Wu-Massacre (Album Review)
admin | Friday, April 9th, 2010 | No Comments »
Don’t believe the hype.
Recently, I have been inundated with chat about ‘Wu Massacre; a collaborative album release courtesy of the 3 most prominent voices in the legendary Wu Tang Clan. A strong online buzz was created with the help of major label backing, however with all of that said and done, is this album actually worth all of the preemptive praise? I dare to say no. It doesnt help that Raekwon tweets more then i say the word ‘fuck’ in a day, but he made the omission (via twitter -@raekwonicewater) that Def Jam/Universal had gotten the whip cracking on an early release date in order to corral the strong sales figures garnered by his 09’s breakout, “Only Built for Cuban Linx 2″. This cries foul, and I guess one should be used to it nowadays… Major labels have been losing money for about a decade now, and when they find a bright spot in their roster, they will go all out to whore the shit out of them. Sucks hey? Well, thats business.
Bear in mind, I am overly critical of new hip hop releases. What many claim to be a classic, i usually go the opposite route. Its all a matter of opinion, and thats why music is such an incredibly interesting thing to write about. Wu Massacre was made to remind listeners of the reasons why the Wu Tang legacy is still so strong in hip hop. After countless commercial flops (8 Diagrams, Iron Flag, The W), we have all been patiently awaiting the next album that would allow people worldwide to claim that the Wu is back. Excellence has been few and far between, and with the exception of a couple Ghostface solo projects, most albums with the Wu imprint have simply disappointed.
Wu Massacre is quick. It runs with 10 songs and 2 skits in under 30 minutes and also doesnt boast a load of featured guest appearances. These are some of the things that have plagued older releases, rendering a lack of continuity and flow in the overall scheme of things. Thumbs up. The main production comes from regular Wu contributor Allah Mathematics, Grammy nominated Scram Jones, and Wu Tang’s Archetype, Rza. The aforementioned Rza provides the albums highlight on ‘Our Dreams’, a beat sampling Michael Jackson’s ‘We’re Almost There’. On my first listen, this song stood out to me so much that i essentially listened to it on repeat for 2 days. There are a few throwbacks to the mid 90’s in ‘Criminology 2.5′, ‘Meth vs Chef 2′, and some classic storytelling spots like ‘Miranda’ (…shout out to the villa in Vancouver!), all tied in with a little knowledge drop by the venerable Tracy Morgan. All in all, Wu Massacre continues the trend that ‘Only Built For Cuban Linx 2′ set and one can only hope that they continue dropping solid work like this in the future.
3 out of 5 Ghostface Killah fish scales.
-Decline
