RZA - Birth Of A Prince

[Jinemon]

Recorded between june & september 2003 and announced only one month before its release, this album seems to be the begin of a new era ; the label has changed and it's especially the first album under the name "RZA". Then, it's the first time for a Wu album that the lyrics are in the booklet, what it could be interpreted like a wish of transmission, of understand. Finally, the thanks are like a testament : he thanks Dr. Dre, Source XXL, and a strange "Sifu Shi Yam Ming" for "revealing the matrial practice to my mental principles"... (there's "the cure coming soon" too lol)
At the beginning of the album, you know what's the deal.

A soul voice give a good energy, the birth of the prince will be related. But it's not now, because RZA doesn't killed his alter-ego Bobby, who come here to put fire on "Bob n'I", produced by José "choco" Reynoso (the well known yeaaah).
Two tracks are dispensable : "Fast Cars" & "Drink Smoke & Fuck", where Ghostface is not as his best... RZA experiments westcoast sound on "We pop" with ODB. Song is good, but it's not the good CD for it. You can feel a Timbaland influence on "You'll Never know", which is a real hip hop song. There's some surprises like a Sega sound on "The Drop Off", where a girl is screaming of pleasure.... He jumps on each words, this is a fucking great technic !!

The streets are here too : tire screeching, helico, subway, klaxons, cop sirens, uzis....
Chi Kung & Koto Chotan are the two tracks that are directly inspired from martial arts. Thats the biggest successes of the album

The album is very bewitching (yeah i don't know if that word exists but i'm french lol) and the top is reached on "A day to God is 1.000 years", produced by the great Bronze Nazareth "I wanna stay with you forever..." Here, the lyrics are the best since "Sunshower" or "Twelve Jewelz" ; the conclusion : "Trust me, son, it’s dear in between your ears, a day to God is a thousand years. Men walk around with a thousand fears. The truest joy of love bring a thousand tears. In the world of desire there’s a thousand snares"... RZA succeed in forgetting of Bobby Digital, and the album is closed on two songs which are far above the most actuals rap songs : "The Birth" and "See The Joy".

AND THERE IS THE VERSE : "Don’t call me Bobby no more, man. My name is Prince Rakeem". yeaaaaaah that's what we want a new RZA album, not a Digital one.

1 Bob N'I
2 The Grunge
3 We Pop / Hood Rats ft. Ol' Dirty Bastard, Division & Madam Scheez
4 Grits ft. Masta Killa
5 Fast Cars ft. Ghostface Killah
6 Chi Kung ft. Beretta 9, Cilvaringz & Featherz
7 You'll Never Know ft. Cilvaringz
8 Drink, Smoke & Fuck
9 The Whistle ft. Prodigal Sunn & Masta Killa
10 Drop Off ft. Division
11 Wherever I go ft. Division
12 Koto Chotan ft. Masta Killa & Madam Scheez
13 A Day To God is a 1000 Years
14 Cherry Range ft. Beretta 9
15 The Birth
16 See The Joy

9/10

[Frank Drebin]

Good album for me but not his best. The Bobby Digital's I really felt more than this. But anything Rza do is better than most. Love "We Pop" "Dropoff" really dope songs. Its a good album just missing that little something that the bobby digitals had.

[WU-KILLAH]

Average album ... which is the worst thing that could happen to a RZA album ... I would have even prefered an horrible album cause then you can say the guy try to experiment something and that maybe it will grow on you ... disappointing .

