Ghostface Killah More Fish review

Any objective Wu Tang fan will tell you that no other member has had a better solo career than Mr. Tony Starks. Maybe Meth has more charisma, the GZA is sharper with the sword or The Chef can cook it up better but all three can’t match the

consistency of Ghostface. After releasing an album of the year candidate with Fishcale, Ghost is back to close out 2006 with the equally impressive More Fish.

Gone are the skits that sometimes slowed Fishcale and in their place are more gritty narratives and witty non sequiturs that show Ironman cannot be duplicated. His unique style is fully displayed on the opening track “Ghost is Back” (sampled from Rakim’s “Know the Ledge”) and the noise filled “Blue Armour” featuring Sheek with Ghost ripping the mic with lines like “I’m a fisherman I own this like / When I catch fish I fry em to their backside flake / I smash you all motherfuckers like a seedless grape / And hang niggaz like some ceiling fans and K-Mart drapes” over some dirty drum lines courtesy of his mask-wearing friend.

When he is not spitting his curious couplets, Tony Starks is a gifted ghetto story teller penning classics like “All That I Got is You” that will bring even the hardest of the hard to tears. On the Hi-Tek produced “Josephine”, featuring Trife Da God and the soulful singing of the Willie Cottrell Band, Ghost further demonstrates his knack for touching hearts with sad stories of young girls turning into fiends. His softer side spits,

“Infatuated by the life of dope fiends and crack pushers
Prostituting for old pimps who mack hookers
Putting dope in the cooker, searching for a vein
Tracks all over her arm, she never felt the pain
The monkey on her back is now a gorilla
Fiending for hit knowin’ one day it is going to kill her
The clinic didn’t help
She’s just another young black woman destroying her pretty image and her health
It got me thinking to myself damn how could this happen
I seen her on the corner nodding off sniffing and scratchin’”

After those lyrics are digested, Ghost steps aside to let Trife Da God shine on his solo cut “Grew Up Hard” and he almost steals the show from the album’s host, which is no easy task on an album filled with guest appearances including the hard to find Redman. There are times when More Fish seems more like a posse album rather than a Ghostface album but he is able to maintain his strong presence while also allowing the other members of Theodore Unit to get some exposure and even shares the booth with his oldest seed, Sun God, on the dark “Street Opera”.

Compiled mostly of “left overs” from Fishcale, Ghost has another album of the year candidate with More Fish. In an era when most rappers struggle to produce one quality album in every two years, Ghost has no problem blessing fans with two in eight months. Tony Starks is still deserving of the title of most consistent member of Wu Tang but maybe its time to give him The Crown because no one is matching his consistency.

Ghostface Killah More Fish review

It was ‘93 when the Wu dropped their first group album. This was also the introduction of a group of talented MCs, including Ghostface Killah, who is one of the best metaphorically rhyming lyricists out of the group. It’s also safe to say, that next to GZA’s “Liquid Swords”, Ghostface’s first album “Ironman” and his second album “Supreme Clientele” are two of the hottest solo

projects from any Wu member. Ghostface seems to progressively become more and more commercial with each album he drops. As a whole, I’d have to say that out of his three solo albums (”Iron Man”, “Supreme Clientele”, and “Bulletproof Wallets”) his newest release does not bring as nice a job on production and lyricism than his first two joints. However, that’s not saying that this is a bad album at all though, because it’s really not.

The production on this album is still pretty tight (no surprise with RZA behind the boards on five tracks), despite the commercial feel to the album as a whole. Also, despite a horrid cliché of rappers turning to softer songs with R&B support for singles (shown with the album’s track, “Never Be The Same Again” and “Love Session”) there is a good showcase of tight production. “Flowers”, which features Method Man, is a fast paced track with some clever lyrical delivery from both Ghost and Johnny Blaze. However, this is probably the only song on the album with no real meaning behind the lyrics, just basically a show off of the witty topics these two can bring to a listener (”… I’m what you get when that Absolute and Hennessey mix – Ultimate! Ultimate! – Wu-tang, my whole click – Ultimate! Ultimate!…”). “Theodore” hits ears like some hype storybook shit with some fast paced bells and even faster paced lyrics. This track and “Strawberry” are the two sickest tracks on the album, I felt. “Strawberry” comes with the same kind of fast paced production, as “Theodore”, but the hook in this song is just straight ridiculous. “Forest” should not be left unheard either, though. This song also has that storybook type feel to it, especially with the deranged perspective Ghost puts on all the old school children’s stories he mentions (”…how was your day, have you seen the Prince? Haven’t seen him since he pushed Humpty, the Dumpty fell off the fence…”).

