Soul Assassins ft. Rza & Gza-”Third World”
The plan today was to do a tribute/mockery (tribumockery?) to Snap’s “The Power,” as I was in the peculiar mood to hear some German hip-house*. I’ve been raiding my cassette collection lately and as Doc Brown once said, “where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” So don’t be surprised if by the end of the week I get to Utah Saints and K.W.S. Don’t front like you didn’t like “Please Don’t Go.”
Unfortunately, my friend/neighbor/television savior, Ben, convinced me to ditch blogging to watch the Phillies beat the Dodgers. (Side note: Was I the only one who thought that Torre should’ve left Kuo in the game?). You guys may need to be patient with me for the rest of the week. I’d say month–but really–if it’s a Tampa Bay-Philly World series the only people watching will be the player’s moms. During the final few innings, we decided to drown out the C.P.A.-dull TBS broadcast team and listen to DJ Muggs’ show on Sirius’ Shade 45 channel. While his banter can’t match his beats, the program was solid, including this oft-overlooked gem that the Rza and Gza cut in ‘97 for the Soul Assassins album.
Re-watching the video for the first time in over a decade, it’s tempting to play sentimentalist. Directed by the Gza, the militaristic mini-movie is swathed in ice-cold blues, camouflage greens, vermilion reds and a dull, phosphorescent purple. The song itself almost perfectly distills the Wu aesthetic. Muggs’ Rza-aping beat is menacing in its minimalism, with guitars tense as arched bowstrings, drums caked in dirt and dust, and sinister, savage drum kicks. On the mic, Rza and Gza operate as perfect foils, with the Gza’s cold-blooded malice off-setting his cousin’s maniacal excitability. Best of all, Rza drops the line “send ‘em back like George McFly,” who actually never went back in time (perhaps he was referring to Shaymus McFly?). Then again, who am I to quibble with the man who once wrote “Glock-O-Pop”?
*I’m not sure what mood this constitutes exactly. Of late, I have been struck by the powerful lust to eat bratwurst, wear Lederhosen and listen to Neu!.
Download:
MP3: Soul Assassins Ft. Rza & Gza-”Third World”
Stumble It!
October 14th, 2008 at 7:26 am
I’d say month–but really–if it’s a Tampa Bay-Philly World series the only people watching will be the player’s moms.
My generation’s ‘69 Mets against nem Phillies and their homer-fueled quest to win it all for the first time since the Carter administration? Fuck a whole bunch of Fox execs, that sounds like a hell of a good story to me.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
“(Side note: Was I the only one who thought that Torre should’ve left Kuo in the game?). ”
I don’t get why Torre let Kuo bat, but then take him out after one batter the next inning. WTF???!?!? Corey Wade back-to-back after throwing 33 pitches on Sunday? Kershaw over Maddux?
It pains me to say that Joe Torre got outmanaged by Foghorn Leghorn.
Oh and “Third World” is THAT SHIT!
“My sword indeed makes more n*ggas bleed so swift the naked eye couldn’t record the speed”–GZA
October 14th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Nate: Agreed. Definitely will be a great story and I’m rooting for both Philly and TB to do it. However, a Boston-LA World Series would be insanely fun to watch.
Zilla: I couldn’t figure it out. Kuo looked dominant in the 7th and seemed strong. He gives up a single to Ryan Howard (not bad considering it’s Howard) and then Torre decides to get cute. That inning probably cost them the series. Also-have you been repeatedly heckled yet for openly rooting for the Dodgers in Philly?
October 14th, 2008 at 11:52 am
The quote was:
Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads © Doc Brown
On the other side, this video always seemed like a companion video to GZA’s “Shadowboxing/4th Chamber” clip that I think he and RZA did together. There always seemed to be this crazy synergy between RZA, GZA and DJ Muggs. Especially since Muggs has been making better “RZA music” than RZA over the past 5 years. I’ll be damned if GZA’s last two LP’s with Sick Jacken and Planet Asia didn’t remind me of the height of the Wu Elements reign.
One.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
There’d be nothing worse in my mind than a Dodgers-Red Sox World Series. Fuck-A-East Coast/West Coast Bias!
October 14th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Dart: Thanks for catching that. I need to stop writing these late night posts with no time to proofread. Agree with you completely about Muggs making better Rza music than Rza.
Zeus: I feel your pain. It would be really fun to watch. The only problem is that someone has to win.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:14 am
“Also-have you been repeatedly heckled yet for openly rooting for the Dodgers in Philly?”
Umm…hell yeah. Going into this series I felt good in that whoever won, I’d have a rooting interest in the World Series.
Now…I want the Rays to sweep the Phillies, Shane Victornio to get bitten by shark, and Phillies fans to be packed into a stadium and have it blown up. What pisses me off most about Philly sports fans is that the one thing they are celebrated for is being “knowledgable” when in fact they are just as dumb as KC Royals fans, Carolina Hurricane fans, Arizona Cardinal fans, and Oklahoma City Thunder fans. They only know about THEIR team, not other player or teams in the chosen sport they root for.
Philadelphia sports is where fact, logic, reason, unbiased assesment, and sportsmanship all go to die.