The Rza Presents - Afro Samurai Resurrection

[Hollow Dartz]

First review of 09'

1. Combat ( Rza Featuring P.Dot)
This is a pretty dope intro by Rza. This is better than the first intro without a doubt. P.Dot on the hook is a definite plus on this one. The beat is rugged which fits with the theme of the movie which I find pretty nice. I think Rza is starting to get better with the new sounds he's using on his recent material. Overall a pretty good track 3.5/5

2. You Already Know (Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck & Suga Bang Bang)
This is a pretty good beat. The claps add that extra "umph" to the beat. I like how Rza did this one. Good to hear Kool G rap on the mic, he proves that he still can come solid on the mic. The hook is kind of suspect, Suga usually does not sound like this. Rza probably told him to go in on this one. Sadly Inspectah Deck doesn't come as hard as any of you Wu-Fans thought he would. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't all that great either. My favorite line from him in this one was the closing line. 4/5

3.Blood Thicker Than Mud (Reverend William Burk)
This guy needs a solo album, I hope Rza doesn't let this guys talent go to waste just doing guest features. I'm loving the beat on this one. Rev. Burke is definitely sharp on this one. This song sounds even better when you are watching the film. 4/5

4.Whar (Ghostface Killah Featuring Kool G rap, Rza & Tash Mohagany)
I like the fact that Rza reloops our favorite Killa Bee shoutout intros but that's about it. I feel bored when listening to this track. On top of that everyone came OK on the mic. Kool G is solid, but I wa expecting Ghostface Kilah to steal the show but he just came ok on here as well. The R&B Hook is pretty good for once. Rza is ok on here. I was kind of let down by this all star line up. 3.5/5

5.Girl Samurai Lullaby (Rah Digga Featuring Stone Mecca)
This is another one of the joints that sounds better when you hear it in the film. Rah Digga definitely brings it on this one no doubt, but if your trying just to sit and listen your ready to turn this one off. Beat is pretty smooth and if you listen she does a good job portraying SIO. 3.5/5

6.Fight For You (Thea)
I can't get through this track at all, Thea is just not good in my books. I hate when this track comes on in the film, it just kills my vibe. Nothing else to say. 2/5

7.Bitch Gonna Get Ya (Rah Digga)
This is a nice beat by Rza, sounds like a mixture between grimey and clean music. Rah Digga comes harder on this track than on her previous track. She has alot of lines in this one aswell. Pretty solid. 4/5

8.Bloody Days Bloody Nights (Prodigal Sunn Featuring Thea)
I'm not really into this one like that. I'm feeling Prodigal Sunn on here, he goes in with the storyline well. Thea is on the track which is already a -1 in my book. The music is ok, nothing too great, I can't really describe what this one sounds like. The song is only 1 min. and some change anyways. 3.5/5

9.Kill Kill Kill (Rugged Monk)
The "Kill Kill Kill" sounds weak on this track. I think they could've came up with a better hook on this one. Besides that, the beat is pretty good when it drops, I'm feeling the bass on it alot. I also have to give credit to Monk, he actually raps about a different topic for once. Every time I hear a verse from him they all sound the same. With this one he goes in on here You can picture Afro on his verse very clear. 3.5/5

10.Nappy Afro (Boy Jones)
This doesn't even sound like a Hip-Hop beat IMO. It was still pretty good though (The Beat). Boy Jones sounds wack as hell on the mic, his lyrics are all over the place, it sounds like he took lines from 8 different verses and just mixed them up. I'm not feeling this one. 2/5

11.Bloody Samurai (Black Knights, Dexter Wiggles & Thea)
This beat is undeniably hot. Rza definitely came through with a nice looped beat, Proving he still has some gems left around. Thea is on the track which just kills the vibe on the track. She really needs to go somewhere. Crisis opens this joint up real nice, He has the best verse on this whole track. Monk raps about the same shit again, but it sounds good over a beat like this so I won't even complain. Dexter Wiggles needs to step away from the mic aswell as Rza projects. His verse was definitely not needed on this joint. Besides all of that this is a banger. 4/5