Some of the skits on this album had tighter beats then actual songs. For example, “Teddy Skit” had some ill, slower, spaced out music going on with Superb reminiscing of the old days, holding down his mentor. Also, “Jealousy”, is a tight little interlude about… you guessed it… jealousy! The production isn’t as deep in this one, but the “jealousy” chants by the females over Ghost talking about how “…it can get you killed, shot…” is still attention grabbing enough to keep you from skipping this 55 second track.

Of course fellow Wu members lend their vocals on this album. Method Man comes through with a song stealing verse on “Flowers”. Also, this album basically features Raekwon on it, with “The Chef” appearing in almost half the tracks, similar to how Raekwon’s “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” featured Ghostface on half of it’s tracks. This album could have used more special guests from the original Wu, tho. I would have loved to have heard Inspectah Deck or GZA on a track or two on this album, rather then Ghost’s lackeys like Superb or slower paced guests like Carl Thomas.

The main problem with “Bulletproof Wallets”, is that it’s one of those albums that you have to listen to a couple times before you can get more then four songs to really grow on you. Too many songs, like “Maxine”, “Ghost Showers”, “Juks”, and “Hilton”, just don’t possess that attention grabbing production as tighter tracks on the album. And the tracks that suffer from this sleepy production, make Ghostface sound more annoying and complex with his lyrics, turning too many songs into tracks you’ll easily be able to fast forward through.

Also, Ghostface has never been considered an outstanding lyricist, even though some of his content is harder to figure out then what the song’s are actually called (given the fact that the track list on the cover of this album is completely wrong). Ghostface is one of those artists who has to let their delivery and approach grow on you, which is why I’d suggest copping his first two solo albums instead of this one. “Bulletproof Wallets” tries too hard to be a party album, but suffers from a lack of banging tracks you’d actually want people to groove to.

Bootlegging also was cast over this album like a black plague. There were so many potential songs that were really tight, but got cut from the album due to sample clearances at the last minute (which may explain why the cover has all the wrong tracks listed on it). You may want to check out some of these songs, like “The Watch”, “Good Times”, “The Sun”, and “Ice”. If these songs could have replaced the weaker points of this album, “Bulletproof Wallets” could have easily been the hot banger of the year.

Overall, this is a solid album. At first listen, you can tell for the most part that this is more up-beat compared to his last two albums. The production is really tight on a lot of songs, and lyrically – well, you just have to feel Ghostface to begin with to like him. If you’ve never heard him before, I’d definitely recommend picking up his first album before this. But, “Bulletproof Wallets” is definitely an album not to be overlooked, especially for those devoted Wu-Tang fans. And next to Masta Ace’s “Disposable Art”, “The Blueprint”, and “Stillmatic”, this could possibly be the hottest commercial album to drop in 2001.

Ghostface Killah Bulletproof Wallets review

Cappadonna – The Struggle review

After hearing his classic verse on Ghostface Killah’s “Winter Warz” many hailed Cappadonna as the next great emcee to come out of the Wu camp. Oh how they were wrong! Even though his debut album “The Pillage” went gold and featured some

standout songs, the rest of Cappadonna’s career mirrored a Shakespearean tragedy of sorts. Which eventually lead to the emcee having to live on the streets and work as a taxi cab driver just to make a living. And as Cappadonna tries to get his life and career back together, his newest release, aptly titled “The Struggle” fails to cast any light on a dark career.

Lyrically, all glimpses of Cappadonna during his “glory” days are gone. Cap has suffered a monumental let down in his lyricism, thus making most of the material on the album a “struggle” to get through. The production aspect doesn’t help either, as the album’s horrible production is dated, stale and simplistic. Tracks such as “Broken Glass”, “Pain Is Love”, “Struggle With This” and “Life Of A Lesbo” are all but unbearable to listen to. And if the lyrics and production weren’t bad enough, tracks such as “Cap Is Back”, “Do It” and “I Don’t Even Know You” feature some of the wackest hooks ever created by man. Even the group collaborations of “We Got This”, “Power To The Peso” and “Money, Cash, Flows” fail, due to the same reasons.

However, somehow stuck in between the disasters mentioned above, comes a couple of really solid songs that manage to display that vintage Wu-Tang sound. “Killa Killa Hill” featuring Raekwon, finds the two emcees locked up over a dark, haunting beat that is reminiscent of Cap’s earlier days. “Role Of A Lifetime”, “Blood Brothers” and “Get Away From The Door” featuring Inspectah Deck also offer the same gritty vibe, no matter their lack in lyrical excellence. The only time we get a little variety on “The Struggle” is from the soulful vibes of “Mamma”. Cap dedicates the track to who else but his mother, as he runs through his struggles growing up. The nice soulful sample adds even more emotion to the track, making it a success. No matter Cap’s lyrical blunders and questionable lines like “she taught me how to love woman and pop their cherry”.

