In retrospect, was the second round of Wu-Tang solos underrated?

[BuddahMAC]

i loved all that stuff. Supreme, Immobilarity, Silent Weapons, Uncontolled Substance, Heavy Mental and even Sonz of Man. THE SWARM is a personal classic. I know most of them were affiliates but damn a lot of them songs were dope as hell. My avatar isd from this video this song is classic as hell VA stand up! 1:45

The Swarm
Issues: Should have been a collab album where you get all the Clan members together on tracks w/ Fam to showcase the whole Wu collective together. It ends up being mostly a Wu Fam compilation.
Illness: But it's a fukking great Wu Fam compilation w/ 4 core Wu tracks (5 if you wanna count Cap). 6 ill RZA beats and the rest of the producers bring it. The b*stards beat was so good Ghost grabbed it for himself. Dope song after dope song for a very dope album.

 

[FromBillionsCameOne]

The Swarm
Issues: Should have been a collab album where you get all the Clan members together on tracks w/ Fam to showcase the whole Wu collective together. It ends up being mostly a Wu Fam compilation.
Illness: But it's a fukking great Wu Fam compilation w/ 4 core Wu tracks (5 if you wanna count Cap). 6 ill RZA beats and the rest of the producers bring it. The b*stards beat was so good Ghost grabbed it for himself. Dope song after dope song for a very dope album.

perfectly stated. Killarmy came out the week before I thin k then this dropped. I'm in the crib sweatin balls smoking mids enjoying this shyt in 97. That b*stards shyt is legendary but what about Bronx war stories. dude was dumb nice. And then Hollacaust??! omg The whole album is incredible to me

 

[BuddahMAC]

That b*stards shyt is legendary but what about Bronx war stories. dude was dumb nice.

Darkim got some joints

 

[jensyao]

I feel like most artists suffer from that 'sophomore slump' when they threw all their creativity towards their first albums and become preoccupied with fame and distractions to properly record the 2nd album

 

[mbewane]

The Swarm
Issues: Should have been a collab album where you get all the Clan members together on tracks w/ Fam to showcase the whole Wu collective together. It ends up being mostly a Wu Fam compilation.
Illness: But it's a fukking great Wu Fam compilation w/ 4 core Wu tracks (5 if you wanna count Cap). 6 ill RZA beats and the rest of the producers bring it. The b*stards beat was so good Ghost grabbed it for himself. Dope song after dope song for a very dope album.

I think that was the point though, give the affiliates more shine. I didn't mind it at all, just added to the diversity and the different styles of the Clan imo. Dope album either way.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

The Pillage was dope. I didn't expect much and it ended up being one of the albums of that run that I play the most. Indeed for the overall cohesivness of the album and the certified Wu sounds. Cappa himself is forgettable but I didn't mind. Never knew he had that kind of hype (I'm not in the US).

.

Yeah it was DMX & Canibus clearly at the top for most anticipated debuts in 98... and then Cappa was a tier below along with Pun and Nore, ahead of Cam. I'm sure he went gold off the strength of the first 1-2 week hype alone, because The Pillage was forgotten about pretty quickly. "Slang Editorial" and "Run" was cool songs, but nothing catchy at all about them to be singles and video. And everybody else dropped smash singles

 

[Zero]

Uncontrolled Substance is simply average. Tical 2000 is disappointing, as was Immobilarity. I still cant get into Beneath the Surface, and the less said about Redemption is best.
In Stereo is quite good...and Supreme Clientel is excellent.
And of course there' the excellent No Said Date which is better than 3 Mefs, 2 Raes, 2 Ueys, 2 RZAs, 1 Deck at that point.

No Said Date is the best Wu solo post Supreme Clientele. Cuban 2 being the only contender.

From the generals anyway

 

[Zero]

I low-key liked some of the "side" projects more than the what the core was putting out.

Nothing lowkey about it breh, they were great albums.

If Deck got the Heist of the Century beats, it would be widely considered a classic. La did them justice though.

Wu-Syndicate is probably the most slept on and that album knocks from top to bottom.

 

[Kaydigi]

The Swarm
Issues: Should have been a collab album where you get all the Clan members together on tracks w/ Fam to showcase the whole Wu collective together. It ends up being mostly a Wu Fam compilation.
Illness: But it's a fukking great Wu Fam compilation w/ 4 core Wu tracks (5 if you wanna count Cap). 6 ill RZA beats and the rest of the producers bring it. The b*stards beat was so good Ghost grabbed it for himself. Dope song after dope song for a very dope album.

Incredible LP, Execute Them was flames. Street life killed that hook.



*Unnecessary story alert*
I could have been in the video for The Legacy. My next door neighbor is dude in the turban walking first on the hill. His name is brick face and he knocked on my door 1 hour to early. I was literally on my way home from work and missed him.

