The rise and fall of this group have both been so rapid that few have noticed. These guys, some not even 20-year-old at the time of initial formation, emerge from the underground raised by Rakeem "Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah" Diggs best known as The RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, who listens to some of their songs even before these guys are able to release anything and decides that Da Last Future will be an integral part of the Wu world. These guys are the first act of what will be the Wu-Tang Killa Beez and more importantly, they change their name to Sunz of Man.
Shabazz the Disciple, already a peripheral member of the lineup, comes out shortly after 7th Ambassador, and in their place 60 Second Assassin makes his way. The group is therefore formed by Hell Razah, Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn, 60 Second Assassin and the internal producer Supreme. Sunz of Man signed to Wu-Tang Records in 1995, first group to do so, released several singles ("Soldiers of Darkness", "Five Arch Angels", "No Love Without Hate", "Bloody Choices"), but their planned album with the Clan's label is shelved sine die, after RZA has fallen out with Killah Priest.
Like an evil dictator of Indochina or a legendary monk with an insatiable murderous thirst, plenty of free time and several nearby Shaolin temples, The Abbot shows off impressive power, proving he can take a lot of kids off the streets to gift them a career in the music industry when he's in a good day and, just as easily, of being able to throw those same kids back into the dust and dirt and mud of Brooklyn alleyways when he's having a bad day.
Killah Priest leaves the group and with him the Sunz loses the leader and the strongest element, their first project, the Wu-Tang Records and the distribution of Priority. Who's remaining is RZA himself, who brings back enough Wu-Tang Clan for the boys to be able to cash in on their first official album, "The Last Shall Be First", finally released in 1998. Now the group prepares for a quick one-two punch to hit the industry, just as cousin group Killarmy had done the year before, between the summer of 1997 and the following.
In particular, the New York group is preparing to dust off several singles recorded in the past, some co-created with former members 7th Ambassador and Shabazz the Disciple, with production done largely by their in-house producer Supreme. So, we go back to the origins. After the release of their first official album and while the boys are working on their second studio album, Red Ant, the label that had produced the album, goes folded. At this point, Sunz of Man's new LP is expected to be released on RZA's Razor Sharp Records or GZA's Liquid Swords Records, but deals don't materialize and the group decides to go independent with another label.
The group agrees with Echo International for release and distribution, and in 1998 the first single from the CD, "Deep in the Water", is published in a vinyl that also contains the other iconic song of the boys "Write & Rhymes With a Liquid Pen" (aka "Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen" aka "Elements" aka "Combinations of Death") and two tracks on the B-side that we can label as songs by The Disciples (or The Disciples of Armageddon), because they are collaborations between only Killah Priest and Shabazz the Disciple, the two members who left Sunz of Man. The final track on the vinyl is "The Sins of Man", a remix of the Shabazz solo cut released in 1995 via Penalty Recordings "Conscious of Sin". RZA is credited as a writer and producer of the vinyl, although he doesn't write or produce any of these four tracks and the vinyl isn't being released on Wu-Tang Records.
Also in 1998, another four-song vinyl was released. If you don't pay attention to it, you won't even notice it, it always says "Sunz of Man", but they are two vinyl releases completely different from each other, almost as if they were from two different groups. Something certainly happened between the release of the first vinyl and that of the second, telling you what exactly happened isn't easy for me. I can start from the facts and these are the facts. The first vinyl boasts these four tracks: "Deep in the Water", "Write & Rhymes With a Liquid Pen", "In the Beginning" and "The Sin of Man", all performed by Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest, while Hell Razah and Prodigal Sunn are on the A side. It's entirely produced by Dropsect (aka Drop Sect). This vinyl really represents the origins of the group, Shabazz hasn't come out yet but it's about to do it, and 60 Second Assassin hasn't arrived yet. Only Echo label is behind the release and RZA is credited as producer, probably is the executive producer with Sunz of Man.
The second vinyl features the following four tracks: "Who Are the Sunz of Man?", "The Valley of Death", "Bring Back the Mike" and "Valley of Kings". Shabazz the Disciple no longer exists, not here, it's as if he was never part of the group. Instead of him there's already 60 Second Assassin in all four tracks together with the other guys, Sunzini, Hellraizor and Iron Shiek from Middle East. 7th Ambassador is supposed to be a guest, but he's considered part of the group and is on both A-side tracks, with rapper 12th Disciple (presumably, this is one of the monikers of Baracus of The Rose Family, group affiliated with Wu and close to Sunz of Man) as a guest. Aside from "Bring Back the Mike" which is produced by Y-Kim the Illfigure of Royal Fam, the rest is produced by Supreme and co-released by Echo and Red Hook Records, Supreme's own label. RZA disappeared from production credits.
