Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
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Harrison and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante play on "The Heart Gently Weeps," built around the similarly titled Beatles tune, and Erykah Badu sings the hook in between rhymes by Raekwon, Ghostface and Method Man.
"Life Changes," a tribute to Dirty; and "Stick Me for My Riches" are also slower soul jams, but "8 Diagrams" doesn't consist entirely of diaphanous instrumental textures. "Rushing Elephants" is vintage Wu-Tang, with an insidious horn lick over a steady, hypnotic rhythm and a wealth of deadpan references to sports, pop culture and geology (the GZA mentions pyroclastic flows like he's some kind of volcano buff).
Samples of dialogue from kung-fu movies percolate through the album, which is named for the 1983 film "Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter," there's some old-school record scratching on "Get Them Out Ya Way Pa" and a sample of the tremolo guitar from Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" anchors "Windmill."
Not only does "8 Diagrams" branch off from earlier Wu-Tang projects, it's different from much of the current mainstream hip-hop landscape — namely, it's not disposable. These songs have deep bones, and though they don't always have an in-your-face immediacy, they're worth...
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