classic Wu-Tang solo run poll

i think deej's point is that it's more awkward than imaginative, but i always liked GZA's outre lyrical curveballs--"feminine like sandals," etc

I don't see how it's awkward... Instead of using some stereotypical example of weakness he comes up with a totally unexpected yet instantly understandable simile. To me that's pretty imaginative.

i get where deej is coming from... just like grocery bag stuff, it doesnt really add anything. it's just a random example of 'weak'

Aren't all similes random, when you think about it? And why should they "add" something? What is it that they're supposed to add?

Meth's album is weakest to me. The beats don't cut it.

i think GZA is really saying rapping is where he's a viking

Raekwon > GZA > ODB > Ghostface Killah > Meth

Aren't all similes random, when you think about it? And why should they "add" something? What is it that they're supposed to add?

― Tuomas, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:01 AM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

rappers are inhabiting a persona, and while GZA is one second rapping about "life of a drug dealer!!" apparently hes a drug dealer who spent his crack rock cash on a shitty clock radio.

i mean, i still like the album. like whiney said a lot of that stuff, esp 'feminine like sandals!!!' is still charming in its way. but yeah GZA's style is super dated sounding relative to the rest (which makes sense, hes the oldest dude in the clan right?)

slow down there, souljah boy

no h in soulja boy fyi

Aren't all similes random, when you think about it?

No; when you think about similes, you come to the inescapable conclusion that a well-formed simile is not random.

lol

Tical > Return > Liquid > Linx > Ironman

Linx is overlong and has the second least imaginative production.

also I agree w/deej that "lyrics is weak like clock radio speakers" is a lame simile but from a sonics-only reading -- poetry being 1/2 meaning and 1/2 sound & GZA being a guy who is pretty into the sounds of words -- "lyrics is weak like clock radio speakers" is pretty gorgeous

yeah that's one of the best-sounding verses on the album imo despite all goofy similes

love when a3r0smith deconstructs lyrics, he is always otm

last twothree posts otm. can't believe the depths this thread has sunk to in its 8 hours of life -- criticizing GZA's flow on Liquid Swords is like criticizing icing on cake.

nice simile!

co-sign w/whiney, nice work bernard!

funnily enough I almost went with "frosting" but decided I liked the way the long string of i's looked on the page

saying any of these five records are less then classic is just fighting words to me

yeah but that's no fun, so instead we gotta nitpick about shit like "damn those diva vocals on Cuban Linx can be annoying when I have a headache" or "what the hell is GZA talking about, it would be AWESOME to have a zodiac sign on my sweatshirt!"

rappers are inhabiting a persona, and while GZA is one second rapping about "life of a drug dealer!!" apparently hes a drug dealer who spent his crack rock cash on a shitty clock radio.

Nowhere on "Liquid Swords" (the song) does GZA claim to be a drug dealer. Can't rappers inhabit different personas on different songs? This particular tune is full of pretty wild metaphors and similies, so I don't see how "clock radio speakers" doesn't fit there. And what does the simile have to what the character in the song owns?

No; when you think about similes, you come to the inescapable conclusion that a well-formed simile is not random.

What I meant by random is that, in a simile that starts "weak like...", you can pretty much pick anything you think is weak. Of course, in order for a simile to be good the thing you choose has to be:

1) recognizable as weak (so you can't, for example, say "weak like cayenne pepper", because that makes no sense), and

2) imaginative (you can say "weak as a 90 pound weakling", but you aren't gonna impress anyone with your lyrical skills if you do that).

At least to me, "weak like clock radio speakers" fits both of these criteria.

can i just say ... UNOFFICIAL WET TISSUE

let's just be positive. where one finds linx overlong i find it epic -- especially when you get to 'heaven and hell' at the end. and on what aesthetic grounds can the production be classified as unimaginative? it's broken, fucked up, lurching and banging at the same time. the criminology>incarcerated>rainy dayz run shows off three different, equally awesome styles. on the first one alone you go from the rush of the horns to that creepy jangling sound, which is a really powerful sonic transition to these ears. and the record is filled with those moments! scarfaces has one of the all time great open hihat sounds. etc etc etc

I've always kind of underappreciated Linx but lately I've warmed up to it in a major way and I don't know what changed. just gotta stop resisting and ride the gonzo cinematic crime-opera wave, I guess.

i'm with tuomas. i like that line. and it doesn't come out of nowhere, he is talking about LYRICS which are part of MUSIC which comes out of SPEAKERS. i mean, it's hardly totally random.

yeah and it's an evocative choice of words because EVERYBODY has had a clock radio with shitty little speakers, does anyone seriously go "that really took me out of the song, because I didn't imagine GZA as the kind of guy who's had a clock radio!"

he is talking about LYRICS which are part of MUSIC which comes out of SPEAKERS. i mean, it's hardly totally random.

