Capsule & Show Preview: GZA at Emo's

GZA, aka The Genius, aka Gary Grice has released another record, his sixth, Pro Tools, and he’s definitely still flexing his intellectual muscle, as he’s known to do in his rhymes. Anyone with even at least a rusty working knowledge of Wu-Tang should remember this MC and hopefully even his most-praised solo release, Liquid Swords, which is kind of legendary in many hip hop circles. He got a reputation pretty much right out of the gate with that release, which is usually a bad thing because it makes it harder for future albums to live up to the hype of that previous one. And, critics can be brutal when they get disappointed. Luckily, that’s not the case with Pro Tools. GZA seems aware of his skill right off the bat with “Alphabets” where he refers to his word craft as “shines like a precious jewel, cut up in a workshop with specialized, hand-crafted tools.” He’s using clever lyrics to describe how he uses clever lyrics.

On “0% Finance” he weaves some rather impressive rhymes about people as cars around a beat that doesn’t change much throughout. It’s catchy, simple, and it pops. And, that’s really all that’s necessary with someone who knows his thesaurus as well as GZA. He ends the track with “the distance was like from Mercury to Saturn.” There’s one last car reference thrown in to end it.

Further Out, there’s an interlude, an intermission, some sound bites, tracks featuring RZA and Justice Kareem, and beats that do a great job backing and providing a framework for rhymes that edify, creep out and make you bob your head.

But, for all those who are not willing to let go of a past behemoth of a record and embrace newer songs and sounds, or for those who just want to relive 1995, GZA will be performing songs from Liquid Swords at Emo’s 16th Anniversary Wednesday. For any music from his latest, you’ll just have to buy the record. Want to attend? Fill out the form below for a chance to see the performance tonight.

GZA MySpace