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| RZA - "As Bobby Digital" Gee Street/V2 | |
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After leading the Wu into the stratosphere of the rap heavens, the RZA has decided
to step out from behind the confines of the boards for his own, long-anticipated
solo album. But this will not be the only one. This is only the first, and there is another
slated to be released next year. After hearing the album, you will understand why. Call it
a two part adventure into the world of the RZArector, or in this case, his alter-ego,
Bobby Digital... a hero from the streets living the high life. It seems to fly in the face
of everything that the RZA has worked hard to sustain the Wu as: a conscious group that
are respected by everyone. This album throws all of that out, and seems to me to be
looking through the eyes of one of the jiggy, flossy cats up in this music game.
At least I hope that is what he is doing! It could also be something that he has felt
he wanted to do, but could never do this because of what he believes in. He and the Wu
are big enough to support a few albums that are not their usual bread and butter.
After the obligatory intro, we are introduced to the RZA as Bobby Digital via "B.O.B.B.Y." which is a banging RZA production, only marred by the chorus which goes on for far too long! Just like CNN's "T.O.N.Y." and also "N.O.R.E." the chorus consists of spelling out his name, but this is repeated with no meaning for the initials....the name is too long to do this! I feel that the artist has been to lazy, and hopes to carry the song on a repetitive chorus, just like "The Chase" he made before, and not enough verses. The b-side to the single is "Holocaust" and is a typical Wu production with haunting R&B vocals that do not impinge on the track. This is definitely a banger and grew on me. The album's best track is probably the panty raider Method Man featuring "NYC Everything". This is tight! It's still on the 'chase the p*ssy' sh*t, but if it's done this well it ain't all bad. "Bobby Did It" is nice, with Ghostface amongst others showing up for the party. There are soulful undertones, and this experiment continues with "My Lovin' Is Digi" over a complementary track. The haunting vocals are nice, let down by the rapped vocals by Rza. Don't even bother with that "Ice Cream" verse - that just don't cut it no more. This track is followed by "Domestic Violence", which starts off recycling vocals and style that was not too long ago used on a remix! Come on! I know nowadays we supposed to be environmentally friendly, but new lyrics ain't gonna harm the ozone layer! And then the sh*t talking begins. Rza shows his dislike of bad-mouthed, usual "b*tches" as he describes her. Is this really necessary ? And then this one is followed up by a skit, "Project Talk", which demonstrates some of the problems on this album. Blank space between verses, sudden breaks in the flow, when obviously there shouldn't be. A familiar track. "Kiss of a Black Widow" also demonstrates this lack of polish, as Ol Dirty breaks into verse, and then splutters off, and Rza sensing something wrong tries to cut in, but O.D.B. continues to nowhere. I guess this must have been made in a hurry. These aren't the only songs suffering from the laziness of the Rza: "Terrorist" features Killarmy over a decent track but right at the end cuts off one of them in mid-flow! Wassup wit dat ? Despite these flaws, we can still see that the Rza is a talented man, but the subject matter has been explored so many times before! We already got Will Smith, Puffy, Jermaine Dupri, and probably the best of the jiggy brigade in Jay-Z. It is still a good listen, but maybe you'd be better off getting the instrumental album, cos there are some nice beats here. I'm not knocking this (well not too much), but I feel that this set was put together in a short space of time with no checking or anything done, and this shows. Hopefully next year's release from the Rza will show the cat everyone been waiting for. "The Rza he the sharpest motherf*cker in the whole Clan he always on point razor sharp with the beats and the rhymes" - remember that? Well maybe he'll prove that in the next album, but this ain't bad, and that's reflected in the rating. - Roni |
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