#1 favorite wu-tang member

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I know many will disagree, but I find Ghost's voice, flow, and lyrics to get kinda tiresome if I have to listen to him for 60+ minutes.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 12:48 (nineteen years ago)

i've always kinda thought GZA was the most overrated. obv Liquid Swords rules but a lot of the best moments are down to RZA & the guests, and he just seems like the most humourless of the bunch? i mean fine he's 'the genius' but does that have to mean he can't crack a joke from time to time?

gza's deadpan but he doesn't lack humor (maybe you're confusing him with killah priest ZING). in retrospect liquid swords got a lot of props, so gza's not as underrated as he used to be. deck and u-god are lifetime holders of that title. overrated? when he effortlessly drops hall-of-fame rhymes like this it's not possible:

doin' artists in like cain did abel
now they money's gettin' stuck to the gum under the table

he's not as wild as the others but the depth and craft in his lyrics is something else.

― Edward III, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:00 (nineteen years ago)

U-God for sheer weirdness alone

― braveclub, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:04 (nineteen years ago)

I'm still deciding, but I think it'll come down to either GZA or Ghost.

― Oilyrags, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:25 (nineteen years ago)

unsurprisingly ODB for me. (this is favorite, not most talented, right?)

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

RZA, for accent, will, soundscape. deck is most underrated. GZA is corniest.

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:29 (nineteen years ago)

and randomness without clowning

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:30 (nineteen years ago)

GZA and Ghost have those great narratives, though. I'm not denying GZA's occassional wordplay overdose eyeroller of a track, but occassionally listening to those guys is like reading a Parker novel or something.

― Oilyrags, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:32 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, i don't like narrative tho

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:33 (nineteen years ago)

ghost in a pinch.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:35 (nineteen years ago)

1 for meth.

― bell_labs, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

unlike U-God who seems so grateful on the rare occasion that he's in the spotlight that he gets all excited and goes hell-for-leather.

I don't agree that GZA takes it for granted/is too chill, but I'd agree with this statement wholeheartedly. The "raw like cocaine straight from Bolivia" verse is one of the best by anybody on 36 Chambers, and he rocks all over "Gravel Pit" and "Pinky Ring."

Deck has elsewhere on ILM been tagged "the greatest one-verse MC ever" which I find sadly true from the solo tracks I've checked out - I like them, but as Tuomas says about Ghostface, I can't really imagine 60 minutes of him front and center. GZA, Meth, no problem. But he makes "Triumph" and "Protect Ya Neck" as we all know, and, of course "7th Chamber" which gives us probably my favorite Wu snippet this side of "4th Chamber":

Yo, I leave the mic in body bags, my rap style has
the force to leave you lost like the tribe of Shabazz
Murderous material made by a madman
it's the mic wrecker, Inspectah, bad man

RZA's at a disadvantage here because half his contribution is in the production, which is pretty much fantastic across the board. When he's compared as an MC, he isn't quite in the top league - he has a bunch of great verses but also a number of kind of impenetrable wack things.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:05 (nineteen years ago)

impenetrable wack is what makes him good!

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

7th chamber is the realest song on enter the wu

― and what, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:20 (nineteen years ago)

i like the remix

― deej, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

or 'part ii' or whatever its called

― deej, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:25 (nineteen years ago)

yeah thats what i was talking about, what those deck rhymes are from

― and what, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

RZA for me. Every time he mentions the applehead he makes the track.

No homo.

― paulhw, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 17:23 (nineteen years ago)

rza then odb then ghost then meth then gza

― forksclovetofu, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

raekwon

― am0n, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 21:16 (nineteen years ago)

dr morbius

― latebloomer, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 21:20 (nineteen years ago)

Not even the "best," but these days my favorite is RZA easy. Specifically for his blunted delivery and verses on...

4th Chamber:
Aiyyo, camouflage chameleon - ninjas scalin your buildin
No time to grab the gun they already got your wife and children...

