Author Topic: The RZA Presents: Afro Samurai The Soundtrack (My first review)  (Read 465 times)

everlast1986

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The RZA Presents: Afro Samurai The Soundtrack (My first review)
« on: January 29, 2007, 03:02:17 PM »
1. Afro Theme - The theme for the Afro Samurai tv series. Nice Organ driven 29 second beat. I wouldn't say RZA spitting over the beat was really necessary but it was good for less than 30 seconds. Beat: 4.5/5 Lyrics: 2.5/5

2. Afro Intro (Instrumental) -  It's listed as an instrumental but it's more like an excerpt from the series. Not worth rating IMO.

3.  Certified Samurai (Ft. Talib Kweli, Lil' Free & Suga Bang) - RZA comes hard with a slammin' Dr. Dre like beat. Talib spits a dope first verse as usual. Then we got 2 unknowns Lil' Free & Suga Bang. Lil' Free sounds like he has that Hova type flow. He fits with the track but i wouldn't say he's outstanding. I think that was Suga Bang on the last hook. He sounds like a few hook artists i've heard before so hes nothing special. Beat: 5/5 Lyrics: 3.5/5

4. Just A Lil Dude "Who Dat Ovah There" (Ft. Q-Tip & Free Murder) - RZA Makes the right kind of beat for Q-Tip like J Dilla used to. It even has Dillas type of vibe which is great. I think this track references alot about a character on the series. We also hear another rapper with a Hova type flow. Or is it the same dude that was on the last track and changed his name for this track? either way wtf is up with that? Beat: 5/5 Lyrics: 4/5

5. Afro's Fight (Instrumental) - Typical beat with that funk guitar sound over a bassline and jazzy drums. Is this supposed to get you hyped for the next track? we'll wait and see. Beat: 2.5/5

6. Oh (Stone Mecca) - This is surprising. I didn't expect to hear an r&b song on this soundtrack but surprisingly it fits in pretty good. I'm guessing Stone Mecca is the person singing. Hes nothing great but the song fits with the soundtrack. To answer the question on the review for track #5, not really! Beat: 4/5 Lyrics: 3/5

7. The Walk (Stone Mecca) - Another r&b love song. Same type of vibe as the last beat which fits with the song pretty good. The singing ability went up a little bit but still nothing great. These songs must reference people in the series or i don't see why RZA would put these type of songs on an album of his. I've only caught one episode so i wouldn't know completely. I guess i'm going to have to catch reruns or something. Beat: 3.5/5 Lyrics: 3.5/5

8. Bazooka Fight 1 - Sounds like it's from a fight scene in the series. Good fight scene music. You can definetly hear the RZA vibe in it which I like about it. Beat: 4/5

9. Who Is The Man (Ft. Reverend William Burke) - Another great RZA beat with a cool middle eastern vibe and him rapping over it now spitting heat! All Reverend Burke does is sing "Who Is The Man" like 7 or 8 times. Beat: 4/5 Lyrics: 3.5/5

10. Ninjaman (Instrumental) - Cool organ driven laid back beat that starts out with Samuel L. Jacksons character on the series complimenting someone. This is sounding more like an excerpt from the show too. The beat stops with 45 seconds of the track to go and whichever scene of the series finishes the track. Beat: 4/5

11. Cameo Afro (Ft. Big Daddy Kane, GZA & Suga Bang) - Damn big daddy and the genius on the same track! Cool old school wu tang style beat which is definetly on point. I would say this is the best track so far. The song ends with Suga Bang singing again. I don't know if i like the dude yet or not but its all good. Beat: 5/5 Lyrics: 4.5/5

12. Tears Of A Samurai (Instrumental) - Slow Orchestra type beat. Sounds like this played when something bad happened in the show. Good intro for the next track Beat: 4/5

13. Take Sword Pt. 1 (Ft. Beretta 9) - Cool horrorcore style beat. Beretta 9 sounds alot like RZA. Nothing special. Beat: 3.5/5 Lyrics: 2.5/5

14. The Empty 7 Theme (Instrumental) - One of the better instrumentals on the album. Sounds like it should be on a instrumental jazz album its so good. Beat: 5/5

15. Baby (Ft. Maurice) - Another r&b song but with another person that goes by Maurice singing. Sounds too much like alot of things i've heard before. I'd like to figure out how these r&b songs fit in with the soundtrack. I admit RZA can make okay r&b beats though. Beat: 3.5/5 Lyrics: 3/5

16. Take Sword Pt. 2 (Ft. 60 Seconds & True Master) - Another grimey wu tang style beat. I think that was 60 Seconds that was just talking at the beginning of the song. Then it sounds like True Master is lecturing one of the characters in his part of the song and hes actually rapping. I found this more boring than Pt. 1 for some reason. Beat:3/5 Lyrics: 2.5/5

17. Bazooka Fight 2 (Instrumental) - Same thing as Bazooka Fight 1 but 5 seconds longer. I'll skip this one.

18. Fury In My Eyes (Ft. Thea) - Starts out with Thea singing. She has a unique Macy Gray mixed with Erykah Badu style voice. RZA spits on this track which saves this soundtrack. The beat is on point, the lyrics are on point, this is another standout of the soundtrack. Beat: 4.5/5 Lyrics: 4/5

19. Afro Samurai Theme (First Movement) (Instrumental) - Sounds like this is going to be another scene from the series but music comes in at around 35 seconds into the track. This basically continues into the next track so i'll rate both this and the next track as if they were one.

20. Afro Samurai Theme (Second Movement) (Instrumental) - It goes from a hip hop instrumental type beat from the first movement to a violin invading track as you hear now. If you watch the series you would understand why the soundtrack gets like this at times. Like i said before i've only been able to catch one episode of the series so far so forgive me for not knowing yet. Beat: 3.5/5

25. Series Outro (Instrumental) - Nice Outro. Wu Banger RZA style beat with pounding bass and drums with that grimey touch you can't go wrong with. Beat: 4/5



Overall Rating- Beats: 4.5/5 Lyrics: 3/5

Standout tracks: 3,4,11, and 18

I say pick this up just for the production.



Note: I didn't review the Bobby Digital tracks because they are bonus tracks and had nothing to do with the concept of the soundtrack so i thought it would be best to leave them off. If you wish for them to be reviewed let me know.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2007, 03:22:08 PM by Beatz »