Wu-Tang Clan "A Better Tomorrow"

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I quite like the album as well, but the more I hear it the more it comes across a rza vanity project..it definitely seems like not everyones particularly happy or coming with their best on there. Meth apparently put some shit on IG about how it was 'rzas album' meaning it disparagingly. Ironically though meth seems to thrive more than most on these beats
 
ojos_negros;7597659 said:
I quite like the album as well, but the more I hear it the more it comes across a rza vanity project..it definitely seems like not everyones particularly happy or coming with their best on there. Meth apparently put some shit on IG about how it was 'rzas album' meaning it disparagingly. Ironically though meth seems to thrive more than most on these beats

I thought the very exact thing! Had me like...

giphy.gif
 
onetoughmiracle;7597899 said:
ojos_negros;7597659 said:
I quite like the album as well, but the more I hear it the more it comes across a rza vanity project..it definitely seems like not everyones particularly happy or coming with their best on there. Meth apparently put some shit on IG about how it was 'rzas album' meaning it disparagingly. Ironically though meth seems to thrive more than most on these beats

I thought the very exact thing! Had me like...

giphy.gif

Lol yeah, and tbh even more than meth cos meth always brings it, but uey was flowing on these beats and his voice seemed to suit it where people like cappa seemed to be drowned out slightly.

I don't think is this a bad album for them to bow out on by any means but you hear tracks like necklace and wonder what could have been.
 
I might have write to my own review. This is better than I thought it would be.

Necklace is some Godbody shit.
 
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My own album review.

Time goes by. Seasons change. Calendars fall off. In 20 years, one thing has remained constant in the world of Hip-Hop: “Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with!”

Over the last two decades, the group of emcees from variousparts of New York (but based in Staten Island) has given hip-hop fanseverything they’ve asked for and more: energy, grittiness, lyrical prowess, and hardcore Hip-Hop.

Their latest album, A Better Tomorrow, changes things up, though. Being in the game for so long, the Clan sees the past, present, and more importantly, the future much clearerin this offering. And the future for them, while change will definitely occur, still has them enraptured in the love and discipline of mastering the art formof beats and rhymes and still giving their fans (and fans of music in general)their own unique style.

Why the Wu is FOREVER: The album’s opening “Ruckus in B Minor” is super charged right from the get go, with the late ODB’s voicegracing us, then the verses start fast and furious: “Morpheme flow, numbing ya joints/bomb a nigga like he number 81 from Detroit…” It then goes on to “Felt”, which still shows that even the Killah Bees have serious feelings about their lives. Tracks get very themed on thisalbum, and the Clan’s lyrics are more conscious here than ever before. This is evident on tracks like “Mistaken Identity”, “Miracle”, and “Never let Go.” “Preacher’s Daughter” is a very interesting vice-versa version of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of A Preacher Man”, while “Necklace” is down right grimy, remind you that the Clan can still break bonesif someone tries to violate just to get a shot of that jewelry….or anything else that they’ve worked for, for that matter, noted by Ghostface’s warning, “Check me from my chain, it belongs on a shooter/Lucky my shit blow, like the horn on a Tuba/You might as well do me now, ‘cause I will do YA.”

The standout here is the album’s title track, “A Better Tomorrow”. A theme for the movement that seems to be developing with protestsall over the country (with the video to go with it), the Clan – under the guidance of Teddy Pendergrass's “Wake Up Everybody” – give a track that shows that a better tomorrow for them is self-recognition and improvement, while letting the people know that being rooted in your culture isn’t a horrible thing, but we need to do better. (Meth’s opening verse here might the best overall verse on the album).

OK, is this REALLY a Wu-Tang album: I know that thought went through a ton of peoples's minds on first listen, and for good reason. As we all know, most of the album’s production comes from the RZA, and just like on 8 Diagrams, you hear thedifference from the 1990’s Wu and how music has changed. So, a lot of thetracks here have compositions (I refused to call these “beats”, and I’ll explain later) that, most people who never thought the Wu would do, such as “Felt”, “Crushed Egos”, or “Miracle”. Some of these compositions hit right on like “Preacher’s Daughter”, “A Better Tomorrow” and “Ruckus in B Minor” (which switches styles up beautifully to cover the different Clan’s personalities), some of these compositions will leave you scratching your head, wondering if RZA has been hanging out with Kanye too much, as evident on “Felt” and “Pioneer the Frontier”.

Oh yeah, I would be remised if I didn’t say, for a Wu-Tang album; there is an abundance of singing done.

My scores:

Lyricism – 9/10 (Method Man is to be highly commended here.)

Production – 7.5/10

Album Cohesiveness – 8.5/10

Replay Value – 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Final Thought – I admit, if this is the Wu’s last true album together (which I really hope not….they've certainly got at leastone more in ‘em.), this one doesn’t have the explosion that we all were expecting. Maybe it’s because we’re seeing the Wu for who they were and not who they are now. Comparing this album to Enter the 36 Chambers to me would belike trying to compare Illmatic to Life Is Good. LIG is hella good on face value, but because Illmatic is better, LIG wasn’t what I expected. That’s notmaking excuses, there are certainly some things on here I wasn’t with, but just like 8 Diagrams and after a few listens, this album really shows the Wu in a new and exciting light.

