[gallery]

Purple tape, purple tape! Please god before Christmas, pleeeeeasse!

1) u-god explains beef with Rza, this is some furious shit

2) Raekwon takes a camera crew through Staten Island projects and his management gets harassed by the police for nothing.

Ol Dirty Bastard

Interview with no shoes:

Interupts grammys:

Collects food stamps while riding in a limo and with an album in the top 10 charts:

Wu Tang live:

Realest niggaz alive, show respect.

Now playing:

• Cold World - Dedicated To Babies Who Came Feet First
• Ice Cube - Raw Footage
• H2O - Nothing To Prove (fuck yeah, I ain't tired of them!)

The GZA - "I Gotcha Back"

Liquid Swords: Great hip-hop album, or greatest hip-hop album?  I lean towards the latter.

These days, my mp3 mixes have a more hip-hop flavor, but I still include a few bangers to keep me pumping and running. While some songs get tiresome after a while, there are several constants that I can't imagine excluding from my mixes. Here are a few of them:

Wu-Tang Clan, 16th Chamber (ODB Special)
Album: 8 Diagrams
100% pure badass. A rhythm that pounds your heart, coated with rapping by Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard that grooves you into getting those one or two extra reps in.

Liz Phair, Johnny Sunshine
Album: Exile in Guyville
How does a song that makes a guy feel like a douche for every wrong he's done a woman make this list? Partly due to that grinding guitar riff that chugs through the first three-quarters of the song, partly due to the self-loathing it inflicts: get mad at your reflection, then take it out on gravity, asshole.

Nine Inch Nails, 1,000,000
Album: The Slip
This is a recent addition to my gym mix, but I'm certain it has earned a permanent spot on my iPod Shuffle. This track is fucking relentless! "Put the gun / In my mouth / Close your eyes / Blow my fucking brains out / Pretty patterns / On the floor / That's enough for you / But I still need more". These have got to be the most defiant lyrics ever; in the hands of another artist, they would sound almost petulant. You can't help but channel that into surpassing your limits. Rather than linking to a Wikipedia entry for this album, I'm directing you to the site for the album, which you can download for free. Bless you, Trent Reznor.

N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Ice Cube's opening verse in particular always gets me pumped. This song is a battle cry, but rather than taking it to the streets, I'll settle for taking it to the iron, yo.

Foo Fighters, But, Honestly
Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
I didn't really appreciate this track until it happened to start playing while I was deadlifting. Its roaring climax sends a rush through me like no other song can or has - now I always start this up just before attempting to do my maximum, focusing during the acoustic part and lifting as the crescendo begins. Awesome stuff.

What are some of your favorite workout tunes? What drives you to lift more, run faster, crunch harder, etc.? I'm always on the lookout for something new to add to my mix.

Hip-Hop heads stand the fuck up cause DJ Derezon & Illfated have dropped one of the dopest hip-hop mixes I've ever heard.

What's sets this mix apart is that the RZA actually tells the story of each track before it drops. Definitely worth a listen.

DJ Derezon & Illfated Present: The 14 Deadly Secrets of the RZA

Bonus:

I don't know how this slipped by me, but here's DJ Premier's 14 Deadly Secrets. I know this is a touchy subject, but I personally think Premo is superior to the RZA in many, many ways.

DJ Derezon & Illfated Present: The 14 Deadly Secrets of DJ Premier

Sights and smells will trigger memories in an individual but the sense of sound seems to trigger them best and especially when they are in musical form. Often enough, hearing an old song will automatically take us back to a place that no longer exist anywhere but in our memories, whether good or bad.

Dave Munger presents us with some research on why this is the case in Music and Memory: How the Songs We Heard Growing Up Shape the Story of Our Lives. Here's an excerpt:

Matching our intuitions about music, researchers have found that music is an important influence on our memories. We associate songs with emotions, people, and places we've experienced in the past. This isn't to say that music is the only influence on memory: the photos I took, the sights I saw, and the words I wrote about my hike will also help to preserve it in my mind for many years to come.

But it's not easy to parse out exactly how music evokes memories. If I listened to "Rock Lobster" on the drive down from Hart's Pass where we finished our hike, will "Rock Lobster" be associated with that memory, or with my birthday party in college where I danced wildly to the same song? Does music have a more powerful effect on memory than other influences, like images, words, or smells? We don't know, but a group led by Petr Janata has taken an important first step in understanding how music can affect memory.

On that note, I'd like to present to you the soundtrack of my youth. Feel free to share yours with us.

