Wu-Tang Songs

Nate’s 9

Songs by: Wu-Tang Clan

            As I wind down to the final chapters of Nate’s Nine, I have to think that songs by my favorite band would be a category as good as any other.  While Pink Floyd and The Beatles are right up there and I could just as easily do this on their wonderful music, I haven’t touched on anything Wu-Tang Clan yet.  I may in fact even do that some day, (Floyd and Beatles) but likely with some other blog concept.  You are all well aware that I like to keep things fresh, at least from the perspective of writing and I usually run about 50 blogs before I like to change things.  The “Blogs with Aiden”, “Blog Trilogies”, “Blog of the Week” have all done me well, and I think “Nate’s 9” has been great just because it generates a lot of conversation, plus it has all to do with lists, and I certainly love those.  I’ve gotten almost 4,000 site views on Nate’s 9 alone, and for all of that, I say thank you.

Note: Choosing 9 from the 722 songs that I own was ridiculous and probably a waste of time.  For this to be totally accurate, it probably needed to be Nate’s 242.

Note2: With no disrespect towards 36 Chambers, which will always be one of the greatest, I won’t be including any of those songs on here.  They are all great and probably rank from 10-100 in all of Wu-Tang, and while C.R.E.A.M. is their most recognizable song, it’s the music underneath that is everything that I love.

Note3: Same with A Better Tomorrow.  I love the album immensely, and it’s all I’ve listened to in the last 8 days, but the newness can’t overtake the greatness.  Yet.

#9 – Slang Editorial by Cappadonna.  The Pillage is probably one of the more underrated solo albums that was released by a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, and Cappadonna really pushes toward stardom with his tight beats and competent lyrics throughout the LP.  I thought that if The Pillage was going to be his worst, then he would likely reach the heights of some of the all-time greats.  While that didn’t happen, Slang Editorial is a wonderful solo release with some of the great one-liners that have been circulated by a member of the Wu.  “I came to the fork in the road and went straight, Right from the crack vial to the Golden Gate”.  Dirty.  

#8 – Things Just Ain’t the Same by Masta Killa. Masta kills it on this track.  Usually he just drops lines casually, and lacks a little bit of pace compared to his Wu brothers.  Not on this one.  He goes pretty much from start to finish.  And the beat though. 

#7 – Daytona 500 by Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Cappadonna.  Pretty much the first song that got me hooked on the Wu train.  They come out in the intro just singing.  “Light your blunts and down your beers. Cause you can never fuck with Wu-Tang Killa Bees!” Then it drops a tight beat and Rae goes nuts in the first verse.  Even Cappa and Ghostface bring it.  Ol’ Dirty sneaks in for about 2 seconds. The start of my favorite musical journey. 

#6 – Blue Armor by Ghostface Killah & Sheek Louch.  Probably the hardest song I think WTC has ever done.  I wasn’t really feeling the More Fish album by Ghostface, because I thought he was naming it off the legacy of “Fish” from the Ironman album.  That’s one of his greatest songs, and this entire album was missing the point.  (I think he was dropping, just to drop).  In any case, Armor goes hard and Ghost and Sheek absolutely tear it up on this single and it’s easy the best performance on this album.

#5 – Wu-Gambinos by Raekwon, RZA, Ghostface Killah, Meth, & Masta Killa. Also known as Lex Diamonds, Bobby Steels, Tony Starks, Johnny Blaze and Noodles.  This compilation of stars came together for a Mafioso style track that features all of the artist as gangstas in a story.  It’s probably their best song that not many people have heard of.  It would probably be higher on this list, and I think it stands out as the best song on the best solo album (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx), but not quite made of that top 4 greatness. But, “I call my brother son cause he shine like one” is one of the best hooks in hip-hop history.

#4 – 9 Milli Bros by WTC.  It was nice for the entire group to come together one last time before the untimely passing of ODB.  I was surprised but pleased to see that they put this on one of Ghostface’s solo joints, as it’s usually something that they do on one of their compilation albums.  Ghostface opens and just kills it, Rae slows down the vibe, but still spits a nice verse, and then of course Ol’ Dirty comes in for his 2 second cameo.  The only thing that this one is lacking is a verse from the RZA even though he does the intro and the production.  Actually, that’s probably good enough.

#3 – Triumph by WTC.  The first time they got all 10 members to throw down together.  It’s probably one of their greatest songs and recognized just as much as C.R.E.A.M. and Gravel Pit.  Everyone put a lot of effort into their verse, and you can really tell.  I think everyone shines on this track, and Rebel INS (Inspectah Deck) probably opens with the best verse.  So many metaphors and the rhyming skill are superlative. Cappa murders it on here without any sort of rhyming technique.  It was my favorite for a long time, and still has the potential to return to #1 on most everyone’s list, including my own. “I’m going to rub your ass till the moon shine, let’s take it back to 79!!!”

#2 – Protect ya Neck by WTC (The Jump Off) “You know I had to call, you know why, right?” I love the first one; it was probably one of the hardest songs to keep off of this list.  But this one... it’s almost the perfect Wu-Tang song in my opinion.  Deck’s intro... beautiful.  His verse once again is one of the best.  Then halfway through the song, RZA’s had enough.  He lays down a beauty, passes it over to Ghostface and then flips the track and it feels like we’re listening to something entirely different.  U-God, Cappa and GZA go hard and bring the entire thing home in the last 90 seconds.  The only thing it’s unfortunately missing is Ol’ Dirty, because of some time spent in jail.  Never thought this gem would ever be #2, but it’s only because...

#1 – Rushing Elephants by Raekwon, GZA, RZA & Masta Killa.  This is different than every other list I read, but only because of 2 things.  Everyone agrees that this is a Wu Banga, and probably their best on “8 Diagrams”. The beat is hot, the rhymes are intense and everybody brings it in their own style. The reason it stands out for me a little bit more is because it’s my four favorite artists in the Wu-Tang Clan, and they’ve never done it this way before.  I know that there are almost limitless ways that Wu could throw down with, but I never thought it would go this way for me.  While I love them all, whenever one of these 4 releases a solo, or spit on a Wu track, I just get a little more excited than I normally do.  They even do it in the right order (I love when Rae intro’s; GZA’s so chill; RZA goes hard; and Masta is a quality finisher.) Perfection.