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REVIEW:
Overall Rating:
 
Lyrics:
Beats:
Written By: A to the L [www.altrap.net]
Eleven
years from the beginning of Wu-Tang Clan's legendary assault
on Hiphop, the forgotten man of the Clan, Masta Killa
finally drops his debut solo release. While all the other
members went for theirs' capitalizing on and (in some cases)
more recently living off the initial acclaim their Wu work
created, Masta Killa for one reason or another never made it
out, with his long-promised solo effort. Its hard to argue
with the theory that no matter how good this album may be,
it will struggle to sell because of Masta Killa's not only
due to the lack of a promoting angle (where Rae was the one
with the intricate rhymes, Meth was the lovable ladies man,
ODB was the crazy one, etc... Masta Killa was just... Masta
Killa ), but also because its generally agreed that
Wu-Tang's train has left the station - the iron grip they
had on the industry has turned into little more than a
feeble pinch, and they really have no relevancy as a unit
anymore.
Despite this Masta Killa, as seems to be his task in life,
has struggled to finally push "No Said Date" to the masses,
even taking a tongue-in-cheek shot at the label politics
he's continually fought against with the title of his debut.
"No Said Date" is also probably the closest we'll get to
anything to a new Wu-Tang Clan album too as it features
guest appearances from Rae, Ghost, Meth, RZA, U-God, GZA and
Deck. With rumours of internal strife between U-God and RZA,
and minimal Wu fam cuts on recent albums (Meth, U-God, and
Ghosts are all low on other family member appearances), the
chances of an REAL Wu-Tang Clan album being released any
time soon, are similar to the chances of George Dubya
finding WMD's in Iraq. In fact Georgie Boy will probably hit
paydirt long before we see the Clan go back in the studio
together.
However, don't think that everyone put their differences
aside just to go back in the studio and help MK get his shit
together - popular rumour has it that the Masta has been
sitting on the majority of these tracks for 8-9 years, which
may well explain why a lot of them sound like vintage
Wu-Tang clan songs, with every member hungry to impress on
the mic, and the
didn't-know-you-missed-them-till-you-heard-them-again karate
samples sprinkled through the mix.
'Grab The Microphone' opens things up with a simple rolling
loop and sparse synths supporting a 50 Cent-ish sounding
Masta Killa as he spits. Instantly the major problem with MK
on the mic resurfaces - his lack of charisma is a major
failing. He may well be spitting the same clever metaphors
and similes wrapped up in Eastern mysticism that the GZA
often comes with, but his vocal tone rarely changes from the
monotone drawl, liable to leave a listener tired at the
conclusion of the track.
With RZA behind the boards though, you're at least
guaranteed some switch-ups in sound and tempo that weren't
present on the Brock-produced opener. The title track takes
things to a new level, with a quick groove interlayed with
flutes and live-sounding percussion inspiring Masta Killa to
modify his flow a little to lose some of the blandness,
while the later 'Old Man' (the first single) sees MK
bouncing off RZA rhymes and the unpredictable behaviour of
ODB over a Meters-ish backing track. 'School' meanwhile
jumps all over the place, as many a RZA track tends to do,
with a menacing heavyweight drum track awkwardly supporting
Masta Killa's reminisces of lunchroom rhyming, before a 100
mile-per-hour tempo shift, sees RZA machine gunning verbal
bullets over a rapidly sped up soul horn sample.
Elsewhere, its Wu-Tang production affiliates True Master and
Mathematics who hold down the majority of the boardwork with
stunning results. 'Last Drink', 'D.T.D.' and 'Whatever' are
shining examples of how Mathematics has expertly picked up
the production techniques RZA has shared with him. 'D.T.D.'
and 'Whatever' especially stand out, with Masta Killah
unsurprisingly being pushed into the background on the
former track by the "Cuban Link"-era chemistry of a cool
Raekwon, and an animated Ghost, as Math roughly loops a
familiar Otis Redding sample, while on the latter,
Mathematics beautifully-constructed soul sample is ripped
vintage Wu style by MK, Prodigal Sunn and Streetlife.
True Master meanwhile favours more hard edged beats -
'Secret Rivals' is little more than a stuttering drum track,
but somehow the combination of MK, Killah Priest, and a
pre-gassed up Method Man pull off the feat of making the
shit sound dope; 'Queen' is built around a chopped up drum
sample of Mtume's 'Juicy Fruit' and a breathy female vocal,
as Killa drops his ode to the Earths. Its 'Silverbacks' that
should get Wu fans salivating though, with the
everyone-at-their-peak combination of MK, GZA, and Inspectah
Deck destroying True Master's bluesy backing track, as they
spit the urban science that we've been missing for so long.
The three other tracks here produced by 'outsiders' are a
mixed bag - the futurisic Choco-produced 'Digi Warfare'
continues (or precedes depending on what you believe) the
Bobby Digital theme inspired by RZA, who appears on backing
vocals here along with U-God (though I can't hear Golden
Arms here for the life of me.) Sandwiched between 'Secret
Rivals' and 'Old Man' though, it sounds decidely average.
'Love Spell' sounds like its been tacked on at the last
minute for the ladies, with Dave West's thick bassline
limping along underneath Killa's uninterested flow and a
sickly vocal hook. The final track 'Masta Killa' at least
tries to fit in with the theme of the rest of the album,
with producer Baby Dooks bringing an grandly oriental theme
to the table. Again though, perhaps because it ain't a true
Wu-family cut, MK sounds a little below par on his mic
performance.
Overall, this is a solid album. The whole Clan appear at
various points throughout, and its obvious that there's a
chemistry on the cuts where they share mic time.
Production-wise, the RZA, True Master, and Mathematics cuts
are as close to classic Wu-Tang as you're liable to get
these days. The only drawback is Masta Killa's flow which at
times does seem a little one dimensional, and its at these
times that you can't help but feel that there was a reason
he was left to the bottom of the pile when release date
after release date passed. However on the flip side, though
as Guru said "its mostly the voice", if you can look beyond
how he says and more into what he says, you'll be pleasantly
surprised by lyrics awash with detailed thoughts and imagery
that draw influences from not just all the good points of
other Clan members, but from modern history and science
teachings, current affairs, and biology and chemistry texts
- be prepared to learn something by the end of this album!
You could do much worse than give "No Said Date" a chance -
Ghostface efforts aside, this is the only relevant Wu-Tang
album to have dropped in the last 4-5 years, and musically
it should be an automatic choice anyway.
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