Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
1993, Loud
Where to even begin on this one - one of the greatest hip hop LP's of the early 90's? How about the fact that it played a strong role in representing an entire coast when Gangsta Rap was in its prime? Nah. The East Coast/West Coast thing is overdone. How about instead we focus on the fact that this was an unknown group on nine MC's who all managed to show so much personality that it launched (basically) nine solo careers that are (basically) all still viable to 20 years later? Not enough can be said about The RZA in this instance. He put this group together and made a business plan. He would have full say for five years and they would all reap many benefits. And it all began here. There is so much personality bursting out of this disc it's unreal. Many of the solo tracks they'd be known for later find their foundations here. Be it the mafioso themes of Raekwon ("Can It Be All So Simple?") or the storytelling of Ghostface ("Tears") or the charm of Method Man ("M.E.T.H.O.D. Man"). Everybody got a moment to shine on Enter The Wu-Tang and that stretches all the way to U-God with his micro-verses and Masta Killa's lone verse (that fucking kills it!) on "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'." But again, The RZA really was The Abbot. Go back and really try to pay attention to those instrumental tracks. Check the detuned piano of "Bring Da Ruckus." Check the Wonderdog sample in "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin' Ta Fuck With" and realize that you had no idea it was a Wonderdog sample. Listen to the weird guitar in "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber" and the way that RZA whisper-screams "Ghost...Faced...Killah!" Or if you wanna just cut to the chase listen to "7th Chamber Part II" because what is going on? There's insanely dirty synths, there's saxophones bleating there's drum loops dropping in and out of the track chaotically there's... stuff I can't describe. It's an insane mess that works perfectly. The best way to describe this album is balance. It is so perfectly balanced so that every little ingredient is tasted, but nothing overpowers. The end result is a record so unique that you totally believe these guys aren't from Staten Island. In fact you might as well believe that Shaolin doesn't exist because this sounds like something not of this earth.
Judgment Night: Music From The Motion Picture
1993, Epic
To this day I've still never seen the movie Judgment Night, but I doubt the film is nearly as ambitious as the soundtrack. I don't know who's idea it was to make every track a pair-up of alternative/metal bands and rap groups but it was a ballsy move that paid off well. In a sense it should be a blueprint for doing this thing well, unlike say the majority of the entire nu-metal sub-genre. The album opens with Helmet and House Of Pain's "Just Another Victim" which is intense. And there's no giving in to either side. Helmet is just as noisy as always and Everlast kills his verse. Though I guess House Of Pain had practice with their Butch Vig remix of "Shamrocks And Shenanigans." Similarly Onyx and Biohazard kill it on the title track, but the two groups had already worked on a remix of "Slam," so the chemistry was there. And Ice-T of course already fronted a thrash band (Body Count) so again, no surprises. But there are other far more surprisingly successful pairings. Who would ever have thought that Del Tha Funky Homosapien should work with Dinosaur Jr.? Yet the steal the show. It is really jaw-dropping. Faith No More's track with Boo-Ya Tribe makes you think that Mike Patton should finally dabble in hip hop someday (Lovage doesn't count). Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill couldn't have been more different, yet what a dreamy atmosphere they create. It's not flawless though .The end of De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub's track could have been cut off completely. Sorry Teenage Fanclub, but your ad libbed vocals weren't just pointless, they ruin the end of the song. And Sir Mix-A-Lot with Mudhoney, well, I just don't think that one worked. But having said all that, this soundtrack is required listening for those interested in successful cross-genre work.
Tony Yayo
Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon
2005, G-Unit
Some guys are just fine in a supporting role, but don't translate well to being the star. This is how I feel about Tony Yayo's debut. Looking back at G-Unit's early run of mixtapes, he had some good stuff like his freestyle on "Deep Cover." He was barely on their major label debut due to a prison sentence, so the hype machine was rolling when he dropped Thoughts. But ultimately it feels like a bit of a mess. It's also the first real sign of the group really devolving. Of course there was the fall out with The Game, but you wouldn't know it from his debut released the same year as this album. While Game's The Documentary featured G-Unit heavily (especially 50), Thoughts relies on them sparingly. And it's maybe not the best idea. After an intro you will never listen to twice we're greeted with the track "Homicide," which has a decent beat but unfortunately Tony's flow (not his real surname by the way) tends to rely heavily on just shouting stuff. The chorus could have worked had it been 50 doing his usual suave sing-song but instead Yayo decides to take it on himself and it's pretty cringe-worthy. When Spider Loc shows up a track later, you're relieved to hear another voice. And this is only the third track. And it's Spider Loc! Basically the full album just goes on like this where you can hear what it could have been had it gotten the same full group treatment that most of their early solo records got. It feels like ringleader 50 just stepped back for the most part and let Yayo run the show. But that's not 50's style and for that the album suffers. Take "Tattle Teller" and its awful title. The chorus sounds just as marbles-in-the-mouth as reading the title does. The surprising thing here is that the few songs that slow things down a bit and should be worse for it (like "Curious" featuring Joe) actually work better because Yayo is forced to rap with his indoor voice instead of go off into the red. But the whole thing feels forced. By the time you hear him rap about eating a "fur burger" in the last third of the album any lingering aversion to skipping tracks will leave you. There's about an EP's worth of songs worth hearing here and a whole lot of potential wasted unfortunately.