Liquid Swords: The Story Behind A Classic
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ธ.ค. 2024
- The year is 1995 and GZA is gearing up to drop his second studio album. With this release, it would make him the 4th Wu-Tang Clan member to release a solo album after the group’s debut album in November of 1993. The pressure was on for GZA because Meth, ODB, and Raekwon who released before him had success of their own.
Now it was GZA’s time to deliver and prove why he’s the genius of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Instagram: / theworldofdre
Link to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx video: • Only Built 4 Cuban Lin...
Link to videos used:
(Method Man & GZA interview 1996)
• Method Man & GZA inter...
(OLD Wu-Tang Clan Interview part 1)
• OLD Wu-Tang Clan Inter...
(RARE FREESTYLE - WU TANG CLAN ( Ol Dirty Bastard and GZA))
• RARE FREESTYLE - WU TA...
(Enter The Wu-Tang Documentary (1994))
• Enter The Wu-Tang Docu...
(WU-TANG CLAN - MUCH MUSIC RAP CITY 1996 SPECIAL PART 1 & 2)
• WU-TANG CLAN - MUCH MU...
Link to music used:
(RZA - My G.O.D. (Instrumental))
• RZA - My G.O.D. (Instr...
#gza #rza #liquidswords
Ghostface spit the BEST Verse of his Career on 4th Chamber & Method Man spit the BEST Verse of his Career on Shadowboxin. Gza brought the Best outta Everyone on this album 🔥🔥🔥🔥🐐🐐🐐🐐
“Why is the sky blue, why is water wet , why did judas rat out to roman’s while jesus slept”
And RZA
@@GP_017 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hold on my friend on those comments
@@each1teach1academy43 what u got for their best verses ?
In '95 I was an alternative and punk rock kid. I listened to Liquid Swords and it opened my mind to the idea of Hip Hop as an ART form.
'I got mouths to feed unnecessary beef is more cows to breed' one of the dopest lyric ever
then i analyze my track with satisfaction you adapt like a flashback chain reaction☄️ghost
Facts
You a farmer my guy?
Thats from ‘Cold World’ right
We can't underestimate the high level of quality in such a large volume in such a short time RZA was producing.
Highlight this comment
RZA is in my Mount Rushmore of east coast producers along with DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Q-Tip.
@aharris82 Clark Kent? Tone & Poke? Guru?
@@ChillHous1979 Honorable mentions; along with Easy Moe Bee, Erick Sermon, Large Professor and Ski
💯💯💯👐🏾
"I'm on a mission that niggas say is impossible..
But when I swing my swords they all choppable" 🙌
This dropped when I was a Freshman in college. My roommate was a member of the 5% nation. I remember he used to play this album and we would talk about the themes and bars of this album. Wu Tang was heavily influenced by the 5% nation and NOI. GZA’s flow was slow and calculated like he wanted you to pick up what he was putting down. Shadow Boxin and Duel of the Iron Mic was on repeat!
Word up!
Less so NOI but DEFINITELY 5% nation of gods and earths
GZA kind of dissed them on that album “Im not caught up in politics/ I’m no black activist on a so-called scholars dick”
Big facts
Yesssss!!! I remember having ciphers in my college dorm room and we would break down the lyrics and go bar for bar and give our interpretation. Damn! I felt like we were in a certified Wu Tang class! I kept a dictionary on deck to look up definitions of words I had never heard before. Just a bunch of intellectuals smoking , drinking and ....learning. Liquid Swords created sooo many beautiful memories for me and I hold it dear to my heart. ❤️
Peace God
I begged my dad to buy this album for me while we was at the mall. At the last second before we was leaving he got it for me. Fucking classic...my era!🙌🏿
Salute to dad
@@XxGlaciersOfIcexX thank you,he's battling dementia now and he wouldn't even remember it. I always will!
W dad. I hope him an your family is doing well, dementia is a terrible thing for anyone to go through but atleast you’ll be able to always remember the dope memories with him
shoutout to your pops man, may God bless his soul
Sounds like a good memory
I had the pleasure of seeing Gza perform this album live & it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. One of my top 5 favorite rappers of all time, very under appreciated.
i seen some of the group live and Method was supposed to be there but he was sick or some bs. I have had friends see Method and red live together and they did the whole thing they do where the stand on each other and do all sorts of goofy stuff in the crowd.
