I’m sure I’m not the only one out there for whom Deck was their favorite member of the Wu. I waited years for a solo album from Deck, fully expecting that whenever it would come it would be the greatest Wu-Tang solo album of all… I was pretty wrong on that account, but not completely dissapointed.

R.E.C. Room set the stage a year earlier and gave me hopes that this would be the album I was hoping for. Classic Deck flow and lyrics over one of the True Master’s best RZA impressions.  Sadly that there is the albums biggest problem… It’s chock full of 2nd rate RZA impersonations and too little of The RZA himself. The worst part is that of the two tracks The RZA does production on, one is great while the other is ehhh at best. Movas & Shakas, the opening track is so good that all The RZA imposter production just sounds that much worse having to follow it. But sadly The RZA’s other track on here, Friction is saddled with an awful chorus a throw-away beat and some bland flow between Deck and Masta Killa. With the exception of R.E.C. Room, 4th Disciple, Allah Mathmatics & True Master do their master shame with their bland 2nd rate attempts at trying to sound like The RZA. Deck even joins in on the production for 5 tracks which he fumbles pretty badly trying to be all things at once on the majority of them. The two he does get right, Hyperdermix & Word On the Street he REALLY gets right keeping them on some simple Boom Bap which allows him to do what he does best, weave the lyrics and flow into a head nodding web you can’t help but get caught in. And other than that the only other saving grace on this album is Trouble Man, a pretty good Pete Rock beat which in the midst of this album comes through with as close to a radio friendly single as you’ll get.

Who knows what the politics were like when Deck was trying to get this album out but it’s sad The RZA didn’t think highly enough to prioritize doing beats for it. This albums biggest saving grace is Deck himself with his lyrical prowess and ability to weave a story, so it’s frustrating to imagine what could have been had The RZA simply taken a more active role. And it isn’t just that Deck had to rely so heavily on The RZA’s proteges for beats, it’s the album’s artwork as well! While it may seem weird to judge an album on it’s artwork, the Wu have put out some truly memorable album art and logos so I feel given their track record up until this point it’s totally open for criticism. I’m not sure if Deck’s logo was designed by longtime Wu designer, Mathematics or not. But whoever did it should have held off until they had a better grasp of 3D rendering besides the basics. The cover is only memorable in how humorous it is, and not in a good way!

So in conclusion 5 good Inspectah Deck solo songs are still better than none. And judging from his albums following this one, I have a feeling those are the last good songs we’ll ever get.