set the world on fire
One match, we set the world on fire."

We actually hear the line "One match, we set the world on fire" fourteen times in under three minutes.  It's a bit too much.  It reminds me of the hook on Beastie Boys' "3 the Hard Way" - "We gonna rock this motherfucker like three the hard way / We gonna rock this motherfucker like three the hard way / We gonna rock this motherfucker like three the hard way / Three the hard way, three the hard way."  But once we get away from the hook, "Fire" is pretty good.  Jackpot (aka Scotty Wotty) is back, having previously collaborated on "Stomp Da Roach" from Dopium.  U-Godzilla comes back from his stumble on "Heads Up" with a respectable verse here, especially his opener "It's the art of war combat, every move is high tech / Human Terminator, nigga, plug me into SkyNet / Red bone, hot head, burnt down my projects / I turn sound into killing flying objects."  It opens with a nice Terminator reference and closes with a throwable CD/ninja star image, not to mention it's got flow and timing.  Method Man guests here and is really smooth - he doesn't spin his most brilliant lyrics but they bounce like Muhammad Ali and flow like water.

Moving on, "Fame" introduces (or reinforces what "Keynote Speaker" introduced) the exact brand of retro that U-God utilizes the rest of the album.  It's a much lighter old sound compared to the usual soul sampling Wu-Tang does, its treble contrasting in tone with U-God's bass-filled vocals.  The hook is a sample of someone singing the word "fame" and a bright Temptations-like string loop - it's a big departure from the gritty mid-'90s Wu but a good one nonetheless.  It's a bit reminiscent of the chances Ghostface took on Apollo Kids.

"Skyscraper" repeats the retro vibe, this time trading in the strings for buzzing '70s/'80s synthesizers.  Lyrically, the highlight is U-God's more wary side - "It's one of them nights, wish upon a star / That the hood might settle and peace may start."  This is also good foreshadowing for the more vulnerable singer-songwriter attitude of the album's back half.  In the meantime, "Heavyweight" is decent but my favorite line is "Roll the tour bus to the finest cities / Rock the whole Europe, touched the finest titties," which always makes me laugh.  I know it's probably being sincere in its braggadocio, but the rhyme and Zilla's excitement come close to some ODB ridiculousness.

I've often wondered why some of the Wu albums put my favorite tracks up front while the back half suffers or treads water.  This is definitely not the case here; After the halfway skit "Colossal Cosmos," U-God switches up his fame-riding crazy nights with more personal laments and worries lyrically while presenting unique retro sounds by the truckload.  First up is "Stars," which sounds like it's been locked in a nightclub in Miami for 30 or 40 years.  I love the spacey keyboard line and vocal harmony on the hook, with the simple optimism of "Reach for the stars!"  Not only is "Stars" one of the catchiest tracks on the album, but it's hard to stop talking about it.  The interlude is a pitch-raised sample of someone singing "Take me to the stars."  This is as pop as pop gets but somehow it all works.  Even U-God's lyrics are as happy and light-hearted as it gets.  "Good time lovin's and some good laughs / Kicking your feet up, first class / Good kid on a good path."  Just crazy.  It leaves you wanting more, as it's in and out in well under three minutes.  And this happens throughout much of the album, but they work great as quick visits into the mind of one of Wu-Tang's most low-profile members.  I've heard Wu tracks that go on two minutes too long and you damn sure won't find them here.  Every track drops the bomb and ducks out and not one overstays its welcome.

Then comes "Golden Arms," in which U-God looks back with noted sadness on the way his life used to be.  I always respect a rapper showing that they made mistakes and have vulnerabilities.  U-God says he "Got bread in the streets from the rawest addiction / Made a 180 turn with the Lord's conviction."  In other words, when he was a kid he hustled some drug money in his neighborhood and even enabled the most hardcore of drug addicts, but he turned his life around and found remorse and repentance for his acts, partly with religion.  This isn't the first time he's touched on that; even on Mr. Xcitement he has a pretty good verse or two about his own drug use and what it cost him.

I'm also really fond of "Room Keep Spinning."  I think live acoustic guitar parts are underused in genres outside of rock, so on the rare occasion that I hear one (here and on Skinny Puppy's "Junkyard" for example) it adds some texture and variety to whichever album it's on.  Not only is it wise instrumentation, but it's genuinely sad strumming as Golden Arms talks about his frustrations with his and his girlfriend's poor life choices.  "She took my car, brung it back in three parts / Late night call to come to the ER" and "I done told her not to drink and drive / Now the judge slammed the hammer and she might do time" highlight her story.  U-God's own shock, receiving a letter from his ex and learning he's a father, spins his own tale.  "Got a letter from L.A., it was from my ex / Said she had my baby, ain't seen her yet [...] She said she can raise it all on her own / She said 'send me money and leave me alone / Stress is a killer' then she hung up the phone."  It's clear that this is genuine worry, not bragging about himself or his current girlfriend, because the hook is all about how the room keeps spinning.  Of course a spinning room is a fitting, if on-the-nose, metaphor often used for when you have an emotional shock and get dizzy or anxious.

