The Mouse and the Mask

Dangerdoom

Epitaph

out of

…

The Mouse and the Mask

Dangerdoom

Epitaph

out of

As the title of this compilation implies, Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture is not your typical hip-hop compilation. This release has more big names in hip-hop than the crowd at a prize fight at the MGM.

It would be absurd to list them all here. Go get the liner notes. Among them, however, are The RZA, The GZA, Ghostface, Cannibal Ox, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Aesop Rock and MF Doom. Produced by The RZA and a slew of top-of–the-line producers that includes Bronze Nazareth and Allah Mathematics, the compilation has a truly epic quality.

The first single off the compilation is called “Biochemical Equation,” and features The RZA and MF Doom. The beat opens with muted violins and a soaring vocal sample. As the backbeat drops in The RZA cuts straight to the heart of the matter: “Oh, the flesh is weak. It’s a struggle for peace. It’s a daily conflict between man and beast.”

The song introduces Satan as a character and goes on to tell the story of how The RZA resists Satan and his minions who strive after the secret to his success: his “Biochemical Equation.”

MF Doom is employed to give character to Satan: “They say he rhyme like he starvin’ and sold odds and bodkins to old gods and goblins. Golly, just a pest and your worst best friend, who mend and rip space-time fabric like polyester-blend.” Doom’s smooth,unorthodox lyrical style is the perfect counterpoint to The RZA’s swift, choppy delivery. MF Doom completes yet another magnificent partnership.

To add to the merits of this compilation, there is a cut-music tribute track dedicated to ODB. It begins with a sample of the W.H. Auden poem “Funeral Blues” read by John Hannah, from the “Four Weddings and a Funeral” soundtrack. The track is laced with samples of samples off earlier Wu-Tang works and ends with a sample of a Richard Pryor stand-up bit.

Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture earns 4.5 stars. It stays on track, uniting the compilation with similarly themed samples and a good balance of skits, cut-music and full songs. In the immortal words of ODB, “Wu-Tang is here forever!” – and it seems as though they certainly are.

MF Doom appears as a leading figure in hip-hop today, joining the weird and funny with the stern and sober. His efforts on both these albums highlight a definite advance in his own skill, and display how adaptable he truly is by matching him up with some of the most respected names in indie and mainstream hip-hop. “The Villain took on many forms.”