Step Twenty Two: Wu-Tang Clan: Iron Flag.

Artist:  Wu-Tang Clan
Album:  Iron Flag
Release Date:  December 18, 2001
Producers:  RZA (except Mathematics' "Rules," Nick "Fury" Loftin's "One of these Days," True Master's "Y'all Been Warned" and Poke and Tone on "Back in the Game").

Review:  Wu-Tang is one of the best hip-hop groups of all time, so I honestly hate it whenever I have to make any complaints about one of their albums.  Hopefully by this point - the 22nd step on the path across the Map of Shaolin - I've proven that I give credit where it's due and I throw my W's up with the best of them.  However, up to this point (December 2001 on my map), Iron Flag is the weakest group album the Wu had put out.  It still has some real bangers, but there are too many problems to simply ignore.  However, it's such a unique contrast to their previous outings that it deserves to be dissected track by track.

Before even getting to the music, the packaging speaks volumes about the album's troubles.  The album cover might be their best (aside from the special edition 8 Diagrams, released six years later), imitating the famous picture of the U.S. flag raising at Iwo Jima in 1945.  However, once again Ol' Dirty Bastard is missing.  RZA dons a beanie or skullcap bearing his initials, but ODB's appearances on Wu-Tang albums finally decreased all the way to zero - on The W he only appeared on "Conditioner" and on Wu-Tang Forever on just over a quarter of the tracks.  Cappadonna is also missing, but in a different sense of the word.  He posed for the photo between Raekwon and RZA (see that big gap between them?) and was airbrushed out after having a falling out with the group.  Fans never fully accepted him as much as the original nine Wu-Tang members, which upset him, and it was also revealed that his manager Lord Michael (birth name Michael Caruso) was a police informant.  After that trouble, he only ended up on one Iron Flag track and was taken off the cover.  RZA also only produces two-thirds of the tracks here.  I'm not a RZA purist with production duties but for their group albums it's surprising that he'd dip below the 75% mark he hit on Wu-Tang Forever - which, to be fair, was his seventh straight album and to which he contributed 21 of the 28 tracks at the controls.

So before hearing a single track, any listener on his/her way home from the record store has the first impression that Iron Flag is - compared to previous albums - missing ODB, Cappadonna and a higher rate of RZA-produced songs.  What's worse is Loud Music's liner notes advertisement, promising a "new album" from Raekwon in early 2002 - which became The Lex Diamond Story, dropping in late 2003.  Other albums have done the same - promising Method Man's Crystal Meth and GZA's Liquid Swords 2, both of which have yet to be released - but it sticks out more here due to Iron Flag's unstable staff (no pun intended).

Fortunately it starts off with a bang, between "In the Hood" and "Rules."  The former is highlighted with a fiery verse by Inspectah Deck and a chorus by Suga Bang Bang (who formerly appeared on the Ghost Dog soundtrack) over lively horns, uptempo drums and sound clips of sirens and gunshots.  Ghostface kicks off "Rules" with a verse about 9/11 and is followed by Masta Killa and Streetlife, who both offer tight verses.  The music is hype without being as frantic as "In the Hood," which is perfect for Method Man's last verse.  It reminds me of the more recent Wu-Tang sound - cleaner and less chunky than their classic albums but not without the chopped '70s horns we know and love.

Then there's "Chrome Wheels."  A sung hook about smoking pot and "bangin' that shit retarded" leads off before RZA raps a verse as his alter-ego Bobby Digital (which is likely why the production sounds so similar to Bobby Digital in Stereo on this track).  12 O'Clock and Prodigal Sunn appear, and they're fine but why are we hearing them before a word from GZA or U-God?  Flava Flav appears on "Soul Power (Black Jungle)" which some have criticized as a stand-in for ODB's usual wackiness.  It also features the power duo of Ghost and Rae, but Masta Killa and U-God shine brightest with sharp couplets illuminating their verses.  Masta Killa rhymes "I need a beat to expand, the mind guide the hand" and "Pen stroke excellent quotes of literature / Nights over Egypt, black as Arabia"; U-God recalls decades-past black pop culture with "Line Cadillacs to blocks, Richard Pryor Redd Foxx / Jukebox records, flatfooted cops" and "Dr. J before Jordan, Al Green on the organ / When Rerun did the dance, the whole world saw him."  Their two verses aside, "Chrome Wheels" and "Soul Power" pulled me out of the experience for nine minutes before bouncing back.

"Uzi (Pinky Ring)" calls back to The W's style with the blaxploitation funk horns and thicker sound.  It's got a hell of a loop with verses by all eight present Wu members, in the same strategy as "Protect Ya Neck," "Triumph" and "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)" before it - including GZA's first appearance on Iron Flag, over 1/4 through the album.  It's followed by "One of these Days," most notable for Raekwon's classic-style gangster/kung-fu lyrics: "Take these niggas and throw 'em in lakes, it's business / Rake these niggas on the mic, display your ninjas."

Then there's another quick rut.  "Y'all Been Warned" has a great post-Forever beat by True Master but no real standout verses by the otherwise spectacular emcees featured (INS, RZA, Rae and Meth); "Babies" aims for an endearing and dramatic chorus by Madame D (who also sung the hook for "Chrome Wheels") but somehow misses the mark.  A phenomenal RZA beat holds it together, and the real-life stories by Ghostface and Raekwon sound genuine and sorrowful, but when put together it doesn't hit the high-water marks of other tracks here or a year prior (on The W).  Essentially, Madame D's choruses - and she's a great singer, no doubt - don't hit me as hard as Tekitha on "Impossible" or Blue Raspberry on "Rainy Dayz."

But then GZA brings it back with his best verse yet on "Radioactive (Four Assassins)."  He opens with Liquid Swords-quality lyrics:

"Slept on this hazardous enterprise
Hit from the back from a long-range attack in disguise
Weeks of captivity became months
Those who were holdin' it down they hold a pump
Do we delay the conflict and prolong the suffer?
Got a mass of starvin' niggas wanna eat supper
Unfair corruptions lead to abductions
Creatin' wider circles of destructions."

