Vote Cappa 2012 (You Blew It): "Fire"

I DEMAND A RECOUNT! LADIES AND GENTELMEN OF THE SUPREME COURT: DECIDE THIS ELECTION IN THE FAVOR OF SIR CAPPADONNA.

YES. We're still doing this shit for some reason. Maybe because this song is fucking dope? You think? Hello. OF COURSE THAT'S THE REASON, FLAPJACK.

Look, we did a series of posts where we said we wanted Cappadonna to be President of the United States then we posted up one of his good tracks. We all had a good laugh and heard some good music. But the truth is that I really wanted Cappa to be president. I'm not a fan of any president ever and at least Cappa has good slang. The fucking guy called himself "C-Dipper the Skipper", and that's simply the best. Here's another great one. Plus it's got Masta Killa, who is one of the best in the Clan. Forget Method Man, move on from that (unless you like children's candy and shit beats)...This is where it's at.




See. Energy that. Two pros doing it big over a top choice beat.

FIRE SCORE 10/10

U-God's Resume #61, "Alwayz N.Y."

--Official Stats--
Artists: Mathematics feat. Masta Killa, U-God, Inspectah Deck, Buddah Bless, and Icarus Da Don
Song: "Alwayz N.Y."
Producer: Mathematics
Album: Love, Hell or Right (Da Come Up)
Release Date: August 26, 2003

I'm going to go nuclear on this track. I mean Batman's Dark Knight Rises nuclear. You know, Ka-Boom! SPOILER ALERT for Batman, I guess: there is a nuclear bomb and it blows Batman's socks off at the end of the movie. END SPOILERZ.

So anyway what does "going nuclear" mean? Well, I'm going to tear this track apart at an atomic level just to see what goes right (or wrong). I don't think I've ever heard this one before. But you never know. I might have heard it. I hear a lot of shit.

Also, ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT the name of this track makes me very nervous that this song will suck since it is a pretty played out concept. Not to mention that this track was somehow remixed for one of Masta Killa's albums, so let's just call this one X-TRA PLAYED SON. END BIAS SPOILER. Sigh. Let's check it out.
"Alwayz N.Y."

Some of my favorites together: Mathematics! Masta Killa! Inspectah Deck!! Just like old times! Except that beat isn't my favorite beat. It's got a repeating loop that stands out as not changing at all. How about a break beat? How about some scratching? No? Well then the beat is boring, and it makes the MCs work that much harder. Since the beat is bland the MCs have to bring the interest, and that's a lot of work and not really their job. It's a team effort and I think that Mathematics is the weakest link. Good-bye. What I'm saying is that the beat sucks.

So how does everybody do? Buddah Bless and Icarus Da Don are on here and I don't care to know who is who. They just sound normal. So we'll skip them.

Masta Killa is the first important one up. So def. This fucking guy can handle any beat. As long as he mentions "East New York" you know everything is right in the world.

Then we have Baby U (does he still go by that name?).

You want it rough? That Hellfire stuff?
Poisonous mics, yo make the party jump
Delicious, the funk, make your heart pump
Told ya, soldiers get over the hump
Your arms are too short boy you don't wanna rump
with U-God the grump, van, black truck
Ha, heavy on the grams, every man back up
Niggaz act up, let the style spin
This is Knockout Kings 2000 again
Let the style in for a few proud men
Clifton Project, rugged grain Shaolin
Women in the bed, wolves are fed
Same Wu Chamber that Bang Ya Head
Aim with the stainless, hang like dreads
Dirty at the game but the same celebs
I don't know. Was that good? It was okay, maybe too long? He should have ended it after the "soldiers" line. Then it would have been great.

Finally we have Deck who cannot come wack as a guest. And he does not.

IN CONCLUSION: This song has a loop so heavy that it weighs down the track like cement shoes. It sounds like a fake ass remix. No MC could save this beat. Deck and Masta Killa prove that by delivering decent verses and having them lost in the endless loop of crapola. U goes long and fumbles. Football.  

 

Track Score: 3/10

U-God’s Score: 4/10

Impact on Rep (+,-,=): None (nobody heard this)


Next Week: U-God visits his friend Tony Touch for a verse on "Rock Steady" from the Piece Maker 2. You won't even need to check out the post, I'm sure that song is in your collection and you listen to it all the time.

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.

