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?
When Cappadonna hits double-digit, he's the second most prolific Wu-rapper in the Clan, behind only the Ghost Face Killer. He's the second person who has kept, I mean, tried to keep the name of the Clan high: on a quantitative level he succeeded, while on a qualitative level he has dealt so many low blows to the Name of the group, that this has long been started to waver, seeking help from the underground heads he has betrayed looking into the dark alleys where he staggers after getting drunk at mainstream pubs. And the help that Name asks for isn't coming, anywhere. Cappadonna is the bouncer of those pubs. Or rather, if you want, Cappadonna is the guy who has a loose ends with the Wu-Tang reputation: the man has never hidden that he has a ghetto mentality, greater than [almost] all the other members of the Legendary group, having been one of the last to see success and leave his neighborhood, along with Deck.
Releasing his tenth studio album, three years after the previous one, the rapper takes further steps away from the mainstream part of the Name: for the fourth consecutive album, there are no collaborations with the original members of the Clan, and this is strange because none of the members have ever released so many records without having at least one Wu guest. He keeps it among his friends, bringing a production provided by Kenny Allen, Rolo Beats, Damon Randolph and GLF Entertainment and guests such as Mike Noble, Killa Black, Rollo, Sugarshane, Kelso, Ratchet and his son Darryl Hill Jr.
It's a pretty irregular fifty-five minutes. The title track opens, annoying, confusing and simplistic boom bap, police sirens, banal hook, quite mediocre delivery of Cappadonna and D Hill Jr. The second cut is even worse, due to a rhythmic, self-produced alternate boom bap, the rapper looks uninspired and delivers poorly, with a simplistic hook. Killa Black and Mike Noble lift the third track with a raw and somber style, Cappa looks inferior to them here. Damon Randolph brings something interesting to the beat of "I'm a Weed Head", with a very dark, gloomy and dark alternative boom bap: it's the theme song of "The Walking Dead", splendid jazzy bridge on functional hook, interesting choice, Cappadonna sounds better than usual.
The next two choices have decent boom bap jazzy productions, which the rapper isn't fit, yet. Darryl Hill Jr. also performs in "Don't Give Up", a good jazzy soulful boom bap by Rolo Beats, hardcore cut. The following two tracks have good soulful vibes, then "Young Hustler" boasts a tense boom bap jazzy production that samples a classic: Staten Island's MC looks inspired, but sounds subdued. The posse arrives: there's a light and weak jazzy beat by Damon Randolph, yet the guests don't do much to be heard. The last section of the album is composed of alternative rhythms: "Up North" is jazzy-funky, in "Don Gar Gon" Rolo Beats samples "Africa" by Toto without altering it too much, Cappadonna delivers reggae-sque boldly holding up with a disconcerting banality. Rolo Beats also delivers the ultimate beat, a poor, cheap, weak and simplistic boom bap, Cappa doesn't disappoint and delivers on the same level.
Lately, there's a bonus track, "Heaven". It's completely different from the rest of the album, I'd like to say it's lucky it's a bonus track. Soulful production, uncredited, from the music video appears to have been made by "A-Team Productions", obviously unknown; perfect soulful sample from "This Must Be Heaven" (1977) by Brainstorm, soulful hook performed by the guest Marcus Bevins, slow syncopated smooth delivery of Cappadonna, here finally inspired in a totally soulful-conscious, gorgeous cut. He doesn't hit a rhyme on the drum even by mistake, metrically, it's unlistenable and even when he's so inspired he can't come up with a decent text or some bar worthy of being called such, despite downloading a dozen verses here, which obviously end with same last two lines in all verses, with the hook after each verse, but I don't care anymore. There are those who will continue to call this cut a Wu-Tang classic, and he does well, it's certainly one of the best Cappadonna records in the last 10 years.
Rating: 5/10.
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