The 12 Hours of Wu-Tang: #6 - My Gut Reaction: Black Knights - Every Night Is Still A Black Knight (March 31, 2014)

The Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated group Black Knights has had a much more storied career than one may have expected, given their relatively unimpressive roots. Part of The RZA’s attempt to expand the Wu brand to the West Coast, the Black Knights began life as a part of a supergroup called Black Knights of the North Star, where the four Knights (Crisis the Sharpshooter, Rugged Monk, Doc Doom, and Holocaust) joined forces with Christbearer and Meko the Pharaoh, performing together as a package deal in part because of their respective contracts with Wu-Tang Records. The Black Knights quickly splintered off to do their own thing, as did North Star, although all anyone can remember about those guys is the unfortunate incident in which Christbearer, high on PCP, forcibly separated his body from his penis.

Hilariously, but also not so much, even though he was able to get it reattached successfully, that action caused The RZA, the ringleader of anything music related in the Wu world order, to immediately deny that he ever knew Christbearer, even though we all knew that shit wasn’t true. It was quite Trumpian of him, really.

But this post isn’t about North Star.

The Black Knights recorded their first album, Every Night Is A Black Knight, for release in 2001, but for whatever reason Wu-Tang Records wasn’t able to follow through on their distribution plans, so they sat on the shelf for fucking years. During that time. Holocaust changed his nickname to Warcloud and then left the group entirely, while Doc Doom was murdered in 2007. This left Crisis and Monk to keep the flame alight, a task that was doubly difficult when they realized that The RZA’s eye was wandering away from hip hop entirely.

That debut was eventually released several years later (after the entire project had leaked anyway – that seems to be a running theme for Wu-Tang projects, huh?), but aside from the occasional song here and there, Crisis and Monk were in limbo. Wu-Tang Records was no longer a thing that existed, and the infighting amongst the original members of the Clan was affecting interest in any of the millions of ongoing side projects and affiliations. It was a chance meeting with musician John Frusciante, formerly the guitarist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, that triggered a comeback of sorts for the Black Knights: their first collaborative album (in a planned trilogy), Medieval Chamber, found Crisis and Monk spitting over some inspired instrumentation, bringing them to an entirely different fanbase who most of the proper Clan hadn’t yet penetrated. I reviewed their collaboration a few years ago and I remember really liking it – the remaining two entries in the trilogy have since dropped, which I’ll get to eventually, and I understand they’re keeping the partnership going for the foreseeable future.

But the Black Knights weren’t keen on relying on Frusciante to keep their name afloat. This brings us to Every Night Is Still A Black Knight, the third album from the group and a direct sequel to their debut. Handled primarily by Crisis and Monk, with a slew of guests and a single appearance from the late Doc Doom, Every Night Is Still A Black Knight consists of eleven tracks that eschew Frusciante’s experimentation in favor of a straight hip hop sound, albeit with its roots planted firmly in West Coast soil. Tellingly, this album features numerous production contributions from The RZA, which means the duo had either held on to these beats for years, or that Prince Rakeem was jealous of the press Monk and Crisis were receiving with another creative at the helm. I prefer the latter theory.

Every Night Is Still A Black Knight dropped a mere two months after Medieval Chamber, and yet it sounds like it was recorded in a completely different era. Join me, won’t you, on my quest to see if there’s any reason to pay attention to the Black Knights when they’re left to their own devices. It’ll be fun. Maybe.

1. POP A LOT AFFAIR (FEAT. AD & P. DOT)

I very much miss Frusciante behind the boards already, as without him, Crisis and Monk have a tendency to follow their own muses, which apparently means revisiting their West Coast roots with a Dez instrumental that could sound decent booming out of a set of car speakers. Through earbuds, though, as I’m hearing things, “Pop A Lot Affair” just plays as a wall of noise. There are no memorable lyrics to be found here, although at least Crisis the Sharpshooter tries to play toward the very minuscule amount of depth the song contains. I immediately regret this decision.