U-God's Resume #55, "Uzi (Pinky Ring)"

--Official Stats--
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Song: "Uzi (Pinky Ring)"

Producer: RZA
Album: Iron Flag
Release Date: December 18, 2001{intro}

Hey now! This song isn't so bad! I remember it. Plus I remember that it had a video. So you know what that means? This is a VIDEO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Uzi (Pinky Ring)"

I guess I should start by saying that this is the first single off of the album, it's produced by the RZA, and it has a verse from every member of the Clan except for Cappadonna (who was in time-out for this album). The beat is pretty good. I mean, it's not vintage Wu (becasue it's got that polished sound that nobody wants to hear), but it's still a good beat. Plus the chours is okay!

Let's get it!

U-God starts us off talking over the intro:

"Yo...yeah. Don't erase none of that good shit in the beginning. Yo.. spill drinks on ya, get stank on ya. Yo.. yo.. pinky ring shit, yo. That pinky ring shit yo."


Then things improve greatly as the song jumps right into a verse. But in the video we're treated to embarassment as a shitty looking CGI bee flys around looking all cheap ass. Here we go again with something wack, the Wu just can't seem to get their shit 100% together.



High Tech Shit.


U kicks off the track with the first verse, and it's good:

"It's that pinky ring shit, the legend of masked kid
Shoot out the speakers when my guns get jurassic
Superbad, who am I? Dolemite classic
The vandal's back, hands on Angela Bassett
I handle my plastic, gunplay I mastered
No coke, dope mixed down with acid on record
Broken down and crafted in seconds
Lady's choice, the golden voice still peppered
Better, respect it, bitch believe
I pull rabbits out the hat, tricks up my sleeves
I air out the showroom, the shit can breathe
Fix your weave, behold my expertise"


What was the budget for this tin foil and marker sign? A MILLION WU DOLLARS?

Things are sounding so right. The "Guns get Jurassic" line is the shit. Shout to U. This is his second appearance on Iron Flag, and his second good verse. He's at 100% dopeness. But, yo, why is the video so wack? Another "club" video? Didn't the Wu just do that with that "Jump Off" bullshit? Plus, Wu music isn't exactly club music, right? It's introspective deep shit. Whatev. So U spits in his winter wear (hat and coat) surrounded by two ladies. Okay.





Somebody call a dentist.



Seriously, this video is just normal and boring AND CHEAP. So the CGI bee that nobody wants to see is back as the average chorus kicks in:

"I got my uzi back -- you dudes is wack, face it the Wu is back"

Was the uzi gone at some point? What do they mean by Uzi? Are they really rapping back with wack and back again? Ehhhh?

HAHhaa! Video art courtesy of Mrs. Dewey's second grade class.

Good old Raekwon is next. His verse is good too. But yo! Where did the money go for this video? Seriously. Rae is also with two ladies in the cheapest set I've ever seen.



It looks great. Nice job, set department.

Next we get the chorus again, then Ghost comes in. Because, of course, would RZA ever not put Rae and Ghost together? No. Apparently there is no other way to order the MCs. Lame. 



Poor Ghost. Mr. Killah, you're too good for this low budget shit. Especially when you bring one of the better verses of the song. Plus, shout to the RZA for the nice change up in the beat. If you close your eyes so you don't see the cheap ass videy, and just listen to the verse, the pain goes away. Weird.



The tradition of Wu-Violence against Women continues.



Ghost spits in a shitty looking "rich guy" apartment with "framed art" and everything. Also, two ladies, AGAIN. I guess it's the theme of the video. "Everyone will have two ladies and it will be great" - The Director.

Plus we get a new twist on the whole "Wu Tang Clan treats women poorly" routine, with Ghost pushing a dancer out of the way by the head (U-God is usually the one beating on the ladies, but the whole clan can do it too). Now all we need is RZA to give the finger and this will be a completely normal Wu video (lame).

Is this your card?

Chorus again. Then RZA stops in to drop science nonsense. But he doesn't get a cheap ass intro sign. Why not? Actually, the verse is fire and so is the segment in the video. Yo. When RZA calls out the playing cards and tosses them in the video, it was over. RZA wins (even though he only has one lady in his cheap ass looking office). 

Then, unbelieveably, things get even better (with the song anyway, the video is still cheap as hell), as Method Mad jumps in over a major change up on the beat and successfully follows RZA's dope verse.



