Starter, Rushing Elephants, Unpredictable, More on BBC Radio

The BBC Radio show 1Xtra played 5 Wu-Tang songs on last Sunday's show, including Take It Back, Rushing Elephants, Unpredictable, Starter, & Windmill. You can listen to the entire show here, but as of now the tracks are unavailable individually. But this is only a matter of time--with the final version of 8 Diagrams in so many different people's hands at the moment, a full retail leak cannot be too far off. For now, enjoy the new tracks.

Starter reuses the main sample from Certified Samurai off of the Afro Samurai soundtrack, & does feature some unnecessary singing between INS, GZA, U-God, & Streetlife's leadoff. Nonetheless, the song is full of wit & the beat is on par with the excellent work we've heard so far from the RZA.

Windmill is longer here than we've heard before, featuring Meth & Cappadonna verses, & it remains a great track. Rushing Elephants has a light, almost cartoony sample, but that is not a bad thing. Yet again Rae appears on the track. For all the vetoes he handed out against the RZA, perhaps the Abbot should've returned the favor, as Rae seems like he's on every song. GZA follows Rae, & then RZA has a verse. Finally comes Masta Killa. The best thing about these tracks is that there are plenty of members per song.

Unpredictable, formerly Thug World, ends the broadcast. The quality of the broadcast seems to fade in & out, yet the track seems more interesting mastered, with some added elements in the beat, & a fairly weird hook. The beat switches up for the RZA's verse, then the horn stabs come back in--there is plenty guitar added to the track, but in an aggressive way.

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Update!


Starter


Rushing Elephants


Unpredictable


Windmill

Ready on the Firing Line

After the deluge of today's new tracks, Weak Spot, Thug World, Stick Me For My Riches, & Life Changes--I thought I'd make a survey of what we've got so far.

There were 8 tracks previewed to journalists awhile back--& to date we've now heard 7 of them. The only one waiting to leak is Wolves, which has received much hype as a U-God showcase featuring gritty production. Per Ghost, an interesting note comes with the fact that while he appeared on the first three leaked songs, he's yet to show up on any of the other tracks.

It seems safe to assume that Watch Your Mouth will probably not appear on the album, as no recent tracklists feature this song. The word is that sample clearance will keep this track from appearing. Which is a shame, because it's a more-than-solid track, featuring all the remaining members. It seems like most other songs feature about 3 or so members, but this sense could be stemming from the fact that in some cases we are dealing with partial tracks.

The other track that is in doubt given the most recent tracklist is Thug World. This track was previewed at Wu-Tang shows throughout the world, with rough audio versions showing up online several months ago. Today we finally received at least a portion of that song, featuring INS in good form & a classic semi-sensible RZA performance. All I can say is that RZA is at his most appealing when operating in this mode & this track will be missed if it doesn't in fact appear on the final product. Perhaps it will be renamed, as it really feels too good to exclude. The production is from RZA & DJ King Tech.

Take It Back & Weak Spot are similar tracks to Thug World--all dark, excellent productions. I've written about Take It Back in other posts. It is definitely one of the best new tracks we've heard. Weak Spot is just as good--RZA truly shines on this track, on both the beat & the microphone. The beat stabs, though perhaps somewhat less than on Thug World. Raekwon has yet another appearance, yet he has enough energy to augment the track. The best part of this song is the slight beat changes throughout the GZA's verse, which can be enjoyed while the beat slightly adds & drops elements. This will undoubtedly be a highlight of the album.

Stick Me For My Riches is a structurally unorthodox track. Meth is the only rapper on the track so far, per the version we have & all descriptions from the media & the RZA. The song is co-produced with Mathematics. Both the drums & the singing are initially strange choices, but it is of high enough quality, & the production is interesting enough to more than retain the attention of the listener. Meth & the singer play off each other well as the track progresses. It sounds like there will be more track, hopefully featuring rapping, beyond what we have heard to this point. Whether more Meth or another member, either way, this track is also a winner, though fans wanting only straightforward music from the Wu (a strange request) might be put off. Thankfully, the RZA is making music for Wu-Tang, & not reverting to formula.

The Heart Gently Weeps is the unexpected winner of the leaks so far. It works in a way that no other Wu track ever has. Along with Life Changes, the Rainy Days, I Can't Go To Sleep, Tearz type track is doubly covered, but The Heart Gently Weeps is unlike any of the aforementioned songs, even the just as fresh Life Changes, the ODB tribute song which will hopefully feature verses from all members in final form. Perhaps it is the production technique that truly separates The Heart Gently Weeps from the rest of the pack--whatever it is, now that we have a greater sense of the album, hearing roughly half of the tracks that will be on the final product, not much can be said beyond the fact that things are shaping up very nicely for this album. If the product is as consistently good as we've been hearing so far, it's going to be the type of album that sequencing can either really augment or really hinder. Since the RZA is in full control & also in top form, I can't really fathom that the album will be structured poorly.

Take it Back

Take it Back [right click, save as]

Produced by Easy Mo Bee & RZA. This is the best of the leaked songs so far.

Rae sounds more animated than he has elsewhere, though he yet again leads off the track. He's certainly not the most lively of all the members of late, so it's still curious that he's leading things off. I really wish they'd go back to having INS leadoff the posse cuts. Even U-God on "Pinky Ring" was a better choice.

The fact that Ghost is also on this track is interesting. So far he's surfaced on all three songs. From the early-album conjecture that he wasn't even going to be on the project, then to him being fully on board, followed by his recent fury against RZA & denunciation of the "Wu-Hierarchy"--well all this hasn't kept him from rhyming on every track that's leaked so far. Whole albums go by & you'll barely hear that many GZA or Masta Killa verses.

Another Easy Mo Bee appearance with the Wu is welcome, as their affiliation actually predates the formation of the Clan. He produced RZA's first ever single, "Ooh We Love You Rakeem," from when RZA was known as Prince Rakeem, along with a large portion of GZA's first album Words from the Genius, from when GZA was known only as The Genius. Other pairings with the Wu & Mo can be found on the first Wu-Chronicles album, on the Method Man/Notorious BIG track "The What" & also on the Ras Kass/RZA track "The End." Outside of working with the Wu, Mo Bee has been around, producing most famously for Big Daddy Kane & Biggie, but also putting in work with people from Craig Mack to Alicia Keys.