What`s up y`all? Hope all is good, I`ve been enjoying some of the decent weather that we`ve been having here in the O~DouBLe T. It`s almost feelin` like Spring & I really can`t wait......LoL, I`m just sooooooo sick of this white substance called snow that`s been occupying most of the ground. Anyway, I was planning on posting up some Biggie related material seeing as how it`s been 15 years since his passing, but unfortunately I have misplaced the CD`s I was going to share. You`ll get them joints once I find `em....LoL, for now I have some GZA for your listening pleasure...
"Beneath The Surface" is the GZA`s third solo album, released back in 1999 thru MCA Records. One thing that was kind of surprising to me about the album is that RZA only produced one track. Guess he decided to let a few of the other Wu beatsmiths put in some work. Inspectah Deck, Arabian Knight, Mathematics & John The Baptist all provide some decent backdrops for the GZA`s lyrical liquid swords. One of the downsides though, at least for me was that there isn`t any Kung-Fu samples used like they were on "Liquid Swords" or any other Wu-Tang album at the time. I just think that when they`re used in the right manner it`s DoPe, it kind of adds a lil` signature stamp to the Wu`s music...
I`ll chalk it up to wanting to try something different. If you compare how "Beneath The Surface" sounds production~wise to "Liquid Swords", you`ll notice that it has a more polished sound in comparison to the gritty & dusty sounds found on "Liquid Swords". Overall I think that this album`s a good listen, sure it may not be as DoPe as his previous effort but it`s definitely far from being considered wack. The GZA`s lyrics are iLL as always, but it`s mainly the skits & the beats that kind of take away from the album. There`s some great tracks on here like "Beneath The Surface", "Breaker, Breaker" & "Publicity" but there`s just not enough to make me write home to my mama about.....LoL, anyways check out the music for yourself it`s worth the listen...
Label: MCA Records
Released: 1999
1. Intro
2. Amplified Sample
3. Beneath The Surface
4. Skit #1
5. Skit #2
6. Crash Your Crew {ft. Ol` Dirty Bastard}
7. Breaker, Breaker
8. High Price, Small Reward {ft. Masta Killa}
9. Hip Hop Fury {ft. RZA, Timbo King, Hell Razah & Dreddy Kruger}
10. Skit #3
11. 1112 {ft. Killah Preist, Masta Killa & Njeri}
12. Skit #4
13. Victim {ft. Njeri & Joan Davis}
14. Publicity
15. Feel Like An Army {ft. Hell Razah, Killa Preist, Prodigal Sunn & Trigga}
16. Stringplay (Like This, Like That) {ft. Method Man}
17. Mic Trippin`
18. Outro {ft. LA The Darkman & Timbo King}
N`JoY...
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