VISITING ACT | Wu-Tang Clan
Still Bringing Da Ruckus: Wu-Tang Clan's RZA leads the mellow jam
BY BRYAN REED
Veteran hip-hop act Wu-Tang Clan headlines in support of 8 Diagrams
w/ The Movement
Sat. Jan. 10
8 p.m.
$45, $40/adv.
The Music Farm
32 Ann St.
(843) 853-3276
www.musicfarm.com
www.wutang-corp.com
Time has left its mark upon the Wu-Tang Clan. It's been 15 years since the earth-shattering (at least in retrospect) release of 1993's still astounding Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and the Clan keeps on keepin' on. But this is a different Wu than the one that brought us immortal cuts like "C.R.E.A.M." and "Protect Ya Neck." The Wu-Tang of 2008 is a Clan short of founding member Ol' Dirty Bastard (née Russell Jones, who died in late 2004), and one that has struggled with infighting over the musical direction of last year's 8 Diagrams (their fifth studio album), which the group will be promoting at its Saturday night set at the Music Farm.
It's no real wonder that the initial reaction to 8 Diagrams was generally positive but mixed. Basically, if you're looking for another 36 Chambers, get ready for mild disappointment. The debut opens with the apt intro, "Bring Da Ruckus," and just as apt, the latest begins with the meditative "Campfire." Boom-bap with extra boom gets swapped for a hazy, Gospel tinged sample and a solemn backbeat. Diagrams finds RZA — Wu-Tang's long-standing producer extraordinaire — shifting his hazy atmospherics from tense, cinematic soundscapes to drifting guitar lines and paying more attention to R&B melodies. Note the album's hyped "The Heart Gently Weeps," on which Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante and Beatle progeny Dhani Harrison give the Fab Four's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" a gliding interpolation with Erykah Badu's smoky croon providing the hook. It's an easy standout as much for its unexpectedness as its effortless charm.
But the new direction wasn't well-received by all — including Wu Tang lifers Ghostface Killah and Raekwon (who called RZA a "hip-hop hippie" in an interview). The fact remains, 8 Diagrams is no 36 Chambers. But this isn't 1993, either. Expecting the Wu-Tang to act like a time-capsule would be unfair and detrimental to all involved.
In the world of hip-hop where catalog sales are all but nonexistent, 15 years can cover several lifetimes. And the mere fact that Wu-Tang still makes headlines so long after their introduction — and in light of the late-'90s oversaturation of all things Wu — should be testament enough to the act's continuing relevance. That they can pull in talent as far flung as Frusciante and George Clinton for an album six years in the making — to say nothing of actually getting legal clearance for a Beatles sample — demonstrates plenty of Clan's influence.
So even though the Staten Island crew obsessed with Kung-Fu movies and comic books never took over the music industry quite as they'd hoped, they maintained a venerable presence in it. And they evolved. They got older. They went in their own directions and came back to where it all started. They changed like an old hometown changes when you're gone.
What's on display with 8 Diagrams is a wizened Wu-Tang, eased into their trademarks, and casually pushing the boundaries of their sonic comfort zone — more guitars, more singing, less fury. There's even a bit of the sentimental in "Life Changes," the touching eulogy for ODB that closes the album.
And, it should be noted, not everything has changed. There's still the same easy charisma, innate chemistry, humor, wordplay, and consistency that made Wu-Tang a household name. And, sure enough, Wu-Tang still ain't nothin' ta F' wit.
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