wu-tang-chamber-music
Words by Landon A.

After the unfortunate commercial failure of 8 Diagrams, many deemed the Wu collective as a lost cause and a distant memory as internal conflict and creative differences threatened to sink the Wu-Tang ship for good. Now, two years later RZA takes the backseat as an executive producer as his rhyme brethren make a valiant effort to cover the stench left by “8 Diaphrams” with a brand spankin’ new compilation Wu-Tang Chamber Music. With help from the likes of Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, AZ and M.O.P., the Wu manage to take steps toward clearing the mud off of their names and washing their hands clean of a project that should have never happened.

The first single, “Harbor Masters” which features Ghostface, AZ and Inspectah Deck comes strapped with a dusty drum break and an unforgettable Ghost verse to wet the listener’s palate. AZ and Deck also deliver fairly decent verses over this club banger disguised as a raw boom-bap cut. The Brooklyn Soul Band provides the live instrumentation on this track and many others to help re-capture the vintage Wu sound, and do so to great success as each track sounds like it’s hot and fresh out of The Abbot’s MPC.

“Radiant Jewels” with Sean P, Cormega and Raekwon is a cinematic joint laced with an infectious bass line, stabbing violins and enough gun shots to send Trick Trick running for the hills. Ruck doesn’t disappoint with an exceptionally grimy verse and neither do ‘Mega or Rae for that matter as we get a preview of what to expect from the inevitably postponed Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. Last but not least, what would any Wu effort be without a patented Ghostface love ballad? “I Wish You Were Here” features Tre Williams crooning on top of a smoothed over beat as Ghostface confesses his love/lust for every woman in general and no one in particular.

Although not technically a Wu-Tang album, Chamber Music is everything that 8 Diagrams was supposed to be. Minus the constant intermissions disrupting the mood and both Method Man and GZA being completely AWOL, this is an unofficially-official return of the days of old. Maybe when they were recording the album the stars weren’t aligned that day or U-God wasn’t wearing his lucky socks, but whatever it was, it took two years and a completely different approach to even begin to cover it up. Wu-Tang may be forever but keeping them separate while working may be the best thing for them creatively.

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