ALBUM REVIEW: Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater – RZA & DJ Scratch
As the leader, or to give him his proper title, the Abbott, of the legendary WU TANG CLAN, the RZA aka Bobby Digital has been one of the pillars of hip hop since the Clan first emerged with his trademark raw and gritty but soulful production style. The crew’s debut album Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers) was an instant classic and still sounds incredible today, with magic captured courtesy of RZA‘s production and the skill of each member coming together incredibly. Since then, WU TANG and RZA have gone on to become bigger than their wildest dreams, not only in hip hop with many more group albums and a whole host of celebrated solo joints, but also in Hollywood and beyond.
Before the production and moviemaking though, RZA was a rapper first, and on Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater, he rediscovers his love of lyricism that graced so many classic rap cuts from WU TANG to GRAVEDIGGAZ and his own solo stuff, all the while reaffirming his love of Kung Fu films.
Joining him on this album is DJ SCRATCH, who, as well as being an amazing DJ and producer for EPMD, has worked with everyone from LL Cool J, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and Busta Rhymes to DMX and Pharoahe Monch. Scratch and RZA have worked together before on a WU TANG album so they have history, and on this project it is evident that they work so well together.
After a suitably atmospheric intro, the album blasts into life with the title track and sees the RZA going in from the start with a deft selection of rhymes over an anthemic beat courtesy of Scratch. The rapper goes head to head with his Bobby Digital alter ego in scenario that is sure to delight any RZA, WU TANG or indeed hip hop fan, especially as Scratch adds some some of the trademark scratching skills that earned him his stripes as one of the finest turntable destroyers of all time.
Pugilism comes on as strong as the title suggests with a beat that has the same vibe as classic Wu Tang Forever track It’s Yourz. Never Love Again injects a funky groove into proceedings but RZA goes hard with his verses. Fate Of The World is RZA rhyming his heart out over a soulful but minimal beat that is more than effective, and when the song hollers ”left, right, come together, put your hands up, Wu Tang Is Forever” you can feel the energy soaring through the track.
As the album nears its conclusion, Fisherman sees RZA ride the Scratch beat with a fervour that belies his time in the rap game, sounding like he has that same hunger that he had when he was just starting out. Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater ends with Kaiju, a pure and cinematic track that sees RZA unleash some furious bars and ensures that this collaboration goes out on a sheer high.
The only negative thing that could be levelled at this project is that it is too short, but when the quality is this high, you can certainly overlook this and hopefully this won’t be the last of any collaborations between these two hip hop big hitters.
Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater sees RZA sounding hungry again when it comes to his rapping and going back to his roots with the Kung Fu vibe and samples. This, combined with DJ Scratch at his most cinematically creative with his beats, results in a compelling listening experience.
Rating: 8/10
Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater is out now via 36 Chambers ALC / MNRK Music Group.
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