Unless you are a diehard Wu fan, “The Struggle” should be avoided at all costs. It’s sad to see a promising career falter the likes that Cappadonna’s has. But in the end he can only blame himself and just wonder “what could have been”.

Note : ‘Manchild’ was recently released, but Virgin Records had it pulled off shelves claiming that Shyheim is still under contract with them and is unable to release material on Wu-Tang Records. It’s unknown when the LP will be properly released again.

A few years ago it seemed we never got enough Wu-Tang related product, they always seemed to drop a small amount of the albums promised but since we hit 1999 its like anything with the Wu-tang logo is dropping every other week. So this fortnight it’s the turn of Shyheim to drop his 3rd album, yes number three, while core Wu members have only reached their second album this Wu-fam member is hitting 3rd base.

For those of you who were taking hits of ya hip hop 5 long years ago in 1994 you’ll remember this lil 14 year old kid who was down with the Wu, he was Shyheim AKA the Rugged Child. If you checked his debut you’ll know it wasn’t bad, he had some nice production on tracks like ‘Here come the horns’ and ‘On and on’ and although his voice hadn’t broken he showed some maturity. A few years later his second album was received with mixed reviews, but it did bring us the lil Wu-Tang epic that was ‘Young Godz’ and the very good ‘What makes the world go round’. Now ever since we heard Shyheim on ‘Soul in the hole’ and ‘Co-defendants’ we realised he had come of age, not many child stars make it into their prime before they are abandoned by the fickle industry. Shyheim has stuck with it, polished his style and honed in on his skills, no longer the rugged child he is ‘Manchild’.

This album is really gonna be Shyheim’s major attempt at most hip hop fans taking him seriously and not as a novelty act anymore so the album blasts open with ‘I declare war’. A lil manic piano production gives Shyheim that energy to spit lines of fire and serves as a reintroduction to Shyheim as an adult. His skills have improved, we all know in his younger years he could break down scenarios vividly and he continues to do this on ‘Crime Story’ and the title track ‘Manchild’. This is one of the album’s most powerful tracks as he breaks down what he’s gone through over the years and how he’s tried to keep his head up. Tekeitha adds a haunting hook to the very dope Spanish guitar loop.

He doesn’t rely heavily on his infamous 8 man associates but Method Man joins the album for ‘Am I my brothers keeper’, a dose of Wu isn’t just brought with his verse but the Oriental beat accompanying this track touches back to the original Wu sound. He even adds an eastern feel by sampling Brian Mcknights ‘I belong to you’ on ‘One life to live’, which takes the original mellow love track and thugs it out.

‘Furious Anger’ is one hell of a song, not only does it establish a great connection between 2 emcees it reminds us once again that the road Big L would have traveled a prosperous road if he hadn’t met his untimely death. Riding an ill loop, the 2 go verse for verse with interwoven samples from Samuel L. Jackson’s infamous ‘Pulp Fiction’ quote.

If I’m gonna talk about the low points, well first off I was surprised how short it was, the 13 full tracks are only around the 45 minute mark, but its quality that counts right? . That’s true but some of the tracks go back to the sound that he displayed on ‘Shit Iz real’ which was directed towards the radio play but he seems better and more comfortable with what he does best on tracks like ‘I declare war’ and ‘Furious anger’. Examples of average tracks come in the form of ‘Unconditional Love’, which is dedicated to his Mother, its not that bad but its no ‘Dear Mama’. ‘Twin Glocks’ is also disappointing, as its lackluster production just drowns Shyheim out. I couldn’t wait to get to the end of the album to hear ‘Cease-fire’ which is subtitled as Wildflower 2000, now we all know how amazing Ghostface’s take on this was but not only does the lazy production (Courtesy of who I think is RZA) take it down but Shyheim just seems like he can’t be bothered to put any effort into it.

Overall this is a very decent album and definitely worth picking up. Maybe it was the move from Virgin to Wu-Tang records, great production, or maybe its just Shyheim’s maturity in voice, flow and lyricism but ‘Manchild’ is definitely his best album to date.

