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Of all the hip-hop groups formed in the mid-1990s, no one has been as prolific as Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan. While the quality of their work, both collectively and individually, has ranged from landmark to puzzling, their place in the hip-hop firmament has long been closed for debate. With the upcoming release of compilation album Legendary Weapons, we've got the title track featuring Clan member Ghostface Killah alongside AZ and M.O.P.
Noah Rubin, best known for Wu-Tang's 2009 compilation album Chamber Music, cooks up the dark, ominous track in the vein of Wu mastermind RZA. Ghostface, in trademark stream-of-consciousness flow, squeezes in references from Al Qaeda to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video to Wiz Khalifa, noting that Wiz's hit "Black and Yellow" is "that killa bee color scheme." AZ, still riding the buzz off a guest verse on Nas' Illmatic 17 years ago, delivers a solid, if unremarkable, verse, while M.O.P., sounding slightly more subdued than their trademark über-energetic delivery, could sound good over a dying cat. But then again, they still have to make up for this.
While rumors still swirl about a proper follow-up to 2007's 8 Diagrams, we'll take what we can get. Legendary Weapons is out July 26 on E1 Music.
+ Listen to Wu-Tang Clan's "Legendary Weapons" featuring AZ and M.O.P.