RZA — RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo

In late 1998, Robert "RZA" Diggs completed his five-year plan to take his group, the Wu-Tang Clan, to the top of the music industry, and retired from music to focus on his career as a film director. He still has time for some hip-hop and, a little over a year after the supergroup's second album, he releases his debut solo studio album. Production is done almost entirely by RZA, while Inspectah Deck and King Tech have a rhythm each. The guests, mostly uncredited, are members of Wu-Tang Clan Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa and Ghostface Killah, members of Killarmy PR Terrorist, Killa Sin, Islord, Baretta Nine and 9th Prince, members of Black Knights Holocaust and Doc Doom (aka Dr. Doom), Timbo King of Royal Fam, Ras Kass, affiliated singers Tekitha, Jamie Sommers and Ms. Roxy, and spoken-word singers and performers Force MD's, Frank "Foxy" Niedlich, Lisa I'Anson, Angel Cake, Victorie Heathcole and Lorenza Calamanderi.

Raekwon — The Tonite Show [mixtape]

It's pretty short for a mixtape, twelve tracks, including intro, outro and skit. There are therefore nine tracks, none of which are really good. Rick Diamonds sounds really uninspired in this tape, mostly made up of cheap and mediocre production provided by DJ Fresh, with alternative, bouncy, poor rhythms, where the guy often delivers undertone, he never sounds convinced, convincing or energetic.

Statik Selektah & Paul Wall — Give Thanks EP

2019 was a memorable year for Statik Selektah, which consolidated his name on the circuit, thanks to five collaborative projects released during the season. The fourth of those five albums is the most unlikely one, made with Houston rapper Paul Wall and released on Thanksgiving, hence the title.

Fat Joe — Don Cartagena

Distancing himself from the dangers of the streets, Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena aka Don Cartagena finds a new path through hip-hop, emerging from the secret chambers of the genre with the group DITC and managing to release two successful albums in the space of few years, attracting the attention of the circuit.

Snoop Doggy Dogg — Doggystyle

Since the first hip-hop album released by pioneer Kurtis Blow in 1980, covers have been of considerable importance in the genre. Sure, some kids put flowers on it and don't know what to do with the covers, but real artists take them seriously. That of the debut of this boy from Long Beach, is relevant: the title, of evident sexual origin, is represented both verbatim by the brick wall and graphically, while the artist's name is drawn in the upper left corner so as to represent the face of a dog. From an idea by Dr. Dre, we have a representation of cartoon dogs, where Snoop Dogg, on top of a doghouse, reaches out to touch a dog's ass. Above him, a brick wall where three dogs watch the scene paying homage to George Clinton's 1982 hit single "Atomic Dog", a track that's also sampled throughout the album, so next to the wall, a dog catcher stands trying to catch Snoop, and finally, there's a rat, sated, it seems straight out of "Lucky and Zorba" (1996, movie based on a novel by Luis Sepulveda), which connects us to the album "The Chronic" by Dr. Dre, released the year before. The cover largely anticipates what the listener will go through for nearly an hour in these nineteen cuts, and sets off a great wave of controversy and controversy, due to its misogynist nature.

It takes ten months to record the whole project and for the rapper it's not an easy time: in August 1993, he's arrested for the death of a member of a rival gang, who was shot and killed. The material perpetrator of the crime would be the rapper's bodyguard, in any case, Snoop is accused of murder and will be acquitted in February 1996. The episode convinces the artist to definitively abandon the gangster life and inspires him to create the song "Murder Was the Case", which is followed by the short film of the same name directed by Dr. Dre and published the following year (accompanied by a solid soundtrack), welcomed by universal acclaim from specialized critics and by an excellent commercial success.

Inspectah Deck — Manifesto Redux [remixes]

Redux: Captain Willard arrives at that village controlled by Colonel Kurtz, Lance and Chef are still alive, but it's like, as soon as they got off the boat to land in the village, the photographer immediately took them to be hanged.

Elcamino — Elcamino 2 EP

Sequel to his first project released two years before. The guests are Benny, 38 Spesh and Rick Hyde. The music is provided by Green Lantern, Chris Ruben, DirtyDiggs, Camoflauge Monk, Boodeini and JR Swiftz.

