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The Kill Power Hour #055 - Liquid Swords (1995)
35 Plays1 year ago
In 1995, Gary Grice, AKA the Genius AKA the GZA AKA the Jizzer, released what most would agree is the strongest solo album from any of the Wu-Tang Clansmen. If you listen closely in between the scratchy kung-fu samples and non-stop appearances from the rest of the Wu-Tang clan, you can almost see the GZA's stories unfold before you. Tucker's pick for 3rd best album of all-time is rock-solid and Eric and Tyler connect the dots with tracks by Mobb Deep and Nas. Enjoy "Rap Week" on the Kill Power Hour!
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Transcript
Introduction to Kill Power Hour
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to the Kill Power Hour, a podcast where three friends spend the better part of an hour arguing and explaining why Kung Fu, Rap, and Chess go so well together.
Top Albums Focus: Liquid Swords by JZA
00:00:14
Speaker
Each week we go through one item on our top ten list. We're currently on albums and this week we'll be discussing Tucker's third favorite album of all time, ninety ninety five s Liquid Swords by JZA.
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm your host Eric and as always I'm joined by my best friend Tucker. Jill and my best friend's little brother. you can call me Jizzer. Oh, I thought you were the Jizzer.
00:00:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah. the We definitely... He was the genius first. Then he started coming. Well...
Wu-Tang Clan's Impact and Legacy
00:00:46
Speaker
Wow. You know, that's always one thing after listening to Wu-Tang since it came out.
00:00:54
Speaker
So we're on 30 years now, which is pretty fucking crazy to say. um I can't get all of their many aliases right. Oh, it's too confusing. I don't even know who's in that band.
00:01:06
Speaker
Could you... but but we I mean, it's the same thing with us. I mean, not that we're the Wu-Tang Clan, but like just like all of our friends. you know How many times have we been called different things? Well, yeah.
00:01:17
Speaker
I guess. but like So if you're a Wu-Tang Clansman, remember...
Collaborations in Rap Music
00:01:27
Speaker
Just thought of my Halloween costume. Just everybody, can we just like put a disclaimer to forgive us Fucking Wu-Tang Klansman.
00:01:42
Speaker
so Let's just cut this this web episode, this fucking podcast over. well i am just going to go ahead and apologize. Well, so... Okay, but so where where I was going with this comment before it went fully off the tracks was like, okay, so you're the jizz-a, right?
00:01:59
Speaker
you are already using an alias. Right. so you already youre you are already using an alias yeah And then there's aliases of the alias. It's not like you're Chris Christopherson and or Bruce Springsteen and they call you the boss.
00:02:14
Speaker
ah But then it's like, okay, you're Bruce and they call you the boss and they also call you like six other things. The jizzer. The g jizzer. I mean, there's Bobby Digital, there's Tony Starks, there's Nunu, there's Lucky Hands. Who are these people? These are Wu-Tang Clan members. I haven't heard of a single one of I've heard an Old Dirty Bastard. No, those... Method Man.
00:02:34
Speaker
These are secondary... Aliases. Jesus Christ. They're like garbage pail kids. I mean, Wu-Tang Clan is Jizza, Rizza, Method Man, ODB, You God, Killer Priest.
00:02:48
Speaker
Inspector Deck. Inspector Deck and Raekwon Chef. What about Ghostface Killer? Did not say Ghostface? I don't know. I thought I said Ghostface. That's the nine.
30 Years of Wu-Tang in Rap
00:02:58
Speaker
Okay. Wow. Now there's some other people that are like Wu-Tang affiliates.
00:03:03
Speaker
ah you know. yeah How come, listening to this reminds me of a lot of like rap music nowadays that I wish other music would get into more is if you look at a rap album, but there's very rarely a song that doesn't have a guest in it.
00:03:22
Speaker
Why aren't there more fucking guests in rock music and in metal music and in alternative? Everything. Give me some fucking guests, man. Bad Religion did a lot of guests. They didn't do a lot of guests. They did some guests.
00:03:34
Speaker
But look at rap albums, man. I feel like... Did Taylor do that? I think so, but it it would really bring... a bunch of Minnesotans. yeah It brings people out, man. It brings different vibes. It brings fucking different feelings. And you know what's also good about that is that like a lot of people...
00:03:51
Speaker
you know Some people want the same record from each band every over over and over and over again, but it still brings some different shit to that album. They can still be that band, but like bring in more people. like like Rappers a lot of times have their own fucking... you know like The way that they rap, the way that they sound, the things that they rap about...
00:04:12
Speaker
And then they get to mix it up with different people. So the songs are different. I just like, this is a welcome thing. Well, mean, I feel like, you know, I feel like rap crews, clicks, guilds, whatever.
00:04:22
Speaker
Clans. Clans. kind Groups of clansmen. you say guilds? I did say guild. It's a joke. Is there a rapper's guild? Rapper's guild? Jesus Christ. So where I'm going with this, like, it's, you know, there's always been, um I think it's different to your comment, Tyler. I think it's different than rock and roll.
00:04:42
Speaker
and it's many like sub disciples, right? Is our disciplines is you had this act of wrapping the lyrical master, if you will, and you had the person who was scratching and they're not, it's not the same. It's not like someone who's like a gar guitar player figuring out how to do like some bass riffs to fill in on a song, like very different skill sets that were inextricably tied.
Deep Dive into Liquid Swords
00:05:06
Speaker
Like one supports the other, right? You know, so yeah where I'm going with this is that,
00:05:12
Speaker
Wu Tang comes out in 1993 and it's fucking was that I did the it's like nine people plus RZA is actually I think he produced and probably mixed a lot of that stuff too so it's like you've got the whole nature of this crew is that it's a crew it pops off the album And then instantly, everyone who, but mean the first few fucking solo albums, like Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Links and Method Man's Takao, ODB's first album, which I can't fucking remember the name. And then- Chambers. And then Liquid's, oh, Return to the 36 Chambers.
00:05:52
Speaker
And then Liquid Swords, like- certifiably fire. Yeah. Absolute fucking fire, like unshakable. I read so many, like, whereas a lot of the albums that I've done so far, this is number three for me.
