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REVIEW:
Overall Rating:
 
Lyrics:
Beats:
Written By:
The Reccollectah
When we recently interviewed
Bronze Nazareth, we grabbed the chance to ask about his
recording experiences with 60 Second Assassin : “Working
with 60 was dope. It was fun to see him go through these
songs and do his own thing...he knows where he wants to go
with a song and goes in with no filter. You can see the
family similarities and vibes off ODB coming from him. He’s
boundaryless … ”
Working with a boundaryless artist can be a bit of a gamble,
never knowing what the outcome will be: a hit or a miss .
All one can do is ( I guess ) just jump on board off the
rollercoaster and accept the ride will be adventurous, wild,
chaotic or absolutely unique . When you think of the late
ODB as the prime example , the hit or miss theory can be
perfectly illustrated with the “Return to the 36 Chambers:
The Dirty Version” on one side and “The Trials and
tribulations of Russell Jones” on the other respectively .
While still recording the album, 60 Second stated : “What
I’m trying to do is provide a vision to take the listener
somewhere that they aren’t being taken right now in music.
Check my history and check my status and you will recognize
from day one that 60 Sec and Sunz of Man have always taken
you to an uncharted and unexplored territory. With this
album, I’m gonna show you where I came from, where I’m at
now and where I’m going with this music to keep it forward
motion. Being a child from the sixties, my goal is to
integrate the classic Wu sound that fans are yearning for
while expanding upon the soul and jazz elements that came
out of the 60’s era”.
So after all these years of living in the shadow of more
prolific SOM members and the release getting frustratingly
delayed again and again, we finally get the chance to step
into 60 Second Assassin’s very own Chamber. Has this album
turned out a hit or a miss ? Is 60’s Chamber a remarkable
VIP room at the Hilton or rather a shabby little cabinet ?
Fingers crossed, as we step to the door and knock to get in
and find out . Let’s enter the 62nd Chamber, shall we ?
As the door opens, we get welcomed by the host himself with
“Words from the Assassin” surrounded by soft, atmospheric
strings and horns setting a very relaxed mood … showing
immediately what he had in mind when he was referring to the
soul and jazz from the 60ies. While we enter the room a very
recognizable kung fu sample lets us know it’s definitely on
for 60 Sec as he decides to serve us the perfect appetizer
with the very entertaining “Sword style”, produced by
upcoming talent Shawneci . Special mention goes to this cat
as he manages to capture the same feel and atmosphere of the
rest of the (Bronze produced) album. If you had no liner
notes, you’d never suspect this wasn’t also produced by the
Bronzeman. To make sure we realize straight away he wasn’t
just bluffing when he claimed he’d take us somewhere we
aren’t in today’s music , we then get smacked in the face
with three highlights in a row:
“M.O.A.N.” is any Wu fan’s wet dream giving us an impressive
Sunz of Man reunion over what might easily be called
Bronze’s best production of his entire career. Special shout
out to M-80 for making this possible as not many believed we
would ever get to hear Priest, Razah, Prodigal Sun and 60
Second Assassin kill the mic on the same track again. One of
the best tracks of the album, period. As if he’s only
getting warmed up, the Assassinator gets 12 O‘Clock,
Chi-King and long time associate Timbo King on board to
shine on the incredible “Clockz ’N Kingz” . When the guitar
and the saxophone start playing the intro , you think you’ll
be getting a first class, high tempo funk jam but after only
a few seconds the live band decides to switch the tempo and
redirect the riff towards an extremely addictive and
hypnotic musical feast while our SOM vet goes in full
throttle on the chorus:
“60 Sec. in your gut, what,
nigga, what ?
It's the last second, and who tears it up ?
The fuck, nigga, what? Save all that bluff
You're on life support, and I'm the mack truck“
Backed up by a saxophone
player who ‘s only mission seems to be to rip the shit out
of this track and some very refined and well placed guitar
playing, all MC’s jump in the booth like there’s no tomorrow
. Pure goosebumps all over when Timbo finishes his
impressive dart and the band decides to grasp for air for a
moment : Timbo’s final shout echoes from left to right in
the speakers , the sax stretches a final tone, the guitar
player plays a last chord and then for a few seconds you get
… silence … tension mounts as you just know/hope /feel they
are going to pick the beat up again . Then indeed the entire
band kicks it up again with 60 serving us the chorus again,
sounding as confident as he ever has … this is pure musical
magic that can only be achieved by the chemistry of real
musicians playing together and going for the thrill of the
momentum. Hopefully in a venue near you soon, as this is a
track that, when played live, could easily be turned into a
monster jam fest going on endlessly and keeping fans in a
frenzy.