Mad different methods to the way we make the nameplates

Things are very different for Method's segment. He gets a ton of ladies and a set that looks okay. I see who the star is. Plus, his verse is nice with that "same advice that I gave my wife...". Everyone is bringing their "A" game. And a quick calculation tells me that the last three guys are three of my favorites in the clan: Deck, GZA, and Masta Killa.





So Deck is next and of course gets the cheap ass sign treatment too:





Yep. It looks like shit, put it in the video



Deck get's to spit on another generic set, this time it's in a women's boxing gym. Neat. I've only seen that a hundred times before. But at least his verse is on the same level as everyone else - which is good.

Yeah, it is a women's gym, so what?

Hold up, Deck's lines are so good, as usual, that I have to call one of the out:"Creepin' through the states on V8's and 12's / My weight is held, fuck with me then brace yourself"

Masta Killa is next and he somehow escapes humiliation and doesn't get a cheap ass sign. His verse is fire from the first line: "This is grown man talkin, coward I split your head..."



Masta Killa's set: cardboard + 1 Lady



Fuck, Masta Killa is the best. His closing line is supreme:"Floatin' on the 95, sting like a killa bee / your hands can't hit what your eyes cant see..."

Then we have GZA to wrap it up...

You can see the fucking lines from the Sharpie.

Now, GZA does his thing and spits a well crafted verse. But I have to ask: what in the fuck happened to the GZA? He doesn't sound like one of the Clan. He doesn't have any energy, his verse sounds like it was recorded hundreds of miles away from everyone else, and he just is lacking. This was my favorite MC ever. Liquid Swords is my shit. This is not the guy from Liquid Swords. The shit sounds so forced, like he forgot how to spit raw and have fun. It's like he lost his heart. Wizard of Oz shit. 

I don't want to blast the GZA or his master status, but shit. I gotta call it how I see it.

IN CONCLUSION: What a cheap ass video. Crap. Garbage. Everyone delivers a good verse and despite having to deal with a cheap ass video. Skip the video, spin the song. Done. Oh, Masta Killa won best verse.

Track Score: 8/10 

U-God’s Score: 7/10

Impact on Rep (+,-,=): Improves

 

Next Week: On to the next one. Iron Flag's next U-God joint "One of These Days". I seem to remember that it's a good track too! Tune in!



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.

Get Lo like a Zombo

U-God's Resume #54, "Soul Power (Black Jungle)"

--Official Stats--
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan featuring Flava Flav
Song: "Soul Power (Black Jungle)
Producer: RZA
Album: Iron Flag
Release Date: December 18, 2001


HO-LY-SHIT. What a way to start Iron Flag - with the Flava Flav song. I know he's somehow related to someone in the Clan, but keep him off Wu Tang tracks. In fact, keep EVERYONE off. Wu Clan Only.


I like Flava Flav a lot. In fact, I think Public Enemy is a million times better because of him. But the Wu doesn't need a hypeman. They had ODB, but he was way more than a hypeman, he was one of the best MCs ever. Flava Flav is not...he is pure hypeman.


I already know that this song is torture and I hate it. But let's listen to it anyway. Why not?




"Soul Power (Black Jungle)"



We're greeted with a TERRIBLE BEAT, and I mean pure garbage with absolutely no redeeming quality. Then we have Flava's distict voice coming in loud with "Two thousand and two". So dissapointing. Then he says it like a hundred times. I get it: 2002! 2002! We'll all remember what year this piece of shit fell out of the Clan. This song is the opposite of everything that I love about the Clan. Maybe the lyrics will save it, right. Let's look past the beat and the Flav and check the content, son.


Flava Flav - Intro: Appalingly distracting.
Raekwon - talking over the intro: indistingusihable from the background noise.
Raekwon - first voice: Doesn't say anything worth listening to.
U-GOD - CHORUS -


It's soul power! (Two thousand and two!)
Soul power! (You know how we do!)
Soul power! (For you and your crew!)
Soul power! (Representin Wu!)
Soul power! (You know how we do!)
Soul power! (Two thousand and two!)
Soul power! (For you and your crew!)
Soul power! (Representin Wu!)



WHAT THE FUCK? Who in the fuck wrote that shit? FUCK! Who thinks that U-God repeating the same two words over and over makes a good chorus? Raise your stank hand! Apparently someone does becasue it keeps happening. Again and again? FUCK! Listen, first of all that's a lazy ass chorus. It's a waste of EVERYONE'S LIFE. Second, the Wu has already done the "repeat one of U-God's words" chorus a bunch of times. It's not played out becasue it never had play - it SUCKS HARD.