00:06:07
Speaker
Not much of what I've picked has been written about. But this album is written about still. like i just queued up an article from Rhymesayers, which for people who are not familiar with Minneapolis, it's a longstanding hip hop label that used to be supported by a retail store called Fifth Element.
00:06:27
Speaker
And they've had, I mean, MF dunes Dooms put out an album on there. the big The big band is are ah Atmosphere. Greaves has been on there. um uh why can't i think of that dude's name doesn't matter tons of fucking people have come through those doors and there's this article on their website and it's like highlighted in there it's like this album is virtually perfect musically lyrically conceptually and co-starringly like yeah the the the additional cast members clan members
00:07:01
Speaker
Jesus Christ. That are brought in. What makes this not a Wu-Tang album, though? Not to like get picky. I agree with you. and that was something I was going to ask. is like how I'm assuming it it's not a Wu-Tang album because it's not like a collectively directed... I'm assuming it was just him and it was like his basic idea of this and he kind of just went his own direction with it, but...
00:07:25
Speaker
I think on the 36 Chambers, Jizza doesn't actually have that much like on it. like He doesn't contribute a ton, as far as I know. Right. soly oh So Jizza's real name is Gary Grice, and he's actually cousins. Another name.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, so he's actually cousins with RZA and ODB, their family. And... um gar gizza is a writer on all 12 songs on this album so it's definitely ah fucking jizz album it's very much like he orchestrated
JZA's Background and Influence
00:07:56
Speaker
this album and uh surprise to me not during the researching of this album but when i put this list together like last year or whatever the beginning of the year when i was thinking about this this season for us like i looked at i looked it up or looked him up a little bit more in depth and like
00:08:15
Speaker
He actually put out the Wu-Tang's first solo album, and it was before Wu-Tang's album came out. So he put out a solo album called Words from the Genius in 1991. Because he's the oldest dude in the whole
East Coast vs. West Coast Rap
00:08:31
Speaker
crew. Oh, shit. Oh,
00:08:32
Speaker
Is it real, like, hip-hop-y? Is it like... It's got a little bit of that vibe, but things moved pretty quickly between, like, 1991 and 1993. This album has this album has such a 90s hip hop vibe.
00:08:48
Speaker
I tell you, and I'm not sure why, and this probably makes them cringe. This makes me feel so comfortable. Like this is such a warm, the way it's recorded too, the sound of the recording and the sound of this the whole vibe.
00:09:02
Speaker
I could listen to this in the background for the rest of my life. That sounds like ninety s East Coast rap too. That's a big difference. That's exactly it. It's from east coast New York. West Coast rap, I didn't really get into. Different vibe.
00:09:14
Speaker
Chronic. Dre's the Chronic was a great album, but he wasn't a great rapper. And everything else that came out of California, i just didn't really get with. But this whatever was happening in New York around this time was just pumping out amazing fucking beats.
Mainstream Impact of Wu-Tang Clan
00:09:29
Speaker
Yes. Well, you had um the Bay Area people, though.
00:09:36
Speaker
Who's that? Dude, Charisma and Peanut Butter Wolf. Fucking legends. Legends. I'm not listening to them. You had EB40. What about you be forty Yeah, UB40. Red, red wine, brother. Or E40, not EB40. E40, sorry. Jesus Christ. Red, red wine.
00:09:54
Speaker
red
00:09:59
Speaker
That's a white dude singing that shit. I know. It pisses me off so hard. It does suck. All right, we got to get going on this album, but I do want to say i was listening to NPR's Marketplace, and the beat from Cash Rules Everything Around Me was playing in the background.
00:10:13
Speaker
Of course. I just want to note that, yeah, Wu-Tang has infiltrated public radio at this
Kung Fu Influence on Liquid Swords
00:10:19
Speaker
point. That's fucking amazing. Well, so the album kicks off with the quintessential self-title, or not self-title, but album-titled track. Titular.
00:10:30
Speaker
titular yeah it's got one of the best like movie clip like intro clips out there don't know if it's the best one but it's the one that starts off this album and so you always hear it and cannot think of this record you know what's the oh it sets the vibe so fucking good i'm a i'm a huge like uh fucking kung fu like late sixty s early seventy s have you seen shogun assassin I'm sure I have. I can't remember all the names of them, but I just, I like, that's my, like the day's over with. I'm going to sit down
RZA's Production Style on Liquid Swords
00:11:04
Speaker
for fucking apparently two hours or however long the movie is and just like zone out and watch these fucking awesome movies. Um, it couldn't start the album in a better way.
00:11:14
Speaker
It just gives like such a good fucking feeling to the album. Well, you know, and I think one of the most, uh, strongest pieces of continuity for this album is that moody,
00:11:26
Speaker
fucking shit that RZA really put together on this album. This like dark sort of ominous but not like but kind of like sneaky and dark yeah mood, this vibe. Opium-scented, dark-tinted.
00:11:43
Speaker
Oh, God. All the lyrics. Yeah. ah Now, RZA's production and beats on this album are amazing. And I would encourage everyone to listen to the bonus disc of this, where it's just the instrumentals. No shit.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's so good. You just put it on, and you can just listen to it and zone out. Or if you have to be writing, it's great. because It's so good. I think you
Storytelling in Rap
00:12:07
Speaker
can listen. i So we we had little hiatus, which which our audience doesn't know about.
00:12:12
Speaker
Because somebody's sleeping. But um they, ah yeah, I've listened to this quite a bit. And I honestly, I didn't listen to it enough to know song by song, like you couldn't tell me the name of song, I could pick it out in my head. But yeah, like I've in this is in skateboard videos, right?
00:12:30
Speaker
This is a little bit. I know I've listened to this album so many fucking times in my It was the official soundtrack of Skateboarders at the end of 1995. There you go. It was just on every single fucking shitty car. Mixtape and every Toyota Tercel with the fucking tape deck.
00:12:49
Speaker
Oh my God. Now that's a good, it's a good, uh, liquid swords is great first song. Um, I love the simplicity of these songs too. It's like a drum beat, maybe one or two samples.