1998 was a busy year for Sunz of Man. In the same season, the first official project of Shabazz the Disciple is scheduled, who's preparing to debut after having been part of the Sunz of Man, having continuously entered and exited the group, having attempted a solo career, having attempted a career as a duo with Killah Priest (The Disciples, already mentioned in the previous paragraphs), having attempted a career as a duo with his cousin (as Celestial Souljahz), having returned solo. Shabazz now has a great opportunity to debut and joins his friend Supreme aka Supreme Kourt, both have been part of Mad Mob and are preparing an EP that contains some of the rapper's best tracks ever. It's entirely produced by Supreme Kourt and should be released on Red Hook Records distributed by Echo International, however, most of the profits would go to Supreme Kourt, credited as writer, producer and executive producer on the project. Shabazz protests asking for a better distribution of the profits for him, Supreme then decides to bootleg the album on the internet without the title and unaware of Shabazz. That EP is now also known as the "Take Your Time EP" from the name of the first track. Shabazz breaks ties with Supreme.
This brings us to what happened on this Sunz of Man LP, because the situation is similar. The album should be released at the end of January 1999, nevertheless, it's heavily bootlegged and Supreme tops it off by illegally copying the album and leak it on the internet: the in-house producer is expelled from the group, while the record never receives a proper release, and is published unofficially by Echo and Red Hook Records.
Supreme remains the lead producer on the effort, Dropsect creates five rhythms, Y-Kim one beat. The guests are 12th Disciple, Kavalier (next to some group members), Timbo King of Royal Fam and original group members Shabazz the Disciple and 7th Ambassador aka Zodiac Killah, sometimes credited as part of Sunz of Man for this project.
1. "Who Are the Sunz Of Man?" (Hell Razah, Prodigal Sunn, Killah Priest & 60 Second Assassin ft. 7th Ambassador)
On this first track there are the four members of Sunz of Man featured on the first official LP in addition to 7th Ambassador, one of the members of the original Da Last Future group and even earlier of the Red Hook Mad Mob group. The production is done by Supreme, also a member of Da Last Future and Mad Mob. Lively sax, deep powerful bassline, midtempo sparse dry drum, fresh rhythm. Simple hook, Hell Razah's syncopated hardcore delivery. Prodigal Sunn with a rougher voice drops hardcore bars. 7th Ambassador spits hardcore with rough, raw style. Hook. Killah Priest with a more cautious, calm, almost spoken word, whispered style. 60 Second Assassin closes the cut with an extra verse, delivery inspired, confident, good flow. The song is all an indecipherable abstract battle rap that mixes bars between the metaphysical, the spiritual, crime and bragging. The least casual verse of the track is that of Killah Priest who builds a narrative completely imbued with biblical and religious references.
2. "Valley of Death" (Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah, Killah Priest & 60 Second Assassin ft. 12th Disciple & Zodiac Killah)
Intro by 12th Disciple, I have no idea who he is. That name could be one of the many monikers of Baracus aka Don Baracus aka Mr. Corleone aka Allah Sun of Black Rose Kartel (aka The Rose Family), group from Brownsville, Brooklyn (some members of Sunz of Man are from the same neighborhood) founded by Daddy Rose. Along with fellow Black Rose Kartel member Salhaudin, Rose was slated to join Killah Priest's group The Maccabees in 2000, but were replaced by Hell Razah and Timbo King. Baracus was featured on "Zu-Chronicles 5", a collaborative record by Buddha Monk (of Brooklyn Zu) and Popa Wu in 2007 and, like Allah Sun, on Killah Priest's "Behind the Stained Glass" in 2008.
Soundscape realized by Supreme, boom bap, heavy drum, very heavy, cumbersome, very hard, distorted sounds in the background, almost inaudible bass line, dirty and raw rhythm, purely underground. P Sunn comes in screaming and he rips the cut with mad rage, dropping abstract bars close to metaphysical. He sets the tone for the whole piece, hardcore, brutal. 7th Ambassador aka Zodiac Killah delivers some criminal bragging rights with a lively and fun style. Hell Razah delivers another hardcore, energetic, try to weight his own rapping style and confused lyricism. Killah Priest calms the waters with a more composed style than the previous ones, more restrained, more sedate, mixing horrorcore, crime and metatemporal bars. 12th Disciple stirs the waters again with a more fragmented and agitated execution, a lyricism that crosses criminal boasting, horrorcore and random religious biblical lines, with an irregular, unorthodox, messy flow. 60 Second Assassin enters with a style that seems to pay homage directly to his cousin Ol' Dirty Bastard, incredible, erratic, fragmentary, energetic, inspired, confident, excellent delivery, also between criminal bragging and a little metaphysics. Still 12th Disciple on verse number seven, same bumpy, choppy, haphazard flow, still writes a mix of haphazard religious bars and horrorcore.
