Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Vinyl LP Record

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) songs "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Nas' 1994 debut album, ILLMATIC, has been called one of the best rap albums of all time, and this followup documents the main reason why: Nas is the supreme lyricist in hip-hop. On the surface he is a gangsta rapper dispensing richly detailed street stories. But Nas speaks in metaphors not easily interpreted, and his songs constantly challenge the listener to see into his innermost thoughts. He dwells neither on what he could be or wants to be, but rather, simply, on what he is. He's one of the few rappers who can fairly be labeled a poet. IT WAS WRITTEN utilizes the musical talents of street-oriented producers to enhance Nas' feel for reality. Among those producers are Dr. Dre, who collaborates on "Nas Is Coming" in a joint attempt to squash the East Coast/West Coast war. Producers include: Nas, Trackmasters, Poke, Tone, DJ Premier. Engineers include: Eddie Sancho, Kelston Rice. Personnel: Nas (vocals); Lauryn Hill (vocals, background vocals); J. Parker, Kurt Walker, Ken "Duro" Ifill (vocals); Dave Atkinson, Delight (keyboards); DJ Kid Capri (scratches); Joel "JoJo" Hailey (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Bill Esses; Ken "Duro" Ifill; Mike Fronda; Poke & Tone; Richard Travali. Recording information: Bearsville Studios, NY; Chung King Studios, New York, NY; D&D Studios, New York, NY; Dre's House, Los Angeles, CA; Hit Factory Studios, New York, NY; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; SoundTracks Studios, New York, NY; Westlake studios. Photographer: Danny Clinch. Personnel includes: Nas, Mobb Deep, Dr. Dre, Lauryn Hill (vocals); Delight, Dave Atkinson (keyboards); DJ Kid Capri (scratches); JoJo Hailey (background vocals). The Firm: Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, Cormega (rap vocals).

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) CD music Duck Down Records continues to affirm its supremacy as the dominant label in the New York underground with another tight album from one of its favorite sons, Sean Price. On his sophomore solo release, the grandiosely titled JESUS PRICE SUPASTAR, Ruck dazzles listeners with his magnum force, rapid fire rhymes, and straight-forward mic command. Much of this set's greatness is owed to the strong production contribution from beat wizard 9th Wonder--whose unlikely alliance with Duck Down continues to bear strange fruit. Ruck puts it best over the dreamy track, "Violent"--"The beat is smooth/The rap is hard/Just the way I like it/Bless the mic with the god." Supplementary beatwork comes courtesy of PF Cuttin, Tommy Tee, Ill Mind, MOSS, and Khrysis; and Sean P gets nice guest verses from fellow Boot Camp affiliates, as well as Sadat X, Chaundon, Phonte, and Block McCloud.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) buy CD music Out of a seemingly endless array of hip hop albums, every now and again something fresh and powerful rises to the top of the pile. Hailing from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Long Island City (home to Marley Marl among others), 20-year old Nasir "Nas" Jones is less concerned with being an impersonator than with being an originator, bypassing adolescent fantasies and B-boy braggadocio in favor of jazzy beats, rap noir realism and new answers to urban despair. ILLMATIC is his story, a cautionary tale of the inner-city streets, and as Nas makes plain on his opener, "The Genesis," this is what he does, with or without a record contract, and it's going to be served up straight, no chaser. And because Nas has the courage to transcend popular trends, to separate himself from the ranks of wannabes and me-toos, he may be on the verge of inaugurating some stylistic changes of his own. Production-wise, Nas has gathered together some of the superstars of the hip hop underground, producers the likes of Q-Tip, Pete Rock, L.E.S., DJ Premier and The Large Professor, but it is Nas's unique rhythmic cadences, his idiomatic sense of on-the-street wordplay, his disrespect for the high time and the empty rhyme that distinguishes ILLMATIC. When Nas rocks the mic, it's not a hedonist's wet dream, but a depiction of urban hope and despair, and thanks to Nas's poetic insights, he soon transports you there (in a manner seldom seen in black pop since the days of Stevie's INNERVISIONS and Marvin Gaye's WHAT'S GOIN' ON?). Includes a bonus disc with select remixes. Recorded at Chung King Studios, D & D Recording and Battery Studios, New York, New York. Engineers include: Eddie Sancho, Jason Vogel, Jamey Staub. Personnel: Nas, A.Z. (rap vocals); Olu Dara (trumpet). Producers: DJ Premier, L.E.S., NAS, Pete Rock, The Large Professor, Q-Tip. Engineers include: Eddie Sancho, Jamey Staub, Kevin Reynolds. Personnel includes: Nas, AZ. Producers include: The Large Professor, Pete Rock, L.E.S., DJ Premier, Q-Tip. Personnel includes: Nas, AZ (vocals); Olu Dara (trumpet). Producers: DJ Premier, L.E.S., Pete Rock, Q-Tip, The Large Professor.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) album for sale Third and last of the "classic" Tribe records (preceding the addition of Jay Dee and the formation of "the Ummah" production team), MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS is not as groundbreaking as PEOPLE'S INSTINCTIVE TRAVELS or as consistently on-point as LOW END THEORY. However, it is arguably the group's most musically sophisticated album. The tracks balance jazz, soul, and even reggae influences with pure hip-hop to arrive at a completely distinctive Tribe sound, the logical evolution of the bop-inflected hooks which characterized LOW END THEORY. Production-wise, Tribe graduates from a cool school aesthetic to an electric jazz sound (reminiscent of fusion-era Miles Davis). Lyrically MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS finds the group's abstract poetics in excellent form as usual, and Phife is miles ahead of the "mayor-flavor" rhymes of "Can I Kick It." As per the title, the album develops the introspection of "After Hours" into a nocturnal feel which winds it's way through "Midnight," the party-rock of "We Can Get Down," "Clap Your Hands" and the complex layers of "God Lives Through." Recorded at Battery Studios, Platinum Island, Matermix and Sorcerer Sound, New York, New York. Producers: A Tribe Called Quest, Skeff Anselm, Large Professor. Engineers: Bob Power, A Tribe Called Quest, Tim Latham. A Tribe Called Quest: Jonathan "Q-Tip" Davis, Malik "Phife-Dawg" Taylor (rap vocals); Ali Shaheed Muhammad (turntables). Additional personnel: Large Professor, Trugoy, Busta Rhymes, Raphael Wiggins.

