The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #12

Hello! For the final day of the 2024 holiday festivities (yes, I realize we’re now in 2025, shut up, that’s why), I figured that I would treat the readers who have stuck around with something that’s been missing from the blog for a while now: an honest-to-God write-up. Not a former Patreon exclusive, and not a link to older Max’s cringe-y work, but a brand new review for your ass. I’m not sure how many of these I have left for the free site, but I’ve neglected the blog long enough, so I hope you two enjoy!

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #11

The culmination of RZA's successful five-year plan for the Wu-Tang Clan was 1997's double album Wu-Tang Forever, which, in my opinion, is the only double album in hip hop history that has any reason to exist, considering that he had to make room for nine different emcees (along with various affiliated guests) with varying, but complementary, styles. I'm sure the group members who didn't see a solo album released between 1994 and 1997 were kind of miffed, but I'm not sure if RZA knew how to market Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck (who might have made the cut had it not been for the storied flooding in RZA's basement that destroyed much of his work at the time), or U-God to the masses at the time, and likely still doesn't. (Hell, RZA himself didn't even release a solo album as a part of his plan, although I would chalk that up to hesitancy triggered by his experience on Tommy Boy Records pre-Clan.) 

(Of course, there were several Wu-related releases that coincided with the five-year plan that weren't considered part of that path, but are still canonically Wu. Before Royal Fam was ever a thing, Timbo King released a collaboration with producer Spark 950, while child rapper Shyheim dropped two (two!) different projects with minimal RZA assistance. Prince Rakeem's own side project Gravediggaz, a Prince Paul-led satirical take on industry nonsense cloaked in horrorcore garb, also released their debut within this window, which is how Paul managed to put a sample from "Protect Ya Neck" on there. I include that last fact for the completists, as I still fully believe that the Gravediggaz was not conceived as a Wu-Tang-affiliated project, it just became one after Prince Paul scaled back his participation.)

Wu-Tang Forever has sold more than four million copies in the United States to date, and fulfills the prophecy RZA had teased since day one, with the group officially becoming the biggest thing since sliced bread. Primarily produced by RZA himself, although 4th Disciple, True Master, and Inspectah Deck also contribute beats, Wu-Tang Forever is an epic piece of aural storytelling, with each member of the group receiving a turn to unload their fine-tuned boasts-n-bullshit with the confidence of hip hop veterans, which, at this point, they were.

There's much more to discuss with Wu-Tang Forever, so click on the links and share some thoughts!

RZA's Five-Year Plan #7: Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever (June 3, 1997)

Link to original write-up

Link to a Reader Review (written by Niccolo)

BONUS: Link to Revisionist History #1, where shoe-in and myself each create our own single-disc version of the album

-Max
 

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #10

One of the problems with the Wu-Tang Clan becoming as big as they are, or were in the mid-to-late 1990's, anyway, is the mind-boggling number of hangers-on that tried to finagle a casual friendship or even a chance meeting at RZA's lawyer's office into a legitimate career in the music industry. Obviously some of these acts had talent, while others simply didn't, but what the members of the Z-team shared was the likelihood that this particular strategy would actually pay off in the long run. Many of the Wu-Tang affiliates have long since dropped off the board, but several have not only survived, they've fucking thrived by way of creating their own lane and sticking to it. 

Such is the story of Ellery "Buddha Monk" Chambers, a producer, rapper, author, and childhood friend of the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. His entrance into the hip hop game, via Dirty's solo debut Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, was treated as some sort of mythical unveiling, not unlike the fabled Sheng Long in Street Fighter II (who never existed) or even Reptile in Mortal Kombat (who did). Buddha Monk's own stage name made him sound like a mysterious stranger, an artist only a lucky few would ever get the opportunity to experience if they completed all of the tasks and answered all of the twisted elf's questions correctly and in order during the third blood moon of the century while chanting in some dead language and, I don't know, inhaling Oreos or some shit. Of course, in reality Buddha Monk was simply a dude who wanted to get put on, and lucked into his career thanks to his longtime connections - his unstable flow, similar to his friend's, and taste in darker beats was something we discovered in real time. 

His own solo debut, The Prophecy, has become somewhat of a cult classic, as it showcases the Wu-Tang aesthetic through the lens of an outsider, with all of the posse cuts, kung fu flick samples, and sparse, dusty instrumentals that come with the territory. Ol' Dirty Bastard returned the favor by making a guest appearance, while the rest of the cameos come from various members of Monk's different, somewhat interchangeable crews (older Wu heads will know what I mean). To paraphrase something I wrote two years ago when this review originally ran, if you're the type of Wu stan that gets excited by a Shorty Shit Stain guest spot, then The Prophecy may be your cup of tea.