00:13:01
Speaker
And then like a very basic verse course verse, like structure, like they're really like simple, just every, all the ingredients are really good, you know? Oh yeah. Like do. So the next song I do love the iron mic.
00:13:13
Speaker
I'm, I'm not a musician, so I might get this wrong, but. It's like this beautiful little piano chord. ah I wish we could like maybe, can we dub that in? Unless you want to edit the episode. No. no Well, so they start so they start with ominous long intro on Liquid Swords and it's very much like...
00:13:38
Speaker
sets the tone like we've arrived sort of vibes and then Duel of the Iron Mike song number two is the song where they put together the biggest amount of the biggest crew it's basically the Wu-Tang Clan yes Jizza, Mastakilla Dreddy Kruger, Inspect a Deck and Old Dirty Bastard who's Dreddy Kruger? I feel like he's an affiliate that's a pretty good name it is fucking amazing it's so good I hope he wore his sweaters Oh God.
00:14:08
Speaker
And had the hand to hand. I do want to note on Liquid Swords, ah yeah Jizza almost scats a little bit. There's that moment where he's sort of like, it's kind of like the break of the verse, but he like goes and he's just making sounds with his mouth. And I fucking love that.
00:14:26
Speaker
Oh, dude. I mean, these guys, especially for Jizza, he's got a line in a song. ah where he talks about the rap room era. So that was like clubs that were... I mean, it wasn't like you didn't put on hip-hop shows like you would experience now. It's like people coming up and grabbing the mic and freestyling. and's Like an open mic for rapping, essentially.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this guy's got... ah I think especially it shows up on this album, like his wisdom, if you will, is very well represented. His maturity. His jizdom.
00:15:04
Speaker
His jizdom. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, Gary Grice, if you ever listen to this. Well, there's a line on Duel the Iron Mics, too, where he talks about ah keys in the vagina.
00:15:16
Speaker
Like... Oh, bitches caught in airports, keys in their vaginas. Yeah, I was so confused about that. And i was like, oh, they're talking about cocaine. likem mugg I was like, who's stuffing car keys in their vaginas at the airport?
00:15:34
Speaker
Took a while for me to connect those dots. Wow. yeah yeah No, this is lyrically it's fantastic. Yeah, it's a great... this the There's not a lot of like ah bombastic filler. Yeah. Like where it's like a lot of modern rap is, you know, money related. we Posturing.
00:15:56
Speaker
City girls maybe. Yes, but no, but this is like a, yeah everything is fucking posturing, man. Everything is, is ah what do they call that when you but try to describe your values to people and try to tell people you're better than them fucking.
00:16:13
Speaker
Bragging. Bragging. Basically. Oh, ah virtue signaling signaling. Virtue signaling. Everything nowadays is that. It's all fucking boistering your your position in life as if you have these cars or telling people that you're better than them in some reactive very reactive way or something like that. But this is...
00:16:35
Speaker
Like a lyrical commentary on fucking life in some cases, but some witty um mean snippets here and there. Very specific kind of life. I mean, I can't relate to much of the stuff that he's writing about, but it still sounds... It's because have boring fucking life, you see. Oh, were you mowing down people in the and NYC subway after dealing...
00:16:55
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Waiting for the train to go by so he can you say basically shoot somebody. Yeah. No, I mean, he he what I love about this album is there are such good stories
Minimalist Beats and Lyrical Focus
00:17:09
Speaker
in the songs. Yeah.
00:17:10
Speaker
Um, and I feel like that's missing from a lot of music generally. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's why I like that streets album so much is, is because it's story is story. and Yeah.
00:17:22
Speaker
So, I mean, just appreciate that this, ah this album was applauded and on a criteria that, Chizza himself spoke to a lot. He's like, my whole thing is being visual.
00:17:33
Speaker
I rap visually. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, dude, you absolutely do. Because I'm like in this alleyway with you. And you're, you know, yeah you you follow it. Yeah. Like I'm at the weird diner.
00:17:45
Speaker
where like there's a drug dealer going on in the background. like Their ability to add those like little sound effects and even the skits that are them just talking, there like, oh, so fucking good.
00:17:58
Speaker
I will say I'm a big fan of the the general lack of skits on this record. Yes, I'm not a huge skit person. The beginning of Killahills 103.04 has that like sketch at the beginning.
00:18:09
Speaker
I would skip that. Oh, yeah. But they used you know the kung fu like movie samples as a segue between that. And that was such like a simple choice that they did. yeah And it's one of the biggest strengths of this
Track Analysis: Fourth Chamber
00:18:22
Speaker
record. It's like 90s punk rock, man, when they put all these movie clips in. But 90s punk rock on the other side of the world did a terrible job because it was just a random fucking part of a movie. And then it blasted into some punk rock. This is like blends in pretty good to yeah like the vibe of the song and everything.
00:18:41
Speaker
Totally. Yeah. The hell's wind staff, kill the hills, one Oh three Oh four. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's a sketch. Well, when he's talking, it's like, Oh, I got new news and lucky hands here. Like that's where all the extra aliases are coming out. Right.
00:18:56
Speaker
Yeah. It's still like the sketches like on, like the 20,000 sack pyramid or whatever, like the shit that was on like the chronic and Snoop Dogg's first record. There was just like jokey, dumb sketches.
00:19:09
Speaker
And yeah I would just skip them all the time. yeah This record doesn't have that. I yeah really appreciate it for Yeah, for sure The one that they do do though, actually sets up the song.
00:19:21
Speaker
It's still, it's just, I skip it. If I
Track Analysis: Shadow Boxing
00:19:23
Speaker
could, I wish it was a separate track.
00:19:26
Speaker
Sorry. At this point, I'm, I got into the vibe of sitting in the back of a 1988 Oldsmobile 88 in 1998. Oh, lots of eights here.
00:19:41
Speaker
um And at this time, we were listening to a lot of Wu-Tang Clan and also ah my Inspired by track. ooh Oh, shit. we Which is it's Nos. Nos like me. Yes.