Then there's "Get Mine."  I'm amazed by this track.  It's about as much a rap song as "16 Tons" is, only offering a few quick rhymes sporadically.  The music is straight from a David Lynch movie, taking a dark turn on cool nightclub jazz, and U-God sings as much as he emcees.  Sure, there are some rhymes and they're awesome and angry ("Life's full of drama, secrets and lies / If you get screwed in the end don't be surprised"), but the musical focus is very old-school.  U-God's singing voice is like Leon Redbone on some parts and deep Barry White or Isaac Hayes crooning on others.  And it does have that classic, finger-snapping, downtrodden "16 Tons" feel throughout.  It's a brilliant way to break up the flow of the album (not that it was getting monotonous) and always a treat to look forward to when I listen.  I could actually use a little more of it, since it clocks in at two minutes 39 seconds, but I think it's better for a song to leave us wanting more than take too long and become boring or uniform.

Inspectah Deck slaps us back to alertness on "Mt. Everest," which is followed by "Tranzform."  Keeping with the diverse retro motif yet again, "Tranzform" uses electric guitar and tambourine and even has a hook similar to Jethro Tull's 1974 "Bungle in the Jungle."  Compare U-God's hook - "Have you seen your friends turn to snakes? / Then tranzform into rats? / Well, running through the jungle / I can tell you all about that."  to Tull's hook -  "Let's bungle in the jungle / Well that's alright by me / I'm a tiger when I want love, but I'm a snake if we disagree."  They both successfully use metaphors of people turning into different kinds of animals to serve their own purposes as we journey through the wild jungle of modern life.  Even the album's proper closer, "Journey" (which features the legendary Kool Keith) boasts open-note '80s synths and clean pop-rock singing on the hook ("Here I go / I'm on my way...").

Legacy:  Somehow, The Keynote Speaker received really mixed reviews.  If we translate reviewers' scoring systems to a "one-to-10" scale, it mostly scored between a five and a 6.5.  This is a case where I agree with some of the criticisms and disagree with others.  Some reviews claimed the album lacked cohesion of any kind, and I can't see that.  The liner note is a classic ghetto blaster and Keynote Speaker revels in various old-school inspirations from the '70s and '80s from front to back, which I find pretty cohesive.  As I mentioned, the almost-humorously white sounds of tracks like "Stars" and "Golden Arms" as well as the light-headed spacey vibes of "Fame" and "Journey" take us through a comprehensive trip of yesteryear while providing plenty of enjoyable modern hip-hop sewn together with them ("Keynote Speaker," "Zilla" etc).  I'll be the first to admit that some of U-God's verses aren't his strongest ("Heads Up" and "Heavyweight" don't do much for me), and that would bump it down a few points if I scored these reviews.  However, this is as easy to listen to musically as anything in recent memory and a lot of the verses are really cool.  I heard him say that with Keynote Speaker, "this'll either put my in your top five emcees or your top five underrated," and I definitely agree with the second part.  U-God may not have Method Man's flow or GZA's vocabulary, but he's got a voice and plenty of sincere stories to tell if you'll listen.  Do yourself a favor and take the time to do so.

Recommended Tracks:  Keynote Speaker, Stars, Room Keep Spinning, Get Mine.

Shaolin Annex (More for the Map).

Hey readers!  If you're here for the regular scheduled entry on the Map, don't worry - my look back at U-God's The Keynote Speaker will be up by the end of the day Wednesday.  In the meantime, there's one quick thing we need to discuss.

If you've ever looked all the way back at the beginning of Map of Shaolin, maybe you noticed the last thing on it was tomorrow's U-God album.  This is because when I made the map last spring, it was the most recent thing that had come out.  Since then, six more Wu-related albums have been released:  Wu-Tang Clan's group album A Better Tomorrow, Ghostface Killah's 36 Seasons and collaboration album Sour Soul (with Badbadnotgood), Raekwon's Fly International Luxurious Art, Czarface's Every Hero Needs a Villain and Ghostface's Twelve Reasons to Die II.  As if that's not enough, it looks like Method Man is about to drop his next solo album, The Meth Lab, and I'm sure more albums will be released in the future.

So what do we do?  For now, I've made an extra map for the six albums that have come out in the last year - from A Better Tomorrow to Twelve Reasons to Die II, check out the new map!