Trackmasters bring a compelling beat and killer guest spot by the legendary Ron Isley to "Back in the Game," but there's little else on which to hang your hat.  The title track "Iron Flag" has awesome music, mixing old and new Wu sounds; and very solid verses by Raekwon, Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck - it may be Rae and MK's best verses so far.  Then it crossfades into a hidden track, "The Glock," which effectively undoes all the good "Iron Flag" did.  At the end of every bar in the song is a slowed-down loop of the line "Good thing we brought the Glock!" that alternates with every line or two.  Its closest cousin is "Careful (Click, Click)" on The W, but most of the dangerous antihero feelings from "Careful" are gone here, making way for a painful hook: "Never leave home without it / Good thing we brought the Glock! / Y'all niggas ain't 'bout it 'bout it / Good thing we brought the Glock!"  It's effectively the least impressed I've been with a Wu song.  Where are the amazing spiritual, philosophical and pop culture references?  They all got traded in for lines like "20 drunk crabs try to push the back door / Good thing we brought the Glock / Five box cutters drawn, they was ready for war / Good thing we brought the Glock."

Inspectah Deck and GZA close with decent verses and a ridiculously cool hook on "Dashing (Reasons)," but by the time the disc stops spinning, the album is as close to wearing out its welcome as Wu-Tang has been so far.  It leaves its audience with an anticlimax, and they'd have to wait six full years before the Wu returned with 2007's 8 Diagrams.

As far as emcee presence goes, the Clan is tallied up as follows, with big ups to Raekwon for providing ten verses on his own throughout 12 tracks.

RZA:  Production on eight songs, five verses.
Raekwon:  10 verses and a shared verse with Masta Killa.
Inspectah Deck:  Eight verses.
Masta Killa:  Seven verses and a shared verse with Raekwon.
Ghostface Killah:  Six verses.
Method Man:  Five verses, two hooks.
GZA:  Five verses.
U-God:  Four verses, two hooks.
Cappadonna:  One bridge ("The Glock").
ODB:  MIA.

Legacy:  Iron Flag saw Wu-Tang standing on shaky legs, coming in just a year after The W and completely lacking Ol' Dirty - a sore disappointment for those hoping for his comeback after only appearing on one song on The W.  Cappadonna is also virtually absent, and although he's not my favorite Wu emcee he'd earned a place on Ironman, Wu-Tang Forever and The W so it's odd not hearing him here.  RZA also only produces two-thirds of the album, which is strange because considering his near-impeccable track record, three of my four least favorite songs on Iron Flag had him in the producer's booth.  Not knocking RZA - he's one of the world's best music producers - but a couple of his tracks here weren't for me.  Despite those handicaps, Iron Flag holds its own as best it can for 55 minutes and brings some real winners to the mix.

From the standpoint of the band regrouping between solo records, Iron Flag is also a damn memorable place.  Between it and 8 Diagrams would come Masta Killa's debut solo album, Method Man's widely-panned Tical 0: The Prequel, a whopping four releases by Ghostface Killah, the departure and return of U-God to/from the Wu and the biggest tragedy the group has faced: the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard at the age of 35, marking The W as the last group album on which he appeared before his passing.

Recommended Tracks:  Uzi (Pinky Ring), Radioactive (Four Assassins).

Step Twenty One: Ghostface Killah: Bulletproof Wallets.

Artist:  Ghostface Killah
Album:  Bulletproof Wallets
Release Date:  November 13, 2001
Producers:  RZA ("Maxine," "Flowers," "Walking through the Darkness," "Jealousy"), The Alchemist (as Al Chemist) ("The Forest," "The Juks," "Street Chemistry"), Mathematics ("Theodore," "Strawberry"), et al.

Review:  Ghostface's third album is Bulletproof Wallets.  There's so much to say about it I'm going to skip the preamble and get down to business.

For starters, the personnel is very intriguing.  This is the first album to feature Ghostface's spin-off group The Theodore Unit (which includes Ghostface, Trife, Twiz, Shawn Wigs, Solomon Childs and Cappadonna).  The Theodore Unit is similar to Raekwon's American Cream Team, being led by one Wu general and featuring several hand-picked talents - Twiz was even in both groups.  On Bulletproof Wallets, Trife and Twiz appear, though more members of the group followed on subsequent Ghost records - keep them in mind, as Ghost's 2006 release More Fish includes them on the majority of tracks.  Producer mainstays RZA and Mathematics provide close to half the album together, and this is also the first appearance in the Wu catalog of The Alchemist (here credited as Al Chemist), who would go on to produce tracks on Raekwon's Cuban Linx 2 and Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang as well as become Eminem's official DJ five years later.  Speaking of Raekwon, The Chef appears on four tracks ("Maxine," "Flowers," "Never Be the Same Again" and "The Hilton").  Other Wu appearances include Method Man, an interlude/hook by RZA and GZA ("Strawberry") and Wu affiliates Killa Sin, Prodigal Sunn and Tekitha.

Avid fans may recognize the track name "Walking through the Darkness" from RZA's Ghost Dog soundtrack.  On that release, it was performed solo by Tekitha, singing wonderfully over Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" instrumental.  Here, Ghost has two verses, differentiating it from the original.  This is also one of the most prominent early example of Ghost performing amid sung R&B hooks (on his own records that is), on tracks like "Never Be the Same Again" and "Ghost Showers."  This style came to fruition most prominently on Ghost's 2009 album Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, which features R&B vocals on almost every track.

So how does the album fare?  RZA kicks it off right with phat beats on "Maxine" and "Flowers" and live verses by Ghost, Rae, Method Man and Superb.  I was never an R&B fan but I appreciate Carl Thomas's hook on "Never Be the Same Again," The sped-up sample of Blood Sweat & Tears' "40,000 Headsmen" intro on "Theodore" is fantastic, making for a unique music box-led beat by Mathematics that features the best lyrics so far on the record.  Ghost runs out of the gate with

"Stark edition rock Christians
The crystallized rock got the big jewelry dealers on a mission
With a slick taste of lace, I done smacked New York City
The 450 went poppin' when he tried to dip me
Balled out in bingo halls, reported skied out in jury duty
Judge Judy, big groupie bitch blew me, beigin' rush Kufi
Blast the last uzi, ship me to Africa right?  I share rubies."