00:20:13
Speaker
Ready when you all print? Yeah. Alright. Freedom of jail, clips inserted A baby's being born, same time a man is murdered The beginning and end, as far as rap go It's only natural, I explain I plateau and also what defines my name First it was nasty, but times
Poetic Nature of Wu-Tang's Lyrics
00:20:28
Speaker
have changed Ask me now, I'm the artist But hardcore, my signs for pain I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame Saw fiends shoot up and do lines and saw my close friends shot Flatlining my sane, that depends Carry Mac-10s to practice my aim On rooftops, tape CD covers the trees Line a barrel up with your weak picture
00:20:48
Speaker
All souls in the crossroads To the corner thugs hustling for cars that cost dough To the big dogs living large taking it light Pushing big toys getting nice, enjoying your life is what you making Suicide,
Track Analysis: Swordsman
00:20:59
Speaker
few tried to take it Bell tried around they neck and jail cells naked Heaven and hell, rap legend, presence is felt And of course NAS are the letters that spell
Conclusion on Liquid Swords
00:21:30
Speaker
Rims and tires Bulletproof glass inside is the railing driver Planets in orbit Line them up with the stars Tarot cards can see the pharaoh Nas Iron Mike Messiah type Before the Christ After the death The last one left Let my cash invest in stock Came a long way from blasting Techs on blocks Went from Seiko to Rolex Owning acres from the projects With no chips to large cake though Dimes giving me I see at day zeroes, bet my nine spit for the pesos But what's it all worth, can't take it with you under this earth Rich men died and tried, but none of it worth, they just robbed your grave I'd rather be alive and paid, before my numbers call, history's made Some will fall, but I rise, thug or die Making choices that determine my future under the sky To rob, steal or kill, I'm wondering why, it's a dirty game Is any man worthy of fame, my success to ya Even if you wish me the opposite, sooner or later we'll all see the prophet is
Introduction to Guided by Voices' Propeller
00:22:44
Speaker
Sex to an infope with nothing sweet I'm like beef busting through your window
00:22:52
Speaker
I'm like whole lot of loot, like twist money, corporate accounts from rich company, I'm like ecstasy ladies, I'm like all races combined in one man, like the 99 summer jam, bulletproof, I'm man, like being locked around new faces, and none them fam, I'm the feeling millionaire sparing, I'm the feeling millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of a millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of a I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling millionaire, I'm the feeling of millionaire, I'm the feeling of a millionaire, I'm the I'm a poor man's dream, a thug poet Live it and write it down and watch it blow up Y'all know what I'm like, y'all play it in your system every night now
00:23:51
Speaker
So that was Nos, Nos is Like um off of his album I Am. which is fucking glorious. Interesting pick. I also had a Nas lined up. it wasn't from this album. It was from Illmatic.
00:24:05
Speaker
Ooh, yes. Illmatic is glorious. I mean, to me, if I had to pick mid-90s East Coast rap album for the top 10, it would be either Liquid Swords or Illmatic. I mean, those are, okay to me, two perfect albums. so But I'm not going to play that.
00:24:22
Speaker
ah Tyler stole my thunder. No, you should still fucking play it. It's good. I have a backup. I've got a backup that will expand our palate. Oh, Christ. Palate expander. Jesus. This is not good.
00:24:35
Speaker
This is from some fucking... The palate expanders. Fucking... Sounds like a medical device. White this can be kid from fucking Iowa rapping. This is probably what I mean. You know what? I feel like we're centering a little bit too much on a certain kind of people here. I want to make sure everyone's included. Holy shit.
00:24:52
Speaker
All right. So Living in the World Today, track three. yeah um it's It like started in such a manner that i like I didn't really get behind it, but then the beat just like really takes it away.
00:25:03
Speaker
yeah i ah That and gold kind of blur together for me. A little bit. One clever thing I'll say about Living in the World Today, then I'll move on, is at about a minute and he's like flashback to the duel of the iron mic yeah and i love that idea of being self-referential i've talked about it before nas does it cursive does it afghan wigs like they just they're like They realize they exist and they'll talk about it in that way. I just fucking love that.
00:25:34
Speaker
So track four. um Gold. That's gold. And that's also like, i don't know what you guys listen to it on, but like method man doesn't get credited in title for this, even though that's him in the first like 15, 20 seconds. okay. Okay.
00:25:51
Speaker
oh and good um I think that's like a good song, but there's so many other better songs that I do cruise through gold sometimes.
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah. You get to Cold World. That's when it like, that's the first, I mean, Liquid Swords and Cold World are two my favorite songs off this record. Oh, Cold World is one of your favorites. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:13
Speaker
No, because that's the one that actually reminds me most of Nas in terms of like the storytelling. So Cold World and Bible, the last song, are the only ones that aren't like liked in my list.
00:26:24
Speaker
Oh, really? Oh, yeah weird. Bible is a great song. I thought that was like a curious, I guess it's a bonus track. but yeah, it reminds I mean, that's the one that's written by, ah who is it?
00:26:37
Speaker
Kill the priest is on that one. Yeah. And that's, to me, it almost reminds me of like a late era streets track for some reason. Oh yeah. Cause it does, it does sound different than the w rest of the record. yeah I'll give you that.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah. It's a, it's a good song. I like that. And I like the, you know, acronym. Yeah, I mean, that's smart. what yeah shot what what I listened to this a bunch of times, same thing with Nas, and we just this the Nas song we just listened to they like, a lot of these songs start out with like this proclamation of whatever, whatever point you're trying to get across. Life of a drug dealer.
00:27:13
Speaker
Well, no, not, not always. And then Tommy ain't a motherfucking boy. yeah Oh my God. oh No, but then it it comes back to like rectos, retrospective, like I can't even fucking talk. Rectal. Rectal spread. Rectal spread. No, they, they but basically, he's reviewing the premise of the song and like, yeah you know,
00:27:34
Speaker
fuck, and fuck you guys. No, he's creating like an executive summary of every song in the first. No, for sure. And like it's criticism, like what, what, uh, yeah, what music does this, man? I almost, most music is like putting a, putting a fucking point across and being like, I'm right. You know, it's like,
00:27:53
Speaker
It's like, read the label. It might be poison. Oh. You know? Well, yeah, on five, read the label. Yeah. I love that they, and I assume that you both picked up on this, but they're dropping label names throughout the whole song. What?