Assassination Day:
You can never master, it's invincible, Wu-Tang indispensable
One nation under God, indivisible
With liberty and justice, the mic is in my clutches
Thugs who bring ruckus, leave in crutches

Reunited:
Wu-Tang Incorp. take your brain on spacewalk
Talk strange like B-jork, great hero Jim Thorpe
How can I put it? Life is like video footage
Hard to edit, directors, they never understood it
...
Grow like a fetus with no hands and feet to complete us
and we return like Jesus, when the whole world need us

PS - His own solo stuff aside, Meth's the most consistent and really ought to win this thing - almost never less than great, and often brilliant. He pretty much holds Forever together. And his verse on Radioactive is sublime...

It ain't all to the good, muh'fuckers hatin in the hood
Gotta a hundred wolves waitin in the woods
for the Clan's forthcomin'
I miss you in the game a court summons
And fugitives of rap caught runnin, y'all get locked up
E'rything was wack 'til we popped up
And got it on and poppin like Orville Reddenbacher
Podnuh, you ain't got no wins in mi casa
Wu-Tang got ya, like every ghetto got a Tasha
Request lines are now open, you see these MC's chokin
and thinkin, "What's that SHIT they be smokin?"
I'm so focused, simple chronic halitosis
Keep my shit funky when I spit this braggadocious
[hach, spit] Y'all niggaz got some fuckin nerve
to critic what I write, that's my muh'fuckin word
Blah blah blah, like N'Sync
Kiss that ass "Bye Bye Bye" knahmsayin? I ain't playin...

U-God and Masta Killa are probably the most underrated.

― rogermexico., Wednesday, 16 May 2007 23:10 (nineteen years ago)

gza - some of the best flows on 36 chambers and liquid swords is just brilliant

― gman, Thursday, 17 May 2007 03:57 (nineteen years ago)

This is too damn hard. I've managed to narrow it down to GZA & Ghost, but.......

― The Reverend, Thursday, 17 May 2007 04:19 (nineteen years ago)

Voted Gza cause the guy tried to steal my spaghetti during an interview.

― MaGoGo, Thursday, 17 May 2007 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

POLL closes: May 05

2008?

-- StanM, Wednesday, May 16, 2007 4:22 AM (1 week ago)

Poll Closing Date: Monday, May 4, 2020 7:00 PM

― am0n, Monday, 28 May 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

sweet.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 28 May 2007 22:47 (nineteen years ago)

i wish i could go back and vote for rza

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 28 May 2007 22:48 (nineteen years ago)

if only people hadn't posted who they voted for, so we could dig up the time capsule in 13 years and be surprised by the results

― bernard snowy, Monday, 28 May 2007 22:58 (nineteen years ago)

if only people hadn't posted who they voted for, so we could dig up the time capsule in 13 years and be surprised by the results

in the future, u-god will be the most highly praised wu-tanger ...

... or, with a greater probability, method man will be the most highly praised wu-tanger and 13 years from now folks will be shocked that he got so little love back in the day.

― Eisbaer, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 03:19 (nineteen years ago)

U-God is awful. His verses are almost uniformly bad, IMHO.

RZA is a great lyricist and his beats (at least before 2000), are amazing.
GZA's verses are the most cerebral.
Inspectah Deck is a hugely underrated lyricist, and while he's not charismatic enough to handle a track alone, he always makes a track better (BTW, check his verse on "Let My Niggas Live"-- it's badass)
Ghostface is the most stream-of-consciousness and in many ways the most surreal lyricist.
ODB... well, you gotta love ODB.
I don't really care for Meth all that much. His style doesn't really fit in with the other members in my opinion.

― Richard Wood Johnson, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

you sound like a valuable new poster

― deej, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 19:32 (nineteen years ago)

i voted for Ghostface, although maybe i should have voted GZA. for year, Beneath the Surface was the only wu-tang album i owned.

From the Daily News: When rapper Method Man rolled down his SUV's window at the Battery Tunnel to pay the toll, a cloud of marijuana smoke wafted outside - and landed him in jail, authorities said yesterday. "It was like something out of 'Cheech and Chong.' He rolls down the window and the smoke would choke a horse," a source said.

― poortheatre, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

i voted gza.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 19:36 (nineteen years ago)

i voted for meth, in the end.

― jabba hands, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

ODB

"WU-TANG IS FOR THE CHILDREN!"

