RZA - Afro Samurai Resurrection: Album Review
RZA, Afro Samurai Resurrection (Koch Graveyard, 2009)
The RZA's back getting that soundtrack money - in this case, for another one of these Afro Samurai movies. Or is this one of those series they show on the Cartoon Network at night, for stoners and other assorted losers?
You can stream the entire album on the RZA's MySpace, which I'll point out is pretty elaborate and pretty well done. I might need to get something like that for my MySpace, even though I haven't so much as seen it since like 2007.
COMBAT - The RZA and P. Dot
There's some cartoon dialogue about a headband that gives you special powers, if you wear it. I can't help but feel kinda silly listening to it. Then the rap kicks in, and it's not half that bad. RZA is his usual,' dusted self. The guy who sings the chorus can't sing, but that kinda adds to the effect.
YOU ALREADY KNOW - Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck, and Suga Bang
Not only is this not the kind of beat you'd expect to hear Kool G Rap and Inspectah Deck rap together over, the hand claps kinda ruin it. I guess it's still kinda cool to hear those two rap over a RZA. My inner 13 year old is fucking psyched.
BLOOD THICKER THAN MUD - Reverend William Burks, Sly Stone, and Stone Mecca
Crap, it's a fairly straightforward cover of the Sly and the Family Stone record, minus most of what made the Sly and the Family Stone record worthwhile. On the bright side, the guy who raps kinda sounds like Masta Killa meets M-1 from dead prez, if you can imagine. Or, if you even care to draw such a narrow distinction between those two.
WHAR - Kool G Rap, Ghostface Killah, Tash Mahogany, and the RZA
Whoa, it's Kool G Rap again. Is he down with the RZA now? They should do an entire album together. It could be total crap, or it could be awesome. My special critics copy of this says it's called whar, with an h. What that means, I'm not sure. This beat sounds like something RZA already flipped 15 years ago. In a lazy way. I suppose it could be worse. It could sound like something from 8 Diagrams.
GIRL SAMURAI LULLABY - Rah Digga and Stone Mecca
I tend to either lurve girls with accents, or I can't stand them. I can't stand Rah Digga's accent. I probably couldn't get it up in her presence, even if she was hot. She reminds me of some of the old black women who come into the BGM.
FIGHT FOR YOU - Thea Van Sejien
Just some woman hollering about how she's gonna fight for you. Skip!
BITCH GONNA GET YA - Rah Digga
Oh, I get it. With the economy in the state that it's in, he figured he'd get all of his guest rappers to appear on two tracks for the same fee. What else were they gonna do? Rah Digga's gotta get her kids some new clothes for school, plus she's gotta get some work done on the Explorer. Wait, did she just dis Miss Info? Hmm...
BLOODY DAYS BLOODY NIGHTS - Prodigal Sunn and Thea Van Sejien
Just what the game needed: some interlude-length synth rap with one of the guys from Sunz of Man, and that same obnoxious fake Erykah Badu from that last interlude.
KILL KILL KILL - Rugged Monk
There's a Wu bag handler named Rugged Monk? Who knew? Or is this guy new? He kinda reminds me of that guy Superb, whom I used to genuinely enjoy circa 2000 or so (nullus), but he's not nearly as good.
NAPPY AFRO - Boy Jones
This is the guy who's Ol' Dirty's son, right? This is just weird. He's got kind of a wacky rap style, but he doesn't sound at all like his old man. He might need to step his substance abuse game up. I don't want to give any kids the wrong idea. I'm just saying.
BLOODY SAMURAI - Black Knights, Dexter Wiggles, and Thea Van Sejien
Hey, it's the Black Knights, a group that seems to exist primarily for the purpose of appearing on RZA compilations and soundtrack albums. I wondered if they'd cease to exist, if he took long enough in between releases. I guess it's not like they had anything else to do.
DEAD BIRDS - Killa Priest, Prodigal Sunn, and Shavo
Shavo's the guy from System of a Down, right? Then why does this sound like it could be something from the Lil' Wayne rock album?
ARCH NEMESIS - Ace and Moe Roc
Ace and Moe Roc, eh? The one guy does kinda sound like Solomon Childs, in case any of his three fans are reading this. (That guy's slept on. Big time.)
BROTHER'S KEEPER - Reverand William Burks, the RZA, and Infinite
What's this gay shit? Is the Reverand William Burks even a real reverend, or is that his rap name, like the Reverend Bob Levy? If it's the latter, I guess it's actually kinda cool.
YELLOW JACKETS - Ace and Moe Roc
I had to check and see if Termanology wasn't on this. (He isn't.) He has a tendency to turn up on random, marginal underground albums.
TAKE THE SWORD PT. III - 60 Second Assassin, Leggezin, Crisi, Christ Bearer, and Bobby Digital
A real test of my endurance, especially at this point in the album.
NUMBER ONE SAMURAI
The most basement sounding shit RZA's done in ages. I'll take an album full of this, please, minus the weed carriers.
COMMENTS: As far as these things go, it's better than that last solo album the RZA put out. (Remember that shit? Probably not.) I might even go so far as to say that I'd rather listen to it than 8 Diagrams. But if I had a choice, I'd rather not listen to either of them. Cop this for the tracks with Kool G Rap and the guys from the Clan, and toss the rest of it.
BEST TRACKS: "You Already Know" "Whar" "Nappy Afro"