Method Man — Tical 2000: Judgement Day

Method Man's second studio album, four years after his debut. As with the first wave of Wu-releases, after the supergroup album, RZA publishes his album with Gravediggaz and then it's up to Johnny Blaze to inaugurate the second wave, coming to release his sophomore in the last months of the year. In the spring, it was anticipated by the release of Cappadonna's debut album, still an affiliate at the time. The production is mainly made by the Wu-Elements: RZA decides to step aside and produces four tracks, leaving the field to other beatmakers, including True Master, the major producer of the edition, 4th Disciple and Mathematics. Among the external beatmakers, Prince Paul, Erick Sermon, Havoc, Qu'ran Goodman and the Trackmasters also provide some rhythms. The Wu-Tang Clan collaborates on the disc: Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Raekwon participate, in addition to the affiliates Cappadonna, Streetlife, Killer Sin of Killarmy, Polite of American Cream Team and Star of Shaolin Soldiers. External guests include Left Eye of TLC, Mobb Deep, Redman and D'Angelo.

Raekwon — Unexpected Victory [mixtape]

After an overwhelming mixtape run that ended in 2010, Chef Raekwon returns to releasing material for the underground circuit with this 17-track, 52-minute release. Some guests stand out, such as Mobb Deep, CL Smooth, Sauce Money, Fred the Godson, Busta Rhymes, Vado, Capone-n-Noreaga and Styles P, nevertheless the tape functions more as a showcase for some Lex Diamonds affiliated artists, including JD Era, Ceazar-N-Reason, Altrina Renee, Tommy Nova, Mean Doe Green, as well as Camoflauge, LEP Bogus Boys, Dion Primo and Big B. Method Man did something similar a few years later with his "Meth Lab", while everyone was waiting for the new LP. Overall, it's decent, most of the tracks are affordable and with ok production, however, the sound quality isn't great and there's nothing memorable here, it all falls a bit flat, even the joint with Mobb Deep isn't as iconic as it promises to be. Not recommended.

Cappadonna — Ear Candy

Did you see that he still holds the Wu-Tang symbol in yellow-Simpson in the cover to get your attention there and sell even more copies, while the symbol of his personal label GFL Entertainment is bigger on the bottom left, have you noticed? Why should he do it, what message does he want to send?

Method Man — Tical

In 1993, RZA's basement studio floods and the boy loses a hundred beats already made, practically one album for every Wu-Tang rapper, including an entire set for Method Man's debut. The production is redone quickly and roughly and you can feel the result still raw in these 44 minutes: the soundscape built entirely by RZA (4th Disciple and Method Man co-produce one track each) is minimal, tight, hazy and cold, with dystopian overtones, to support the raw lyricism of the MC in his battle raps with continuous references to weed and the previous Wu LP, delivering bars with a masterful flow. The guests are Wu-Tang Clan rappers Raekwon, Inspectah Deck and RZA, along with the Wu affiliates Streetlife, Carlton Fisk and Blue Raspberry.

Method Man comes from being the only guest on Biggie Smalls' album "Ready to Die" (1994), in the track "The What", an iconic, immortal, untouchable CD. In addition, he's one of the most prominent members of the New York supergroup, crediting several important contributions to "36 Chambers" including the solo song "Method Man". The rapper is the first to want to go back to the studio to record his album and gets to work with RZA while the Wu-Tang is on tour, for this reason the album has few appearances from the other members of the group and it feels rushed in every aspect, just looks at the cover. The title is in the middle of the artist's name at the top, Method Man's face is underneath and a phantom dick is coming out of the smoke, crazy. Also note the Wu-Tang logo upside down so that the W turns into an M (also cloaked in smoke, like the whole cover) and the fact that, for some reason, Wu-Tang's "N" is dazzled by a very bright light in the background. Something similar occurs in the cover of GZA's "Liquid Swords", where Wu-Tang's "G" is obscured by a chain.

Cappadonna — The Pilgrimage

After the critical failures of the previous two efforts, Cappadonna releases his sixth studio album. People are just starting to get used to the fact that yes, since 2007 this guy is the 10th official member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Despite this, perhaps due to the burden of responsibility for being an official member, Darryl Hill has posted material that's only good for the landfill, since then. The ransom comes here.