00:28:08
Speaker
I thought that was pretty clever. i It is bit clever. What's clever? but My favorite part is like, none of those fucking record labels are around anymore. yeah Well, when in 15, I didn't really pick up on all that.
00:28:21
Speaker
Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. No, it's a, well, he does it in a way that it's not forced, you know? Yeah. I mean, it's again, it's like cue to his lyricism. Throw those A&R, A&R fuckers off the boat in the Atlantic. I'm like, God damn. That's man. That, that whole thing is just like, oh shit, you guys are never going to get record deals on anyone but Geffen. Yeah. I can't imagine what, like, he,
00:28:49
Speaker
You're the Wu-Tang Clan, you're fucking JZA, and you have this obvious... This is going to go down as a classic album in time. Oh, yeah. You have this shit, and at the moment, you're dealing with nothing but record labels that are dealing with grunge music.
00:29:06
Speaker
They probably want nothing to do with hip-hop. It's crazy that this was released on Geffen, actually. And, no, for real. And, like, could you imagine? This is the polar opposite of fucking Pearl Jam at the moment. Yeah, yeah. Or, like, Green Day. Oh, yeah.
00:29:20
Speaker
And I would argue um in the the, you know, the fucking, in time passing, yeah we're not going to look at Green Day Dookie the same as this. I'm going to look at, i even though I love Green Day Dookie. Green Day a great album.
00:29:37
Speaker
But, yeah. This is like a fucking opera, man. This is like a... It's an epic tale. It's deep. It's got some feelings to it. does It does. It's an anomaly in the sort of musical landscape. I mean, Geffen in 94 put out Nirvana's in utero, I think.
00:29:57
Speaker
and And then Beck's first album, Mellow Gold, had Loser on it. So that's like what coming. And then all of a sudden you get this. I mean, yeah, I love it. That's that's crazy. Yeah.
00:30:09
Speaker
It's cool that it's such a big label that was like super present and powerful at the moment. I'm sure white. Well, yeah, chose him to be. I'll say like his first album.
00:30:22
Speaker
like did not do well. And the yeah the label basically like signed him, put it out, didn't support him at all. So the album flopped. yeah And he asked to get off of that label. I forget what it was called. it was like a weird, shitty, small label. So to like go from that to Geffen.
00:30:39
Speaker
Yeah. Well, he had the launching pad of the ah return of the 36 chambers. Yeah. so Heard. ah So my favorite song is Fourth Chamber.
00:30:50
Speaker
like oh yeah that that has this dirty grimy bass and that high pitch modulated synth lead on it like it's so fucking oh man yeah yeah i love that uh and that actually this is a song that reminds me of my inspired by track um kokomo kokomo kokom okay now we're gonna listen to right back at you by mob deep
00:31:40
Speaker
Check out now, rug for your life Boy you wanna get your heat, whatever could die together As long as I send your maggot ass to the essence I don't give a fuck about my presence I'm lost in the blocks of hate and can't wait For the next crab nigga to step and meet fate I'm lethal when I see you There is no secret 24-7, Mac 11 is my people So why you wanna end your little life like this?
00:32:06
Speaker
Cause now you bump heads with kids that's lifeless I live by the day only if I survive the last night Damn right, ain't trying to fight We can settle this like some grown men on the concrete floor My slugs are gonna stop till your heart grows I'll grab the gap then Ain't no turning back when I'll start blasting Pick up the handle and insert the potion Cock the shit back in a calm-like motion No signs of anger or fear, cause you the one in danger Never share your plans with stranger Word of God, I'm not what you get, now I got you
00:32:39
Speaker
You got the heart to get busy without your crew Let's get it on nigga, do what we gotta do You buckin' me, I'm buckin' right back at you I put the drop on you kid, now I got you You got the heart to get busy without your crew Let's get it on nigga, do what we gotta You buckin' me, I'm buckin' right back at you Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out now Check it out, check it out, check it out now Check it out, check it out, check it out
00:33:11
Speaker
This is where you from, cause where I'm from niggas pack nothing but the big guns. Around my way niggas don't got remorse for out of towners. Come through front and they get stuffed with the three pounder, the loud sounder, air ringer, and I'ma point the finger.
00:33:25
Speaker
All you wanna be gunslingers, you got a real ice grill, but are you really real? Step to the hill and I'ma test your gun skills. Cause real niggas don't try to profile, you just a chump who needs get drunk to fuck wow, but swing that bullshit this way, and I'ma make a visit through the bridge, a motherfucking short state, Queens Bridge, that's where I'm from, the blazing stars are born and phony rappers get done, six blocks and you might not make it through, what you gonna do when my whole crew is blazing at you, with Max and Tex to lend to get your tune, but you thought that you could come around my way and
00:34:01
Speaker
What the fuck possession to come out your face? Now I have to wet you Throw on my 10s, black masks and black soda Twist a nigga cap, then jump in the J30 Cause I'm putting a drop on you, kid, now I got you You got the heart to get busy without you Let's get it on nigga, do what we gotta do You buckin' me, I'm walkin' right back at you Who's the richest nigga in the project?
00:34:23
Speaker
Who got it locked? Rockin' convertibles, drop chops and mad hot P.C. that whiz kid and players on his team Who's organized, all eyeballs is on film And your whole clip got nothin' but raw shit Rip after whip, stay flashin' your dick on church Your whole crew's ravishin' Teams untouchable in the jungle Bangin' Najmah deep and woo, there's money out there Catch crumbs, those are your sons Jums is in the mailboxes, bitches holding your guns You know it's out there, thousands of grams Wrapped in saran, seal tight Keep the freshness, that's how we expand Man is scavenger, drop your guns son Now surrender, get an engine on the island Cluster bridge boy remember little thug selling drugs and he struggling The game got him bugging I try to tell him slow down cousin, but he vexed And niggas getting wet up in the projects But with no doubt, shorty's out for his free specs But is his brain insane?
00:35:13
Speaker
from the lot for smoking that 118 chani top why a nigga just died last week as he swore he was gone and he's a thug in the street but it's like that my crew pump cracks and we packed max his eyes is wide with the resi monkey on his back but i'm stressed and he need to be blessed with Get fire pack, don't even go there cause it ain't like that Slow down baby, he said what you tryna play me?
