GZA/Genius makes his return to the hip-hop world with his fourth album, Legend of the Liquid Sword, and overall, the record is merely decent.
Admittedly, it would be hard for anyone from the Wu-Tang Clan to match the success they had as a group by coming out with a solo album. However, this CD is particularly disappointing.
The title of GZA's new album seems to suggest that it is a follow-up to his second solo album (GZA's third was not worth mention), Liquid Sword, but it does not live up to the expectations its predecessor set.
On Legend, GZA's lyrics do have substance, but the CD as a whole lacks intensity and creativity, no doubt due partly to the general absence of fellow Wu member, RZA _ who only produced one track on the album. On each of GZA's previous albums, RZA produced several of the tracks and this one definitely would have benefited from more of RZA's powerful beats.
GZA lingers on the past too much, not focusing on bringing anything new to hip-hop music. The first single, "Knock Knock," criticizes the hip-hop music industry and, like other places on the CD, GZA spends a great deal of time talking about hip-hop's and the Wu-Tang Clan's past. Similarly, the title track "Legend of the Liquid Sword," he tries to explain what hip-hop originally was, and how it has become materialistic and commercial.
GZA maintains that rappers need to work on emphasizing creative lyrics and not their unrealistic lifestyle. In "Animal Planet," GZA seems to use animals to represent different things in urban communities, comparing life on the street to life in the jungle.
"Fam (members only)" features RZA and Masta Killa. Masta Killa succeeds in providing an energy missing from the other tracks. "Highway Robbery," with a rap-reggae beat chorus, and "Stay In Line," featuring Santi White and a guitar, is a change from GZA's other songs, yet there is a familiar feeling. In "Highway Robbery," GZA asks, "How come so much rap sounds so similar?" Ironically, his entire CD leaves the listener with a feeling of d?©j? vu. Seriously, haven't we heard this before?
In fairness, GZA does show some innovation with the track "Fame" where he strings together a list of various celebrities names including Drew Barrymore, Rosa Parks and Chris Tucker in lines like "Larry's bird flew out of Nicholas's cage" and "Jason's kid took his first steps with Jimmy's walker." Despite what you might think when reading those lines, "Fame" is actually an interesting track when listened to. He distorts the celebrity's names, using them to tell his tale.
One of the last songs on the CD shows a glimpse of GZA's strengths. "Luminal" tells the story of a serial killer in a small town. This murder mystery-type song is one of the few on this album that contains forceful storytelling and images similar to those that GZA delivered on Liquid Sword and old Wu-Tang CDs.
There is no doubt that GZA is a great lyricist, but this album is a bit unsatisfying. Most of his tracks are not radio friendly, but true GZA and Clan fans should be happy with "Legends of the Liquid Sword" _ at least until the next Wu member comes out with a solo album.
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