classic Wu-Tang solo run poll

SONS ARE BORN AND GUNS ARE DRAWN
CLIPS ARE FULLY LOADED, AND THEN BLOOD FLOODS THE LAWN

a construction worker, who was caught for his bomber
no time to swing the hammer that was hangin' from his farmers

(perennially stuck in my head)

man Liquid Swords is totally backloaded, all the best songs are in the second half

this thread will be glad to know that I FINALLY bought Return to the 36 Chambers today thanks to all of you (they didn't have Liquid Swords or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...)

holy shit I'd forgotten that this is fucking amazing

the holy ghost got you scared to death kid boo

that album is deep, if it weren't for my corny love for liquid swords I totally would've voted for it

the bonus tracks are so good it's hard to imagine the album without them

yell at 4:50 is incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlsE2Pz-AoE

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/12/06/101206crat_atlarge_sanneh?currentPage=4

Another great American lyricist has just published a book of his own: “Finishing the Hat” (Knopf; $39.95), by Stephen Sondheim, is curiously similar in form to “Decoded.” Sondheim is just as appealing a narrator as Jay-Z, although he’s much less polite. (While Jay-Z has almost nothing bad to say about his fellow-rappers, Sondheim is quick to disparage his rivals, subject to a “cowardly but simple” precept: “criticize only the dead.”) But where Jay-Z wants to help readers see the poetry in hip-hop, Sondheim thinks poeticism can be a problem: in his discussion of “Tonight,” from “West Side Story,” he half apologizes for the song’s “lapses into ‘poetry.’ ” And where Bradley and DuBois are quick to praise rappers for using trick rhymes and big words, Sondheim is ever on guard against “overrhyming” and other instances of unwarranted cleverness. “In theatrical fact,” he writes, “it is usually the plainer and flatter lyric that soars poetically when infused with music.” Most rappers are no less pragmatic: they use the language that works, which is sometimes ornate, but more often plainspoken, even homely. (One thinks of Webbie, the pride of Baton Rouge, deftly rhyming “drunk as a fuckin’ rhino” with “my people gon’ get they shine on.”) Maybe future anthologies will help show why the most complicated hip-hop lyrics aren’t always the most successful.

am considering undertaking something of an academic exploration into ALL of the Wu solo albums (jesus there are a lot) and seeing what few undiscovered/underrated gems there are

U-God albums, how bad are they

i would read that tumblr

well first up: Cappadonna's the Pillage. This is 1/3rd of a decent record, the majority of it is pointless and at least one track (Young Heart) is outright terrible. The dude just doesn't have enough personality and wit to make a decent solo record. He has no ear for lyrical hooks, his flow is monotonous and kinda clumsy... half the time it sounds like he's just stringing random catchphrases together. Unsurprisingly, the handful of gems on here are the cuts with other Wu members, and the single (Milk the Cow) was the only one where Cappa came up with a decent hook for the chorus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cqwIfllkDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53nActB9c0
Ghost kills this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T23A61CBivo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAGKH0JFBzw
one of the better beats, and probably the only song on the album that Cappa really carries all by himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32n_21HSp3c
Meth puts Cappa to shame on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhbYpZepYSQ
and the album closer, which sounds like it could've been a great song if RZA and Ghost had made the effort to actually finish it instead of just letting it run on and on for 2 extra minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88jCMNxr6Ac

huh this GZA/Muggs record is way better than I would have expected

That got pretty good reviews at the time iirc although i've never heard it

I haven't heard anything Muggs has done since like '99 or something so I dunno if he's just aping RZA on it or if this is what he sounds like now (or did in 2005 anyway). but yeah it's solid. I'll post about it more tomorrow

the nfl track is CHEEZY

but the rest of it is good

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