ZEB WALTON
ayo! - BEZ
This gon be a long one. Im basically gonna write up why wuforever is the goat album song by song. Excuse the length but i been meaning to do this for a long time.
MY BACKGROUND:
I was 10 years old when forever dropped. I had already been listening to hip hop for several years before this and even started my cassette (:ahhh) collection by then.
Ironman
Liquid swords
Hell on earth
36 vhambers
Life after death
The chronic
G funk era
The infamous (bootleg courtesy of my neighbor)
Buncha mix compilations of the time
Others that slip my mind, those were always in rotation
Small collection but i was young. Had to come up with the money by not buying lunch at school and every now and then my parents would get me a tape.
I remember just getting LAD, biggie had just died. Hip hop was THE thing by this time. It had been growing but it really started to peak by now. The puff formula WAS the radio, mtv played non stop hypnotize, biggies singles continued throughout the year..
I had moved to south jersey by 97. Summers in stat with my cousins always listening to the new shyt. Back to jersey by fall where very few people bumped hip hop. I was a huge wu fan by 97 being they were the home team. W's allover my book covers. Used to draw, be in advanced art classes dropping the w on all my work. Needless to say i was the hip hop kid during elementary school and this forward in jr high n highschool n thats how people who didnt know me knew me. It jumped off here tho.
97 was the year tho. Wu forever was the album.
LEAD TO RELEASE:
Triumph dropped in february 97. Im not sure when the video officially dropped but the video was ahead of its time. Directed by bret ratner, it was one of most expensive videos of the time, costing over 1 million dollars. I remember kids in school remarking how "cool" the video was as it got a lot of mtv burn.
Triumph is the only song i can think of that got no chorus with 5 minutes of pure rhyming. This is a testament to how nice wu tang was. Never before was there a group who could do this as there was always a weak link. With wu, every member was capable of dropping all time verses ( yes every member. Masta killa being the weakest link tho he developed his own style that made him stand out as well. Ugod well get in to)
Deck dropped the verse that would become THE verse that people associate with the wu. Id go into every verse or yall would never stop reading, lets just say this song was huge and everyone delivered.
Mtv was doing specials leading up to the release. Wu tang after biggie died was almost like the last hope sorta. Yea nas just sold 4 mill, jay released the hit with foxy but biggie passing after pac passed had hip hop in mourning. After the years of great music the sound was changing to a more "commerical" sound ( and thus started the commerical vs underground war). When triumph dropped i remember a lot of feeling with people was this was like a last stand of what a lot of us fell in love with. Everyone was trying to be puff EXCEPT wu.
The day this dropped i picked up the double tape for 18 bucks. Brought it hime and took the 2 hours taking it in.
THE ALBUM
I remember looking at the cover and the shyt was epic. The credits looked like movie credits, no doubt making it seem bigger than it was.
It started off with WU REVOLUTION.
I know everyone says they hate this nowadays but with this album i think its a perfect intro. It sets the vibe of the album perfectly. Wu forever is a 5% life album. Its not gangster shyt, its not martial arts album. Its about life and teachings. Its almost like a public enemy album. Its a pure hip hop album and the intro takes it there.
The beat is more orchestra based. The albuk continues the trend. No doubt rza trying to get the most money he could as sampling with 9 members to feed is not feasible. He flips his whole sound to make this and it was waaaay ahead of its time while puff was sampling hits
Anyway the intro is a continuation of the talks by popa wu given on north star on cuban linx ( classic classic) and on black jesus from ironman.
Anyway i love this shyt. It sets it off perfectly. At the end, the classic wu martial arts skit that basically tells of what is happening in hip hop at the time... Leading into
REUNITED
GZA is the first you hear dropping one of the all tike classic wu verses. Again telling of the current statenof hip hop
" reunited diuble lp world excited
Struck a match to the underground
Industry ignited.
From metaphorical parables to fertalize the earth
Wicked nikkas come tryna to burgalize the turf
Scattin off soft ass beats them nighas rap happily
Tragically that style detoriate rapidly
Uncompleted mission
Throwing ya best known compositions
You couldnt add it up if ya mastered addition"
This is such a telling verse that was equal to the times. Basically saying wu tang is god. The verses are deeper than all hip hop which to any wu fan wasnt anything but TRUTH. How hip hop was deterioating into taking well known hits and singing along for a buck. Biting off wu with the real life gangster shyt they dropped. Gzas verse is an all timer.