I'll continue this blog project for the next six or seven weeks, keeping our look at the Wu-Tang catalog going until we run out of albums.  After that, I'll make a new entry whenever a new album is released.  A couple things:  First, it would probably be pretty stupid to make a new map every time a new album is released, so just bookmark MapofShaolin.blogspot.com and check back whenever you hear about a new Wu-family record.  Second, since hip-hop albums suffer from more delays than LaGuardia, I won't be hyping anything or promising any dates on reviews until I have an album in my hands.  That's why the new Method Man album isn't on the new map above - you never know when some shit's gonna get pushed back a week or two.  Third, the long-standing "Legacy" section of map entries - where I talk about the album's reception and impact on that artist's career since its release - is going to disappear in a few weeks.  It's hard to say how Twelve Reasons to Die II affected Ghostface in the long run since it just came out about three weeks ago, right?  Finally, whenever I get caught up completely (mid-September maybe?) I'll be writing a summary and "thank you" blog about this whole god-damn project.  So keep an eye out for that.

Alright!  Thanks for your continued readership everybody.  Keep it tuned here for more discussions about the remaining/recent Wu-family releases, more reviews to come etc.  See you for the next several Wu Wednesdays.

Step Sixty Two: Ghostface Killah: Twelve Reasons to Die.

Artist:  Ghostface Killah
Album:  Twelve Reasons to Die
Producer:  Adrian Younge
Release Date:  April 16, 2013 (The Brown Tape released April 23, 2013)

Note:  This album was released alongside a short comic book series that helped tell the story, similar to the included comic in Ghost's subsequent release 36 Seasons.  I couldn't get my hands on a copy of the comic before this review; my apologies.  However, a week after Twelve Reasons to Die's release, they released a musically alternate version of the album, Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape, which I'll cover briefly at the end of this entry.  Thanks for your support!

Review:  Ghostface Killah has always been the type of rapper to tell a story, from his award-winning verse on Wu-Tang's "Impossible" to the present day.  On 2013's Twelve Reasons to Die, he takes it a step further by enlisting composer/producer Adrian Younge to serve as the musical counterpart to his first official concept album.  Ghost has had themed albums before (Ghostdini is almost entirely R&B-based rap), but this is the first album to stick with one story from start to finish.  Adrian Younge has called the album "the score to a vintage Italian horror film," which sounds pretty accurate in my opinion.

The story that Twelve Reasons tells is about Tony Starks (Ghostface) and the DeLuca mob family.  I'll fill in the story as we go along.  The album opens with "Beware of the Stare," a funk overture of what's to come.  It introduces Tony and features a foreboding hook about his impending murder.  Big props to Adrian Younge for writing this track for Ghost to rap over; the fusion of dynamic prog-rock time signatures, an old-school bassline, Wu-Tang slang, a small Shakespearean women's chorus and soul keyboards are an amazing way to kick off this album.  When I first bought it, I told one of my boys it was Ghost's most musical album at the time, and I stand by that.  He's released others since, but that's another story for another day.

On "Rise of the Black Suits" we look back at Tony's early days over jazz drums and '70s church keyboards supporting a simple piano progression that ascends and descends a half a scale on the seventh and eighth beats.  At times, when the other piano bit kicks in (three chords), it sounds like a solid candidate for the first Broken Bells album.  Tony worked as an underling for the DeLuca clan, rising through the ranks until, in his words, "Tryin' to make me a made man, they fucked up the game plan / I blacked out on them and started my own clan."  Virtually all of the album is story in rhyme, and it almost always serves both with a perfect balance.  The song ends with Ghost telling us the DeLucas claimed to support his success but would've started a war with him if they weren't too chickenshit.

Masta Killa guests on "I Declare War" (on which Tony decides - you guessed it - to declare war on the DeLucas) as a long-time friend and member of Tony's mob.  MK references "Wu-Gambinos" from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... to depict how tight their family is ("It's non-stop hustle and flow of their casino, RZA Tarantino / It's Wu-Gambino for life, you know how we go").  RZA pads things out with a narrated outro that reads like an intro text box for a comic book, which I hope is intentional.  "Born into a world with violence, death and destruction surrounding him at every turn, Tony Starks took control of his own destiny and aspired to become one of the foremost leaders of the criminal underworld..."

It leads directly into "Blood on the Cobblestones," which has some similar instrumentation that Younge likely utilized to show how fast it's on once Tony's made the decision to go to war.  It's quicker than any track so far and utilizes turntables to promote a sense of urgency.  U-God and Inspectah Deck guest here, fighting on Tony's side, and each have some really entertaining rhymes.  U-God opens his verse with "How you prepare for war?  Grab your guns and hardware / Never close your eyes in the barber chair," alluding to mobster movies where someone gets killed sitting at the barber's.  INS uses his trademark bouncing flow to outline his own plan for taking down their rivals:  "Greet 'em with open arms, beat 'em with no regards / Feed 'em .223's freeze 'em, leave 'em with no resolve."