I’ve seen GZA too in the late 90s. He rocked it
I got to see them up close at State of Mind tour in September. I walked in to this crazy beat playing. I was blown away at how loud it was. Listen to the beat from “can’t stop me now”
Was it at the garden amp? I missed out on this show
Yeah he’s behind only Rakim in my top 5
I got this album in 2002 as a 19 year old in South Africa. This shit is a universal masterpiece from the 1st to the last 🙌🏾
Hey wassup…are u Still in SA?
@@MO6_baddazz8183 Yezir
This album was so dope that my mother liked it and she didn't even like rap and she was a Christian. Speaks volumes of how dope this was
Did she play it on her own , or did you say ‘mom you like this ?, ‘ and she says ‘ yes honey’ and you just took it to heart? Lol
Duel of the Iron Mic. One of the best tracks from that era.
I remember I skipped my first two classes to go get this album on the day it dropped, walked 5 miles to the mall to get it and once I started bumpin it I decided I needed the whole day off 😂 I still have the visual memory of standing near the parking lot being confused as to why the number of tracks didn’t match the number of titles.
I immediately went crazy over Meth’s 2nd verse on Shadowboxin and since the lyrics weren’t in the CD I went home and just kept rewinding until I wrote them all out myself. I could drop that verse anywhere word for word after that. I did it for a few girls over the phone 😂
I introduced Liquid Swords to a ton of people at my high school who had been otherwise obsessed with West Coast or only knew surface level Wu shit. This was in Tucson Arizona so there was only a few of us really up on our shit that would expand the music tastes beyond radio for other kids.
By the time Forever came out there was a release party at the mall for it that night, and I saw all these friends waiting in line that I had introduced to Wu myself so it was a proud moment.
Hailin from Phoenix & stay reppin tha Wu👐🏽🐝💯
It’s important to note that words from the genius was easy mo bee’s first placement in his entire career. He since went on to become a legendary producer
Liquid Swords and Only Built for Cuban Linx are in my top ten albums of all time. They were all dope but those two were my favorite.
Absolutely, was just going to say the same.
you're missing ironman
@@rogdawg123 yeah Ironman is up there to. But I would put Liquid Swords and OBFCL before Ironman.
@@btrizzle2150 yessir I agree 👍
Liquid Swords and Cuban Linx are in my top 2
This is a timeless album. I've listened to 36 chambers, but a few years ago I really wanted to teach myself why do people love the Wu-Tang Clan so much. So I listened to all of their albums and solo releases in chronological order multiple times. This album in particular stuck out to me in a big way, and has become one of my favorite albums of all time. I think the worst track is B.I.B.L.E. Not because it's bad, but because it's the last track. You know the album is going to end and that's such a shame! Oh well, time to listen to Liquid Swords again. I hope to find the Vinyl for a good deal one day so I can hang it up on my wall with some of my other favorite hip-hop albums.
I agree with that B.I.B.L.E just left me wondering more about killah priest he went crazy with the jewels on that one
@@divinedelaware7541 I believe that people being more intrigued about him was part of the plan following their mission to infiltrate the industry. They strategically pushed many of them at certain times from Meth to Sunz of Man and beyond
B.I.B.L.E a bonus tune really!
Have ya listened to Killah priest heavy mental? 🤌
Much respect to the GZA one of the best lyricists in Hip Hop and a good brother too.I hung out with him before he became famous.
This is easily in my top ten Hip Hop Albums of all time…so complete from beginning to end like a great movie, the sound is warm rough and beautiful- Hip Hop perfection. I was lucky enough to be at the album launch party in London, the live performance was incredible… Nuff RespeK to GZA and The Wu - Thank you for the great music and art. Great video and information. Peace and Love
He’s better than jay z
Swordsman was the best song on this album. The beat was deep and the lyrics made you think.
I played this album for 6 months straight before my brother asked me to play something else! This is what really started the elevation of my consciousness.
One of my fave albums of all times hands down...... Classic in every sense of the word. I still remember listening to the tape back in 95 (Winter) for the first time, was blown away and it was in rotation for a good minute.
