INSPECTAH DECK – UNCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

[Siberian_Wolf]

INSPECTAH DECK – UNCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE 1999

1.      INTRO – Begins the same way as the legendary Wu Tang Clan debut: ‘Up from the 36 chambers!’ Deck dwells upon that his music is some uncontrolled substance. Ends with a scene where one guy pushes another to try some uncontrolled substance like it’s a narcotic or smth. Could be shorter – 2.5
2.      MOVAS & SHAKERS (produced by RZA) – The beat is much more traditional than any other Wu-Tang solo. Its almost plain New York rap, with a horn line and distinct drums. A pretty happy & upbringing song. Deck lays some wonderful and VERY well crafted rhymes. Chorus is rap’s ABC – ‘Ya don’t stop, keep on & on’ – 4,5
3.      9TH CHAMBER (produced by 4th Disciple, feat. La the Darkman, Beretta 9, Killa Sin, Streetlife) – Now that’s more WuTang. Starts with killabeez flying around and devil laughing. Lyrically – nuthin but the battle here. All MCs come pretty hungry, with swordstyle metaphors. – 4,0
4.      UNCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE (produced by Mathematics, feat. Shadii) – Shadii is a singer who pretty much spoils the song, Deck would do better with 60 Sec Assassin. Mathematics is my favorite Wu-element after RZA. He the only one that brings that unique Eastern exoticness that RZA comes with. – 4,0
5.      FEMME FATALE (produced by Inspectah Deck) – Now that’s something special. Deck is a wonderful producer himself, and he lays down some lyrics about intelligent women that make yo mouth water. In the middle of the song after lines ‘As we lay, reflectin on the sweet seduction, a brief interruption occurred, her man busted in” the beat switches into an old soul song where a singer croons ‘You said you was mine, mine’ for half a minute, and then back to Deck’s beat. I always love snippets like that. – 4,99
6.      THE GRAND PRIX (produced by 4th Disciple, feat. U-God & Streetlife) – The beat comes faster here, with nice piano melody. MCs deal with car racing here, acting a ‘Team WuTang’. In the end they get a grand prix, of course. – 4,0
7.      FORGET ME NOT (produced by VIC) – A VERY decent fast beat, lyrics about relationships of sexes. Aint a damn thing wrong with this track. – 4,9
8.      LONGEVITY (produced by True Master, feat. U-God) – A song about longevity in the rap game. Ya know, when it comes to self-praising, you cant fuck with WuTang. They think of they selves as Gods, nothing less. U-God comes hard. From his voice you could never tell he’s the shortest man of the Clan. – 4,0
9.      WORD ON THE STREET (produced by Inspectah Deck) – This one was a single. I seen the video, it was cheap so no buzz around this song tho it’s again very good. Just some street life lyrics, again well crafted. – 4,0
10.      ELEVATION (produced by Inspectah Deck) – Here comes another gem from Deck. The sample itself is remarkable, not to mention how Deck works it. After he spits a short intro verse the music fades and right when you think it was a skit it drops in again. When I was listening to it the first time I dropped my burger in my lap. The song ends with a plane flying right above your head. – 4,99
11.      LOVIN YOU (produced by True Master, feat. La the Darkman) – ‘Hours later, still zonin off the moment/ Happened so fast, it's over with /And now you're gone, like the same short time/ But stay so heavy on my mind, I'm...lovin you’ . A sentimental song. I like how reasonable Deck is on girls. He don’t sink neither into fuck-a-hoe, nor into you-the-love-of-my-life. Just a clever young man. – 4,5
12.      TROUBLE MAN (produced by Pete Rock) – Expect a wonderful beat. This one comes with a Sade sample and female chorus, a very smooth one. Deck talks about life in a struggle. – 4,8
13.      REC ROOM (produced by True Master) – Indeed it’s actually the first time where beat is average. All before it was better than good, ya know. Deck gives us another lesson on how to lay down some nice rhymes battling. – 4,0
14.      FRICTION (produced by RZA, feat. Masta Killa) – Here it comes, gem of the gems. Beat: cant get more WuTang. Deck verse: pure perfection. Masta’s verse: calm killer!!! ‘Some niggaz I'd rather not spar minds with/ They can't simulate my thoughts or fuck with/ Creative testosterone, mic-phone calms the menopausable hormone quakage/ trapped like estrogen, we makin, all of the above’ – 5,0
15.      HYPERDERMIX (produced by Inspectah Deck) – Yet another wonderful beat (check it in yo car stereo) with Ghost voice sampled. Deck once again is masterful with rhymes. ‘Representin all those who ain't got a pot to piss in/ Went from small timer to a top position/ I'm not kiddin, so what? Radio's not mixin/ While shots slickin, niggas on my block listen’ – 4,99
16.      SHOW N PROVE (produced by The Blaquesmiths) – Rhymes are good. But the beat is really nothing special. – 3,5
17.      THE CAUSE (produced by Inspectah Deck, feat. Streetlife) – NOT his best song definitely. The album fades out  in a average way. This song is just plain New York rap, same as thousand others. – 3,5

This album is magic. Not having a single classic (friction is awesome, but no public impact), it gots no wack songs either. The only flaw is that the two average songs are in the end so the CD has actually no good ending. But I promise you you gonna listen to the album from track 1 to track 15 non stop, and that’s what makes it a dope CD – consistence and proper production. Overall, I can say nothing but EXTREMELY WELL CRAFTED, as I said it b4. 8,5 outta 10.

[Siberian_Wolf]

Fuck, I just noticed a mistake in my review. 'Up from the 36 Chambers!' is the shout from 3rd track off Enter The Wu-Tang, not from the 1st one. Looks like Im gettn tired, huh.

a yo big jizzake, hook up the damn coverpic dogg  

[Tanjential]

this cd is very consistent and good but it' got like no replay value...i listened to it less than 2 weeks...great greta lyrics....
the songs "uncontrolled substance' and "show n prove" would be classics if not for the WHACK ASS SINGING couldn't the Wu grab Nate Dogg for 2 hooks? Just 2!!!!!!!! damn show n prove is very tight too...the melodies and raps were exceptional but the core weakness to this album is INSTRUMENTATION!!! he used to wrong synthesizer sounds for the wrong melodies...such a simple mistake made too many times makes this a somewhat above average album when it could have been near classic even classic if it solved those problems..had less weak guests,more wu guests,and a lil more knockout/substantial tracks..besides that i agree with alot of what you said tho wolf LOL.peace-Tanjint

[Siberian_Wolf]

Thanx for the hint. I think I would be a better reviewer if I knew something about how instrumentation is done. But you know, time goes on and I think Inspectah learned a whole lot about producing since 1999. Im sure his sofomore Unsung Hero will overtop this album.

[RivieraIII]

That album was very underrated. Lyrically, it's a masterpiece. Now production was tight but not to the level of, let's say, "Supreme Clientele". It still was a tight ass album though. As far as I'm concerbed, Deck is the best in Wu, right next to Ghostface and Raekwon; (GZA got lyrics but he doesn't impress me like that; Method and ODB -yes, ODB- are tight; RZA got some shit; U-God and Masta Killa are just average in my opinion...)