Meanwhile, Trife makes a case for himself on the same song: "Whatever y'all put up I double that / Stapleton is where I hustle at, 2-12 is where I bubble at / Yeah I'm talkin' moneywise, you funny guys / I'm quick to yolk you up like an egg cooked sunny-side."

Mathematics kills it again on "Strawberry," which also showcases the only thing about Ghost I'm not crazy about: he's got so many explicit verses about sex that they tend to stand out even among his most brilliant albums.  I'm no stranger to sex in lyrics, stories and movies, but between the squishing sound effects and rhymes about ejaculation, sometimes it seems like too much.

Fortunately the second half of the album stays mostly solid throughout.  Ghost's lyrics fare better on the surreal "The Forest" than "Strawberry."  It's themed around cartoon characters in adult situations and based on a lovely sample by The Imaginations.  "The Juks" is an engaging track about gambling that never wears out its welcome.  As mentioned earlier, "Walking through the Darkness" is a winner, just like the following proper track "The Hilton" - although the latter is thrown off pace a bit since it's bookended by two 60-second musical interludes.  "Interlude" itself gets your blood pumping just as it cuts out, although it does a good job of foreshadowing the equal parts modern and retro sound that continued on Fishscale.  The R&B-centered "Love Session" feels a bit long before the closer "Street Chemistry," but on the whole it's a satisfying album.

Legacy:  At just 46 minutes, with five of its 16 tracks clocking in under two minutes each, Bulletproof Wallets is a concise and listenable album that mixes Ghost's classic sound (which evokes RZA's most syrupy funk beats) with his first project as a group leader (of the Theodore Unit). Due to sample clearance issues, several tracks failed to appear on the album, which is likely the chief cause for Wallets' brevity.  This is also Ghost's last album for Epic, signing next to Def Jam, and rumors (and Wikipedia) have it that Ghost's reasoning for leaving Epic is tied to their failure to assist him in obtaining rights to the samples he used on the missing tracks.  Besides being a bit less airtight than Supreme Clientele and Ironman, Bulletproof Wallets is proof that Ghost can make a hat trick for great albums, rendering him as reliable a talent as Inspectah Deck or Raekwon's more recent career.

Recommended Tracks:  Maxine, Theodore, The Forest.

Step Twenty: RZA: Digital Bullet.

Artist:  RZA
Album:  Digital Bullet
Release Date:  August 18, 2001
Producer:  RZA (except "Domestic Violence Pt. 2" prod. by Tony Touch, "La Rhumba" prod. by True Master).

Review:  Bobby Digital in Stereo received mixed reviews when it was released in November of 1998, but RZA bounced back immediately on lyrics and production on the Ghost Dog soundtrack and Wu-Tang's The W.  So when Digital Bullet surfaced in 2001 as another "RZA as Bobby Digital" album, it's easy to understand either way whether a fan would be on-board or hesitant to embrace it.  Would it be tighter than Bobby Digital in Stereo?  Could it measure up to the high bars set by Ghost Dog and The W?  As it turns out, it lands somewhere in between.  For its typical Bobby Digital lyrical problems, it still fares better than Bobby Digital in Stereo with far better beats and solid guest spots.

Digital Bullet opens with "Show U Love," whose only real problem is the number of times its hook repeats.  "We come to show you love, son, we come to show you / Whether you my nigga, my bitch or I don't know you."  Luckily the verse lyrics make up for it.  "A room full of eyes, naked demons in disguise / As naked women, walkin' sour lemon airy head / High-pitch bird fly canary bodies vary / Wisdom is secondary, at most necessary."  RZA brings the heat with guests Method Man, Masta Killa and Streetlife on "Glocko Pop," which may be the best realization and balance of Bobby Digital's id-driven egoism and key/synth-based beats and Wu-Tang's trademark rhyme skills and lyrical swordsmanship.  It's like his alter-ego brought his own take on Wu's Ghost Dog track "Fast Shadow."  Method Man sets his verse off lovely with "Yo who wanna play the hero?  Your chances are slim / Less than zero, Shaolin laboratory friend."  Masta Killa follows suit:  "The marvelous bone-crushin' assassin / Appears to be blind in glasses / Daredevil bang head with shovel / Iron skin, Tony Starks, liquid metal."  MK's verse on "Brooklyn Babies" doesn't flow as mercurial as he does here.

"Must Be Bobby" and "Brooklyn Babies" have great music and adequate vocals.  Surprising no one, GZA slays on "Do U" with lyrics like "You know those jams in the park produced the spark / Made me feel words how I read books in the dark" and "I walked through the borough challenging the best that stood / Torch metal mics, they conduct better than wood."

At the halfway mark on the album, True Master's South American-steeped "La Rhumba" may have the most infectious beat on the album, evoking the pleasure-seeking Bobby Digital to some fun lyrics.  "On the dance floor, yo, the way you glide / Make a club of thugs do the Electric Slide."  Method Man provides a quick verse, but like Masta Killa, he did better on "Glocko Pop."  As is the usual problem with this album, "Shady" has a great beat but the lyrics don't match up, telling the story of Bobby Digital ditching a girl after finding out that she's bisexual - wait, what?

"Bong Bong" and "Throw your Flag Up" have killer beats as well - the former utilizing what sounds like a shamisen or seung.

It's right on "Throw Your Flag Up" that the album decides to finish damn strong for its final five tracks.  It offers an Ironman-esque slow soul tune with brass and grimy drums on a loop.  RZA also returns to a classic lyrical style here, referencing Rollie Fingers (Inspectah Deck's Cuban Linx nickname) and ending with "Up in the 36 cell block I shadowbox / ship on weed grass and build up like a male ox."

"Be A Man" brings back more funk sax and RZA's best lines so far.  For example...

