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 "Photo: Mark Coatsworth")
Don’t be confused, The Return of the Wu & Friends is not a totally new Wu-Tang album. But in some respects, it is new. The latest album featuring the Wu name is more of a remix album than anything else. Compiled by the group’s main producer and DJ Mathematics, the album features the cuts Wu recorded from 2000 to 2008. Because the release is comprised of content from Wu-Tang’s least productive and successful decade, The Return of the Wu & Friends starts 2010 on a sour note for the notorious clan.
The Return of the Wu & Friends can really be seen through two lenses. The first set is the casual fan who might enjoy Wu’s musical styling from time to time. The second is viewed through the hardcore Wu fanatic. This person knows all the members’ aliases and real names by heart and has every Wu solo and group album.
Looking at this album from the casual fan’s perspective, it is a bit of a disappointment. All the songs are recycled or mixed-matched versions of other Wu songs of this decade. The album title suggested new material, but that is hardly the case. Picking up the album might bring the fan some joy in discovering older tracks, but old material might be hard to place. And the subtleties of the album structured into the production would be lost on the fan.
On the other hand, the Wu fanatic might hold this album close to heart. While the lyrics may not be considered the classic of classic Wu-Tang cuts, the beats and production are. Mathematics produced many of the tracks Wu is known for, and he works masterfully on this record. The album is standard Wu, something that hasn’t been present for most of this decade. From 2000 until now, Wu released work that wasn’t reminiscent of what they are typically known for. Often a stylistic change in a group can be a good thing, but it didn’t bode well for them. The title of this album, along with the songs themselves, suggest that the real Wu has been somewhat absent from this decade, but has returned triumphantly for 2010.
However, with no new cuts, the album doesn’t start 2010 on the right foot for Wu and Co., but the album is a solid addition to the New York crew’s discography.
Through the confusion that Return of the Wu & Friends offers, a couple things remain the same. The sound on Return is what it has always been: gritty, heavy and filled with kung fu movie samples. Every track lives up to the Wu standards in one way or another. Not much can be said about the rhyming since most, if not all, of the lyrical content is recycled from other albums.
The question remains: Is the real Wu back? We will have to wait to see.
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