Ive heard a lot of mixed opinions about the Wu-Tang Clan and their third album, The W. A lot of people truly like it, but some hate it, and others are a bit indifferent. Well im here to give you the truth about this album. You may remember the Wu-Tang's debut classic Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, (and if you don't hit yourself) well this is nowhere near like it (and you shouldn't expect it to be). But its not horrible either. Comparing it to that is lame. One should credit The W for it's own merit, because it does have plenty.


Tracklist and Ratings

1. Shaolin Finger Jab / Chamber Music (*****)
2. Careful (Click, Click) f/ Cappadonna (*****)
3. Hollow Bones (*****)
4. Redbull f/ Redman (****)
5. One Blood Under W f/ Junior Reid (*****)
6. Conditioner (***)
7. Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) f/ Cappadonna (*****)
8. Let My Niggas Live f/ Nas (**)
9. I Can't Go To Sleep f/ Isaac Hayes (*****)
10. Do You Really (Thang, Thang) f/ Streetlife (**)
11. The Monument f/ Busta Rhymes (**)
12. Gravel Pit (*****)
13. Jah World f/ Junior Ried (*****)
14. Clap (**)


The W begins with three tight tracks. Chamber Music, Careful (Click, Click) and Hollow Bones. The first of the three is the intro, featuring that traditional Rza production, we get awesome verses from Meth, Raek, Masta, and Gza, which could possibly be, the four best lyricists of the Wu-Tang Clan. The instrumental, along with the rhyming, sounds like something right from Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, with its dark and grimy production, masterfully done by Rza.

The aftermath of this is Careful (Click, Click). This is one of the more unique Wu songs. We get an appearance from the Wu-elite in this one, along with old buddy Cappacino, whos performance is only average. My personal favorite parts of the song are Ghostface, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck. The production on this track is even darker than that on the opening track, and its now more haunting, and dark. The feel of the song is very oriental and deep, and incredible, with a hard bassline. This is also the second single from this album, but its tough to find this video (but ive got it).

The Third of these three is Hollow Bones. Here the production changes up a bit. Featuring a soul-ish R&B beat, with samples from an old R&B song which i cant point out, Raekwon, Deck, and Ghostface appear here. Raekwon shows off his amazing mafiosio, street poetic rhymes, and his flow is amazing on this song. One of the things that ive disliked about Raekwon is his lack of flow at times, but on this track, his flow and non-stop rapping and lyricism is AMAZING! Lyrically, at the top!

Any of these are potential singles, but of course now ill examine the two lead singles from this album: The Jump Off (Protect Ya Neck) and Gravel Pit. The first of the two is a Clan classic, in my opinion. Featuring every member of the Wu-Tang Clan, plus Cappadonna, we get an incredible masterpiece of a single. Rza gives us his traditional production, only jiggies it up a tiny ounce, making it a suitable club, yet underground track, which is something hard to do, but Rza has accomplished it perfectly, which shows his genius. The production features grimy and simple drum and bass accompaniment, with a jiggy synthesized guitar pluck, which changes when we get to U-God's verse, to a darker beat, but slowly the original is brought back. As for lyrics, each member of the Wu drops humorous and incredibly witty lyrics, but my personal favorites are Inspectah Deck, Ghostface, Meth, Masta Killa, and Gza.

The second single actually doesnt have Cappadonna on it, incredibly. It is the song im sure you've heard many times: Gravel Pit. This track features jiggy, yet genius production, saved by its incredibly loud horns and bass. Rza's beat is ridden perfectly by Meth, Ghost, and U-God, which could be the three most commercial members of the Wu, yet i respect them. They all drop some incredible verses for this fitting third single.

Besides Cappadonna being on a bunch of songs, we get other guest appearances on The W. The first is on Redbull, which has Meth's buddy Redman popping up. Though the production is nothing special, using synthesizers, its still tolerable and very listenable. The big surprise here is that Inspectah Deck's verse was slightly less crafty than usual, so the track loses a few points.

