SheerExcellence
New member
19. Raekwon, “Skit No. 2”
This skit from 1999’s Immobilarity is quintessential Wu, with Rae and cronies lounging around, engaging in blunted barbs, dropping life advice about the importance of packing your lunch, speaking on obligatory footwear science, and having someone repeatedly impersonate a parrot. What more could you ever want?
18. Ghostface, “Heart Street Directions”
In which a confused female passerby asks Mr. Starks, “Excuse me, um, can you tell me how to get to Heart Street?” What follows is a bunch of smutty schoolboy directions: “The next block is Clit Boulevard, but you got to be careful, it’s kinda wet down there”—before our heroine gets fed up and moseys off gracefully.
17. Raekwon, “Canal Street”
One of the toughest cuts from Rae’s ultimately disappointing 2009 effort Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2 opens with some archetypal Wu shit-talking against what’s presumably meant to be the ambient hustle-and-bustle backdrop of Manhattan’s Chinatown thoroughfare. Gunshots naturally occur. A simple case of scene-setting done the right way.
16. Wu-Tang Clan, “Intro”
Ever the contrarians, it’s the first song on the second side of Wu-Tang Forever that provides the project’s real-deal opening statement of intent, wherein a youthful-sounding RZA rants at “R&B with a wack nigga taking a loop [and] re-looping that shit, thinking it’s gonna be the sound of the culture.” Also stoking the Abbott’s ire are “playas dressing up, acting like it’s some kind of fashion show. This is hip-hop right here, this is lyrics, emceeing.” In ’97, we all saluted the credo.
15. Ghostface, “Bathtub”
Finally, all your fantasies about hearing a rapper splash around amorously in a bathtub have come true!
14. Method Man, “Where’s Method Man”/“Donald Trump”
In a rare show of hip-hop self-deprecation, Meth’s much-delayed second album, Tical 2000: Judgement Day, includes a couple of shorts ragging on its long gestation period. Donald Trump allegedly phones one in, while former Yo! MTV Raps host Ed Lover is allowed to holler, “Anybody seen this motherfucker? Mr. Tical, Johnny Blaze, Method Man, Ticalion Stallion Flalellion Glaleon, whatever you call your fuckin’ self, can you please hit these niggas with another album, please?” These are best paired with a tall, frosty glass of Method Man Lemonade.
13. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “Recognize”
As Chris Rock helpfully clarifies on this shit-talking skit-turned-introduction,“It ain’t the Young DB, it’s the Ol’ DB!”
12. Wu-Tang Clan, “Shower Skit”
U-God might be the one running through his list of favorite Kiehls products on the sensual “Black Shampoo” (always a big hit with En Vogue backup dancers), but it’s the randy Wu affiliate Dom Pachino who snags the spotlight on the song’s shower skit. As the Killarmy soldier illuminates a lady on his need to alleviate stress issues, we are led to believe a happy ending ensues.
11. Ghostface, ”Who Would You Fuck?”
Female Rappers And R&B Singers You’d Like To Sleep With, Ranked!
10. Raekwon and Ghostface, “Can It All Be So Simple (Remix)”
Cinematic street-corner shenanigans unfurl when Rae and Ghost are posted up on a block somewhere and an unsavory type approaches. A dispute breaks out—“What the fuck is you doing?”—and hand-slaps quickly escalate to gunshots. At that point, a frantic Ghost drops the immortal line, “Niggas tried to assassinate me, man.” In hindsight, Rae sounds quite lethargic about how his man went down in the game.
9. Ghostface, “Woodrow the Base Head”
Ghost’s second album, 2000’s Supreme Clientele, might have dropped at at time when the Clan’s stock was falling overall, but the project hit home like a masterclass in how to emcee. Ghost Deini’s accomplice for this jaunt was Superb, a similarly voiced rapper who stepped into character as a fiend here and pulled off a performance that brings to mind David Simon’s unidealized miniseries The Corner. The interlude also highlights hip-hop’s skewed take on the morals of the drug game, where it’s the fiends who are chastised, not those pushing the product.
8. Wu-Tang Clan, “Protect Ya Neck”
After originally releasing “Protect Ya Neck” as an indie single in 1992 (on Wu-Tang Records, back then located at 234 Morningstar Road in Staten Island, if you’re ever around those parts), the track was repurposed onto the Clan’s debut album the following year. This time, it came prefaced with a radio-caller skit, as a fevered fan announces his desire to hear “that Wu-Tang joint … again and again!” It’s the perfect setup for the blitzkrieg of verses that follow.
7. Ghostface, “Clyde Smith”
On 50 Cent’s pre-fame jibe “How to Rob,” he cheekily bragged about jacking various famous rappers, including the claim that he’d snatch a bunch of “funny-ass rings” from Rae, Ghost, and RZA. As you’d expect, this didn’t sit well with Shaolin’s finest, so Rae pitched down his voice to issue retaliatory threats by way of a skit on Supreme Clientele. At one point Rae chides how Fif’s “haircut game is fucked up”; this was a time long before the widespread fuckery of the man-bun. (See also: “The Return of Clyde Smith,” which opened Ghost’s Fishscale album.)
6. Raekwon and Ghostface, “Glaciers of Ice”
One for the footwear fetishists, this marvelous Only Built 4 Cuban Linx track is preceded by Ghost talking up his love of customizing Clarks shoes in a series of colors inspired by his “crazy visions.” Conservative dressers are frankly still bemused.