Shyheim – Manchild review

Classic Albums have always been hard to follow up, whether it has been with Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS One, Nas, A Tribe

Called Quest or Public Enemy. Somehow these artists get lost along the way either to commercial leanings, loss of focus or assuming they know what the fans want when they are far off the mark. The Wu have particularly struggled with this concept as evidenced with all the sophomore albums in their realm since ‘Enter the 36 Chambers’ and ‘Wu-tang Forever’. The last 3 years has seen a decline in the Wu’s popularity and belief that they could ever reach the heights of say ‘Cuban linx’ or ‘Liquid Swords’ but you have to ask which of the 3 reasons the Wu faltered with. With all the problems surrounding the group that have developed along with the original problem of getting 8 core members together the Wu needed to conquer this to come back with something that would rectify what could ultimately be their downfall. This truly began with the release of Ghostface’s ‘Supreme Clientele’ earlier this year with RZA reclaiming the boards and a hungry Wu dropping more Science than Steven Hawkin. As usual, anticipation has been high for the 3rd album from the Wu-Tang Clan, could hip hop’s dethroned super group reclaim that crown especially as ‘Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)’ significantly nodded to what the Wu used to represent, could we re-enter the 36 Chambers once again?

The Kung Fu samples implying danger begin the album like any Wu album should, in fact these snippets have been the glue that have held the past glories together as they create a seamless flow of music and atmospheric prelude to the next track. As ‘Chamber Music’ rumbles into position it strikes a chord as Meth announces in a Poltergeist mimicking tone “We’re Back!” and judging by this opener they truly are. The light cymbal flapping comes up nicely against the dark machine gun clapping and moody tone as Raekwon pounces with “Yo peep the jump off / ain’t nothin sweet get dumped off / frontin’ like you won’t get deaded and bumped off / drastic son master gunz that’ll run up and blast at onez / then go crash in the slums / one tight army few good men that’ll rep invade ya strongly….”. So all’s well and the albums underway but it quickly slows down with ‘Careful Click Click’ a Box cutter extravaganza dripped in dark wu-ness. Its basic construction is something that makes this track badly placed on this album as its sample makes the track hard to listen to waiting for it to go somewhere, but persevere and you will get there. If that put you off then you’re likely to have more trouble with ‘Let my niggaz Live’ with its minimalistic rumbling bass line and African drum pattern. As the Wu scramble to gain the belief of their fans again its Nas who really amazes us on this track as this one insightful verse returns the fallen emcee to where he should be with “I scream at the mirror cursed asking god why me? / run in the black church gun in my hand ya’ll try me / I’m god son, son of man son of Marcus Garvey”, Now lets get something like that in an album and I’ll be impressed. RZA is using unusual unorthodox drum patterns once again and although Redman teaming up with the Wu once more wasn’t what I hoped especially after hearing ‘Buck 50’ earlier this year it’s a solid track reinforced by the interruptions of a bongo break where you least expect it within the production. The lyricism is on point especially with Meth clowning with “In a room full of crackers I might cut the cheese”.

Masta Killa gets a solo cut on this album, sharing the light on the ragga Hook is Junior Reid for one of the albums best produced cuts ‘One Blood Under W’. The slow sleep inducing talking drone that Masta Killa has favored recently is replaced with his previous sharp flow but instead of giving Reid more time on the mic we could have had more variety with a verse by another Wu member, what about ODB? This is not a Wu album without Ol Dirty Bastard, the Track ‘Conditioner’ isn’t what we wanted cos it could have come from anywhere, an old ODB verse is paired up with Snoop Dogg, C’Mon! If Dirty is gonna only have one appearance on the album put him with the rest of the group, its something he’s been missing from for so long. Busta Rhymes returns the favor for Rae and Ghost appearing on ‘The heist’ with the excellent ‘the monument’ although Busta surprisingly eases in well to the Wu kingdom its GZA who does his old trick of stealing the show who shines over the interesting beat switching. What’s interesting about this beat is that although the same sample remains throughout its chopped up and looped in 3 different ways for each verse from Busta, Raekwon and the Genius.

‘Gravel pit’ has already met mixed responses but even though its not what we would have predicted its fast pace and flow of words from Meth, U-God and Ghostface under laid with that 70’s spycatcher type theme. Its this consistency we have been screaming out for and ‘Protect Ya Neck (the jump off)’ answers this to some extent as all 9 members (Cappadonna replacing ODB) get on the mic for a back to basics return to form with its ‘Tramp’ sample utilized as the perfect old school throw back we have demanded for eons.

The calculated complex mind of Rza is really missing on this album in the same sort of way that the antics of Ol dirt dog is left leaving an empty hole in what would usually be a complete package. His verse on the apocalyptic ‘Jah World’ is far too short and just gives a snippet into the head of the Wu’s strongest link. You are ultimately left wanting more and even though this is usually the mark of a great album, with ‘The W’ it’s a trait of something being left out. This is not one of the LP’s of the year and it is far off the best Wu project, but it is a good album and showing an improvement that could result in album number 4 being the product we really wanted, just too bad we will probably have to wait another 3 years for that.