Seriously, a BULLSHIT chorus with amateur elementary raps over a festering shit beat? WHERE IN THE FUCK IS THE WU THAT I SIGNED UP FOR?


Well, Masta Killa is next and that guy has the talent to turn this trashit around. That's right, I combined Trash and Shit into one word. Fuck it! Nobody cares anyway.


Masta Killa - Verse Two: Thank God, a good verse. Masta Killa, I owe you one. You deserve better than this beat.
Ghostface - Verse Three: Just a normal verse, which is kind of amazing considering how bad this beat is.
U-GOD - Verse Four: (We'll look up the lyrics later). So how did our boy do (if you ignore him fucking the chorus up)? THE BOY KILLED IT. Yo. That's a dope verse. The best of the song! And It's a long one! So this is the fucking song that U decides to bring a hot verse. Fuck, it's a mixed up world. Fuck it.


"Line Cadillacs to blocks, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx
Jukebox records, flatfooted cops
Get automatic systematic jumpin in your socks
Mama's apple pie in the park hopscotch
Reunited on the radio, Wu-Tang superb
In the sprinklers girls double-dutchin on the curb
Sinatra, the pop the Jackson 5 recordings
Uptown Saturday, "Cotton Came to Harlem"
Ringmaster circus was, Bailey and Barnum
Crack a Coca-Cola, summer heat was my boredom
Dr. J before Jordan, Al Green on the organ
When Rerun did the dance, the whole world saw him
The blackout fears, Foxxy Brown, Pam Grier
Ford motor gear, your life and times queer
"Smokey the Bear", Burt Reynolds gray hair
Throw 'em some gems, throw up your fists and say yeah, it's"

METHOD MAN / FLAVA FLAV- outro: BULLSHIT. They're family. Reunited. So sweet. Vomit. I hate this so much. Hate. Dispise. Vomit.

IN CONCLUSION: Flaaavaaa Flaaaaaaav ruinnnnnnned thissssss ssoonnnnnnng. So did RZA. I say skip it forever. Maybe pull out U's verse and Masta Killa's verse, and maybe Ghost and put it on a good beat and forget that chorus and then you'd have something. Otherwisee, U-God's journey into Iron Flag territory is off to a bad start, and it's not even his fault.

Track Score: 2/10

U-God’s Score: 7/10

Impact on Rep (+,-,=): Ruins. Nobody could love this song, not even it's mother.

Next Week: Iron Flag rolls on with the last Wu song with parentheses in the title: "Uzi (Pinky Ring)". I hope it's better than this shit (it is).



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.

Album Review: Killarmy "Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars"

Best Friends Camping Trip 1995

Hey Neighbor!

Killarmy, right? Those guys. Known for rotten beats, clunky lyrics, and lots of terrorism. And also known for nobody knowing about them. Except me. I even know that they are from Ohio! #Salute? Definitely.

I don't really want to review this album because I don't really like it. SPOILER ALERT: It's too much Killarmy. It's an overdose. I appreciate it, and I like some of the songs, but nothing here has ever made it into my regular rotation. So why am I reviewing it? Because it sets up my all time favorite hip hop album: Killarmy's "Dirty Weaponry". That's right friends. I like "Dirty Weaponry" better than "Illmatic", better than anything from the Wu, better than anything else period, and I have liked it the most for years. It's a fantastic album. If it were a cookie, your grandma would have made it. THIS ALBUM, on the other hand, would be like one of those giant cookies that you see at the mall. One bite is okay, but the shit is too big!

TOO MUCH!

So I'm not a fan of this album or it's long ass title. In fact, way back in 1996 I picked up the single for "Camouflage Ninjas" and "Wake Up" based on the Wu name alone and I was very disappointed. I thought both songs were low quality and had no real connection to the Wu (except that "Wake Up" was produced by the RZA) . I thought this was a "talented famous people hooking up their less talented family" situation, and I was right. (Except for the "less talented" part, but I didn't know that at the time).

I thought "Wake Up" was a much stronger song, even though "Camouflage Ninjas" has the Raekwon sample. Both songs have good beats, but Ninjas sounds like amateur night lyric-wise, "Wake Up" is just too raw lyrically . . . but it has an amazing beat. But the major problem with both songs is this: they're boring. I can't nail down the reasons exactly,every element is there, but the lyrical delivery gets old quickly and the shit gets monotonous. In the end, I didn't listen to the single many times and I forgot about Killarmy entirely, until I noticed the whole album had dropped and proceeded to buy it.

