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| Quote : | "The next Kung Fu movie that gets made should use music from 8 Diagrams in any funeral scenes. It's only appropriate: after years of Kung Fu clips providing an unofficial soundtrack for the Wu-Tang saga, it just makes sense that the group's death knell would reciprocate and score a Kung Fu passing.
That's the sad reality that plays out as 8 Diagrams plays on. The Wu-Tang Clan that ushered in an era of hip-hop still cherished by twenty-somethings like me has been long gone, but 8 Diagrams serves as the ultimate affirmation. Yet far from enduring the pain of losing a loved one, Wu-Tang fans--and please count me among them, loudly and proudly--are likely to just nod in recognition and reflect with appreciation upon the group's legacy (which, of course, is still being written as solo records continue to get pumped out).
But before we get to a consideration of grand topics in a larger context, let us first just be honest with each other: this new Wu-Tang record is not good. It's mediocre at best. For two or three minutes at a time, the music will have you nodding along as familiar elements fill your headphones--the movie clips, the unorthodox musical elements strung together into a cohesive sound, the tight assonance of a verse you don't really understand but enjoy nonetheless. But these are fleeting moments routinely interrupted by awkward chemistry, bad production choices, and disjointed songs.
During the making of the record, there were stories that some members, like Raekwon and Ghost, were upset about the album's direction and RZA's imperious decision making. You can almost hear that conflict manifest--there are far too many moments when 8 Diagrams starts to feel like an indulgent RZA experiment with a bunch of odd verses slapped together. And without better group chemistry and a more focused aesthetic, the understated menace of a Masta Killa verse simply screams monotony; GZA's word puzzles happen in a vacuum; Method Man's failing voice--far less exuberant and lively, far more weary--becomes sad affirmation that the Wu-Tang's time has come and gone. The last track, "16th Chamber," sums it all up, with RZA playing himself (and I don't mean acting) as the spliced together audio of Method Man and Ol' Dirty from better, younger days of hip-hop halcyon remind us of what is now lost. It is over for the group.
Yet 8 Diagrams is, amazingly, a happier sort of funeral, more homage than mourning. The poor quality and absent group dynamics reinforce just how significant and god-body the collective was throughout the 90s, when they changed rap music. It is a disappointment that this album isn't better, but the first thing I wanted to do after hearing it was throw on a mix of the best Wu-Tang music from the Clan's earlier days. That isn't common--I usually hear a bad record and feel sad and cynical. But the Clan will forever own a unique place in hip-hop: due to the enduring quality and significance of 36 Chambers; due to the curious and self-reinforcing mythology that the group concocted and forever impressed upon a generation of hip-hop fans; due to the frequent collaborations on "solo" records, like Cuban Linx and Ironman, that swell our perceptions of the "group's" catalogue and made that first wave of "solo" bangers anything but; due to manner in which each member has used his unique celebrity to reinforce the group's identity, our perception of the classic Wu-Tang phenomenon may, indeed, be forever. And that's an oddly reassuring consolation that stands out from the disappointment that is 8 Diagrams. It is also likely to continue until each individual's career peters out and we can continually celebrate what those Ghostface albums meant for the larger Clan." |
[Edited on November 27, 2007 at 8:59 AM. Reason : .]
[Edited on November 27, 2007 at 9:18 AM. Reason : straightbangin.com] 11/27/2007 8:59:20 AM
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