I was heated he gave me some GZA white labels because I was bytching.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

The biggest issue for me was they didn't use Rza for the full albums. Which is still to this day one of the dumbest decisions in rap history. You have one of the greatest producers in rap history, in his prime, coming off a historic run....and you don't use him. It's mind boggling.

Fred.

Hind sight is 20/20

A lot of those guys purposefully went the other direction to expand beyond the Wu sound

 

[Bugzbunny129]

Ive gone over this question a lot. To me all those albums were basically 4 mics, with potential to be classics but they spread themselves a little too thin. Below is what I would have done to make them all classics.



Tical 2000 - 3.5-4 Micer



supposed to drop a year earlier; album is plagued by 2 things. 1. Skits. Lose them all. 2. Its theme is all over the place. Meths place in the game meant it was gonna have to be commercial but meth was spitting dark end of the world rhymes. The two styles didnt mesh.



Fix: lose the erick sermon stuff, leave that for blackout. Take the wu stuff from blackout as they OBVIOUSLY came from this album. Drop the trackmasters track, and leave spazzola for decks album as it fits that albums vibe way more. Add: The Worst, N2Gether Now, Bulworth & the Blackout! Tracks



Classic tracklist - 5 Micer imo



Shaolin What (intro)
Perfect World
Dangerous Ground ft Streetlife
N2Gether Now ft limp bizkit (prod primo)
Sweet Love ft cappadonna streetlife
Cerial Killer ft redman
Torture
Suspect Chin ft streetlife
Supa Ninjaz ft ugod / cappa
Retro Godfather
Elements
Grid Iron Rap ft streetlife
Cradle Rock ft left eye
Party Crasher
donald trump skit (terrifyingly on point with theme of album)
Bulworth ft prodigy krsone kam
The Worst ft Onyx,Raekwon & killa sin
Killin Fields
Run 4 Cover ft redman, ghost, street
Fire In The Hole ft Redman
Judgement Day




Bobby Digital In Sterio - 3.5-4 Micer



Possibly due to lack of effort, rza tried to freestyle an album and some of it comes off as not strong enough. RZA put out a lot of tracks at the time on OSTs and features he shoulda saved for himself. A quater of the album is filler as is.



Fix: add OST stuff over the lesser tracks. The Chase, The End ft ras kass, whatever happened ft az, and justice for all ft killarmy n method man. Belly of the beast. Windpipe ft ghostface and oldirty.



Classic Tracklist - 4.5 Micer



Intro
BOBBY
NYC Everything ft Method Man
Unspoken word
Windpipe ft ghostface & ODB
The Chase
Love Jones
Terrorist ft killarmy & black knights
Belly of the Beast
Holocaust ft black knights & ghostface
Handwriting on The Wall ft ras kass
Kiss of the black widow ft ODB
My Lovin is Digi
Lab drunk
Whatever happened ft AZ
fukk what you think ft killarmy
The end ft ras kass
Domestic violence
and justice for all ft method man killarmy
Daily Routine ft Baretta 9

Cappadonna - The Pillage - 4 Mic



Issues: Cap kinda meanders through the posse cuts but has strong solo tracks; the best of the 9 second round solo released as is; a lot of songs were cut from the album. Both Love is The Message and Got To Find A Way were scheduled for this album but moved to the second album or stripped altogether. 96 Recreation, If Its Alright With You, I Can See & 97 Mentality (european only) coulf have made it stronger.



Classic Version : 4.5 Mics



Slang editorial
96 RECREATION
The Pillage
Run
Blood on blood war
Supa ninjas
Mcf
Splish splash
Oh donna
Milk the cow
South of the border
If its alright with you
Check for a nikka
Dart throwing
Young hearts
I Can See
Everything is everything
Black boy
97 Mentality
Got To Find A Way


Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substance 4 Mic



Issues: lack of wu features, inferior versions of better songs, and slow start and laid back production hurts thisbthe most. This album doesnt actually have any bad songs but I feel it is badly sequenced. The big singles dont even show up till halfway and end of album, and the surrounding album is not strong enough to get you through to the end to appreciate it.



Fixes: the slew of songs stripped from it used for promotion or because of advance leaks.



Classic Tracklist - 4.5 Mics



01 intro (tru master verse)
02 lay ya hammer ft wu tang clan
03 movas n shakas
04 9th chamber
05 rec room
05 semi automatic ft ugod n streetlife
06 nightshift
07 uncontrolled substance
08 execute them ft wutang
09 longevity ft ugod
10 forget me not
11 rap burglars ft raekwon
12 elevation
13 lovin you ft la the darkman
14 spazzola ft wutang clan
15 trouble man
17 friction ft masta kill
18 hyperdermix
19 tres leches ft produgy and big pub
20 show n prove
21 scary movies / settlement freestyle


Raekwon - Immobilarity - 3.5 Mics.



Issues: half the album is incredible, half is good to mediocre with weak beats. Rae had enough material at the time to drop a triple album if he wanted to so recreating a perfect immobilarity is quite easy. Instead of fewturing wu its like featuring the industry. I could easily make a 2cd version but this one is my fav despite missing some classics since not everything could fit.



