WU-TANG CLAN — Artist Poll — Voting Thread (deadline Oct. 15)

Sorry the nominations thread took a while. I thought we left some classics out so took some license to add some in. Hopefully we get some more traction in this thread.

Send ballots to pop the levels at gmail dot com by the end of day on Sunday, Oct. 15. Or you can webmail me it through ILX.

TRACKS POLL Eligible Tracks List

— Submit your tracks ballot with up to 36 entrees
— Please copy and paste directly from the google sheet (let me know if you see duplicates or misspellings and I can fix)
— Please don't number them, put your top pick at the top and go down from there
— I'll accept unweighted ballots but please let me know if that's the case. I'll assume it's weighted unless told otherwise.

ALBUMS POLL Eligible Albums List

— Submit your weighted albums ballot with up to 12 entrees
— Please copy and paste directly from the google sheet (let me know if you see duplicates or misspellings and I can fix)
— Please don't number them, put your top pick at the top and go down from there

FAVORITE CLAN MEMBER POLL

— Submit your ballot ranking all 9 original members
— Please don't number them, put your top pick at the top and go down from there

PLAYLISTS

I've just started loading tracks into the Spotify playlists but hopefully soon all the nominated tracks will be here (Forks said he will help):

—Tracks: https://open.spotify.com/user/theshipment/playlist/0hrB4fgawF12IaUvrSBq3x
—Albums: https://open.spotify.com/user/theshipment/playlist/5S0Lc73MOfwMeLjmJTrunG

loading these up. i, uh, forgot to nominate anything and am only asking for clemency for the highly underrated Cherry Range
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTp4KdVCXJo

couldn’t in good conscience participate in the nominations but i’m gonna try to vote in this anyway

Do it Brad.

Forks I added that track.

whoah I didn't know this "Odd Couple" track w/Ghost and Cap, this is great

that's a great one. Def voting for. could easily do just a ghostface ballot

lol at this kanye bieber remix with raekwon

also: no "ghetto superstar"?!?!? i think not.

that song is terrible

dirty singing the vowels at the end, cmon

always liked the bass line on that

I really loved Beneath the Surface (the alb) when it dropped and after re-listening I think it holds up. Top tier wu album, easily his 2nd best and only GZA full length you need to concern yourself w outside of Liquid Swords. I think it's my favorite 'sounding' wu album, great bass.

Def voting fro Breaker, Breaker. Tons of memorable lines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUdEzN6UWrQ

great video btw, never seen it video before

Shakey, what's your fav WU album. you said you ranked something over 36 chambers?

hey I'm still assembling my ballot!

oh sorry i figured you had that choice nailed down

there's no disputing that 36 Chambers is all-time game-changing classic, with zero filler or bad tracks. at the same time, it isn't the one I return to the most, and it's p rare that I go back and listen to it all the way through. if I'm being honest I prefer the overall sound of Wu-Tang Forever (even if there are certain tracks that get skipped every time), or the cleaner production and gangster mythologizing on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, or the non-stop grimy insanity of the first ODB record. I go back to those more.

im gonna have to do a lot of listening for this--gonna go through each of the 1st gen albums at least twice

I don't want to overstuff my ballot with Ghost tracks

I think it's inevitable since he's without question had the most solid solo career

yeah a really good hit to miss ratio plus a steady stream of releases.

looking back it's a pretty interesting development, I don't think anyone would have predicted from the outset that Ghost would be the breakout critical (if not commercial) star with the deepest catalog

nearly done with the singles playlist... fun to listen to these songs randomly. finding some i had never heard!

there's no disputing that 36 Chambers is all-time game-changing classic, with zero filler or bad tracks. at the same time, it isn't the one I return to the most, and it's p rare that I go back and listen to it all the way through. if I'm being honest I prefer the overall sound of Wu-Tang Forever (even if there are certain tracks that get skipped every time), or the cleaner production and gangster mythologizing on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, or the non-stop grimy insanity of the first ODB record. I go back to those more.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 12:21 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i can see that. altho i have some issues with the mix on some of Forever

looking back it's a pretty interesting development, I don't think anyone would have predicted from the outset that Ghost would be the breakout critical (if not commercial) star with the deepest catalog

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 12:44 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah meth was supposed to be the star

and in some ways he was, right? I feel like he definitely had a higher commercial profile + hit ratio, altho maybe all the acting gigs distort that.

yeah i guess. just seems like he hit a cliff after Blackout

blackout 2 has some jams

looking at Meth's singles chart postings it looks like his peak era was already over by '96 tho lol.

