producer: the rza, lilz, plx, al chemist, carlos broady, chris liggio, gfk, allah mathematics, underdawgz.

Isn't it cool? You can be like the hype of a whole world one minute, then be picked up and accepted by the galaxy and suddenly your birth planet is trying to kick you out, speaking all kinda of crap and criticism. Well, in the Wu universe, the good is usually fed with the ugly. As much to them as it is to us. Hence while at the beginning you made it a goal to buy every release that had the winged 'W' printed on it, after a while, you made it a goal to first check the record out, to make sure that it's not suddenly some corny club shit. As, and I said this many times before, just like the artwork got more polished and shiny, so did the music. So it lost what initially attracted us to it. But I'm not telling you anything new. And I'm not telling you anything new when I say that GFK was one of the artists that still catered to the original fans, or better, that his music, and also mainly his second album "Supreme Clientele" was able to capture the props from the first days fans, the critics, as well as many grasshoppers that just found out about the Wu. Further, every time 'Face stepped to the mic on the "W" album, ish got interesting. So in total, our expectation is high for this here release, especially with the rustle for the throne lately.

There's little doubt that this album rocks. Straight up and without sugar coating. But first you need to get past the messed up track listing, that has little in common with what is printed in the sleeve. So with the anticipated "The Sun" missing, we are starting out with the "Intro", to then go into "Maxine". This is the hardest cut, and one of the few cuts where 'Face is flowing for himself. And right from the bat, 'Face is keeping it interesting, as he's talking about some serious drama over this beefy RZA beat. RZA also does "Walking Through The Darkness" that samples "Across 110th Street" in good ways. It also features the Wu-Darling, that no one outside her camp seems to like: Takitha. She once more unimpressively croons the chorus. Further keeping it in the wider Wu-Fam, there's "Street Chemistry", that's bringing some street grit with Prodical Sunn and Trife dropping guest rhymes.

On the smooth beats tip we get "Flowers" that features Raekwon, Meth and Superb, with the two spitting less serious, and Superb and 'Face again dropping street truths, 'Face going "burst out a purse with the gods you jeer / from Star's Pizzeria, police hate the veer / especially when the shots ring off in slow motion, when you head hit the meter". Also on the smooth side is "Never Be The Same Again" with Carl Thomas crooning the chorus. But we can't even be mad at that, as the whole track is butters, also with the, at least once in everyones lifetime, hitting close to home content, this talking about some love gone sour: "it's alright though, maybe he came up with the right dough / bigger dick, I don't know, must have been the best flow / this thing here, every man in the world goes through / but fuck that, I put a lot'a money up, I'm hating!"

Super funky is the "Teddy Skit", that paves the way for "Theodore" a cut featuring Trife and Twiz. This cut is produced by Allah Mathematics and comes more than correct with a little nifty melody that will immediately drill itself into your head, making it one of our favorites. And when going for favorite cuts, we don't have to look for another producer, as one very high on the list is "Strawberry", featuring Killah Sin, and that has GFK get nasty with a little cowboy session: "gon' palm on ya ass like this while you riding it / I'm about to cum boo-boo, chill for a sec / feel it at the tip, ma', ya pussy's too wet / one false move and I'ma blast like the very first time / burnt you with candle wax fast while you was slobbing mine" over one of those incredible soul pieces sampling beats.

What would have never been possible early on, right now doesn't sound that strange anymore, as with "Ghost Showers", the beat is catering to the clubs. It changes for the chorus, making it something almost samba. The murdering of "Wonderful World" at the beginning of "The Forest" is rather blasphemous and further we are also not too thrilled about "The Forest", a Al Chemist (could it be that it's Alchemist?? Damn....) produced track. He's also responsible for "The Juks" featuring Trife & Superb, that's much better. "Jealousy" and "Interlude" are kept very short, with both featuring proper rhyming, what leaves us more time to check cuts like "The Hilton" that features Raekwon, or "Love Session" featuring Ruff Endz providing the smooth chorus. Here GFK once more talks about what must be his favorite subject: he spreads some knowledge on relationships, with him getting real with it saying "hyped up love light it up, might bite you at the altar / I'm biting off you, I'm wearing white too".

Concluding we can only repeat ourselves, that this album is a true banger, in all aspects. That's it. Straight up.