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GZA & DJ Muggs - GrandmastersAlbum Review by:
Michael Ivey
Saturday, November 19, 2005
 Calling oneself a master implies very serious command of a particular craft or style. Considerable dedication and skill are required in order to make such an assertion. The careers of both GZA and DJ Muggs have spanned more than ten years, but in hip hop you’re only as skilled as your last record. “Grandmasters” is no conceptual album, just GZA’s lyrical intricacies over very detailed production. Muggs provides mostly dark, moody music and the bulk of the album sounds rock influenced, with regular guitar and heavy bass.
The first song, following a methodical, guitar heavy intro, is an appetizer for whats to come. GZA is a lazy version of his usual witty self and Muggs’ head nodder, employing the familiar chimp munk singing sample, carries the song. Things liven significantly thereafter. “Destruction of a Guard”, featuring Raekwon, finds GZA rooting out futility from a complicated criminal tale. The musical backdrop, desperately plaintive singing over heavy bass and keys, has an entrancing affect. “Exploitation of Mistakes” and “Queens Gambit” are the two other stories. The former tells of a foul car accident following a murder. GZA walks us through the investigation like a camera slowly panning from witness, to informant, to precise recreations of the ominous truth. Muggs chops up a baby’s cry and furious typewriter action, creating a melodic crime report. “Queens Gambit” is a flat out classic. GZA takes group sex, a topic many emcees have breezed over, and provides a back story for his female lead. Of all subjects he uses a bevy of pro football similes and metaphors to bring the tale alive. He rhymes “…raised Buffaloes plus she was behind in Bills/had a man who always roared like Lions, a domestic violent cat/tackled her the girl kept her crying.” GZA continues with, “her ancestors were Chiefs who ran with running deer/they sailed with the Seahawks who battled the Buccaneers/the Redskin garments with swade coat liners held rare coins frequently sought from gold miners”. He finishes: “before you know it I had all three in a huddle/bucking like a Colt before I released the puddles/they spread Eagles like wide receivers/as I Rammed ‘em in the end zone and they became true believers.”
The rest of “Grandmasters” is just solid, outside the box beats and rhymes. GZA gives us arrogant third person accounts of his shape shifting self. “Illusory Protection” is a spaced out jam about rhyme fallacy and how hot GZA is converse to it. On “Unstoppable Threats” featuring Mas, he runs down his introduction to the art form saying, “I was a young one at the time I started mic tripping/had rhythm like Ali when he was rope skipping/I got crazy when I heard the break beat/I used to lose it on niggas on fourth and eighth street.” The hook proclaims “this is hip hop, emcees get busy/ it’s not pop, ya front and ya get dropped/ya listening to slanged out goodies in timberlands and hoodies/ with the rhythm that came from the streets.” Mas, a duo apparently, sounds like typical Wu affiliates: hungry and skilled.
One problem with “Grandmasters” is GZA’s delivery believe it or not. His wordy, overlapping style might miss newcomers, and some gems get lost in his naturally gurgled voice. However, it’s doubtful he cares and it doesn’t take much away from a great LP. He’s as lyrically sharp as ever, proving the widely held belief that hip hop is a young man’s game wrong. DJ Muggs delivers a defined, particular sound. There’s some redundancy (after all he did produce the entire record), but it avoids monotony because the beats are very good. Skits cut from obscure films give “Grandmasters” that vintage Wu-Tang touch. The final song, “Smothered Mate”, fades out with GZA’s proud, thematic words: “We do music from the heart and not for the charts.” The lyrical veteran reportedly set out to “just make good music” with DJ Muggs; well…mission accomplished!
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Cant wait to hear this