3. "RE: With the exception of OB4L, how do Rae's albums rank?" In response to Reply # 0
OB4CL II @@@@ Shaolin vs Wu Tang @@@ 1/2 Lost Jewelry (free tape) @@ 1/2 Immobilarity @ 1/2 (only cause of the Pete Rock Song) Lex Diamonda Story n/a never bothered to listen cause Immobilarity scarred me
He's had a good career IMO. In particular when we add the Wu years /albums
4. "am i the only who liked Immobilarity?" In response to Reply # 0 Tue Sep-03-13 01:05 AM by KennyFresh
i mean, its not amazing - but its still a solid 3.5, maybe even a 4
if you remove the expectations of OB4CL and put it more in the context of Wu-Tang sophomore solo album, it ranks pretty high among the rest
the irony of it being based on The Godfather Part III is pretty apt, a pretty good movie wildly shit on for failing to live up to its predecessors' unbeatable expectations
5. "You're not alone, I liked parts of it as well" In response to Reply # 4
It has a good 7 or 8 really dope songs. But the production killed him. Why he thought it was a good idea to go without any RZA beats is insane.
___________________________ OL' DIRTY BASTARD on himself: "I may curse, I may have a bad mouth, whatever whatever. I'm not that bad, yaknow'mean. Bad to y'all, I dunno how y'all... I don't give a fuck. Um, I'm a good person at heart, for real and shit.
15. "i'm assuming it was some personal shit" In response to Reply # 5
>It has a good 7 or 8 really dope songs.
exactly.
thats all i was saying, people act like "Sneakers" is the only thing worth salvaging when its not even the best song on the album (thats "Live From New York" for my money)
>But the production >killed him. Why he thought it was a good idea to go without >any RZA beats is insane.
Rae has always seemed to be (one of) the problem child in Wu whenever there's talks of them breaking up he's never too far from the root of the disagreement
7. "RE: am i the only who liked Immobilarity?" In response to Reply # 4
3 out of 5 at the highest. I liked it more than most but to build on your analogy, Godfather Part III is a forgettably "okay" movie taken on it's own. As an end to the trilogy it is fairly abysmal. Some terrible choices in supporting cast and a story that never really comes together into anything half as coherent as it needs to be.
Left to his own devices, Rae's albums are always going to be spotty.
12. "I sold it within a week of release..." In response to Reply # 4 Tue Sep-03-13 02:07 PM by Jakob Hellberg
What I remember was that the beats were total fettucini-shit with sad "mafioso"-strings and shit. I was extremely sick of that vibe and never really liked it (and note that "OB4CL" never really sounded like that; not even "Rainy Dayz" or "Knowledge god", it was just a spice) so that was an immediate drawback.
As for his rapping, I remember it lacking the intensity and aggression in the delivery he had earlier (to be honest, this already started to happen on "Iron man" and the double wu disc but if you had foils like GFK and others, it's obviously not as big of a deal) and I was tired of those type of lyrics/imaginery as well even if I guess that part was straight-he *is* a good/great rapper.
I need to revisit honestly, they have it on spotify apparently so I will give it a listen again but I doubt my opinion has changed.
As for his later stuff, I have only heard "OB4CL 2" and "Shaolin vs wu-tang" and I like both of those, the first one in particular. "Shaolin..." felt a bit slight and I haven't played it much since the release but it's still good; that's another one I need to play again even if it's a quite recent album...
14. "it was the beginning of the end for Wu" In response to Reply # 12
so the overwhelming disappointment is understandable but in the context of everything that's come out since, it still holds it own pretty well
its worth revisiting, its first half is especially strong & consistent towards the last few tracks it tries to get "early 2000's clubby" & falls (very) short
8. "RE: With the exception of OB4L, how do Rae's albums rank?" In response to Reply # 0 Tue Sep-03-13 11:57 AM by melanon
Immobilarity is what is, obvi, though given the wackness of late 90's NYC i kinda get what he attempted to do and in a weird way it's way more serious than most of his contemporaries efforts from that same time. it still sucks though aside from the glorious "sneakers".
the next one was madd forgettable but may have a few mints to be mined. i'm not about to do that, though.
Cuban Linx 2 is the best long rap album of the late 00's.
Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang is a very good listen. I even like the Caron Wheeler/Soul II Soul tribute 'Chop Chop Ninja' that the internets were really mean to and use it as a proverbial yardstick to out a cac or fuck nigga online.
I don't see Rae ever releasing wack albums again....but rap is over so it's moot at this point.