Album Review: Wu Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
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A dive way back into the early 90’s when it was all about music and about who had the illest flow and funkiest style and not about who had the more ice on their chains.
After the deception of the last album Iron Flag, we all secretly hoped that the Wu would get it together and come back to prove that they’re still one of the best Hip-Hop collective and save us from the ‘I-have-a-new-dance-to-go-with-my-new-single’ Rap, and that is definitely achieved with 8 diagrams, nearly 8 years after their last try.
The album’s opening track, Campfire, proves to be one of the best technically. Method Man Cappadonna and Ghostface’s flows are irreproachable and it give us the perfect introduction to the rest of the album. Tracks like "Take It Back, Windmill" and "Wolves" featuring funk master George Clinton take us back into time with an incredible old-school vibe and beats .
The Wu also tries to appeal to their feminine audience with songs such as Starter, different from the usual Wu-Tang register, a "sassy party track for the chicks" featuring new artist Sunny Valentine, present on different tracks of the album.
Most of the production is signed RZA even though this caused the release date to be delayed and delayed because of arguments inside of the Wu-Tang : some MC’s, like Raekwon, thought RZA was changing the original style of the Wu by adding a too different and personal style to it which " was not the vibe they wanted " , but at the end they managed to give it a try, still sticking to the original flavour like on the incredible "Rushing Elephants" or RZA’s solo "Sunshine2 .
The most amazingly surprising track must be the first single, the interpolation of the Beatles’ track "My Guitar Gently Weeps", with guest-singing from soul singer Erykah Badu, and featuring George Harrison’s son Dhani Harrison on the guitar. It was a risky choice to mix all three different musical environments and to use and recreate a song already internationally known and respected but the Wu-Tang musical magic operates once again.
The time of the 36 Chambers may be dead and gone but the Wu-tang manages to resurrect the passion and energy which made them such incredible MC’s, and stay real to what made them original, their love for Kung-fu imagery and Shaolin culture, by adding extracts of Kung-fu films for their interludes and naming the album 8 diagrams in reference to the Kung-fu film Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter.
The craziest member of the Wu-Tang ODB, in Rapper’s heaven since 2004, is not forgotten and though a Wu-Tang album can’t be the same without his incredible personality and flow, his memory is honored on the bonus track "16th Chamber", which makes us remember that the Wu is not complete without one of the best flows of the collective and he’s also remembered on the emotional Life Changes, sampled withFreda Payne’s "The Road We Didn’t Take".
Let’s hope that the Wu-Tang Clan will keep on making music this good and remain true and original, always surprising us and giving us all that powerful and positive energy .And isn’t it what Hip-Hop is really about?
"8 Diagrams " is out now on SRC Records.
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