WESTSIDE DOOM — WestSide Doom

Collaboration between the legendary MF DOOM and the Buffalo rapper Westside Gunn. It's an EP of two tracks streched with versions with and without beat.

KMD — Mr. Hood

Around the beginning of the nineties, the leader of the 3rd Bass MC Serch discovered the KMD group (acronym of Kousin Much Damage), formed by the brothers Dingilizwe and Daniel Dumile, respectively known with the monikers DJ Subroc and Zev Love X.

El Camino — ElCamino EP

The game is tight. At the end of 2017, an emerging rapper came out with an EP that featuring Westside Gunn, Conway and Prodigy of Mobb Deep. Despite this, the effort has been completely ignored for years, incomprehensibly. It's an effort of a really high quality for a newcomer, even if it's the youngest to come out of Griselda Records.

E-40 — Federal

Debut album for Earl Stevens, The Click rapper with the moniker E-40, who debuted a couple of years earlier with a good quality EP. The Vallejo MC realizes a project of 14 tracks and about an hour of listening, self-produced and distributed with his Sick Wid' It Records. The production, provided by E-40 and Studio Ton, mirrors the typical Bay Area sound, close to mobb music, with great relaxed funky rhythms, slow drums, good melodic samples and light-hearted synths. Collaborate on the record, The Click's B-Legit, E-40 Jr., Kaveo, Little Bruce and Mugzi, no one surpasses Stevens here. The rapper brings typical gangsta themes to the table, spitting thug bars, braggadocio, on murders, women, money, and drugs, narrating his lyrics with a slow and fluid flow, inventing his own fresh and original style by combining some of the slang of his area. The entire LP is solid, breathes the Too Short legacy and is a good debut for E-40, managing to break through the hip-hop chart: two years later, the album is released by Jive Records, which takes away three of the weakest cuts and about ten minutes of listening, slightly strengthening the album and giving it greater replay value. 7.5/10.

Mantronix — The Album

Kurtis "Mantronik" El Khaleel and Touré "MC Tee" Embden unite to form Mantronix, releasing without too much fantasy "The Album", supported by dance singles that make their way into the Billboard charts. The New Dance City duo combines proto-techno and electronica, while MC Tee shoots some easily ignored random lines in the background between rapping, talking and singing: Mantronik creates fresh music for the time, hard, grumpy and lively, complex rhythms made with limited tools, extracting innovative robotic music from decent samples. It's the pinnacle of electro music together with the debut of Newcleus. 7/10.

O.C. & PF Cuttin — Opium

After the critical success of "Perestroika", OC tries again with another collaborative album. This time he have PF Cuttin behind the keyboards: PF provided minimal, tenses, dark, jazzy rhythms, sometimes funky, sometimes rocking, often NY, OC delivers pretty average, and this record — som' more than twenty-minutes, so a EP rather than an LP — runs smoothly, most of the songs are average good an don't stand out compared to the others, nevertheless, there are a couple of slips: "88" has a pretty failed production, poor/cheap beat, confused and weak, where OC delivers completely unfit; Credle's unfit also in "OPM", track based on a digitized, bouncy, poorly executed boom bap, with Real Shakar's hook that simply sucks in its unlistenable R&B. "Get In Line" is among the most accessible tracks: beautiful bap jazzy soulful, rare case where OC stands out. 7/10.

Big Pun — Capital Punishment

Usually when you start listening to this genre from the foundation, for fun or thanks to some friend, you end up around the usual superhyped names. I don't think anyone starts from the Sugarhill Gang or Kurtis Blow. He'd give up hip-hop after five minutes. Rightly. The milestones are always and remain those, those of the nineties, it's not even necessary to mention them, you always start from there and then you go back and forth in time and with the artists. Sooner or later you pass by some of the hyped names I mentioned earlier, often they end up being simply two or three names that at first seem generic to a newbie and that in reality therefore don't tell you anything. You never heard of them, it's normal. AZ, Big L... If you reading this text, it means that you too have heard «Big Pun».