He is one of the only artist who truly lives up to his nameGENIUS
KRS-One
@@BastardfromNorthMalawi definitely a genius but doesn't wear it in his sleeve
SWORDSMAN! is my favorite song on the album. I also loved the Killa Hills 10304 , Labels, Liquid Swords, I gotcha back, 4th Chamber & Shadowboxing.
This mini documentary was very well done! There's no one like GZA, his vocabulary is second to none. Great research and insight. Thank you for this proper presentation. 💯 keep it going!
Rappers with the best vocabulary, using the most unique words.
01. Aesop Rock
02. Busdriver
03. Jedi Mind Tricks
04. GZA
05. Wu-Tang Clan
06. MF Doom
07. RZA
08. Immoral Technique
09. Canibus
10. Ghostface Killah
Remember getting this tape back in the day. Every song still memorized in my brain.
between you and helloyassine, you guys are keeping classic rap/music alive with these stories, and i for one would like to thank you guys, thanks fam.
No thank you for supporting! All love
@@cloutcancun appreciate ya great work bro
@@cloutcancun could you do a video about Return of the 36 Chambers, Tical, All Eyez On Me, Life After Deat
Liquid Swords is definitely my favourite solo album of the Wu. I recall reading somewhere that they used some gear to make the beats that they didn't use on any of the other albums, accounting for the pretty out there, at times experimental sound. 4th Chamber is the standout track for me, with both Ghostface and RZA's bars that instantly made other MCs verses sound like simple-minded nursery rhymes. And the crazy synth like someone smoked a ton of weed and then discovered the pitch/mod stick.
This album was so dope because Gza was rapping on it like a New York Times reporter the way this album tells different stories from where we from is very unique and Gza Brooklyn swag and mic skills make this album sound menacing it’s a true body of work one of my fav tracks is “cold world” I like deck x Gza I feel like they are a top duo next to ghost and Rae but what Gza said in “gotcha back” was Ill “what is the meaning of crime? Is it criminals robbing innocent muthafuckas everytime” the way he set up that bar to play off of one word is brilliant nothing short of genius!
Love this album
When this dropped, and even now, top 5 coldest albums ever. All praises do to the Wu- & the vision they've had.
A Spider-Man themed inspectah deck album sounds fire 🕷️
Yep it was supposed to come out around the first batch of solo wu albums. Would’ve been a classic no doubt but sadly the floods ruined it 😢
@@cloutcancun The album GZA did with DJ muggs ‘grandmaster’ was also another nice, lesser known GZA project
@@cloutcancun That flood stripped us of another Wu Classic solo album and Deck lost his classic that day :( That flood they probably lost so much heat... We will never know but it's one of the biggest what ifs in hip hop history IMO.
It was said to be his best work, and we'd never get to hear it.
Shadowboxin is sick. I also love Duel of the Iron Mic and 4th Chamber
I’m a fan of the shogun assassin/ lone wolf and cub series and books. So when he sampled those sound clips from the movie, GZA scored points from me for that alone. Dope album
"The Demon Way"
This album was an instant classic to me, along with only built for Cuban links... Two of my favorite solo wu albums
So back in 1998-2000 I was at my old buddy’s house and we just playing with hanging out. I was leaving when his brother was like “Yo you can have this cd…. You probably won’t like it because the guy raps weird…but the beats are tight…” so I took it home and play the cd on my PS1 and the cd was Liquid Swords… since the age of 9 I’ve been with GZA and the Wu… and that’s for life 👐🏽
Dat's dope. 💯
Wow. Classic Album! I remember the day I got the Cassette tape! I was 15. I was rocking that album the whole year. And still to this day this Album is on my playlist!
I don't know how this album went platinum 20 years after its release. smh pure classic.
Peace! I just thought the same thing god! Sometimes you have to trust the process! We’ll earned Gza!
Most of hip hop classics were slow burns. Illmatic, Enter the Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, they are all classics and they were all slow burns.
I bought it twice. So, it was probably because of me.
I'll never forget the day I first heard this album.
Same, time and place....
The best album from all of Wu Tang
No
I agree, as far as solos go (Rae's and Ghosts are up there as well right after this).