Click here to read about Buddha Monk's The Prophecy, a Patreon exclusive that is now open to members at all levels! (A minimum of a free membership is required to access - sign up today!)

-Max
 

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #9

After a positively prolific 1995, RZA decided to allow the five Wu-Tang-related albums released during the five-year plan room to breathe, to build the respective audiences for Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, and GZA/Genius. All four artists managed to earn gold plaques from the RIAA within months of their debut dates, with Method Man, the breakout star of the Clan, pushing his Tical to platinum status, even earning a platinum single and a Grammy for his troubles in 1995. The Wu were coming through, as it were, and they were hellbent on world dominance, or at least lording over our chosen culture, with RZA's blueprint seemingly working better than expected for everyone involved.

1996 brought us only one project that was a part of the five-year plan, but that one project was a fucking doozy. Ironman was the debut solo album from Dennis "Ghostface Killah" Coles, another charismatic Staten Island resident whose quirky, insular rhymes and attention to ridiculous detail quickly rocketed him up the Clan standings. (Later in the Wu's timeline, Ghostface Killah would become the guy who essentially carried the brand on his back, keeping the Clan's name alive in an overcrowded market as the rest of the group decided on what they wanted to accomplish as a team, but that was much later.) Mostly produced by RZA, with one beat outsourced to True Master, Ironman represented Ghost's worldview, from his own take on the criminal tales and slang perfected by his partner-in-rhyme Raekwon (who co-stars on Ironman, alongside Cappadonna, much in the way Ghost was heavily featured on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., although Ironman arguably showcases more versatility from its lead), relationship issues, challenging childhoods, and, obviously, boasts-n-bullshit with more references to kung-fu than most rappers managed. RZA and Ghost practically litter Ironman with dialogue samples from blaxploitation flicks, The Usual Suspects, and, in one of the more memorable moments in hip hop history, an overused (but still fantastic) loop lifted from the Bob James song "Nautilus" for the posse cut "Daytona 500", which was then turned into a music video cutting footage from the cartoon Speed Racer to match the vocals, a highly influential move that still inspires YouTube content creators to this day. With features from every group member apart from Dirty, who was dealing with his own shit at the time, Ironman surpassed expectations, establishing Ghostface Killah as a lyricist to be reckoned with while building RZA's resume, proving that he was more than capable of crafting beats around the idiosyncrasies of his collaborators, a skill he'd have many more opportunities to prove.

Let's talk about Ghostface Killah's Ironman today, you two.

RZA's Five-Year Plan #6: Ghostface Killah - Ironman (October 29, 2996)

Link to original write-up

Link to a Reader Review (written by A.R. Marks)

-Max

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #8

 

Happy New Year for those who celebrate, but if you're someone who constantly wishes to pretend like it's still 2018, do you, I don't judge. This year, the holiday that commemorates the persistent movement of time, counting down the hours as we all eventually shuffle off of this mortal coil, and the day that we all arbitrarily decide to create "new" and "healthy" habits even though it's just a day, if you really wanted to cut back on your drinking and Fortnite addiction you could have started at any time last summer, Jonathan, happens to fall on a Wednesday, and based on what I wrote a week ago today, I'm hoping you both know what that means!

Correct, it's time for episode two of Wu-Wednesday, RandoMax Radio's limited series shining the brightest spotlight on the Wu-Tang Clan and their various affiliates, with some old, some newer, some very well-known, and some obscure stuff presented for your listening pleasure, along with some other shit I found amusing at the time. Last week's episode received a pretty good response, and I'm hoping we can keep that going for the duration.

Enjoy!

-Max

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #7

For my money, the best solo album from a Wu-Tang Clan member is Liquid Swords, the third RZA-produced project of 1995, from the artist formerly known as The Genius. Of course, this wasn't actually the guy's debut album, which may help explain why the guy felt so at ease behind the microphone - he was already a jaded veteran of the music industry. You see, Gary "GZA" Grice, cousin to RZA (a lot of the Wu is a family affair, which you'll notice if you follow the group's timeline long enough), was already a solo artist, having signed a deal with Cold Chillin' Records, which released his debut, Words From the Genius, back in 1991. That effort never went anywhere, both because The Genius wasn't the most marketable artist out there and because the label didn't believe in such widespread philosophies such as "marketing", so the album died a horrible death on the vine, with the experience hardening GZA so much that he stepped back and regrouped, helping to build the Wu-Tang Clan from its inception, so that when his time came back around, he'd be ready.

