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8 Diagrams

by Wu-Tang Clan

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On Wu-Tang Clan's sixth album, 8 Diagrams, producer RZA still knows how to drop the bottom out of listeners' expectations. A minute and a half into opener "Campfire," for example, he abruptly switches keys just as the accompanying vocal downshifts from a melodic Curtis Mayfield sample ("Gypsy Woman") into Method Man's merciless first verse. From then on, despite the contentious instrumentals (Raekwon practically disowned the final product), RZA's never lets his fun get in the way of the MCs' speaking largely for themselves. Unsurprisingly, they still have a lot to say, though much of it treads firmly in the most stereotypical of hip-hop posturing: self-adulation, rough-edged with a syncopated litany of more or less violent, casually sexist bravado. Of course, those who tend toward hip-hop with a heart of gold would never be listening to the Wu anyway. Erykah Badu, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and George Harrison's own son Dhani can't resuscitate "The Heart Gently Weeps," but then "Take It Back," "Wolves" (with George Clinton), and especially he timpani-pummeled "Weak Spot" show that even at loggerheads, the Wu still rocks an eccentric, charismatic funk. In the end, it seems, a gaggle of irreverent rappers this talented and volatile ages well almost in spite of itself. Keep 'em coming. --Jason Kirk