Elvis Presley - My Way

David Bowie - Modern Love

Joy Division - Transmission/She's Lost Control

Depeche Mode - Everything Counts

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message

Simple Minds - Waterfront

China Crisis - Black Man Ray

Van Halen - Jump

The Smiths - This Charming Man

M.A.R.R.S. - Pump up the Volume

Eric B. and Rakim - I Ain't No Joke

Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck

Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl

World Party - Way Down Now

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Kill Your Television

Nitzer Ebb - Join in the Chant

The Stone Roses - Waterfall

The Charlatans - The Only One I Know

Public Enemy - Don't Believe the Hype

EPMD - Sowhatchusayin'

Marley Marl and the Juice Crew - The Symphony

BDP - Criminal Minded

Ministry - N.W.O

Happy Mondays - Step On

Blur - There's No Other Way

Wu-Tang Clan - Da Mystery of Chessboxin'

Brand Nubian - Slow Down

The Chemical Brothers - Three Little Birdies Down Beats

The GZA - Liquid Swords

As I have had a few days to sit back and think, I hope so have many other voters. While I cannot say with certainty that I think Sarah Palin is a great candidate for V.P., I certainly know that 90% of the people talking poorly about her don't know any more about her than I do. I was told that her experience in Alaska doesn't count for much since "Alaska is barely a state". Well, Arkansas is less of a state than Alaska, but we had a President from Arkansas. Give her a chance. If you don't like what she has to say, great. But don't judge the book by the cover.

Today I'll leave you with another of the best Hip Hop songs ever AND as a bonus, a song by one of the best vocalists as well. I think that this, along with Shook Ones Pt. II from Mobb Deep are my top 2 of all time. While the band has had its issues over the years, you cannot discount the amount of talent.

This song I have heard hundreds of times over the years. Meth's flow and vocals are incredible and it is another of my favorite albums.

Props to The Rap Up for this...

DJ Derezon & Tre the Boy Wonder, the duo behind DJ Premier’s 14 Deadly Secrets, chased down the RZA and convinced him to stop playing chess long enough to talk about music. As you probably know, 14 Deadly Secrets is a special session where legendary producers break down the stories behind 14 of their hits. Listen as RZA dishes some behind-the-scene stories about 14 classics, including “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and “C.R.E.A.M.” Pay attention, school is now in session.

14 Deadly Secrets by RZA

Jag har skurat & gnuggat bort vit målarfärg från mina golv. Först så torkade jag av golvet med en viledamopp för att sedan strö ut Ajax skurpulver & borsta hårt & noga med en rotborste på skaft. Dom fläckarna som satt kvar på golvet fick jag bort med en scotchbrite med skurpulver på.
Allra renast vart det av scotchbriten så när jag blir envåldshärskare ska jag låta få mina golv skurade med en scotchbrite för hand.

Jag plockade även ner köksgardinerna, tvättade dom & strök dom.
När jag strök dom så upptäckte jag att mitt strykjärn läckte vatten efter att jag en gång tappat det i golvet så hela backstycket lossnat från sina fästen.

Jag tänkte först att jag vl fick önska mig ett nytt strykjärn i juklapp eftersom jag inte stryker så ofta att det är nödvändigt att jag köper ett nytt nu på stört.

Sen så tänkte jag efter & kände att jag inte alls ville ha något jävla strykjärn i juklapp. Jag är så innerligt trött på att önska saker som jag behöver men inte anser är så viktiga att jag kan gå & köpa dom själv. Jag ska hädanefter bara önska sådana saker jag verkligen vill ha i julklapp.

Så som en avsuging av två vackra tjejer samtidigt. Vackra tjejer inga photoshoppade skogstroll.

Eller en två veckors semester på Kuba.

Apropå ingenting så ville en kund till mig ha en dejt med en tjej i början av veckan & jag kom att tänka på min föredetta kamrat som drar in extra pengar genom att sälja sin kropp. I & med att jag inte har någonting att säga henne så kan jag ju inte ringa eller sms'a henne då jag själv inte har några ekonomiska intressen i hennes kropp. Hade jag haft det så hade det varit en annan sak. Jag sms'ade istället en av våra gemensamna bekanta för att höra om hon trodde att min föredetta kamrat skulle vara intresserad av att tjäna lite pengar men hon svarade surt att hon minsann inte var "någon jävla brevduva". Så jag sket i det & min föredetta kamrat gick miste om tvåtusen femhundra kronor.

Det första som hände mig i onsdags morse var att jag fick en bordsskiva över ögonen.