2. NO PROBLEM WITH ME (FEAT P. DOT)

Crisis and Monk are truly going all-in on that West Coast sound, huh? “No Problem With Me” doesn’t exactly read as G-Funk, but just like on the previous track, Dez’s instrumental could theoretically bank when played from your vehicle’s stereo system (read: from your phone via Bluetooth) while you cruise around Los Angeles, although this song is much more successful. Everyone involved manages a decent, boastful verse, as Crisis, Monk, and guest star P. Dot (also known as P.C. from Raekwon’s Ice Water Inc.) deliver bars that won’t stick to your ribs or out in your mind, but they come across as enjoyable enough, at least while the song is playing, because once it’s done you will never give it a second thought. I’d still prefer to hear these guys over darker, more Wu-esque beats, but I admire the fact that the Black Knights refuse to forget where they came from.

3. DESIGNATED DRIVER (FEAT. KINETIC & P. DOT)

Now here’s something I wasn’t expecting to happen today: The RZA produced the xylophone-heavy beat for “Designated Driver”, and it’s… good? Smooth as all hell? He must have found this one on a dusty laptop in his attic (no more basements for Prince Rakeem) just waiting for the Black Knights to ask, as it is a perfect fit for these guys and not for anyone else, really. Crisis, Monk, and guest star Kinetic (or Beretta 9 from Killarmy, whatever, same dude) stretch the metaphor of a “Designated Driver” into a love rap in ways never before thought possible, resulting in some goofy-as-shit lyrics in the process (Kinetic less so – he’s the most assured emcee on the track), but you’ll take it all with a grain of salt and a chuckle, as this is inoffensive and just plain charming in its intent. Unlike the previous two songs, “Designated Driver” is something I would cruise around to late at night. Not bad, guys.

4. JACK POT (FEAT. P. DOT)

The mere fact that the line, “Jackpot, n---a, but this ain’t Chingy” is uttered in the first place on the J. Wells-produced “Jack Pot” should inform listeners of all they need to know about the track, but I’ll provide a but more information anyway. The instrumental is rather good: Wells has worked with a bunch of A- and B+ list talent within our chosen genre, and his work on here sounds like Dr. Dre and Mel-Man were a huge influence, and that isn’t a critique. I dug it, anyway. So it’s too bad that our hosts choose to rap about robbing people without utilizing any of their creativity: the subject matter by itself is pretty dull unless you bring with it a different viewpoint, which Crisis and Monk do not do here. Ah well, we’ll always have “Designated Driver”.

5. WASH ME (FEAT. AD & RZA)

Not sure what it is about The RZA’s beats that make the Black Knights horny, but “Wash Me” is another Prince Rakeem concoction Crisis and Monk use to talk about attractive women they would very much like to pursue sexual intercourse with, please and thank you. Our hosts are far less successful at sounding like smooth operators on “Wash Me”, which continues RZA’s fascination with the xylophone while Crisis hilariously tries to claim that the object of his affection’s brain is more compelling to him than her body, right before praising her tattoos (the ones on her brain, obviously). The Abbott himself steps down from his throne in the clouds to contribute a verse, in which he sounds bored as hell with the concept of “romance” and “fucking”, but at least there’s a full verse here, unlike that Masta Killa spoken-word interlude shit. Pass.

6. I SEE YA (FEAT. TRUTH HURTS & WC)

I have a feeling I’m going to be scratching my head over that guest list for quite some time. Anyway, The RZA’s work behind the boards on “I See Ya” is really fucking good, approaching that Stax essence he treasures, or at least used to at one point, before he switched to digital orchestration and directing movies starring Azealia Banks. At least “I See You” isn’t a love or a lust rap, even with the presence of former Aftermath crooner Truth Hurts on the chorus: Crisis, Monk, and guest star/West Coast stalwart WC, who wants the listener so badly to know that he recorded this cameo for the Black Knights, hence the multiple name-drops throughout his verse, all spit aggressive boasts-n-bullshit, and somehow it all connects, at least until Crisis ends his stanza with a comment about AIDS as though this were the early-to-mid 1990s. Still, I kind if enjoyed this shit, and hearing WC over a RZA instrumental isn’t something that happens all that often, so.

7. CAUGHT UP (FEAT. P. DOT)

Fairly weak, all things considered. J. Wells’ instrumental makes some decent choices, and the music isn’t not engaging, but Crisis and Monk have a hell of a time with it, turning in barely passable performances based around the gangsta lifestyle that neither can make sound even remotely exciting. Monk starts off promisingly enough, with the attention to detail that should have led to something greater, but ultimately “Caught Up” just sucks. Wells lets the beat ride for more than a full minute toward the end, which leads me to believe that a guest star had been booked, but wasn’t able to make it to the studio that day. Ah well, that likely wouldn’t have affected the end result at all.

