Birth Of A Prince, The - RZA > Reviews > Rza winz again!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Hard - hitting rap with hard - hitting lyrics & good tunes !  !
Disadvantages:	few fill in tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Yes, yes, yes!! we love it! with great catchy tunes and big banging base lines, hip hop and Wu-tang fans alike will not be disappointed with this purchase!

Price and packaging
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For a mere £10.99 pence in HMV (or I have seen it for next to nothing on eBay) and £8.75 pence from CD WOW, I feel it is worth every penny. Usually this sort of album comes out at a lot more. This album has now been out since 2003 but is still as original now as it was then.

The album cover itself looks pretty cool with Rza's face close up in different shades of blue and white. The pupils of Rza's eyes are replaced with the infamous wu-tang logo (which is that of a bat like 'W'). Unusually in hip hop CD's this one actually has the lyrics printed out for each song. Which is really handy to try to figure out what is being said in a couple of noisy tracks.

History of Rza and The Clan
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For those that are unfamiliar with the Rza and the Wu-tang Clan I will just give a brief history. Rza is the producer of the American group the Wu-tang clan. There are 9 main members of the clan who each bring out solo albums and also bring out albums as a collective. The main members are, Rza, Gza, Inspecta Deck, Raekqwan the Chief, G-god, OBD (old dirty bastard rest in peace), Ghostface Killa and Method man. Some of these names might be familiar as they have done projects with other artists such as Texas. They have been around over a decade and together have brought out hundreds of tracks. They have a huge following and are notorious in the hip hop family.

The Music in general
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Wu-Tang clan are all about the hip hop. For people that don't like to hear much talk of violence and swearing then this isn't for you as there are many tracks on the album that would offend some people. But this is all just music and not to be taken too seriously. Rza talks about things that effect him and as growing up as a black man in America he has a lot to rap about. Some beats are heavy and some are bouncy but all are powerful and are attached to some amazing raps. There is a lot of Shoalin influence in the wu-tang and Rza's music. Rza himself studied martial arts in a Shoalin temple. But mainly the raps are heavy and intellectual with phat base lines that will astound the hip hop lover.

Summary of the Album
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There are not many albums in my collection that i can honestly say i listen to all the way through, but this is one of them. There are a few songs that are not as good as the rest but in general is it a thoroughly good album. My favourite track is track 3 (we pop) as this feels like it is two songs in one you start with a really bouncy base line and Rza hits in with his gravely hard voice and the lyrics just flow from his tongue. About 3 minutes into the track it seems to go into another beat line and a female comes in with a "Hood Rat" rap which is all about someone living in the hood that is always borrowing your stuff and losing it and never repays etc . Basically someone is always taking the piss!

The least favourite is track number 8 Drink, Smoke, Fcuk as this is basically just the title of the song replayed over and over with all i wanna do in front really not that lyrically genius but still has a good beat in the background none the less.

Conclusion
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Again the Rza is a winner by bringing in his clan to feature on some tracks and some unheard voices to pound through your speakers. With the usual mix of female vocals and hard lyrics this is one CD not to miss. With lyrics like these who'd listen to usher! It is a good strong album that would make all hip hop fans happy to have it in their collection. Rza is the king of hip hop in my view and this album is a good representation of what he and his clan represent and are all about. 10/10 for Rza and Birth of a price

1. Bob n I = 8/10
2. The Grudge = 7/10
3. We Pop = 10/10
4. Grits = 9/10
5. Fast Cars = 8/10
6. Chi Kung = 9/10
7.You'll never know = 8/10
8. Drink, smoke, Fcuk = 6/10
9. The whistle = 8/10
10. The Drop off = 10/10
11. Wherever i go = 10/10
12 Koto Chotan = 9/10
13. A day to god is 1,000 years = 8/10
14. Cherry Range = 9/10
15. The Birth = 10/10
16. See the joy = 9/10

Wu-tang 4ever!

Thanks for reading x x x