But he has a number one, and I don't think Ghost has ever even broken the top 10

probably gonna vote for at least one of its tracks

xp

blackout 2 has some jams

― bodak horseman (voodoo chili), Tuesday, October 3, 2017 12:54 PM (fifty-nine seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah for sure. i added A Yo in there. Meth had some scattered goodness left

if wiki is right then 4:21 sold over 230k!? jeez

loved the fallon performance when meth gets up on his desk and starts dancing <3
http://cms.springboardplatform.com/embed_iframe/159/video/48337/rab010/rapbasement.com/10

couldn’t in good conscience participate in the nominations but i’m gonna try to vote in this anyway

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, October 1, 2017 7:30 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

brad, i meant to ask what you meant by this? the first part)

Okay, Spotify tracks list is done. Biggest missing albums are 8 Diagrams, Theodore Unit, Ghost and Trife... but it's only 20 tracks out of 328!
I built a YouTube playlist with the non-spotify tracks; that's here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcqiswAZfVPq-ohw_PGfSMBrSmlDNdlX5
It all ends up being right at 24 hours of music.
I'll build the albums list later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3RdWHFTNEk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGGzZcmZfJI

yeah, those are in the youtube playlist i just posted.

ah, sorry

will always stan for this wild track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O8YoV2UVwc

the only intersect of Clinton and Wu, right?
Really enjoying Gravediggaz first album rn, which i somehow never seriously listened to!

isn't Clinton on some other track on that shitty album

like I seem to remember him getting two of those motor-mouth monologues in

(tbf "Wolves" is def one of the good track on there)

wolves is great.

that first trife track you posted is good but just a trife solo song no?

thanks for doing the playlists, forks, will be helpful for sure.

No prob man. I'm learning a lot!

Haha oh shit yr right! Track is so good i got distracted. Feel free to remove

Xp

Okay, the album playlist is fully populated too. Cappadonna has a lotta albums!

Missing albums (if anybody wants to build a separate YouTube playlist) are:
Cappadonna - The Cappatilize Project
Ghostface Killah (with Theodore Unit) - 718
Ghostface Killah & Trife Da God - Put It on the Line
GZA - Words from the Genius
GZA & DJ Muggs - Grandmasters
Ol' Dirty Bastard - A Son Unique
RZA - Digi Snacks
Sunz of Man - The Last Shall Be First
Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams

Thanks again. The sunz of man album is on spotify titled Natural High for some reason. I added already.

Ah got it; I saw that added but not on the list so I took that as an error. 9 outta 10 for the wu then.

thanks man

do we have enough people participating to make this work? figure we need about 20?

we've got 13 following the playlist on spotify, not sure how many more are planning on voting

Looks like there was about 15 or so who nominated at least one track and a couple others who chimed in with various other comments. but theres only like 4 of us talking in this thread so far.

Definitely plan on voting! Got a shortlist of 50+ tracks to work with.

Planning on voting as well, and really enjoying going through the playlist and discovering some new gems. For me, it's going to be hard for my ballot to have too much from outside the 36 Chambers-first five solo albums-Forever run. That's some of my favorite music ever made and I have such strong feelings about it

ould easily do just a ghostface ballot

― Spottie, Monday, October 2, 2017 11:36 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I feel this, Ghost probably deserves his own artist poll in addition to this

top 5 ghost track imo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9HuGts2_SQ

I'm definitely voting, too, I just don't participate that much because I usually have nothing to add to the conversation. :)

But I guess I might as well campaign for this terrifying song while I'm here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K95kTh5gSfY

listening to the albums in the order they were released, tbh I think 36 Chambers is gonna end up towards the bottom of my top 5. Sacrilege, I know.

The arc of RZA's evolution as a producer is really interesting, esp because the first album seems to come out of left-field and bears next to no resemblance to that dominant sounds on the east coast (Puffy/Biggie) and the west coast (Dre/Snoop/2-Pac) at the time that were clearly leading the way through rap's big crossover pop moment. RZA was drawing from a different, very NY-centric tradition though (I think Muggs/Cypress Hill is a notable exception/precedent), and you can hear these echoes of Juice Crew/Marley Marl, Premier, Pete Rock, even the Native Tongues, in the way the beats sound and the way the songs are structured and put together. What's different and sets it apart is the actual content/imagery of all the kung-fu film stuff, and the dusty, gritty, almost tinny sound of it. There is not a ton of low end on this record, but there is tons of distortion, noise, and weirdly chopped samples. And it's all fascinating but tbh I don't think it actually *sounds* as good as a bunch of stuff that came later as he refined his approach. By the time he gets to the Dirty album, something like "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" really bangs - minimalist as it is there's a depth and widescreen-appeal to the sound, everything is carefully placed and panned in the mix for maximum impact, the haze of the first album and Tical (which is muddy as *fuck*, the whole thing sounds underwater) is still deployed but it's more skillful, less sloppy.

