2.0 out of 5
Def Jam
Def Jam
Wu-Massacre sounds half-finished, half-hearted, cheap. That's because it is.
Method Man told MTV the joint venture was rushed, done with no budget, forced by the label: "It is what it is," Meth said. No, really.
The cream of the "C.R.E.A.M." crop - Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah - join forces for a fan boy dream of a trim, aggressive, catalog-worthy LP. An album's worth of "Yolanda's House." An album with the spastic, verbose rants of Ghost, the controlled narratives of Rae, the smooth punches of Meth.
Rather, we get a casual Friday potluck of leftovers.
There's flatly bad, outdated lines like "I'm playing for the 'bucks' like Hakim Warrick," (Warrick was dealt to the miserable Bulls for John Salmons at the NBA trade deadline) on songs with hooks that go "Gimme my fuckin' shit." There's bad guest verses from old friends turned hypemen (Meth's longtime sidekick, Streetlife, actually spits "I got my ghost face on cuz I'm a killer," and his excellent work on 1998's Tical 2000: Judgment Day makes him among the best Wu cronies). The three rappers don't appear on the same song until track five. And um...the three rappers appear on the same song on three out of 13 songs.
Yet these are b-sides worth rummaging through for the names involved. "Our Dreams" is the lone RZA credit and samples little Michael beautifully. "Dangerous," with Mathematics doing his best Mannie Fresh production, bumps nicely. "Criminology 2.5," which we serendipitously heard on early leaks of Cuban Linx II, is still good. The two skits - one with Meth doing "yo mama" jokes and one with Tracy Morgan - are well-placed and keep a playful, funny tone. Soul-sampling, Dipset-recalling beats are never bad.
Overall, the end result is throwaway rhymes jumbled together from the floors of each's superior, 2009 releases. For the far and away, no competition best Wu-Tang rappers (GZA is a distant fourth), it's a big letdown.
At least the art is cool.
- Ramon Ramirez
Method Man told MTV the joint venture was rushed, done with no budget, forced by the label: "It is what it is," Meth said. No, really.
The cream of the "C.R.E.A.M." crop - Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah - join forces for a fan boy dream of a trim, aggressive, catalog-worthy LP. An album's worth of "Yolanda's House." An album with the spastic, verbose rants of Ghost, the controlled narratives of Rae, the smooth punches of Meth.
Rather, we get a casual Friday potluck of leftovers.
There's flatly bad, outdated lines like "I'm playing for the 'bucks' like Hakim Warrick," (Warrick was dealt to the miserable Bulls for John Salmons at the NBA trade deadline) on songs with hooks that go "Gimme my fuckin' shit." There's bad guest verses from old friends turned hypemen (Meth's longtime sidekick, Streetlife, actually spits "I got my ghost face on cuz I'm a killer," and his excellent work on 1998's Tical 2000: Judgment Day makes him among the best Wu cronies). The three rappers don't appear on the same song until track five. And um...the three rappers appear on the same song on three out of 13 songs.
Yet these are b-sides worth rummaging through for the names involved. "Our Dreams" is the lone RZA credit and samples little Michael beautifully. "Dangerous," with Mathematics doing his best Mannie Fresh production, bumps nicely. "Criminology 2.5," which we serendipitously heard on early leaks of Cuban Linx II, is still good. The two skits - one with Meth doing "yo mama" jokes and one with Tracy Morgan - are well-placed and keep a playful, funny tone. Soul-sampling, Dipset-recalling beats are never bad.
Overall, the end result is throwaway rhymes jumbled together from the floors of each's superior, 2009 releases. For the far and away, no competition best Wu-Tang rappers (GZA is a distant fourth), it's a big letdown.
At least the art is cool.
- Ramon Ramirez
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