Ghostface’s new album is going to be more of an R & B record, thanks in large part to the personal growth he’s experienced since he first burst on the scene with the Wu-Tang Clan: “I don’t sell crack, yo. I ain’t movin’ no bricks or none of that other shit. I ain’t shoot nobody in like…since the early 90’s, man. How long you gonna be 40 years old and actin’ like you still sellin’ cracks and you on the block and you doin’ this and you doin’ that when times is more serious, man. We in a fuckin’ recession, B! Ain’t nobody gettin’ no money, man!” [Unkut via bg5000] More »
In today’s wrapup of headlines: Alice Cooper prepares to come face-to-face with fried foodstuffs, Lil Wayne gets litigious, Chris Brown goes back to court, and the Wu-Tang Clan is still together. More »
Oliver Wang charts the story of the Charmels’ 1967 ballad “As Long As I’ve Got You,” which served as the backbone for the Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” some 26 years later. [NPR via yaicanstringafewwordstogether] More »
I spend a somewhat absurd amount of time thinking about themed mixes, despite the fact that I haven’t made all that many in the last few years (and haven’t even started on a few that I’ve promised people earlier this year). Nonetheless, the one idea that every few months I kick around but never get around to putting to disc is a collection of depressing rap tracks. Not “depressing” in the sense of being of poor quality, or even emo-rap tracks by Atmosphere or artists of that sort, but just songs where the braggadocio slips away and the sensitive side shows for three or four minutes. Today seems like a good day to get a little help from this site’s hyperintelligent peanut gallery. The first songs I thought of to go with the Slick Rick classic “All Alone” (above) are behind the cut.
Unsurprisingly, the number of concerts and musically enhanced protest rallies surrounding the DNC in Denver this week has brought forth a more-than-equal number of blog posts covering them. More »
Even though I know that he’s giving an honest and realistic response following the clumsy release of 8 Diagrams, it’s vaguely depressing to hear RZA say that attempting another Wu-Tang Clan album would be “bad business.” Its members’ varying degrees of solo success (and RZA’s own control-freak tendencies) have made it extremely hard for the group to come together, and it’s no surprise that collective enthusiasm is at a new low. But to hear it from the RZA himself guarantees the group is basically done for: “I don’t know, really, to tell you the truth. Wu-Tang is forever, I think, and we’ll be making the same sounds, whether we make it together or separately. But as far as making an album together, I don’t know.”
WuChess opened today, and in addition to a (welcome, to me) return to Wu-branded merchandise it offers a new business model from the RZA, who’s charging $48 a year for chess instruction, online play, tournaments, and social networking. More »
“You Can’t Stop Me Now,” from the RZA’s upcoming Bobby Digital release, Digi Snax, describes how the beat mastermind moved from street crime to sampling, finally becoming famous alongside the Wu-Tang Clan in 1993. What fifteen year old accomplishments have to do with our ability to stop him today is left unclear.
If music videos really do only make up 4 percent of MTV’s programming, the quick and dirty new Wu-Tang clip probably won’t convince the network to bump that number any time soon; the average episode of Parental Control is blessed with a larger budget than the video for “Take It Back,” the product… More »
How might Raekwon be spending this Valentine’s Day? Glad you asked! “It’s a special day. It’s a day to understand the person who means the most to you. … I’m the type of dude who may be in a helicopter over the city having sex.” More »