And then by the time he gets to Cuban Linx (probably the peak imo) shit is sounding downright shiny and polished.

and oddly I feel like the back half of 36 Chambers - from C.R.E.A.M. on - is where it really hits it's stride

also jfc getting this down to 36 tracks for my ballot is gonna be a bitch

my first run through of just the albums I own (a little more than a dozen) yielded 60 tracks, and I've only just started to check out the Spotify playlist.

Think Rza himself said he stole the most from Prince Paul xps. good post tho.

Tical is pretty great sounding in it's murkiness. The bass is so maxed out and sloppy. Def pushes my sub to extremes.

yeah iirc he cites Paul in the Wu-Tang Manual and they obviously had a personal connection. I get that Paul paved the way for being "weird" with the skits and samples and RZA ran with that, no doubt. but I don't really hear a lot of De La or Stetsasonic or 3rd Bass (lol) in that first album. the lo-fi grittiness reminds me more Marley Marl or BDP, it's the raw, scratchy loops.

hear a lotta paul in this first gravediggaz album

cos he produced it

he was sill credited on their second album too but dont think he had anything to do with it.

tbrr I never liked either Gravediggaz album

the first one is an all-time classic IMO

first one is undeniable, 2nd one has a handful of tracks.

never been a big fan of rza as emcee but love him on that album

lol so my "shortlist" track ballot is um 150 tracks long

yeah mine's still around that size atm gonna be tough

I'm committed to my top 5 but past that it gets a little squirrelly

Couple things I noticed on the tracks list:

Gravediggaz - 2 Cups Of Blood
Gravediggaz - Two Cups of Blood

GZA - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
Killah Priest - BIBLE

thanks, fixed. went with '2 Cups Of Blood' and removed GZAs BIBLE since it's really just a Killah Priest solo track anyway. retitled it to 'Killah Priest - B.I.B.L.E.'

I'm going to vote. I just don't have to anything much to add to the convo other than I think Winter Warz is going to be my number one.

jfc I forgot how bad some of Masta Killah's verses on Wu-Tang Forever are

the fact that almost every song on the W is actually like 2-3 songs cut together is making it hard to pick what to vote for (besides "I Can't Go to Sleep", I guess, which is a shoe-in)

will anyone be voting for any 8 Diagrams tracks? the only one even close to my ballot is Unpredictable tbh

Wolves is p good I guess

I like wolves but not sure it makes my top 36

i'll rep for wolves, gloriously weird

finalizing my ballot, will send either tomorrow or over the weekend

yeah I think I'm done w mine too

Have a solid top 19, then like 50 songs competing for the remaining slots

Havent received any ballots yet. hoping everyone comes through in the clutch

You didnt get mine?

Nope not yet

hmm that's weird. I just sent it again

Got it!

Should note that the new Wu album just got released today

there better be at least one vote for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

loving this right now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGsguoVihk
had never heard

hey that is good! new to me too. beat kinda sounds like a chop of Banbarra (not the MSFB part)

yup
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/108252/Cappadonna-Raekwon-Love-Is-the-Message-MFSB-Love-Is-the-Message/

OBFCL2 holds up well. way better than it should have been

sent ballot last night

Got it

sent!

Almost done with my ballot, but want to say that I think this is interesting and otm:

The arc of RZA's evolution as a producer is really interesting, esp because the first album seems to come out of left-field and bears next to no resemblance to that dominant sounds on the east coast (Puffy/Biggie) and the west coast (Dre/Snoop/2-Pac) at the time that were clearly leading the way through rap's big crossover pop moment. ... And it's all fascinating but tbh I don't think it actually *sounds* as good as a bunch of stuff that came later as he refined his approach. By the time he gets to the Dirty album, something like "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" really bangs - minimalist as it is there's a depth and widescreen-appeal to the sound, everything is carefully placed and panned in the mix for maximum impact, the haze of the first album and Tical (which is muddy as *fuck*, the whole thing sounds underwater) is still deployed but it's more skillful, less sloppy.

Revisiting the albums in release order has been really interesting in seeing how much the RZA grows as a producer in just a few years, but also how much each of the members develops quickly. Rae is basically yelling throughout the first album, but by Ironman his raps have this great range and each line is just packed with syllables. Meth, too, I don't think he's that all that great on 36 Chambers even with his ample charisma, but by Forever every one of his lines kills me.

I will say that Tical has suffered most on relistening, the production feels notably weaker than the other "first four" releases. I don't mind muddiness generally, but it's just not that interesting and it starts to feel like a slog to me. And I don't think they had figured out that they should pack their solo albums with guest appearances, that a record can still project a singular vision without one rapper providing almost every verse

"not *as* interesting" is what I meant in that second sentence there; it's still a very good record

just sent my ballot! Hopefully others are also coming through this weekend.

only have 9 ballots so far. may need to extend a week and see if we can do some recruiting?