"The Center of Attraction" slows it back down with Tony meeting a girl named Logan who Cappadonna warns is a DeLuca spy.  It starts with the female singers from "Beware of the Stare" before Tony talks about himself and Logan being like peanut butter and jelly - made to go together.  Cap tries to open his eyes, responding with "She's not your peanut butter!  More like a fuckin' nutcase," which I think is hysterical.  I've listened to it 20 times and I laugh every time I hear it.  But I'm not laughing at Cappadonna; he's just delivering a great response to Tony's metaphor in a way that sounds funny to me.  Musically, it's all ride cymbals and hitting the edge of the snare drum with strings and slow, reverberated keys.  Very mysterious, very old soul.

Tony doubles down in his trust for Logan at the end, as well as on "Enemies All around Me."  He says his gang doubts him now, and that his boys tell him "Bitches are sneaky, trifling and not to be trusted / A weak link in the team and the chain will get busted," but he decides "That's my lady, she would never backstab or double-cross me."  William Hart provides the hook here, which he sings some of in falsetto, reminding me of Handsome Boy Modeling School.  Same drumbeat as "The Center of Attraction," cleverly following up since this is Tony's internal monologue responding to Cappadonna's concerns.  Then comes "An Unexpected Call (The Set Up)," in which Logan calls Tony to come to her house and, on his arrival, is ambushed by DeLuca gangsters and killed.  They melt him in a pot of hot vinyl and one of his boys (Inspectah Deck) tells the rest of the family to look for Logan so he can get some answers.

Around the midway point on the album, on "The Rise of the Ghostface Killah," Tony Starks is dead but his spirit is preserved into 12 vinyl records pressed from the vat that the DeLucas lowered him into.  Whenever one of the records is played, shit happens - namely, the Ghostface Killah seeks revenge.  This may be the point of the story where some check out, but it's a great record even if you're not a fan of the comic book/grindhouse/horror aspect.  I'll be honest, the story takes a back seat for much of the rest of the album, with only occasional references to characters or Ghost's new immortal status.  Instead it leaves room to breathe and have fun with its rappers spitting verses about revenge and murder.  Back to "The Rise of..."  With an almost Portishead quality to the music, Ghost recaps the last few tracks and outlines some gruesome murder scenes ("Colombian neckties from a black gambino / Bodies get dumped in the black El Camino" and "Hogtie the capo all up, behead the driver / Left the bitch in the back with no tongue as the survivor").  Tremolo guitar and a turntable sampling ODB's classic "Ghost - face - killahhhhhhhhh" are used as well.

"The Catastrophe (Revenge is Sweet)" keeps that theme going as well, with guest spots by Killa Sin and Masta Killa.  The murder spree continues on..."Murder Spree," which is not to be confused with "Killin' Spree" by Defari.  "Murder Spree" is an all-out posse cut with seven verses and no hook. Mostly eight bars apiece, each emcee is only on for 20 seconds at a time. Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, U-God, Killa Sin and Ghost all rap about ways to kill people, with Ghost and MK each getting two verses.  Deck and U-God get grisly with dismemberment: Deck rocks "Dahmer style, cut up and stuffed in the fridge / And maybe washed up ashore and found under the bridge," and then U-God spits "First things first, I chop your head to your fingertips / Butcher knife your torso, chop up your ligaments / Make sure it's legitimate, conceal all my fingerprints / Chop chop your body up then get rid of it."

"Murder Spree" and "The Sure Shot" both bring an acid-rock feel to them, the instruments hyped and popping.  "The Sure Shot" especially has fast jazz drums with the ride cymbal and snare alternating pure energy.  Ghost spits rhymes faster than he has in years,..for the first 90 seconds.  Then it slows up and gets phat again, Ghostface seems to have hit a turning point - his revenge is complete, catching stray DeLucas and killing them, but what does he do now?  He doesn't know whether or not to kill Logan for her betrayal, run his business or let his partners do it and so on.  The album ends with a title track that features a brief RZA epilogue voiceover, promising that Ghost's story lived on for generations and served as a warning not to double-cross a man like Tony Starks.  It also leaves the door wide open for a sequel, which was released in July 2015.

