At first glance, it’s tough to tell whether Wu-Massacre is a triumph or a half-baked disappointment. On the one hand, it’s a concise reiteration of everything that made these three artists legends. On the other, it’s an unnecessary reprise of an aesthetic that needs no repeating. The album flies by in barely half an hour—there’s a couple Method Man weed verses, a hazy Ghostface robbery story, some gully wordplay from Raekwon, a skit with Tracy Morgan, and well, that’s it.
It’s short and straight to the point, but that’s the problem: Part of what made those old Wu-Tang releases so great was their sprawling self-indulgence—without the kung-fu movie dialogue interludes and drawn out posse cuts, it doesn’t feel quite right. It’s not that the MCs are mailing in their verses, or that their swords aren’t as sharp after 17 years in the game. “Meth vs. Chef, Pt. 2” has Rae and Meth trading lyrical barbs in a reprise of the Tical original, while “Pimpin’ Chipp” finds Ghostface rapping from the perspective of a prostitute giving Ray Charles a blowjob in his car (“he was quick/I spit the nut on his ’74 wallos”). But when Wu-Massacre ends, it’s hard not to wonder: What, exactly, was the point? While “Our Dreams” and “Youngstown Heist” fit nicely into the rest of the canon, they don’t really add anything to it. Taken in its underwhelming entirety, it’s difficult not to see the album as an attempt to cash in on Raekwon’s momentum from last year’s stellar Only Built for Cuban Linx II.
Wu-Massacre is fun but forgettable, regrettable only because it falls just short of being the classic it could have been. It’s just the clan’s three biggest, most marketable personalities cruising over Scram Jones and Mathematics beats, reminding us that the Wu-Tang Clan is still not to be fucked wit’. It’s not Cuban Linx III, or even Iron Flag, but who are we to complain? It’s still one of the best cash-grabs you’ll hear all year.
Voice’s Choices: “Meth vs. Chef, Pt. 2,” “Pimpin’ Chipp”
