Best WuTang album and music like it

[StarDreamCan]

Im new to it. But the songs Ive heard are just real bad ass. I love that they are kungfu fans and their lyrics are heavy with refrence. My question is, Im hitting the US soon and will be going to a record store with american cds halleluyah its been too long. And I want to pick up a great Wu tang album. Recommendations. My friend said get Enter the 36th chamber.

Also.. Any other groups that rap with kungfu verses.

[Iron Palm]

Originally Posted by StarDreamCan

Im new to it. But the songs Ive heard are just real bad ass. I love that they are kungfu fans and their lyrics are heavy with refrence. My question is, Im hitting the US soon and will be going to a record store with american cds halleluyah its been too long. And I want to pick up a great Wu tang album. Recommendations. My friend said get Enter the 36th chamber.

Also.. Any other groups that rap with kungfu verses.

Enter the Wu Tang and Gza's Liquid Swords are the two you definitely want if you're looking for a lot of kung fu references.

[sifu iron perm]

Only Built 4 cuban lynx
iron man
supreme clientele
liquid swordz
wu tang forever


btw, majority of wu album has kung fu/asian action samples..

DJ Tony Touch put out a serious dope mixtape called 5 Deadly Venoms, which had samples from the movie.

[QueMuchita]

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The 36 Chambers
Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
GZA - Liquid Swords
Method Man - Tical
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
RZA - As Bobby Digital In Stereo
Ghostface Killah - Ironman
Masta Killa - No Said Date
Shyheim - The Lost Generation
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep
Killarmy - Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
Gravediggaz - The Pick, The Sickle & The Shovel
Killah Priest - Heavy Mental
Sunz Of Man - The Last Shall Be First

Cant go wrong..

[lillippa328]

I think i was the only one that liked Iron Flag?

[Drunken Monk]

The Fu Schnickens were rhyming about kung fu and using kung fu samples a good few years before Wu Tang burst onto the scene. Try and find some of their stuff. Not only does it have the martial arts influence but it's incredible hip hop.

Jeru the Damaja is another one. I believe he is a practitioner of kung fu and included lyrics like, "I kick like kung fu flicks by Run Run Shaw" in his songs. That particular lyric is from "Come Clean." He also had this video, obviously inspired by kunf fu movies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBxiz497kas

As for Wu Tang? They're hit and miss, in my opinion. "Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)" is an absolute must have and "Wu Tang Forever" is a classic, although could have been put out as one disk as some of the songs can easily be skipped over (U God's solo "Black Shampoo" has the funniest lyrics of all time).
Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Return to the 36 Chambers" is an overlooked masterpiece. Granted, ODB was crazy but the man knew how to make music. It's just a shame that his first album was the only good album he managed to put out. Lots of kung fu references and samples.
"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" is Raekwon's only good album and it leans more towards the mafioso vibe than kung fu flicks. I recall a sample from John Woo's "The Killer" played at the beginning of a song and a few kung fu samples but not as many as other albums. Still, this is probably the best Wu associated album of all time and one of the best hip hop albums ever made.
Ghostface's first two albums, "Iron Man" and "Supreme Clientele" are fantastic but neither contain an abundance of kung fu samples or references. Anything after these two, I didn't really enjoy that much and his latest R & B album is terrible.

Check out projects the above posters mentioned and you'll definitely find some gems.

An emcee called Okwerdz put out an EP called "Rush Hour" where each song's beat is constructed from music from a Jakie Chan movie.




You can download the EP for free here...

http://www.zshare.net/download/54785037379262fd/

And no, it isn't bootlegging as Okwerdz uploaded the EP himself and the above link can be found on his My Space page.

http://www.myspace.com/okwerdz

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

GZA's Liquid Swords is one of the best rap albums of all time!

Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is another classic!

Both Enter The 36 Chambers and Wu Tang Forever are great.

Ghostface Killah's Iron man and Method Man's Tical are mixed bags in my mind, but worth checking out!

Cappadonna's The Pillage is also a worthy Wu related effort!

[butcher wing]

only get original Wu members music. Ghostface is the greatest and most underrated of them all. You can't lose with GAZ, Rae the chef. Don't get any of the off springs, or second generation they are not as good. All albums have gems, but 36th Chamber put them on the map.

[Drunken Monk]

Originally Posted by butcher wing

Ghostface is the greatest and most underrated of them all.

I disagree. He's touted as being one of, if not the, greatest emcee in the world today. He sells the most out of all the other members and has consistently put out album after album. He lost me after the "Pretty Tony" album but he seems to be loved.

The second generation acts are a mixed bag. I like a few Killarmy albums and I think LA the Darkman's "Heist of the Century" is one of best Wu albums but other artists do fall flat. Buddha Monk has ridden the coat tails of ODB only to let down most listeners, Shyheim is distinctly average, early Gravediggaz are great but pretty separate from Wu Tang and Five Deadly Venoms (a rare all female Wu Tang based group) have good content but really bad quality releases mostly only found on bootleg.

[hanzo87]

Originally Posted by Drunken Monk

Jeru the Damaja is another one. I believe he is a practitioner of kung fu and included lyrics like, "I kick like kung fu flicks by Run Run Shaw" in his songs. That particular lyric is from "Come Clean."

I think he also mentions Sam Seed on either that song or on another track on his great golden-age album The Sun Rises In The East. I love that album man, and that track (Come Clean) especially.

I agree with most of the points 'Drunken Monk' makes, I think that Enter the Wu Tang is definitely a classic so you should pick that up as well as Liquid Swords by GZA (...which has quite a few samples from Shogun assassin along with the usual kung fu samples). and is possibly one of the strongest (lyrically speaking) hip hop albums ever.

Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Return to the 36 Chambers" is an overlooked masterpiece. Granted, ODB was crazy but the man knew how to make music. It's just a shame that his first album was the only good album he managed to put out. Lots of kung fu references and samples.

that's so true man. You share my exact thoughts on that album, i feel that the album is so underrated. I mean, how many hip hop albums have two singles as raw and as insanely brilliant as "shimmy shimmy ya" and "brooklyn zoo"??? Even album tracks like "raw hide" and "snakes" are absolutely killer!! I always felt about ODB that what he lacked in lyrical skill like that of say GZA or Ghostface he more than made up for in sheer charisma and kinda crazy/out-there fuckery....lol.

"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" is Raekwon's only good album and it leans more towards the mafioso vibe than kung fu flicks. I recall a sample from John Woo's "The Killer" played at the beginning of a song and a few kung fu samples but not as many as other albums. Still, this is probably the best Wu associated album of all time and one of the best hip hop albums ever made.

OB4CL is one of my personal favourites also, although like you said it is more mafioso influenced. I would have agreed with your comment that it was 'Raekwon's only good album' up until a few months ago before his sequel to that album was released (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2). But I have to say his new album is seriously nails man. Admittedly there's a lot less kung fu samples musically speaking, but there are quite a few lines of dialogue from shaolin vs lama throughout the album most notably in the lead single House of Flying Daggers (....which has a sick Five Deadly Venoms themed music video).

Link to video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR7kVnh3PlI