Review: Masta Killa - Selling My Soul and Raekwon - Lost Jewlry EP
I don’t know why I hold up every new hip-hop record to those
of the golden era coming out of the east coast in the early to mid-nineties.
Even if there is a contemporary artist who can copy that sound, there will
still be something missing.
In November, the landmark debut full-length from the Wu-Tang
Clan, Enter The 36 Chambers will turn
twenty years old. Out of that golden era, some of the most revered hip hop
records were released, many of them from Wu members—GZA’s Liquid Swords, Raekwon’s Only
Built 4 Cuban Linx, Ghostface Killa’s Ironman,
and the most infamous of them all—Return
to The 36 Chambers by the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
Of the nine original members of the Wu-Tang Clan, some of
them were able to parlay their early success into mainstream super stardom—most
notably Ghostface, and (the overrated in my opinion) Method Man. Some members
were able to maintain a level of respect in the game—GZA, RZA (known for his
production skills and the tight, controlling vision that gave Wu their original
success), and Raekwon. And then there were the quiet ones, or put less
gently—the bottom tier Wu members, including U-God, Inspektah Deck, and Masta
Killa.
(masta killa is a vegetarian, which is why he's an awesome dude)
Wu-Tang’s original record deal was written in a way that
allowed each individual member to pursue their own solo deals with whatever
label courted them. Over ten years after their debut was released, one of the
quietest members, Masta Killa, released his first solo joint, No Said Date, notable for one of the
final recorded performances by Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the strange and hilarious
song “Old Man.”
Cut to almost another ten years down the line, and Masta
Killa has just released his third solo album. Although the title “album” is
iffy to some—clocking in at barely over a half hour, some reviews (all tepid) I
have read of Selling My Soul have
looked at it as some kind of stopgap side project released prior to his proper third album Loyalty is Royalty. Selling My Soul arrived with little fanfare in
the middle of December—a horrible time to release a record, unless you are
moving Rhianna units prior to Christmas.
Selling My Soul is
a bit of a confusing record, stylistically anyway. It’s all over the place—beats
constructed around old soul samples, beats constructed around a bit of a modern
r&b vibe, and then there’s “Cali Sun,” a track featuring west-coast second
tier rapper Kurupt, and a beat that sounds like a discarded Dr. Dre demo. The
rest of the album actually works, but “Cali Sun” arrives right in the middle,
and completely disrupts the flow.
Selling is also
weighed down by unnecessary “skits,” as they are labeled—but they are more like
interludes in between songs. The only one of merit is the first track, a clip
lifted from movie dialog, where two characters speak of an individual who is
often forgot about, and “fades into the background.”
When this record actually works, it really does work—the
first three real songs, “Soul and
Substance, “ “R U Listening,” and “Things Just Ain’t The Same” are all stand
out tracks.
As the album closes out, Masta Killa raps over the music
from Tupac’s legendary joint “Keep Ya Head Up.” Why? I have no idea—“Wise
Words” isn’t even so much rapping as it is just talking while an iconic slice
of 1993 plays in the background.
The final track serves as an odd homage to R&B
performers from the 1960s and 70s, and then R.Kelly. About half way into the
track, it then turns into a tribute to the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, as Masta
Killa begins to spit the lyrics to “Hippa to The Hoppa.”
Uneven at best when looked at overall, Selling My Soul actually does have some worthwhile tracks to listen
to, and it shows a performer, the “quiet one,” who may not be prolific, but is
not afraid to show the world what he has been working on—whether it is warmly
received or not.
Masta Killa isn’t the only Wu member working on a new album,
and who felt the need to release something to tide people over. Raekwon, while
working on the follow up to his 2011 effort Shaolin
VS Wu-Tang, just released an “EP” entitled Lost Jewrly (and yes the incorrect spelling is correct.) Rae said
that this collection is tracks he kept in his “jewelry box,” or rather, rhymes
and tracks he kept for himself, and decided to release it now, for free, as a
thanks to his fan base.
The label EP is used loosely here—this is a twelve track
mixtape, not counting the two advance singles released off of it that don’t even
show up on the final product. Within this set, Raekwon stays true to the
material found on his 1994 solo debut, Only
Built 4 Cuban Linx. Many of the tracks here are dark narratives of life in
the hood: gun play, the manufacturing and distribution of crack.
Musically, the tracks are credited to a variety of
producers. Some of the stand out beats are credited to Roads-Art, specifically
the final two tracks on the EP—“To The Top,” and “Whatever, Whenever.”
Production wise, the quality of Rae’s voice is inconsistent. The attention to
detail on vocals was something that the RZA was known for. It’s been noted
countless times that on the original run of Wu solo efforts, as well as on
their debut, he created specific pre-amps for everybody’s vocal delivery. That
technique has since gone by the wayside. Some of the tracks sound like they
were recorded with professional studio equipment. Some of them sound like they were
recorded with an inexpensive microphone going into a cheap direct box, hooked
up to a MacBook.
The best track on Lost
Jewlry is “Hold You Down,” a song that owes a lot to an era of hip hop from
the late 90s, into the early 2000s—a smooth beat, and a strong female R&B
singer on the hook. In this case, it’s the Notorious B.I.G.’s widow, Faith
Evans.
(rae rocking that snow beach pull over)
The odd thing about this collection is the two singles that
were given away prior to the release of Lost
Jewlry—“Neither One of Us,” and “Never Can Say Goodbye”—were not included
in the official release. Both of these songs are outstanding, and actually
harken back to some of the vibe from Masta Killa’s album; they both are
structured around classic soul songs. “Never Can Say Goodbye,” obviously,
borrows very heavily from the song of the same name by The Jackson Five. “Neither One of Us” samples the Gladys Knight
and The Pips song—but for some reason, this track abruptly fades out at 2:30,
leaving the feeling that it is just a rough, unfinished sketch. However, “Never
Can Say Goodbye,” just a mere 30 seconds longer, seems to come to a natural
end.
Why these two tracks didn’t make the final cut, I have no
idea.
2013 is poised to be a big year for the Wu-Tang Clan.
Raekwon, Masta Killa, and Ghostface are planning to release solo albums. There
is talk of some 20th anniversary events to celebrate a milestone for
Enter The 36 Chambers, and according
to the RZA’s Twitter account, the Wu are all back in the studio, prepping a new
album.
Even though they are both a bit spotty at times, these two
brief releases serve as a friendly reminder that even after twenty years, Wu
Tang Clan is still nothing to fuck with.
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