After this instant classic we get the chance to settle down
a bit with the calmer but equally beautiful title track,
featuring Masta Killa , M-80 and Popa Wu.
Unfortunately the albums drifts away a bit in the middle
with the RZA produced “ Warzone” remix . This disappoints in
3 ways as 1) the sound breaks up the musical coherency of
the album 2) the track is actually an old track and 3) as
“remix” is a bit too big a word : only thing different is a
violin built break where RZA shouts out the 62nd Assassin
and leaves it just at that. Was it really necessary to put
this on the tracklist ? Think not. Next track “Cloud nine”
also seems a bit like a hit and miss , something they just
couldn’t get pieced together right . The intro takes too
long and could be left out easily. Even though 60 Sec is
known to cook up great hooks, he misses the ball completely
here as his chorus comes across forced and disturbing . Plus
at the end we get a Shabazz verse, something lots of fans
been looking forward to but unfortunately we only get an old
SOM verse , this way further feeding the “jigsaw puzzle”
feel. Although Razah and especially Son One come on point ,
they can’t really save this … a shame. Things luckily get
better with “No face” , a good track first heard on M-80’s
“The Academy” compilation. But as we already knew this one,
we need to wait a little longer to really get things going
again.
Luckily when the train starts rolling again, it heads
straight to “Paradise” , a melancholic treat to the ear with
both 60 and Kristina Green giving us beautiful hooks fitting
the soulful music perfectly. After which comes another
highlight with “Love burns” feat prodigal Sun and Wisemen
member Phillie. Things kick of nice with 60 going:
“I should have known from the
start, as long as we've been apart
Love can never love from a far
Too much absence can change direction and rod
Separation is world we facing, can you call on God ?
When your rib dial 9-1-1 same deck, different cards
We dealing in"
While Sunzini handles duties
on both the chorus and the second verse to great
satisfaction, it’s Phillie who nails it with one of the best
verses on this album, showing his enormous growth and
nothing but promise for the next Wisemen album:
Uh, I did a lot of dirt,
caught a few cases,
a true felon Been gelling since my youth stages
You name it I've done it and seen it first hand
My homie was murder in cold blood, it hurts man
After all I've been thru, I'm a smarter now
So rational, I'm strong for my daughter now
She's my universe, my earth evolves around her
Teaching the facts of life, prepare for the afterlife
Focus on what's important, money ain't everything
Make sure the man you choose presents you with a wedding
ring
Control your material lust
I look up her face would appear in the sun
Keep shining girl, your design is pearl
And diamond refined in a timeless world
Daddy's little princess, I meant it
Whatever you want, spend hours in the studio to get that
Had a dream, she lost me to the streets, and so I stopped
slanging
Became God's Son instead of Son of Satan
Virtue, marry the women that birthed you
Yeah, I came full of circle there's nothing I can't work
thru
And still the heat goes on
towards the end of this album with “The throne” and “Dead
flowers pt II” . Great music, quality features from Planet
Asia , C-Rayz Walz and Bronze plus perfect hooks make these
yet again very entertaining tracks. Special mention goes to
the hilarious chorus on the “Dead flowers pt II”
We round up things a little disappointing with the final
track “Fizza funky” . Although the production here is on
point and 60 holds his ground throughout his verses , the
chorus just doesn’t work for me and somehow wrecks the feel
of the song.
Final conclusion :
We all realize 60 second Assassin will never be the greatest
lyricist alive but luckily so does he, focusing on the hooks
, filling the tracks with his undeniable charisma and unique
vibe while cleverly dividing the lyrics between him and a
list of A plus guests . Bronze gets the best out of this
first time experiment on working with live band
instrumentation over his beats , resulting most of the time
in exactly what 60 asked for: warm soul and jazz music with
a Wu feel to it. Due to some hick-ups halfway and some
really disturbing hooks here and there , this isn’t what I
had been hoping for : a straight up classic album from start
till finish . But still this is a véry good album which any
self- respecting Wu fan should cop instantly as this will
give you guaranteed listening pleasure for years to come !
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