"8 Diagrams" is aging well

[Kanha]

A lot of people hated madly on this album, I was fine with it at the time.. Maybe it was for the love, I don't know..
But bumping this album, it's actually good, there's a couple of stuff that could've been better, BUT, shit is banging,
there's a handful of really good songs mixing old and new wu elements. Never understood why people hated on this..

A better tomorrow tho, I think there's no wu album I listened to less..

[soob]

True! A Better Tomorrow had maybe two decent tracks. I'm not saying it was terrible but 8 Diagrams is way better. It still has the Wu feel. I wish I had more of the feeling but it's still listenable

[Kanha]

"Campfire" gave me the chills yo, the sample, the beat, meth and ghosts verses, everything..

"Get em out the way paa" would've fit Meth And Red better. Meth killed it btw. Maybe even a verse from Rae was needed. That hook was a filler hook by the way, it was meh..

"Unpredictable", the sample and the drum loop is excellent. But why are the hi-hats so loud? why are the guitars so loud? I understand the vision RZA has for the experimental, but the mix ruined it all. It was all over the place and we lost focus from Inspectah who had a great verse. And WHY the hell wasn't GZA on this one? He would've sound badass over this beat, rather see him do this song than "starter", not that his verse was bad, but yeah..

"Wolves", it's a shame we lost that 80's disco sample in the verses, this song would've been flawless. U-God got that 80's vibe for sure, remember that snippet we heard before the release? epic

"Gun will go", Epic wu, fantastic Raekwon verse, Meth killed this, had the goosebumps when Meth came in over that classic Wu-killa beez era bassline. The chorus was meh, this song would've been a classic if RZA put Anthony Hamilton on the chorus, or someone else with a mature voice.

"Stick me to my riches", fantastic, Wu beat on different BPM, but WHAT THE FUCK was that Deck verse? horrible, once again, a song was ruined..

"Starter", Streetlife classic verse, but he should've been accompanied by Meth and Cappa or something, and yeah probably keep U-god too..

"Windmill", classic classic. no discussion

"weak spot", fucking classic. no discussion


To me, it seems Wu actually had a great album, but the executive producer made a lot of mistakes that brought the album down. I guess RZA didn't have the energy, but this album could've been better than "The W" and "Iron Flag".

[ShaDynasty]

8 Diagrams is dope. Now the dust has settled its my 3rd favorite Clan LP. I understand that many people don't like the more leftfield or subtle productions but to me thats what makes the album great. 36 Chambers and Forever were totally original but very different albums, then The W and Iron Flag went back to a similar style to 36 Chambers. 8 Diagrams was RZA pushing Wu forward again musically. Although it builds off previous Wu production styles, its still totally different.

RZA created a whole new chamber for this album. Its something like dark psychedelic trip hop. And the Clan sounded great in these trippy, creepy soundscapes. Ghostface and GZA especially have some fantastic verses, and Meth and U-God do a great job; they're on most of the songs.

The Afro Samurai OSTs are both good companion pieces to this with their lush instrumentation and cinematic depth.

I think RZA really had his producer hat on here. ABT had some dope songs but many songs felt lazy and/or forced both with RZAs production and the Clans lyrics.

[TSA]

it's not, at all. The only way someone can like this album is they're in an 'I only listen to wutang post The W' thought and sound vacuum. This is not only a horrible album, but bad music in general. The beats are flat, redundant, uninspired, amateur and marginally rhythmic, the mixing is inconsistent, there isn't a single memorable verse on the entire album other than Ghost on 'Heart Gently Weeps'. Top it off, many of the contributions are outright wack and embarrassing. It sounds like a fan compilation with verses from different song and beats they think sound 'wutangy'. Everything on the album was flat and weak.

If there was someone that was just getting into wutang and asked you to recommend an album, you know damn well you would say this one. Horrible attempt, very embarrassing for the group. They don't understand that there's a whole generation of people that keep hearing about them as the example of what hip-hop should be. Then they see 'there's a wutang album out', they check for it and get ABT and this shit. They can then, very comfortably, turn around and say 'this shit is boring/this shit is weak/the beats are bad' and connotate 'good hip hop' with this shit.

just listen to that. wutang
is boring
is weak
and has bad beats

These are literally the total opposite of what the group is actually 'known' for, or should be known for. Good hip hop in their mind is low key lame and they continue with their trash because it at least has rhythm. If there were 3 things you couldn't say about wutang those were it. And now here we are, they're completely valid and real to even die-hard wutang fans that constantly have to keep saying 'not those albums, these albums' when talking about a group that now has more wack albums than they have good ones for no reason other than Rza wanting to be Russel Crowe's lackey.