Schoolly-D — Schoolly-D

Schoolly D writes the history by becoming the pioneer of gangsta rap with a tribute to his local Philadelphia street gang Park Side Killas on the skeletal rhythm of "P.S.K.". The production of his first LP is generally minimal, rough but still good, while the mostly decent. The lyrics are braggodocious, raw, hardcore, too gritty for the time and the performer delivers them in a relaxed, confident and charismatic way: this allows him to build some successful tracks (the progeny of the gangsta rap "PSK" above all, but also "Gucci Time" has its own historical value) which contributes to guaranteeing a lasting historical value to this piece of gangsta history, which the rapper had to self-publish because none label wanted to produce such a "violent" record. 7/10.

The Freestyle Fellowship — To Whom It May Concern...

Debut album for this Los Angeles hip-hop group of five elements, five MCs, Eddie "Aceyalone" Hayes Jr., Michael "Mikah 9" Troy, Ornette "Self Jupiter" Glenn, Mtulazaji "P.E.A.C.E." Davis, and James "J Sumbi" Sumbi, the first and the last are the only ones whose bars stand out clearly, the others spit out quite confusing things: you struggle to understand them, their senseless lyricism is almost indecipherable, I mean, even they don't know what they said here, seriously.

Wu-Tang Clan — Wu-Tang Demo Tape [bootleg]

Demo that anticipates the first legendary Wu-Tang album. Beyond the sound quality – basically poor – it's a discreet level tape that has some good notes and some hints of what you can hear in the first LP, for example "Bring da Ruckus", a great dark, heavy, rough boom bap. "Cuttin Headz" instead is shown for the ODB solo album. RZA leads the games in a dominant way even as a rapper and pulls down some solos that, however, aren't up to the best of the other members of the crew, despite a decent production: "It's All About Me" and "Wutang Master" have a good dark, jazzy, tense, rough, underground beats due to successful samples. "Problems", retrospectly, recalls the iconic track of the Legend AZ, the producer also samples 1982 "All This Love" by DeBarge, the same R&B track sampled by Cruz for "9 Lives". Ol' Dirty returns to help RZA in "The Wu is Comin Thru", a hardcore cut on rough, gloomy, moody, tight rhythm, a slightly better song than the others.

Weak sound quality, raw production, dirty, hardly noticeable, discrete lyrics, this demo appears as a unique RZA effort between production and rapping with some good guests of what isn't yet the Wu-Tang Clan.

Freeway & The Jacka — Write My Wrongs [mixtape]

Promotional mixtape preceding the collaborative album between rappers Freeway from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and The Jacka from Pittsburg, California. Behind the keyboards, among others, there are Jeffro, Bedrock, RobLo, DJ Toure, Erk tha Jerk, Lee Majors, Pakslap and Statik Selektah, the mixing is entrusted to DJ Child. Among the guests stand out the names of Freddie Gibbs, Jahdan, Husaiah, Phil da Agony, Hollow Tip and T-Wayne.

El Camino & Bozack Morris — Saint Muerte

Produced by Bozack Morris, Elcamino's fourth studio album in two years, is opened by a skit on a slow and dark jazzy rhythm that precedes "Real Shit", another dark, simple and essential rhythm with a decent delivery that I don't consider a successful song. The third track is "No Smoke": Morris' production remains dark and jazzy, essential and tight, the song has a functional hook and a good delivery by Elcamino, to which is added Benny the Butcher which destroys the piece. This is the finest tune of the tape in my humble opinion. The subsequent tracks fail to live up to this one, including those with Rome Streetz ("Black Gestapos") and Flee Lord ("Coke Brothers"), but they're pretty solid thanks to an inspired delivery by the rapper and to dark and simple jazzy rhythms provided by Morris (except the ballad beat of the fifth song).

3rd Bass — The Cactus Album

When the Beastie Boys leave Def Jam to sign with Capitol, the Simmons label executives are forced to looking for a replacement: a trio of improvised Jewish white rappers are replaced by a duo of improvised white rappers (only MC Serch is Jewish). Plus DJ Richie Rich. The record has a good jazzy production with peaks of excellence, also thanks to extrovert and florid samples that absorb vibes from many different genres of the seventies, however most of the tracks have a simple and minimal beat, with trivial variations towards more frenetic and urgent ("Soul in the Hole", "Triple Stage Darkness", "Brooklyn-Queens"), with merely functional scratched hooks and excellent jazzy bridges on the hooks (dope smooth jazz in "Monte Hall", sensational that of "Steppin' to the AM").