Liquid Swords isn't just my favorite Wu solo project, it's many of yours, as well. RZA once again tailored his instrumentals to the artist, GZA's lyrical sniper keen on storytelling, detail-oriented shit-talking, and, on more than one occasion, gimmicky songs that follow a singular theme to their natural conclusion (see: "Labels"). He was also one of the more chameleon-esque members of the group, fully at home within the dark, deep in the dirty dungeon themes of Method Man (see: "Shadowboxin'"), the criminal underworld of Raekwon the Chef (see: "Investigative Reports"), and even the funhouse mirror-shattering audio anxiety of Ol' Dirty Bastard (tell me you can;t hear ODB over the "Liquid Swords" beat and I'll call you a liar to your face), but also in command of his own instrument within a unique chamber of his own, as songs such as "Duel of the Iron Mic", "Cold World", and "4th Chamber" can attest. 

I feel like I could go on and on about Liquid Swords, a project released when The Genius was still transitioning his stage identity from his past life into his Wu family (hence why it's credited to "Genius/GZA", instead of his later work, which transposes the two), but the most important piece is that this album, along with the debuts from Raekwon, Method Man, and Ol' Dirty Bastard, solidified RZA's reputation as one of the finest producers our chosen culture has ever birthed, and while his music sounds absolutely nothing like this today, the dude remains a fucking genius, even if the nickname was already taken by his cousin.

Today, let's talk about Liquid Swords.

RZA's Five-Year Plan #5: Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords (November 7, 1995)

Link to original write-up

Link to a Reader Review (written by Banksta)

-Max

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #6

1995 was a foundational year for RZA and his building of the Wu-Tang empire. No less than three solo projects were released underneath his purview that year, each one seemingly taking place in entirely different galaxies (or "chambers", to use the group's parlance) even though there was obvious crossover in between each project - since the Wu-Tang Clan were still relatively new to the hip hop game at the time, the individual members supported each other's projects fully, trusting their leader's vision while making musical history in real time.

While Ol' Dirty Bastard's general vibe demanded the bizarre funk-bap he received, Corey "Raekwon" Woods was an altogether different story. Raekwon, also affectionately known as the "Chef", was a Brownsville-born street hustler who relocated to Staten Island at a young age, thereby putting him within proximity of the other members of what would eventually become the Wu-Tang Clan, if not exactly on the friendliest of terms at first. Rae's gruff, no nonsense flow barked boasts-n-bullshit at the listener like orders from a commanding officer, but his true calling was his street-centric storytelling, his bars laying out hyper-specific details surrounding the criminal underbelly existing just beneath polite society. Not for nothing was his debut solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (originally titled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx N----s, the final word smartly dropped in a brazen effort to appeal to a slightly larger audience), also the debut of the Wu-Gambinos, which was basically just Mafioso alter-egos for each member of the group (and also guest artist Nas, whose alias had already been introduced on Mobb Deep's The Infamous earlier that year, but whatever), inadvertently jump-starting, or at the very least accelerating, the East Coast's obsession with organized crime, a fad that only lasted for a couple of years, thankfully.

While Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard had managed to secure label deals outside of Loud Records, which was where the group contractually resided, Raekwon opted to stick with the home team for the beginning of his solo career, a brilliant move considering how his music, at least at first, wasn't exactly seen as "mainstream" or having "crossover appeal", although he eventually sold over one million copies anyway. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... was marketed as a Raekwon solo concept album, a "audio film" of sorts about a criminal seeking out one last score, but its own album cover betrays the fact that it's a twofer, as it features fellow Clan member Dennis "Ghostface Killah" Coles in a supporting role. This translates to Ghost appearing on twelve of the album's songs, and I'm not even counting skits in this instance. This tactic sounded counterintuitive at the time - how in the world were we expected to get an idea of what Raekwon was about if we're constantly distracted by a different rapper at all times - but RZA, who produced the entirety of the project in his basement studio, was quickly proven to be a genius in this regard, as Rae and Ghost would become a lyrical tag team of epic proportions, complementing each other's styles so perfectly that whenever either of them releases a new project today, the first thing most heads look for is a guest feature from the other. Raekwon's debut was also the first Wu-Tang solo effort to feature every member of the group in some fashion, and even introduced Popa Wu (R.I.P.), vocalist Blue Raspberry, and eventual group member Cappadonna into the group's canon.