Wu-Tang Clan – The W review

‘Slam’ – the film. Can someone inform me of the plot because I’m clueless about it. Anyway I’m not a film critic. ‘Sex, Money & Drugs’ by Big Punisher featuring Next begins the soundtrack for us. The track isn’t too bad however it seems that Pun isn’t as enthusiastic as he usually is when he raps, a line which stuck in my mind was “Orally remove your Tampax” I mean Pun we know you ain’t a player and you just ‘crush’ a lot but really do you wanna be doing that? Anyway, seeing as this is a soundtrack and there are various artists, I’m gonna give you roughly a blow by blow account.

Highlights -
The Goodie Mob featuring Esthero track ‘The World I Know’ is a track which most of you will dislike, I can say that with very little doubt in my mind. However, I thought it was good. I think Goodie Mob are brilliant and Cee-Lo has a great voice.

‘Thug Poetry’ is really nice when it comes to beats and lyrically it is quite good too surprisingly but still CNN were really dope so, maybe Noreaga is becoming like he used to be once again.

I have to say that ‘Hey’ isn’t too bad, as always Q-Tip is very mellow on the cut but still that’s what we all love about his style isn’t it ?

‘Sellin’ D.O.P.E.’ by Dead Prez, kind of relaxed beats and rapping with a nice Nate Dogg style chorus makes this some sweet ish.

‘Time Is Running Out’ Brand Nubian. Dope. That’s all I have to say about that track. Plainly and simply dope! Their back and hopefully they’ll stay like this doing some phat cuts here and there, I’m glad to say that their reunion was a very, very good idea.

‘Take A Walk In My Shoes’ Flipmode Squad, I seem to be feeling everything they put out so I’m kind of annoyed that their album didn’t sell as much as it should have but that’s life. This track describes basically how they live etc. and it is done over some dope cuts, the track features Busta Rhymes, Spliff Star, Rampage, Baby Sham and Rah Digga unfortunately Lord Have Mercy isn’t here but the others perform really well to compensate for it.

‘Ocean Within’ KRS-One with Saul Williams, now this is a cut which you can be proud of, it isn’t one of those tracks that you will love to dance or bop your head to but it’s a lyrically dope track, Saul Williams flows well, KRS does the same as always. Saul sings and he (if you listen carefully) can evoke deep thoughts with this.

Lowlights – ‘I Dare You’ to go away from me, please! I have to say that I have liked Black Rob since day one but that singer that sings “I Dare You” has one of the worst voices I’ve heard, I hate it and I repeatedly find myself skipping that track due to him. And don’t get me started on ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ by Most Wanted featuring Pras and the Product – remember I said don’t get me started therefore meaning the track is wack.

‘The Park’ Firstly I want to put a restraining on ODB and his mind, they both seem kind of messed up. This includes this track, him and Coolio. That was a big mistake, ODB is pitiful “Doin’ it at the park, doin’ it la la la, oh yeah” he wails out and his rhyme makes me feel sorry for the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan with having to be affiliated with him n’ all, and Coolio, sorry but you weren’t any better.

‘Feel My Gat Blow’ Mobb Deep. I feel that this set of beats mixed with Mobb Deeps lyrics makes it really hard to distinguish an opinion on, but in the end it has to be said that it isn’t what I’m used to, we all know that unless things are brilliant when they change that nobody likes change, and, this isn’t brilliant.

‘I Can See’ Tekitha featuring CappaDonna. Tekitha vs Blue Raspberry who would win ? Blue Raspberry of course, I really don’t like her too much. I have given what I’ve heard from her a chance even though she disappointed me every step of the way. And CappaDonna isn’t any good on this really either. So two Wu cuts on this CD and two weak ones at that !

‘Galactic Funk’ DJ Spooky, you’ve spooked me out with this, I suppose you want this to come off as a dope DJ cut well a DJ cut it is dope? I’m not too sure about that, good yeah but not well enough to be a highlight.

There are some samples off of the film too included on the CD but out of a whole host of potential perfection you get a little bit of actual perfection.

Various Artists – Slam OST review

Wu-Tang clan has been a giant force in hip-hop. Both of their group albums have gone platinum and all of their solo works have gone at least gold. Wu-Tang has the greatest following in the music world right now that anything that shares the Clan name sells. Every one in affiliation with Wu has had extreme success. Many have credited this following success and following to their main producer, RZA. He has worked on just about every Wu release to this date. This album isn’t exactly RZA’s greatest performances but his best beats.

Don’t expect any new material on this CD, there’s is nothing new here. The album serves as a taste of Wu-Tang’s flavor with 2 joints from ‘36 chambers’ and the most popular songs from the Wu solo cd’s. ODB is featured with maybe the 2 best joints from his LP ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ and ‘Brooklyn Zoo.’

