Since first hitting the scene seven years ago, New York's Wu-Tang Clan has become one of the most successful - and most profitable - rap franchises of all time. Hailing from the city's "forgotten borough" of Staten Island, or "Shaolin" as the Clan would have it, the group has released five studio albums and been featured on over ten rap compilations. The original ten members founded the popular Wu-Wear clothing line and served as the inspiration for PlayStation game Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. With this month's release of The-W, the revised Wu-Tang lineup proves that the group intends to remain on the scene for quite some time.
Without a doubt, The-W loses some potential with the absence of founding member Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB). True, he may be more famous for his solo work, such as the 1999 album Nigga Please (after all, it spawned the frat party anthem "Got Your Money"). The ODB's profane, often-shouted lyrics were integral to early Wu-Tang albums like Swarm. However, his recent flirtations with the law (drug possession charges) kept him out of the studio for most of the recording of The-W. That didn't stop the other nine members - RZA, GZA, U-God, Masta Killa, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, and Cappadonna (phew!) - from dedicating The-W to his honor.
Despite the challenge the album faces without one of the group's key members, The-W still could become one of the most crucial rap releases of the year. "Chamber Music," the first track, proves why the Clan is famous: the uninterrupted lyrical flows jump from member to member with the listener barely noticing. The song barely has a point; it's just party music to open the album. It also manages to earn the disk its parental advisory sticker early on, but who cares? It's all in good fun, Wu-Tang style.
Generally, The-W's lyrics speak for themselves. Many songs on The-W are simply feel-good raps, like "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)," with lyrics like "Niggas can't gel or I'm too hot to tell?/ Put on my gasoline boots and walk through hell." Others, like "I Can't Go to Sleep," deal with more serious subject matter like police brutality and drug abuse.
Like many rap albums, one finds useless expletives balancing numbers of syllables in lines and maintaining rhymes, but the Wu-Tang takes its lyrics a step further with a sort of rap onomatopoeia. The repetition of "Somethin' in the slum, rum pa pum pum" in "Careful (Click, Click)" isn't funny. When combined with haunting lyrics about murder and accompanying sound effects, it's actually chilling. Additionally, clips taken from kung fu and gangster movies are integrated as song introductions. These not only add character to certain songs, but to the album as a whole.
The choice of loops and samples on The-W sets the album apart from other recent releases. While mainstream artists as famous as DMX look to techno for modernistic beats, the music Wu-Tang uses (or steals, depending on your perspective) is a throwback to bygone eras of hip-hop and funk. The slow beat of "Careful (Click, Click)" gives the song a tone of seriousness, while the funky interludes border on disco. Not everything sounds the same, though. "Hollow Bones" is heavily influenced by reggae and "Gravel Pit," the first single, sounds akin to Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" with its female vocal chorus and seedy lounge music melody. Overall, of course, it's the vocal style of the Wu-Tang members that unifies the 13 tracks.
As if the album weren't strong enough, The-W features a list of guest artists that would impress Puff Daddy. Snoop Dogg's flawless rap on "Conditioner" adds flair to the track, while Isaac Hayes himself makes a characteristically soulful appearance on "I Can't Go To Sleep." Nas speaks out against the police on "Let My Niggas Live," and Busta Rhymes uses his distinct style to show how rap allows the impoverished to gain economic prominence in "The Monument": "Street niggas now the corporate boss/ Still go to your restaurant for steamed fish and Irish moss/ The way we do it and you see how my shit bomb/ Your whole show whack and I'm'a cancel your sitcom." "Conditioner" features an ODB sample on the chorus. His gritty voice and breathing into the microphone make the production values sound deliberately low, but bring to mind the group's earlier work. Redman and Junior Reid also make appearances.
The-W is just what a Wu-Tang fan would expect from the Clan, minus the usual share of the ODB's lovably profane rhymes. The musical variety and lyrical continuity of the album make it a strong contender, and the added special effects and stellar list of guest artists certainly help. The-W might not be anything entirely new, but it's certainly a well-crafted creation.