Today, let's talk a little more about the classic album (I said it, I won't be taking it back) Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

RZA's Five-Year Plan #4: Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (August 1, 1995)

Link to original write-up

Link to a Reader Review (written by Leo)

Link to an extended write-up of my favorite song from the album, "Rainy Dayz"

-Max

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #5

Czartificial Intelligence is the twelfth (yes, twelfth) full-length album from CZARFACE, the comic book-inspired side quest of Inspectah Deck and the Boston rapper/DJ duo 7L & Esoteric. (To be fair, it's their ninth album to feature vocals, the remaining three being instrumental efforts by their primary producers the Czar-Keys, but still, nine albums in a ten-year span is impressive.) As with each of these projects after the third one, Czartificial Intelligence inches further and further away from the traditional definition of "collaboration", as these annual efforts have increasingly become more about Esoteric's vision, which usually involves myriad pop culture references and, on occasion, his own children, with less of a focus on the group dynamic, although judging by Deck's performances throughout, he's still game behind the microphone, and these guys do still work well together when they're on the same page. 

Joining them on their 2023 outing are special guests Kool Keith, Godfather Don, Logic (no, seriously), Coney Island mayor Nems, and rapper Frankie Pulitzer, better known to the world as the actor Tom Hardy, who really should just release a project with Czar-Keys production backing him at this point. Together with Deck and Eso, these guys unload their boasts-n-bullshit over goofy, inspired samples and hard boom bap beats.

Click here to read about CZARFACE's Czartificial Intelligence, a Patreon exclusive that is now open to members at all levels! (A minimum of a free membership is required to access - sign up today!)

-Max
 

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #4

After dropping a project from the most charismatic member of the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA's next step was turning to his cousin, Russell "Ol' Dirty Bastard" Jones. His handful of appearances on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (he only spits six verses on the album, five if you discount "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Part II", which was just a remix) made quite the impression on our chosen culture at the time, his hyperactive, deranged flow acting as a counterargument to the hardcore braggadocio and threats the rest of his brethren were unloading onto RZA's dusty boom bap. It was that, and the fact that he dared call himself "Ol' Dirty Bastard" in the first place, which led to Jones becoming the then-unlikely, but today seen as inevitable, second artist out of the camp to try his hand at a solo career.

Dirty landed a deal with Elektra Records and began work on his debut, which would eventually become Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, almost immediately. The process took him a few years, as RZA was working on multiple projects simultaneously, but even with a disjointed recording schedule, the final product is a cohesive fever dream, a bonkers outing that suited the man's aura perfectly. RZA replaced the dark, grimy beats he gave Method Man with a haunted carnival's worth of aural backdrops, some of which were funky as hell, others bleak and downright terrifying, every one of them unmistakably ODB in nature. Even with many of his fellow Clan members (along with various members of his Brooklyn Zu team and even the mainstream debut of prolific Wu-affiliate Killah Priest) hitching a ride for their friend, Ol' Dirty Bastard shines through the most, his signature song, "Brooklyn Zoo", still ringing bells to this day. Ironically, Jones would almost immediately become the second most commercial artist in the Wu-Tang camp thanks to a well-received and downright insane cameo on the remix to Mariah Carey's "Fantasy", so maybe Prince Rakeem saw something in his cousin that we all just didn't at the time.

(It should be noted that this was the first project of the five-year plan that didn't feature wall-to-wall RZA beats, although he did produce the vast majority of it.)

Let's discuss some Ol' Dirty Bastard, shall we? 

RZA's Five-Year Plan #3: Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (March 28, 1995)

Link to original write-up

Link to a Reader Review (written by Banksta)

-Max
 

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #3

In a move that is still rather unprecedented within the music industry (even though it admittedly wouldn't make sense in the current landscape), The RZA not only encouraged every member of the Wu-Tang Clan to secure solo deals, he instructed them to take their talent to South Beach, by which I mean he put the word out to every record label even remotely interested. Prior to this, every solo member of the Wu would have been locked into a deal with the label that housed the group as a whole, Loud Records, automatically, but coercing Loud into not doing that shit and, instead, allowing his bandmates to spread their wings and fly sparked huge interest in the individual members and resulted in some of the crew's finer moments.