Some tracks are good though :
The trumpets in fast cars are like those in 7th chamber pt2, I like this track (4/5)

Grits was a good surprise but is pretty boring after more than 20 listenings (3/5)

Bob n°1 : Pretty average track, RZA's flow on it isn't very good (2,5/5)

We pop: I was upset the first time I heard it : shit !!! its not a nightmare ? it's really Rza ??? but now I changed my position and find that track entertaining (but shouldn't had been on a Rza album) (3/5)

Chi Kung : My favorite track in the album ... aaah finally some experimental asian shit !!! that's RZA !!!! (5/5)

You'll never know: Another average track (2,5/5)

Dring, Smoke ans F*ck : No comment (1/5)

The wistle: yea not that bad I hate the chorus (2,5/5)

The Drop verse: Good RZA verse (+ good beat) but I don't like the chorus too (3/5)

Wherever I go: I like this track, kind of alleviating shit (4/5)

Koto Chotan: I really don't understand the success of this track ! I hate the beat and the flow (1,5/5)

A day ..... : Same here, ok the lyrics are 5/5 but I don't feel the production ... too sweet ... wake up ! it's a wu-album !!! (3,5/5)

Cherry range: a little better than average so 3/5

The Birth: I love the intro of this track ... shit ! after that you can expect some classic material and you only get something decent (3,5/5)

See The joy: First time I listened to that track I was "Ohhh shit !!!" that's dope !!!! after 10 listenings I was turning off the CD player before the track was starting . (5/5 the first time 2/5 after)

[Mark]

Cd was hot, but not classic. Some tracks are just lazy. 7/10.
Loads of respect for Origin, True Masta, Kenetic and Bronze Nazareth for bringin the ruckus on this RZA cd!

[Holmes]

Koto Chotan deserves more.

[num2son]

The album was ok.

[My First Timbs]

good album,, but sometimes forgettable


1 Bob N'I ---------- 9/10
2 The Grunge --------7/10
3 We Pop ------------5/10
4 Grits ft. Masta Killa ---------6/10
5 Fast Cars ft. Ghostface Killah---------6/10
6 Chi Kung ---------------10/10 doesnt get better than this.. banga !!
7 You'll Never Know ft. Cilvaringz----------8/10 album getting better !
8 Drink, Smoke & Fuck -----------------8/10 i love this joint !!!
9 The Whistle ft. Prodigal Sunn & Masta Killa-----------7/10 hot track
10 Drop Off ft. Division ---------------- 7/10.. this grew on me
11 Wherever I go ft. Division -----------7/10
12 Koto Chotan ft. Masta Killa--------------7/10
13 A Day To God is a 1000 Years --------5/10 never liked this track..
14 Cherry Range ft. Beretta 9--------6/10
15 The Birth------- 8/10 very nice !
16 See The Joy -----6/10 never felt this.. metaphors too weak

[deadlymelody]

Birth of A Prince is different from the previous Bobby Digital efforts. For one, RZA doesn't do almost all of the production. Two, there aren't wu guest appearances as plentiful as with the first one. And three, the "RZA" actually becomes himself with the last 4 or 5 songs.

Bob N' I-4/5-So first listen your expecting a different type of sound. A more eerie sound. But here comes Bobby Digital with a Digital-esque beat. It's obviously a freestyle. But I really like this song, it's real catchy.

The Grunge-4/5-I love the beat it's classic RZA. I also love Digi on this song, but "sizzay" type wordplay aint that fly. It's a banging track for how short it is.

We Pop-1/5-Obviously this is an attempt at the mainstream. This song is really bad. For a mainstream song, even this is bad. The guest verses are absolutely horrible and Digital doesn't make me happy on this song. And a really bad chorus. Note to any rapper, dont say money or jersey at the end of a line for 5 lines in a row. I like the hidden freestyle at the end though.

Grits-4/5-Phew now that song is done. I like the beat. It's a simple little guitar but it's effective. This sounds more like a RZA song. He drops a nice verse about growing up and once again Masta Killa proves he's the best clan member of the last 3 or 4 years.

Fast Cars-5/5-What a beat by Trumaster. A banging beat with once again the Digital persona dropping a verse. He drops a good verse. Ghost comes in and drops about a C- verse. He's capable of a lot more.

Chi Kung-5/5-One of the best songs on the album. This sounds like RZA to me although it's supposed to be Digital. Well, "Digital," drops dope verses but I love the beat. I was surprised to see it wasn't RZA produced, as it sounds a lot like one RZA would do. "you go against the grain you will hang from your tongue."