"Peoples' eyes closed like envelopes by faux penmanship
With unpaid doctor bills, framed, got shot and killed
Cops poppin' pills, three pair cotton, steel closet, cabinet of no frills
More bills, sister got evicted from Park Hill"

and

"$50 ticket, about to strike and picket
And shout at the city hall 'Motherfuck the wicked
And greedy,' give to the needy
Down on my luck, about to grab a ouija
Board, that's when Bobby Digi seen me
Said 'Yo son, don't stress over no one
Learn the slogan:
Knowledge is half the battle, that's one to grow on
And don't be counterfeit
It's a bad situation being a man, but we got to handle it.'"

Junior Reid, who brought his ragga vocals on "One Blood Under W" and "Jah World" on The W, returns for "Righteous Way" and sings truly beautiful lyrics for the first half ot the track before RZA's verse.  Tekitha backs RZA on "Build Strong," which seems to be the part of the story in which RZA wrestles his Bobby Digital alter-ego and wins, closing with "Sickness," which is much more in tune with RZA's Wu slang and street lamentations.

Overall it's a jarring album at the first couple listens:  It starts and finishes strong, with a couple less stellar tracks before its halfway point and a few after.  RZA slips in and out of Bobby Digital's mentality on the lyrics and the beats.  Sometimes it seems like he wants to live both identities at once and in a couple places he seems to let the reins go entirely (eg "Black Widow Pt. 2").  Anyone who heard Bobby Digital in Stereo and is willing to grant Digital Bullet as much patience will be greatly rewarded, as it's ultimately the better of the two albums - if not quite as strong as when RZA just plays The RZA.

Legacy:  Digital Bullet is about the last the world saw of RZA's comic book alter ego, with rumors and test footage of a Bobby Digital movie popping up here and there over the last decade.  If "Build Strong" is any indication, RZA managed to put Bobby to sleep.  It was received more favorably than its predecessor and holds an odd place in RZA's production career, between the excellent Wu-Tang release The W and their following album, Iron Flag, which earned the ire of much of the public.  It's also one of the earliest points of reference for the tightly-spun latter-day RZA sound that permeated the Afro Samurai soundtracks.  If this is Bobby Digital's last appearance, RZA sent him off with a bang.

Recommended Tracks:  Glocko Pop, La Rhumba, Be A Man, Righteous Way.

Step Nineteen: Wu-Tang Clan: The W.

Artist:  Wu-Tang Clan
Album:  The W
Release Date:  November 21, 2000
Producer:  RZA (except "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" and "Clap" prod. by Mathematics)

Review:  For anyone who found 1997's Wu-Tang Forever too lengthy or bloated, their third full-length release, The W, tightens things up considerably.  It clocks in at under an hour, bonus track included.  It also features guest spots from some legendary artists, not the least of whom are Isaac Hayes and Nas.

With or without the cover art, I find that this is Wu-Tang's darkest - and maybe even most "gangsta rap" - sounding album.  "Careful (Click, Click)" has a grimey beat and echoing wood block, group shout-outs saying "Fuck the police," and a hook that repeatedly references gunfire and box cutters (implying that they're used for violence). "Something in the street went BANG BANG / Making it hard for you to do ya thang thang," says Capadonna, followed by Ghostface's "Something in the hall went click click / The box cutter went click click."  The unsettling "Let My Niggas Live," (featuring a verse by Nas that smartly references Marcus Garvey) has a Raekwon hook which mentions "making major moves," "getting caught in the caper" and advising others to "handle your bid and kill no kids."  It's followed immediately by the Ghostface/RZA track "I Can't Go to Sleep" (with vocals by Isaac Hayes) that centers around children and civil rights leaders being murdered.

The other interesting thing about this record is the addition of several separate beats/verses after a song seems to end.  "Conditioner," the only track which features Ol' Dirty Bastard or Snoop Dogg, stops around the four-minute mark and starts a new beat with a freestyle by GZA and a hook by Inspectah Deck.  "I Can't Go to Sleep" starts about 30 seconds before the end of "Let My Niggas Live" - the track changes over with the proper start of Ghostface's verse.  "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" also winds down around four minutes and picks up with a new beat, a hook and the first couple lines of a verse before Raekwon says to turn it down and the following track starts.  Even "Clap," the secret song at the end, is only separated by the closing track "Jah World" by a couple seconds.

It should come as no surprise that this album sounds great from start to finish.  "Chamber Music" starts off with some fast ride cymbals and simple piano notes - and a blistering opening verse by Raekwon.  Slicker than snot he spits out "Peep the jump-off, ain't nothin' sweet, got dumped off / Frontin' like you won't get deaded and bumped off / Drastic son, master guns that'll run up in plastic ones / And then go crash in the slums."  Despite his recent Immobilarity being his least impressive release to date, The Chef is back and proves it all over this album - even as the first to be heard on it.  It's a good idea on RZA's part to feature every member of Wu-Tang Clan, including Cappadonna but excluding Ol' Dirty Bastard, on the first two tracks.  Unlike Forever, The W guarantees most listeners will hear their favorite emcee inside the first nine minutes of the album.  Raekwon, GZA, Method Man and Masta Killa take "Chamber Music" and RZA, Cappadonna, U-God, Ghostface and Inspectah Deck feature on "Careful (Click, Click)."

"Hollow Bones" continues the sound I described recently that became a real trend with the Wu.  It takes their old soul-inspired sound and tunes up an instrument or two - in this case, the hook.  Speaking of good ideas, "Redbull" features Redman and, likely due to the platinum success of Method and Red's Blackout!, he's followed immediately by Method Man.

Junior Reid provides lovely rasta vocals on "One Blood Under W," which is also Masta Killa's first solo track on a group album.  That may sound like a narrow focus (he already had solo tracks on the Ghost Dog soundtrack and the Shaolin Style soundtrack), but to me it's an important track on the album.  Here's why.  Method Man had the only solo track on Enter the Wu-Tang, which featured just one Masta Killa verse in its entirety.  On Forever, ODB, RZA, Inspectah Deck and U-God all had their own solo tracks.  In the seven years between Enter the Wu-Tang and The W, Masta Killa came into his own on close to a dozen tracks and is here featured with his own song.  Despite at this point being the only Wu-Tang general without a solo album released, this is the biggest sign that he's grown as an artist to the point of getting the spotlight on a track like the others before him.  I also think he's fascinating, since so little is known about him; and very underrated, since Method Man, Ghost and RZA seem to be the most popular surviving members of the group; so I keep a close eye on Masta Killa's work.  And his second verse really slays.  "Don't ask this is genuine draft / Blueprint ultimate legit sting international, stone love classical / Coming back to attack in black fatigue / Wu-Tang and Junior Reid."

