Rock Out

Anyone else heard Raekown's cut "Game of Rock?" Hearin' it right now, courtesy of the RZA channel on Pandora. Prodigy's on that shit too, along with Ghost. Sounds like everything else Chef's ever recorded, which is fine by me. Angry mothafucka. 'Nah mean? Fuck.

Plus...

Why'd fifty have to shit on RZA and Ghost's rings? Everyone knows they're a little gaudy, but you don't disrespect the vet like that. That said, "The Art of Getting Robbed" was a tremendous breakout single. But lay off the rings, fifty. Come on now.

Familiar

Heard a young kid from Gotham -- early 20s maybe -- freestyling last night on college radio and thought he sounded very much like Ghost circa 1994. Boundless energy. Sharp wit. Borderline nihilistic. Didn't catch his alias, otherwise I'd recommend. Pretty Tony might like to hear that shit; little walk down memory lane.

Anatomy of an imprint

Who thought up the name for Loud records back in the day? I'd bet on Ghost. Pretty Tony has a marketing savvy combined with a certain edge that's conducive to palatable names for imprints.

Royal Highness

Seen that article from Aug. '11 on Pitchfork where Ghost says he's suing Universal for unpaid royalties.

Love Pretty Tony, but how much can the guy possibly make on royalties at this point? All the money's in touring, so dude should just show up to concerts -- traditonally a tall order for all the Wu members, but they're getting better at it.

Supreme

The tracks on Supreme Clientele feel like the mid-90s -- operatic, scary at times, the product of smarts and excess.

Ghost could play around on that album because the whole fuckin' country played around back then. Now we all stay sober and connected. Internet shit. Fuck every waking minute of it.

Bombast

Completely agree with what Meth said in a recent interview on Sirius. Seated with Ghost and Rae, he unloaded on bloggers -- telling them to at least put their pictures or home addresses on their sites, to take ownership of their hostile commentary.

No doubt, all these punk bitches should identify themselves on their blogs. I mean, what the fuck?

Still, Johnny Blaze shouldn't dismiss the constitutional protections for anonymous speech, a bedrock principle of any free society.

Meth of course has repeatedly asserted the due process rights of criminal defendants on his tracks ["Filthy/ "Innocent until I'm proven guilty"] , and he probably knows as well as anyone that civil liberties giveth and taketh away, depending on the context.

Still, bloggers, put your pictures online. Sack up. I mean, what the fuck?

Caffeine

A lot of Wu members, RZA and GZA especially, disavow it completely. But I gotta believe Trife, one of the more energetic satellite members, drinks at least six cups of coffee a day. Guy's got a manic presence on all those Ghost tracks.

Great to listen to, but you can't hit that fever pitch without a little help.

On the diamond

You figure nine generals, I'd put RZA on the mound, Raekwon at third, Ghost at short, Masta Killa at second, Capp at first, Deck in left, Meth in center.

Not sure who'd fill the other spots 'cause I gotta run. Feel free to weigh in. Matter of fact, someone leave a comment somewhere on this fuckin' blog.

Ghostly

If he wasn't a Wu member, Ghost would be in MOP. Can't think of another group that even approaches the same energy level on the vocals.

My God...

Somehow U-God learned to MC. Listen to "Dopium" if you don't believe me. Guy still lacks the emotive force of RZA or Ghost, the wit of Method Man, and the menace of Raekwon.

But he now takes his place alongside GZA and Masta Killa as a quiet chronicler of The Life. Granted, those two focus on spiritual questions, and Baby U still hasn't left the club.

But after hearing "Dopium" I think he'll get there.