RandoMax Radio's Producers Guild Episode #7 - Allah Mathematics

Producers Guild is a series celebrating the creators behind the boards of your favorite songs. Listen to today's episode and leave your comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms, and/or whatever you have for me below so we can continue the conversation.

Ronald "Allah Mathematics" Bean is a producer-slash-deejay hailing from Jamaica, Queens. He's been an ancillary member of the Wu-Tang Clan since well before the Wu-Tang Clan was even a glimmer in The RZA's eye, having befriended Gary "The Genius" Grice back in 1990, back when he wasn't yet the GZA and he was signed to Cold Chillin'. But the man has a true claim to fame that distances him from his Wu-Elements peers: Mathematics created the Wu-Tang logo. Yes, the same logo that the group uses to this very day. Man, I hope he was paid handsomely for his work there.

Allah Math's production work is mostly limited to his time with the Wu-Tang Clan and their affiliates, with the occasional outsider brought in under his wing (usually appearing on Math's own solo projects). I sense this is going to change very soon, however: in 2017 the man was tasked with producing a new Wu-Tang Clan album in full, as The RZA was either too busy or too uninspired to take the reigns, and with his trusty ASR-10 he conjured up The Saga Continues, a blatant attempt at fan service featuring every member of the Clan, save for U-God (which is the only reason why the project was credited to just "Wu-Tang" and not the Clan, according to Allah Math), and a few outsiders (Sean Price, Chris Rivers, Pharoahe Monch and Tek on a remix), all performing over beats that were very reminiscent of the early Wu sound. The Saga Continues was a hit amongst Wu stans, which undoubtedly means that we, as a group, are eagerly awaiting what else Mathematics has been hiding from us.

This episode presents a compilation of Allah Mathematics production efforts that showcase his sound (a lot of loops, to be honest, although that's hardly a bad thing), if not his versatility, since he's only just now starting to reach out beyond the Wu bubble. What you'll hear today plays like a fine Wu-Tang compilation album, one where the microphone is thrown around the room and every participant gets in some fine verses while Math switches up the music every three minutes or so. Join me in the fun by pressing 'play', won't you?




PRODUCERS GUILD EPISODE #7: ALLAH MATHEMATICS
1. Wu-Tang Clan - "Do You Really (Thang, Thang)" (featuring DJ Kay Slay)
2. Method Man & Redman - "Dat's Dat Shit" (featuring Mally G and Young Zee)
3. Ghostface Killah - "Mighty Healthy"
4. Masta Killa - "Whatever" (featuring Prodigal Sunn and Streetlife)
5. GZA/Genius - "Pencil" (featuring Masta Killa and The RZA)
6. Streetlife - "F.A.N.Z."
7. Wu-Tang Clan - "Assed Out"
8. D Vine - "Say Hi To The Bad Guy"
9. Ghostface Killah - "Strawberry" (featuring Killah Sin and The RZA)
10. Wu-Tang - "Pearl Harbor (Remix)" (featuring Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Sean Price, Pharoahe Monch, and Tek)
11. Masta Killa - "All Natural"
12. GZA/Genius - "Feel Like An Enemy" (featuring Hell Razah, Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn, and Trigga)
13. Mathematics - "Untitled Track 3 (Instrumental)"
14. Mathematics - "Rap Burglars" (featuring Raekwon and Inspectah Deck)
15. Wu-Tang - "If What You Say Is True" (featuring Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Streetlife, GZA/Genius, and Ol' Dirty Bastard)
16. Wu-Syndicate - "Pointin' Fingers"
17. Black Knights of the North Star - "Punishment"
18. Mathematics - "Respect Mine" (featuring Raekwon, Method Man, and Cappadonna)

Hopefully you've enjoyed this episode, along with everything else I've thrown at you for the pandemic edition of the 12 Days of Wu-Mas episode. If you like what you hear, leave me some comments-slash-criticism-slash-words of encouragement, so that hopefully we can keep this weird-ass tradition alive next year. Happy Holidays!

-Max