00:35:36
Speaker
You must be crazy, pull out the heat and no one blaze me Then he was Swayze, the shop must have dazed me Thug selling drugs, busting stuff, but he ain't crazy
00:36:00
Speaker
That was Right Back At Ya by Mobb Deep. That fucking, you can't get it much simpler than that. it's so solid. Yeah, we all we were saying like the the backbeat was so simple that like it makes you focus on what the fuck you're doing a fills the space. It almost disappears.
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah, and like me and EC were talking like being in bands like... a lot of times you're in a band and like the, the music, I don't even want to say it seems thin or like there's like this opening and you want to feel that sound and you like try harder. I feel like that's what it was with like these simple backbeats.
00:36:35
Speaker
so They made the fucking lyrics and the lyricism like so much harder. And also the lyrics, when they follow these like basic, like spread apart beats, I feel like it makes it so much more dynamic. it's They have a lot more room for like aligning to different.
00:36:53
Speaker
Yeah, man. yeah you can You can play with either the beat that's there or the beat that's not there. And when you play with it when it's not there, it like makes the listener react like, oh shit, is this off? No, it's not off. This is like. so The vocals are a percussive element in the song. Yeah. yeah It's fucking cool, man.
00:37:12
Speaker
I want to know if they knew that they were doing that or not. i I guarantee you they knew that. All right. ah We got to keep this on the tracks here. okay so And that was Fourth Chamber. That was Fourth Chamber. Oh, man. that I wish we could play that song, too. But it's fucking great.
00:37:31
Speaker
Oh, the 2002, the battle still with the Wu. to me I mean, like, you could see the weakness of a man right through his iris, all this shit. yeah It's the only time RZA rapping to me is cool.
00:37:44
Speaker
it's obvious I love the RZA for what he does producer-wise. But when he raps, it kills me. Except for on this track, it's fucking amazing. Nice. He just steamrolls the middle, like, minute of the song.
00:37:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And this was released as a single and the B side was the next track shadow box. Yeah. So shadow boxing is my favorite. I mean, that's to me, this is a one, two combo that doesn't let up fourth chamber yeah to shadow boxing is fucking amazing. It's so, yeah.
00:38:16
Speaker
And then it like goes down a little, not down like bad, but like it winds back down in number nine, hell's way in staff, kill hills. And then investigative reports, is like the part two to kill the hills because like some shit just went down that they detailed and then investigative reports is like you've got half the wu-tang together right there and and you could tell they're super comfortable but yeah um shadow boxing track number eight my favorite and we're gonna play we're gonna play that
00:38:52
Speaker
technique of shadow boxing
00:39:17
Speaker
I took the bone gristle, ill speaking, scud missile, heat seeking, Johnny Blaze, nightmares like Wes Creighton, niggas gunning, my third eye seen it coming, before it happened, you know about them fucking statin' kids, they smash it, everything, huh, in any shape, form, or fashion, now everybody talking about they laughing,
00:39:35
Speaker
Is you bussin' still or is you flashin'?
00:39:51
Speaker
and a nigga snoozin' Slip the cardiac, arrest me Exorcist, hip-hop, possess me Crunch a nigga like a nephew You know my stage Burnin' to a third degree Sneaky ass alley cat Top pedigree The head toucher Industry party bum rush ya You don't like a dick up and you fuck ya
00:40:18
Speaker
rugged enough, bitch. Yo, I slayed them C's back in the rec room era. My style broke motherfucking backs like him for terror. Most rap niggas came louder than heard. Once I pulled out, round them off to the nearest third. Check these non-visual niggas with tapes and a portrait.
00:40:33
Speaker
Flood the seminar, trying to orbit this corporate industry. But what them niggas can't see must break through like the woo, unexpectedly. Protect your neck, my squad still remains imperial. Before blast the mic, RZA scratch off the
00:41:03
Speaker
are
00:41:15
Speaker
The only man I'll hold weight for is the sky blue belly kit In 83 Rock Taylor's My Memorex perform tape decks My own phone sex Watch out for Haiti bitches I heard they throw hecks Yo, whoo ho platoon is filled with rapoons Pouring a sip and wine niggas sipping apple bone This ain't a white platoon Cause I be ducking crazy spades The kid hold white shit Like blacks rock ashy legs Why is the sky blue?
00:41:37
Speaker
Why is water wet? Why did Judas rat the Romans while Jesus slept? Stand up, you're out of luck like two dogs stuck Iron Man be sippin' rum out of Stanley Cups, unflamable Noriega, Amenazos, they windy in Chicago Spines in Gumaan Boggles, Kangol's in rainbow colors Promoters try to hold dough Before Poe, wrap you up in so and so I ran the dark ages Constantine the Great, Henry the Eve Built with Genghis Kong, the red suede Wally Dawn I judge wisely, as if nothing ever surprised me Lounging between two pillars of ivory I'm lively, my dome piece Is like building stones in Greece Our poems are deep, from ancient thorns I speak I'm overwhelmed, as my mind roams and whelm My eyes divisions, memory is the film Others act subtile, but they fragile above clouds
00:42:23
Speaker
They act wild and couldn't grudge a crowd, no matter how loud they get Throw their growl and spit, clutch their fists And throw up signs like a crip And throw all types of fit, I leave them split Like ass cheeks and rag pussy then
00:42:53
Speaker
6 million devils just died from the bubonic flow Of the Ebola virus Under the reign of King Cyrus You can see the weakness of a man right through his iris Unloid new snakes get thrown in boiling lakes of hot oil Uncoils your skin Chicken heads getting slimmed like olive oil Only plant the seed deep inside produce oil Fortified with essential Vitamin and minerals use the sky for breaking stuff and cloud inside my pillow Rollin with the lab 12 trials 144,000 chosen Protons electrons always cause explosion
00:43:32
Speaker
So that was Shadow Boxing, track number eight, which is a Method Man. All right, but we listened to on YouTube. We listened to a weird makeup merge album.
