Does the Wu need an introduction? Probably not, so I'll just mention that the 9-man collective dropped their legendary 36 Chambers over 10 years ago. The solo albums spawned from its impact were for the most part, amazing, that is, until the members got to their second, third, or fourth albums. Method Man, the most popular and commercially viable emcee in the Clan, has released two albums before his 2004 LP Tical 0: The Prequel. While his first LP was very good, his second was merely average, as he started to show signs of selling out. 2004 rolls along, and after the Wu was dead with Raekwon and RZA's 2003 releases, it managed to save some face with Ghostface's Pretty Toney, which, while not anything special, was better than the complete shit they have released recently. Will Method Man improve on the Wu's streak of bad albums? Absolutely not.

If you want a quick reason not to get this album without reading the whole review, here's one: P. Diddy.

After the intro, which actually has a decent grimy beat (which is wasted), Streetlife joins Meth on The Prequel. The hard, thumping beat is addictive and pretty nice. However, the lyrics show that Method Man is well on the road to selling out, constantly talking about money. Its obvious he's lost his song writing talent: Now I pop a lot of shit, cause I can back it up (what)/I got that fire, bitch, its hard to pass it up (what). Streetlife continues to ruin the song with his boring hook. The instrumental is good, but the vocals suck, bottom line. Things only get worse frmo here, starting with Say What, featuring Missy Elliot and P. Diddy. Over a Jamaican influenced beat, Method Man shows a complete lack of competence with his club-influenced lyrics. I don't usually have a problem with club songs, as long as its catchy and serves its purpose, which should be no problem for P. Diddy, but he fails here. Missy's hook is incredibly annoying.

What's Happenin' featuring Busta Rhymes is one of the few listenable songs on the album. While neither Busta nor Meth spit their finest by any stretch of the imagination, the powerful beat and generally decent battle rhymes are well above the level on most songs on this album. But you still might skip it, because of course Method Man has to insert some uselessly wack lines into his verses: Little hash in the middle, where it at? In the middle, yup/Mommy if you got a fat a-ss, make it jiggle, yup. What the fuck?

Following this, The Motto has some of the better lyricism but a boring beat that'll make you hit the skip button before you get to the end. Redman and Snoop Dogg, two legendary rappers, appear on We Some Dogs for some mysogynistic garbage. Redman manages to outshine the other two while still managing to suck. Get the idea yet?

Other Wu members, as always on solo albums, make appearances on the album. The Raekwon and Method Man collabo on The Turn takes the award for best song on the album. The thumping bass combined with the crescendoing bell backdrop provides the setting for Meth and Rae to drop some nice battle rhymes, something that sounds like it came from an era when the Clan didn't suck. The soul sample in the middle of the song is kind of awkward, but nothing too horrible here. Ghostface Killah, fresh off releasing an album in 2004, joins Meth for Afterparty, describing the setting of what looks like a party with the Wu Tang Clan, as the Genius, U-God, and Masta Killa are all mentioned somewhere in the song. Its still fairly generic, as Meth says: Stretch with a morning yawn, party 'til the break of dawn/Ladies throw your faces on, sing it when the break come on. "Party til the break of dawn"? That's gotta be one of the most played-out lines in history, making an appearance in basically every other club song.

Some RnB singer who will go back into the land of the unknown in a couple months, Chinky (wtf?) makes an appearance on the downright horrible track Tease. How many times have we heard this from a rapper? Method Man lists the reasons he can get girls, the kind of girls he can get, etc. As soon as he opens his mouth you hit the skip button, only to land on the catastrophe of a song known as Rodeo with Ludacris. The somewhat talented Southern rapper joins Meth in creating one of the three worst songs on the album. The beat is fairly good, I'll admit, with its arrangement of synthesizers and bass thumps. But the lyrics are horrible. I'd rather not blemish this review with these lyrics, but just to prove my point:

I get my nuts pushed, on the bottom to the top of your gums/I feel your slurpin', slurpin, I'm skeetin' and squirtin' your tongue

Before I break down over the death of the Wu, I'll end this review. Method Man has completely sold out, and in the process creating one of the worst Wu solo albums of all time, only rivaled by Raekwon's effort last year. While several beats are on point, the lyrics and wack vocals will cause you to skip the tracks anyways. I'll add Method Man to the list of Wu members who should retire, along with Raekwon, U-God, ODB, RZA, and Ghostface, because in all honesty, this is the worst album I've heard this year. True, I haven't subjected myself to the idiocy of J-Kwon, but still, thats pretty bad. Skip Method Man's 3rd LP, and don't expect anything good from the Wu again, because at this rate, even GZA's next album will suck. Its hard to believe that these guys are the same 9 Shaolin Warriors that created the masterpiece known as 36 Chambers, and its truly a sad day to know that the reign of the most influential group in hip-hop history has come to an end in such a disastrous way.

.5 Stars

Recommended: No