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[Off The Record]
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Wu-Tang Clan
WU-TANG IRON FLAG
(LOUD)

For all their notoriety, Staten Island’s formidable Wu-Tang Clan still seem underappreciated, so Iron Flag, their fourth album as a collective, aims for the fertile mountaintop reserved for rap royalty. The Clan depart from the dark, jarring nihilism of previous efforts in favor of big-beat populism here, picking up some unfortunate R&B hooks and cleaning up their traditionally dirty sound along the way. Instead of The W’s suffocating æsthetic of twitchy fingers and howls to an unforgiving Creator, Iron’s crisp, cocksure anthems aim to drive home the point that it’s a Wu World Order, on the streets and in the board room.

Yet despite some lazy beats and an over-reliance on brag raps, the numerous highlights of Iron rank among the best Wu tracks in years. Built on background chatter and an infectious Afrobeat rhythm and featuring an amped-up Flavor Flav, "Soul Power" is the promising evolution of the RZA’s rough and sometimes absurdist production style. The drum rolls and off-kilter horns of "Uzi (Pinky Ring)" make it another Wu-classic. And check "Rules," where an impassioned and surprisingly patriotic Ghostface Killah warns, "Mr. Bush sit down I’m in charge of the war." The saga continues, slowly but surely.

BY HUA HSU

Issue Date: December 13 - 20, 2001

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