TheGodfather

LOL

BigJim's bitches get over 100 votes and the Wu get 33.

kurupt

Such a hard question to answer.

Of course Rza's the brains behind the whole operation, so he's the Peyton Manning of the squad. Calling and the plays and orchestrating what, in my opinion, is the best run of hip hop albums of all-time (From 36 Chambers to Forever.)

In the beginning (36 Chambers and the pre-36 Chambers material), there was really no doubt that the three big lyrical hitmen were Meth (star power and lyrical charisma, and despite some weak solo work, can, to this day, steal a song with a witty one-liner - "handcuffing these hoes and read them their rights or nothin'"), Rae (in terms of x's and o's rapping, he was the most consistant member in the squad and dropped Cuban Linx which is arguably the most influential rap album of that decade - after Cuban Linx, everybody, from Nas and 2Pac to Jay-Z and Biggie, had to have an "alter-ego"), and Gza (his verses always inspired constant hitting of the rewind button and lived up to his Genius name plus his voice is cool).

Ol' Dirty, if you listen to his first two solo albums has always been, in my opinion anyway, a classic example of an idiot savant. It all comes out like gibberish, but there's always a touch of brilliance somewhere in there.

Deck is a like Kenny Lofton. The go-to lead-off hitter. His verses in Protect Ya Neck and Triumph perfectly set the table for the collective brilliance that is to come.

U-God is probably the member that the group would miss the least, but he still has a great verse in him every now and then (Black Jesus from Iron Man)

I know that Masta Killa wasn't included in the poll, but he has become a pretty integral part of the group and with his studied, meticulous flow provides a nice piece of the puzzle. Cappadonna is also a little underappreciated. He never lived up to the genius that he displayed when he stole the spotlight on Winter Warz, but he fits very well within the overall context of the group and was there when they were making their best music.

Which leads me to my answer. Ghostface is the best member of the Wu. Not only is he the most improved rapper in the Wu...he's the most improved rapper of all time. On 36 Chambers, he was a liability ("Remember that shit, I know you don't remember jack!" just flat out weak...) and somewhere along the way, he pulled a Priest Holmes. He went from a bench-warmer on 36 Chambers to the MVP on Forever (his verse on Little Ghetto Boys is one of the best verses ever put on an album) and hasn't slowed down since. When the rest of the group was seriously slumping, he put out what might be the best Wu solo album ever and possibly one of the top 5 hip-hop albums (I know, I know, Cuban Linx and Liquid Swords are pretty much perfect too) in Supreme Clientel. Aside from half of Bulletproof Wallets (the other half was brilliant), he hasn't had a single misstep in his solo career and since that first album, he has always been the highlight of the group albums. A lot of his best work isn't even commercially available (The Watch (Tony For Mayor), My Guitar Gently Weeps (which rocks the same Beatles sample/interpolation as their new group single). He's the only rapper that I know of that has the audacity and the skill to take an entire song, not just a looped sample and just flow over it like he did with the Stylistics La,La,La Means I Love You and Dawn Penn's No, No, No. So yeah, I have to go with Ghost.

Can you tell that I'm a Wu fan?

FantasticVSDoom

Well, although others have a larger library, as far as discs go, it really doesnt get much better than Liquid Swords. Thats ranks on my fav of all time. I never get tired of listening to that cd and its only one of a select few that I still have. So based on that, I have to go with the GZA.

RyoHazuki

^ That sample on Ghostface's "My Guitar" isn't the same as the new single "While the Heart Gently Weeps".

Here's the new one:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HBfj3ipkgnw


Its got Dhani Harrison (George's son) and John Frusciante playing.

kurupt

Ah, you're right. You can feel the live instrumentation on the new one, whereas Ghost's is a sample. Meth really knocks the new version out of the park.