The Greatest 50 Hip-hop Albums Ever - #4...

[Twentytwofifty]

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) 


Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' ta fuck wit!
Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' ta fuck wit!
WU-TANG CLAN AIN'T NOTHIN' TA FUCK WIT!

    They sure weren't.  So dirty, they were clean.  So rugged, they were beautiful.  The Wu-Tang Clan may not have planned it that way, but that was the impact they had when they surprised the nation with Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).  The theme was so strong and powerful it immediately captured the imagination of hip-hop heads everywhere - a clan of lethal rapping warriors whose versatile styles could attack you from every angle.  The album started out slowly, but word of mouth and continuing radio play for the singles accelerated the sales until millions of copies were sold and the industry veterans who missed the boat wondered where they went wrong.  Clean was out, dirty was in, and the Clan put their strong visual imagery and powerful lyrics right in your face.  The pendulum swung back in the opposite direction a few years later with Puff Daddy, but the mark had been set and the rap world hasn't been the same since.  Some people had their favorites right away - the loquacious GZA, the drunken Ol' Dirty Bastard, the charmingly gruff Method Man, and so on - but what made this album incredible was how they combined together.  It was the purest expression of gestalt - a sum whose whole was definitely greater than the total of the individual parts/rappers.

    From the album's introduction onward the tone is strongly set: "Do you think your Wu-Tang sword can defeat me?" declares the sample, and the group responds with both a challenge and a threat: "Bring Da Ruckus".  The single eerie whine in the background is quickly surplanted by a dark and moody piano chords, all of which are held together by the snapping fingers.  Even more powerful than this sonically haunting track is the pure venom displayed by the GZA when he says "My Wu-Tang slang is MAD FUCKIN DANGEROUS, and more deadly than the stroke of an axe."  Wow.  If you've never heard these deadly poetics, peep these verbals on the third verse from Inspectah Deck:

I rip it hardcore, like porno-flick bitches
I roll with groups of ghetto bastards with biscuits
Check it, my method on the microphone's bangin
Wu-Tang slang'll leave your headpiece hangin
Bust this, I'm kickin like Segall, Out for Justice
The roughness, yes, the rudeness, ruckus
Redrum, I verbally assault with the tongue
Murder one, my style shot ya knot like a stun-gun

    This was what heads all over were fiending for - a crew of brash rappers whose sword-sharp styles could slice up a track verbally.  RZA provided the filthiest nastiest beats in the industry, and his fellow Clan members ate them up like beans and rice.  Again and again the hits flow all over this album - the hilarious and raw "Shame On A Nigga" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, the brutal genius of GZA's solo "Clan In Da Front", with the best part is when he uses baseball as a metaphor for his skills -

I'm on the mound G,and it's a no-hitter,
and my DJ the catcher, he's my man ,
anyway he's the one who devised the plan,
he throws the signs I hook up the beats with clout,
I throw the rhymes to the mic and I strike em out,
so it really doesn't matter on how you intrigue,
you can't fuckwith those in the major leagues

    The lethal all-star combination of "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber" where each Clan member seems to be trying to outspit the others with pure hotness - although Method Man's "I be that insane nigga from the psycho ward; I'm on the TRIGGAH, plus I got the Wu-Tang sword" verse may be the most memorable of all.  On "Tearz" both RZA and Ghostface tell tales of young men who took the wrong path in life - one by contracting AIDS, and the other by getting shot and killed needlessly. Some great storytelling that'll make you shiver over a fantastic beat.  "C.R.E.A.M." is probably the most famous song off the LP, and also the one that introduced the word cream into the rap lexicon.  Cream is money basically, and the acronym stands for Cash Rules Everything Around Me, as Method Man spits on the chorus.  RZA again keeps it simple with a great piano loop, letting his MC's do the work, which in this case involves telling tales of how money has played a huge part in their lives, due to their lack of it as they grew up.

    This album stands the test of time because the sound it created was so revolutionary, the imagery so vivid and powerful, and the lyricists were truly inspired by their first chance to shine in the world of rap.  They attacked with everything they had, and in so doing released an album of phenomenal hits: "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'", "Method Man", "C.R.E.A.M.", "Protect Ya Neck" and "Can It Be All So Simple".  They released an unprecedented number of singles and videos for one album, and every one was well received.  The album was so successful it garnered all of the individual members the freedom to record and release their own solo albums, and over the last decade we've been treated to gems by every member.