This album was and is CLASSIC
4th Chamber/ Shadow Boxing was my first video doing security( X-Men /FOI/ Nation Of Islam) & we was the extras in the video as well
The artwork for liquids Sword the artist I do believe had the first black Comic-book called Hardware on DC ( I had the books )
Excellent Video Fam !!! Gotta check your others
Going to see GZA perform this in April with a live band, so hyped, glad I got to watch this before the concert. 👍🔥🔥🔥
First of all I want to thank for posting this doc. Second, when I first heard Liquid Swords I was taken aback because I was listening to my favorite Wu solo OB4CL and was on a high from the beats to the lyrics so LS didn’t hit me at first. As time went on I realized the GZA was an amazing emcee who took his time to write his bars. Now it’s one of my favorite Wu solos. SUUUUUUUUU
That album stayed in my cd changer in my car over 7 years, I still play it at least once a year
Bro 95 was one hell of a year…. Hydro spots popping up all over NYC ODB Raekwon the GZA Mobb Deep all dropped fire albums…. Hip hop in general was on fire in 95… Liquid swords was an instant classic type a shit u could throw on and play beginning to end no skips…. Good video bruh…
nice job !!my favorite album !!!gza probably favorites sky underneath the surface
This is my favourite Wu solo album. Been listening to it again recently on Spotify, definitely an album that you don't need to skip anything!
Off the album, Shadowboxin’, Cold World, 4th Chamber, & Investigative Reports are my favorite songs! Dis def a top three solo Wu project no cap!
A crime deck album got destroyed in that flood...
Do you stream Shadow boxing on Spotify or TH-cam? Or do you have a physical CD
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I could tell the research was there and this was well put together. Keep going!
Yo, amazing video, by far one of my favorite albums WU TANG FOREVER ❤
The Genius!! Favorite member from the clan. Top tier lyricist
It was one of the first albums I bought on vinyl and my favourite track of it is Hell's Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304
Favorite songs on liquid swords. Duel of the iron mic, labels, swordsman and liquid swords
This is such an amazing album. I'm really looking forward to buying this album soon like on CD. My fav tracks off top are: Liquid Swords, 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin', Cold World, Gold and Investigative Reports. B.I.B.L.E. is fire too, I'd even say this album has no skips, all tracks are stellar. Amazing vid too as usual, keep up the great work 💯
Liquid swords is my favorite album of all time! Thank you for making this video. I really like the quotes, facts, video clips, and photos. One thing I found out myself back in the day (if I remember correctly) is that on the 4th chamber there is a sound effect they used that is just thunder sped up.
This is my favorite press play cd I dnt skip a single song I play from start to finish eveytime. Long live the Genius Gza Wu-Tang forever
I was a senior at Lake Brantley High School when the Gza dropped Liquid Swords back in 1995. Best Birthday gift ever.
1995 - 16yrs old and this album hit me Hard! Definitely my favorite Wu artist and individual album, even though it isn't the most commercially popular of the Clan. Fav tracks - Liquid Swords, Living in the World Today, Labels, Investigative Reports, I Gotcha Back. Great video, thanks!
Crazy you just dropped this.. Gza will be performing the whole Liquid Swords album this Friday in Toronto
Crazy 😜 like Hulu didn’t just drop a episode 🧐
I was a freshman in high school when Liquid Swords dropped. I was a hip hop fiend back then. Surprisingly, this released slipped by me. A kid from L.E.S came into Spanish class showing off the tape. I flipped out that I missed the release. I had Kool G Rap’s 4,5,6 tape with me and We traded for a night to dub the tapes. Great documentary. Thanks for the nostalgia.
This album blew mi mind!! The beats, the lyrics…. Amazing
My fond memory of LS is this: It's '95 and I'd officially entered the Wu-Tang. I'd already collected Tical, ODB, and Cuban Linx tapes; Sad I didn't hear ETWT:36C till 5 years ATF. Anyway, when LS dropped, I was prepared for another bomb and knew what to expect. And sure enough, it exceeded all expectations! The first time I tried to buy it, a record store clerk told me they were sold out!! I didn't finally cop it till january of '96. I thought i'd mention that around the same time, I brought a DOPE green/black first down bubble coat as well!!!!😄😄😄😄
I'm know I'm def not the first to say this: 4th chamber is one of the BEST Wu tracks ever-out of all the releases-at least the ones I've heard. Especially Ghost and RZA's verses. All these years later it still gives me chills. Also: Strong Island!!
