Flows Like Water, Rhymes Sharper than Blades: Welcome to Gza’s Liquid Swords
Written: Nov 26 '01 (Updated Nov 26 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Excellent rhymes and production. Killah Priest featured. The best Wu solo LP.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: In my opinion, this is the best solo LP released by any member of the Wu-Tang Clan. If you like the Wu, you can’t pass Liquid Swords up.
madtheory's Full Review: Liquid Swords by Genius/GZA
[ominous background music]
[child’s voice:] “When I was little, my father was famous. He was the greatest samurai in the empire, and he was the shogun’s decapitator. He cut off the heads of one hundred and thirty one lords. It was a bad time for the empire. The shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out. People said his brain was infected by devils. My father would come home; he would forget about the killings. He wasn’t scared of the shogun, but the shogun was scared of him. Maybe that was the problem. Then one night, the shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn’t…”
[woman screaming]
“That was the night everything changed…”
That is the dramatic introduction to one of the single greatest rap albums of all time, Liquid Swords by Wu-Tang Clan member, Gza. Gza was actually the only member of the Wu collective to have had success prior to the release of 1994’s Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (Gza’s debut album was 1990’s Words from the Genius), and this album shows his experience. Each and every line from the Gza sounds like he spent hours crafting them individually. Rza’s signature production is on the majority of the tracks, so the album definitely has that grimy Shaolin sound. The Genius also made sure to recruit each and every member of the Clan to give his LP that complete Wu feel. The end result is a seamless album that flows like water, but with lyrics and production as sharp as any Shaolin blade.
Track Listing
1. Liquid Swords
2. Duel of the Iron Mic
3. Living in the World Today
4. Gold
5. Cold World
6. Labels
7. 4th Chamber
8. Shadowboxin’
9. Hell’s Wind Staff
10. Killah Hills 10304
11. Investigative Reports
12. Swordsman
13. I Gotcha Back
14. B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)
After the movie introduction, the Liquid Swords LP seamlessly blends into the title track. Gza freestyles some laid-back braggadocio raps while Rza provides Gza’s background vocals in addition to the deceptively simple accompaniment. Rza’s music here consists of a synthesizer playing his signature marching staccato quarter notes over a pounding kick drum.
The infamous Ol’ Dirty Bastard lends his unique voice to the hook on “Duel of the Iron Mic.” Gza spits more metaphor-heavy rhymes on the first verse. Mastah Killah keeps the song flowing on the second segment, dropping tight lyrics in his completely offbeat style of rhyming. Inspektah Deck finishes the song, ripping the microphone in a more conventional but still impressive rhyme technique. Rza is obviously still behind the boards here, using subtle but moving percussion and a simple piano melody to paint the musical backdrop.
Gza flexes his storytelling skills on “Gold” telling the first-person narrative of a drug-dealer obsessed with making money and expanding his “business.” Gza makes sure not to glamorize the character by keeping the dark, gritty reality of that criminal existence intact and not glossing it over like many other rappers. Rza’s raw drumbeat laced with long keyboard notes and a choral sample works perfectly with Gza’s delivery to relay the sinister feel of the song. Gza rhymes this on the first verse:
“I'm deep down in the back streets in the heart of Medina /
About to set off something more deep than a misdemeanor /
Under the subway, waiting for the train to make noise /
So I can blast a ni**a and his boys /
For what? He pushed up on the block and made the dope sales drop /
Like the crashin’ of Dow Jones stock /
I had to connect to cross seals, to catch more mils /
Than ho-b*tches got birth control pills /
I'm in the park, settin’ up a deal over blunt fire /
Bum ni**az sleepin’ on the bench, they had em wired /
Peeped my convo, the address of my condo, /
And how I changed a ni**a name to John Doe /
And while we set up camp, we got vamped /
Put the stake through his heart, I ripped his f*cking fangs apart /
Snake got smoked on the set like Brandon Lee /
Blown out the frame, like Pan Am flight 103 /
He got swung on, his lungs was torn /
The kingpin just castled with his rook and lost a pawn /”
More storytelling follows on track 5, “Cold World” . Here, fellow Wu-Tang Clansman Inspectah Deck joins the Genius in rapping about the grimy street life in urban New York. On this one, Bobby Digital gives the track a very reflective feel with a remarkably simple bass line, his typical driving high hat, and a vibraphone loop. “Cold World” is one of the singles off Liquid Swords.
Having had more than his share of troubles with various record labels, the Genius chooses to take a quick shot at some of the most popular Hip Hop and Urban music companies on “Labels.” In the rhymes, Gza incorporates the names of the labels into his rhymes very creatively to augment his lyrical assault, because “you’ve got to read the label, or you’ll get poisoned.” Under the rapper’s vocals, Rza lays a hard Wu beat punctuated with more of Rza’s signature marching quarter notes, this time provided only by a tambourine.
I think my favorite track by far is track 7, “4th Chamber.” Rza does an exceptional job on the production with this, using some kind of grinding guitar feedback for the foundation. After he adds some digital triple “beep” tones, a little synth accompaniment, and more gritty drums, Rza’s left with some 100% head-nodding “harmonic noise”, one of the hallmarks of Wu’s sound. Ghostface Killah kicks off the rhyme session, and is followed by Killah Priest, the Rza, and eventually Gza.
The CD ends with a solo song by one of the best of Wu-Tang’s “swarm” of affiliates, Killah Priest. On the track, “B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth),” Priest raps about his thoughts on Christianity, the Church, and seeking a deeper knowledge of his faith. Producer 4th Disciple puts together a beat with a relaxed melody, muted percussion, and Godzilla roars far in the background. Though lyrically it’s not some of Killah Priest’s best work, it’s definitely a great track. This song is also on KP’s solo debut Heavy Mental.
All things considered, Liquid Swords is probably one of the most complete solo albums to come out of the Wu-Tang. It definitely ranks right up there with Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Ghost’s recent success Supreme Clientele, and surpasses them completely in my opinion. Gza is a deft rapper who’s lines are intelligent, poetic, and stay relevant to his life in NY as well as embracing the ever-expanding Wu lore. Rza’s production on this album is the quintessential Wu-Tang sound replete with dark, inauspicious music, and thick, heavy beats. If you’re a rap fan, don’t be afraid to dig past some of the more recent albums and find this1995 Hip Hop classic.
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