    Its spare yet atmospheric production mapped out the sonic blueprint (along with Black Moon's Enta Da Stage which was actually released in the same month) that countless other hardcore rappers would follow for years to come.  It laid the groundwork for the rebirth of New York hip-hop in the hardcore age, paving the way for everybody from Biggie to Capone-N-Noreaga to Nas to Mobb Deep not to mention the flood of Wu-Tang releases from the Clan members themselves or the off shoot.  Moreover, it introduced a colorful cast of hugely talented MCs, some of whom ranked among the best and most unique individual rappers of the decade.  Some were outsized, theatrical personalities, others were cerebral storytellers and lyrical technicians, but each had his own distinctive style, which made for an album of tremendous variety and consistency.  Every track on this album is packed with fresh, inventive rhymes, which are filled with martial arts metaphors, pop culture references, bizarre threats of violence, and a truly twisted sense of humor.  Their off-kilter menace is really brought to life, however, by the eerie, lo-fi production, which helped bring the raw sound of the underground into mainstream hip-hop.  Starting with a foundation of hard, gritty beats and dialogue samples from kung fu movies, RZA kept things minimalistic, but added just enough minor-key piano, strings, or muted horns to create a background ambience that works like the soundtrack to a surreal nightmare. 


50. Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
49. Outkast – Southernplayalisticaddicmuzik (1994)
48. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
47. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Wanted: Dead Or Alive (1990)
46. Redman – Whut? Thee Album (1992)
45. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
44. Fugees – The Score (1996)
43. The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better (1989)
42. Common Sense - Resurrection (1994)
41. Makaveli - The Don Kiluminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
40. Public Enemy – Fear Of A Black Planet (1990)
39. Ice Cube – Death Certificate (1992)
38. Gza/Genius - Liquid Swords (1995)
37. N.W.A – Efil4zaggin (1991)
36. Main Source – Breaking Atoms (1991)
35. Geto Boys – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
34. Brand Nubian – One For All (1990)
33. Scarface – The Diary (1994)
32. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Road To The Riches (1989)
31. Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (1986)
30. Ultramagnetic MC's – Critical Beatdown (1988)
29. LL Cool J – Radio (1985)
28. 2Pac – All Eyez On Me (1996)
27. Mobb Deep – The Infamous… (1995)
26. Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader (1988)
25. Big Daddy Kane – It’s A Big Daddy (1989)
24. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – Mecca And The Soul Brother (1992)
23. Black Moon – Enta Da Stage (1993)
22. Outkast – Aquemini (1998)
21. A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (1990)
20. Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C. (1984)
19. Boogie Down Productions – By All Means Necessary (1988)
18. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995)
17. De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
16. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle (1993)
15. Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
14. The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die (1994)
13. Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell (1986)
12. EPMD – Strictly Business (1988)
11. Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane (1988)
10. A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (1993)
09. Boogie Down Productions – Criminal Minded (1987)
08. N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
07. Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
06. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
05. Slick Rick – The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick (1988)
04. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

[wcsoldier]

definetely a good spot. This album is RAW

[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

Wu-Tang!!!Wu-Tang!!!

[notorious^q8I]

hmmm so top 3 spots are between the chronic illmatoc paid in full

[[sepehr]]

I fuckin LOVE this album

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

I fuckin LOVE this album

[Kill]

from now on, comments are superfluous...i´ll still say something, great spot, where i expected it to be and about where iot should be

[ImmortalOne]

I can definatly see why someone would have this album in their top 5......its a mothafuckin classic and one of the most historically important albums ever. Fav tracks are a tie between CREAM and Wu Tang Aint Nothin to Fuck With.

Yet for how great this album is, it isnt my fav Wu related album:  I prefer Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Wu Tang Forever as my two favs, in that order.

[ToOoOoN!!!]

hip hop masterpiece

[Sofa_King_Awesome]

Fuck this wigga/spick East Coast Dick Ride

[Minkaveli]

classic

[Dynamic]

hip hop masterpiece

wu tang aint nuthin to fuck wit

[Don Jacob]

my favorite parts of the album are the ODMisms

 

RIP

[RZARECTA]

hip hop masterpiece

wu tang aint nuthin to fuck wit

[RZARECTA]

HARD TO BEAT THIS ALBUM