The whole track is abstract and you can almost read anything into it. It's pretty curious that in the second verse spitted by 12th Disciple there are two totally random consecutive bars which seem to be direct and legitimate homages to the Harry Potter film saga, although this one came out years later in theaters. In particular, they seem like tributes to the clashes between the protagonist and the archenemy Lord Voldemort at the end of the films — "Everything I touch burns, disintegrates into dust", in reference to the final showdown with Professor Quirrell during "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) and "Rich my nose, boy hurry, bring your family, not a friend", in reference to the final showdown with Voldemort himself in the graveyard in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005): boy hurry (back to the Portkey Cup), bring your family (to Hogwarts, his parents), not a friend (dead, Cedric Diggory).
The last verse, sometimes credited to 7th Ambassador (Zodiac Killah), could be performed by Tray Bag aka Trebag, older brother of Hell Razah. Whoever he is, he keeps a lyricism clinging to the criminal boast and executes it with hardcore rapping, he further rips a sadly unfairly forgotten giant cut in the hidden discography of the Wu and Sunz of Man. Outro of 12th Disciple, the boy pays homage to Population Click, of which he's a member, so it's probable that he is Baracus aka Allah Sun. We are in 1995. Maybe 1994. Here is how far away this record is.
3. "Bring Back the Mike (Mic's of Insanity)" (Killah Priest, 60 Second Assassin, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah)
Track with the four rappers from the first official LP. Dark beat by Royal Fam producer Y-Kim. Booming bassline, boom bap, vinyl crackling sound, dry midtempo dusty gaunt dry drum, intro and inspired delivery by Killah Priest, who delivers some rough lyrics of bragging with his own lyrical style, over a great beat. Almost chanted rap from 60 Second Assassin in an abstract battle rap. P Sunn rabidly shouts metatemporal bars, hardcore, wall against wall with the track and with the rhythm. The track is closed by Hell Razah on the fourth verse, bringing the joint back to the streets amidst crime, hardcore, energetic, good flow.
Crucial to understanding the recording period, the intro by Killah Priest in which he pays homage to Y-Kim of Royal Fam, members of Sunz of Man (including Holy Psychiatrist, which is one of the monikers of Shabazz the Disciple; the track is therefore recorded when both 60 Sec and Shabazz were part of the group together with Priest, P Sunn and Hell Razah; even Zodiac Killah is shout out), Dreddy Kruger of Royal Fam, the Population Click crew, the Wu-Tang Clan and also RZA, this means that the song was recorded before 1996, probably between the end of 1994 and early 1995, while Shabazz was recording songs with Penalty Recordings.
4. "Valley of Kings" (Hell Razah, Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn & 60 Second Assassin)
Song recorded in 1995/1996. All four rappers from the first LP are present. Supreme behind the keyboards. Haunting keyboard loop, multiple layered keyboards, electric guitar riffs, dilated flute loop in the background, perennial, driving bass line in the background, dry, sparse, midtempo drum. Excellent beat by Supreme. Great calm smooth flow by Killah Priest. Prodigal Sunn with his first calm contribution on the record, then accelerates, but without shouting as in his previous contributions, which all seem to be recorded before 1996 when he was still in Da Last Future mode, where everyone was screaming and he was the loudest. Here we see how his style is evolving and calming down after listening to "Liquid Swords" more than to "Purple Tape". The first two emcees focus on biblical and religious texts, and in any case around those themes, then Hell Razah hits the hook and with the third verse of the track, gets things back on the street as usual, in the ghetto, his contribution doesn't follow the theme imposed by the other two nor that of the title. However, he's energetic, boasts a good flow, inspired and confident here. The track is closed by 60 Second Assassin, singsong delivery, good flow, again in line with what was proposed by Priest and Sunn. Excellent cut.