Classic Tracklist - 5 mic



The heist ft busta ghost roc marci
Casablanca
100 rounds
Skew it on the bar ft outkast
Rap life ft tash
Real life
Frozen ft slick rick
Wu-tang/cream team lineup ft wu/act
Street mic mechanic
Live from new york
Blafk trump ft smif n wessun
Cuttin it up ft ghost act & theodore
Respect power
Back in the cages ft zoe pound
My favorite dread
Friday
The game ft ghostface n prodigy
Determination
Sneakers
The table ft masta killa
John blaze ft nas big pun jada fat joe
Its not a game ft act and rza





And a whole second cd with russian cut, get around that, sping water, lets have a tost, dem want war, brown paperbag thoughts etc. even if i took off all the collab features, i could easily fill them with other rae tracks

 

[Bugzbunny129]

Supreme Clienyele 5 Mics



Issues: none

Fix: extra piff

Tracklist - 6 Mic

Irons theme
Nutmeg
One
Cobra clutch
Saturday night
Ghost deini (original)
Apollo kids
Milk crates / in da park
The grain
Buck 50
Woodrow the basehead
Mighty healthy
Stay true
Stand up ft charlie baltimore
Watch how you cut my shyt skit
We made it
Atroke of death
Intermission
Malcolm
Who would you ghost
Chilfs play
Chez chez la ghost
Wu banga 101
Clyde smith
Wise in da rain
Irons theme
Ghost deini remix


GZA - Beneath The Surface - 4 Mic



Issues : short songs, good production thoughout. Always liked the album for what it was. It kinda has a more worldy vibe.



Fix: couple additions to complete the era, added a lot of his rare collabs with european acts to work with the worldy vibe the album had.





Tracklist: 4.5 Mics



Just add:

breaker breaker remix ft deck mkilla
Big acts lil acts ft afu ra
Big acts lil acts ft afu ra remix
When the fat lady sings
Rapability ft killah priest rodney kendrick
Chasing dreams
Kff 2000 ft peodigal sunn
Iche lebe fur hip hop ft prodigal sunn




Odb - nikka Please - imo 4.5 mic album



Issues: none as far as im concerned. Imo its just as classic as supreme at this point for being dirty at his wildest while atill on point before the jail term.



Fix: doesnt need any just add any of his big collabs from ghetto superstar, to drugs to the mystikal/nolimit/wu collab.





Ghetto superstar
Mystikal - Who rock this
Powerful
Camron violence
The park coolio
Kool keith wreck

For the money mack 10 buckshot
Drug free
Powerful
Desperate man
Shining star
And you dont stop




Killah priest - Heavy Mental - 4 Mics



Issues: Lots of classics cut from this. Thank god they released an anniversary edition with all the cut tracks. That would push it over the edge



Classoc tracklist - 5 mic version


One step
Blessed are those
From then til now
Cross my heart
Moanin
Atoms to adam
Devil in disguise
If you dont know
Tai chi
Wisdom
Bible (original)
Heavy mental (intermission)
Street opera
Lifes a gamble
Information
Wolf in sheeps clothing
Science project
Quiet weapons for silent wars
Mind as a weapon
High explosives
Mystic city
Day of the propets





U-God - Golden Arms: Redemption - 3 mic

Issues: Ugod just going through motions over tracks. Beats are oddly better than I remember, and actually a cool backdrop for him. He just needed to rap better. His album probably should have came out after chez chez and had that on here as well.

Fix: album needed more time in oven so I just combine it with best Ugod tracks from then until his second album.

4 Mic Tracklist


Turbulence
Wildstyle superfreak
The Glide
Its A Wrap
Dats gangsta
Killa Hill nikkas
No Exit
Bizarre
Soul Dazzle
Get Down
Rumble
Pleasure or Pain
Im Talking To You
Stat In Your Lane
To The Rescue
Shell Shock
Mr onsomeothershyt
A Long Time Ago
Lay Down
Hungry
Stop (carry On)
Supa nikka
Night The City Cried








So yea. I think the era is underrated because each album had a slew of tracks that could have been there but werent for variety of reasons. Thats 9 classic tracklists above. Hard to say it wasnt an underrated time when you realize the amount of material that dropped. Many of these songs were singles for other people while stealing the wus power. And tbh ive been listening to these albums tracklists on a cycle more than the OG albums lately.

Its a shame really. A lot of people dismiss these albums as mediocre when they actually dropped 2x more material than everyone else and they were all already atleast 3.5-4mics with like 10 extra tracks each as promo and features.

Im not gonna judge a rapper by an album that gets split up because of industry politics and samples. As far as im concerned these are the real albums. And those 7, plus the initial 8 (7 + diggaz), the W, original BPW, og pretty toney, og fishscale, og cuban 2, no said date, grandmasters…

Wu have 25 albums 4-5 mics. Atleast.