00:43:44
Speaker
That was kind of amazing. Merge song. Of Shadow Boxing Fourth Chamber. It was actually on Method Man's YouTube page. It's so good. Oh my God. To me, it takes the best part of both songs and brings them together.
00:43:56
Speaker
it It's great. Tell me that that legit, like not even like, fuck these guys. I don't care if they fall off a bridge. Tell me that's not some of the best like poetry in life that has ever existed. Tell me that's different than fucking. Oh my God.
00:44:13
Speaker
Shakespeare or fucking. It's so visual again. like uh, just These guys are Richard Scary putting together tales. just you just You just fucked up. Richard Scary? Really? really and Scary Town? like Someone has a fucking three-year-old. Exactly.
00:44:32
Speaker
Richard Scary. well Let's wrap this podcast up. I'm going to fucking. Wow. The reference that killed the show.
00:44:44
Speaker
Richard's scary. ah God, this is so hard. It just reminds me of Richard's scary. You know, the way he would draw fire trucks so cool.
00:44:59
Speaker
Oh, shit. Okay, ah edrian all Edgar Allan Poe. How about that? Or, like, Walt Whitman. like just know Like, this is... If you wrote this shit down and told me that shit was from, like, fucking Greece back in the day, yeah people would be like...
00:45:15
Speaker
Yeah. It's like a play. This is fucking amazing. It's theater. It's, yeah, but it's- Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Right. Essential vitamins and minerals. Like, these are, like, he's taking such, like, basic questions and plain language and bringing it into the song, and it makes you just think of how weird that is. In a hip-hop song. yeah Yeah. so Tell me what fucking, like- rock song of the period or any other song of the period is like asking these basic fucking questions which are the root of our human existence. well asking questions to begin with.
00:45:48
Speaker
Well, there you go. Like, and also intertwining it with real life. Yeah. and And crazy life, like bit of the life of a drug dealer. Well, when you have a crazy life, if you're an introspective person, it forces you to think about the basics of life.
00:46:05
Speaker
Sure. I'll tell you that. Like, if you are in a destructive life, You are either a fucking crack addict or you you are an introspective person that is just caught up in some shit.
00:46:18
Speaker
And I'm pretty sure that that was as it happened. Well, so next one up there is Hellswind Staff Killahills 103.04. And that starts with that um sketch that little sketch in the diner.
00:46:33
Speaker
yeah um Charging $20,000 for a session. They mention that frequently. I feel like they got burned where they paid someone $20,000. $20,000. time. And they were like,
00:46:46
Speaker
no we just got ripped off yeah Well, they talked about it one time that RZA charges people $20,000 a session. Oh, no shit. Interesting. yeah Well, now, I'd be interested to see what he charges.
00:46:59
Speaker
Oh, my god. Can you imagine? i mean, if he's still using that equipment, he'd charge a lot more. True. Yeah. So the beat like synth on that track is really love that. Yeah, it's very good.
00:47:13
Speaker
ah The next song, Investigative Reports, that's a skip track for me. That's the one where I'm like, meh. I do like the way he just says the song title at the end. Like he runs out of lyrics. He's just like investigative reports. In the beginning. I know, but it's really funny the way it like comes out charmingly clumsily.
00:47:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. The sounds of investigative reports are like the fourth chamber shadow box and music. Yeah. one Totally. Yep. Oh my God.
00:47:47
Speaker
Then the next track, Swardsman, that's like to me, Genius' lyrically like most perfect song. Oh, wow. Like when I listen to that song, I'm actually thinking of Bad Religion.
00:47:58
Speaker
And if Greg Graffin reached perfection, it would become something like this because it's smart. Swordsman? Yeah, totally. It's got such deep layered references and he raps it like perfectly.
00:48:13
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. It's a very compact, dense song. I encourage you to not only listen to that, but also read the lyrics on that one. it's It's great. Wow. Some deep shit in some of this.
00:48:24
Speaker
Dude, yeah. He's he's a thinker. Oh, 100%. yeah So there's definitely music that I want to just like fucking Kokomo, man. Makes me feel good. There's nothing to the song.
00:48:35
Speaker
Beach Boys Kokomo. Just fucking great feeler, man. yeah ah But then a lot of the music I want to listen to, too. Like, I want to fucking learn something, man. Or I want to be like... Intrigued enough to think about something. Yes. You know, like. Stimulated on multiple levels. Exactly.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah. they Fucking read me a book, but in a song. Make me think. Put that thumb in the butthole. There you go. Why is this here? Why is this here?
00:49:03
Speaker
All right. ah i got I got you back. Last song on the record, officially. Yeah. So this one actually has grown on me a lot more oh yeah as I've gotten older.
00:49:15
Speaker
It's a good closer. I just, they're talking about like kids, like having a hard time. and Oh, I think this was actually written for his 12 year old nephew at the time.
00:49:25
Speaker
Oh shit. Like he was writing this for a specific kid. Oh shit. ah but it does close with the grossest like Kung Fu sample at the end where the guy had his head chopped off or whatever. And he's like trying to talk. Oh, was like, Oh, like I wanted to know what this would sound like when I cut someone.
00:49:43
Speaker
but Oh my God. it's like To have it done to me yeah is ridiculous. It's like all gurgly. It's so gross. And then that moment, the bonus track with a killer priest, the B I B L E. Mm hmm.
00:49:58
Speaker
I like I said, I like that song. Like I was really happy at all the bonus material on this album. Actually, none of it was bad. Man, I just want to go back real quick to I got your back. Like, I think the part that I like the most, which makes me think of it is like, what is the meaning of crime?
00:50:17
Speaker
Is it criminals robbing innocent motherfuckers every time? Like a good acronym. Oh, my God. Yeah. And then it started to make me think, do you guys, here's the here's the pop quiz. do you guys know what Wu-Tang stands for? And no looking it up on your phones.
00:50:32
Speaker
no No, I don't. I didn't know was an acronym. Witty, unpredictable talent and natural game. Wow. No. Wow. That's something a third grade teacher told you.