5. "Deep in the Water" (Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
This is one of the earliest Sunz of Man tracks ever, originally released in 1995. After four tracks, 60 Second Assassin isn't on this track. He stops rapping for eight more songs. Instead of him here is Shabazz the Disciple, they return to be four of the original rappers of the group. This is the first of many Shabazz appearances on this CD. Dropsect first production on the record, heavy bassline in the background, dark, dark piano loop, dirty dusty downtempo drum, beautiful beat. Killah Priest at his best on these kinds of beats gives one of his best performances, pulling off a stream-of-consciousness narrative filled with biblical references. The same cannot be said for Hell Razah, who delivers as he wants, even too fast for the tempo of the rhythm, flow ok, decent stream of consciousness, but he doesn't prove to be completely suitable for this type of production. Prodigal Sunn's raw, dirty, rough, rusty flow, hardcore delivery, again not exactly suited to the beat, but still better than Hellraizor. Shabazz closes going away hardcore, shouting, madly performs his verse and he has good reasons being a dark verse.
6. "Elements" (Killah Priest, Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
This track is originally "Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen", a song recorded around 1995 by The Disciples aka The Disciples of Armageddon (D.O.A.), a duo formed by Killah Priest & Shabazz the Disciple who released this track on vinyl in 1997 on the minor label Gotta Pay Da Rent Recordings. The track features the Sunz of Man as guests, represented by Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn, because Priest and Shabazz are no longer part of the group at that time, although Priest was present as a credited member when Sunz of Man released their first solo album in summer 1998. "Elements" and "Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen" are the same song with different titles. In 2006, the piece is released in the greatest hits of Sunz of Man "The Old Testament" under the new name "Combinations of Death".
The track features the same performers as the previous song, four of the original rappers of the B'klyn group, instead of 60 Second Assassin there's again Shabazz the Disciple. Dropsect production, vibrant bass line, dry, very hard, ruthless drum, downtempo, extraordinary melodic sample, Dropsect invents one of the most beautiful rhythms in the group catalogue. Killah Priest flies on this splendid soundscape, excellent flowing, silky, clean, dope flow. Shabazz the Disciple on verse number two, with a calm, smooth, flowing flow, good delivery. Killah Priest introduces Shabazz as "the Holy Wizard", another of Shabazz's several aliases. The third stanza is one of Hell Razah's best imitations of Shabazz, who's clearly paying homage to him here. His flow looks good, I think a lot of the credit goes to the soundscape, even if the guy is still doing a great work, this time he can make his flow run as much as he wants, the beat accompanies him pleasantly. Prodigal Sunn enters straight leg, shouting totally, purely hardcore, allowing himself to easily distinguish himself from previous performers: he creates an evident dissonance between his agitated, hasty, raw and rough style and the beat which is calm, calm, glossy, clean. Fantastic, excellent cut, among the best in the Sunz of Man discography. Even without going through the credits, you can figure out how this joint is recorded before 1996, because P Sunn is still shouting his bars as if he were in Da Last Future, then in time he will adopt a style more similar to that of Killah Priest and GZA in both execution and lyric research.
Mandatory listening for any Wu stan.
7. "Natural High (Interlude)"
Instrumental piece. Dark organ, good driving and booming bassline, tight tight drum, lively keyboard, horns, upbeat rhythm with a dark aftertaste, great beat made by Supreme.
8. "Hell Hole (Livin' in Hell)" (Hell Razah ft. Zodiac Killah)
This is one of Da Last Future's songs released in an EP in 1994. Da Last Future is a progenitor group of Sunz of Man. The performers are Hell Razah and Zodiac Killah aka 7th Ambassador, both members of a local Red Hook group, the Mad Mob, which also included Supreme, then internal producer of the group for a short time, and Shabazz the Disciple. After six tracks, Killah Priest and P Sunn are missing from a track of the album.
Haunting loop, vinyl crackle, powerful rumbling bassline, midtempo heavy hard drum, dirty and dusty, Supreme's excellent rhythm. Hell Razah slow delivery, simple hook, Zodiac Killah verse. The boy boasts a more defined style, rough, raw, flowing, personal, good flow. Second stanza of Hell Razah, hook, second verse of Zodiac Killah with a hardcore style, rough, raw, he rips the cut.
9. "Combat (Mental Combat)" (Hell Razah ft. Zodiac Killah)
This is the second of the three Da Last Future songs featured on this album. The protagonists are again Hell Razah and Zodiac Killah, practically the group is a duo made up of them. Superlative production of Supreme, deep bassline, dry midtempo drum, elegant piano keys, dark sounds, some scattered bright sax touches. Extra verse from Hell Razah with a better than usual flow, Zodiac Killah destroys the beat with a rough, raw, smoothness flow.