I was not impressed. Actually, it was more hit-or-miss. Some of the beats were slamming and all the samples were amazing, but none of the songs were that great. I think the boredom that plagued the single was present on every song. It was difficult to sit through the album, and if you tried to listen to this shit on headphones, you'd be bored out of your mind.


Like I said, the album did have some good things going for it: I really appreciate the military theme, and all the calling out of wack rap. It hate wack rap, and calling it out is what I look for in good hip hop. I think that's the only reason that I bought the follow-up album. But it only goes so far on this one, and while I think almost every song on here has something going for it, none of them could be considered great. So I'm going to do my least favorite thing and review this album track by track. Mainly because I want to highlight the good in the album. So here we go...I'm sure I could review every track by saying "Boring. Good beat. Great sample." So just assume that unless I say otherwise.

1. Dress to Kill
Boy, this intro sounds strange today, Killarmy starts off by using a sound bite describing terrorists, only they are using it to describe themselves. That's another defining attribute of Killarmy that I guess I forgot to mention: they really set themselves up as a terrorist group. Which was kind of okay since it was before 9-11 and nobody really thought about that stuff.


What about this track specifically? The beat is fantastic. 4th Disciple just killed it, and I'll make it known that he is actually a member of Killarmy, not just a random producer. So that's a plus to have a producer as a member of the group. And a good producer at that. The core of his beat sounds like something out of 1950's pop, but then it's got all these crazy Wu layers of rawness. Then it's got sirens, gunfire, explosions, a raw break beat, people making gun sounds. It's good as hell.


And remember all that shit I said about every song being boring? This song is not, the hook is pretty much a perfect introduction to Killarmy:

Grab ya army suits, your phat black boots, military gear, and go out like troops.

The lyrics are sharp throughout, and I have to give more credit to 4th Disciple for that, he handles these MCs perfectly (and I assume that they are a tough bunch). Killa Sin and Shogun Assassin both drop decent verses, but 9th Prince drops a mess of a verse that derails the whole track, it's too far off beat and the lyrical content is too much. WTF 9P?


2. Clash of the Titans - (featuring Street Life)
There is no way I knew who Street Life was when this came out. He takes the fourth verse, but before we get to him, let's talk about everyone else. First of all 9th Prince once again comes with that disruptive flow that kind of throws the whole track off. I don't remember disliking 9th Prince at all, in fact, today I would consider him one of the better Wu affiliates, but I guess at this point he was just a voice lost in a group where everyone sounds very similar, and his off-beat flow was overlooked because the guy who raps after him (Dom Pachino) really sounds off.


Anyway, Streetlife brings the best verse and I think that he probably deserved an early Wu affiliate album as much as anyone else, but he didn't get one. Beretta 9 Finishes the track strong, which is no surprise since he is one of the better MCs around.


Once again, the chorus sticks to the military theme, and plays a hell of a lot better than most choruses:

Nothing but the army shit, the raw shit / The Military war hits with gun clips

So that's good! But with two bad verses out of five, and a beat that's good but not great, we have a song that's just okay and makes me feel bored.


3. Burning Season
We have another good beat, overlaid with sirens and gunshots. We have another good chorus which, once again, follows the military theme (good job on sticking to your guns, Killarmy). Here it is, as delivered by 9th Prince:

YO! It's burning season. Y'all thugs is guilty of high treason.

Many of 'em bleeding, some getting sent to the grave for no reason

On the streets n----s kill with without a license, in Scarsville
It's all for real 'cuz everything is real
Don't sleep on the average cat he's packing steel

Everybody delivers a good verse this time, and...uh, actually Killa Sin is the only guy on this track. 9th Prince holds down the chorus, but Killa Sin takes all three verses and they're all good. Killa Sin is a good MC, and 9th Prince sounds good on a chorus. This is like a preview of how good Killarmy would be in the future.


4. Blood for Blood
This is the first song that I actually remember from this album. Everything else I've had to look up, sure I recognized the previous songs once they started playing, but I must have spun this song a lot because I remember liking it.


This is what Killarmy (and Wu Tang) do best, they mix smooth shit with stuff that's too raw for the general public. In this case, we have the butter chorus "Blood for blood...a bullet hit my true love's side" side by side with ridiculously rough lyrics.


