GZA/Genius
Liquid Swords

The best rap album in history was "Liquid Swords" by the oldest member of the "Wu-Tang Clan".
I am filled with incredible excitement and try to get on the level of someone who has always and forever used metaphors as his strong point. He calls his cousin, the legendary RZA, to lay down the beats and after a while, the album is his... it resides in the Olympus of the best creations to come from the "hand" of an artist.

In the list of the best albums of all time, it is so because of the content and lyricism of our friend GZA, no one will captivate you more than he does, it's the perfect album to start enjoying hip-hop. The supreme authoritative and subliminally electronic beats fit perfectly with the rhymes and metaphors about the current world, GZA seems to never tire of rapping extraordinarily.

We could take a break, we could drink together, we could remember where the hell the samples for the openings of the songs in this CD were taken, we could get arrested for crack possession so they'll support us, instead, we call people to enrich this album just to make it unforgettable. Ghostface, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Inspector Deck, RZA, Raekwon, and U-God. Not bad, huh? People who have accompanied you for a lifetime, not just friends for a couple of joints and then gone. Here we are talking about a Clan that changed the rules in hip-hop making it a fantastic genre for content and not at all monotonous. Here only the rhymes count. Screw all the other neighborhood rappers.

If you're drunk you shouldn't write reviews, I write them anyway to make people understand what it means to feel his words, forget the latest album of the moment, hip-hop is GZA "Liquid Swords".

The album opens with the title track "Liquid Swords" which begins with the narration of a child whose father was killed and then follows with the actual song, one of the best on the album. Right after, we come across the beautiful "Duel Of The Iron Mic" where GZA is accompanied by partners Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Then GZA invites us to follow what the "Wu-Tang Clan" says if we want to survive in this world with "Livin' In The World Today". Continuing, we find a track that in my opinion is one of the most underrated on the album "Gold", a beat in full Bobby Digital style, splendid. A track that softens the violent and urban atmospheres is "Cold World", where the Shaolin sound is more distant and the soul-style chorus brings a softer tone to the song, featuring Rebel INS a.k.a. Inspectah Deck. Another gem comes from "Labels", with one of the most "street" atmospheres on the album. It's hard to choose the best track, but for me, it would be "4th Chamber" where, among electronic sounds that are at times alienating, synths, and echoes of electric guitar, GZA hands the mic to Ghostface Killah, Killah Priest, and RZA as MC. Next is "Shadowboxin" featuring Method Man who delivers one of his typical stylish and doped performances, a somewhat unremarkable beat with a recurring voice that eventually tires you, perhaps the least beautiful song on the album. We arrive at "Killah Hills 10304", a very aggressive track with a very beautiful beat characterized by a crescendo of violins, very melancholic. More strings are found in the next track, "Investigative Reports" featuring Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, and Killah Priest. Transitioning to "Unexplained", a very metropolitan track characterized by sounds reminiscent of alarms and typical city noises, truly remarkable as a piece. The twelfth track is "I Gotcha Back", a typical Shaolin base characterized by the typical "metallic" snares that distinguish this type of sound where we find a particularly aggressive GZA on the mic. The song that closes the album is a true gem, it is "B. I. B. L. E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)", a very calm beat that highlights Killah Priest's excellent rap, alone on this track.

Definitely one of the best records I've ever listened to. A 5 only minimally does justice to a masterpiece of this caliber. Give it a try.