ODB makes his only appearance of the album (due to a stint in prison) on "Conditioner" with a weird verse about vaginas, bedwetting and farts; he also provides the awkward chorus "MC conditioner, you could never say this boy's a amateur" which repeats a dozen times.  It's the most off-beat hook since the beginning, when Method Man says "Chamber music, fuckin' the party uppin'" on "Chamber Music."

The lead single "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off)" features every Wu general (minus ODB) plus Cappadonna.  There are fantastic lyrics throughout, from Inspectah Deck's intro ("Dance with the mantis, note the slim chances / Chant this anthem, swing like Pete Sampras") to GZA's closer ("Run on the track like Jesse Owens / Broke the record flowin' without any knowin' that my word play run the 400-meter relay / It's on once I grab the baton from the DJ").  The beat is uptempo and really keeps the Wu on their toes:  Method Man brings some killer similes ("Bust shots at Big Ben like we got time to kill") and RZA's quick verse finishes each line with a shout-out to his alter ego Bobby Digital ("Y'all might just catch me in the park playin' chess, studyin' math, signing 'seven' and a sun" "BOBBY!").

"I Can't Go to Sleep" and "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" both have incredible music in their own rights - the first is a slow, orchestrated '70s-style soul melody and the latter is an upbeat hip-hop beat with urgent keyboards and popping drums.  "Gravel Pit" displays the most common complaint about RZA's music in the last 15 years - an ill-fitting, sung chorus peppered throughout the song.  Wu-Tang just released their brand-new single "Ron O'Neal," 14 years later, and it's still the same problem: admirable idea, but just doesn't fit.

As always, let's take a look at presence on the album.  In light of the recently-resolved Raekwon/RZA dispute and the personnel on the upcoming album A Better Tomorrow (with RZA ranking which Wu members have brought the most verses or the least), it's worth seeing who carries each album the most.

Ghostface Killah dominates with seven verses, a couple hooks and backing vocals.
Method Man does six verses and a hook as well.
Masta Killa has six verses.
Raekwon spits five verses, two hooks and extra vocals.
Inspectah Deck rhymes five verses and a hook.
RZA brings four verses and an intro and produces 12 of the album's 14 tracks.
GZA has three verses and a freestyle.
U-God offers three verses, a hook and extra vocals.
Cappadonna, the quasi-official 10th Wu-general, has two verses.
Ol' Dirty Bastard performs one verse and a hook.

Legacy:  The W was highly rated by most critics.  The music sees RZA and Mathematics taking plenty of risks that mostly pay off, the lyrics are a return to form for everyone (including members like Raekwon whose previous solo outings weren't as well-received) and it gels as a record overall.  It features great guest spots too.  It's a great example of how prolific Ghostface Killah can be: he has seven verses on this album, released his sophomore album Supreme Clientele earlier that year and put out his third solo album (Bulletproof Wallets) less than a year later.  On the other hand, ODB's absence here is just one sign of the legal troubles that would plague him the rest of his life.  The other minor hiccups are that it's often remembered for its Flintstones-esque video for "Gravel Pit," which is clearly a misstep; and there is the aforementioned sung hook that doesn't fill the shoes of choruses like "Can it Be All So Simple."  However, The W is still a great listen, from the winning music on "Do You Really (Thang Thang)" to the tight lyrics throughout (especially Raekwon on "Chamber Music," Masta Killa on "One Blood Under W" and the whole clan on "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off)").

Recommended Tracks:  One Blood Under W, Protect Ya Neck (The Jump-Off), Do You Really (Thang Thang).

Next Week:  Can RZA improve on Bobby Digital in Stereo with his second Bobby solo album Digital Bullet?  Come back next Wu Wednesday and find out!

Step Eighteen: Ghostface Killah: Supreme Clientele

Artist:  Ghostface Killah
Title:  Supreme Clientele
Release Date:  January 25, 2000
Producers:  RZA, Mathematics, Inspectah Deck, et al.

Review:  While most Wu fanatics were probably still absorbing the eight Wu-family albums released in 1999 - including two on the same day - Ghostface dropped one more at the beginning of the following year.  Supreme Clientele was his sophomore release, and it's so near perfect that some have said it saved Wu-Tang after the lukewarm receptions to some of 1999's releases, like Immobilarity and Bobby Digital in Stereo.  Along with Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah managed to make lightning strike twice for his first two albums - more so than any other members of the Wu.

Supreme Clientele kicks off with "Nutmeg," a classic Wu-sounding track produced by Black Moes-Art with a guest verse by RZA.  The old-school treble-stinging strings, bass-free bass and Ghost's slang-happy tight lyrics ("Lightnin' rod fever heaters, knock-kneed her Sheeba for hiva / Diva got rocked for the receiver bleeder") make the album kick off like an instant classic.  But the real lyrical star on the album's first half is "One."  On "One," most of Ghostface's second verse sticks to the same rhyme, which is amazing.  This is the first time in four months of Map of Shaolin that I've felt compelled to link to the full lyrical transcript of a song.  Read along right here for the full second verse (and the much-needed slang translations), but here are a few lines to pique your interest:

"Crash through break the glass, Tony with the goalie mask
That's the pass, heavy ice Roley laying on the dash
Love the grass, cauliflower hurtin' when I dumped the trash
Sour mash served in every glass up at the Wally bash."

Interestingly enough, "Saturday Nite" offers an extension of the typical Wu sound - further exaggerating the artificial strings and making subtle changes to the usual piano and drum-machine instrumentation - that I've found represents the 21st-century Wu pretty well.  The pitch-raised "Got to Have It" on Method Man's 4:21 The Day After and many of the songs on 2005's Think Differently: Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture are subsequent examples, as are Wu-Tang's "Hollow Bones" and Masta Killa's "E.N.Y. House."  It's a subtle but definite shift from the deep and grimy beats RZA provided for Tical to a different but compelling sound from dozens of other producers.