You'll Never Know-4/5-A good beat. Bobby Digital brings the heat on this song as well, dropping the best verses. Don't really like the guest appearance of which I can't remember at this point.

Drink, Smoke, Fuck-3/5-This is another mainstream type song, except done well. It's a catchy song and the beat is so so. It's a song about drinking, smoking, and fucking so it's not gonna be great but it's an alright song.

The Whistle-5/5-Dope beat by RZA. Drops a so so verse for Bobby Digital. The best verse is easily Masta Killa, who has dropped 2 great verses on this album thus far.

The Drop Off-2/5-I don't really feel the beat too much plus the chorus is a pain in the ass. I like Digi's verse and the woman orgasm sounda hee hee. But once again the guest verses have been relatively poor besides Masta Killa.

Wherever I go I-3/5- A good song. Good beat and good verse by Digital. But once again, very average guest verses.

Koto Chotan-4/5-Dope beat by RZA. This is the turning point of the album as he turns into the "Prince Rakeem" persona. "You fucking fake, 85 percent snake, daralake bitch whose class is dead weight." That's a dope line. He sounds mad on this song.

A Day to God Is 1,000 Years-5/5-Probably the best beat of the album and possibly Nazareths best work. Perfect guitar and flute with right amount of bass. Doesn't get much better than that. But then on the other hand RZA drops knowledge and his flow has obviously changed from previous tracks. This is a classic RZA track right here.

Cherry Range-3/5- Bah the beat is bad! Damn I thought RZA would bring heat with this song but the beat is pretty bad. RZA's verses aren't that great but ok. Skippable track.

The Birth-5/5-Another masterful beat by Nazareth. Dont call him Bobby anymore, his name is prince rakeem. RZA drops the most knowledge of the album on this track. It's a masterpiece and probably the best or 2nd best on the album.

See The Joy-4/5-I really do like the beat, it's unlike anything RZA has done and is once again, experimenting his style. Very well done on the production side but very rarely am I disappointed in RZA when he raps, but he doesn't come off that great. This is still a very good song though.

71/90

It's a good album to me but I am a bigger Digital fan than a lot of people on here it would seem. The previous 2 efforts were better to me though.

[talassi]

production on "Wherever I go" is classic

[Rebel_INS]

1.Bob N I - 4.5/5
2.The Grunge - 4/5
3.We Pop - 4.5/5
4.Grits - 5/5
5.Fast Cars - 3.5/5
6.Chi Kung - 5/5
7.You'll Never Know - 4.5/5
8.Drink, Smoke +Fcuk - 4/5
9.The Whistle - 5/5
10.The Drop Off - 5/5
11.Wherever I Go - 5/5
12.Koto Chotan - 5/5
13.A Day To God Is 1,000 Years - 5/5
14.Cherry Range - 5/5
15.The Birth - 5/5
16.See The Joy - 5/5 (Dope lyrics)

Dope album by RZA. The last half of the album is just straight bangers left and right. The production is dope, and the lyrics is dope. No weaknesses from what I can find except a couple medicore tracks.

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

just a dope lp i'd give it roughly 9/10

[hotnikks]

this album gets a 6/10 could've been a whole lot better.

[mastapowerful]

My top 5 Albums of all time...

Sonic Youth - Sister
Leadbelly - Good Morning Blues
Rza - Birth of A Prince
Nirvana - In Utero
Al Green - Green Is Blue

Of course, this list changes everytime I think about it, but Birth is pretty consistantley on there.

[deadlymelody]

My top 5 Albums of all time...

Sonic Youth - Sister
Leadbelly - Good Morning Blues
Rza - Birth of A Prince
Nirvana - In Utero
Al Green - Green Is Blue

Of course, this list changes everytime I think about it, but Birth is pretty consistantley on there.

That's pretty crazy man. What do you love about the album that makes it one of your favorites?

[mastapowerful]

I just think it's lyrically on some whole crazy truth as a metaphor level. The production is pretty dope too but yeah, lyrically, it's bigger than genius I'd say.