8. FALLEN ANGEL

Another RZA beat? I had no idea that the Black Knights had curried so much favor from the man…oh wait, “Fallen Angel” features the late Doc Doom? Never mind, this makes total sense now – Bobby Digital loved that guy. “Fallen Angel” has the distinction of being the only track on Every Night Is Still A Black Knight to feature all of the Black Knights, at least at the time of the song’s recording (again, Warcloud had already bailed on the crew at that point), but even with RZA’s decent reggae-tinged instrumental (which sounds like deconstructed Kanye West), this track was merely okay. I do commend all of the emcees for abandoning their boasts-n-bullshit in favor of telling the stories of their respective subjects, but I wish the song were better as a whole.

9. GET THAT DOE (FEAT. P. DOT)

So very meh.

10. KISS (FEAT. ARSENAL & LEATHERFACE)

I’m pretty sure there was an error during the mastering of Every Night Is Still A Black Knight, as the song labeled “Kiss” is clearly supposed to be the following track, “Surprise”, and vice versa, but since this is how they appear on both YouTube and Spotify, let’s play along (even though I’m swapping the guest credits, lest this exercise grow even more confusing). The track we’ll refer to as “Kiss” would have been a strong way to close the album, as RZA’s instrumental is most definitely a vibe, utilizing an uncredited vocal sample to act as the nail in the wall that supports Prince Rakeem’s frame, which embodies a mood heretofore not explored on the project, Crisis, Monk, and guests Arsenal and Leatherface (yeah, U-God’s old friend) all unleash their respective furies on a posse cut that was unexpectedly engaging and enjoyable, although I will admit that The RZA is doing a lot here. The vocal sample “hook” is haunting and inviting at once, and everyone involved steps up their pen game, as though even the participants understood that the posse cuts are what Wu stans live for.

11. SURPRISE (FEAT. TRU JAMES & WIFEY)

The track pretending to be “Surprise” (but is actually “Kiss”) features yet another RZA instrumental, this one co-produced by guest Tru James, and its harmonica-heavy sound isn’t something one would expect to hear on a pseudo-gangsta rap album from the West Coast, but we’re here now, and we have to confront it. The music is pretty good: the lyrics, however, are merely passable, as both of our hosts seemingly dug through their files for all of their best throwaway bars just to fill up the audio track’s space, a tactic that doesn’t even work, as the beat plays unencumbered for quite some time after the final hook. (My guess is that this was always intended to close the album, but someone fucked up along the way and switched the song titles and guest features. At least RZA factors in behind the boards on both.) It’s too bad Prince Rakeem hadn’t saved this one for another act, but that just isn’t how life works.

THE LAST WORD: I remember Medieval Chamber being pretty goddamn good, John Frusciante’s musical ear taking the Black Knights into an entirely separate realm of hip hop, improving both of their outlooks in the process. Which is why it’s so fucking weird to me that Every Night Is Still A Black Knight dropped a mere two months later, as it seems to have been recorded by entirely different rappers named Crisis and Monk. However, this isn’t a bad thing, as shockingly (to me, anyway), there are a number of highlights on this project that earn their spots within the Wu pantheon. Perhaps I’m surprised because I’ve listened to a lot of Wu-Tang in a short window of time, and being the pessimist I naturally am, I keep expecting all of these projects to suck, so maybe my delirium is triggering something along the lines of… kindness? Grace? Leniency? It’s leniency, it has to be. Anywho, the Black Knights have a couple of songs on Every Night Is Still A Black Knight that are actually really fucking good, and even though neither Crisis nor Monk are superior emcees, they know how to ride a RZA beat when one comes around, and it’s the Prince Rakeem-produced songs that fare the best on here. Maybe he was jealous of the work Frusciante was doing with his young charges, I don’t know, but whatever it was that inspired RZA to get off of his high horse to produce some actual no-bullshit hip hop, we should all be grateful. Every Night Is Still A Black Knight is a project a lot of you two may not be aware exists in the first place, and it’s not the greatest album ever made, and I prefer Medieval Chamber much more than this (I think, anyway – I haven’t listened to it in a long time). But there are some keepers o to be found here, so you two should give it a stream and a shot.

- Max

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