RZA does produce "The Grain," "Buck 50" and "Child's Play" on this record, but the consistency of the album's production overall is one of Supreme's many, many high points.  Whether on Mathematics's infectious "Mighty Healthy" or "Ghost Deini" by The Blaquesmiths (who produced Inspectah Deck's "Show n Prove"), it's just an incredibly listenable album, musically.  However, it's right here that I also have to level my two incredibly minor complaints about Supreme Clientele.  For starters, despite the many producers I've already mentioned (leaving half out), the album credits contradict the shit out of themselves.  On the back of the case, text reads "All songs arranged by The RZA & Ghostface Killah," and credit for most of the tracks is given to individual producers: Juju of the Beatnuts on "One," Inspectah Deck on "Stay True," etc.  However, in the ending liner notes, one line states "Album produced and arranged by The RZA & Ghostface Killah."  So who really made which music?  A nearly-reliable Wikipedia page for Supreme Clientele splits the blame for this confusion between 1) the flood at RZA's studio that claimed the beats for Deck's Uncontrolled Substance and 2) an ambiguous statement about RZA "needle-and-threading" the album together.  Clarity would go a long way here, as some tracks (including the awesome turntable-based "Stroke of Death") have no in-book credits whatsoever.  "Buck 50" even credits Masta Killa as a guest and I'm 99% sure it's a typo.  It's a minor beef, but I wish it were just a bit more clearly laid-out.

The other beef I have - which is so common a complaint of mine with hip-hop that it barely warrants repeating - is the amount of skits.  Between "Woodrow the Base Head," "Who Would You Fuck" and the two versions of "Iron's Theme" (which only needs one appearance), there's close to eight minutes that could be shaved off to make Supreme Clientele airtight.

Anyway.  The guest spots here are all top notch as well, feeling more like a classic Wu album than anything since 1996's Ironman.  After Ghost's absence from Raekwon's Immobilarity, The Chef guests on "Apollo Kids" and "Wu Banga 101."  It's a huge relief to hear the two gelling so well after their less memorable track "The MGM" three years prior on Wu-Tang Forever - their last collaboration before here.  Out of context, "Apollo Kids" could do just as well on Ironman or Cuban Linx, further testimony to its classic sound.  "Wu Banga 101" lives up to its name as well, with a mysterious Mathematics beat and terrific verses by half the Wu: Ghost, GZA, Masta Killa, Raekwon and Cappadonna.  Method Man, Cappadonna and Redman share the mic with Ghost on "Buck 50," RZA has verses on "Nutmeg," "Stroke of Death" (uncredited) and "The Grain," and 60-Second Assassin appears on "Stay True."  RZA even borrows some lyrics from ODB's "Don't U Know" and fits them into "The Grain" very well.  U-God appears on "Cherchez La Ghost" (uncredited) and Inspectah Deck lends Ghostface the music from his track "Elevation," so Ol 'Dirty Bastard is the only Wu general who doesn't appear on the album in some form.

Finally, Superb (aka Lord Superb) is featured on "Ghost Deini" and "We Made It."  There's nothing wrong with his verses, but ultimately he'll be remembered for his subsequent claims that he ghost-wrote Supreme Clientele in its entirety and had a falling out with Wu-Tang, leading to his release of an album called Superb Clientele.  This is pretty ironic, because Superb and Polite were both members of Raekwon's American Cream Team (as mentioned last week) and they released a song called "Small Change (Who the Fuck is 50 Cent)," which is as much a diss as Raekwon's spoken track "Clyde Smith" here on Supreme Clientele.  

Legacy:  Ghostface Killah's sophomore release is one of the strongest Wu-Tang solo releases since his debut Ironman in 1996 until at least Inspectah Deck's The Movement in 2003 or Masta Killa's 2004 debut No Said Date.  Some skeptics even say it's the best Wu release until Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. 2 nearly a decade later.  Out of the 10 Ghostface albums to date, it's inevitably in the top three for most fans.

Recommended Tracks:  One, Mighty Healthy, Wu Banga 101.

Step Seventeen: Raekwon: Immobilarity.

Artist:  Raekwon
Album:  Immobilarity
Release Date:  Nov. 16, 1999
Producer:  Various

Review:  Immobilarity, the sophomore effort by Raekwon the Chef, has enormous shoes to try to fill.  Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, let alone one of the all-time best debut releases.  Vaulting Cuban Linx's high bar is essentially an impossible task - although 2009's Cuban Linx Pt. 2 comes close - so for Immobilarity let's just get that out of the way.  Does it live up to Cuban Linx?  No.  For the most part, it's the lowest-rated Raekwon album to date, but at the very least it's a great reference point for the Chef's career following the end of RZA's 1992-1997 five-year plan for the Wu and that this album anticipates some ideas that worked better on future releases.

The personnel says it all.  A quick look at the credits reveals that the only Wu guest stars are Method Man on "Fuck Them" and Masta Killa on "The Table."  This is a massive departure from Rae's previous release, which featured every Wu member besides Ol' Dirty Bastard at least once and Ghostface Killah on nearly all its tracks.  Likewise, Raekwon appeared on several tracks from Ghostface's 1996 debut Ironman, and the two have a track to themselves on Wu-Tang Forever so it's a huge surprise that Immobilarity has zero involvement from Ghost.  However, in hindsight, it makes some sense.  Set up for success from the popularity of Wu-Tang's 1993-1997 CD's, we've already seen what happens when each member of the Wu uses his brethren less:  Method Man's Tical 2000 featured Streetlife more than any Wu member; the only Wu member on ODB's Nigga Please is RZA on production for three tracks.  Even U-God's Golden Arms Redemption only features other Wu generals on two of its 15 tracks.

