Today's gift for the Wu stans is a quick reminder of the Producers Guild mix show series that I'm trying to bring back in 2023. I know what you're thinking: "Wait, didn't you just publish a catch-up post about this very subject right before Christmas?" And you're right, I did. However, I'm quite proud of the last three installments (so far, anyway), as they focused on three different members of the Wu-Elements production team: True Master, 4th Disciple, and Allah Mathematics, and I'd like them to reach a wider audience, or at the very least I want you two to realize that there's more to these guys than their Wu-Tang affiliations (or, in Math's case, the fact that he created the goddamned logo).
What follows is a repost of those Wu-centric episodes, which I hope you will enjoy and share with anybody that enjoys good music.
RandoMax Radio's Producers Guild Episode #5 - True Master
Derek Harris, professionally known as producer-slash-occasional rapper True Master, is best known for his association with the Wu-Tang Clan. I know that sentence comes across as flippant and obvious, both because the timing of today's post implies a connection to the 12 Days of Wu-Mas 2020 and because it entirely discounts the man on his own merits, measuring his importance against the Wu-Tang monolith, but it's entirely true: one of the earliest members of the Wu-Elements production team, True Master is likely the man responsible for many of your favorite Wu tracks that don't come from the RZA himself, some of which are outright classics in their own right.
Harris has a life outside of the Clan, of course, which many of you two may not be fully aware of. True Master was once a member of the late Guru's Gang Starr Foundation alongside such names as Jeru the Damaja, Group Home, Bahamadia, and Big Shug, although you're forgiven if you never knew about this particular association, since Harris never made it on to any proper Gang Starr project. (He had to be satisfied with placements on one of Guru's Jazzmatazz albums and on the Illkid Records label sampler, Illkid Records being the short-lived label Guru had started to originally house the Foundation members.) The Wu-Tang connection came later, but not much later, as RZA picked up what the man was laying down rather quickly. (The Abbot had also realized he wouldn't be able to realistically produce every single Wu-Tang Clan effort without suffering from a noticeable decline in quality.) True Master and his fellow Element 4th Disciple made up the B-team of Wu-Tang production, a classification that remained in place for many years before True Master seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth while battling a sexual assault charge that he was later acquitted for.
This episode presents a mix of True Master's production work (and co-production work, in a small handful of places) that showcase his self-proclaimed "Persian Legacy" sound, which fits surprisingly well with a multitude of artists, not just those within the Wu fold. This episode brings boasts-n-bullshit in its purest form, with each artist focusing on nothing but one-upping those around them, which, in my opinion, bumps up the entertainment value quite a bit. Fans of East Coast boom bap will find plenty to enjoy here, although I believe there's something for everyone's tastes, especially my own, as I love all of these tracks (and I'm willing to bet a lot of you two will feel the same).
PRODUCERS GUILD EPISODE #5: TRUE MASTER
1. Cappadonna - "Slang Editorial"
2. RZA - "Fast Cars" (featuring Ghostface Killah and Erica Bryant)
3. Black Rob - "You Know What" (featuring Louis Farrakhan)
4. Tony Touch - "The Abduction" (featuring Wu-Tang Clan)
5. U-God - "Rumble" (featuring Leathafase, Inspectah Deck, and Method Man)
6. Eto & Trife Diesel - "Old Style"
7. True Master - "Who's The Truest"
8. KRS-One & True Master - "One Two, Here's What We Gon' Do" (featuring RZA)
9. Method Man - "Dangerous Grounds" (featuring Streetlife)
10. Ol' Dirty Bastard - "Brooklyn Zoo"
11. Wu-Tang Clan - "Y'all Been Warned"
12. Method Man - "Party Crasher (Original)"
13. Guru - "Looking Through Darkness" (featuring Mica Paris)
14. Gravediggaz - "Burn, Baby, Burn"
15. True Master - "12 Jewels of Life" (featuring RZA)
16. Deadly Venoms - "(Throw Your...) Middle Fingers Up" (featuring Method Man and Streetlife)
17. Wu-Tang Clan - "Heaterz" (featuring Cappadonna)
18. Killah Priest - "The PWOWR (Problem Solver)"
RandoMax Radio's Producers Guild Episode #6 - 4th Disciple
El-Divine Amir
Bey is a producer, disc jockey, engineer, and occasional rapper that
goes by the stage name 4th Disciple. He was a part of the first wave of
producers signed to RZA's Wu-Elements team, the other being True Master,
but unlike his close peer, 4th is listed in the liner notes of the
Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (as a
mixer, not a producer, but it still counts). Along with being one of
RZA's go-to alternates, 4th Disciple also had a hand in forming a
successful Wu-affiliated group of his own, Killarmy, made up of six
rappers hailing from both Steubenville, Ohio and Staten Island (cities
which are both very important in the Wu-Tang mythos in their own
way) who enhanced their shit-talking shtick with military references
that sounded a lot like standard-issue boasts-n-bullshit. Like
True Master, 4th Disciple also had a career prior to his Wu-Tang
connection, although he managed to work a hell of a lot more than
Tru-God, alongside many different artists such as Raw Intellect, One
Man, and everyone else that appeared on any of his various compilation
projects (see: The Best of 740; Steel Valley Project).
This
episode presents a mix of 4th Disciple's production work that showcase
his versatility and sound, which oftentimes skews toward stark, bleak
loops with hard-as-fuck drums. His choice of collaborators tend to lean
heavily in that direction as well, making for another boom bap-heavy
episode that you two are bound to enjoy. The tracklisting appears below
the embedded player, so that you can quickly glance at it while
wondering why you haven't yet pressed 'play'.
PRODUCERS GUILD EPISODE #6: 4TH DISCIPLE
1. 4th Disciple - "The Fall" (featuring Shogun Assasson and Alibastard the 1st)
2. 12 O'Clock & Raekwon - "Nasty Immigrants"
3. Sean Price - "Dead or Alive" (featuring Bernadette Price)
4. Method Man - "Another Winter" (featuring Streetlife, Hanz On, and Carlton Fisk)
5. 4th Disciple - "Letz Rok" (featuring Rah Digga)
6. La the Darkman - "Fifth Disciple"
7. Killarmy - "Dress to Kill"
8. Sunz of Man - "Wicked Ways" (featuring 7th Ambassador)
9. Raw Intellect - "Third Eye"
10.
Shaka Amazulu The 7th - "Retrophin (4th Disciple's Gravediggaz Remix)"
(featuring Frukwan, Shabazz the Disciple, and Solomon Childs)
11. Teraban - "Dead Silence"
12. Rubbabandz - "Drive By"
13. N-Tyce - "Hush Hush Tip" (featuring Method Man)
14. Killah Priest - "Moanin'" (featuring Killa Sin)
15. Sunz of Man - "Bloody Choices"
16. Killarmy - "The Cookout"
17. Bugsy Da God - "Killaz Language" (featuring Tragedy Khadafi, Timbo King, and Leathafase)
18. Wu-Tang Clan - "Better Tomorrow"
RandoMax Radio's Producers Guild Episode #7 - Allah Mathematics
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
-Max
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