Inspectah Deck, while not the most famous, might be the Wu-Tang Clan’s most reliable swordsman.

Next month it's exact 30 years ago, their debut album was released and Deck was all over it: he that dude, that ‘smoked on the Mic, like Smokin’ Joe Frazier’ ("Protect Ya Neck"), the one whose ‘method on the microphone was bangin’ ("Bring Da Ruckus"), while settin' that same "microphone on fire" with "rap styles vary and carry like Mariah" ("Da Mystery Of Chessboxin"), while his verse in “C.R.E.A.M.” is endlessly quotable.

But, skilled as the man is, with so many insanely talented & charismatic rappers all together in one group, it’s easy to get overshadowed: Method Man was the Clan’s break-out star from the get-go, Ol’ Dirty's crazy antics and huge presence were also hard to beat, Rae & Ghost quickly established themselves as the Wu’s criminologists, GZA that towering figure dissecting the (rap) landscape with sharp observations & witty wordplay, with RZA as the Abbott keepin' it all together, while at the same time developing another persona, Bobby Digital.

Together, these clan members made wall-to-wall classics between '93 & '97, and it’s been reported, Deck was about to drop his own too within that time frame; exact details remain a bit sketchy though, but I’d say either ’96 or maybe early ’97.

But tragedy struck, cause right in the middle of that winning streak, late '95, a flood in RZA's Staten Island basement studio wiped out nearly all recorded material, beats, as well as destroying equipment, such as vocal compressors (RZA reportedly gave every Clan member his own compressor, tweaked its frequencies to his liking, to never change it afterwards).

As a result of that flood, the recording sessions for Ghost’s "Iron Man" album were done in another studio, and that -according to RZA-, made his voice sound different than before, while Deck reportedly recorded solo songs as early as ’93, but those were all but destroyed in that catastrophe.

However, Deck carefully kept on constructing deadly verses, on every of his brother’s albums, and then THAT verse, on “Triumph”, the lead-off single of the Clan’s sophomore album “Forever”.

Considered one of the most iconic (opening) verses of all time, it raised Deck's stock immensely, resulting in a series of high profile cameo’s on albums by Gang Starr (“Above The Clouds”), Big Pun (“Tres Leches”) & Pete Rock (“Tru Master”).

Deck finally secured a release for his own “Uncontrolled Substance” album in the last quarter of 1999, but some label shuffling, behind-the-scenes things, as well as the Clan’s fractured focus, made for a flawed product.

The question will always remain how that project would've sound, had it been released in ’96/’97. The Rebel INS himself stated it was a totally different album than what came out, with a completely different tracklist.

This here is a round-up of a lot of personal Deck faves of mine, which weren't included on released studio albums, sequenced in a manner I hope The Abbott would do ca. 1995 :)

Tracklist:

1. Ain't Nobody Scared
2. Let Me At 'Em
3. The American Way
4. Sound Of The Slums (ft. Masta Killa)
5. Night Shift
6. Speaking Real Words (ft. Czarface 1.0)
7. S.O.S. (ft. Street Life)
8. The Rebel
9. Tru Masters (ft. Pete Rock & Ghostface Killah)
10. East Side Of Town
11. Settlement
12. Wu-Tang Cream Team (ft. Harlem Hoodz, Raekwon, Method Man & Killa Sin)
13. A Lil' Story
14. Fame pt. II
15. Semi-Automatic: Full Rap Metal Jacket (ft. U-God & Street Life)
16. The Eyes

17. Bonus: Rap Burglars (ft. Raekwon)

Producers:

RZA (5, 11 & 15), The Rebel INS (2, 3 & 7), Havoc (1), Concrete Beats (4),
Vinyl Reanimators (6), Salaam Remi (8), Pete Rock (9),
Roc Marciano (10), DJ Scratch (12), Cilvaringz (13), Charli Brown (14),
Bronze Nazareth (16) & DJ Mathematics (17)

Wu Chronicles - Episode V: Inspectah Deck - "The Rebel Of Shaolin"

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Hailing from the port city of Osaka, Jun Tanaka is playing a defining role in leading the way as a key player in the world of future beats, with fun and care-free club edits at the forefront. An unwavering fan of beat music, hip-hop, r&b, afrobeats and bailé amongst others, Tanaka’s own productions are the product of his influences, with Amsterdam’s all-conquering contingent of producers – Jarreau Vandal and Jaël to name a few – a key source of inspiration, with Joe Kay’s LA-collective Soulection educating him on the boundary-free fun of future beats music, he tells us.

Fresh off dropping yet another silky and vibrant ‘Club Edit Pack’, Jun has put together the latest episode in our guest mix series, a typically irresistible blend of future beats, afrobeats, r&b, club and beyond. Fitting a flurry of self-produced edits alongside flips from the likes of Jengi, Hasan Insane, Zikomo and Cookin’ Soul across 60 wide-ranging minutes, that shows his versatility and ability to summon up feelgood, dancefloor ready euphoria that works for any time of the day.

On the mix, and keeping it short and sweet, Jun says: “Thank you for having me. This mixtape will make you guys comfortable, enjoy.”

Tracklist + More Info

About To Blow • Guest Mix Series [45] • JUN TANAKA

J.PERIOD Presents The Live Mixtape: Wakanda Edition.  Recorded LIVE on September 2, 2020. Art by Dan Lish.

Download: https://jperiod.bandcamp.com/album/j-period-presents-the-live-mixtape-wakanda-edition-recorded-live

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