Let me be clear: this beat is terrible. The worst one we've heard so far on this album, but something amazing has happened: 9th Prince and Beretta 9 both deliver great verses on some classic Killarmy shit. Unfortunately Dom Pachino starts the song off and doesn't have the energy to lead, even with a short verse. ShoGun drops a decent verse, but 9th Prince kills this shit. This time his rugged off-beat flow matches the beat and balances against the chorus, and all the oddball references work. But as soon Beretta 9 spits his first "Yo!" the shit is over, it's exactly like hearing a click-clack, because the verse is hard as hell..maybe a bit too long, but still good.


5. Seems It Never Fails
This is a good song. Islord and 9th Prince are a good combo, especially over a jazzy smooth beat. But this chorus is awful (as opposed to what we've heard so far), the repeating "seems it never fails" is the downfall of this track, it's like slamming on  the breaks ofthe song...and since the track starts with it, it make it an easy track to skip. But if you can get past it, I would call this track good.


6. Universal Soldiers
With a title like that you'd think this track can't miss right? Well, it starts with the most perfect kung-fu sample imaginable for Killarmy. A little too perfect, if you ask me:


"What is your style, and what is your clan?"
"A soldier that uses military style."
"Oh? So there may be a war?"


Is that real? I don't think so.


Anyway, underneath that amazing bit of dialogue we have what sounds like Morse code, and some kind of high-pitched RZAesque vocal sample saying "you're not a soldier". It's very good, and follows the established format of smooth shit in contrast to the rough vocals and loops. Once Killa Sin starts spitting and the beat drops it's kind of hard not to say "oh shit!" because of how nice it all is. Everyone kills the beat, even Dom Pachino who (so far) hasn't done so well. In fact, on tracks like this, the rougher the flow (Dom Pachino and 9th Prince), the better it sounds. Especially when these guys kick off a verse so well.


Unfortunately, SoGun is the liability this time. His verse stinks and his vocal production sounds off, like maybe he recorded his verse at a different time on inferior equipment maybe? I'm just guessing. These guys just can't all get it together for a track...someone is always lagging.


7. Love, Hell or Right
Maybe this will be the track where everyone pulls their own weight. Nope this is a stinking skit. Blah! But the trumpet loop + guns is bad as hell. This is a good ass skit and a great intro to Wake Up. 


8. Wake Up
Ugh! I think we already covered this shit, right? RZA produced, beat is good, lyrics are not that good (boring), and the chorus is good (wake or get woke). Nice, but not a keeper.


9. Fair, Love & War
Uh-Oh, another list of three things. Killarmy loves that. How will this one go?


Good. The beat is so sloppy, its like stepping in a muddy bog and your boot comes off (that's a good thing, duh). Everyone puts in the proper amount of work and fits well over the smooth beat. Shout to 4th Disciple again. This time we have no chorus, just a lot of terrorism quotes. So Killarmy.


"...they are angry conflicts of desperate people who feel they have neither the resources nor the clout to fight their enemies at the negotiating table, so they take their negotiations to the streets."


Bingo.


10. Wu-Renegades
Now, I don't mean to be an ass, but is a Wu Renegade someone who is a renegade against the Wu, or is it a member of the Wu renegading against something else? Who knows? Maybe Killarmy knows? I don't know. 


All joking aside, this is a solid track. It's got all of the Killarmy essential elements, and finally everyone is on the same page and pull together for a great track. Killa Sin's opening lines of the second verse are just insane, as soon as he spits the first "Yo", everyone knows it's going to be good.


"Yo. It's like I remember slapboxin, now we clap shots to catch props,
from lockin rocks on the block to chop the fat crops and chalk.
I see the Jakes and motivate cause half my team be holdin weight
We march across the Golden Gate Bridge
My mind is in the solider state"


That's vintage shit. Now my sources tell me that 4th Disciple steps out from behind the boards and actually spits the 4th verse (and it's the worst one...STICK TO PRODUCING 4th DISCIPLE!). I could go without that. So I'll give this song an official "good first half" rating.


11. Full Moon
Now, if ANYONE ever talks shit about 4th Disciple (like I just did), I will quickly come to his defense, as the sample on this track is ONE OF THE BEST ONES EVER. How in the hell did you find this?


"When I came to you there on that cold...telephone call, horror of the night, and you came out to meet me and then tell me things and sit down on the porch swing........"


