Killa Beez "The Sting" 15 years on...

**claaa7** · 11-03-2017, 03:42 PM

it's funny every time a few good new Wu releases drop (it's dope how they often manage to drop a few quite close to each other) i usually get caught up in a minor Wu renaissance vibe. tonight i threw on an album from 2002 - the often dismissed follow-up Killa Beez' "The Swarm". the former album is full of classic material and introduced us to a lot of dope cats along with some major tracks from the generals. "The Sting" lacked that sort of coherence, despite being 75% produced by The RZA, but the fact was that some of these tracks and emcees just weren't very good... still there's some certified bangers on here that i think would've been remembered in a better light had they surfaced on an LP with a better reputation. RZA's been pretty damn weird as a producer since 2001, he can go from pumping out gritty classics to tinker bell beats within the same album.

i guess the one track most remember and cherish from this album is the first single which was "Killa Beez". very solid opening after a nice intro with a nice beat. there's more dopeness to find here tho - Lord Superb and Solomon Childs murked all of their features on this joint though.. between "Take Up Space" and "Out Think Me Now" i think Solomon and all his features on Bobby's and Ghost's albums SC could've had a slamming LP out around this time.

"Dancing With Wolves" is not only the best song on the album but for real one of the best Killarmy joints around and that's saying a lot.. fuck pretty much the entire crew turned up for this and Prodigal Sunn is on the extended hook. this is the 4th Disciple i love!

"K.B. Ridin'" was a heavy closer too.. Ghostface over the 'Soul Controller' flip - ILL!

anyone revisited this in many years?

**claaa7** · 11-03-2017, 03:47 PM

wtf was this though.. this is really the type of RZA beat i hate

**ForensikZ** · 11-03-2017, 04:17 PM

yea i put this on a few weeks back myself and there a buncha tracks i was feeling on here still

killa beez - great 2000 era wu. rza with a dope beat
kb ridin - love this joint nuff said. rza dropping ironman flips
dancing with wolves (fun fact, this was advertised as being on ghost dog soundtrack but when it dropped it wasnt there. glad i found it here). produced by 4th.. one of killarmys better songs imo
get at me - i love this song. felt it coulda been a really good single for this. 12 o clock/p sunn, shyheim n black knights had a perfect radio hit right here. of course it wasnt pushed AT ALL like typical wu commercial joints they make but never put as singles...prod by some guy f1.. i love this joint for real and made NO SENSE that do rae wu was the second single instead of this after killa bees
bluntz martinis girls and gunz - great joint all around.rza killed beat
takin up space - superb and solomon ... my two fav 2000 era 2nd gen wu killa beez. love this beat. rza dropped some gems on this album
spend money - another dope rza beat/song
out think me now - solomon on another simple but effective rza beat.
do rae wu - ...idk what to think of this track. its childish but thats odb right? cool beat by john the baptist with good energy. not my fav of the best songs but def dope imo
spit that g - i always liked this shit... raw sounds like he just cuttin it up on a record player. sounds like it was made with teh replicator like stroke of death and good thingw e brought the glock. i like every rapper on this and even the hook
woodchuck - one of the doper beats but it gets turned off before cilvaringz. warcloud and timbo rip it but it gets shut off after meko spits.
gat - like how the beat switches and christbearer/northstar start it off. the rappers actually push the song to good status or else id say beat was kinda eh but they set it off correct.

wack/no replaywhatsoever

bar mitvah - always hated this shit. some early black knights shit is unbearable
rollin - fucking black knights... rza with his knockoff west coast shit. beat boring as fuck. sounds like he made it in 5 mins. dropped some drums and a repeating key and wack hook synth. his verse is dope tho.. id keep it for that alone. just a lazy beat and has no replay potential.
hatin do pay - wannabe commercial shit. i mean its ok but i dont replay it much
when you come home - wack beat rza gave to shy here... hurt my heart cuz i wanted shy to win but beats liek this did NOT help

the bonus disk is all dope too except for billy

some wack shit tho but it was to me a 3,3.5 mic album filled with cuts by underrated mcs like solomon, perb and holocaust. it had some dope joints for sure but the trash is really trash

**rzatrax** · 11-03-2017, 04:26 PM

i revisit this LP once in a while. Fav tracks are -
Solomon Childs-Out Think Me Now
Warcloud - Bluntz, Martinez, Girlz, & Guns
Killarmy -Dancing With Wolves
Lord Superb - Spend Money
Lord Superb - Take Up Space
Cappadonna, Solomon Childs, Prodigal Sunn, Timbo King, Suga Bang Bang -Spit That G

**hiphopjunky** · 11-03-2017, 06:56 PM

when this first dropped i was not feeling it after like the very first listen (probably because I was expecting another Swarm) . then I realized this was really good. I have not listened to the entire album in a very long time...but it's a banger. Warcloud was still ill as Fuck.going to listen to this again soon now.

**Rev Jones** · 11-03-2017, 07:00 PM

The swarm is CLASSIC to me. The Sting not so much. Woodchuck is my fav beat on there

**Hollow Dartz** · 11-03-2017, 07:04 PM

I'm still trying to figure out the recording process of Dancing With Wolves. 9th Prince disses Killa Sin and then Sin comes on right after lol. Also Sin uses that same verse on the Cilvaringz album "I".

**josborne3680** · 11-03-2017, 08:11 PM

Hatin Don't Pay and Bar Mitzah never got a second listen from me.Tracks like this make you wonder wtf these guys were thinking. I kinda like the Shyheim solo. I liked this album a lot. Bonus disc too. Gotta go back to it. Been a minute. Peace

**SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS** · 11-03-2017, 08:30 PM

i used to listen to this album allot when it dropped and i still do it has allot of bobby digital sound in it

**laki420** · 11-04-2017, 01:37 AM

Spit that G is my favorite from the Sting. That beat is just maaaad dope. I don't get the hate on Shy track, i think it's dope too. All in all I think this album is banger and I listen to it quite often still. I don't have any bonus shit on my version, so don't know what's up with that.

Bar mitzvah is something I don't understand either.

**soren** · 11-04-2017, 02:50 AM

I think it's a dope compilation. There is a couple of misses but captures the WU sound perfect for that period! Dancing With Wolves is the best track but weird the 9th Prince/Killa Sin thing?
I love that Shyheim solo track! Super dope beat from RZA!!

**Pattch82** · 11-04-2017, 06:32 PM

This was a good compilation, I had a quick listen to it today. There's a couple of duds, Bar Mitzvah and Hatin' Don't Pay mainly. Some classic tracks too... Dancing With Wolves, Woodchuck, Spit That G, KB Ridin', G.A.T.

The thing that annoys me about compilations like this is RZA surely had some of these beats in the stash for a while, he couldn't have used some of these on Iron Flag instead of some of the hot garbage that ended up on there???

Just imagine the generals spitting over joints like Out Think Me Now, G.A.T or Woodchuck. Shit would have been ill!!

I always thought the same about Ghost Dog and The W too.

But back to The Sting... it was a good compilation. The 2CD version is dope. I love Thirsty and Digi Electronics.

Peace!