THE CONFESSIONAL: I Don’t Like Wu-Tang Clan As Much As You
They say confession is good for the soul. Today we offer another installment of The Confessional, an ongoing feature on Your Favorite White Boy, where your man B-Double will be confessing certain things that he would not dare bring up in the company of his hip-hop brethren.
Bless me Reverend Run for I have sinned.
It’s been 4 days since my last confession.
I know that I will be cast out from the ranks of hip-hop afficianatos, but its important that I offer this long-held confession: I’m not a real fan of the blessed Wu-Tang Clan. It could be the minimalistic, raw beats of the Rza, or the cerebral lines of the Gza or the general blandness of Inspectah Deck, U-God or Masta Killah alike – I just don’t feel them. Never have.
As you are well aware, Reverend, I have always taken much enjoyment out of hip-hop’s rich soundscapes and interesting flows – its never solely been about the skills on the mic for me. I have always gravitated towards the tracks crafted by the Dr. Dres, DJ Premiers and the Pete Rocks rather than the simplistic sound of a Mannie Fresh or the stripped down joints from the likes of Bobby Digital. The Wu sound never excited me.
I also appreciated but never completely got into the many rhyme styles of the Clan. Above average lyricists all, no question. But would I put any of them in the top 5? No – either as individuals or as a collective. Top 10? Nope. The cut “Method Man” was a great example. When that joint came out, everyone I knew was all over it. They were calling it one of the dopest tracks released. I was like “Huh? This thing? Nah. Sounds like a Casio and a bunch of MCs made a demo.”
Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect the crew from Shaolin. Back when they released Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) the NYC rap game was in the need of some new blood. At the time, all eyes were on the West Coast: Snoop and Dre were running things and while there were some dope releases from the east that year, nothing seemed close to putting the five boroughs back on top. Then all of a sudden, Wu-Tang took over and to a large extent brought it back to the essence: it was about hard beats and hard rhymes again.
It is also important to recognize the precedence set by the Wu in the deal they cut with their label Loud/RCA, which allowed each artist to sign solo deals with other labels. This, of course, highlighted the fact that each group member were strong in their own right.
In fact, as individuals artists, they fare better in my evaluation of them. I dug a lot of the solo material for Ghostface, Rae and Meth and I was thoroughly entertained by ODB, as everyone was. For me, the further each of them got away from the Rza in terms of style and content, the better I thought they were. I respect Bobby Digital’s business sense and overall vision which largely gave Wu its identity. But I just don’t feel Rza’s ish behind the boards or on the mic.
That’s great that Rza is a chess-playing dude who likes classic campy kung-fu movies, reads eastern philosophy and scores independent films. This is about hip-hop and the kind of music I dig. In fact, when the Wu was all over hip-hop, I couldn’t wait for a new trend to emerge.
This all doesn’t mean that I don’t bump Wu-Tang. “Shadowboxin’”, “Triumph”, “Ice Cream.” There is some good material, no doubt. But do I like them as much as the typical hip-hop head? Not a chance.
Forgive me, Reverend Run.
In the name of the God’s Son, The Father MC and the Holy Ghostface.
Tags: Ghostface Killah, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Rza, U-God, Wu-Tang Clan
