After the Wu-Tang Clan truly exploded in 1994-1995, the music world was flooded with official (and a few unofficial) spin-offs of the group by record companies desperately trying to cash in on the Shaolin rap phenomenon. As a way to link these new groups with the dominant Wu-Tang Clan, the affiliates and spin-offs became known as the Wu Tang Killa Bees.

In 1998, Priority Records dropped The Swarm, a compilation LP featuring some of the up-and-comers in the Killa Bees’ growing brood of larvae. Though the idea of putting these rap groups onto one promotional CD for easy access for the fans was a good idea, it was executed poorly. The entire project feels amateurish; from the slightly inaccurate track listing to the hodge-podge of singles apparently randomly tossed together, the whole project gives the impression that not a lot of time was spent in its planning.

To compound things, there’s not much variety either. RZA and the Wu Elements, each repeatedly scrounging up those dark minor key melodies and driving percussion that has become the emblematic sound of the Wu-Tang Clan, handle production. The performance of the actual artists becomes monotonous as well, with each of them trying to reproduce the distinct sound of the Wu, but losing themselves in the process. The Killa Bees may have initially set out to swarm all over Hip-Hop, but on this album their stingers have definitely been blunted.

Tracklisting
1. Intro
2. The Legacy – Royal Fam
3. Concrete Jungle – Sunz of Man
4. Co-Defendant – Shyheim, Hell Razah
5. S.O.S. – Inspectah Deck, Street Life
6. Execute Them – Raekwon, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck
7. Bronx War Stories – A.I.G.
8. And Justice For All – Bobby Digital, Killarmy, Method Man
9. Punishment – Black Knights
10. Bastards – Ruthless Bastards
11. On the Strength – The Beggaz
12. Cobra Clutch – Ghostface Killah
13. Never Again - Remedy
14. Where Was Heaven – Wu-Syndicates
15. ’97 Mentality – Cappadonna feat. Ghostface Killah
16. Fatal Sting – Black Knights

The album starts out with the tight introductory track, “The Legacy” by Timbo King of the Royal Fam. With keyboards and percussion creating RZA’s signature “marching quarter notes”, Timbo raps line after line of focused lyrics in the distinctive Wu-format. Then, there’s the fantastic showing by now-defunct Wu affiliates, The Sunz of Man with “Concrete Jungle”. Over an extra grimy track thick with long, menacing synth chords, Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah and 60 Second Assassin spit intense verses about living in a hostile environment.

The lesser known Jewish member of the Wu-Tang clan Remedy brings some substance to The Swarm, graphically describing the horrors of the Holocaust with his emotional track “Never Again”. The Wu-producers perfectly compliment the pain and defiance of Remedy’s words with an old, sorrowful man singing a Hebrew prayer (I assume) looped respectfully beneath the somber track. Remedy sticks to the meter a little too precisely for my tastes, but his sentiment here is on point.

There are a few more tracks definitely up to the Wu-Tang standard of quality in “Execute Them” and “And Justice for All”. For “Execute Them” Raekwon, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck rhyme flowing verses over a changing guitar melody and Wu-typical uptempo marching percussion. Then on “And Justice for All”, Rza slows down the beat dramatically and lets the bumping bass line and screeching synthesizer chords dominate musically. Bobby Digital, Killarmy, and Method Man spit some killer verses here. Both of these songs are terrific; each would have been a high point on any of the Wu-Tang group or solo releases.

Unfortunately, The Swarm has more than its share of uninspired and just plain bad songs. The Ruthless Bastards stink up the mic with their piece “Bastards”, rhyming poor imitations of Shaolin rhymes and accompanied by some lethargic production by the Wu-Elements. However, the most horrible performances consistently come from the Black Knights of the North Star. Two of the members are only mediocre, but the other two are so unbelievably horrible at rapping it’s a wonder anyone let them into the studio with their wack verses. They drop some serious poo-poo nuggets on the Swarm with “Punishment” and the final piano-driven track “Fatal Sting”. One of the Black Knights has the nerve to rap this joke of a “verse”:

The oddity prodigy /
The cosmos commodity, knowledge guides equality/
A whiff while I myth and a sniff /
off a E&J fifth and a spliff /
the proton neutron /
salad with the crouton, dipping in the Yukon /
Supernova yoga /
dosia, ambrosia, crane and cobra /
The yolk for help and the stealth /
with the knowledge of self like no one else /
the global yodel /
from the noble none of my ni**az local /

And you know things are bad on a Wu album when Cappadonna’s solo is a highlight. He gets his own solo piece with “’97 Mentality”, freestyling his usual offbeat, off-kilter lyrics over a solid but repetitive guitar and horn melody. Ghostface cleans up at the end, adding a flavorful topping by rapping a short chorus but it’s not enough to completely save the song. It’s actually not a horrible track from the “worst member of the Wu.” It’s just that his extremely unusual delivery makes anything he raps on difficult to listen to.

All things considered, it’s an adequate compilation CD for those who simply can’t get enough of the Wu-Tang Clan and their affiliate Killa Bees. Despite the lackluster performances, The Swarm is filled with collaborations and music made when the artists were still hungry to prove themselves. And with the next installment from Wu’s current crop of Killa Bees supposedly dropping another compilation sometime in the near future, you definitely want to have your Wu-collection up to speed. If you’re a die-hard Wu-Tang fan and you see this on sale somewhere, pick it up.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Exercising