032: Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords (1995)
“GZA was taking it down to something else. You caught real drama off his rhymes and his style. He could make ‘cat’ and ‘rat’ sound threatening.”
—RZA
This week on Discord & Rhyme: witty, unpredictable talent and natural game. In the early ‘90s, Bobby Diggs, aka Bobby Digital, aka the RZA, served as de facto leader for a nine-piece Staten Island (or Shaolin) collective that changed the face of hip-hop. The Wu-Tang Clan’s rhymes were clever, aggressive, filled with pop culture references, and came at you from all sides, paired with production from the RZA, who preferred to sample empty space and dissonance over conventional hooks. Between 1994 and 1996, the members of Wu-Tang unleashed a whole volley of classic solo albums, and 1995’s Liquid Swords by the GZA, alias the Genius, might be the greatest of all of them. On this episode Rich leads Mike, Ben, and Phil through RZA’s chaotic sound landscapes and GZA’s murderous rhymes tight with genuine craft, both of which helped him realize that hip-hop is one of the greatest things in the entire world.
Miscellany
The observation that GZA has one of the largest vocabularies in hip-hop is from this visualization by Matt Daniels of The Pudding, which ranks MCs by the number of unique words used in their lyrics. Indie rapper Aesop Rock comes in first place with 7,879 words. Based on his solo albums, GZA comes in at 6,390 words, just ahead of Wu-Tang in general at 6,196 words. (By the way, just to be clear, verbiage doesn’t always correlate with quality in hip-hop, and often less is more.)
Rich caught most of the label names in “Labels” but missed one of the biggest ones: Capitol! To quote Arrested Development’s Mrs. Featherbottom, always read the label, always read it well ...
Correction: “B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)” was produced by 4th Disciple, not Mathematics. Our bad — there are a lot of Wu-Tang affiliates. To hear Mathematics production, check out GZA’s 1999 follow-up album Beneath the Surface, which is solid if not outstanding.
Rich actually did make a sourdough starter the week of this recording, but didn’t overfeed it.
Other links
GZA discusses the making of Liquid Swords, track by track (David Ma, WaxPoetics)
Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite interviews GZA (The Guardian)
RZA on growing up in Staten/Shaolin and the island’s geography (Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, from Nonstop Metropolis, via LitHub)
Buy The Wu-Tang Manual (Amazon affiliate link)
Discord & Rhyme’s Liquid Swords playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme roll call
Rich Bunnell (host)
Ben Marlin (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Phil Maddox
Liquid Swords tracklist
Liquid Swords
Duel of the Iron Mic
Living in the World Today
Gold
Cold World
Labels
4th Chamber
Shadowboxin’
Hell’s Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304
Investigative Reports
Swordsman
I Gotcha Back
B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) (CD bonus)
Other clips used
GZA/Wu-Tang:
Wu-Tang Clan - Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
Ghostface Killah - Be Easy
Gravediggaz - Diary of a Madman
RZA - B.O.B.B.Y.
Others:
Mark Lindsay & W. Michael Lewis - Legend of Lone Wolf
Mark Lindsay & W. Michael Lewis - The Ninja
Willie Mitchell - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Willie Mitchell - Groovin’
David Porter - I’m Afraid the Masquerade Is Over
Ennio Morricone - The Big Gundown
DMX - Party Up (Up in Here)
Ann Sexton - I’m His Wife (You’re Just a Friend)
The Bar-Kays - In the Hole
Cannonball Adderley and Nat Adderley Sextet - Aries
Elephant’s Memory - Mongoose
Stanley Black - Meadowland
Stevie Wonder - Rocket Love
The Mothers of Invention - Plastic People
The Dramatics - In the Rain
Elmer Bernstein - Love and Ambition
Slick Rick - Children’s Story
DeBarge - Love Me in a Special Way
Thelma Houston - Don’t Leave Me This Way
Kalyanji Anandji - Dharmatma Theme Music (Sad)
Ann Peebles - Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness
Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations
Three Dog Night - I’d Be So Happy
The Charmels - As Long As I’ve Got You
Jackie Jackson - Is It Him or Me
The Mar-Keys - Morning After
El Michels Affair - Dual of the Iron Mics
Songs we mentioned but didn’t clip
GZA/Wu-Tang:
Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph
Genius - Stay Out of Bars
Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.
GZA - Publicity
Wu-Tang Clan - 7th Chamber
Wu-Tang Clan - Bring Da Ruckus
Method Man - Bring the Pain
Wu-Tang Clan - Black Shampoo
Wu-Tang Clan - Shaolin Brew
Others:
Common - On the Corner (with the Last Poets)
Insane Clown Posse - Toy Box
INXS - Guns in the Sky
Prince - Gold
Kanye West - So Appalled
Pink Floyd - Brain Damage
Pink Floyd - Eclipse
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - No Action
Soul Coughing - Casiotone Nation
The Beach Boys - Getcha Back
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 - The Message
King Crimson - Elephant Talk
Band/album personnel
GZA – performer
RZA – producer, performer
Killah Priest – performer
Inspectah Deck – performer
Ghostface Killah – performer
Method Man – performer
Masta Killa – performer
Raekwon – performer
U-God – performer
Ol' Dirty Bastard – performer
Dreddy Kruger – vocals
Life – vocals
4th Disciple – producer (track 13 only)
Tom Coyne – mastering
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
GZA - 4th Chamber (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Liquid Swords and other albums by GZA, the Wu-Tang Clan, and other Wu-Tang solo members at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon [affiliate link]. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Follow Rich @zonetrope, Phil @pamaddox, and Ben @BenjaminM1019. Editing is by Rich and production is by Mike. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.