12.Dead Birds (Killah Priest Featuring Prodigal Sunn & Shavo)
I wasn't feeling this track at all, but I heard this during the fight scene with Afro and those 3 bad guys and it sounded REAL good. I gave this track another try, Priest is definitely great on here and P-Sunn adds that extra flavor on here. Shavo came through on here with that Guitar that shit sounds raw and just hypes up this track more. I'm glad I gave this track another shot. 4/5

13.Arch Nemesis (Ace & Moe Roc)
This beat is real nice and grimey, well not really grimey but it has a nice feel to it. The sound effects on this beat are pretty hot too. Never heard of Ace & Moe Roc until now, but the definitely did their thing on this track. This is a standout for me. This is one of my favorites on this whole album, the next track they did was hot too. 4/5

14.Brother's Keeper (Rza Featuring Reverend William Burk & Infinite)
This is another one of the tracks that sounds better in the film. We all know Rev. Burke delivers on this one, Rza wasn't all that great on here though. I'm feeling the hook on here though, great job on that part. This is a real track though, I feel this one, it really sounds great during the scene it used in. 3.5/5

15.Yellow Jackets (Ace & Moe Roc)
I'm definitely feeling this joint right here, these guys are pretty good. The beat is pretty good and smooth enough to spit on, that Beez sound in the back is pretty dope too. They go in on this one, I hope to hear more from these guys on future Rza projects. 4/5

16.Take the Sword Pt. 3 (Rza Featuring 60 Second Assassin, ChristBearer, Crisis, Kinetic, Leggezin, Reverend William Burk, Rugged Monk & Tré Irie)
This a nice beat for 10 minutes, that was the only thing I was worried about. I blast this when lifting weights alot lol. 60 Sec. Assassin sounds pretty good on here, I hope he delivers even better on his first solo LP. I think the second guy is Leggezin??? I don't even know what this nigga is spitting on the mic...........Crisis is cool on here, Monk is rapping about the same thing lol. Christ Bearer sounds real different on this joint right here, I could only tell who he was by his style on here pretty dope though, Beretta 9 gets better everytime I hear him on the mic, Tre Irie was ok nothing really to special, Rza was pretty cool on here too. Overall This is pretty solid for a 10 Min. Cut. 4/5

17.Number One Samurai (Rza Featuring 9th Prince)
Same beat found on The P-Sunn album, but we all knew that already. Anyways, I'm feeling this one right here, the hook could've been better though. More importantly I was antcipiating 9th Prince verse lol, He still kind of Rusty but he came nice on here, he sounds rugged on this "Spit on the cross, choke the reverend, fuck it I'mma kill the priest" LOL he came nice on this joint. 3.5/5

Pros: I think Rza is really starting to develop his new style even more, the beats still aren't all that great but you can tell he's improving I'll give him that. The Mc's that are featured on this project really bring energy for the most part. I'm gonna give the MVP to Ace & Moe Roc for their hot tracks.

Cons: Thea, some beats are boring on here, some beats just sound good on the film. Most importantly there isn't that many standout joints on here. Rza needs to work on that.

Lyrics : 4/5
Beats : 3.5/5
Overall : 3.5/5

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

You know when you hear about soundtracks and couple that with Hip Hop it usually comes out discombobulated and very disjointed. Now take that statement and pair that with the supreme job RZA did with the original Afro Samurai soundtrack plus his past work on Ghost Dog Soundtrack, thus you get the rare sheer listenable attempt at full composed, sampled up album. As with any soundtrack it has it’s flaws but this version of the Afro Samurai soundtrack aptly titled the same as the new sequel movie, comes off as the typical rap album and doesn’t had the tidbits of the score within in it as it predecessor none the less the album starts off wit a bang with “Combat” and rolls right into another banger that “You Already Know” (features Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck & Suga Bang Bang) that shows Deck and G Rap sparing back and forth with intense skills and the hook lasted by Suga Bang Bang doesn’t really disappoint and actually fleshes out the track well.