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) CD music The topics on CUBAN LINX are all Chef-centered braggadocio, and the beats constantly reflect the hip-hop underground. Raekwon defines the politics of the rap game on "Incarcerated Scarfaces," and invites any non-believers to test his skills. Joining Raekwon on just about every cut, fellow Clan-man Ghost Face Killer gives a great solo effort on "Wisdom Body." In fact, CUBAN LINX bares closer resemblance to an actual Wu-Tang Clan album than any solo record by a Wu-Tang member. The backing track for "Guillotine (Swordz)" was previously introduced on Method Man's solo album TICAL, and Raekwon and his crew expand on it for a quick flashback. "Can It Be All So Simple" also returns--this time in a remixed form. These two songs, along with "Ice Cream" and "Wu-Gambinos" (both of which feature Method Man), should feed the habits of hungry Wu-fiends. Raekwon's chamber briefly escapes the Clan's musical borders on "Verbal Intercourse," and though the track evokes other Wu-Tang material, Nas' lyrical presence adds a different dimension to the album's haunting reality. As usual, The RZA dominates the production on each razor-sharp cut, and with appearences from just about every Clan MC, ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX... could easily be a Raekwon-sponsored Wu-Tang reunion. (2-LP set) The Wu-Tang saga continues. Raekwon "The Chef" is already an irreplacable part of rap music's largest breed, the Wu-Tang Clan, but his debut proves him also capable of standing on his own two feet. On ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX..., Raekwon's street-tough lyrics spotlight the roughness of his everyday life and, combined with short story interludes, shape the plot for this gangster movie of an album. Personnel includes: Raekwon, 62nd Assassin Of Sunz Of Man, Lucky Hands a/k/a Golden Arms, Cappachino, Noodles a/k/a Master Killa (rap vocals); Blue Raspberry (vocals).

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) buy CD music All songs written or co-written by A. Johnson and K. Muchita except "Just Step Prelude" (A. Johnson/T. Perry). Samples include "That's Alright With Me" (Ester Phillips), "Where There Is Love" (as performed by Patrice Rushen), "You Are My Starship" (as performed by Norman Connors) and "I Remember I Made You Cry" (as performed by The Headhunters). Before their Loud/RCA debut THE INFAMOUS, Mobb Deep's Havoc and Prodigy were introduced to the hip-hop nation on 1993's JUVENILE HELL, portraying their own brand of the "Trife Life." Image and hardships aside, a lot has changed since then, particularly their music which has naturally matured as the pair have grown older, bolder and wiser. THE INFAMOUS is a rugged ride through the truths and terrors of these two Big Apple outlaws, with cuts like "Right Back At You" and "Cradle To The Grave" stinging the minds of its listeners. This time around Mobb Deep play with the background tracks a little more, having self-produced virtually the entire album. The lead-off single, "Shook Ones Pt. II," blew up tremendously, first in the underground and then on the charts; its killer lyrics and hypnotizing beat pounded a warning into the heads of the masses to stay real. "Survival Of The Fittest" and "Up North Trip" both describe the hectic streets of New York as a war zone where the constant struggle is to stay alive. Mobb Deep join forces with two of rap's most intense lyricists, Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, on "Eye For A Eye (Your Beef Is Mine)." Adding to the all-star cast, Q-Tip donates an abstract feel to a few tracks and makes his cameo appearance on "Drink Away The Pain (Situations)," a clever track dedicated to an unlikely first love. Mobb Deep come correct throughout the album, once again proving that while rap may be just a music, hip-hop is a way of life. Score another point for the crews of Queensbridge, as THE INFAMOUS enters that 'hood's Hall Of Fame right next to Nas' ILLMATIC. Mobb Deep's sophomore effort turned out to be a career-defining moment for the Queensbridge duo. Two years post-JUVENILE HELL, THE INFAMOUS saw Havoc and Prodigy turn considerably harder, spinning aggressive tales of paranoid crime drama and firmly establishing Loud Records as a label to be reckoned with. The Queensbridge housing projects as portrayed from the Mobb's late-teenage point of view is a violent maze populated by stick-up kids and fiends; a place where life is trife, liquor is poured out daily for dead comrades, police are the enemy, and childhood friends turn snitch. Havoc's no-frills East Coast production provides the perfect backdrop for the murky subject matter. Every song is a classic, packed with thug-life quotables which inspired dozens of subsequent street anthems and an array of imitators. Big Noyd, Nas, Q-Tip, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah make up the guest-list. (2-LP set) Producers: Mobb Deep (tracks 1, 3-4, 8-13, 15-16); The Abstract (tracks 6-7, 14). Engineers: Louis Alfred III (tracks 1, 7-8, 11, 13, 15-16); Tim Latham (tracks 3-4, 6, 14); Dino Zerros (track 9); Mobb Deep, Tony Smalios (track 10). Mobb Deep: Havoc, Prodigy (vocals). Additional personnel: Big Noyd, Crystal Johnson (vocals), Tony Smalios (programming).