The Brown Tape Factor:  Just one week following the release of Twelve Reasons to Die, an alternate version of the album was released, called Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape.  It's hard to define it, because the closest description is a remix album but that's being really unfair.  The Brown Tape is more like a musically-alternate version of Twelve Reasons, taking all the final master tracks of vocals and laying them over completely different music, this time by Apollo Brown.  It's like a movie remake more than anything.  Vinyl pops persist throughout the album, but the live soul band feel of Twelve Reasons is replaced - sometimes with more obviously looped and sampled material, other times with darker instruments.  "Rise of the Black Suits" has picked blues guitar while "I Declare War" is built on a loop that sounds like a latter-day track by one of RZA's disciples.  "Blood on the Cobblestones" utilizes a fast jazz piano, and "The Center of Attraction" uses a slow descending piano that's too beautiful to describe; "Murder Spree" sounds like a genuine Wu-beat as well.  Even "The Sure Shot," which was straightforward acid-rock on the first release, is replaced with pure 1970s blaxploitation film funk.  It's a pretty great alternate take on the album and I can't imagine owning one version without the other.  The feeling listening to each is like watching an old film in black and white then watching it in color - it's hard to tell which is better but you'd hate not having both.

Legacy:  Twelve Reasons to Die springboarded Ghostface's current concept album-based career.  Since it was released just two years ago, he's put out a total of three:  Twelve Reasons to Die, 36 Seasons and Twelve Reasons to Die II.  Critics responded well to Twelve Reasons, mostly giving it between 7 and 10.  Tiny Mix Tapes gave it a 4.5/5, raving both about Younge's vintage American soul production and the sheer violent fun of the album.  Considering the equally warm response his follow-up, 36 Seasons, would receive, Ghostface is giving new meaning to the question "How can hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever?"

Recommended Tracks:  It's hard to listen to one piece of this story alone - it's like watching one scene from a movie - so do yourself a favor and just hear it from front to back.

Step Sixty One: Raekwon: The Tonight Show.

Note:  We're quickly approaching the end of the originally-planned Map of Shaolin.  Since making and starting the map - which originally ended with U-God's The Keynote Speaker - six or seven more albums have come out.  In another week or two we'll be introducing an added map to outline the remaining albums' timetable of review.  Thanks for sticking with us!  It's been a crazy year.

Artist:  Raekwon
Album:  The Tonight Show
Producer:  DJ Fresh
Release Date:  March 5, 2013

Review:  Almost two years to the day after releasing Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, Raekwon the Chef comes back with The Tonight Show, a short collaboration album with DJ Fresh.  Clocking in at just 27 minutes (four of which are skits), it's a bit surprising that Rae enlisted so much help from guests here - Mean Doe Green appears on three of the songs; Sunny Valentine and Fashawn also each appear once.  This leaves just three songs where The Chef appears totally dolo, but as long as it's banging, there's no real problem, right?

And the opener, "Culinary School," is really badass.  It's as driven and engaging and mysterious as anything from Cuban Linx 2, specifically reminding me of tracks like "Sonny's Missing" or "New Wu."  A melodic piano line (played identically on a backup bass) dances over a basic kick-kick-snare drum, but as keyboards come in to play along the same piano part and Rae busts F-bombs like shots, something about the song just picks you up and takes you for a ride.  Mean Doe Green growls like U-God and brings it home, ending a near-perfect three minutes.  The flow continues on "Mic Flips," with an equally energetic and engaging beat, while Raekwon takes his time getting to his verse but rapid-fires it once he gets there.  "The resume's the rifle, my uniform's a trifle / Ha ha, I pull my burner out I'm goin' up on Michael / Whiz kid, high profile the model / Rep like the VS the Chef's got his hatchet on every bottle."

"Yin & Yang" slows it down for the first minute before interrupting itself and dropping an old '90s gangster beat.  It and "So Much on Your Body" (definitely a sexy/club track) go by without hooking me as much as the first couple songs.  "So Much" actually sounds like it belongs more on Immobilarity or The Lex Diamond Story than anything else.  They're not shitty tracks, but they don't do much for me personally - no offense Rae!

"Double Dragon" brings it back with an infectious keyboard-and-guitar blues bit and a vocal sample behind Raekwon and Mean Doe Green, who go back and forth with solid verses.  I like Raekwon's "Major unbalanced flavor / Neighbor, promotional navigator, throw tapes you're throwin' vapor."  It's one of his quick rhymes that has that classic Rae style.

"Real Niggaz" is an all-around tight song.  It's hard to pinpoint what sticks out about it but it's just a good listen.  The last proper song is "Holes of Hell," and the beat and rhymes are also really good but it throws me off because - I don't know if it's my CD or the recording - it sounds so piqued it's hard to get past.  I tried it on my surround sound (a Denon 5.1 setup) and on my headphones (Beats Solo HD's) and it's not one or the other.  Damn.