10. "Lulla Bye (Evil Lulla Bye)" (Hell Razah & Prodigal Sunn ft. Zodiac Killah)
Third and last of the three tracks recorded in 1994 for the Da Last Future EP, inserted here one after the other. In addition to the usual two, the song sees the presence of Prodigal Sunn and Killah Priest, while the first has a verse, the second recites only the outro. Supreme resounding production, booming bassline, fresh horns around the beat, elegant piano scale, dry, grumpy, midtempo drum. Syncopated, fragmented, erratic delivery of Hell Razah in its extra verse. Zodiac Killah has a shorter verse, but it kills the edge with a rough, raw, hardcore style, creating a dissonance with the shy elegance of the beat, which has some dark outlines, Supreme did an excellent job here too. Prodigal Sunn in the final verse, shouted, hardcore, gives us a taste of his style in 1993/1994, which will last for a few years, as can also be heard in the previous choices, before changing between 1995 and 1996. Outro by Killah Priest that pays homage to Da Last Future, Hell Razah, Holy Psychiatrist, P Sunn, Population Click, Wu-Tang and Gravediggaz.
11. "Sunz of Man Court" (ft. Kavalier & Shabazz the Disciple)
This is just the guests' track. First time Hell Razah is not on a Sunz of Man track across two albums. Shabazz the Disciple is the only one to have been part of the group that is present in this track, practically a solo cut by him produced by Dropsect. There's none of Sunz of Man and some questions about this track should be asked: why is there none of the group? The answer lies behind the fact that this is not a song of the group. This track is a kind of remix of a solo song by Shabazz the Disciple released in 1995, his first single, released by Penalty Recordings and produced by 4th Disciple, "Death Be the Penalty".
This song is one of his best and most-known tracks by Shabazz, it boasts more or less the same beat and lyrics as the original, just the beat is cleaned up, credits a different producer, because instead of 4th Disciple Dropsect is credited, and stops the track after Shabazz's second verse, removing the hook and outro from the 1995 original. Kavalier is sometimes uncredited on the original track and guest credited on the track released in this effort.
Dropsect does an excellent job behind the keyboards: [the track] starts with a thunderstorm, rain starts to fall, great bass line, hard, heavy, dirty, dusty drum, heavenly elegant piano scale, melodic samples, resounding beat. Energetic hardcore delivery from Shabazz, crediting himself as Scientific Shabazz aka The Holy Psychiatrist (he's repeatedly honored with this moniker in other tracks on this CD), and soaring over this spectacular soundscape. Kavalier guest hook sounding like a verse, the guy is close to the rapper, maybe he's his manager or one of his managers. Shabazz returns to close the song with his hook and a short final second verse.
12. "Sinz of Men" (Killah Priest ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
Two tracks in a row without Hell Razah on a Sunz of Man album is a rarity. For the second time in a row, there's a remix of a solo cut by Shabazz the Disciple, this song also has a completely different title than the original track by the Red Hook emcee, which is his solo track produced by Dropsect. "Conscious of Sin" is an early single released by Penalty Recordings and produced by Dropsect, released in 1995 as part of the maxi-single "Crime of Saga", where Shabazz at the time credited himself as Scientific Shabazz the Disciple, he lost "Scientific" in the following years. It's one of the best-known and best songs of him, such as "Death Be the Penalty".
Haunting beat by Dropsect, who does an excellent job here. This is a production that would fit perfectly on the Gravediggaz album, and indeed there are two guest performers on that record, Killah Priest and Shabazz the Disciple. Very cold dark piano key looped, there are multiple overlapping piano keys, creepy female laughter, forgotten scratches, burlesque dark violins, finger snap loop that sounds like a kick or vice versa, drum in the background, from a shadow behind a wall in the dark pops a killer bass. The drum waits for something to happen and that something happens moments later, in fact. Manic entrance of Shabazz, bassline thickens, irregular delivery, unorthodox, rapid, agitated, creates panic, excellent spectacular style in a clearly cinematic cut.
There's no hook, unlike the original where there was a short hook and three Shabazz verses. Right here this track becomes one of the most curious of the Sunz of Man. The album should have been released in 1999 and the song sees the two exiles from the group, Shabazz the Disciple, who left it way back in 1995, and Killah Priest, who hasn't been part of the group unofficially for at least two years, since more or less 1997, when he began recording his solo debut album, focusing almost exclusively on that and leaving the crumbs to the Sunz of Man guys for the official debut album of what was to be his group, he was the leader, undoubtedly. Also because Hell Razah and Prodigal Sunn were much younger and certainly more inexperienced than Lord Messiah.