I can throw something together I should think, it'll be fairly canon though...

sorry life got in the way. a wee extension would be good if poss

yeah i think we have to. can a mod change the wording to 'deadline extended to Oct. 22' please?

i think we need a minimum of 15 but would like to get 20+

whos missing? flopson, bradnelson, marcos, Frederik B, forks, billstevejim, rogermexico (there was one that was sent and not sure from which user). Anyone else?

The mystery one was probably mine.

i think i figured yours cos it kinda correlates with your email address?

lost track of this will try to get a ballot together

thanks for the extension! hmm do I need to listen to The Saga Continues before I make any final decisions...?

no

did anyone listen to A Better Tomorrow

i did at the time but cant remember anything from it

mystery ballot was probably me

sounds right

da mystery of sic's ballot

Spottie just wanted to make sure you got my ballot, sent it about a week ago. Looking forward to this eventual rollout

Got it thanks!

Only got one more ballot with the extension. Not really sure how to proceed?

in my experience you have to bump this thread like every day to remind people to vote in it

otherwise folks just forget

how many ballots do you have so far?

11 including mine.

xp yeah usually that just happens kinda naturally with the normal back and forth and campaigning etc, hasn't really taken off like that.

I will get you a ballot tonight if you can find it in yr heart to let it sneak through late. again sorry

send it whenever, think we gotta try one more extension. Maybe a mod can update the date in the title to "(Deadline extended to Oct 31)" ?

saving my bacon with the extended extension

Bump, we need more voters cmon do it.

putting one together RIGHT NOW

me too

sent!

votey vote vote vote

almost too many punny poll options, so I suggest we do a backronym

PICK
ONLY
LYRICAL
LINES

*poll title options

Witty UnPOLLdictable Talent and Natural Game

there's so many choices it's true

I'll POLL Your Asshole Shut and Keep Feedin Ya and Feedin Ya and Feedin Ya

that was in my top 3 lol

votey vote vote vote

Got a couple more. Couple more days. One of these days, and it wont be long.

okay okay will get you one on sunday
i am self conscious as my picks are gonna be very garden variety

don't matter just do it!

Excited for the roll-out on this, haven't really campaigned for anything because my wu-opinions are fairly orthodox and it's not like an album like OB4CL needs extra repping here. How many ballots have been submitted?

working on it working on it

vote you foolz

vote while you still can

i got 2 more last week and one early this morning. Just a couple more lets get it done people.

oh dang... no nominations for:
GZA - Publicity
Method Man - What's Happenin' (feat. Busta Rhymes)

might have voted for both but my bad not paying attention sooner

did you submit yours yet?

incoming in 3... 2...

vote you suckaz

marcos! Forks! get jn

BEAT THE CLOCK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9bFbod2ZuQ

ahh i don't know if i can get this in in time

there is no specific time, how much do you need?

did you get my corny-ass ballot?

Got it!

Did my ballot come through a couple of weeks back (sorry wasn't sure if you were sending replies or not)?

yeah got it

woohoo ty!

Marcos can you do a ballot by the end of this weekend?

spottie i missed this sorry!! proceed without me sad to say :( unfortunately i have too much going on

:( hopefully youll join in the rollout.

I got another one last night . not sure who from. think im gonna cut it off Sunday night for good and roll out with what we have next week.

do we at least have... 36?

Ok I am going to try and do a ballot by the end of today. Thanks for doing this spottie

Aw no cobra clutch? Ok I'll be voting for enough ghost as is I guess

Sent a copy over

do we at least have... 36?

― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Saturday, November 4, 2017 1:19 AM (twelve hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i wish .

got your a hoy hoy, waiting on forks now...

Forks you have until Teusday night. Im starting this rollout Wednesday.

(or anyone else that wants in still)

is this going to open this week?

got everythign compiled but had to go on business trip so starting it fresh on monday now. sorry team.

can(t) it all be so simple

nice timing... little appetizer for us to discuss in the meantime

https://massappeal.com/wu-tang-clan-ranked-every-song/

man those full catalog worst to best breakdown lists are exhausting

that mass appeal list is so lazy, just 92 songs presented with a quote from each, no criticism or engaging with the songs

believe it was rushomancy who demonstrated the format's potential in his breakdown of every pink floyd song, that list ruled

I’ll have to check that

https://pinkfloydsongsranked.blogspot.com/

Nice thx

man Supreme Clientele is such a great start-to-finish record, greater than the sum of its parts in a weird way

agreed.

btw ive got everything ready to go just doing some graphics. gonna start with the sub polls tonight.

ended up with 17 ballots so dragging it out got us over the hump

fwiw I would've voted for more "The W" songs if it weren't for the fact that almost every track on that album is actually 2 or 3 different songs randomly cut together.

agh i unbookmarked thread accidentally. i am bad person.

THE POLL IS COMIN THROUGH, THE OUTCOME IS CRITICAL — WU-TANG CLAN — Artist Poll — Results

woohoo!