Legacy:  This came out and flew under the radar almost entirely - it's the first album on Map of Shaolin to not even have its own Wikipedia entry.  Not that Wikipedia is a great source for trustworthy info, but since almost everything has a presence on it, it's just bizarre to see something without its own space.  I didn't see any major reviews on it, and to date there are only six customer reviews on Amazon.  All in all, a pretty quiet entry into Rae's discography.

So at the end of the day, The Tonight Show is pretty listenable for the most part but doesn't quite stand up to Rae's legendary albums like the Cuban Linx series or Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang.  Short as it is, I enjoy it more than Immobilarity, but at such a brief runtime it's hard to look at it in the same light as those top-tier records or even his latest, Fly International Luxurious Art.  However, if you're hungry for more Raekwon (as most of us are), this is a good place to get your fix.  The really high-quality tracks just about even out with the less impressive ones, and we end with a good short record that really soars at its greatest heights and just coasts at sea level at its lowest.  Give it a shot, but don't overpay.

Recommended Tracks:  Culinary School, Mic Flips, Double Dragon.

Step Sixty: Czarface.

Artist:  Czarface
Album:  Czarface
Producers:  7L and Spada4
Release Date:  February 19, 2013

Review:  Inspectah Deck, Esoteric and 7L got together a few years ago and decided to create a new project called Czarface, focusing on the influence of comic books and late '90s sounds on their unique brand of hip-hop.  Their second album, Every Hero Needs a Villain, was just released and we did an advance review of it a couple weeks ago.  Spoiler alert: It's awesome.  But now we get to go back and properly look at their first release, the self-titled Czarface with guests ranging from Ghostface Killah and Cappadonna to indie artists like Roc Marciano and Oh No.

Real quick though.  It's pretty easy to tell the difference between all 10 members of the Wu-Tang Clan based on their vocal quirks.  For example, U-God's voice is very bass-driven and bullfroggy (you think anyone else could pull off "Get Mine" from The Keynote Speaker?), ODB sounds urgent and wild etc.  Those aren't complaints either; I love their sounds.  Inspectah Deck always stuck out to me because of the bouncing way he uses vowel sounds in all his verses.  With Czarface, it's a little trickier because he and Esoteric have somewhat-similar vocal tones.  In fact the first time I listened to them I think I was four songs in before I realized they were both rapping.  But again, no complaints.  All it means is, when you listen to Czarface or Every Hero Needs a Villain, you just have to look elsewhere to be able to differentiate between emcees (and give them the respect they're due).

In my experience, it's easier to tell them apart by style than tone, mostly with how many 16th notes they leave open per line.  Generally there are four 16th notes every time you tap your foot.  If you look at the line "Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yam, shimmy yay," each syllable in the first "Shimmy shimmy" is a 16th note.  You tap your foot once on the first "Sh" and a second time on "ya" and there's four even syllables contained in that one count.  "1 Shi-mmy-shi-mmy 2 ya."  So with the duo on Czarface, it's more likely that Deck will leave a few more 16th notes without new syllables, lyrically, than it is Esoteric will do the same.  Esoteric tends to pack his lines more densely and use internal rhyming a bit more often than Deck, where Deck will instead play with the rhythm of the actual words more and rally them up for a strong ending at each line.

Once you've got that sorted out, you can enjoy the album a lot more wisely and casually than having to be glued to a(n admittedly great) site like genius.com.

So this album is so much fun from start to finish, it's hard to know where to start.  It's as lively as Deck has sounded since Uncontrolled Substance, especially with similar music behind him.  "Air 'Em Out" starts it off with a bass synth line and a hype hook - "He don't hear 'em out (oh!) / He just air 'em out (oh!) / He don't hear 'em out / Oh oh-ohhhhhhhh!"  Deck pops off with his trademark street style too, busting lines like "Hands up in the air, my fam up in the square / I'm Dirty at the Grammys crash your glorious affair / Spazzin' on the air, smash 'em with the flair / With the bad South American that's dancing in the chair."  Esoteric makes the first of an endless comic book references (as I highlighted with Every Hero Needs a Villain) here too, with "Put me on some anti-homicidal meds so I don't got a lot of feds / Whip backs and spider-heads, I'm Peter Parker on the ledge."

"Cement 3's" is a little more laid back but still brings plenty of fire, and its hook is a turntable sample of the line "Lyrics get hard quick cement to the ground" from Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya."  Roc Marciano guests here, who you may remember from his work on the Wu-Tang/The Revelations compilations and Think Differently Music.  Great classic Wu beat by 7L here, too, but definitely made unique through the skratch-happy DJ'ing.