One such moment was Tical, the solo debut of Clifford "Method Man" Smith and the first of the Wu solo projects to hit store shelves, doing so one year and six days after the group first hit the scene. After signing with Def Jam Records back when that was still a big deal for us older heads, Meth and RZA set about crafting a dark, grimy project that acted in direct opposition to the heartthrob image Method Man had inadvertently obtained during the Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) marketing run. Back then, it was a label he refused to accept, going out of his way in an attempt to disprove it before ultimately giving in, while RZA gave the guy some of the darkest, most sparse instrumentals of his career.

Looking back, it always made sense for RZA to show off the most marketable member of the Wu-Tang Clan first, especially as Method Man is now a film and television star who has made peace with the fact that he'll always have a swooning female audience, and he also continues to tear up every microphone handed to him. Tical is heavily contested among heads to this day, with many feeling that it failed to reach the perceived heights of whatever the fuck they thought a Method Man album should have sounded like back in 1994, but I'm one of those folks who believes it to be perfect the way it is, the gritty soundscapes a comfortable fit for Clifford and his guests, including the first appearances in Wu-Tang lore of both Streetlife and Carlton Fisk. The gambit worked out for RZA's five-year plan, as well - with Method Man selling over one million units of Tical and even securing a Grammy for a remix of an album cut, Prince Rakeem had enough juice to convince the rest of the Clan that he had a plan for all of them.

Anyway, let's discuss Tical. Are you one of those fans who felt disappointed by the final product, or is it still in rotation thirty years later?

RZA's Five-Year Plan #2: Method Man - Tical (November 15, 1994)

Link to original write-up

-Max

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #2

A lot has been said about RZA's original five-year plan for the Wu-Tang Clan, but for those of you who are new to the group, here's the gist: essentially, in 1993 he requested to have full creative control over the direction of the group for its first five years of existence, promising every member wealth and popularity in return for allowing him to lead them, after which point he would relinquish control and let everyone do their own thing, for better or for worse. What this meant was that he was the primary (but not the sole, weirdly enough) producer for the first seven projects from the Wu-Tang Clan proper, guiding each performance, locating the best samples (or interpolations that he would later turn into samples, to save money), and generally being a dick with the group's finances allegedly.

This holiday season, I wanted to shine a light on the five-year plan specifically, mostly because I'm trying to gauge interest in something but also, I'm interested in what everyone else thinks about Prince Rakeem's narcissistic demands. The Wu is one of the most popular groups in hip hop even to this day, so whatever he did worked, obviously, but that doesn't mean the dude's playbook was perfect. What say you?

Take this time to revisit my write-up for the Wu-Tang Clan's first album - yes, it's sparsely written and could use a revamp, that's part of what I'm trying to gauge interest in, hint hint - and let's discuss.

RZA's Five-Year Plan #1: Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (November 9, 1993)

Link to original write-up

-Max
 

The Twelve Days of Wu-Mas 2024 - Day #1

 

Welcome back, everyone! I realize that the blog may have left more than a couple of you hanging this year, and I apologize for that - as we all know, life oftentimes gets in the way and you're forced to prioritize things, such as the Patreon, over everything else. That "everything else" also included the RandoMax Radio side project, which I assume many of you think has simply died off.

Not quite! I've removed everything uploaded thus far in order to give myself a fresh start, which just so happens to coincide with this season's Twelve Days of Wu-Mas, an annual tradition where we focus on the Wu-Tang Clan and all of their various family members. Past iterations of this series have included both original and revived write-ups, free Patreon links, and various mix show program things, the last of which I'm going to discuss now.

To kick off the 2024 edition, I'm rescusitating both this free blog and the RandoMax Radio account to present Wu-Wednesday, a weekly limited series of mixes presenting the many different facets of the Wu, from the popular stuff to the obscure shit and everything in between. I know, I know, "Wu-Wednesday" isn't exactly a novel idea, nor is it terribly original, but it suits my needs this year, mostly because Christmas falls on a Wednesday and I needed to kick this year's festivities off with a bang. The true surprise here is that the mixes will continue every week, even beyond the holidays, into the new year, for a length of time as yet undetermined, which means that you two, the beloved readers, may be able to sway me into keeping it going for even longer, and I kind of hope you will, since there's way too much material here.



Episode 1 is now live, and I hope you enjoy the selections and the general silliness in which it was conceived. Share with your friends, your enemies, and especially your children, because as we all know, Wu-Tang is for the children.

-Max