The Birth of a Prince

I'm not going to go on about the darker times of the Wu. They've had the ups, and more recently their down-time. I don't want to dwell on the last Rza (Bobby Digital) album that I wasn't feeling, or any other of the many Wu-related releases that have dissapointed me in the last few years. Why don't I want to dwell on them? Because there is a new bottom line, and the bottom line is this: The Birth of a Prince marks the return of the Rza. That's just a fact, whether you care or not, he is back. This instant classic does two very important things musically. Firstly, it harks back to the very thing that endeared all Wu-fans to Rza's beats in the first place, that is their rawness and soul, and it does so credibly (this is not a desperate attempt to plunge back into the past formula for success). Secondly, the album experiments enough to be considered a significant step forward in Rza's career.

From the opening banger "Bob N'I", Rza shows that the grime, the dirt and the rawness are all back. The funky beat grooves along with an insane vocal sample that injects pure adrenalin into your body. Rza's flow is pure old-school freestyle, and in typical eccentric mode, he name drops John Lennon and the most underrated Star Wars character Landau Calrissian. Then there's the dirty wah-wah guitar sample, accompanied with vinyl crackle, it will really take you back to the very best of the early Wu, when being raw really meant something. Similarly, "Grits" sees Rza experimenting with a folk-style guitar riff and some old-school drums sounds, the soulful singing by Allah Real honestly sounds more like something from the Otis Redding / Ray Charles era, and will definitely warm you up inside. On this track Rza is talking about the tough-times of his childhood (not too dissimilar from Ghostfaces memorable verse on "All that I got is You"), and yet, despite the hard-times, the overall vibe is undeniably a positive one. You can feel through his voice and lyrics that Rza is getting a lot of emotions off his chest here, and maybe that's one of the reasons there is such a hopeful feel to this record.

His artistic traits are really well displayed in "Chi Kung", in which Rza spits the entire verse in one take, and it was seemingly recorded at an akward hour as his voice is unbelievably rough & gravelly. In truth it sounds as if he's either just woken up, or is about to die, but either way, the passion merges perfectly his emotional lyrics and you're left with a truly memorable gem. The oriental strings dance and evolve every 30 seconds, and you really start to appreciate the artistry involved in creating such a beat. As any recording artist will tell you, the best moment to capture, whether you're playing an instrument or vocalising, is when that raw emotion completely overcomes you. What makes this album so impressive is that there is nothing that sounds laboured or insincere like some of his past releases, Rza is more himself than he ever has been on the mic, and he's defnitely having fun with the beats too.

The more modern and experimental Rza is found in the brilliant "Cherry Range", and the exotic & beautiful vocal sample in "A day to God is a 1000 Years". Incidentally, both of those are very remeniscent of the sound of Boards of Canada, a british electronica group, that might not shock people too much though, as he's always been known for his wide musical tastes. To delve deeper into this electronic side to Rza beats, it's definitely worth noting that Rza uses synths much more imaginatively and prominently throughout the album.

The final two gems of this fast-moving album really round it off with class. "The Birth" sees Rza truly connecting with himself, and as a result, getting back to his spiritual and socially conscious-self. "6 is the limitation of the devil, and the million square miles of land that he settles, fit you with a three-piece suit, give you loot, chemicals in your head to make you look 'cute', then use you as a fool to deceive your own people, and filling my children's head with pins and needles, I'll take out the pins you inserted, and I'll avenge all my mothers that you murdered." Anyone who knows what Rza sounds like when he's really expressing himself is probably aware that I could keep quoting that track for another ten minutes. Finally, we have "See the Joy", in which Rza transports himself back to his earliest state, a sperm. To hear him talking about himself like this actually affected me, because it made me aware of just how amazing human life is, Rza, like all of us, was once a sperm. Think about that for a second. The whole song made me appreciate life just a little bit more.

I'm not going to say that every single track is going to resonate with every single person, as one thing this album seems to have is a very wide selection of musical styles, but essentially, Rza hasn't been this creative or passionate about his music in any of his past solo works. This is the new standard he has set for himself, and I have a feeling that now the more negative sides to his personality have been explored (with the two Bobby Digital albums) we're now going to see a new and interesting artist evolve before our eyes and ears. You want to know the best feeling about this record for me? Not only that it truly takes me back to 93-95, but more importantly, just like the Rza recordings back then, this album is going to get me and a whole lot of Wu-fans worlwide through another cold, harsh winter. Intelligent young musicians will be digging albums like this in 100 years. Sincerity guarantees eternal life.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 01 Oct 2003