DOPE. 9th Prince and Killa Sin regulate on the track delivering rough rhymes in stark contrast to the smooth and mournful chorus sample. Plus the layered Killa Bee sounds AND gunshots really add to the track, but the shit is murdered when 4th Disciple adds war sounds to the chorus to end the track. This song is the best one on the album.


Let it be known: Killarmy should have ended the album here, the rest is where we cross into "too much" territory.


12. Under Siege
Even the hardest Full Metal Jacket samples can't save this track. The beat is just too chaotic. The lyrics are tough to follow, and the chorus is too military. Next.


13. Shelter
The chaos from the previous beat is not resolved with this track. Although this beat is better, it's still extremely rough. Once again, it's so raw that it distracts from the track. It just makes me think about skipping the rest of the track. A clip of this one would have been perfect as a very short interlude between two other tracks, but alone it's another skip.


14. Camouflage Ninjas
So I guess this was the official first single off the album, and they tacked "Wake Up" on it as a B-Side so the RZA's name could be on there. Ahhhhh! I'm so sick of reviewing this album and I've already taken like a million breaks. You could just listen to this song and decide if you like it or not. Go ahead, what's stopping you?


As for me, I think it's boring except for the scratching on the hook. Okay?


15. Swinging Swords
I'll give you this, Killarmy, this is a great name for a song. It has an official video! Can you imagine a time when this was on TV?


Killarmy - Swingin Swords by Cana_19

While I would LOVE to review this video now, I'll save it for another day (actually I would hate to review it now because I'm, so sick of writing about this album....but some part of me really wants to get cracking on Killarmy's whole music video collection because it's nuts.) Anyway..this song? Well, that sample is kind of genius and kind of irritating, and the song as a whole is just irritating and boring.


16. War Face
Listen, I would have said that you can't lose sampling Full Metal Jacket, but a few songs back, the Killarmy team managed to prove me wrong. But while that last song failed at the hands of 4th Disciple, this song succeeds under the production of the RZA.


One other thing, this song has five verses, and three of them are spit by guys with with the number 9 in their name.


9th Prince
Cloud 9
Beretta 9


9! I wanna see your war face, soldier, where's your war face, camouflaged inmates collapse war gates. Not bad. The whole track is okay. But, guess what: it's boring! Last song!


17. 5 Stars - (featuring Masta Killa)
A real live Wu Tang Clan member guest vocaling right here at the end of the album! On the beat from M*A*S*H! The TV Show! (Actually the song is called "Suicide is Painless" and it is hands down one of the best non-hip hop song ever made). 4realz.


But even with a solid sample of one of the best songs of all time and a guest from Masta Killa, this song is nothing more than boring. Plus the M*A*S*H  theme doesn't sound right and the bass is weird. What happened with the bass? 4th Disciple? Hello? And the beat is a mess. The lyrics are okay, and I like the missile sounds and the constant machine guns, but the "music" sucks so hard that it makes the whole song suck.


Plus, I never realized that Masta Killa was on here until I was researching this review today. I can't imagine how he felt walking into the studio, probably early on a Tuesday morning, cup of coffee, whatever. Ready to work and when he walks in all of RZA's cousins are laying around in too much camouflage and with weird hats and they're watching M*A*S*H and yelling a lot about generals giving killing orders and there is way too much noise and he was probably looking for Method Man and Ghostface and he realized that he was the only one who showed up so he probably said "FUUUCK THIS SHIT!" but then RZA was like "Yo, it's a paycheck" (on the phone) and Masta Killa was like "FUUUCK let's get this shit over with". So he spit his verse quick and got the FUCK out of there because they are definitely going to use whatever he spits because he's the only "celebrity" who showed up. So then the verse was too quiet and not that great so Killarmy was like "Just put loud ass missile sounds over the top of it and explosions" and that's what we have and it's really a bad song. That's definitely how it happened.




IN CONCLUSION: THAT WAS SO LONG!!!!!! Why did you read that? I'm never reviewing another whole album again...untl Thursday when I listen to my favorite hip hop album of all time, the follow up to this one: "Dirty Weaponry"! But I'm not counting that one because it's so good, and there aren't really any bad tracks (one that seems like it's going to be bad, but a few seconds into it you're like "FUCK YEAH!" and then you would turn it up but it's already all the way up so you just punch the wall and break a chair).


SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS SCORE 4/10 (or bore/10, lol?)

