2nd Generation Wu — Hereditary

Debut album by the hip-hop group 2nd Generation Wu, composed of the sons of the Wu-Tang Clan: iNTeLL, PXWER, Sun God and Young Dirty Bastard are the sons of U-God, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard respectively. The project is initially published in early November 2020, comprising ten songs, but it's taken withdrawn and re-released two months later, in January 2021, with five additional tracks. Produced by different beatmakers, the disc boasts the collaboration of Pxro, son of Masta Killa, Supreme, son of Ghostface Killah, The 3rd, Sith, Prema777, Zeth McFLy, Core Masson and, directly from Wu-Tang Clan, Inspectah Deck.

Introduced by Peter Rosenberg, the album features fifteen battle raps where performers spit out frayed bars almost randomly and without strong continuity, dealing mainly with arguments such as weed, women, thug and a lot of braggadocio and excluding almost all the gangsta and hardcore topics that were among the many elements that had made the Clan's debut great almost thirty years ago. Rappers spit with more soul than technique, in an obvious attempt to prove something, nevertheless, they don't seem to have the adequate hunger for revenge, redemption and desire to arrive, to allow the album to stand out even from those released during the year by the competitors. Rhythms are made by P Souloist, INF3RNO, ALXWNDR, Zeph McFLy, Rec Riddles, 90culture, Perspectiv, Core Masson, J. Glaze and DJ Kanzer: these guys have the task of bringing back the Wu sound through lean rhythms, jazzy boom bap with slow, hard, dry and pounding drums, dark samples of melodic horns and soulful ones combined with nostalgic Wu-Tang samples that follow one another continuously during these 46 minutes. The production is quite cohesive and solid, while being far from being among the best of the year, it captures some Killa Beez dirt and faithfully brings it into the project without giving up the trap sound sometimes.

More than being a group, it's a union of intentions: come together the GFTD duo formed by iNTeLL and PXWER with Sun God and Young Dirty Bastard, both closer to the original Wu-Tang Clan and the Killa Beez than the other two rappers. The major performers are Intell (9), PXWER (8), Sun God (4), Prema777 (3), Supreme (2) and Sith (2), the only appearance of YDB occurs in the single of the group, the posse "7.O.D", while Justice, son of GZA, isn't present in the tape. PXWER ("Shotgun", "Allotta Loot"), Intell ("Blockchain") and Sun God ("Weapon X") get solo cuts. Sun God performs better than the others, with a regular, smooth and hardcore style, sometimes dope, he lights up his songs, and Supreme also performs with a pleasantly flowing and regular style, but in broad terms, no one disappoints and no one excels from a lyrical point of view. Inspectah Deck is the only Wu-Tang Clan MC to actively participate in the project, however, he delivers a predictable braggadocio verse that adds little to his track. The posse "7.O.D" is the better choice of the record: introductory sample of Ol' Dirty BZA, jazzy boom bap with hard and pure drum, skinny and dusty, classic Wu-Tang samples, hook and stanza by PXWER with a good raw and dirty delivery; Sun God spits bars with a raw, smooth and hardcore flow, followed by Young Dirty Bastard, with a crazy and unruly style, then closes Intell in a more orderly and regular way. Anchored to its Staten Island roots, where all the performers come from and where the tape is produced by Ettore Mazzei's Dock Street Records, the album is honest and discreet, certainly a must-listen for Wu-Tang die-hard fans.

Highlights: "Weapon X", "From the Isles of Staten", "Goldn Meathooks", "7.O.D".

Rating: 6.5/10.