*PANG* sa det & jag såg rosa hjärtan, gula månar, orange stjärnor & gröna klöverblommor.

Jag gick vidare & låtsades som ingenting då jag insåg att det inte skulle bli bättre utav att jag slängde mig ner på mage & banka med händerna & fötterna i golvet.

På jobbet så diskuterade jag politik med en kollega, trots att jag bara AVSKYR att diskutera politik. Det är ibland det värsta jag vet.
Hur som helst så hade han varit ultra socialist men efter att han upptäckt att socialismen var elitisk så hade han blivit liberal & vi diskuterade lite om vilket system som skulle kunna vara bäst för mänskligheten & till slut så tröttnade jag & dödade konversationen med ett "Det spelar ingen roll vilket system som är bäst för om 100 år så kommer ändå en datamaskin att bestämma över oss så det finns inget mer att prata om".

Jag är så jävla smidig ibland.

Billboard — Even in this post-Wu-glory-days era, GZA remains easily and unfairly overshadowed. He doesn't have the odd indie appeal of Ghostface, the smoked-up rasp of Method Man or the RZA's Hollywood résumé. But he does have five solo records to his credit now, and a purpose: "All I need is a beat," he opens on "Alphabets," and commences three minutes of liquid rhymes that spray out without any detectable effort. "Pro Tools" is the opposite of flashy. You could count the number of hooks on one hand and most tracks clock in at the three-minute mark, ostensibly to let GZA inhale occasionally. But it's worth a listen to hear what sneaky, suspicious, image-heavy tricks still emerge from his notebook (particularly on the war-charged "Colombia Ties"—"A president's madness responsible for losses/political forces/land littered with corpses"); it's worth at least two to allow those words to sink in.

• GZA/Genius - Paper Plates.mp3

"As Long As I've Got You" by The Charmels:

[audio=http://standing8.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/the-charmels-as-long-as-ive-got-you.mp3]

"C.R.E.A.M." by The Wu-Tang Clan:

[audio=http://standing8.wordpress.com/files/2008/08/wu-tang-clan-cream.mp3]

That's black?
Whattup God?
Aiyyo Shorty got beef with that nigga? Word?
*blam, blam blam* Oh shit!!! Yo!
Hold the fuck up

Aiyyo yo, eight niggaz down (just enough)
Fuckin around with my sound (ci-ty)
Yo, bring backup (ci-ty)
Fuckin with me, and mine
Murderous

[Inspectah Deck]
Check it, yo
The world is shifty, we livin just enough for the city
The rough witty killa bee sting just like the jiggy
My Family Stone, foes attempt to gradually clone
Label them my anus and the casualty's home
It glows coffin, Wu stormin like the light brigade
ride the wave like Frankie Avalon
As I decipher AIDS crime pays
The law's long arm be tryin to strongarm, walkin timebombs
before I bomb firearm
The chalm smoker, I hit the dread with a poster
He toke with his own love and expose the black toaster
Composer was shook
I took your bad looks for joke get your back broke
Deep throat this murder I wrote
The antidote be seekin like a buried treasure
By every measure lethally inject your whole sector
Wanted dead or alive
Rebel I escapes across the desert sand
leavin no footprints to trace
Keep a war face, in your place
Conceal the baby knives on the North breaks
I still shine in shady times

Yeah, yo
We livin just enough (livin just enough)
Just enough (in the ci-ty)
Just enough, for the ci-ty

Yo, in the jungle
I make moves like Iron Monkey
Plots to bump me off D.O.T. be on the hunt for me
We stay hungry, for money drugs and guns
Ones who fake get caught in the crossfire for crumbs
Know the science be my Goddess
The facts tell gats sell like sex and violence
And break the project silence, a vision
This is way beyond four corners, escape this mental prison
Before we're all goners, now embrace the world
for the world war is ocean bomber
Visionary soldier comma
My code of honor, mind still start from the drama
Trauma sent the victim, witness them run, scream in horror
Military chopper come gun down the slum
The outcome do or die Son it's bound to come
Mentally aware I see truth within the square
The future's here catch me on computer software
Warfare's inevitable, Rebel I hold several government official
It's a thirty-eight special, that steps through
Like Nat Turner create a spectacle
I may die in the scuffle but I'm takin forty devils

We livin just enough
Just enough
Just enough
For the ci-ty

Killa beez, sting McEEEZ, yeah, Wu

[Chorus: sampled singer (Inpsectah Deck)]
One of these days and you wont be long (It wont be long now)
One of these days and you wont be long (You bound to come up)
One of these days and you wont be long (Keep your eyes on us)
One of these days and you wont be long (Yeah, yeah, yeah, Deck)

[Inspectah Deck]
I'm from the home where the buffalo roam
And niggas don't give a flyin' fuck
Talk with signs up, walk with the iron tucked
Leave your eyes wide shut
Money bag's on +The Table+, gots to get locked up
Rebel I's simply slicker, pick up a pretty sister
Dig her out on +The Table+, bend off the remy licker
Head splitter, deliver so cold I send shivers
From many figures, battle the world or any nigga
I'm Uptown +Saturday Nite+ like Bill Carr's
Got weed in the jars with vanilla cigars
On the strip, eyeballin' the chicks, holdin' the mix
Blast off of my shit, vibratin' the whip

[Chorus: sampled singer (Raekwon)]
One of these days and you wont be long (That's what you call it pa)
One of these days and you wont be long (Chef!)

[Raekwon]
Yo I'm sicker than the V12 [X5]
With cracks in the Rolly jumper all we do is Drink fuckin' Drive
Real niggas raise up, Mommy get your feet off +The Table+
The cable luck bare, my man got me one on his leckle
It's nothin' for me to get up with you, guts with you
Blow off them matches and sit up with you
Aiyo the streets, what is gettin' more crazy?
Stressin' me nothin', investin' the leathers, we all into things blazin'
Slingin' coke is just a normal habit, rappers we wear
Straddlers with cannons and hatchets gettin' cheers
Yatzis are fresh off the block, block squeezin', it's real
If we get real, put pop, poppin' at your blocks equal
Take these niggas and throw 'em in lakes, it's business
Rake these niggas on the mic, display your ninjas
Nines crowns verses your nine towns
Run up with nine 9's, brown down, get to lyin' you down

[Chorus: sampled singer {U-God} (Raekwon)]
One of these days and you wont be long {Yo} (That's what you call it pa)
One of these days and you wont be long {Yo, yo}

[U-God]
I come from the slums, I ain't no dummy
My testiment talk, represent money
This +Verbal Intercourse+, fueled by exhaust
The bread winner, head spinner, coldest with the force
No remorse, endorse the rap artist
So flamboyant cos I pimp slap the hardest
Ever since the +Triumph+ we've been missin' them soldiers
We came tonight, boy the mission is cobra, full exploder
Bulldose through the rubbish, I'm in too deep boy
I just gotta love this, they call we Too Sweet
One of the nine brothers, I'm so unique
Every line that smother, the situation's grim
It's bloody sin cos every time I want out they pull me back in
I see my reflection in the chrome mack 10
Ask the passer who's faster with the pen
Then pull it, nine hollows, amorettos
That's how I like it, sweat on my wine bottles
The automobiles with them shiny assed hubs
The endo pull, with the bathtub club, my angel's in the mud
Veteran smile, +Dat's Gangsta+ shit, that American style
Dig it, prick or prey
I'm quick to slay with the rectifier shit, caught by the ricochet nigga

"I got to know"

[Chorus x4: sampled singer (Raekwon)]
One of these days and you wont be long (That's what you call it pa)
One of these days and you wont be long

"I got to know"

feat. Madame D & Two On Da Road

[Hook: Madame D]
Woke up this morning, smoked some sticky green to get me started
Choclate thai, all in my eye, I'm never broken-hearted
Bang us in ya cars, bang us in ya Jeep, bang that shit retarded

[Intro: 12 O'Clock (RZA)]
(Bob Digi) Sun Zeini
(P. Sunn) 12 O'Clock
Two On Da Road on this (12 O'Clock)
I love my brother to death
(That old hip-hop, catch this)
(Hot Nix', you know? Big tits)

[12 O'Clock]
I love my brother to death, nigga pussy to the rest
Shared a pair of Guess and an Eddie Bauer vest
A bitch named Celeste, I met her 'round the corner cashin Def Jam cheques
She had some big ass breasts, I had to catch her like a short stop on the Mets
I nigga high off a dime from Gates and Best
Remember grandmother leavin new with Selects
I remember Dirt Dog crashed his white Lex
I remember me and Meth in a dice game against Ghost and Deck
I remember Portland had Clyde Drex', remember 12 O'Clock is a vet
Big Dogs we put 'em to sleep and keep 'em on a leash
I move like days in a week
Niggaz don't want to face the names on my teeth
Niggaz carry a cold piece and separate the heat
Ain't scared of the motherfuckin police

[RZA]
Yo, yo
Guns jammed up, I'm cramed up in my lab
Six niggaz, six bitches, six fifths, an 8 eight bag
One toilet, three weedheads, an alcoholic
And two niggaz hooked on pussy
And in the corner was this brother who would study his lessons
And learned how operate the Smith and the Wesson
Still cut class and played hookey
Two fresh men from garbage can gave him nookies
Rolled the back of the bus with a gun in his socks
Big forehead, had ears like Spock
He was mightier than a truck load of gats
And bound to make a bitch cum in six minutes flat

[Raekwon]
What up kid? Stay livin
Seen you look good, you look live in ya linen
And you survived ninth innin
The hood got us off the prop without women
All my niggaz that ride that provide to the end of this

[Madame D]
Ain't nothin but the real, yeah
Ain't nothin but the real
Ain't nothin but the real, yeah
Million dollar deals, rollin on Chrome Wheels

[Prodical]
Yeah, uh-huh, yeah (Ain't nothin but the real)
This one's on P. Sunn, word up? Yeah, uh-huh

We gamble the dice, remain humble, scramble through the jungle of life
While the we rumble with the foul and trife
Shots fired on the block in threes like Glen Rice
Made men think twice about the sacrifice
Black on white, write it for the world to hear
Write it for my fam who not here who do care
Glance and stare, why when you can't compare?
From the bottom of my feet to the end of my hair
Move rear, cop the blue steel bare, groove to the snare
Bass and drums, see my face in the slums
Pedia Brown, media surround my sound
When you see me in the hood of ya town, respect my sound
Sample with black, criminal, mechanical rap
Assemblin hat, laced in a suit from Phat
Two On Da Road, got them bitches screamin, "Who Dat?"
Two with the plaques, two with the gats, it's like that

[Hook]

[Madame D]
Two On Da Road, Bobby Digital
He's a gangsta, yeah
No, no, no, no, no, no
Live it up, live it up
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no

[Hook]

[Outro: Prodical *over Madame D's singing*]
Bang us in ya Jeeps
Shaolin! Bobby Digital
Uh-huh, Sunn who?
Yeah
Haha! Yeah!
Get that money y'all
Get that money y'all
Get that money y'all
Shout in pain
Uh-huh, yeah
Weed blazin, cocoa hazin, cocoa hazin

[Cappadonna]
Yo! It's the burial ground sound, Dunn!
It's real out here
Staten Island puttin chills in y'all niggaz
Forever in it.. yo

My devastatin hot '97 Mentality
Keep me on point for my four-digit salary
Heavyweight lyric never lost one calorie
I'm soon to be seen, on the TV screen
Gambino Cappacino to the Afro Sheen
Stay black, where I'm at, high road to rap council
Splash love to Wu in a orderly tonsil
Never limit to the diction, cause chaos to mixin
Brutalize a sound check, ripple through the intermission
Rap's under siege, held tight like a squeeze
Forced in the world 'Donna nuclear freeze
Through the damage to the wannabe Flipmode and Def Squad
Ruckus a whirlpool in the rap entourage
If you dare to test thirty-six, chambers of strangers
My word of mouth it's all real wigs might peel
Livin large and in charge branch out Bon Voyage
Twenty-four diamond government named God
Alias Daryl Hill bring thugs back to kill
Circle around my son, Daryl Jr. never eatin large
Auntie Dauntie sixteen holdin me down
AIDS of rap music may be contagious to sound
Verbal the slang pushed back to create pronoun
Method forcin J-Love to Bring the Pain from underground
Realizin food for thought is self-compromisin
Shaolin cut the crack into a triple-O sizin
Blue do what he do to keep that currency risin
Hopin I catch a deal so we can catch a full wheel
Instead of catchin bodies, niggaz not keepin it real
Dirtball niggaz that steal cake from stores
That's my type of niggaz I be wantin on my tours
Can't help it, my styles stay fat like Roseanne
Ruckus in the square I stay rough like the Clan
Panther on my arm, pen and pad in my hand
Punk motherfuckers better beware of the Shaolin
Defy interactive project Children of the Corn
Gats and my man keep em bustin till he's gone
Style so ancient it sparks just like the unicorn
'Donna come through everyday my uniform
changes and switches, I came to make ladies out of bitches
Crackhead niggaz get stitches
So what up with that kid, danger when I attack kid
Watch how the slang hits you, just like the fat kid
Form another pyramid, look how we slid
All over Park Hill, Stapleton politic
on a twenty dollar bill all in it together
You can't fuck with the stormy weather, yaknahmean?

[Ghostface]
To the year Born God all the Gods strike hard
Fast from the swine hold down your boulevard
Father-U to C-Cypher, start the revolution
Middle finger in the air, for slang prostitution
(repeat 2X)

To the year Born God all the Gods strike hard
Fast from the swine hold down your boulevard
Father-U to C-Cypher, start the revolution
Middle finger in the air, for slang prostitution

To the year Born God all the Gods strike hard
Fast from the swine hold down your boulevard
Father-U to C-Cypher, start the revolution
Middle finger in the air, for slang prostitution

To the year, to the year Born God all the Gods strike hard
Fast from the swine hold down your boulevard
Father-U to C-Cypher, start the revolution
Middle finger in the air, for slang prostitution

There are phantoms here on earth who take away our lives
They kill your kids and they rape your wives
They rip your flesh tear your heart take you down to hell
They don't give a damn on any kind of life

Phantoms bring evil, destruction and death
Night after night the same old game
They all look so harmless but deep in their hearts
Satan is lurking, and he will break out

Always someone at your back only waiting to attack

Chorus Phantoms of death, Phantoms of death

The empire of deceivers is built upon your fear
You'll have to lose it 'cause the end is near
Warheads, armies stand to strike I know it isn't right
I wanna get out of here I don't wanna die

Infernal destruction of fire you'll burn
Then you'll be helpless but it's not too late
Stand up right now and you'll be the winner
Or Satan will get you, take you forever

Genocide everywhere, where's the saviour of this world

Chorus Phantoms of death, Phantoms of death

Where is he the promised saviour the one who'll save the earth
Perhaps he'll come to bury us but then it'll be too late
Who are they who are the phantoms who will end our lives
It's you and me, you and me open up your eyes

Phantoms bring evil, destruction and death
Night after night the same old game
They all look so harmless but deep in their hearts
Satan is lurking, and he will break out

We are all parasites of this world we shall die

Chorus Phantoms of death, Phantoms of death

Welcome to the torture chamber
Said the sign above the entrance
Laughing as he taked you by the hand
Looking like a maniac savage
Inside you can sense the anguish
Theatre of pain has just begun
Mr. Torture gives pain
With his whips and his chains
He knows just what you crave
Mr. Torture
If you're feeling alone
Then just pick up your phone
Dial 18 double 0 Mr. Torture
Mr. Torture sells pain
Only sixty sents a minute
For his special brand of sinning
Phone guaranteed to blow your mind
You can catch him on the website
Has a live chat every weeknight
Cyber-torture soon coming your way
Mr. Torture sells pain
To the housewives in Spain
He knows just what they crave
Mr. Torture
If you're feeling alone
Then just pick up your phone
Dial 18 double 0 Mr. Torture
Mr. Torture sells pain
Handcuffed, bound, chained, and blinded
Body, soul, and mind ignited
Every sense is torn and ripped apart
He's been banned in twenty countries
Though he does it for money
He gets pleasure from hearing you scream
Mr. Torture gives pain
With his whips and his chains
He knows just what you crave
Mr. Torture
If you're feeling alone
Then just pick up your phone
Dial 18 double 0 Mr. Torture
Mr. Torture
Mr. Torture sells pain

Après avoir tenu la barre du navire Wu-Tang Clan sur leur dernière croisière, en décembre 2007, le sieur RZA a décidé de présenter à ses fans son cinquième projet solo. Baptisé Digi Snacks, cet opus au visuel tape à l’œil et gorgé d’ego trip se révèle être une nouvelle étape personnelle dans sa carrière après 5 années de disette. En effet, Birth Of A Prince livré en 2003 nous avait laissé quelque peu sur notre faim, comme souvent avec RZA a.k.a. Bobby Digital. Ces derniers temps, les critiques allaient bon train après que ses frères du Wu-Tang Clan, Raekwon et Ghostface Killah aient protesté son travail sur 8 Diagrams, le jugeant comme « trop personnel ».

Depuis l’apogée que connu le Wu-Tang Clan au milieu des années 90, le statut du RZA a bien évolué. De plus en plus proche du septième art au fil des ans, il passe rapidement du grade de MC/producteur à celui d’acteur de films ( American Gangster de Ridley Scott ) et réalisateur de bandes son (Ghost Dog, Kill Bill ). L’homme se consacrant énormément au monde du cinéma, une question nous vient naturellement à l’esprit. Qu’en est-il réellement de ses capacités musicales actuelles pour livrer un nouvel album solo ? Alors qu’un élément de réponse avait été donné à travers 8 Diagrams, cinquième opus du Clan, en décembre dernier, la confirmation se trouve dans les quinze pistes qui composent ce Digi Snacks.

Moteur – silence, on tourne !

Bobby Digital est une ambiance, Bobby Digital est une atmosphère, Bobby Digital est un personnage qui, par la simple évocation de son nom, emporte l’auditeur lambda vers une musicalité spécifique, la sienne, celle qui l’a fait connaître et qu’il affectionne tout particulièrement. Sans surprises, c’est donc sur cette traditionnelle « ambiance Wu-Tang Clan » que débute l’album. Après une intro ultra ténébreuses, à la limite de la terreur, démarre le mystique « Long Time Coming » avec Danny Keyz au refrain. Premier titre et premières impressions. RZA frappe fort d’entrée, l’ambiance est si incroyable qu’on se croirait presque téléporté au milieu de la voie lactée : “ It’s been a long time coming… / Days, days are turning to nights now / They said… they said I’d be okay / But when I hear those church bells ringing / I begin to pray for today might be my dying day.”

Sur “You Can’t Stop Me Now”, Inspectah Deck reçoit un traitement de faveur car il s’agit là du seul invité de l’écurie Wu-Tang de l’album. Sur ce morceau typiquement Shaolin ( et très bon, au passage ) tout le monde aura reconnu « Message of a Black Man » des Temptations, que RZA a réadapté à merveille pour l’occasion. Si l’on cherche à classer les morceaux suivant l’atmosphère qu’ils dégagent, on peut ajouter « Bobby Trap » feat. Dexter Wiggles ainsi que « O Day » dans la catégorie lugubre et sombre, à la sauce 8 Diagrams. Bien que ceux-ci soient beaucoup moins accrocheurs, ils trouvent parfaitement leurs places sur ce Digi Snacks.

RZA, où plutôt Bobby Digital est un maestro et, comme tout producteur de renom, extrêmement expérimentateur. Dès lors, lorsque le natif de Brooklyn tente de pimenter sa musique à la sauce sudiste, ça donne « Straight Up The Block ». Et oui forcément, lorsque la production est signée David Banner et que, par la même occasion il est présent sur le morceau, le résultat est … étrange. Mais concernant ce titre, il est préférable de laisser la très célèbre formule de Kant : « A chacun son goût » faire son travail. Toujours dans un registre quelque peu douteux, le titre « Try Ya Ya Ya » feat. Monk, excelle. La faute à une production sans relief ? Peut être. La faute à une rengaine qui dure pendant près de quatre minutes ? Assurément ! En effet, lorsque Bobby Digital prend le dessus sur RZA, notre maître d’œuvres éprouve parfois quelques difficultés à contrôler ses pulsions, chose qui peut être un bien comme un mal.

Tantôt terre à terre, tantôt dans les étoiles, RZA nous livre avec ce cinquième solo le reflet même de sa personnalité : celui d’un homme aux multiples facettes et définitivement hors du commun. Sur 8 Diagrams, les nombreux refrains chantés laissaient transparaître une forme d’innovation peu commune chez les soldats Shaolin. Ici, le disciple RZA semble avoir apprécié la formule car sur « Drama », c’est la voix limpide de Thea qui vient accompagner les quelques gammes de piano du virtuose.

Inutile de vous livrer de plus amples informations sur cet opus, ceci vous en gâcherait le mystère. Il faut juste savoir une chose ; quiconque prendra la peine de l’écouter y trouvera son mot à dire, qu’il soit bon ou mauvais. Bien que ce Digi Snacks soit un terrain riche d’expérimentations, le style Wu-Tang Clan y est quand même fortement ancré. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire d’être un minimum « entraîné » afin d’apprécier ce ton musical.

D’une vision plus générale, Robert Diggs nous a pondu un disque honnête qui ne laissera pas de grosses empreintes sur le rap game certe, mais qui aura le mérite de faire plaisir à ses fans … et peut être même à ses détracteurs. Après tout la musique est faite pour ça non ?

Allé, sans rancune Bobby.