In comes ol dirty
" bytch ass nikkas counterfeit the funk"
Odb dropping a verse of how he is original. He is god. He drops a verse littered with symbolism that will go over many heads if not most.
"My name black. You worms wan play in my dirt
Bitvh stop my momma serve free lunch at the church"
" i dont walk i get carried gold and platinum frisbees on my wall"
"I UFO you wright brothers"
"Indian sold manhattan to the whiteman
My grabdfather stepped up"
Odbs ancestry is that apparently that sold manhattan to the dutch. So his family says. Dirty was aheadnof his time and a genius.
RZA "the riddler funny bone tickler freak caligula"
Wu verses are rich with symbolism and meaning which is why they are regarded so high.
"Wu tang incorp take ya brain on soacewarp"
Rza drops a verse in typical hip hop flair with advanced imagery and ends with
"And we return like jesus when the whole world need us" again relating back to the song title and how inportant this album is to hip hop
METH
Meth keeping up with the heavy lyricsnof this song. Playing up how wu is killing every other act
"Is itvappetite for destruction
Slap a murder rap on this prosuction
I touch something, trust nothing
Iron lung, twisted metal (the car game ahootin up other cars)
I see em ducking my dart gun bussin
From every angle
Worldwide total carnage the sickest flow
That he codenamed agent orange killin you slow
Its only right you pay homage to those
Thats bout to those thats bout to BLOW
Like that shyt up ya nose"
"Dont know the time
Check the hour on ya sundial, watch me shine"
Gotta laugh at those like budden that say meth aint a top mc. Foh budden never had an ounce of the talent meth has which is effortless symbolism while budden takes ten minutes to tell a story meth could write up in a bar.
Anyway. Reunited. Maybe a perfect track with the violin. It was some hip hop weve never heard before. Another perfect set off to the maybe perfect album
Part 2 coming
MY BACKGROUND:
I was 10 years old when forever dropped. I had already been listening to hip hop for several years before this and even started my cassette (:ahhh) collection by then.
Ironman
Liquid swords
Hell on earth
36 vhambers
Life after death
The chronic
G funk era
The infamous (bootleg courtesy of my neighbor)
Buncha mix compilations of the time
Others that slip my mind, those were always in rotation
Small collection but i was young. Had to come up with the money by not buying lunch at school and every now and then my parents would get me a tape.
I remember just getting LAD, biggie had just died. Hip hop was THE thing by this time. It had been growing but it really started to peak by now. The puff formula WAS the radio, mtv played non stop hypnotize, biggies singles continued throughout the year..
I had moved to south jersey by 97. Summers in stat with my cousins always listening to the new shyt. Back to jersey by fall where very few people bumped hip hop. I was a huge wu fan by 97 being they were the home team. W's allover my book covers. Used to draw, be in advanced art classes dropping the w on all my work. Needless to say i was the hip hop kid during elementary school and this forward in jr high n highschool n thats how people who didnt know me knew me. It jumped off here tho.
97 was the year tho. Wu forever was the album.
LEAD TO RELEASE:
Triumph dropped in february 97. Im not sure when the video officially dropped but the video was ahead of its time. Directed by bret ratner, it was one of most expensive videos of the time, costing over 1 million dollars. I remember kids in school remarking how "cool" the video was as it got a lot of mtv burn.
Triumph is the only song i can think of that got no chorus with 5 minutes of pure rhyming. This is a testament to how nice wu tang was. Never before was there a group who could do this as there was always a weak link. With wu, every member was capable of dropping all time verses ( yes every member. Masta killa being the weakest link tho he developed his own style that made him stand out as well. Ugod well get in to)
Deck dropped the verse that would become THE verse that people associate with the wu. Id go into every verse or yall would never stop reading, lets just say this song was huge and everyone delivered.