The next guest appearance is on Junior Reid on One Blood Under W. Definetely, a highlight of this album. Junior Ried, along with Masta Killa, dominate this track with complicated, and well-written lyrics and tight delivery. Not to mention the production is also top notch Rza fare.

Afterwards, we get an interesting track with Snoop Dogg, who has ridiculously fallen off, and some left over vocals from the "at the time" incarcerated Old Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang. Snoop delivers a sleep performance, and ODB is his usual crazy self, luckily Gza comes in at the end with a ridiculously incredible verse which scores a song a sh*tload of points. As for the production, Rza delivers with an incredibly gritty and grimy track with simple and dirty drum loops and slightly strange sound effects.

The final guest appearance i want to examine gives me mixed opinions, but it leans more towards the lower. The legend from Queens Nas appears on Let My N*ggas Live. Raekwon's extremely commercial and whack verse costs the song greatly. Nas is basically average, and Deck does a decent job. What costs the song the most is the instrumental, making it nothing but annoying with its repeated chimes and awful unmixed bassline. Rza let me down here.

One of the things we usually dont get from a Wu-Tang Clan album is introspectiveness. Well they deliver it twice by Rza and Ghostface. On the two tracks I Cant Go 2 Sleep and Jah World, we get plenty of it from these two talented emcees. On the first, I Cant Go 2 Sleep, Rza and Ghostface are joined by Isaac Hayes on the fourth single from this album. They rap extremely emotional rap about the problems with the world, and it really sounds like they are crying. The production gives us a deep and sad, yet classical and jazzy mood, which is perfect for this song. These three artists give us an extremely emotional song, which even touched me, and im not afraid to say it. Nothing BUT Pure Classic.

The second collabo is called Jah World which is strikingly similar to the first collabo between Rza and Ghost, and are joined by Junior Reid this time. They seem a lot more focused on this track, and sound more introspective and smart on it, and get to a socially conscious point of view on racism and hate, and they get historic on african american culture. Not quite as impactful as Ras Kass' Nature of the Threat, but its still on the same road.

Of course, the album isnt perfect by a longshot. Besides the already mentioned tracks above, Clap and Do You Really (Thang, Thang) are ridiculously skippable due to thier awful production and even MORE awful subject matter and lyricism.

So to wrap it up, The W has its ups and downs, and luckily, its ups outnumber its downs. Its one of those albums that you hesitate to buy because of all the crap you hear from it. Im here to tell you it aint so bad and has a LOT of amazing moments. So lets see... would you rather buy the ridiculously crappy Diplomats album, or the new Choppa, or dig into some Wu-Classics. If you're smart, the you'd pick Wu, if you dont.. then may god be with you until you find a cerebral cortex.

3 1/2 Stars.... rounded up to 4 Stars... so its buyable.


Breakdown of Wu Appearances on Tracks:

1. Shaolin Finger Jab / Chamber Music
Featuring: Method Man, Raekwon, Gza, Masta Killa

2. Careful (Click, Click)
Featuring: Rza, U-God, Masta Killa, Cappadonna, Ghostface, Inspectah Deck

3. Hollow Bones
Featuring: Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface

4. Redbull
Redman, Method Man, Inspectah Deck

5. One Blood Under W
Masta Killa, Junior Ried

6. Conditioner
Snoop Dogg, Old Dirty Bastard, Gza

7. Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)
Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Meth, Masta Killa, Rza, Ghostface, U-God, Cappadonna, Gza

8. Let My N*ggas Live
Raekwon, Nas, Inspectah Deck

9. I Can't Go To Sleep
Ghostface, Rza, Isaac Hayes

10. Do You Really (Thang Thang)
Method Man, Streetlife, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck

11. The Monument f/ Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, Gza

12. Gravel Pit
Method Man, Ghostface, U-God

13. Jah World f/ Junior Ried
Ghostface, Junior, Rza

14. Clap
Raekwon, Ghostface, Method Man


For more information on the Wu-Tang Clan, read my review for Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers and Iron Flag.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving