[Album Stream] WU-TANG CLAN "A BETTER TOMORROW"

[Soulless]

Exactly, he's not keeping the Wu alive with his boring ass LPs. He and Ghost seem to think by getting a bunch of no name producing a bunch of generic "soulful" boom bap beats is Wu-Tang alone. If they really wanted to maintain the sound they'd have their albums entirely produced by Bronze, 4th, Ringz etc.

What albums are you talking about? OB4CL2? That had some hard beats on it. SvW? That was more like a classic Wu album than 8D or ABT? His mixtapes...they're mixtapes.

Rae's albums aren't Wu-tang Clan albums. They are Raekwon albums. OB4CL was the only solo album where he had a big Wu producer showing. Other than that, he's never used them much, so the people making this argument are being silly. Him wanting to keep the Wu albums more true to the Wu roots has absolutely nothing to do with what he does with his solo albums.

[TheWuSepticTank]

What albums are you talking about? OB4CL2? That had some hard beats on it. SvW? That was more like a classic Wu album than 8D or ABT? His mixtapes...they're mixtapes.

Rae's albums aren't Wu-tang Clan albums. They are Raekwon albums. OB4CL was the only solo album where he had a big Wu producer showing. Other than that, he's never used them much, so the people making this argument are being silly. Him wanting to keep the Wu albums more true to the Wu roots has absolutely nothing to do with what he does with his solo albums.

OB4CL2 about half that album truly sounded Wu. It was definitely the closest to having the vibe. SvW had about 4 joints that sounded Wu (especially the Silver Rings joint and Bronze produced track) the rest is generic imitation. And yes it definitely has alot to do with his solo shit, because the solo albums have always been considered chapters of the Wu saga, so it should definitely reflect in his solo work. Especially when he put Wu-Tang in the title, it should definitely sound 100% Wu. He's never been big on using Wu - Elements, this is true and very evident when you hear how boring that shit is. Reason why OB4CL2 worked beat wise, was because it strived to have a Wu vibe throughout.

[TheWuSepticTank]

Word, or even an album with production from nothing but those guys. There's enough dope Wu fam producers to get that old sound but they don't get on it.

There's probably creative differences between them on Rae's projects but it doesn't look like the sense of Rae trying to bring back 90's Wu and RZA going in a different direction because Rae's solos don't reflect that.

It kinda leads me to believe that they rather have their own sound (especially Rae), which I find silly seeing as how they wouldn't exist without Wu. And usually the result often sounds like a generic Wu imitation of beats, so I don't get it. They have the best in house producers in the game, and they're criminally underused.

[The Hound]

SvW was classic Wu sound lmao I love this website

I don't know if Rae ever said he wants to bring the Wu sound back I'm just going by somebody in this thread that said that and besides the OB4CL classic that RZA made for him Rae if anything has gone the opposite to the Wu sound

You can't claim "Wu sound" for a clan album if you're releasing gay R&B songs and working on a "grown man" commercial album smh

It kinda leads me to believe that they rather have their own sound (especially Rae), which I find silly seeing as how they wouldn't exist without Wu. And usually the result often sounds like a generic Wu imitation of beats, so I don't get it. They have the best in house producers in the game, and they're criminally underused.

How some of them could release a classic album each with RZA and then basically kick him out on future releases and go in their own direction is beyond me. None of them released an LP without RZA input that is comparable to their RZA produced classics, even SC at least had about half the album produced by RZA

[SL33]

Raekwon doesn't have fans outside of original Wu fanbase and yet he's trying too hard with corny wider audience-oriented joints like Rock and Roll.


But let's get back to the album.

[rainbow]

meh, i don't know why you guys are debating rae beats selection or business acumen.... he can't rap anymore....

[Pattch82]

I really don't know what to think of this album... There's something not quite right and I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's making me struggle to listen to it. There's waaay too much going on in a lot of the beats. What happened to just keeping shit raw and simple? Simplicity was probably the key to a lot of the older Wu shit... samples, loop it, drums, etc...

Right now, I'd take 8 Diagrams over this album. 8D had way more Wu sounding bangers than this... Campfire, Take It Back, Rushing Elephants, Wolves, Gun Will Go, Windmill, Weak Spot...

There's not a lot of joints on here that can touch those tracks. Maybe Necklace, Crushed Egos and one or two others. Pioneer The Frontier could have been ill, but there's so much going on with the beat and sound effects that it totally distracts from the MC's tryna spit over it. Same with a few of the other tracks, the beat is so all over the place that it's off putting.

And people saying this is better than The W...?!!!! I don't know what the fuck you guys are listening to. The W is a fuckin masterpiece... dark, atmospheric, WU-SOUNDING!!

I don't know... maybe this shit will grow on me, but right now shit is just not right.



Peace!

[josborne3680]

Got my physical CD on Friday. First thoughts, "Felt" is f#ckin' incredible. Masta Killa is on fire throughout the album. Woulda like more RZA rhymes. This is definitely a grown-up hip hop album that only Wu would attempt and not everybody will accept that. Of course there is a couple eh tracks (mine are 40th Street and Reunion) but I will always appreciate that Clan albums always stray away from the sound of hip-hop at the time of the release. N this couldnt come at a better time for hip hop, my wife told me that Iggy chick just won a best rap album award the other day. Wu-Tang Forever fellas, wake up and accept you are not getting "CREAM" beats anymore. Peace and enjoy this if you can.