Mtv was doing specials leading up to the release. Wu tang after biggie died was almost like the last hope sorta. Yea nas just sold 4 mill, jay released the hit with foxy but biggie passing after pac passed had hip hop in mourning. After the years of great music the sound was changing to a more "commerical" sound ( and thus started the commerical vs underground war). When triumph dropped i remember a lot of feeling with people was this was like a last stand of what a lot of us fell in love with. Everyone was trying to be puff EXCEPT wu.
The day this dropped i picked up the double tape for 18 bucks. Brought it hime and took the 2 hours taking it in.
THE ALBUM
I remember looking at the cover and the shyt was epic. The credits looked like movie credits, no doubt making it seem bigger than it was.
It started off with WU REVOLUTION.
I know everyone says they hate this nowadays but with this album i think its a perfect intro. It sets the vibe of the album perfectly. Wu forever is a 5% life album. Its not gangster shyt, its not martial arts album. Its about life and teachings. Its almost like a public enemy album. Its a pure hip hop album and the intro takes it there.
The beat is more orchestra based. The albuk continues the trend. No doubt rza trying to get the most money he could as sampling with 9 members to feed is not feasible. He flips his whole sound to make this and it was waaaay ahead of its time while puff was sampling hits
Anyway the intro is a continuation of the talks by popa wu given on north star on cuban linx ( classic classic) and on black jesus from ironman.
Anyway i love this shyt. It sets it off perfectly. At the end, the classic wu martial arts skit that basically tells of what is happening in hip hop at the time... Leading into
REUNITED
GZA is the first you hear dropping one of the all tike classic wu verses. Again telling of the current statenof hip hop
" reunited diuble lp world excited
Struck a match to the underground
Industry ignited.
From metaphorical parables to fertalize the earth
Wicked nikkas come tryna to burgalize the turf
Scattin off soft ass beats them nighas rap happily
Tragically that style detoriate rapidly
Uncompleted mission
Throwing ya best known compositions
You couldnt add it up if ya mastered addition"
This is such a telling verse that was equal to the times. Basically saying wu tang is god. The verses are deeper than all hip hop which to any wu fan wasnt anything but TRUTH. How hip hop was deterioating into taking well known hits and singing along for a buck. Biting off wu with the real life gangster shyt they dropped. Gzas verse is an all timer.
In comes ol dirty
" bytch ass nikkas counterfeit the funk"
Odb dropping a verse of how he is original. He is god. He drops a verse littered with symbolism that will go over many heads if not most.
"My name black. You worms wan play in my dirt
Bitvh stop my momma serve free lunch at the church"
" i dont walk i get carried gold and platinum frisbees on my wall"
"I UFO you wright brothers"
"Indian sold manhattan to the whiteman
My grabdfather stepped up"
Odbs ancestry is that apparently that sold manhattan to the dutch. So his family says. Dirty was aheadnof his time and a genius.
RZA "the riddler funny bone tickler freak caligula"
Wu verses are rich with symbolism and meaning which is why they are regarded so high.
"Wu tang incorp take ya brain on soacewarp"
Rza drops a verse in typical hip hop flair with advanced imagery and ends with
"And we return like jesus when the whole world need us" again relating back to the song title and how inportant this album is to hip hop
METH
Meth keeping up with the heavy lyricsnof this song. Playing up how wu is killing every other act
"Is itvappetite for destruction
Slap a murder rap on this prosuction
I touch something, trust nothing
Iron lung, twisted metal (the car game ahootin up other cars)
I see em ducking my dart gun bussin
From every angle
Worldwide total carnage the sickest flow
That he codenamed agent orange killin you slow
Its only right you pay homage to those
Thats bout to those thats bout to BLOW
Like that shyt up ya nose"
"Dont know the time
Check the hour on ya sundial, watch me shine"
Gotta laugh at those like budden that say meth aint a top mc. Foh budden never had an ounce of the talent meth has which is effortless symbolism while budden takes ten minutes to tell a story meth could write up in a bar.
Anyway. Reunited. Maybe a perfect track with the violin. It was some hip hop weve never heard before. Another perfect set off to the maybe perfect album
Part 2 coming
that flood and all. when that forever album came out, it was over. they fell off.
