Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams (2008)

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“Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F**k Wit”, they declared some 14 years ago.

Despite a six year absence, and some divisive comments from its own members, the Clan’s latest release upholds this claim; even if the basis for their obstinacy has changed a little.

"8 Diagrams" is, as the note on its cover sleeve proclaims, a highly anticipated release. However it marks something of a break from the adventurous, cheeky, innovative and raw Wu-Tang albums of the ‘90s that featured fast flowing raps about comic books, blunts and life in 'busted' housing projects.

For starters, the lyrics are deeper and sharper; Beatles riffs and the soothing vocals of Erykah Baduon on The Heart Gently Weeps contrast stories of a bungled revenge hit in a supermarket and the territorial politics of crack dealing:

"Time to re-up, let these niggaz know we back on the block/With three hundred off a G-pack, it's cracking the spot"

Big name guests certainly don’t make the album, though. George Clinton’s wailing on Wolves doesn’t mesh with the tight rhymes of the Clan – and tight they are.

Raekwon deftly punches through his verses, Cappadonna, U-God and Masta Killah snap crackle and pop. Ghostface Killah is as sharp as ever, despite his resentment at producer RZA for omitting the MC from the touching tribute to Old Dirty Bastard Life Changes. The absence of the ODB’s rough rhymes, whose death in 2004 largely inspired the crew to reunite, is more obvious than I expected.

I can’t help but associate Method Man’s stand-out performance with his solid, and pivotal, guest slot on the gritty HBO drama series-cum-cop-opera The Wire, which is arguably the only TV show since The Sopranos unequivocally worth forking out the Amazon shipping charges for and watching from episode 1.

The crime series, set in Baltimore, contextualises much about Wu-Tang that makes this album worth listening to. The series and album both depict intricacies of the institutions of crack dealing – murders, exchanges with beat cops, and the risks that come with ill-gotten monies – with a brutal realism that makes you reflect on what makes society function as it does; which is such a long way from facile stories from in da club that 50 Cent sounds begins to seem even more lame and conservative and Kanye West like a bit of an optimistic activist.

But albums don’t sink or swim because of the politics of their producers. You’ve got to be able to enjoy listening to the music. And "8 Diagrams" delivers here too.

Despite the well publicized in-fighting, the Clan, under RZA, has delivered an album with enough depth to flow from start to finish.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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