― j-rock, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 01:41 (nineteen years ago)

Insightful, "Wood" Johnson!

xposts

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 01:53 (nineteen years ago)

It's gotta be the Genius!

― Davey D, Wednesday, 30 May 2007 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

eight years pass...

Best to worst:

Ghost
Rae
GZA
Deck
Mef
ODB
RZA
Masta Killa
Cappadonna
U-God

Voted Ghost

― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:23 (ten years ago)

looks like I already voted in this one...

I'm guessing it was for Raekwon

― Check Yr Scrobbles (Moodles), Friday, 11 December 2015 20:28 (ten years ago)

only 5 years to go!

Ghostface no contest

― Οὖτις, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:28 (ten years ago)

betting my food stamps on ODB!

― rip van wanko, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:30 (ten years ago)

ghost

― marcos, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:38 (ten years ago)

GZA is corniest.

― gabbneb, Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:29 AM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the fuck

― marcos, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:39 (ten years ago)

gza possibly least corny out of this whole group jfc

― marcos, Friday, 11 December 2015 20:44 (ten years ago)

oh god lets not have that debate again...

― flopson, Friday, 11 December 2015 21:08 (ten years ago)

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/cook/chef-2.gif

― lute bro (brimstead), Friday, 11 December 2015 21:13 (ten years ago)

Hoping all you peeps are gearing up for the Wu Tang artist poll (probs sometime around mid 2016?)

― Spottie, Friday, 11 December 2015 21:37 (ten years ago)

should've done it back in 2002 - the battle was filled with the wu iirc

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 11 December 2015 22:20 (ten years ago)

kinda pumped to do it next year, i really haven't dipped into old Wu in years. Ready for a refresher.

― Spottie, Friday, 11 December 2015 22:22 (ten years ago)

Skipping 50 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

so this is a nerd question but my wife was listening to a rza interview about his ice cream jingle and apropos of nothing he started raving about how much he fucking loves the mellotron

does anybody know any releases where rza uses the mellotron

planet mellotron is no use because the guy who runs that site is gatekeepy and doesn't count sampled mellotron, you know how gear nerds get

― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 15 August 2020 15:21 (five years ago)

after all these years i think i miss the humble
and amiable u god the most

― the late great, Saturday, 15 August 2020 17:40 (five years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ed_n6r66v8

+ iirc, You Can't Stop Me Now? or some other late aughts Bobby Digital joints, i know there's more

― gaudio, Saturday, 15 August 2020 18:53 (five years ago)

thanks! cool jam, i'm not 100% sure that's _actually_ a tron, feel like it could be some willie mitchell strings? but it's a great song and it does _sound_ a lot like tron.

― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 15 August 2020 20:32 (five years ago)

five years pass...

lol opened this thread and was like "wow look at those numbers, ILM truly used to get a lot more lurkers," and then read through and remembered we all voted like fourteen times each

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 20 May 2026 12:16 (three weeks ago)

Meth is class president.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:36 PM (nineteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

if there was any act where i'd love to see a high school superlatives applied to, it's the wu-tang

― My homies buttthole surfers' record sounds like a f (Western® with Bacon Flavor), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 13:27 (three weeks ago)

Ghost.

― boners for bombs (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 13:47 (three weeks ago)

cappadonna

― ok (D-40), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:49 (three weeks ago)

Never catering to none iirc

― Wildfowler (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:50 (three weeks ago)

I love most of U-God's bits and Masta Killa's leisurely disqusitions.

― boners for bombs (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:50 (three weeks ago)

is there a thread where we can talk about underrated Wu albums

― ok (D-40), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:57 (three weeks ago)

i was just listening to Ghost's Lost Tapes release, i like it

― omar little, Wednesday, 20 May 2026 16:03 (three weeks ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVY5Aylav48

killarmy hive

― ok (D-40), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 17:48 (three weeks ago)

obligatory spring water post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcnorT6sQg4

― brimstead, Thursday, 21 May 2026 01:58 (three weeks ago)

inspectah deck was robbed tbh

― ava (aiva), Thursday, 21 May 2026 09:16 (three weeks ago)

His intro in "Protect Ya Neck" is classic.

― boners for bombs (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 May 2026 09:20 (three weeks ago)

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