Wu Massacres Em

The newest Wu installment, Meth, Rae, and Ghost's Wu Massacre uses the same rough formula that Raekwon's OB4CL2 used in 09: hark back to the Wu heydey, bringing in Rza for some rugged beats, few guests and let 'er fly. And for the second straight release, it works. Now don't expect the raw grittiness of ""Tearz", "Shame On A N*gga", or even some Ironman ish; it is a bit more refined sound that makes this new Wu not sound like it is stuck in 1995. Right off the bat we're treated to two followups, "Criminology 2.5" (employing the same beat), and "Meth Versus Chef 2" where Rae and Meth don't quite "go at it" like Tical's original but come off regardless (including another "Ya Moms" battle at song's end - "ya mom's so short she model for trophies.")

The requisite radio-friendly track is the Rza produced "Our Dreams" which samples Michael Jackson. The joint's last track "That Wu Sh*t" takes off the classic "Make The Music" by Biz Markie over a sparse beat and usual head-scratching lyrics from Ghost.

The biggest highlight of the album has got to be Meth. Dude comes hard from start to finish in another moment that one day will rightfully put him in the discussion of greatest MCs ever. "I control mikes- Cus D'Amoto" he bellows on "Smooth Sailing."

If there's a complaint to be had it's that the album is woefully short- a half an hour in length with 12 tracks (two are skits.) Now that's fine if the album is titled Illmatic, when there's three high caliber MCs on one project, find space for some more joints.