"Savagely Attack" really grabs me.  It has a tight beat that sounds like "Sickfit" from Madvillainy and the verses are just as masterfully written and delivered.  Deck hits hard with "Basic, live broadcast from the ER / We are / Talk of the town without the PR / Savagely attack this / Rap master craftsman pack 'em in / Twist it on the floor like a backspin."  I also really dig the symbolism of Esoteric's line "I'm a write-aholic, I drink ink 'til I vomit."  Ghost is inspired by all the energy too, as his opener is an instant classic:  "Look out, attack like a nigga on bath salts / Eat his face off, leave his body on asphalt."

On the back half of the album, "Let It Off" leads with a weird three-chord synth line that could easily have come from Super Metroid.  It takes its time with its skratch hook and ominous, swelling strings and allows Deck and Esoteric two verses each.  If you get to this point in the album and haven't realized it's just all-around great hip-hop from the first to the last, you've got problems.  "Dead Zone" takes the opportunity to cram more great two-bar rhymes down your throat (this time based on horror films) as Esoteric fires off "Like the House of 1,000 Corpses you're bound to get bound and tortured / Down with your crown and fortress, zombies surround the porches" and Deck shoots back "Zombieland, waited to kill 'em, not with the shottie blast / Undead, cut off the head and burn the body fast."

Deck channels his inner U-God on "Poisonous Thoughts" with a few lines that have clear seams in the middle:  "You see me push through, bully at the park / Do it like the crooks do, hoodie after dark."  7L keeps it low-profile here, not letting the music overshadow Esoteric's verse, which is a good thing because he has some crazy rhymes here.  He uses an AA AB AA AB structure in part of it to set up some really involving lyrics.  Check it out.

"I put the 'am' in 'ammunition,' 'cuz I am a hammer spittin'
Superman be on a mission but y'all change in a booth
Yeah my fam-a-lam I'm missin', but I'm handling my business
Keep the planets on collision while maintaining the truth."

"Shoguns," I'll admit, sounds a little herky-jerky or awkward, but it's got a fascinating and dark sound and Vinnie Paz really delivers on his guest spot, helping to smooth over some of the odd choices in flow by INS, Eso and Cappadonna.  But even though it's my least favorite track for lyrics, it's by no means a shit song.  Deck and 7L also really, really bring it for the closer, "Hazmat Rap."  Nothing wrong with Esoteric here, but Deck's entire first verse flows as strongly as he ever has and 7L's beat is as dark as "Careful (Click Click)" from The W or something from Enter the Wu-Tang while still sounding totally unique.  I'm quoting more Inspectah Deck lines here so deal with it.

"This is HazMat rap, scratch that
When this is rockin' see niggaz droppin' like the NASDAQ stats
Black poppin' like an ass that's fat
Trapping that cash, on top of that I'm getting ASCAP stacks."


Legacy:  Once again - overall, Czarface is such a sick record.  Even the songs that aren't my personal favorites have great uniqueness to them and they still bang it out.  "Rock Beast" is highlighted by wavering classic keyboards and a tone and energy as upbeat as The Movement; "Marvel Team-Up" has a crazy smooth shared verse between Deck and Esoteric, thrown back every four or six bars.  "It's Raw" has an almost embarrassingly too cool beat and is peppered with old 1980s pro wrestling samples, but its sampling is not to be outdone by "Word War 4" taking clips from a George Carlin routine about getting off your ass and living your life.  It received around a 7 or 8 out of 10 score from most critics (aside from PopMatters who low-balled it in my opinion and gave it a 6).  This first Czarface record helped revitalize Inspectah Deck, who has always banged it out but had a bit more trouble with The Manifesto than his previous records.  Like Raekwon's Immobilarity or GZA's Beneath the Surface (or even Method Man's Tical 0), it's been looking more and more like The Manifesto was INS's one real hiccup during a legendary career.  His previous three solo records, his two Czarface albums and his work on Wu-Tang group albums and other members' projects ("House of Flying Daggers," anyone?) all stand somewhere between "damned good" and "mind-blowing."  More on Czarface's sophomore record when we catch back up to it on the Map.

Recommended Tracks:  Cement 3's, Savagely Attack, Dead Zone, Hazmat Rap.

Ghostface Killah: Twelve Reasons to Die II - Advance Review.

Artist:  Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge
Album:  Twelve Reasons to Die II
Producer:  Adrian Younge
Release Date:  July 10, 2015

Review:  We'll do a proper entry for this album on Map of Shaolin in a couple more months when we work our way up to it chronologically, but I wanted to give my Wu-Tang fans out there a quick look at the album before it's released this Friday just like we did for Czarface's sophomore release, Every Hero Needs a Villain, a couple weeks ago.  But since Twelve Reasons II is pretty short, this review will keep it the same.

