Please keep in my mind that this could actually turn into more of a super long question than a blog. Soooo the almighty W is set to release their 6th studio album soon. (TBA) Now like a lot of heads, I'll be checkin' for that shit as soon as it drops. I mean we wouldn't be "real" heads if we didn't right? Gotta keep it trill I always say. My question to you is, do you REALLY think it's going to be at all close to your expectations? I guess that depends on your personal expectations but come on, it's the fucking WU!
Let's start by asking what is the single greatest piece in their catalogue? Some will say "36 Chambers son! No Fuckin' Doubt!!" Some will say, "Forever was their most complete album to date!" In my opinion, any other answer would be proof of your ignorance....but that's MY opinion. Personally, 36 Chambers is my favorite album but I would say Forever is a "better" piece. Now this leaves us with "The W", "Iron Flag" and the controversial "8 Diagrams". Let me admit first and foremost that I went out and bought every one of these with my eyes wide shut. (with the exception of 8 Diagrams in which my homie Rob got me for my birthday..shout out Rob) They weren't terrible records but they were NOT good records. They WERE mediocre records with really good songs, but that's all I can give them. Now I know there are those cats out there that will say, "Merse! What in the Fuck?! You dissin' the Wu like that?!" Nope, not dissing, evaluating. You can ask me a million times who my favorite rap group of all time is and I will say 999,999 times Wu-tang. I can't promise I wont have one drunken moment were I'm yelling out Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. This brings me to my next question. Are they really better as an actual studio group OR a conglomerate of incredible artists?
Whether it's the RZA as one of the most successful producers of all time, Method Man's crazy dope styling, Rae and Ghost's amazing joint/solo endeavors, the forever lasting impression of ODB's lyrics that are still stuck in our brains(Heyyyyy...Dir-tayyyyy), GZA who always spits it timelessly or just a good ol' Wu-affiliates grimy ass track that we never can quite remember what CD it's off of, it's undisputed, this is the crew of all crews! But is that it? Is That how we should look at the "Best" hip-hop group of all time? Is that blasphemous?
My favorite emcee in the group is by far Raekwon. Dude's lyrics can make a petite white girl feel like slippin' on a pair of Wallabees and diving face first into a mountain of coke. I think Meth is probably the most accurate rapper in and out of the pocket, not to mention the most commercially sound. Ghost is the freshest. GZA is the thinker. INS is the undercover city guy. ODB is the bastard plain and simple. RZA is what you make of him lyrically. The others FOR ME kinda fall by the wayside but not because they're unmentionable, but they are in just too great of company. So...we've acknowledged that some of hip-hop's greatest solo artists have come from this one group. Does that really make them the best group? Is it enough of a debate for me to uproot my entire belief system and say that they just might not be? Hmmmmmmmm. Not yet...not yet. So let's just all get way too excited for their next album with the hopes of being pleasantly blown away, enjoying all the solo joints in the meanwhile. Just remember to protect ya neck.
Wu-tang Forever.
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