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RZA's first full-blown "RZA as RZA" solo album is not The Cure, the long-promised masterpiece that has gathered a great deal of mystique throughout the years. Hampered by a valley that's thankfully cleaved by some considerable peaks, Birth of a Prince is instead a durable addition to the Wu-Tang legacy. By no means is it a masterpiece, and it's not even one of the best Wu-Tang solo albums -- but it has enough going for it to prevent most of the followers from losing interest. Following the all-but-completely unheard The World According to RZA -- an ambitious project featuring lyricists representing continents other than North America -- as well as arriving almost simultaneously with his contributions to the score of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (beneath the CD cradle is an ad for the film, and the disc is kicked off by a reference to it), Birth of a Prince neither diminishes nor bolsters RZA's stature. Along with an ineffective middle patch, some of the guest appearances hold the record back. The Megahertz-produced "We Pop" serves up a vicious dose of zapping funk, but one of the worst verses in the history of hip-hop ("All y'all can see is the back of my jersey/Blowin' in the wind goin' back to Jersey/Off to Brooklyn, left ya back in Jersey/I was doin' a buck-90 like a throwback jersey"), delivered by an uncredited up-and-comer(?), kills the effect. The opening and closing thirds show RZA firing on nearly cylinder -- lyrically inspired, conceptually dense, sequentially tight. While many will no doubt see this as an unfocused record, those who take it on more of a song-by-song basis will value it as a respectable addition to RZA's body of work -- an addition with plenty to offer amid some weak tangents.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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RZA, Producer, MainArtist
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Tom Jones, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Russell Jones, Composer - Megahertz, Producer - Dorsey Wesley, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, MainArtist - Pete Cuffie, Composer - Frederick Cuffie Jr., Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Elgin Turner, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Dennis Coles, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, MainArtist - True Master, Producer - Derek Harris, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, MainArtist - Barracuda, Producer - Samuel Murray, Composer - Angelo Desogus, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Tariq Azzougarh, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
RZA, Producer, MainArtist
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Elgin Turner, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Virgil Ruff, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Timothy Drayton, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Timothy Drayton, Composer - Freedom Drayton, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Elgin Turner, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Tash Mahogany, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
George Gershwin, Composer - Ira Gershwin, Composer - Dorothy Heyward, Composer - Dubose Heyward, Composer - Marilyn Bergman, Composer - Alan Bergman, Composer - Marvin Hamlisch, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, MainArtist - Bronze Nazareth, Producer - Justin Cross, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist - Samuel Murray, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Anthony Cruz, Composer - Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, MainArtist - Bronze Nazareth, Producer - Warren Dale, Composer
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Robert Diggs, Composer - RZA, Producer, MainArtist
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
Album review
RZA's first full-blown "RZA as RZA" solo album is not The Cure, the long-promised masterpiece that has gathered a great deal of mystique throughout the years. Hampered by a valley that's thankfully cleaved by some considerable peaks, Birth of a Prince is instead a durable addition to the Wu-Tang legacy. By no means is it a masterpiece, and it's not even one of the best Wu-Tang solo albums -- but it has enough going for it to prevent most of the followers from losing interest. Following the all-but-completely unheard The World According to RZA -- an ambitious project featuring lyricists representing continents other than North America -- as well as arriving almost simultaneously with his contributions to the score of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (beneath the CD cradle is an ad for the film, and the disc is kicked off by a reference to it), Birth of a Prince neither diminishes nor bolsters RZA's stature. Along with an ineffective middle patch, some of the guest appearances hold the record back. The Megahertz-produced "We Pop" serves up a vicious dose of zapping funk, but one of the worst verses in the history of hip-hop ("All y'all can see is the back of my jersey/Blowin' in the wind goin' back to Jersey/Off to Brooklyn, left ya back in Jersey/I was doin' a buck-90 like a throwback jersey"), delivered by an uncredited up-and-comer(?), kills the effect. The opening and closing thirds show RZA firing on nearly cylinder -- lyrically inspired, conceptually dense, sequentially tight. While many will no doubt see this as an unfocused record, those who take it on more of a song-by-song basis will value it as a respectable addition to RZA's body of work -- an addition with plenty to offer amid some weak tangents.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 00:58:27
- Main artists: Rza
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Sanctuary Records
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
© 2003 Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company ℗ 2003 Wu-Tang Productions Inc under exclusive licence to Sanctuary Records Group Ltd., a BMG Company
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