Tag Archives: GZA

GZA/Genius – Beneath The Surface

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Female vocalist Jean Plum only released a hand full of singles, but they are highly sought after, after being sampled by the likes of The Alchemist. Most of her work has been re-issued on compilations, if you’re into that sort of thing (which I’m clearly not…)

Wu-Tang Clan owes a huge debt to Willie Mitchell, who is responsible for the trademark sound of Hi Records that they loved to sample during their prime. He produced the cut “Back To You” which was used by GZA/Genius “Beneath The Surface“. The loop kicks in at about 2:15 into the song. Oddly enough, the beat is credited to being produced by Inspectah Deck, although I’m sure he had some help from either RZA or 4th Disciple.

GZA / Genius – Labels

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Thelma Houston

Wu-Tang is no stranger to Thelma Houston‘s disco hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way“. They flipped the intro for Killah Priest‘s “Tai Chi“. However, RZA used it first for GZA‘s classic single about record label woes – “Labels“.

It’s extremely hard to catch, but if you listen closely you can hear it burried beneath the loud drums/bass of “Labels”. RZA looped/triggered one of the last bars of the intro. For anyone with an untrained ear, I posted some audio below to listen how it was chopped. I also filtered the main loop of the GZA track so it’s easier to hear. Enjoy.

[haiku url="http://www.illtal.com/audio/gza-labels.mp3" title="GZA - Labels sample"]

GZA – Lyrical Swords

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In an attempt to become relevant again, Wu-Tang partnered up with Think Differently Music to release the compilation Wu-Tang meets Indie Culture. The album was a combination of various Wu-Tang members collabo-ing with underground artists. The result was a fairly decent album with a few good cuts. One of those tracks, is by GZA, “Lyrical Swords” featuring Ras Kass.

The song samples a pretty hillarious cut “Your Little Sister” by The Mighty Marvelows. Most guys can relate to this song – wanting to bang your friend’s younger sister lol. The album is very mid-60′s-ish soul with heavy Doo Wop influence, similiar to The Platters or early work by The Impressions. I copped my copy for $50.00 in VG+ (yikes!). However, I believe the album is a compilation of their 45′s, so you might be able to find the sample cut on it’s own if you don’t want to shell out the cash for the LP. For the bonus trivia question, the album is arranged and produced by Johnny Pate of Shaft in Africa fame.