Another thing here that’s up for debate is the fact that if this tried too hard to keep up with the times, sonically. I heard a lot more than the Clan on this album; I hear Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, I hear a lil’ Pink Floyd, I hear elements of Run DMC. Some people may write this off; not me. I embraced it, and taken on face value, A Better Tomorrow is a very pleasant surprise. And RZA, for all the flack he gets (and the mount he stated he’ll lose on the album – something to the tune of $500K) is to berespected from using more live instruments here than produced beats. Harps, drums, organs, guitars, horns; RZA certainly open up his musical expertise from all those movies scores he’s done over the years. These were definitely more than beats; these were musical compositions, as if RZA were trying to make mini-plays in each song.

I guess the thing with A Better Tomorrow is this: if you’re a Wu head, you’ll like it; if you’re a hip-hop fan, you should give it a spin first. If you’re a music head, somethings will appear and some won’t. I think what A Better Tomorrow says is that you have to evolve to see a better tomorrow; you can’t be that same guy for 20 years. So, while Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with, now they’reon a full-time grown man musical mentality…and you still can’t fuck with ‘em.

Personal Favorites: Ruckus in B Minor, Miracle, Necklace, A Better Tomorrow
 
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Man, every time I hear Necklace, I get a little mad. lol I give Rza props for this album and the experimentation, but why oh why couldn't we get an album that sounded like that track. Everyone would have been happy. The beat was sick, and the lyrics are crazy.

[Verse 1: Cappadonna]

My necklace, had the whole crowd on some next shit

The guest list, full of real niggas that's hectic

The charm piece made my niggas move like calm beasts

Palm beats, two jostling niggas with long reach

Keep your eyes open for them strong arm thieves

Out here looking for ice, to put in they teeth

Chain glowing, shining and I'm ready for beef

Like my nigga 2 Chainz, cappuccino from the east

From the Wu-Tang Clan, my necklace and my heat

Bang bang, different robe every day of the week

2 angels, dinner plate, fat dollar sign

Universal flag on, nigga I got shine

[Verse 2: Raekwon]

I keep my neck frozen, 45 loaded, please don't approach this

Rope is so ferocious, diamonds that shine in oceans

Keep you arm distant from my carats, silly rabbits

Make me get my barrel, spazz out and cause havoc

Iced out Cubans, exotic stones from Africa

This the real thing, bling bling the chain swing

Try to swipe mines, that's a no no

The God's loco

Jury truckin' fancy spend stacks upon Delancey

Exhaust pipes coffin horse kicks

ACP's dress up the flesh, now the crime scene's gorgeous

My links is unbreakable, told y'all on the purple tape

40 inches hang from my neck, nigga I'm wealthy

[Interlude w/ Ghostface Killah]

Why you say that

I't's real, kill a nigga for this shit

Brother

Aha

I think that necklace is causing you too much trouble

Yo relax sis

[Verse 3: Ghostface Killah]

Dinner plates rings, smothered in 2 pounds of dope

Eric B on the cut when it blings

Scrubbin' chain down in colgate

Double edged bangers

On they hips I wait in the jaw break

The snakes and the violators

Dracula style takers

We got a bunch of gold balls but we ain't the Lakers

Hey bitches, stay lickin' my necklace

And I ain't even put the dumb bitch in the guest list

That's what you get when you throwin' on cuban's

Drawers that's made from silk

A robe and a ruger

Crack heads catchin' a sweet vix on a scooter

Catch me for my chain It belongs on a shooter

Make my shit blow like a horn on a tuba

You might as well do me now now cause I will do ya

[Verse 4: GZA]

God cypher love divine in math '79

Bright yellow and dense, in its gift and shine

Still the same when exposed to air and water

Like when a monk travellin' across the border

The brink of the metal link when in transition remains solid

The message was lost in transmission

That's often in a free elemental form

Nuggets and grains and rocks and things that's more

Malleable ductile metal on many levels

Could get you shot for a Flinstone, kill for a pebble

Lieutenants and Generals move with criminals

The pride for all in line, they hunt for mineral

The scope is on the rope, claws on the table

Brass knuckle, knees buckle, legs unstable

And it's sold by the weight

Shaped into a plate with food on it

The hungry wolves lie and wait
 
nex gin;7589503 said:
nex gin;7586080 said:
Can't wait to cop this. I hope it doesn't underwhelm like their last few albums.

Copped.....listened........disappointed :(

I will admit that the more I listen the more it grows on me. I agree w/ everyone about U-God. In the past his verses were always skip-worthy, but he's definitely improved a lot lyrically.
 
nex gin;7615876 said:
nex gin;7589503 said:
nex gin;7586080 said:
Can't wait to cop this. I hope it doesn't underwhelm like their last few albums.

Copped.....listened........disappointed :(

I will admit that the more I listen the more it grows on me. I agree w/ everyone about U-God. In the past his verses were always skip-worthy, but he's definitely improved a lot lyrically.

I said this a few pages back. That's just the kinda album this is. You'll hear it and be somewhat disappointed at first because it's not what you were hoping for, but if you give it a chance it will grow on you because from a quality standpoint, it's pretty good.
 

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