First, this is obviously a sequel to the 2013 release Twelve Reasons to Die.  On that concept album, Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah raps a story about one of his alter egos (the playboy/gangster Tony Starks) being set up by the Da Luca mob in 1960s New York and being killed, with his body being melted down into 12 vinyl records and distributed amongst the Da Lucas.  Somehow (I'm a little fuzzy on that bit) they're reunited and he's reborn as the murderous alter ego Ghostface Killah, seeking revenge on the Da Luca clan for killing Starks.  It's a great album and has a sweet vintage grindhouse film vibe to it (the cover is similar to the cover for the sequel).

So it's no surprise that Twelve Reasons II brings back producer Adrian Younge for another story of retro crime and murder.  This time it's the 1970s and Ghost's long-time partner Raekwon is featured heavily throughout the album as Lester Kane, appearing first on "Return of the Savage" to describe shooting up a restaurant with a Da Luca eating in it.  RZA also returns as our sage narrator to fill in the story gaps not contained in verses: Kane is a power-hungry mafioso vying for control of New York (and seeking revenge) against whichever Da Lucas weren't killed by Ghostface on the first record, and one night after robbing one of the Da Lucas' "social clubs," Kane finds the 12 vinyl records containing the remains of Tony Starks locked in a safe.  They decide to finish the job that GFK started on the second half of the previous Twelve Reasons - taking down the Italian Da Lucas one by one.

Most of the songs are rife with keyboards, vibraphones, flanged/slow surf guitar and live jazz drums, almost all of which are performed by Adrian Younge himself, similar to Ghostface's previous outing, the Badbadnotgood-paired Sour Soul.  It gives a great "smoky jazz nightclub" feel to the record that could find a comfortable home on albums by eclectic a range as Portishead, DOOM and Broken Bells.  Meanwhile Ghost and guests drop very satisfactory rhymes, never sacrificing story nor flow for the other.  For example, in "King of New York," Ghost describes Lester Kane in a respectful way, providing imagery like

"A few million-dollar cribs, Liberace jewel box
Gold Ox' ostrich-leather shoes, Egyptian socks
Tailor-made suits built like a brick house
6'9", son, the god had to duck in his own house."

Oxford shoes were a staple footwear, especially in that era and its criminal scene, but it's even more impressive that Ghost uses that soft O and S sound four times in two lines to keep the poetry flowing. Pushing out box, ox, os(trich) and socks in a couplet that makes sense and flows that well shows that Ghost is still at the top of his game - 10 years after people were pleasantly surprised that he was still at the top of his game on Fishscale.

The same can be said for Raekwon, who slays on "Return of the Savage" and "Blackout" especially.  His revenge kill on "Return of the Savage" ends with a bit that starts a bit odd but sets up the end fantastically.  "The other cocksuckers tried reaching for they handles / But they was slow on the draw so I BLAMmed 'em / Takin' they top off like a convertible drop burgundy Phantom."  His verse on "Blackout" is almost too fast to grab hold of, but it contains classic Rae style with lines like "Caught up in my spell, smell exotic blend from different trees / Black gloves, bullets will fly when the nine squeeze."

And like the previously-mentioned Twelve Reasons and 36 Seasons, it's an engaging story with a cast of characters provided by longtime friends like Rae and RZA as well as first-time collaborators Scarub, Chino XL, Vince Staples and Lyrics Born.  On first listen, some highlights include "Return of the Savage," "Get the Money" (whose music approaches the intricate guitar lines of prog-rock) and "Death's Invitation" (which earns extra points for being ballsy enough to rock in a fast 5/4 time signature rather than rap's almost exclusive 4/4).  The only things this album has going against it are its length and its choice to split the instrumentals up onto a second disc.  Let me explain.

Between Twelve Reasons to Die, Sour Soul and Twelve Reasons to Die II, people are paying like $40 for around an hour and a half worth of music.  I don't mind the expense personally - and it's all great music - but I can see where some listeners would just want more time with each album for their money.  Then with Twelve Reasons II clocking in at 31 minutes, the instrumentals that came with the deluxe edition could've been packed at the end of the CD and still had 10 or 15 minutes to spare on the disc - the same way that 36 Seasons and Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape did.  Maybe it was for the packaging aesthetic, but it seems like an unnecessary manufacturing expense to have the second disc, which of course carries over to a higher ticket price.

At the end of the day, though, Twelve Reasons II is already starting to be a welcome addition to Ghost's oeuvre, especially his latter-day jazz-rock-influenced material that he's been developing since 2012.  It's a great place for him and Inspectah Deck (whose recent Czarface albums have moved him to similar genre-expanding territory) to have arrived at during a time when people are really doubting the future of Wu-Tang and Twelve Reasons II should be a no-brainer when it's out on Friday.