Killah Priest's verse replaces what was Shabazz's second verse in the original song. Priest doesn't start right away, he intelligently leaves room for rhythm and track, and he creates a sense of tension in the listener, what's next? Then he enters, with a style similar to that performed by Shabazz, agitated flow, more regular, more flowing, spectacular, he too manages to create and maintain a feeling of restlessness in the listener, also thanks to the beautiful production of Dropsect. Shabazz comes back with his third verse, the same as in the original cut, and gives another jab to the track, great flow. Killah Priest returns for the final verse, bloody, suffering, scary flow, sublime performance by the boys. The emcee refers to Shabazz as "the Holy Wizard" in this instance. The soundscape breathes over half a minute and he definitely deserved it, Dropsect was a genius here, genius.
Impressive track, one of the best in the Sunz of Man catalogue.
13. "The Law" (60 Second Assassin, Killah Priest, Prodigal Sunn & Hell Razah)
Track with the four group emcees who made the first LP, so recorded after 1995. After two tracks, P Sunn and Hell Razah return, the pillars of the group from the point of view of mere presence. Supreme's excellent rhythm, lively sax in the background, vinyl crackling sound, sparse, dusty, dirty downtempo drum, kicking dust off the street, good powerful bassline. Slow, calm delivery by Killah Priest. Hook sung by 60 Second Assassin, P Sunn's clean flowing delivery, boasting a different style than his pre-1996 cuts. Hell Razah on the third stanza, smooth, raw, good flow. 62nd closes by singing the final verse.
14. "Hot Line (Psychic Hotlines)" (Hell Razah)
Hell Razah solo on a crazy Supreme production. Boom bap, powerful bassline, tight minimal drum, melodic samples, confident, clean, fresh, flowing delivery by Hell Razah. Track recorded around 1994, probably. Excellent performance by Hell Razah, who finds a personal moment to shine here.
15. "In the Beginning..." (Killah Priest ft. Shabazz the Disciple)
Track recorded around 1995. Almost a Shabazz solo cut, with a couple of final bars from Priest and the outro from him. Another track without Hell Razah. Boom bap production provided by Dropsect, boom bap, vibrant bassline, melodic samples, tight dry drum. Shabazz comes in with good energy and delivers a few bars, Killah Priest is reserved a couple of lines, then the guy does the outro. This is a cut of The Disciples (of Armageddon) aka D.O.A., a short-lived duo formed by Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest, but the act didn't find the success the duo hoped for, and they soon disbanded.
Final Thoughts
This should be the group's second official album, and it's not. Right now, it's 1999, the Sunz of Man discography reads:
* "Nothing New Under the Sun" (1996, unreleased)
* "The First Testament" (1999, bootleg)
Hell Razah is the major performer with 11 appearances on 15 tracks, ahead of Killah Priest (9), Prodigal Sunn (8), 60 Second Assassin, Shabazz the Disciple and 7th Ambassador aka Zodiac Killah, all three with five appearances apiece. After the bootleg, Hell Razah doesn't give up and continues to push harder than before, releasing a couple of singles with Echo International in 1999, "Rosewood" and "Hell's Inmates", with plans for a quick and subsequent record by Sunz of Man. Both tracks, credited to Sunz of Man, feature Ghetto Government, a duo made up of 7th Ambassador and Baghdad (aka Trey Bag, Hell Razah's brother). However, Hell Razah is the only one who believes it, the others throw in the towel and the group takes a break for a few years.
The guys all focus on their solo careers and the first to release something is Hell Razah himself, who wastes no time and emerges in 2001 with an album that has the main nucleus in the Ghetto Government, both interpreters are among the major guests of the project, with Baghdad on 7 out of 19 tracks and 7th Ambassador on 4. While Sunz of Man are present with minimal contributions, Prodigal Sunn is the guest on one track and Killah Priest has two appearances there with Timbo King as part of his group Maccabees, reformed after the departures of Daddy Rose (in prison) and Salhaudin, both part of the Black Rose Family collective. There won't be another Sunz record until 2002, in a two-way effort between P Sunn and Hell Razah.
This project features some of the group's best tracks and deserves to be rediscovered by New York hardcore rap fans.
Rating: 8.5/10.
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