Once you get to joints like “Whar” (featuring Kool G Rap, Ghostface Killah, RZA and Tash Mahogany), “Blood Thicker than Water” (featuring Reverend William Burk), Bloody Samurai (featuring Black Knights, Dexter Wiggles & Thea) and the epically long 10 mins of a song that is “Take the Sword Pt. 3” (Rza Featuring 60 Second Assassin, ChristBearer, Crisis, Kinetic, Leggezin, Reverend William Burk, Rugged Monk & Tré Irie) in that is the tracks get the strongest replay values because they bang hard and rather RZA’s new production techniques such as synth, strings, guitar implementation and hard body 808 drums and the varied sound effects really show and prove dude still got it. Much can be said for the way the layering of the beats are they go from thick layered drums such as “Bloody Samurai” and “Yellow Jackets” to the simplicity of “Nappy Afro” that comes off way too electronic sounding and glitch hop based. Now there is nothing wrong wit simple sound tracks as long as the artists bring their “paint” to the table so that both they and RZA can paint a beautiful picture.

For me as a avid listener of music and a fan of the Razz’s work the complaint for me comes off the way he’s making beats and I understand sampling cost economically can hamper allot of projects but I miss the grimy grungy hard knock deeply constructed tracks RZA used to do back in the day. Not these “Digi” influenced oft kilter sometimes boring tracks such as “Bloody Days Bloody Nights” (Prodigal Sunn Featuring Thea) and others like it that really do enhance the expierence for the listener or even make it worth wild listening too. Overall I’m going to give this an honest 3 out of 5 stars for the fact it has a “Ying and a Yang” type of feeling about where the songs were great yet the other half of the songs were hmm… and doesn’t do anything for the listener. Hopefully better luck next time RZA does an experiment it doesn’t have any bugs in it still.


Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

[claaa7]

^^ Good reviews Hollow and Sheepish, at first listen I thought the album was like 5/10 tops but I been spinning it more recently and I gotta say it sounds alot better now. many of the songs work better in headphones (just like 8 Diagrams), it's not a bump-in-the-whip album really (except for "Whar").

i'll give it a 7/10 now tops.. could been alot better but still a decent job from RZA.

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

^^ Good reviews Hollow and Sheepish, at first listen I thought the album was like 5/10 tops but I been spinning it more recently and I gotta say it sounds alot better now. many of the songs work better in headphones (just like 8 Diagrams), it's not a bump-in-the-whip album really (except for "Whar").

i'll give it a 7/10 now tops.. could been alot better but still a decent job from RZA.

i feel like this album is a spiritual type of album because of the vibe it gives off from horrid to mellow mood it gives off. it's kind of looking into a cracked mirror, that's what this album reminds me off still bumpable especially "Whar" which i think i've listen too 47 times on my ipod, damn you ghost for killing it hahahahahaha

[claaa7]

^^ yeah i was thinking the same thing man, "Whar" is a classic Wu-banger and so is "You Already Know" and "Bloody Samurai" plus that last song with the Grindz beat.. teh album is definitely growing on each spin, gotta go cop this soon.

[New Hills 36]

Good reviews up above. I think it's much better than Digi Snax and a good progression for the new RZA sound. I really like Dead Birds and hope the Achozen album makes it. (Immaculate by Achozen is another Banger imo)

[Kutman]

3.4/5 - damn, RZA

[Jammin]

good review hollow

[Illmatic Hispanic]

4/5 its decent.. has several standouts.. fukn Rza should of spit on dat " Girl Samurai Lullaby" would of been alot more ill, Feelin that beat alot...

[DThayer36]

this is a great cd....have had it since it came out and im still spinnin it

[claaa7]

i've put my favorites from here together with the 6-7 rap tracks from the first "Afro Samurai" soundtrack a while back for my iPod and that way it becomes a damn good album actually. 'Resurrection' suffers from filler material, too much Thea and doesn't flow too well as an album imo. with that being said i still found 10 songs that i really like.

"Combat", "You Never Know", "Whar", "Girl Samurai Lullaby", "Bloody Samurai", "Dead Birds", "Arch Nemesis", "Yellow Jackets", "Take Sword Pt.3" and "Number 1 Samurai" are banging tracks imo. some of these didn't sound all that crazy at first but they have grewn alot on me and all of them are album worthy - the rest 7 songs not so much.