Straight Up Hood Rich

Instigation Mondays

Get riled up, sonny boy.  I’m covered in snow and I’m full of hate.  Considering the fact that the majority of our readership is also on the east coast, I’m assuming most of you out there feel similar.

Today’s Wu track is off of the classic GZA album Liquid Swords.  Living in the World Today is an incredible track.  Gritty as all hell with, surprise surprise, another fantastic RZA beat.  The dude’s just always on fire.

What’s particularly impressive, to me at least, on Liquid Swords is the way GZA carries everything without any trouble.  I mean, it was obvious from all of Wu-Tang’s work that the dude had chops, but there’s a remarkably low amount of guest appearances on Liquid Swords that’s pretty uncommon for a solo album by a Wu member.  Most of them show up somewhere on the record, however the majority of the tracks’ are the Genius’ alone, save for some folks on the intros and choruses.

This track’s no different. RZA introduces us. GZA takes it over, and Method Man contributes to the chorus.  To be fair, he probably has the most badass line: Punk [African-Americans] shatter like a glass jaw.

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TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 9

This review’s timing is not coincidental.  After I posted my Instigation Monday column, complete with Wu-Tang bad-assedness, I realized I’d made a huge mistake in my music listening from the past few months.  I’m an appreciator of all things Wu, yet there I stood having not completely consumed the critically acclaimed follow up to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…

I’d heard all the praise and Raekwon is probably my favorite of all the artists in Wu.  I think I was holding out based mostly on the hype, really.  These days, hype in hip-hop is as common for a Raekwon record as it is for that shitty freakshow LMFAO.  Hype is really all that’s left in hip-hop, with every album that drops the “next big thing,” in the eyes of the promoters and diehard fans of the genre.  Yet every year I find myself only gravitating towards 2 or 3 hip-hop records at most.  As my friend Elliott said yesterday, it’s not often that a modern hip-hop record actually lives up to the hype it gets.

Not in this case.  Raekwon’s much-anticipated follow up, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II, is absolutely absurd in its greatness.  Mobster storytelling is back.  It’ll probably disappear after this for another 10 years, but fuck it. Enjoy it while it’s here. Continue reading…

Crate-Diggers, Ep. 2

A weekly space where I, Casey, let you all know which records you should spend your Saturday hunting for.

It’s good weather out here in Pittsburgh, particularly for November. Many people are calling it Indian summer. Not me. I think that’s just plain racist. I’m not sure what the weather’s like in other parts of the country, so forgive me for gloating. I don’t watch the Weather Channel. My dad had a friend in college who just smoked weed and watched the Weather Channel. Why would you do that? That sounds the worst thing you could possibly do while stoned.

But, the weather does have me in a good mood. So, this weekend, I’ll probably be searching for some music to help that mood along. I suggest you do the same.

Continue reading…