U-God's Resume #49, "Careful (Click, Click)"

--Official Stats--
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Song: "Careful (Click, Click)"
Producer: RZA
Album: The W
Release Date: November 21, 2000

Can I live?

I was oblivious to Wu music when this album was released, despite being a major fan. Somehow I completely missed the first single from this album ("Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)") and then I was caught by surprise when I discovered "The W" had dropped.

On one hand, the bad hand, I was out of the loop. On the other hand, the good hand, I was able to listen to this album fresh without knowing which song the single was, or if a single had even come out. I honestly thought that this song would have been the first single. It's very good and has some element of mass appeal, not from pandering, but from natural Wu Charisma. Plus it has an interesting structure and a clever chorus. Rare shit!


This is the second song on the album, and the third (and final single) from this album. In an odd turn, all three singles from this album feature U-God, so we'll get to cover all the hits with this U-God series.

This track does come with a stacked roster, but there is no way this could have been the first single. Why? Even though it has almost the whole clan, it does not have the GZA, Method Man, or ODB, so the biggest hype men in the clan sat this one out (along with the best MC in the Clan), meaning the most marketable guys were mostly absent (but we do get Cappadonna). Oh, and I guess no Raekwon.

U-God appears twice on this track, he gets a verse and an interlude. So that's good! But he's sandwiched between Ghost and Deck. Uh-Oh, he better bring his A+ game. Private school A+, no public school shit. Oh, and I know that this song has a video, but I'm not going to watch it because it's so boring and I want to hear the real lyrics today.

"Careful (Click, Click)"





After a garbage beat intro, the real beat kicks in and the whole shit is ill. One of Wu's best.

RZA starts things off with a verse that would be tough for anyone to top. It's got mad energy, a reference to the eight point sun, and a mad team echos. Nice. U-God is next with a simple bridge:

Something in the slum went rum-pum-pum-pum

Something in the slum went rum-pum-pum-pum

Fine. Then we get a quick spit from Masta Killa, who is easily one of my favorite MCs in the group. He comes in strong and his flow is perfect on this beat. "It's been a long time son, since we bust gun." Word.

Cappadonna is next with a variation on U's bridge "Something in the street went BANG BANG...", which I guess is the chorus. Then he spits a verse. Before Wu's album Forever I would have been irritated with the Masta Killa / Cappadonna line up, as I thought Masta Killa was boring and Cappa was a bad rapper. However, now that I am older and wiser, this combo is perfect. Two of my favorite MCs spitting rough back to back.

The next verse goes to Ghost, who delivers his version of the chorus, and the shit is violent. It's a great counterpoint to Cappa's loud "BANG! BANG!"l Ghost's version is mad laid back: "Something in the hall went click, click....the boxcutter when click click." Sinister. His verse is dope, of course, then we have U.

These in the camera guys, cause, tear in your eye
Sweat on the hammer fly, ways, of the Samurai
Newsflash bulletin, Gods on the prowl
We full again, ruff men scuff Timbs
Sonic bionic lens, RZA console
Is it Bush or the Dole, front row of the superbowl
Black gold in my soul, on a hoe stroll
Don't go boy you on parole you don't know?

Topical polotical stuff from like twenty years ago aside, this is a dope verse. But it's only like twenty seconds long. Just like all the other verses on this track. That's about right for U, but for everyone else I want require a real verse. No shorts.

Someone in the back went, clack clack.

Money in stack, now bust ya gunz, clap clap.

That's Deck's variation on the chorus, and while it's not as nice as Ghost's, it's still good. And what a surprise, Deck's verse is the best of the song and he dominates everyone.

Made 'em throw they hands up / but then lay flat

Rat pack eat up the average alley cat

Prepare for the impact when we contact

Known to drop facts to crack your hardhats

After Deck repeats his version of the chorus, everyone runs through their special version, and U repeats his bridge and everything ends over a fancy guitar.

IN CONCLUSION: This is one of the Wu's best and U helps make it that way. Word 'em up! The variations on the chorus is brilliant and Deck wins best verse over very strong competition. Keep this up Wu Tang Clan!

CAREFUL (CLICK, CLICK) SCORE: 9/10

U-God’s Score: 9/10

Impact on Rep (+,-,=): Improves



Next Week: "Gravel Pit" is the second single from The W, but it appears last on the album. So it marks U-God's last appearance on the album (except for the song "Clap", which was not a single).


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.