RZA’s Greatest Hits contains popular posse cuts from solo lps/soundtracks for example, Ghostface’s ‘Winterwarz’ and Raekwon’s ‘Ice Cream.’ RZA is rarely featured on his own wax. He only appears on 3 songs out of the 18.

This CD only really fails because their isn’t any new material at all. It will only really be beneficial to new fans of Wu-Tang. Every song on this disc is dope and are classics in my book.

If you would like Wu-Tang’s best spend 15 dollars and cop this. It would not be fair to call this RZA’s greatest hits when in fact it’s more of a Wu-Tang hit collection. Still a nice release for Wu collectors.

Various Artists – RZA Hits

It has been quite the saga, the Wu-Tang one that is. In ‘93 the Clan took the underground and soon, the mainstream rap

scene by storm. ‘36 Chambers’ still remains a heavily praised release, which many are compared against. But unfortunately, nothing can compare to it. The originality, and enthusiasm, which the release featured are pretty impossible to surpass. Over the next few years, people longed for a follow up. That came in ‘97 but had mixed reactions (I for one loved it though). Then, album #3, which was also received in different ways came in 2000, and shortly after the Wu present us with #4 – The Iron Flag.

Completely without ODB and noticeably also with CappaDonna, the Wu come through with 12 new cuts and a couple of interesting guests. The Trackmasters produced ‘Back In The Game’ features none other than Ron Isley on a track which as per usual we witness GZA rip. The other members suavely glide over the cool beat with Isley providing the hooks. There’s also the infamous Flava Flav on ‘Soul Power.’ The bumpy beat is well rode by the clan, U-God and Flava Flav perform the hook to a tee. My only problem with the track is the outro with Method Man and Flav going back and forth reminiscing over where their family reside. There’s nothing wrong with it, but the track would be better without it.

As per usual RZA whips up an assortment of creative beats. From the energetic ‘In The Hood’ we witness the many themes provided by the super producer. ‘Rules’ features a nicely scratched up introduction that isn’t a typical Wu-themed piece. The rhymes are nice, but not amazing. What makes this track appealing is the cool vibe provided by the Clan and Meth’s simple, yet amusing hook. Tracks like ‘Babies,’ ‘Y’All Been Warned,’ ‘Radioactive’ and ‘The Iron Flag’(the first half) are what make ‘The Iron Flag’ album so slick. They have a well-honed vibe, which draws your attention back to the Clan. The well-assembled tracks feature original beats and fitting rhymes.

I did have a couple of problems with the album though. The latter part of the track ‘The Iron Flag’ – ‘Da Glock’ I found boring. The beat is very bland, and the simple rhymes do little for me. And, the track ‘Dashing’ has a tacky feeling beat that made the verses fairly unappealing.

‘The Iron Flag’ as a whole features a nice assortment of fresh material, and of course, the priceless interlude samples from Kung Fu flicks. To all those who repeatedly state “The Wu fell off!” Here’s a little more material to disprove your idiotic statements.

Wu-Tang Clan – The Iron Flag review

It’s the album you’ve all been waiting for, four long years in the making and finally it’s here. You’ll find out how annoyed Meth

got with all the bugging around the album by listening to the many skits it has. One, which features Russell Simmons shout about Meth not releasing anything. Ed Lover and Donald Trump also get on some skits to moan or prod the Method Man to release some more sh*t.

I was one of the few who enjoyed the pre-album single ‘Judgement Day’/'Dangerous Ground.’ Most only enjoyed ‘Dangerous Ground,’ although he re-used his verse from the collaboration with Texas. I had high hopes for this album and on the whole my hopes were met. I am sorry to say (aimed only at Daz fans) that the original rumour that Daz Dillinger would be involved in production was wrong.

The actual album is flooded with guest appearances; from Left Eye to Redman, you tend not to find too many solo efforts here, however, in some aspects this is a good thing. Street Life, a Wu-Tang affiliated emcee puts in a load of appearances, some of which outshine Meth, most memorably so on ‘Grid Iron Rap.’

‘Elements’ features two guests, which you may not recognize; Polite and Star. Polite is a Wu-Tang affiliate that is always in the shout-outs but we never hear from him, in Polite’s case because he was in prison. Star is one of the members of the Shaolin Soldiers.

Diversity is here. ‘Break Ups 2 Make Ups’ features D’Angelo and is basically a ‘commercial’ rn’b cut with little cursing. We could have done without the woman bitching in the middle of the song. Another track, which stuck out was ‘Sweet Love.’ The track features CappaDonna and Street Life and in essence is a track about sex. No review of this album would qualify as a review without mentioning ‘Retro Godfather.’ This cut is one of the albums most original (beat wise) taking some 70’s style music and having Meth do his thing over it.