00:50:46
Speaker
Yeah, no, they came up with Wu-Tang, and then some other time they're like, oh, fuck, we need to make this make sense. No, they came up with Pu-Tang, someone said, you can't have this as a name, and then they chose Wu-Tang.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yeah. That is it, because Wu kind of sounds like Kung Fu. so There's no way they fucking came up with that acronym first. Hey, guys, gather up. What are we? We're witty. We're... Sorry, what are the other words? No, he's witty, unpredictable, and natural game.
00:51:21
Speaker
Method Man's like, we're unpredictable. yeah That's a song. Tell me a more respected... could I don't want to say group of rappers. That's such a terrible thing for me to say. It's a Klansman. There's Wu... Klansman. Jesus Christ.
00:51:38
Speaker
No, Wu-Tang is a respected... institution worldwide. They're a rap institution, yes. There is, like, name a fucking celebrity from whatever walk of life Wu-Tang.
00:51:52
Speaker
They're wearing a fucking Wu-Tang t-shirt. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay, so he actually, Jizzus sings that in the song Labels, which I think we should listen to so you can hear I'm not editing this in, so...
00:52:10
Speaker
We'll listen to that later. EC, third ah what's your your fucking third pick? i Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. Tucker's like, we just started talking about this album. You guys aren't going to go. We're going backwards now. We're going back to the songs. All right, so I got you back.
00:52:33
Speaker
yeah have you guys been listening to lately? besides his own all of the Randaddy's catalog Ooh. Granddaddy's been like re-releasing all their records with extra like demos and alternate songs and B-sides.
00:52:53
Speaker
Okay. And they're really good, man. I mean, Granddaddy's software slump that came out in 2002. What the fuck are you even talking about That would have been a good contender for my top 10 list, honestly. This is a band that you should listen to. It's great.
00:53:10
Speaker
Dude, that was from 1999. Dang. Dang. hangng hang 99, okay, yeah, wow. Fuck, I'm old. But then, yeah, so they, oh yeah. What about you guys, what are you listening to?
00:53:23
Speaker
been listening I was working on this fucking piece of shit card that I have, And I started with Bad Religion No Control. And it like Spotify picked my awful fucking playlist, which has less than Jake and Mighty Mighty Boss Tones. P.S. Fuck you, Spotify. I've never listened to them before.
00:53:43
Speaker
I always skip them. I don't know how you can like make them not. I don't want to listen to fucking Less Than Jake or fucking whatever. Just real listeners or whatever the fuck it is anyway tyler Tyler is wearing a Mighty Mighty Boss Tones t-shirt right now.
00:53:56
Speaker
Fuck you to death. He must you most, he most, I do not wear any t-shirts other than black t-shirts. Um, no, anyway, ice lot of checkers going on. This band scowl showed up. Um, they've got a famous song opening night. That's like not anything like their other music.
00:54:13
Speaker
It's like, it's like fucking SC. Yeah. Oh, WL. Um, uh, lady singer, like fucking like hardcore kind of thrashy, like,
00:54:24
Speaker
blew my mind open. So I got a couple of weeks of, of scowl in my, my future. i don I've been listening to, I've been going back to the iron and wine catalog and I've decided that ghost on ghost in 2013. You've been sad lately.
00:54:40
Speaker
No, dude. This album, it's the best album to masturbate to while crying. oh my God. Oh my God. You said, I had a Dave Matthews concert. Uh,
00:54:51
Speaker
You have to listen to this album at Dave Matthews concert. Wow, joking up. This album, ah super, super solid. And then, do either of you like Courtney Barnett?
00:55:03
Speaker
No. Really? Yeah. She just put out an all-guitar acoustic, but not an acoustic guitar, like an electric guitar. Like moody moody, environmental sort of music. It's a soundtrack for a movie.
00:55:16
Speaker
Mm-hmm. No lyrics? No lyrics. It's so fucking cool and moody. I listen that. I can't stand her voice in lyrics. Okay. That's fair. Yeah. there No, I'm trying to know. It's really cool. Cool.
00:55:27
Speaker
Sweet. Well, EC, what is your... Wait. Third? Second? Oh my god. We're at the two guys. Yeah. We're at the top. What kind of shit? Tears for Fears? Take a guess. Okay, so it's not Beck.
00:55:45
Speaker
It's not Tears for Fears. Not Oingo Boingo. It's not talking. Okay, 1992. 19, we're still. Yeah, we're going to be in the 90s for a while, guys. like I'm sorry. Well, I mean.
00:55:57
Speaker
1992. 1992. ninety ninety two Let's see here. Give me another hint. Lisa Loeb. This record was the band.
00:56:08
Speaker
This was their last record. It was supposed to be their last record. Oh, wow.
00:56:14
Speaker
Motley Crue? says a band leader is a third grade teacher at this time in his life. Oh, in his life.
00:56:25
Speaker
Sorry, it's a guy. I wish this was a Peaches album. I feel like this is like a Bob Mould date in Ohio.
00:56:33
Speaker
Dude, you're going further away of my knowledge. Every fucking thing you say goes further away from what I know. We're going to listen to Guided by Voices fifth album, Propeller.
00:56:45
Speaker
okay This was an album recorded by a bunch of drunk 30 year olds in what their basements. And it was their last ditch effort. They were like, after this, we keep going into debt trying to put out records.
00:56:59
Speaker
this is we're just going to put our best songs on this record and fucking be done. And lo and behold, it's the album that puts them into the national spotlight. so First Japanese spin cycle?
00:57:11
Speaker
No, Propeller. Oh, you said 1992. Yeah. Propeller's 1991. Yeah. propelller ninety ninety one It came out February 14th, 1992. Oh. So just listen to the name of the record more than a year or two.
00:57:27
Speaker
ah I need to know the day it was released in order for me to accurately portray this. Goddamn Rain Man on this fucking podcast. Guided by voices. No, this is Eric. This is an album that you need to fucking put on your...
00:57:42
Speaker
Play it in your garage and play it fucking loud while you pound beers. Tyler, this record is for fucking you. I got like six more hours tonight, so we're doing this. like Sweet. Cool. All right.
00:57:54
Speaker
So join us next week as we discuss my second second favorite favorite all time. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Galvin. 1992 masterpiece, Propeller.
00:58:07
Speaker
Until then, by