Wu-Block by Wu‐Tang Clan
Wu Block is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Ghostface Killah (of Wu-Tang Clan) and Sheek Louch (of The Lox). Louch announced the album in 2011, in an interview. The album was released on November 27, 2012, by E1 Music. The album features guest appearances from Raekwon, Jadakiss, Cappadonna, Method Man, Styles P, Masta Killa, GZA, Erykah Badu and Inspectah Deck. Background In February 2011, Sheek Louch stated that he and Ghostface Killah were about 8 songs deep into the album. In July 2011, during an interview with DJ Semtex, Ghostface Killah said that the album would be released in February 2012. The album's first single "Union Square" was released on June 29, 2012. On August 20, 2012, it was announced that the album would be released on October 9, 2012. On August 20, 2012, in a press release, Ghostface Killah spoke about the album, saying: "It’s real street shit for the fans. They’ve been thirstin’ for this." Sheek Louch also spoke about the album, saying: "Wu-Block mixes the rap style, lyrics, beats, imagery and ideology of the 9 member Wu-Tang clan with the flow, underground star power, hard hitting bars, street story telling and bass rattling sounds of D-Block." On October 5, 2012, the album cover was released, and it was announced that the album would be released on November 13, 2012. On October 29, 2012, the track listing was released, and it was announced that album would be released on November 27, 2012.
<b>100 Best Albums</b> In 1993, the Wu-Tang Clan were a grim, grimy, grindhouse alternative to G-funk’s baroque gangsta cinema: If Dr. Dre’s lush, lowrider-ready grooves were <i>Terminator 2</i>, then the scratchy, bloody, distorted productions of RZA on their debut album were <i>Reservoir Dogs</i>. Emerging from New York City’s most underrepresented borough—the literal island of Staten—here was a sound that, by nature or nurture, existed in its own raw, unapologetic bubble: corroded soul breaks, snatches of dialogue and sound effects from arcane turn-of-the-’70s Hong Kong kung fu flicks, distended keyboard lines, tape noises, snaps and stutters.<br /> Wu-Tang emerged as a nine-member crew in the post-MTV age of small cliques, a mix of styles and voices that eventually carried more than a few solo careers: The violent beat poetry of Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck; the drunken sing-to-scream ping-pong of Ol’ Dirty Bastard; the $5 words and scientific flows of GZA and Masta Killa; the boisterous coaching of RZA; the gritty rasp of U-God; and the fame-ready slick talk of Method Man, who was already getting a star turn on his eponymous track. Though melancholy reminiscences like “Can It Be All So Simple”, “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Tearz” made a trilogy of evocative narratives, the Wu provided few easy inroads to their mythology and poetry. Instead, America was forced to enter <i>their</i> chamber, a lyrical swarm of hip-hop slang, the Five-Percent Nation’s Supreme Mathematics and skits that sounded like taped conversations. They brought a singular ruckus and everyone from the similarly crew-oriented Odd Future, the wordy Logic, the mafioso-fuelled Pusha T, the wild-styled Young Thug and the noisy Sheck Wes all owe different types of gratitude.
