U-God's Resume #1: "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"

U-God's Resume #1: Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber

--Official Stats--
Artist: U-God
Song: Intro to "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
Album: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Release: November 9, 1993

So, I’m going to use this blog to examine the career of one of the most disrespected members of the Wu Tang Clan: U-God.  I intend to look at his entire career, every single line, to answer this question: is the hate justified? Personally, I like U-God. He comes off especially well in interviews and he has a lot of memorable lines. U-God doesn’t get much love, but you have to remember who he is being compared to. I mean, he’s in a rap group that produced at least six hip hop legends: ODB, RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface.  The other three aren’t bad by any stretch: U-God, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck, they just haven’t achieved the status of the others in the general music community. No big deal.  I think all are dope.  But this is where you run into some debate: many people say that U-God is not dope. So I’ve decided to find out for myself. Line for line.

The first time we ever hear U-God’s voice is on Wu Tang’s 1993 debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”, a classic by any stretch. U-God is surprisingly absent from the album (thanks to the NY justice system) he was only able to contribute a few small sections: a song introduction (reviewed here), a short bridge, and a single verse.  His minimal participation at the foundation of the group (in the fan's eyes) might be part of the reason for the fan hate.

So we’ll look at the first time anyone ever heard his voice:

"Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"

This is about as small of a contribution as a person could make.  This classic song has a ridiculously long introduction (you remember: “Where my Killer Tape at?”) which features some of the clan chatting.  Even though I know this intro word for word, I’ve never really given it any thought other than the frustration I feel when I have to either listen to it or fast-forward through it to get to one of Wu Tang’s best songs.  So where is U-God?  Well, we hear Rae, Meth, and Ghost distinctly.  In fact, it is entirely their intro.  They say all of the memorable lines, and their charisma is allowed to take up album space for at least a full minute.  Well, deep into the talking we finally hear a low voice chime in…

Ghost: “The fuck you mean is he fuckin dead god? What kind of question is that B?What the fuck you think?...”

U-God: “Easy, easy, easy, easy, kid."

Ghost: “U-God, What’s up God, it’s the God, god, word is bond…”

Well, not much there.  U-God gets in a few more inconsequential lines, but it is absolutely nothing memorable.  Maybe the (really) deep voice is something to remember, I don’t know.  He sounds like their dad.  But this is extra confusing because Ghost calls everybody god in this intro.  There is no way to know that he is talking about U-God here unless you’re a Wu Tang expert. So we’ll have to let this one go without a grade. Nobody likes intros and U-God is practically nonexistent on here. 

U-God Score: NA/10
Impact on Rep (+, -, =): None

Next: U-God’s first verse in "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"

Hat from the "Winter Carpet" collection.

About this series: “U-God’s Resume" is a series of posts which looks at each line of U-God’s entire career to determine if his status as ‘wack’ is justified (as labeled by internet morons). I think it is not. U-God is dope. We'll prove it. Leave it to the Tort Team.