A year after the breath of fresh air that was
Wu-Tang Clan
's
The W
, major members
RZA
and
Ghostface Killah
both deflated the balloon with mostly disappointing solo albums. At the tail end of 2001,
Wu
associate
Cappadonna
dropped his own sophomore joint, and though he does fulfill the promise in the intro that "you gonna hear a lot of different things,"
The Yin and the Yang
can't break the increasing curse on
Wu-Tang
solo albums.
starts off with a few string-heavy,
soul
-sampling productions by his usual partners (
8-Off the Assassin
,
True Master
Neonek
), spitting solid mushmouthed rhymes, trying (and usually failing) to capture the obtuse metaphysics of
Method Man
Ol' Dirty Bastard
. Of course, it's difficult to take the apocalyptic philosophizing on
"Bread of Life"
at face value, especially coming after a degrading track like
"Super Model."
The flip side of
is more promising;
"Love Is the Message"
is a distinct detour, sampling the hit of the same name by
M.F.S.B.
for an intriguing, swinging track.
also joins forces with the
So So Def
crew (specifically,
Jermaine Dupri
Da Brat
) for another highlight,
"We Know."
Though his rapping ranks above the norm,
doesn't live up to expectations for
fans. ~ John Bush