Group Members: GZA, U-God, Genius/GZA (NO), Genius/GZA, RZA as Bobby Digital, The RZA, Free Murda, RZA ft. Freemurda, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Method Man & Streetlife, Method Man Pres. Streetlife, Raekwon, Raekwon Guest Starring Tony Starks AKA Ghostface Killah, Ghostface, Ghostface Killah, Ghostface Killah & Trife Da God, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, GZA the Genius
Remember that band you loved that broke up? Well, next year, they're playing Coachella. We live in an age when band reunions are bordering on passé, which can obscure the fact that a well-executed comeback is often difficult to come by. Take Limp Bizkit. That once incredibly popular band released an album this year that you probably had had no idea existed. Or on a somewhat more credible note, Duran Duran reunited and recruited famed… more »
With his strident falsetto and taste for grandiose, imposing production, it is easy to hear the influence of Pat Grossi's training as a choir singer on his debut album, You Are All I See. What might be less obvious is the influence of 1990s hip-hop, a moment Grossi witnessed firsthand as the son of Priority Records' Vice President of Sales. "(My dad) was the one who was somewhat wheeling and dealing the albums out," Grossi… more »
About halfway through their game-changing 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang, a radio interviewer asks Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface about the Clan's "ultimate goal." They jockey for the privilege to answer. "Can I say this one?" Rae thirstily begs, before Meth offers a simple "domination." "This is longevity right here," Ghost cuts in. "We gon 'keep it raw." Mission: accomplished. From their Staten Island-as-Shaolin self-mythologizing to their inventive business model - separate solo deals under the… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
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