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Riff: Wu-Tang Clan – “Pearl Harbor”

Oct 20, 2017

Don’t try to Blaze with Johnny even if you got an army/Dirty money in the laundry, don’t ask why, I got my reasons/I puff that Bob Marley, might hit you with the Tommy/You can catch me in the party near the speaker not speakin’

from Pearl Harbor lyrics by Wu-Tang Clan

Maybe not the most politically correct song title, but standard practice for rap’s original Seven Samurai. And true to its namesake, top flight mavericks drop bombs like it were WWIII. Ghostface, Method Man, RZA and Sean Price each take turns unleashing hellfire, and unlike previous efforts none are mailed in. Sean Price gets the sentimental vote for top verse, but it’s Method Man who proves that among the Wu family he still has the chops to carry a full-length. The token raspiness is there, and not one to break formation he kicks a devastating verse. It’s all moxie and attitude, and an example of how well he’s aged over the years. Nasty from all points of view.

 

Riff by Jeff Min

Jeff Min is a Chicago-based writer at SONGLYRICS. His work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Hi-Fructose, Wax Poetics, SLAM, and HOOP.

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