Since the beginning of Pretzel Logic, I’ve wanted to write much more about rap. For whatever reason, the great mainstream rap albums of past years seem to have disappeared recently and I find myself grasping at straws in an attempt to find rap albums I really like. However, for this month’s Great Album’s In History, I’m taking this problem into my own hands and featuring my favorite rap album of all time, the GZA’s Liquid Swords.
When the Wu-Tang Clan debuted in 1993 with their untouchable Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), they showed the world the power a group of MCs could have. Between the nine MCs running rampant on the album, listeners had nine distinct personalities to choose from, each with their own strengths and unique quirks. Enter The Wu-Tang is also one of those rare albums that documents a group of people having a blast together in the studio and finds a way to translate that sense of fun to the listener, instead of having the whole thing disintegrate into a complicated inside joke. However, even more fascinating to listen to are the ranks of solo albums by the Wu-Tang’s members. Each one takes the nine-MC-balance on Enter The Wu-Tang and skews it towards one of these personalities, while still featuring enough of the other Wu-Tang members to keep things diverse. There’s almost no doubt that the best of these solo albums is the GZA’s Liquid Swords. The GZA (also known as the Genius) is the Wu-Tang Clan’s smartest, most detailed lyricist and, combined with the cold, atmospheric music provided by his fellow Wu-Tang member and cousin the RZA, his lyrics and delivery on Liquid Swords are unstoppable.
“Liquid Swords”
The album’s opening title track begins, not with beats or rhymes, but with a lengthy sound clip from the 1980 Japanese samurai film, Shogun Assassin. Ominous and foreboding, the clip features a young boy, describing his father and his grim life as the “shogun’s decapitator.” This eerie intro finally fades into the proper song, but the dark atmosphere never leaves, as the RZA’s lonely synth jabs serve as the background for a sparse, creeping beat. On top of all this, we get the GZA’s easy, confident voice describing his incomparable style: “I be the body dropper, the heartbeat stopper, the child educator, plus head amputator.”
“Duel Of The Iron Mic”
With more Shogun Assassin clips serving as a transition, the album raises the ante with “Duel Of The Iron Mic”. Over a twinkling piano sample and insistent bassline, the GZA, along with fellow Wu-Tang members Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck, rolls through three smooth verses, with each MC bringing his own unique style and outlook to the overall themes of lyrical prowess and confidence. To top it all off, the one-and-only Ol’ Dirty Bastard provides a suitably insane chorus hook.
“Living In The World Today”
With the music switching to a crisp snare sample and subtle keyboards pinging away in the background, the GZA and Method Man team up to tackle “Living In The World Today”, another track dedicated to mowing down any who dare go toe to toe with the GZA’s lyrical abilities: “punchlines, that’s unstoppable, ring like shots from glocks that attract cops around the clubs and try to shut down the hip hop.”
“Gold”
One of the album’s strongest tracks, “Gold” again pushes the album into a higher gear, with the RZA’s production building around a queasy keyboard riff and some gritty electric guitars buried beneath snares. Meanwhile, the GZA rhymes about the paranoia that comes with drug dealing, where even the bums sleeping on park benches could be police informers. The GZA also uses one of his favorite metaphors, a chess game, to describe this lifestyle: “the kingpin just castled with his rook and lost a pawn.”
“Cold World”
Building on the social commentary and feelings of anxiety in “Gold”, “Cold World” deals with the reality of living in rough project neighborhoods. With the GZA describing in detail the brutal reality of a life where gun violence and drug-motivated crimes are common place, it’s a haunting piece of music. The RZA underscores the icy reality of the GZA’s words with some desolate sounds of wind and heavy bass, while Inspectah Deck drops by for a fantastic verse, describing himself as “not an actor but an author of a modern day opera.”
“Labels”
“Labels” is probably the lightest moment on the record, but it’s anything but sunny. The song is short, clocking in under three minutes and showcases the GZA trying to fit as many record label names into a single verse (“But I was out on the ISLAND, bombing MC’s all day,” etc). Somewhere in there is a message about the pitfalls of the music industry, but it takes a backseat to a playful game of trying to figure out just how many names the GZA’s hidden in the short-but-entertaining interlude.
“4th Chamber”
Another Shogun Assassin clip brings us into the second half of Liquid Swords, followed by the RZA’s razor-edged production, featuring grinding electric guitars and more seasick synth lines. The first verse is given to Ghostface Killah, who’s erratic, enthusiastic delivery is a great counterpoint to the GZA’s much more deadpan and flat style. The RZA himself even handles a verse, before passing the mic back to the GZA to finish of this up-tempo track with his usual lyrical flourishes.
“Shadowboxin’”
Against a backdrop of smooth soul samples and more jittery snare-heavy beats, Method Man guests with a strong verse evoking the brutality of project life: “those Staten kids, they smashin’ everything, huh, in any shape form or fashion.” The GZA records a verse, hands the mic back to Method Man to close things out and we’re on to the next track.
“Hell’s Wind Staff/Killah Hills 10304”
The first half of this track features a long skit, featuring the RZA and the GZA getting caught in a drug deal gone wrong. This quickly leads into a woozy, keyboard-driven beat, over which the GZA rhymes about the extreme realities that come with drug dealing. In anyone else’s hands, lines like “first rule, anyone who schemes on the gold in Syria, I want they small intestines ripped from the interior” would be laughable, but the deadly seriousness in the GZA’s voice ensures that no one is giggling.
“Investigative Reports”
This track is divided into choruses taken from a History-Channel-like documentary on battles of the American Revolution fought on what is now New York and verses that show that, in some ways, things haven’t changed. As the GZA says, “Callin’ all cars, callin’ all cars! Ghetto psychos, armed and dangerous, leavin’ mad scars.” Ghostface reinforces this with his final verse on the song: “Life is like Tarzan, swingin’ from a thin vine.”
“Swordsman”
Despite all this social commentary, the GZA feels he needs to get something straight on “Swordsman”: “I’m not caught up in poltics, I’m no black activist on a so-called scholar’s dick.” This damning indictment is followed by one of his strongest verses on the entire album, declaring his independence from the religion he was raised with: “’Cause at a young age, I was molded in a religion I relied on, and got caught up in superstition, scared to split poles, duck black cats, once in a while, threw salt over my back, but with knowledge of self from off the shelf, made things seemed complicated now small like elves.”
“I Gotcha Back”
The album’s last track (not counting “B.I.B.L.E.”, a wildly different bonus track included at the end of most versions of the album available in stores), “I Gotcha Back” is an excellent summation of everything Liquid Swords sets out to accomplish. Over those same dry, crisp beats, the GZA unleashes a torrent of rhymes about his upbringing and the cruelty of life he’s seen. Lines like “I was always taught my do’s and don’ts, for do’s I did and for don’ts, I said I won’t” showcase the GZA’s cynical worldview perfectly. The album finally ends as it began, with a haunting clip from Shogun Assassin. Instead of the young boy at the beginning though, this clip features an old man’s last words, killed at the hand of another swordsman: “When cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they say. I'd always hoped to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound…but to have it happen to my own neck is... ridiculous…”
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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