This album runs my Life. This is a huge Masterpiece.❤❤❤❤❤❤
BANGER to this day, one of the best front to back wu albums, the episode on show came out yesteday was dope, but as someone who was an 18 yr old in hood when it came out, this album owned the streets for a min....rea n meth did too, but there solo albums were different like they really highlighted there “uniqueness” out of the clan, but GZA liquid swords felt like a complete return to form for “wu” as whole when it dropped, the beats, the vibe, the movie scenes, skits, just the whole journey, it felt like a true like “sequal” to 36 chambers, and like it existed in wu lane and didnt give a shit about rest of rap world or fitting in with it, where as meth n rae were more like on some stand toe to toe with other solo rappers in industry type shit....all were equally great, but me personally liquid swords was my fav since 36 chambers, and its still in rotation today for me🔥🔥🔥👐forever
Great video.
I'm a hardcore Wu fan from the UK.
Every time a new wu album dropped I'd be on a mission to get it.
I got liquid swords and was not disappointed.
Liquid swords is a stone cold classic.
My favourite tracks are labels..shadowboxin..4th Chamber and duel of the iron mic.
When this album dropped it was still bumping enter the wu and the other wu solos heavily.
Still to this day everything from enter the wu to wu tang forever gets played all the time.
That was wu's golden period.
And I guess I'm still stuck there..and I'm not complaining.
52 blocks originated on rikers island. The old heads in the 70s fought with it. It was more or less a fight style which knives were used. So a lot of the movements is defensive. One rikers island legend who mastered the 52 block was a guy named mother dear. Look further into the 52 blocks. Great video💪🏾
52 hand blocks, researched it after I heard the lyrics a few times in songs and I got it's history etc. Therefore your 52 hand blocks is useless I believe they said on the song (Cold World), classic.
Almost 30yrs later and we still talking about certain albums from that era. These shyts have become like modern day Thriller albums. I was 20 yrs old when OB4CL links came out now I'm coming face to face with 50 and that album still hypnotizes me
This album is still fresh till this day, my favorite wu solo LP, every joint on here is tight but cold world is a classic. One of the best sophomore rap LP’s of all time.
I think I recall "Labels" being a single before "Liquid Swords". "Labels" was a promo only single on Wu-Tang Records (pre-Geffen)
I love the homemade DIY Wu gear back in the beginning.
This album is not only my favourite WuTang album, but this classic, is one of my favourite HipHop album of ALL TIME!
No one could ever convince me.
Just discovered your channel, nice one bruv, chiming in from South East London 🖖🏿
I bought that album when it came out and it was definitely a cold winter night album. It was so ill I played the CD everyday.
My personal favorite Wu-Tang member solo album💿🎤⚔♟♔♕♖♗♘♙♚♛♜♝♞♟
This has always been my favorite Wu solo album. The beats are phenomenal. I felt like it most embodied the Wu sound as a follow up to 36 Chambers. When this came out I bought every 12" single I could find from it, and ... I think I Gotcha Back (B side to Cold World) was the first record I attempted to DJ "doubles" on. Not sure I ever saw the LP for sale when the album dropped but I scooped the tape and then followed up with the LP a few years later. YEARS later I bought the LP chess set version and could never bring myself to open it. Value on that record has skyrocketed. GZA's follow up records are also dope.
This is a well detailed video. Good job.
Love your channel and I appreciate the time you put into these documentaries
BEST ALBUM OF THE WHOLE WU-TANG DISCOGRAPHY ! 🥇🥇👅👅⚔️⚔️
Wu tang saga brought me here. Never was a fan of the group except Method Man until i saw the show
One of the best rap albums of all time. Period. I bought it blindly back in the days and i was instantly blown away by this masterpiece. It’s so dark, rough and gritty. RZA did a hell of a job! GZA itself is one of of the best mc‘s! Sadly his output is horrible. Still waiting for Dark Matter…🥲
Gold, investigative reports, and I gotcha back.