[ShaDynasty]

I get what you're saying, and we've argued this point before. Its certainly an aquired taste, and if you don't like RZA subverting the idea of what a "Hip Hop beat" should sound like then thats that. I think the music is great here, but its a slow burn and the way the beats shift and flow is very subtle. In contrast on The W, the beats are chunky and the raps are in your face and hook filled. I think RZA was trying to do something completely different from that sonically, and he succeeded.

Its taken a long time for me to decide that I really like this album. The weirdness of it kept me revisiting it over the years even when I didn't really like it. I don't know, its hypnotic somehow and I like the vibe and all the little musical details.

[JZA/Jordon]

8D is probably my #3 favorite Wu album to be honest

[ForensikZ]

8 d is a solid to great album and if it had a few changes id venture to call it a classic wu album for wu fans

Had unpredictable not had dexter wiggles or that gtr. Dope track
Had wolves had its original sample thats a classic track
Couple songs like weakspot starter n rushing elephants have boring beats to me

But

Campfire (might be best rza beat in ten years)
Origibal wolves (fly as fuck)
Stick me 4 my riches (people bitched sooooo hard about all that singing like they never heard daytona 500 before)
Gun will go (best wu song/beats/rhymes in last ten years)
Heart gently weeps (unfairly hated on)
Sunlight (a real gem)
Watch your mouth (shouldnt have been cut)
Take it back (old school but good cut)
Life changes (idc what anyon says. Great song/beat BUT IT SHOULD BE 2 verse HOOK 2 verse hook, the repeating long hook makes it too much)
Tar pit nice lil fun song with a great rza beat
Windmill just dope overall. Not the best track but a fun song

Yea 8d will always have a special place in my heart. Rza made some weird choices and some seauencing mistakes but i thought it was a GREAT WUUUUU record. Which abt wasnt at all. This album was dark whioe abt was light as fuck.

Ill take another 8d type record in a heartbeat over some shit everyone else doing that the clan thinks is better than rza. Ther are mistakes in auite a few songs but oveRall this is as solid a wu album as we was gon get and the haters of it are the ones who let others opinions change theres. This album never had a chance with rae n ghost shitting on ot.

Ghost said he never even listenied to it and yet called abt 4.5 mics and best album since forever. So im not exactly taking ghosts opinion on this album with real concern.

8d is the album that shows whos a casual wu fan and who actually a wu fan cuz anyon with an iq over 70 can hear the wu sound allover this record. Campfire and gun will go alone are the darkest wu songs since LS.

[SL33]

"Stick me to my riches", fantastic, Wu beat on different BPM, but WHAT THE FUCK was that Deck verse? horrible, once again, a song was ruined..

Hi hats of that type and BPM were all over the place during that era and RZA was quick to follow that trend. Deck's ''southern flow'' was awful.


Anyway, there were few nice cuts on that album, and i still listen it from time to time, but overall, I think that album is mediocre at best.

[josborne3680]

Always liked it n still do. I have it at number 3 as well. If u don't like tracks like Campfire, Wolves or Windmill then get the f#ck off this site. Hahahah. Peace

[noel411]

I've always loved it. I've said it before, but I actually listen to 8d, iron flag, n the w a lot more than 36 n forever, even tho 36 n forever r obviously far superior albums.

Abt was a drag.

[Rame]

This thread almost has me revisit the album but I know it still sucks.

[Frank Drebin]

Sunlight is actually my favorite track on the album.

[Frank Drebin]

I've always loved it. I've said it before, but I actually listen to 8d, iron flag, n the w a lot more than 36 n forever, even tho 36 n forever r obviously far superior albums.

Abt was a drag.

Agree forever is hard to listen to nowadays but I never really rated it that high anyway. The solo albums outweighs the groups albums by far imo

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

I've always loved it. I've said it before, but I actually listen to 8d, iron flag, n the w a lot more than 36 n forever, even tho 36 n forever r obviously far superior albums.

Abt was a drag.

i feel the same way i've always like 8 diagrams and i was bumping that album on the way to work