Although I got pretty annoyed when I kept hearing him re-using lines from other verses, this is an album which Meth will be compared to in future. Everybody knows he can rhyme, a definite purchase for Wu fans.

Method Man – Tical 2000 review

It’s hard to believe that its been a decade since we last heard Biggie Smalls and his notorious “Uh uhs” in real life. The memory of when I first heard the news is still vivid. My dad was over to take my sister and me for the weekend and I barely reached the kitchen when he told me that the Notorious B.I.G. was dead. To say the moment felt surreal would be understatement.

I just bought the recent issue of The Source the night before with Biggie on the cover and a great feature article where he talked about how he was coming back for his number one spot. My last thought before going to sleep was, he was coming back and no rapper could come close to stopping him. Everything about him seemed larger than life, the rhymes, the flow, the suits, the way he took care everyone, how personable he was on camera and then suddenly it all stopped.

“The Greatest Rapper of All Time died on March 9th”
-Canibus “Second Round Knockout”

People will debate who the greatest rapper of all time is until they are blue in the face, but everyone will agree that Biggie Smalls was the illest. It was an arduous task but I made a list of the ten best Biggie verses of all time. Some people’s favorites were left out, and I apologize. Biggie probably deserves three or four top ten lists. The hardest omissions were “Mo Money Mo Problems”, the storytelling verses like “I Got a Story to Tell” and “Niggas Bleed”, the sentimental “Sky’s The Limit”, the underrated “Everyday Struggle”, the cult classic “Last Days”, guest appearances like “Get Money” and “Benjamins”, and my favorite line ever from the track “Ready to Die” where Big rapped “I got techniques dripping out my butt cheeks / Sleep on my stomach so I don’t fuck up my sheets”.

10. “Flava In Ya Ear (remix)”

Memorable Lines
Niggaz is mad I get more butts than ashtrays

I see the gimmicks, the wack lyrics / That shit is depressing, pathetic, please forget it / Mad cause my style you admiring / Don’t be mad UPS is hiring

Comments
Whoever thought it was a good idea to start this posse cut mad a big mistake. Biggie stole the show and made the other rappers look average including the extra animated Busta Rhymes (and you know how I feel about the Dungeon Dragon and Posse Cuts). Craig Mack and Big put Bad Boy on the map and it was only fitting that they remixed (considering they invented the remix) one of their earliest hits.

9. 1st Verse “Long Kiss Goodnight”

Memorable Lines
I make your mouth piece obese like Della Reese

You know the rules / Went from BK to New Jeruze / Look at the planes we flew / Bitches we ran through / Now the year’s new / I want my spot back, take two

Comments
After his car accident, Biggie was hospitalized for a few weeks and watched a lot of movies. One of his favorites was “Long Kiss Goodnight” with Geena Davis and Samuel Jackson. He was often accompanied by his then girlfriend who was looking to become a rapper. Big suggested that she take the name of Geena Davis’ character in the movie, Charlie Baltimore. I did not include the verse because of the story but instead because of the hunger Biggie rapped with on the first verse. He was telling all other rappers that they were playing for second place.

8. 1st Verse “Dead Wrong”

Memorable Lines
Relax and take notes, while I take tokes of the marijuana smoke / Throw you in a choke gun smoke, gun smoke

I guess I was a combination of House of Pain and Bobby Brown / I was “Humpin Around” and “Jump in Around” / Jacked her then I asked her who’s the man; she said, “B I G” / Then I bust in her E Y E

Comments
Everything about this verse is aggressive including the way he delivered his lines. Biggie had pretty graphic and excessively violent lyrics but this could top them all. Some people may have problems with the content of his lyrics but those same people probably loved the Oscar winner for best picture, Martin Scorcese’s “The Departed”. He was not Mos Def or Chuck D but he was great at what he did.

7. 1st Verse “Kick In The Door”

Memorable Lines
Your reign on the top was short like Leprechauns / As I crush so called willies, thugs, and rapper dons

You should know my steelo / Went from 10 g’s for blow / To thirty g’s a show / To orgies with hoes I’ve never seen before

Comments
This was the only Biggie verse to earn The Source’s monthly Hip Hop Quotable. He was mad that Nas and Prodigy had gotten it three times each even though Biggie won Lyricist of the Year at The Source Awards. Although they were a little late, The Source finally rewarded him. At the time Nas was coming hard for the crown, and many (including Nas) believe that the song was a subliminal dis toward Nas, specifically the lines “MCs used to be on some buddy shit / Now they on some money shit / Successful out the blue”. It could also be directed at De La Soul and Trugoy who seemingly took a shot at him on “Stakes Is High”. Either way Big flexed his muscle over a signature Premier beat.

