The unexpected popularity of the Soul Brother Blends mix that I posted back in April clued me in on something that should have been obvious: there are an overwhelming number of heads who enjoy instrumentals as much as I do. Since the “Mixes” section of the site is beginning to look like some kind of ‘Producer Spotlight’ series, it’s only befitting that the next installment features an individual whose influence on hip hop reaches levels of omnipotence that mere words would fail to convey here. I’m speaking of course, of Wu-Tang’s The RZA and specifically, his work behind the boards from roughly ‘93 through ‘97 – from Enter The 36 Chambers (1993) through Wu-Tang Forever (1997), with all of the solo outings from Meth, ODB, Rae, GZA, and Ghost in between. What resulted was my most ambitious mix yet, a 70-minute juggernaut of continuous music from this period, shading the dirtiest and darkest of RZA’s early beats with the brighter, more melodic work that would dominate Ironman (1996) and Wu-Tang Forever. If I was enlightened by anything during its creation it would be this: despite the staggering degree of familiarity, these beats remain absolutely, undeniably timeless.
So I culled every instrumental that I could find from this era and began to plan construction. Of course, I would have liked to include more from Tical (1994) or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995), but I had to make do with what was on hand. I knew before I cued up the first platter that RZA’s steadfast refusal to quantize his drum tracks could pose a potential issue with synching, and sure enough, tracks like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Hippa to Da Hoppa” had me ripping my hair out in frustration. In the end, though, I chose to leave these clunky transitions untampered, deciding that they were in full spirit of the producer’s aesthetic of the period. The mix is divided into four tempo-determined sections, with an abrupt sample of kung fu dialogue signaling each transition. As always, all selections originated on wax, and I deliberately left all of the pops and clicks uncleaned in the audio. Enjoy.
“Razor Sharp Blends ’93 - ‘97” – The RZA 69:27 (October 2007)
Tracklist:
4th Chamber
For Heaven’s Sake
C.R.E.A.M.
Duel of the Iron Mic
Box in Hand
Triumph
Brooklyn Zoo II (Tiger Crane)
Cold World
Soul Controller
Ice Cream
Liquid Swords
Don’t U Know
Camay
I Gotcha Back
Can It Be All So Simple
Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Living in the World Today
Hippa to Da Hoppa
Criminology
Baby Come On
Labels
It’s Yourz
Goin’ Down
Glaciers of Ice
Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
Iron Maiden
The Stomp
Bring the Pain
Daytona 500
Damage
Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ ta F’ Wit
Release Yo Delf
260
Protect Ya Neck II The Zoo
Black Jesus
Gold
Dog Shit
Incarcerated Scarfaces
Brooklyn Zoo
Assassination Day
All I Need (Razor Sharp Mix)
Raw Hide
Little Ghetto Boys
Wild Flower
P.L.O. Style
Snakes
Bells of War
Shadowboxin’
The Faster Blade
Heaven and Hell
21 Comments so far
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Flood,
Killing it again and again! Another great installment to the Floodwatch mix series. Who’s gonna be next…
Take it easy,
Dan
Comment by Dan Love 10.22.07 @Wonderful mix. Really digging this, but it’s probably stirring up unrealistic 8 Diagrams expectations in my mind.
Comment by Dean 10.22.07 @When I was in Toronto once, I bought a compilation called “The RZA Hits.” Not only is yours a better and more interesting mix, but I also appreciate yours not having the irritating/not-informational spoken interludes by RZA. Great stuff as always, flood.
Comment by Adam 10.22.07 @Damn, this is so sick. Anyone in the know should be getting blazed to it tonight.
Comment by Joseph 10.22.07 @Flood, you need to get out of my brain immediately. About 90% of these tracks were the ones that I culled into a mix that I used to use back in the days when me and my friends had marathon sessions playing Street Fighter II, Tekken, Samurai Showdown, World Heroes, Virtua Fighter, Battle Arena Toshinden and the like. We’d made 90 minute tapes of Wu Tang tracks (later just the instrumentals) and turn down the sound on our TV and just blast these joints.
If you’ve never played Tenchu or Onimusha with “Assassination Day”, “Black Jesus” or “Gold” playing in the background chances are you missed out.
Good one, Flood.
One.
Comment by Dart_Adams 10.23.07 @Ill grab this later chap - i went through a nothing but dirty wu beats period last summer and always make room for a bit of ole dirty.
Iam sure this will be mixed very well and ill save it for the weekend.
Regards.
Comment by C3 10.23.07 @absolutely amazing!!RZArecting my teenage years. IS there a chance of the same mix with vocals?
Comment by emjay 10.25.07 @EXCELLENT MIX. I was reading your post for scariest tracks. You shoulda did a hip hop one, although the classical selections you chose were genius! It would just be fly to me to see some tracks from the first Gravediggaz album(DIARY OF A MADMAN is by far, an incredibly cinematic track; maybe some Geto Boys MIND OF A LUNATIC!LOL) Great mix though family, I am looking for the next mix from you, I have loved all of the others.
Comment by Chris Newberry 11.05.07 @yo good shit with this blog and these mixes man keep it up
the brooklyn zoo song isnt a rza beat tho, its true master’s
Comment by SUN 01.23.08 @For your next mix, my suggestions are (of course you don’t have to take my word - do you)
- Jazzy Jeff
- 9th Wonder
- DJ Krush
- Parish Smith
I could just loop this mix and blaze an ounce to it. It’s a masterpiece Flood. You ever heard of a mix called “Wu Blends”? Its random tracks blended together from different Wu albums, not instrumentals.
Comment by BoostedSilvia 04.28.08 @too messy!!!!!
what did you think of 8diagrams.
‘weak spot’ is the only track that fits with the wu-formula
Comment by theodore_L.O.L.O. 05.13.08 @Thank you for taking the time to make this. Great mix. Wu-tang forever!
Comment by Mister J 05.28.08 @Leave a comment
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ohmyfuckinggod
Comment by rafi 10.22.07 @