In the wake of numerous albums and the end of the "Zu-Chronicles" series, in 2008 Buddha Monk released a collection whose title might lead you to think that it's all unreleased tracks, but this isn't the case. With the notable exception of the first track, the album is entirely produced by Buddha Monk and boasts a large number of guests, from the groups Wu-Tang Clan, Sunz of Man, Brooklyn Zu, Da Manchuz and CCF Division, among others.
The opening cut of this CD is "We Roll in Brooklyn", which a few years earlier the author included in "Prophecy Reloaded": on a tough, raw, underground, beautiful production by Lord Finesse, Buddha Monk prints one of the most robust pieces of his discography. The tune is also the high point of this compilation, difficult to reach for the other tracks and you immediately see it from the next one. Brooklyn Zu's lead artist is committed behind the keyboards and "Call of the Gods" is definitely a good and solid beat, a well-made boom bap, the drum is skeletal, tight, metallic, not too bad nor sharp nor incisive, it doesn't hurt. There's an excellent haunting sample in the background, inside there are the Manchuz who are unable to take the cut to the next level, despite the energy and desire they are putting into it.
Intro by Buddha Monk, then the first rapper of Manchuz Born U Majesty enters as if he were entering home after shopping at the market, with little desire, tired. In the second verse, Buddha Monk has more energy and evil and wakes up the cut with a dark beat. Professor King Bean in the third verse, his contribution is a bit generic, anticipating the hook of Lee-Major and the contribution of Babyface Fensta, who boasts a better delivery than the other members of his group. The expert G-Notes spits bars with a regular style, in this case not standing out too much among the seven emcees of this cut. Lee-Major's chorus, then mic that falls into the hands of Drunken Dragon, good flow, the posse is then closed by Lee-Major with an honest delivery. Short outro by Professor King Bean. The cut comes from "Zu-Chronicles Vol. 5" (2007).
The same guys are also there for the following cut, "Prepare for the Buddha Monk", in which the group is joined by Buddha Monk, Brooklyn Zu and even Ol' Dirty Bastard. The track is already included in the inaugural edition of the "Zu-Chronicles" series (2003). Beautiful vibrant boom bap by Buddha Monk, sharp samples, ideal drum, fantastic bass, rhythm of a suffocating gloomy, dark, hissing, phantasmagoric, magnificently noir / thriller, if you let it breathe it should make you anxious, anguished and scared. At the mic some perform better than others, but the rhythm deserved it, it's excellent. The Wu-Tang Clan champion introduces the song with a long intro and recites the chorus together with his cousin 12 O'Clock (whose voice vaguely resembles that of BZA), first of Brooklyn Zu. Babyface Fensta of Da Manchuz has the honor of opening this posse with the first stanza, the boy shows off an appropriate attack and delivers with a good smoothness and loose flow. Short hook by 12 O'Clock with a short bridge, then Chilli Black of Da Manchuz continues the song with a slightly fragmented, honest, pleasant execution.
Lee-Major boasts a good flow and precedes Buddha Monk, who enters hardcore with a lethal flow that, although metrically imperfect, allows him to take the cut with embarrassing ease and a lightning-fast execution that you would like to hear in every Wu-Tang album, to underline the fact that this is his track. Hook, then Shorty Shitstain of Brooklyn Zu at verse number five: the boy doesn't have the energy, the technique or the confidence of the previous emcee, he tries to go away, but is almost swept away by the rhythm, despite trying to recover by shouting his lyrics at the end. G-Notes of Da Manchuz decides to tackle the beat in a different way, almost in spoken word, calm, at times syncopated, he definitely sounds better than the boy who preceded him, even if he doesn't leave a great impression. Last contribution left to Drunken Dragon of Da Manchuz, the emcee closes the piece with a style appropriately flowing, loose, dirty, good. The track basically ends with the execution of Buddha Monk who kills his rhythm, this is one of his best performances and in general one of the best tracks of his career.
The fourth track is "Butterflies", a great rhythm by Buddha Monk, fantastic minimal downtempo drum, a well-placed haunting female sample that comes from the wonderful voice of Marsha Ambrosius who sings backing vocals on a Michael Jackson track with the same title as this one. Buddha Monk samples Michael Jackson. Well-made light boom bap, good performance by Buddha Monk along with guests Layza Life and Mazur, who each have a verse. The track, with a slightly light chorus, would be ideal at two-three minutes, it would be a rather robust cut, instead it stretches beyond four. The track is included in "Prophecy Reloaded" (2005). "Peep the Steez" is a track from "Zu-Chronicles Vol. 5". Strong bass line, skeletal drum, good samples, calm and easy delivery by the leader of Brooklyn Zu. In the second verse, Crave delivers a slow, syncopated, somewhat sparse delivery, almost overshadowed by the beat. Long hook by Main Event with a fantastic sample from "Mothra's Song", a 1961 Yuji Koseki track from one of the many Godzilla films. Main Event himself drops bars in the third verse, then leaves room for Popi, who brings the track to its conclusion. "Make This Money Take This Money" is another posse track, from "Zu-Chronicles 1" (2003).
