classic Wu-Tang solo run poll

I like what aero aid upthread about GZA loving the sound of words; he may contemplate them too much imo.

*said

who has the most hits of all the Wu solo guys? I would think that "Got Your Money" and ODB being on "Fantasy" trump everyone else's...? (Meth's biggest hit must have been the original Mary J. Blige version of "All I Need" right?)

xp

Meth, by far.

Meth 'n' Mary scored a #2 single. ODB has his bit on "Fantasy."

i really love tical...and obv blackout is a classic too, plus meth is one of those ppl that's always welcome on any track IMO, great guest verse dude on tons of wu-tang and others songs

shakey you are acting like he's a shit sandwich not a ticallion stallion!

the sound of words; he may contemplate them too much imo.

barring u from all future ashbery discussions/conferences/anthologies my friend!!

wow apparently I thought Got Your Money was a way bigger hit than it actually was. weird

The tenor of Meth's rhymes and often goofy presence don't really align well with the Wu sound in my opinion

I only love three Ashbery collections so fine with me.

xpost

I love all five of these albums, but am voting Liquid Swords.

there was a good piece on Wu Tang in Mojo of all places a couple of years ago...GZA came off as really...different...

he was riding around with the writer in his car and said "I don't listen to music, I only like to open the windows and listen to the sound of the wind"

he says he never listens to anything, which kinda makes sense if you listen to him, his whole style and aesthetic is so personal quirky and out of step with everything, even the wu

yeah method man was the chosen one, the first single from 36 chambers was "method man", that says something right there. funny how his career never lived up to the early rep. if you had told ppl in '93 that ghostface's discog would slay method man's, nobody, me included, would've believed it.

I'm pretty sure Meth's records have sold more than Ghostface's, even if Ghost has gotten more critical acclaim. And I assume Meth is generally the best known of the Wu rappers too, due to his movie roles. So it's not like they made a wrong decision choosing him as the breakout star.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_Man_discography

So yeah, Meth has three platinum albums whereas Ghost has only one (Ironman).

ODB's got one platinum and one gold - I kinda can't even believe the first one outsold the second.

I don't -- the first one was at the height of the Wu's permeation of pop culture. "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" was a far bigger presence than its chart peak would suggest.

same with "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and "Shadowboxing"

I'm not really concerned about who sells what to whom really

speaking of old wu-tang, house of flying daggers of OB4CL II is sooo old school wu and everyone goes so hard :)

(posting cuz i love the meth verse, but everyone is fantastic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR7kVnh3PlI

you sold platinum round the world I sold wood in the hood

method is mvp when it comes to guest spots

Well, you did say Meth's career hasn't lived up to his early rep, but it seems he's had the most succesful career of all Wu members.

(x-post to Edward)

I'm not really concerned about who sells what to whom really

After all those sophomore albums flopped in '98 and '99, had I been in the Wu I would have.

Well, you did say Meth's career hasn't lived up to his early rep, but it seems he's had the most succesful career of all Wu members.

maybe in terms of sales but I'll take Ghost's catalog over Meth's (and over most rappers in general, tbh) any day of the week.

How do folks rate the Redman/Method Man albums?

The first one is great.

^^^

i think blackout is classic (as i said upthread)

Not heard the How High soundtrack or the sequel (Blackout 2, how imaginative.)

the first blackout is obviously fantastic. the sequel's not nearly as essential, but i recall it as being a decently fun listen nonetheless.

very distinctly remember the first time I saw this, when it went into 4th chamber it was like entering another dimension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7h_pwp2E6Q

Well, you did say Meth's career hasn't lived up to his early rep, but it seems he's had the most succesful career of all Wu members.

maybe career was the wrong word to use, I'm not using records sales as any yardstick of merit here

otherwise we might as well rank this poll in records sold and be done with it

"clever and/or unexpected wordplay is so dated" goes a very long way towards why I don't feel a lot of current hip-hop

― GLEERILLAZ! (HI DERE), Wednesday, October 13, 2010 2:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

its more 'exceedingly corny wordplay is so dated' that is at issue here. or 'wordplay that breaks character'

you guys have it exactly backwards -- by becoming consistent characters rather than rappers 'performing' characters it freed MCs to play roles & inhabit them more fully & convincingly instead of being these detached 'performers' of various characters or w/e

since NWA the more grimey shit has always trumped the less grimey ish. thats why wu tang was a big deal in the 1st place -- they were coming off grimier than what was before them (which included that juice crew influenced obvious metaphor shit)

"Ima tell it to you straight / i dont need a metaphor" - t.i.

its more 'exceedingly corny wordplay is so dated' that is at issue here.

Wait, in an era where we have songs like "Bedrock" you're calling out Wu emcees for being exceedingly corny????

lol i think that song is more than corny its just awful

lyrically

the "in character" portion of your argument makes more sense to me; my big problem is that I am really not interested in most of the characters these guys are portraying

who are 'these guys'

most prominent punchline rappers nowadays really suck, which is why there's been like three famous new rappers from the northeast in the past 10 years

yeah imo punchline rappers now being shitty is more an argument against gza aging well than for him

man you dudes aren't up on IRON SOLOMON huh?

who are 'these guys'

like.. 90% of the people who are currently selling records

basically the only emcees out that I am even halfway interested in are all past-their-prime fossils

the best punchline rapper of the past three years has been... raekwon

the "in character" portion of your argument makes more sense to me; my big problem is that I am really not interested in most of the characters these guys are portraying

^^^OTM

unfortunately cliche critique of hip hop as being all just about thugs (everybody's a drug dealer, a pimp, a murderer, etc.) has sadly become MORE prescient over the years, not less

it's like jesus don't you ever get tired of this schtick, it is now almost 30 years old

"Ima tell it to you straight / i dont need a metaphor" - t.i.

= you are about to bore me

(and I say this as a guy who likes some TI)

swimsuit mammal handle

if you want a deathless onslaught of 'clever' rappers there are tons & tons of underground rappers boring the shit out of anyone who listens on a daily basis

seriously dudes just go download royce tapes & stop whinging

deej playing the backpacker card