6. 1st Verse “Who Shot Ya”

Memorable Lines
Who shot ya? / Seperate the weak from the ob solete /Hard to creep them Brooklyn streets / It’s on nigga, fuck all that bickering beef / I can hear sweat trickling down your cheek / Your heartbeat sound like Sasquatch feet / Thundering, shaking the concrete

I burn baby burn like Disco Inferno / Burn slow like blunts with ya yo / Peel more skins than Idaho potato / Niggaz know, the lyrical molestin’ is takin’ place / Fuckin’ with B.I.G. it ain’t safe

Comments
Tupac dis? Biggie always denied it, but there are plenty of lines to believe otherwise (and Tupac certainly did). Regardless, “the lyrical molestin” was in full effect as the Notorious crushed every other rapper in his path.

5. 3rd Verse “Juicy”

Memorable Lines
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis / When I was dead broke I couldn’t picture this

Birthdays was the worst days / Now we sip champagne when we thirsty

Comments
The 1st verse arguably deserves to make the list as well, but I did not want to include more than one verse from the same song, so it can only earn an honorable mention. The first line is obviously dated but in 1994 if you had both Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis you were on top of the world. Not to mention being able to play Street Fighter II on an 80 inch screen like they do in the “Juicy” video. In the second line Biggie rhymes “days” and “thirsty” to put a cap on the rags to riches story. Who else could rhyme those two words? Just plain sick.

4. 1st Verse “Unbelievable”

Memorable Lines
Live from Bedford Stuyvesant The Livest one / Representing BK to the fullest / Gats I pull it bastards ducking when Big be bucking / Chickenheads be cluckin’ in my bathroom fuckin’

And those that rushes my clutches get put on crutches / Get smoked like Dutches from the master

Comments
Premier says that it was actually Biggie’s idea to sample an R. Kelly song to create the beat just like Jay-Z suggested to 9th Wonder when he produced “Threat” for The Black Album. It was also the first song played from The Ready to Die album on NY radio stations. After doing “Party and Bullshit” and plenty of guest appearances Biggie announced his arrival with lyrical prowess and intimidation not heard since Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap.

3. “Notorious Thugs”

Memorable Lines
Armed and dangerous, ain’t too many can bang with us / Straight up weed, no angel dust, label us Notorious / Thug ass niggaz that love to bust, it’s strange to us / Y’all niggaz be scramblin, gamblin / Up in restaurants with mandolins, and violins / We just sittin here tryin to win, tryin not to sin / High off weed and lots of gin / So much smoke need oxygen, steadily countin them Benjamins

Comments
When I was asking my friends their favorite verses from Biggie this was always the first or second one mentioned. Usually I have hard time understanding the words in a Bone Thugs and Harmony song but Big completely adapted to their style and delivered, arguably, his most memorable verse. No one could switch their style as effortlessly as the Notorious B.I.G.

2. 1st Verse “Victory”

Memorable Lines
Rhyme a few bars so I can buy a few cars / Then I kick a few flows so I can pimp a few hoes / Excellence is my presence never tense / Never hesitant leave a nigga bent real quick / Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike / Anyone – Tyson, Jordan, Jackson / Action, pack guns, ridiculous / And I am quick to bust if my ends you touch

Comments
The Rocky sample probably helps, but the verse has an epic feeling to it like a Jerry Bruckheimer action scene. Not only did Biggie write Puffy’s lyrics for the song, but he also went into the booth and recorded the vocals. All Diddy had to do was repeat what Biggie was saying in the same he was saying. This should have been on Life After Death as a solo song.

1. “Freestyle at MSG” w/ Big Daddy Kane, Scoob, Shyheim, and Tupac

Memorable Lines
I got 7 Mac-11’s / About eight 38s / Nine 9s, 10 Mac Tens / The shit never ends / You can’t touch my riches / Even if you had MC Hammer and them 357 bitches

Oh my God I’m dropping shit like a pigeon / I hope your listening / Smacking babies at their christening

Comments
The first few lines showcase Biggie’s one of a kid wit. After using four gun references, he quickly jumps to his “riches” and then brings it all together with “MC Hammer and them 357 bitches”. Hammer was the first rap to really become rich. With all of his money he put on ridiculous stage shows including female dancers called 357. At the same time Biggie was talking about guns again because of the 357 Magnum and “hammer” being another term for a gun. Listen to the crowd after he finishes that line because they go absolutely crazy.

Notorious B.I.G. – Top 10 Biggie Verses