[josborne3680]

I just saw Patch's post after I posted mine. I think we kinda have to look aw Wu albums as separate entities. Believe Ringz said this in other thread. Cant compare this to 8D or W. Each is its own movie. Thats my opinion. Peace

[Pattch82]

I just saw Patch's post after I posted mine. I think we kinda have to look aw Wu albums as separate entities. Believe Ringz said this in other thread. Cant compare this to 8D or W. Each is its own movie. Thats my opinion. Peace

I hear what you're saying fam but it's hard not to compare this to previous albums.

It's the same when any artist or band tries something new, you're gunna alienate your original fan base.

When Bob Dylan first started out he was a folk singer, singing folk and protest songs on acoustic guitar with a bit of harmonica. Then a few years later, he went electric and his original fan base totally turned on him. It wasn't because the new stuff he was doing was wack, it's because it wasn't what they wanted from Bob Dylan.

And it's the same with Wu... this album isn't necessarily bad, it's just not what the original fan base is looking for in a Clan album. There are some good tracks on here but on the whole it feels over produced, too much happening in almost every track and it detracts from the track rather than adds to it.

Again, I'd take The W over this any day and also 8 Diagrams. Meth and U-God on Wolves alone shits all over anything on this album.


Peace!

[Antonelli]

I really don't know what to think of this album... There's something not quite right and I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's making me struggle to listen to it. There's waaay too much going on in a lot of the beats. What happened to just keeping shit raw and simple? Simplicity was probably the key to a lot of the older Wu shit... samples, loop it, drums, etc...

Right now, I'd take 8 Diagrams over this album. 8D had way more Wu sounding bangers than this... Campfire, Take It Back, Rushing Elephants, Wolves, Gun Will Go, Windmill, Weak Spot...

There's not a lot of joints on here that can touch those tracks. Maybe Necklace, Crushed Egos and one or two others. Pioneer The Frontier could have been ill, but there's so much going on with the beat and sound effects that it totally distracts from the MC's tryna spit over it. Same with a few of the other tracks, the beat is so all over the place that it's off putting.

And people saying this is better than The W...?!!!! I don't know what the fuck you guys are listening to. The W is a fuckin masterpiece... dark, atmospheric, WU-SOUNDING!!

I don't know... maybe this shit will grow on me, but right now shit is just not right.



Peace!

This.
I don't like 8 diagrams but it's better than this one.

[BigSchnikkel]

People seem to forget that RZA is not a hiphop producer anymore. He's a music composer. He knows music notes.

A Better Tomorrow is a turd

[Makadocious]

the album lacks RZA verses, and there's no Killah Priest.
like Cappadonna on most of tracks KP should be there too.

good album with some highlights, but i became aware of the Wu as a group when i heard 8 Diagrams. b4 that i didnt knw Dirty, Mef & Ghost were part of it. a mixture of 8D & ABT this album wouldve been Greatness

[PatHavican]

I think a lot Wu fans are worse than classic rock fans. They don't want anything new. They don't want to see artists grow and change. Hip hop will die if folks keep thinking 90's shit is the end all of awesomeness.
Yes, the 90's were rad. But, no one want's to see an artist just playing their greatest hits while older. If the Wu were making records similar to their 90's stuff, people would still hate on them, because they wouldn't be as good. The Wu aren't the same folks they were in the 90's. Trying to replicate that makes them look shitty, and the fan base shitty for wanting that.
Folks complaining that shit doesn't sound cohesive are full of shit. This is the first record they've made where more than a track or two have people rhyme with the same idea. instead of just random shit. It's kinda sad that it's taken so long.
If you're not feeling this album, that's cool, but maybe you should take a look and see if you actually like music, as opposed to liking a song or two, and just want to hear stuff just like that.

[BigSchnikkel]

I think a lot Wu fans are worse than classic rock fans. They don't want anything new. They don't want to see artists grow and change. Hip hop will die if folks keep thinking 90's shit is the end all of awesomeness.
Yes, the 90's were rad. But, no one want's to see an artist just playing their greatest hits while older. If the Wu were making records similar to their 90's stuff, people would still hate on them, because they wouldn't be as good. The Wu aren't the same folks they were in the 90's. Trying to replicate that makes them look shitty, and the fan base shitty for wanting that.
Folks complaining that shit doesn't sound cohesive are full of shit. This is the first record they've made where more than a track or two have people rhyme with the same idea. instead of just random shit. It's kinda sad that it's taken so long.
If you're not feeling this album, that's cool, but maybe you should take a look and see if you actually like music, as opposed to liking a song or two, and just want to hear stuff just like that.

What the hell are you talking about? It's not about new or old, you dumb fuck. It's about better music. There are tons of artists who do great things with live instrumentation and singers, RZA is not one of them. It's corny and gimmicky.

And if you don't like this album, you don't like music? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA KILL YOURSELF PLZ