The intro is a bit confusing, then I-Born takes space to drop bars in the first verse over a rather cheap boom bap production, with cheap sounds and a poor drum. Immediately after is Shyheim, the youngest affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan, who surprisingly destroys the rhythm with a solid and smooth delivery. Hook by Ol' Dirty Bastard, ShaCronz of CCF Division is also in with a rough, raw, good flow. In the fourth and final stanza there's 12 O'Clock of Brooklyn Zu who goes away with a rough and regular delivery. In "Man's World", coming from "Prophecy Reloaded", Buddha Monk finds himself solo after twenty minutes, that is from the first track.
The production is quite simple and cheap, poor drum, weak and poor sounds, shoddy boom bap, there's only the homonymous sample by James Brown to enhance the song between the two verses of the rapper. Another solo song by the leader of Brooklyn Zu follows, again taken from the previous album: beat boom bap still cheap and poor, weak drum, bad sounds in the background, composed rap by Buddha Monk, refined chorus, cut that doesn't sharp. The following choice is the third consecutive in which the main emcee runs without support from the guests. The rhythm is slightly better than the previous ones, good samples, downtempo drums a bit weak still, oriental vibes, inspired rap by Buddha Monk on this intriguing musical profile. The tune comes from "Zu-Chronicles 3" (2006).
Despite not crediting guests on this CD, "Play the Game" is a Buddha Monk posse track. Ol' Dirty BZA intro, Anesthesia hook, Grime opens the track with a slow flow. Chorus, then Mozart drops bars with a carefree, weak, slow style. Dirt McGirt gives away a few bars on this cut, then Buddha Monk delivers with a slow, steady style, before the last hook. The choice comes from "Zu-Chronicles 2" (2005). Guest Juice launches track number eleven, slow, steady, composed flow, perhaps too long to hold the listener's attention. There's a chorus of his before Buddha Monk's contribution, which doesn't sound very inspired here. Lee-Major of Da Manchuz closes on the third verse with ease. The track comes from "Zu-Chronicles 3" (2006). The following track is almost homonymous with respect to the final track of "Zu-Chronicles 6" (2008), even if it has different rhythm and lyrics, and in fact it comes from "Zu-Chronicles 2": Buddha Monk returns solo and drops bars with a discrete style on a raw boom bap, skeletal drum, normal piano loop. "Who's There" comes from "Prophecy Reloaded": obsessive circular loop, solid boom bap, sparse drum, inspired rapping by Buddha Monk who goes hardcore flanked by Fung See U.
The following track is also borrowed from "Prophecy Reloaded": in this piece, Buddha Monk places a cheap boom bap, poor sounds, weak drum, obsessive loops, slow poor delivery by Juice. Not even Buddha Monk can handle this irregular rhythm well. "Picture That" features a boom bap with dry drums and dark tight samples, good regular rap by Tai Chi Mastas, good Buddha Monk and also good Babyface Fensta, who isn't credited here while he is in the original cut from the first edition of "Zu-Chronicles". "Ghetto Man" credits Brooklyn Zu & Sunz of Man. On a boom bap production by Buddha Monk with tense samples, good violins, some piano keys, poor syncopated drum, Prodigal Sunn of Sunz of Man introduces the cut and opens the first verse with a good regular and flowing delivery. Hook sung by Buddha Monk, then mic to 12 O'Clock of Brooklyn Zu who together with Sunzini forms the duo Two on da Road, honored in the intro by Prodical himself and who makes an appearance here. Good flow by 12 O'Clock, inspired delivery, then the piece is carried forward by the others Brooklyn Zu Merdoc and Shorty Shistain with a verse each. Track taken from "Zu-Chronicles 2".
The following choice comes from "Zu-Chronicles 3" and in fact I didn't particularly appreciate it at the beginning: the beat created by Buddha Monk is circular, the drum is sparse, tight, simple, there's a rough and mistreated piano, on this uptempo rhythmic solution, Buddha Monk runs quite adequately together with Mozart (not credited here). In the last two tracks, both taken from "Manchuz Dynasty", Buddha Monk stays behind the keyboards without going down to the mic. "Who Wanna Battle" features a sparse drum, curious samples, a sound carpet on which Drunken Dragon of Da Manchuz performs a solo track in which he goes straight for three minutes. "Zu Keep Gettin' Me High" features Lee-Major, Layza Life, Lil' Vicious and Babyface Fensta on a cheap and unpretentious Buddha Monk beat, cheap drums, rough samples, somehow the beat manages to carry the track for four minutes.
Released by Chambermusik, billed as a Brooklyn Zu record and released in 2008, the CD collects tracks recorded by Buddha Monk between 1994 and 2006 and all previously released, a good part comes from the rapper's second album, the rest comes scattered throughout his "Zu-Chronicles" series. Somehow it's a coherent CD, with no weak points and plenty of good moments that make it one of the best records in his catalog, recommended for fans. 6.5/10.
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