...with a shot that was hyper than your average JFK sniper."
Enter The Wu-Tang(36 Chambers)
Tical
Return To The 36 Chambers (The Dirty Version)
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Liquid Swords
Ironman
Forever
Some of the best late night/rainy day records ever cut.
For a solid 4 years there in the mid 90s, Wu-Tang clan ruled the hip hop world.
They were just pumping out instant classic after game changer.
Seminal, prolific shit that no other rap group can touch in terms of breadth, where solid project after solid project just dominated the airwaves.
And you have to remember, this was before rap was tailor made with female appeal/for women. These weren't club bangers and bubblegum records charting, it was grimy underground headbob shit that found mass appeal. Not exactly the stuff you can dance too...
It's like they were a bball team loaded with #1 overall picks and a couple top 3s. [and maybe a top 10 in u-god's case, on those early records...]
Just completely stacked with different, distinct styles and everyone had their own thing going on, but there was still that rare cohesion and their gimmick was backed with substance.
There are some real deep concepts and just.....stockpiles of wordplay and metaphors...with fluid flows.
When I first heard Enter The Wu-Tang, it was fresh, even though I had already been familiarized with a decent amount of nyc boom-bap from the previous couple of years.
I split a record club deal with the old man, fall '93; "8 CDs for the price of 1 with nothing more to buy" and we each picked 4 albums.
I chose Nevermind, Siamese Dream, The Chronic, Enter The Wu-Tang.
No doubt it changed my life in numerous ways.
That Nevermind CD introduced me to hidden track easter eggs...but I digress.
RZA made simple lofi arrangements into complex soundscapes with intoxicating atmosphere that played out like a late night movie.
It sounded like nothing else I had heard at the time, in spite of being full of familiar braggadocio, the way it was executed was just next level.
What I'm trying to say is them boys can rap.
It spent 6 straight months in my Discman, no hyperbole. I drew Wu-Tang logos all over everything, somewhere I still have a boogie board with one on the bottom
I miss that feeling so much...the glow you get from pure joy and the wonder of discovery in music, and the culture shock that accompanies it.
And for the past decade, every couple of years I revisit the material for a month or so, where I listen to a "best of" playlist (which is over 100 songs deep
)
And it
still gives me chills.