Hip-Hop

The latest CD release reviewed

WU-TANG CLAN
8 Diagrams SRC/Loud/Bodog ****

For the Wu-Tang warriors, myth- making has always been as important as sabre-rattling, from the thrilling highs of their Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) debut in 1993 to the Clan's solo excursions. Few have matched their ability to make both hits and headlines. Now the Staten Island crew are back in business on this fifth album. RZA's productions are sharp, sleek and stinging, uniting The Beatles and the Wu on The Heart Gently Weeps (where Erykah Badu provides some sweetness and light) and then slamming down a humdinger of a hook for Method Man's boxfresh flight of lyrical fancy on Stick Me for My Riches. While RZA smokes out a dense groove, the men on the mic deliver the verbal science on taut cuts Rushing Elephants, Unpredictable and Gun Will Go. Wu-tastic. www.myspace.com/wutang

Jim Carroll

Download tracks: Stick Me for My Riches, The Heart Gently Weeps