Instead, Raekwon sought to perform most tracks by himself and to bring some talent of his own - American Cream Team - into the spotlight.  American Cream Team included Chip Banks, Rhyme Recka, Polite, Triflyn, Twiz and Lord Superb.  Most notably, Triflyn produced several tracks on Immobilarity, Polite was in Raekwon's second formed group Ice Water Inc., Twiz later joined Ghostface's Theodore Unit (featured heavily on Ghost's More Fish years later) and Lord Superb - who had shared the track "The Man" with Masta Killa on the Ghost Dog soundtrack - later had a falling out with the Wu, declaring publicly that he gave Ghostface Killah his style and wrote a considerable amount of Supreme Clientele.  Here, ACT appears on two tracks: "Power" and "Raw."

On to the album itself.  Raekwon's lyrics are always on point, so it goes without saying that this is an album full of lyrics that, at their worst, could only be rated a B+.  It also leads with some promising songs - "Yae Yo" is a solid opener and "Casablanca" reminds me of some of the more urgent Raekwon solo tracks on Cuban Linx 2.  The piano on "Real Life" sounds sincere and dramatic, bordering on eerie in the sense of the scores for the Silent Hill games.  "Live from NY," "Jury" and "The Table" are the other three standouts to me, for their combination of engaging music with the Chef spitting high-quality rhymes.  It's no surprise that "Casablanca," "Jury," "Live from NY" and "The Table" are all brought in by the same producers - The Infinite Arkatechz.

Sadly, by the time I get to the 3/4 mark on the album ("Sneakers"), it feels like it's worn out its welcome.  It took me several listens to figure out what doesn't work for me here, and the biggest problem is the production.  Again, I'm not in the "RZA or Bust" camp - I love the music on Tical 2000 and Golden Arms Redemption, neither of which have more than one or two RZA tracks.  With Immobilarity, the majority of the album seems to stem from one drum machine-and-synth combo with little variance in the beats or the mixing.  There are enough "kick kick snare, kick kick snare" beats here to choke a pop-rock band.  Even that sincere piano on "Real Life" is emulated effectively on "Live from NY" and "Jury," in a two-note progression on "My Favorite Dred," and to less memorable favor on both "Sneakers" and "Fuck Them."  By the time the album takes an oddly-placed turn for the old-school on "Raw," "Pop Shit" and "Heart to Heart," I never feel like I've got much to go on.

There are also some near-misses.  Method Man's verse on "Fuck Them" is great, but his hook - despite the message I love about encouraging kids to stop idolizing gangsters - is awkwardly paced.  Raekwon's beautiful and sincere "All I Got is You Pt. II" is a genuine look at the Chef's childhood in the projects, remembering his mother keeping their family together despite some of its members being separated by prison bars...but the music is really hard to get past.  The tubular bells / chimes are incessant and I tend to skip it more often than not.  It's also no surprise here, then, that "All I Got is You Pt. II," "Raw," "Pop Shit" and "Heart to Heart" are all by the same producer - Naheen "Pop" Bowens.

Had Raekwon stuck with The Infinite Arkitechz to produce the entire album, I think we'd have a very, very different Immobilarity on our hands.  Their tracks are the livest, and a rapper of Rae's caliber deserves backdrops that fresh.  It's a damn shame, especially considering his later threepeat of great albums later on: Cuban Linx 2, Wu Massacre and Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang.  Immobilarity could be up there with them, but it's bogged down by some sub-par music and a lack of the guest spots that always add flavor to Rae's other releases.

Legacy:  Immobilarity closes out 1999, the year of the Wu, on a bit of a sour note, despite some very solid tracks.  Looking back, it was a year of the group finding their footing in the post-RZA era.  Some releases, especially Uncontrolled Substance, hit the nail on the head and did precisely what they needed to do.  Others, Immobilarity included, gambled big and set out to do something on their own but fell a bit flat here and there.  It's ironic that it would be followed so closely by the next album, Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele, which is one of the best-regarded albums in the solo Wu catalog.  Besides, anyone can forgive the Chef for stumbling one time - especially in comparison to at least four other phenomenal albums he's released before and since.  Take the hot tracks, skip the missteps and look forward to the rest of Rae's career.

Recommended Tracks:  "Live from NY," "The Table," "Jury."

Step Sixteen: Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style Video Game and Soundtrack.

Artist:  Paradox Development (Game) / Wu-Tang Clan
Title:  Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style (Video Game and Soundtrack)
Release Date:  October 31, 1999
Producers:  Activision / ???

Review:  Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style is a video game for the first PlayStation console featuring all nine original Wu-Tang members.  Each emcee is playable as a comic book / martial arts version of himself, using bare fists or bladed weapons in a unique fighting style to battle all types of enemies as he tries to rescue the Wu's mentor, Master Xin.  Ol' Dirty Bastard uses drunken boxing (of course), Method Man wields an enormous mallet and RZA uses twin swords like Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  There are original Wu-family songs and even several fatalities per fighter.

On paper, this could be the single best idea for a video game ever conceived.

In reality, it has enough shortcomings as to frustrate the modern gamer.  For starters, Shaolin Style is essentially a re-skinned version of Paradox's previous effort, Thrill Kill.  That it wasn't built from the ground up as a Wu-Tang title is concerning, and the control system and in-game interface do little to alleviate those fears.  At times the game is downright frustrating despite its eclectic fighting styles and moves lists.

On the other hand, it does have some good things going for it even before we consider the involvement of the Wu.  First, each fighter feels distinctly different.  Raekwon fights like a boxer, GZA uses a hooked blade at the end of a long chain, etc.  When the controls work, the combat looks and feels cool.  There are simple and advanced moves, combos and more, and for the first time in a fighting game I can visually recognize the differences in the fighting styles.  I remember in 2002 being impressed by how clearly I could identify Jacky Bryant fighting in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do style in Virtua Fighter 4, and there are certainly precursors to that clarity in the animation of Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style (despite having different developers).  The game also utilizes a "lives" feature - your character enters combat and he and his opponents all have different amounts of lives remaining in the fight.  When his health bar reaches zero, he loses one life.  It's a unique feature - almost as unique as the engine allowing four combatants simultaneously - and certainly adds to the standout nature of the game.