This skit from 1999’s Immobilarity is quintessential Wu, with Rae and cronies lounging around, engaging in blunted barbs, dropping life advice about the importance of packing your lunch, speaking on obligatory footwear science, and having someone repeatedly impersonate a parrot. What more could you ever want?
18. Ghostface, “Heart Street Directions”
In which a confused female passerby asks Mr. Starks, “Excuse me, um, can you tell me how to get to Heart Street?” What follows is a bunch of smutty schoolboy directions: “The next block is Clit Boulevard, but you got to be careful, it’s kinda wet down there”—before our heroine gets fed up and moseys off gracefully.
17. Raekwon, “Canal Street”
One of the toughest cuts from Rae’s ultimately disappointing 2009 effort Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2 opens with some archetypal Wu shit-talking against what’s presumably meant to be the ambient hustle-and-bustle backdrop of Manhattan’s Chinatown thoroughfare. Gunshots naturally occur. A simple case of scene-setting done the right way.
16. Wu-Tang Clan, “Intro”
Ever the contrarians, it’s the first song on the second side of Wu-Tang Forever that provides the project’s real-deal opening statement of intent, wherein a youthful-sounding RZA rants at “R&B with a wack nigga taking a loop [and] re-looping that shit, thinking it’s gonna be the sound of the culture.” Also stoking the Abbott’s ire are “playas dressing up, acting like it’s some kind of fashion show. This is hip-hop right here, this is lyrics, emceeing.” In ’97, we all saluted the credo.
15. Ghostface, “Bathtub”
Finally, all your fantasies about hearing a rapper splash around amorously in a bathtub have come true!
14. Method Man, “Where’s Method Man”/“Donald Trump”
In a rare show of hip-hop self-deprecation, Meth’s much-delayed second album, Tical 2000: Judgement Day, includes a couple of shorts ragging on its long gestation period. Donald Trump allegedly phones one in, while former Yo! MTV Raps host Ed Lover is allowed to holler, “Anybody seen this motherfucker? Mr. Tical, Johnny Blaze, Method Man, Ticalion Stallion Flalellion Glaleon, whatever you call your fuckin’ self, can you please hit these niggas with another album, please?” These are best paired with a tall, frosty glass of Method Man Lemonade.
13. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “Recognize”
As Chris Rock helpfully clarifies on this shit-talking skit-turned-introduction,“It ain’t the Young DB, it’s the Ol’ DB!”
12. Wu-Tang Clan, “Shower Skit”
U-God might be the one running through his list of favorite Kiehls products on the sensual “Black Shampoo” (always a big hit with En Vogue backup dancers), but it’s the randy Wu affiliate Dom Pachino who snags the spotlight on the song’s shower skit. As the Killarmy soldier illuminates a lady on his need to alleviate stress issues, we are led to believe a happy ending ensues.
11. Ghostface, ”Who Would You Fuck?”
Female Rappers And R&B Singers You’d Like To Sleep With, Ranked!
10. Raekwon and Ghostface, “Can It All Be So Simple (Remix)”
Cinematic street-corner shenanigans unfurl when Rae and Ghost are posted up on a block somewhere and an unsavory type approaches. A dispute breaks out—“What the fuck is you doing?”—and hand-slaps quickly escalate to gunshots. At that point, a frantic Ghost drops the immortal line, “Niggas tried to assassinate me, man.” In hindsight, Rae sounds quite lethargic about how his man went down in the game.
9. Ghostface, “Woodrow the Base Head”
Ghost’s second album, 2000’s Supreme Clientele, might have dropped at at time when the Clan’s stock was falling overall, but the project hit home like a masterclass in how to emcee. Ghost Deini’s accomplice for this jaunt was Superb, a similarly voiced rapper who stepped into character as a fiend here and pulled off a performance that brings to mind David Simon’s unidealized miniseries The Corner. The interlude also highlights hip-hop’s skewed take on the morals of the drug game, where it’s the fiends who are chastised, not those pushing the product.
8. Wu-Tang Clan, “Protect Ya Neck”
After originally releasing “Protect Ya Neck” as an indie single in 1992 (on Wu-Tang Records, back then located at 234 Morningstar Road in Staten Island, if you’re ever around those parts), the track was repurposed onto the Clan’s debut album the following year. This time, it came prefaced with a radio-caller skit, as a fevered fan announces his desire to hear “that Wu-Tang joint … again and again!” It’s the perfect setup for the blitzkrieg of verses that follow.
7. Ghostface, “Clyde Smith”
On 50 Cent’s pre-fame jibe “How to Rob,” he cheekily bragged about jacking various famous rappers, including the claim that he’d snatch a bunch of “funny-ass rings” from Rae, Ghost, and RZA. As you’d expect, this didn’t sit well with Shaolin’s finest, so Rae pitched down his voice to issue retaliatory threats by way of a skit on Supreme Clientele. At one point Rae chides how Fif’s “haircut game is fucked up”; this was a time long before the widespread fuckery of the man-bun. (See also: “The Return of Clyde Smith,” which opened Ghost’s Fishscale album.)
6. Raekwon and Ghostface, “Glaciers of Ice”
One for the footwear fetishists, this marvelous Only Built 4 Cuban Linx track is preceded by Ghost talking up his love of customizing Clarks shoes in a series of colors inspired by his “crazy visions.” Conservative dressers are frankly still bemused.
