The Wu-Tang Clan released their debut album in 1993 ("36 Chambers"), and the following year released the first album by a solo member, with Method Man's "Tical" (despite GZA debuting in 1991 publishing "Words from the Genius"), and the first album by an affiliated group, with Gravediggaz, led by the founder of the supergroup, RZA. In the same year, Da Last Future releases his first effort, an EP of the same name, released a year before the group changed its name to Sunz of Man and became the first Wu-Tang external act to sign for Wu-Tang Records is the first external act to release something with the label.
Da Last Future is a heir of Mad Mob, Red Hook hip-hop group composed by David "Scientific Shabazz" Collins, Ian "Zodiac Killah" Bellido aka 7th Ambassador, Chron "Hell Razah" Smith
and producer Alaric "Su-Preme" Wilder. Later, Walter "Killah Priest" Reed and Lamar "Prodigal Sunn" Ruff join the group. Shabazz is the only member of Da Last Future not to be present on the project, being busy recording his first solo album with Penalty Recordings around the same time.
The tape is opened by "Livin in Hell", chosen as the single of the project: solid production of Su-Preme, jazzy boom bap, hard slow pounding drum and xmas bells in the background. Good flowing hardcore delivery by Hell Razah, followed by a hardcore, smoothness, raw and rough verse by Zodiac Killah, both still spitting a verse each with similar style. The producer makes another sturdy musical carpet for the following cut, "Mental Combat", b-side of the single: simple jazzy boom bap, honest samples, dry, hard and pounding midtempo drum. Extra-verse by Hell Razah that attacks the beat with a rough, tight, hardcore and flowing style, simple hook, then Zodiac Killah closes the track with a powerful and rough extra-verse. Carlos Bess is credited as the unique producer of "Mental Combat II", sequel to the previous song: boom jazzy bap, good sample, pounding and slow drum, incessant and tight, Hell Razah also opens this tune with his usual delivery style, Zodiac Killah follows him with a rough and hardcore rapping.
"Evil Lulla Bye" is the fourth and last track of the tape, the only one that boasts all the members of the group (without Shabazz). Jazzy boom bap made by Su-Preme, decent sample, slow and pounding hard drum: the beat has dark vibes, Hell Razah performs a simple chorus, before his extra-verse, hardcore and syncopated. Zodiac Killah is the second MC, he has an amazing flow and kills the cut with rough, powerful, spectacular delivery. Prodigal Sunn arrives in the third verse with a hardcore and raw flow, similar to that of his cousin RZA, aggressive, powerful, shouted: he has a good delivery, presenting a very different style than the one he'll adopt in the following years. Killah Priest offers an outro and still manages to stand out from all the others, thanks to his calm mood: he recites his bars firmly, lucid, clean, crisp, he pulls out a few lines to bring the entire CD to the end in style, letting the rhythm breathe a little in the final.
The tape is divided into two sides, "Hell Side" and "Hole Side", and consists of 4 choices and 18 minutes of listening. The production is mainly done by Su-Preme, while a track is produced by Carlos Bess, who takes care of the mixing: Bess is the Wu-Tang Clan's audio engineer and the tape is recorded at the Firehouse Studio in Brooklyn, where "36 Chambers" was recorded. Released by indie Nocturnal 7 Records, the tape sells a few copies and most of the cuts featured will be re-inserted into Sunz of Man's second studio album, "The First Testament" (1999), and in its reissue "Elements" (2004), under different titles: "Livin in Hell" becomes "Hell Hole", "Mental Combat" becomes "Combat" and "Evil Lulla Bye" loses "Evil" from the name.
There's few information about him, but Zodiac Killah (7th Ambassador) is fantastic in this tape, for some reason he'll not be part of the next Sunz of Man lineup and he will be replaced by Frederick "60 Second Assassin" Cuffie. Overall, it's a competent hardcore tape, with a few smudges, probably one of the best Killa Beez records ever realized.
Rating: 8/10.
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