All the way from Appleton WI
I saw GZA in Frisco a few days after my birthday last year he whooped ass playing chess against some fans then rocked the show he jumped in the crowd w us and errthang shit was hella lit I got some good pics
legendary ---- thanx to creation , nature , music and artists
I was working at my fathers record store in 95 & Only Built had come out earlier that year. Back then, the singles came in cassette form & they didn’t have the plastic case with the fold out insert like the full albums or extended play cassettes (EP). What they came in was a paper wrap & the first single we got in the store was Liquid Swords. I know I Gotcha Back came out on the Fresh soundtrack first but the official first single for the album was Liquid Swords & the wrap was just a black & white drawing of the chessboard with the ninjas & shoguns are fighting. It almost went right past me when it came in the promotional pack. Back then the labels would send out promotional packs called promos to all the store to create a buzz. In those packs would be posters & flats & singles. I saw it & saw the symbol GZA/GENIUS & the Wu dub was like barely visible. I dropped that Bitch in the tape player at the store & after one listen I called my cousin who was a wu head like me. We used to bump the shit out of Only Built For Cuban Linx. So we bumped that shit like 3 months before the album dropped.
You’re on a roll with these videos keep it up 🔥🔥🔥 liquid swords really is one of the top albums within the wu world , definitely always had it on repeat no skips , wish gza would of done a part 2 in the 2000s but his other albums just never hit the same as liquid swords
This is awesome, I was literally just listening to Shadowboxin earlier today.
I’m tuning in from Maine.
What an episode ! Sublime ! Just like the album. I watched the ep 30 min in I found myself still holding the remote standing in front of the TV! I forgot to go back and sat , this is how nostalgic the whole sound and story was to me! Never felt like that before! ☮️💟☯️
Tuning in from Ireland. Happy to report that 'Liquid Swords' made it across the Atlantic Ocean in classic form.
thanks for the video! cant wait to see em in june. rip odb..
This is literal ART like this is what it means to be an artist
Bro you are the man my top album of all time. Don't many know about this you are a wise man
Wu Tang Clan is my favorite East Coast Rap Group. I was 16 years old when the gentlemen from Staten Island & Brooklyn album debuted. I’m from Kansas City, Missouri byway of Jacksonville, Florida. My favorite songs on “Liquid Swords” is “Swordsman” “B.I.B.L.E”and “Labels”
Do you also support artists from your own city and state such as Rich The Factor, Rush Borda, Tech N9ne, Young Fe etc.?
Will never forget my homeboy bringing the tape and letting me listen to it in class in middle school when this came out. I said, "YOU HAVE TO LET ME DUB THIS TAPE TONIGHT". I was blown away listening to this for the first time!!
Recently was blessed to see him perform most of the songs on liquid swords and some other hits
Finally, Easily my favorite Wu Tang album even tho Rae my favorite member.
Loved the video brodie, this album came out the day i was born an when i got a lil older my cousin put me on its one of my fav albums all time
finally a video about the liquid swords album,fucken love this dude!
Thank you this is a dope ass documentary. When liquid swords came out me and my friend opened up a skateboard shop and we were donated 2 turntables and a mixer and this is the only record that I had since I didn't collect vinyl yet. I would play the turntables all day long till I got good at it and unfortunately I ruined my double LP but it still plays well it doesn't skip just scratches.
The first time I bought and heard the album I ended up going on a serious mission just for some Colombian food in December 1995. I got off of work after 5pm and it was snowing hard that night and walked from Ronkonkoma to Brentwood, NY listening to this album on my Walkman not even feeling the blistering cold elements due to my audio content.
I was 15 and stressed out. Gza got me through some times.
I'm still Mad to find out Nas was originally gonna be on Investigated Reports 😣😣
Yea I meant to mention that! Just saw that while I was editing but forgot to include it. That would've been EPIC for sure
Bruh ong. He probably backed out tho.
@@aizenzae4510 He known for that but idk. From how Rza & Nas were talking it might been a Rae or Wu call idk
That would've been dope. He sounded like he would've fit perfectly on the track.