Best Original Wu Member
 

I had this discussion recently with some friends. I'm looking for mic skills here. If I based it on talent I'd have to go with RZA for his unparalelled production skills.

If you asked me 13 years ago I would've said Method Man. I feel like he was the standout on 36 Chambers. His flow, voice and delivery were more polished and recognizable than any other member. I'd have followed Meth with GZA and Raekwon in that order.

I give my vote to Ghostface now by a wide margin over them all. I still rock Ironman, Supreme Clientele and Fishscale, not to mention More Fish. Liquid Swords (GZA), Only Built For Cuban Links (Chef), and 6 Feet Deep (RZA with Gravediggaz) are the only other solo Wu albums that stood the test of time IMO. That's 4 for Ghost, 1 for each of the others.

I'm curious to know other peoples thoughts.

see the thing with Wu is that when their 2gether their all decent (atleast the first 2 albums)

wu-tang raised me, i often find that people count out the peeps in it sometimes because they arnt aswell known in the mainstream (u-god, masta,)

lyrically GZA and inspectah deck i think are the best, but my fave was always big baby jesus (ODB)

...wu-tang is for the children

^to comment on your post, i think that tical, and return to the 36 chambers definatly held up aswell as meth/red blackout! if you want to count that

Fishscale has been out a year and More Fish less than that. Thats hardly standing the test of time. Comparing More Fish to Liquid Swords and Cuban Linx is just ridiculous.

That having been said Ghost is probably the best on the mic. He's got more material than any Wu member and almost all of his verses are good.

Poor Masta Killa, left out of the poll. :(

I wasn't really comparing album to album as much as the respective bodies of work. My point was that I have 4 strong efforts from Starks and no more than 1 from any other Clan member. And that Ghost is probably the only artist still relevant in the game today.

If it's a question of which solo album was the best I'd have a hard time choosing between Liquid Swords or Cuban Linx with Ironman coming in 3rd and Bulletproof Wallets 4th (somehow I left this album out of the OP - I'm gonna chalk it up to being tired). IMO Supreme Clientele, Fishscale and More Fish were much stronger than Immobilarity, The Lex Diamond Story, or Beneath The Surface. That's where the disparity comes in.

I was real disappointed in Tical and T-2000 straight sucked.

I think people overlook U-God because he sucks horseballs with his Cam'Ron-like flow. He's easily the worst and should be disowned.

As for The Rebel INS - I love his verses on the collaboration tracks but I don't think he can carry a full solo album.

He had exactly 1 verse on 36 Chambers, an album with the most verses-per-song, and was left out of GZA's roll-call preceding M.E.T.H.O.D. Man. He's out of the poll.

Always liked the sound of his voice :shrug: His lead off in "Mystery of Chessboxing" got the legendary track going with a bang. Speaking of "Chessboxing"...

And his rhymes/delivery were never able to match that verse. He just seemed to get worse and worse as time went on.

Still have to think long and hard who the best WU member is....But Mr. Meth just keeps on popping up in the lead....

Gza's Legend of Liquid Swords and Beneath the Surface were both bangers.

Don't hate on U-God either. He's got some awesome verses and Golden Arms Redemption is highly underrated.

Immobilarity is probably Rae's best album lyrically (either this or Ironman). Some of the beats are whack but Rae is a beast on the mic.

Even Rza's first two solos are really good.


Deck is the only one without a good solo. Poor guy.

Deck is the only one without a good solo. Poor guy.[/QUOTE]



its sad too, uncontrollable substance is really the cream of the crap in his solo collection.

even fucking masta killa's no said date shits on him, and that came out in 04

ODB's incoherence has yet to be topped...

I thought Bobby Digital was terrible.

Rae is nice and I'm real surprised RZA got 4 votes before Chef got 1.

If I had to rank 'em I'd go

Ghost
GZA
Rae
Meth
ODB
RZA
Deck
U-God

Masta Killa's solo album is better than:

Inspectah Deck's
Anything U-God has ever put out
any Method Man after Tical

I voted for GZA. Liquid Swords is by far the best Wu solo album.

I never liked Ghostface's flow.

GZA is the best from a technical standpoint, but I find Ghostface's body of work to be more consistent and entertaining. Method Man ranks up there, too. RZA's money on the boards, but I don't think much of his lyrical prowess. And I may open a can of worms here, but ODB's overrated. He was an entertaining character, but his "rapping" was grating at times.

ODB is sort of the "wacky neighbor" character. He's good in constant, small doses and unless the episode where he's by himself is brilliant ("Dog S***") it won't be very good.

Exactly. He adds another dynamic to the group albums, but I found his solo work trite and almost unbearable at times.

lol, reminds me of the one track on return to the 36 chambers where ODB is like clearinig his throat for the first minute. (hard to explain, but if you'v heard it you no)

also i think meths newest album 421 is underrated.

Four words: Kill Bill. Afro Samurai.

RZA wins.

Here are my rankings:

RZA
GZA
Raekwon
Method Man
Ghostface
ODB
Deck
U-god

Gotta go with Ghost. Supreme Clientele - awesome CD.

= J

Liquid Swords is still my favorite Wu album, but Ghostface has had the best solo career, IMO. When the hell is Swift and Changeable going to be released? They recorded it at least a year ago...

I voted RZA, though (even though I realized belatedly that the poll was for "best rapper"). His production formed the core of the WU sound and none of the MCs would have been what they are without him.

I used to LOVE me some Wu back in the day. My favorite member BY FAR has, and always will be, RZA. That guy not only creates some of the best beats in hip-hop but he writes lyrics that twist your brain. I consider him an absolute musical genius, and this is coming from someone that doesn't even listen to hip-hop anymore. Although I'll admit this thread makes me want to listen to them a little right now.

^RZA is sick, but his flow is kinda fucked at times. but i cant bash wu, they all have their shit moments but overal are still classic

new ghostface cd on december 4th (not the one with Doom!) and a new wu-tang release a week later.

anyways, my list goes

ghostface
gza
rza
method man
inspectah
raekwon
masta killa
odb
u-god

i thought masta killa's first solo was pretty good, and he has some nice unreleased material to.