But all these pale in comparison to the fact that this is a video game built around the classic "martial arts meets New York hip-hop" conceit of the Wu-Tang Clan and that each of its playable characters correspond to an exaggerated version of a legendary rapper from the equally legendary group.  The Wu are like folk heroes of pop culture, so I'm never surprised when I see someone turn into a little kid in front of the TV because they're controlling their favorite Wu member and beating down some fool with kung-fu.  It starts when you select your fighter and see an illustrated version of their character menacingly posing with a bio next to them, name-dropping their albums and nicknames.  It's like a friendly reminder: In case you forgot, you're selecting the man who released Liquid Swords.

Speaking of GZA, most of the members wear appropriate attire.  GZA wears a grey hoodie with a yellow G on it, stylized to match his albums - a switched-up and rotated version of the Wu-Tang W.  U-God - aka Golden Arms - wears solid gold gauntlets covering his forearms and a fisherman-style hat to match his usual getup.  Ghostface's alternate costume predicts his later comic appearance on the cover of Wu Massacre a decade later.

When it comes to the combat in specific regard to each character, things make a lot more sense.  If Ol' Dirty used any fighting style but drunken boxing, it wouldn't make sense.  Inspectah Deck's fists have to move a mile a minute; just listen to any of his verses.  This is amplified tenfold in each rapper's fatalities.  ODB gets his opponent lying face-down before sitting on his back and pulling his head off, which he then stares at and yells "Don't mess with Big Baby Jesus!"  RZA puts a curse on his swords, shouting "Bobby Digital in stereo, worldwide!"  Subsequently his opponent tries to grab them and is killed by the swords themselves.  Masta Killa, the most mysterious member of the group, sneaks up behind his opponent in the dark and pulls him into the shadows; the camera changes to show the unlucky foe face-down with MK's sword through his head.

And then there's the music.

In terms of proper songs, there are four on the disc.  "Rumble" from U-God's Golden Arms Redemption returns here as a sort of theme song, and a quick look at that album's credits shows us that it features Letha Face, Inspectah Deck (who also produces) and Method Man.  It's preceded by La the Darkman and RZA on "Wu World Order," which would sound at home on the Ghost Dog soundtrack and thus leads me to guess it's a RZA-produced song but it may not be (the credits are vague: see below).  Then come Masta Killa's solo track "Shaolin Temple" and Tekitha's "Back to 36 (Take it Back)."

I held off on praising "Rumble" last week on my Golden Arms Redemption discussion, so I'll say now it's completely solid.  Inspectah Deck brings a throbbing bass, eerie piano loop and great guest spots from all the rappers appearing on U-God's album.  If there's a complaint to be had, it's that the track is censored.  If there's a code in the book to unlock the "full violence" mode and see fighters ripped apart at the joints 50 ways, who's really offended by curse words?  "Wu-World Order" is another worthy theme song, with La the Darkman returning after his appearances on Inspectah Deck's Uncontrolled Substance and a track on the Ghost Dog soundtrack.  RZA runs the second verse, proving again that he can pull out the classic Wu sound whenever he wants.  Masta Killa gets just his second solo track with "Shaolin Temple" - unless you don't count his collaboration with Superb, "The Man," on the Ghost Dog soundtrack earlier that year, in which case this is the first 100% Masta Killa solo song...and it's one for the books.  The idly-picked acoustic guitar loop is infectious beyond description and MK's smoky lyrics are on point.  "Intruder alert, sound the cymbal / This be the war of the Shaolin Temple" is a great opener, as are the images of "splittin' your head with the chrome" (microphone) and stating "Sick venomous syndrome, studied many styles / But this tactic I've adapted and made it my own."  I continue to find Masta Killa just fascinating, his style so bizarre and respectable that it's hard not to stop and listen.  Tekitha's track is also good, even if it feels a minute too long.  She sings over an engaging beat that's right at home on a fighting game.

The bad news is that the credits in the game booklet are so vague, I've yet to read a thoroughly convincing report of the responsible producer of the exclusive tracks, Wu-related or not.  After those four songs come ten instrumental tracks (including "Rumble" and "Wu World Order"), most of which are such out-of-left-field electronica they don't fit anywhere in the Wu sound and are likely the product of one of the other score composers listed in the game.  Yes, there are several.  First, under the catch-all category of "In-Game Music," every member of Wu-Tang is listed.  Second, "Original Music / Cutscenes" is credited to Howard Drossin, which deceptively implies any music heard during one of the game's pre-rendered cinematics must be his work.  Why, then, do the four Wu tracks frequently play in those cutscenes as well?  Finally, "Additional In-Game Music" is attributed to Keith Arem at PCB Studios.  Who knows who did what, but my money is on Drossin and Arem doing tracks like "Earthman" (which has an admittedly infectious upright bass and skratching), "Deadly Beatdown" and "Flashing Fists."  Since there's no clear accreditation to these tracks, it's hard to analyze them as much more than adequate background music during the game but nothing you'd need to buy a copy of the game for nor anything I expect to hear on a mixtape anytime soon.

Legacy:  Usually the word on Shaolin Style is that the music is lukewarm and the game sucks.  It's too bad, because Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style is one of the greatest opportunities for a music-inspired video game we've ever had, but that opportunity remains a missed one.  Realistically, the game only has shaky legs to stand on - the unique tools fading into obscurity besides lousy controls.  Unfortunately the music suffers the same fate:  for a game about Wu-Tang that would surely need some kind of music in it somewhere, it's hard to ignore that we only get three properly new/exclusive tracks alongside the great - but already released - "Rumble."  Of those three new tracks, only two have rhymes on them:  "Wu World Order" and "Shaolin Temple."  However, the entire project's brightest spots - "Shaolin Temple" on the music side, the varying fight styles and Wu-based IP in the software - aren't enough to elevate it too high above joke status for most.  In all honesty, though, if we look at the fighting/music mechanics in Def Jam: Fight for NY (also featuring Ghostface and Method Man) and the graphics of next-gen consoles, maybe the world is ready for Shaolin Style 2?

Recommended Tracks:  Shaolin Temple.