Contributed by Ryan Strauss on 12/11/07

Fifteen years after they burst onto the scene as one of hip hop’s flagship acts in the 1990s, Wu-Tang should’ve already followed the path of many hip hop acts into obscurity and irrelevance. They should’ve already walked away with their place in history intact. Never straying from his role as the influential group’s uncompromising leader, however, RZA has argued in his slew of interviews leading up to the release of the crew’s fifth album, its first in six years, Wu-Tang actually never left in the first place.

He has a point. Dave Chappelle constantly wrote them into skits about the racial draft and the need to “diversify yo’ bonds.” Swizz Beatz has thrown the hook from “C.R.E.A.M.” into just about every guest appearance and song he’s worked on in the past year. Regardless, the crew (solo projects and acting gigs notwithstanding) has been stagnant for too long.

The stage is set for 8 Diagrams. Play the album a few times to fully readjust to the Wu-Tang sound in the modern context, but a few things will stand out right away. Its lead single, “The Heart Gently Weeps,” has a slowed-down groove that has the MCs clearly switching styles to a more relaxed feel, which occasionally shows them holding back a little too much. But the significance of being the first to legitimately use a Beatles sample (whether it’s a master or composition sample) and the unexpected contributions of Dhani Harrison (son of Beatles guitarist George Harrison), John Frusciante (guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers), and soul queen Erykah Badu, give the track an undeniable cool factor.

Run the album back and play it from the start though, and it’s all that you would expect from Wu-Tang. Kung-fu film dialogue unsurprisingly but satisfyingly provides the opening, and the featured clip refers to “kindness, justice, faith, and courage,” going into more detail about “control” and “patience,” a message of virtues that reflect Wu-Tang’s inevitable maturation over the past decade. When the music finally drops after a dramatic minute-and-a-half intro, the mic is flawlessly passed to the two strongest and most recognizable members, Method Man and Ghostface. Over RZA’s thumping, steady string-driven production, Wu-Tang comes in hard on “Campfire.”

Actually, the fact that the album is exactly in line with the expectations of Wu-Tang’s triumphant return, may well be its only drawback. For what they do, it’s a great disc, but there are few surprises. The only way it really challenges the hip hop landscape in 2007 is in its attempt to bring back former times. The crew turns back the clocks to draw from the Beatles (60s), George Clinton (70s), Red Hot Chili Peppers (80s, 90s, and 00s), and Erykah Badu (90s and 00s) through guest appearances and samples, on top of maintaining their patented grimy sound.

Perhaps the crew’s only concession in trying to adapt to modern sounds shows up as the dark and soulful “Stick Me for My Riches,” backed by a gritty, dirty south type production, complete with lightning-quick hi hats. Even here, however, RZA stays true to his own style in places, as the beat features interesting switch-ups where the main loop drops out and soul horns are left to push the beat forward. Odd-ball lyrics on the intro and the hook (“I’m tired of eating cheese sandwiches with no meat”) even suggest that Wu-Tang is probably going so far as to mock what the industry currently has to offer.

Of course, it’s never bad to fall back on a style that has helped sell millions of albums across the globe, and there are definitely standouts among the cuts that stay true to the Wu-Tang format. The stylish “Wolves” calls on a whistled wild-west riff and a part-raspy, part-smooth hook from George Clinton, who alternates between choppy mumble and full-out croon, linking Rick Fox, Mr. Wolf, and Wu-Tang’s grandma by way of the story of Red Riding Hood, and turning the usual Wu-Tang threats of violence into tripped-out, danceable melodies: “A dog, is a dog, is a dog/ unlike the wolf/ who made a widow of grandma.” RZA seems to channel all the violent feel he can behind the boards into the Cuban Linx II cast-off “Thug World,” re-titled here as “Unpredictable,” with a raw bassline from System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian matching his own equally raw, fairy-tale-inspired verse: “Snatch the sword from the stone with one hand/ One finger/ Bzzz/ Turn yo’ body to sand.”

8 Diagrams obviously marks Wu-Tang’s first project without the original member to “like it raw,” Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The seven of the eight living members (according to Ghost, RZA intentionally left off his verse) remind us that they’ll never forget their fallen friend with the vulnerable and touching tribute track “Life Changes.” A solemn two-bar refrain, “I go through life pretending/ That time will change the ending,” lingers in the background as a phrase that is impossible to shake in the reflection of a loss. One-by-one, the crew takes turns paying their respects as if the track were capturing their thoughts as each passes by ODB’s coffin. Such deep introspection reveals the reason that the now older, wiser crew takes their time to get their music right - having waited five years to tour again, months on top of that to get back in the studio, and months more to finally release the new material - they’ve become concerned with more than the music when chanting “Wu-Tang forever.”

RELATED CONTENT

• • AUDIO Wu-Tang Clan “Watch Your Mouth”

  • Wu Tang to Drop European Release

  • RZA Talks ‘8 Diagrams,’ Wu Launching Nationwide Tour [allhiphop.com]

  • CLASSIC Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”

  • Wu-Tang Clan Clears First Ever Beatles Sample for Upcoming Album [undergroundhiphop.com]