13 / 20

Le disciple Killah Priest fit son offrande et s’éloigna.Vêtu dA’une aube noir, son acolyte 60 Second Assassin quitta à son tour les 36 chambres, quelques temps après.Saint RZA, derrière le vitrail de la chapelle, assista à ce départ, béant.Dans une sombre nuit, Priest disparu…

Exégèse du Psaume du vitrail, 15.8
C’est alors qu’il s’en alla après avoir effectué son offrande. Killah Priest souhaitait tracer sa route…

Un an après nous avoir fait grâce de son don suprême : The Offering, le membre actif des Sunz Of Man nous propose Behind The Stained Glass ( traduisez Derrière le vitrail ), son septième solo, dans la continuité de ses aventures spirituelles.

C’est derrière un vitrail et vêtu tel un chevalier que le disciple Priest a choisit d’apparaître sur la pochette de son nouveau présent. La typographie est biblique, les couleurs aussi. Vous l’aurez compris les références religieuses sont nombreuses dans cet album. On croirait presque que le disciple a décidé de mettre ses sonorités entre les mains du bien et du mal tellement une atmosphère de dévotion plane sur ce Behind The Stained Glass. A l’extrême limite entre les ténèbres et l’éden, Killah Priest navigue dans des eaux bien troubles.

L’album début par un « I Believe » court mais si intense qu’il constitue l’une des merveilles de ce disque, au même titre que le somptueux « 4 tomorrow » dans lequel Killah Priest dresse avec une plume de génie un triste portrait de l’humanité actuelle : « We became monsters / Cause all we want is the chronic and some liquors / And tat on some scriptures and I miss my sister / Pictures haunts my mind, it turns realer / Look inside my memories mirror ». Si coté lyrics, la joie et la bonne humeur ne sont pas de mise, ce ne sont pas non plus les productions qui vous donneront le sourire. Vous l’aurez compris, Behind The Stained Glass n’est pas destiné à un auditoire dépressif.

Les titres ayant un rapport plus ou moins direct avec la religion s’enchaînent, à l’image de « Redemption » dans lequel l’apôtre Priest, accompagné par les chœurs de Jeni Fujita gratifie l’auditeur de quelques envolées lyricales.

Le disciple des Sunz Of Man, 60 Second Assassin rejoint Killah Priest sur Le chef d’œuvre de l’album, « Profits of man ». Durant cinq minutes tout semble s’arrêter, un peu comme si les portes du paradis nous étaient tout à coup ouvertes. Une merveille. Famille oblige, les membres du Wu-Tang Clan ont droit à leur clin d’œil : “ To Sunz of Man to damn near becoming one of the Clan / Members I remember, in Brooklyn, GZA and Masta Killa / To my last chapters with the RZA / Testimony stops, Old Dirty got knocked / Came home and signed with the ROC / Cocaine combined with rocks”. Pour ce qui est des autres invités, on retrouve à deux reprises Victorious sur « Jeshurun » ainsi que sur le très solide « Born to die ». Quand à Allah Sun, il pose sa voix sur le sombre « Looking glass », un des morceaux qui fait quelque peu baisser le niveau global du disque. L’écoute se poursuit sans réellement retrouver l’alchimie présente au début du disque. Certains titres peinent à convaincre tels « God’s time », « O Emmanuel » ou encore le bonus fort dispensable, « The end is comming »

Vous l’aurez compris, ce Behind the stained glass se révèle être la suite logique de The Offering sorti il y a un an. Vient alors l’heure des comparaisons. Sans être réellement moins bon que son prédécesseur, ce septième solo s’essouffle quelque peu sur la longueur, ce qui est regrettable quand on connais le talent de son créateur. Le défaut majeur à mettre sur le dos de cet opus est l’écart de niveau entre certains morceaux. Quand on réalise des monuments de la trempe de « Profits of man », « 4 tomorrow » ou bien « I believe », il devient fort difficile de maintenir une telle cadence, bien que l’ensemble reste de grande classe.

Après avoir effectué son offrande, Killah Priest souhaitait tracer sa route. Sur les longs sentiers sinueux bordant les 36 chambres, le disciple marchait vers l’Ailleurs. Autour de lui, l’horizon paraissait sombre mais derrière le vitrail, une âme bien vaillante guidait ses pas…

13,5 / 20

Firmly rooted somewhere between Liquid Swords and Grandmasters, the sound of this album reflects the greatness of earlier solo works while also making good use of styles and techniques from collaborations. As stated by the title the album definitely boasts solid production, but the welcome surprise (especially in a time when over-production for a steep fee equals big sales/commercial success) the content accompanying the beats has been treated with equal thought and development...which in the end has lead to another gem ...not Liquid Swords...but definitely a gem which shines brighter than many release of today and yesterday.