I could reach into my hip hop collection at random and stand a good chance of picking out an album with at least one simile much worse than this. Such a weird line to have issues with. GZA is a terrific lyricist.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090721151701AAFpzde

http://grab.by/grabs/88560dd7321eafc7b3ec6e224513b674.png

I think the Ghost one is pretty damn good. I'm surprised people here don't like it. It's even more surprising that so many like Tical. That shit sounds so half-assed and rushed, I can barely listen to it.

lmao @ "talib fiasco"

i'd rank em rae>ghost>gza>meth>odb

Iron Maiden is one of my all-time favourite opening tracks - the movie sample, the siren, the Willie Mitchell horns, the way everything but the beat cuts out for Ghost's entrance.

i'm with tuomas. i like that line. and it doesn't come out of nowhere, he is talking about LYRICS which are part of MUSIC which comes out of SPEAKERS. i mean, it's hardly totally random.

s1ocki OTM (w/ a side of lolz)

I listen to the GZA one the least but it's not because of the lyrics, it's more because the beats are sort of all over the place.

All these albums are fantastic in their own right, depends what mood I'm in.

pablo kweli

saying any of these five records are less then classic is just fighting words to me

― interk3llar overdrive (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, October 13, 2010 9:55 AM

^^

odb, gza, and rae are pretty equal in my book...ironman only SLIGHTLY off that pace...tical is great but not in the same league (still better than shitloads of rap albums tho that's how great wu was in their prime)

i think i'm voting ODB cuz granny was talking bad about it and i love ODB for all time.

i'm going to listen to liquid swords today to see if it has aged awkwardly or not but idk, that album is like perfect combination of evil cool smart shit. & a lot of the things deej is saying about clumsy similes are things i would agree with wrt gza's later stuff, he kind of atrophies after ls and loses a lot of the pungency, meanness -- all fully intact on this album though

i still think legend of the liquid swords is way underrated

ya its pretty good

i think i'm voting ODB cuz granny was talking bad about it and i love ODB for all time.

― da poupier (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, October 13, 2010 11:52 AM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark

you have a weird family

nana always challopses about how the sunz of man album is better than nigga please

rae>gza=odb>ghost>meth i think. all close though. had LS on in the car a lot lately. sometimes rza on 4th chamber is my favorite verse

i like the clock radio lyrics -- im just saying theyve aged in a way rae's havent & sound very of their era. and yeah tuomas i think having different personas in different songs at least w/in rap music is weird & dated & unusual. 'unofficial wet tissue' is classic.

lyrics on 'gold' aged well. "waitin for the train to make noise... "

i think ppl are more forgiving of some of the more awkward lyrical turns bcuz they get buried under RZA's erm 'soundscapes' so it sounds more menacing than they would on later GZA records. doesnt change the fact that 'feminine like sandals' is a goofy thing for a dude rapping about the drug trade to say

i mean those kinds of similies are basically like, your literature/language arts teacher explaining rap music kind of goofy. its just ... dated juice crew type ish. rappers inhabit personas more fully now

would you prefer "feminine like scented candles"

i actually bought Pillage when I went through my "buy every Wu-Tang affiliated release I don't currently own, no matter how minute or pointless" phase last year. Never even got through one listen. ZzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I like the first Inspectah Deck solo album tho

first u-god album is underrated imo

I even bought that GZA "Pro Tools" one ....kinda meh, tho mostly due to the production.

"I like the first Inspectah Deck solo album tho"

Yeah, thats a cool lp. Inspectah is great throughout. Always loved the horribly schmoopy hook on the title track, good memories trying to sing like that fool. I sing that hook to my kid on occasion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee2NrhXEGWs

R.E.C. Room is a classic Wu banger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzDxg5psp9o

Muggs Gza album was kinda cool at the time but doesnt have any staying power. Pro Tools is boring. I bought Pillage back when, like 25% good iirc.

this is classic solo deck from 95

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs60xcgJZzo

quite aggy, this one

bob digi album is best post classic era solo lp in my humble opinion. fuck what you think, daily routine, mantis holocaust terrorist domestic violence all sick

That one had the odd good track a cool cover, but I don't think RZA's rapping can carry a whole album.

there are some decent tracks on the first u god album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmek6pR7jO4

This is great (but it's on one of the Chronicles too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31naoRYXHK4

the nfl track is CHEEZY

yeah was gonna come here to say that there are def some low points, the labored sex-as-football rhymes being the worst. in general it's pretty consistent. his rhyme style is so clinical and dry it can get kinda boring, his tunes really live or die on the strength of the storytelling imho. these are the ones I thought were standouts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQPJUV3n6Ss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk4RTJzmlgo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-7g03iM3tU&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudaSqOZpkE&feature=related

y'know, Immobilarity is really not that bad

this thread has some amazing posts