Posts should include in-depth questions and analytical opinions. New topics must aim to start a discussion. Trivial and uninteresting threads may be deleted. Try to engage in intriguing conversation. A comment should always further the discussion in some way, whether it be through adding onto the original post, contributing new information, offering an opposing viewpoint, etc.
Back up your opinions with details and examples. All top level comments must be longer than simply a sentence or two, barring questions and some exceptions. The first line from the title track “when the emcees came, to live out the name/ and to perform, some had to snort cocaine, to act insane… ”is to this day one of the most recognizable opening stanzas in rap music, period.Comments must meet a general standard of quality determined by the moderators. He cuts through RZA’s audio dope with the acumen and ease of a practiced rhyme fiend and a lyrical edge honed to a degree precise enough to split a baby’s hair. Like the rest of the first wave of Wu solo albums, Liquid Swords borrows heavily from Kung Fu flick imagery ( Shogun Assassin in this case) and GZA’s calm, purposeful timbre accentuates lyrical sharpness that would put Li Mu Bai’s blade The Green Destiny to shame. An assertion widely attributed to Einstein states, in essence, that majority of us only use 10 to 20 percent of our brain’s potential at any given time, GZA’s penmanship in 1995 puts him solidly in the minority. It’s not hard to tell from the body of work that is Liquid Swords that he’s got a higher-functioning brain than the rest of humanity.
“I am not a human being” is a refrain popularized by Lil Wayne but as a declaritive statement it’d be more believable coming from GZA. Together, the Diggs cousins captured the genius essence and the elemental, unadulterated hip-hop resulting from their alchemy in the lab hasn’t been since and probably won’t ever again. The production on Liquid Swords exhibits RZA at the pinnacle of his powers, powers that later served to influence everyone from Kanye West to El-P. In an era where paying dues consists of amassing youtube views and struggle bars are overlooked if the artist in question has enough cache and swag in the eye of the public, Liquid Swords is a nostalgic walk down memory lane to a time when being a respected emcee actually required being able to rap well. This collectors item includes not only the classic LP, but a separate physical copy of RZA’s instrumentals, artwork from the orginal LP, a 20-page interview with GZA in the liner notes–and most importantly, a mini-chess set that can be played on a board printed on the inner cover of the box housing all these goodies as part of the overall experience. Seventeen years after its intial release, record label Get On Down pays only-appropriate homage to the Genius and RZA’s seminal masterpiece with a deluxe edition reissue. The GZA’s Liquid Swords was not only a watermark for the Wu at their arguable peak but for hip-hop in general. There are a number of albums that need to be revisited to appreciate their historical context and consequent impact on the culture (accusations of of Golden Age Boom Bap fetishism be damned).