mastaghostface's Full Review: Dopium [PA] * by U-God
U-God, to me, always seemed like the cat who was pushed aside when it came to the Wu-Tang. No more is this shown than on the Wu’s debut album. Altogether, he got two verses, equaling to twelve bars (shoot, Masta Killa may have had one verse, but at least he got a full 16 bars!). As well, where his verse on “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’” was pretty good and memorable for only 8 bars, his “Protect Ya Neck” verse couldn’t even be called a verse. With only four quickly forgotten bars, he felt more like an interruption than an actual contributor to the song. Then, concerning solo albums, his didn’t even drop until 1999 (of course, Masta Killa would beat that record, but he’s not the focus right now!). A few albums later, you know, after the albums that I couldn’t find anywhere, comes Dopium , an album that was released only a couple of months ago that was virtually unnoticed by me until one day, I just randomly decided to look him up. Sucks. But, is he being ignored because he is actually that bad, or is he bringing something to the table that no one is appreciating? Well, let’s break down the positives and negatives of this album to see for sure.
DOPIUM BY U-GOD POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE
The Positives
To start us off right, we are hit with an awesome soul sample of trumpets and thumping drums, with Ghostface punching us in the face with a tight verse, followed by U-god, who lets us know that he is ready to provide us with a tight album. Lastly, Scotty Wotty, a new guy to me, comes through with an impressive verse with a flow that makes it sounds like he writes dope verses as much as he breaths, creating the perfect album opener. Soon after, the Genius and Scotty Wotty (again?), stop by for “Stomp the Roach”, an instant classic which uses roaches as a double entendre for sneaky, slimy people who leach off of others. And although U-God and Scotty definitely do their thing, it is ultimately the Genius (as always) who comes through with the most awe-inspiring verse. You have to check this out:
“They set up shops in apartments in projects
Bold enough to roll up on, any object
Grabbing on my gear til they pull the label off
They fight for the crumbs that's on my table cloth
...
We leave roaches where the remains and trash lays
Incinerate it, they spend they last days in ashtrays”
The beat is a little familiar, using the same sample as the “Brooklyn Zoo” remix, but I think they use it to a much better effect, as near the end of each verse the horns get stronger and stronger, prompting you to sing along with the chanting chorus, “Stomp the roach, stomp the roach, yeah! Stomp the roach, stomp the roach, ya know?”.
Afterwards, “Lipton” shows U-God’s eclectic side when it comes to choosing beats, as the track is composed of a quickly rising and lowering electric guitar and a silly back-and forth set of piano chords that U-God sets his mechanical flow to, brandishing his unique deep voice to channel a great set of mad, multi-syllabic rhyme schemes that sort of sound like if Jack from Tekken could rap, each line being a constant jab of lyrical fury. The one thing that kind of knocks the song down a bit is the chorus by Mike Liton, which is raucous and a little obnoxious. Regardless, U-God, on each verse, remains a polar opposite, sticking to his robotic stream of dope rhymes. This is followed by “Coke”, a drug rap song that actually manages to be... pretty good, considering the countless amount of times the theme has been used. The beat is pretty standard and the chorus is a little standard as well, but it is Raekwon, U-God, and Slaine that certainly make up for that. Rae makes sure we know that OB4CLII will be dope, U-God returns with a verse that pretty much equals the awesomeness of Rae, and then, out of no where, Slaine makes sure that we’re aware of whatever album he might be making, because I really want to hear it now. Then, upon seeing a song actually titled “Wu-Tang”, I thought, “okay, so you only got one other member to be on this song and you call it “Wu-Tang”?” but I was instantly shut up by the sheer dexterity of Hot Nikks and the Four Bar Killer. The beat is a freaky organ stab, a fun synth riff, and banging drums that make way for the two emcees to spit a few bars that are unserious, but nice nonetheless. Then, for the title track, Uey makes sure that it is what he says it is, when he starts off by straight-up stating, “by the time I’m over, you’re gonna be a fan, mothaf*ck*!”. The beat is a chilled, yet fully charged soulful sample with a voice that boasts “I’m here to... cause a problem!” and bold drums that fit U-God’s forceful flow where he just rips into the beat, leaves randomly and comes back unexpectedly twice to craft the bars of a lyrical masterpiece. This one’s a true Wu banger.
The negatives
One big minus is that U-God isn’t exactly the best chorus-picker. On “God is Love” Cappadonna kinda flounders for a chorus saying “Come on, God is love, everybody say God is love,” and it’s a little uncomfortable hearing him say that, due to the fact that his vocal inflection sounds like he’s really desperate to get a response from a crowd, and what’s worse is that there is no response, making it feel as if there’s a crowd that, for some reason, just wants him to get offstage. Killah Priest does alright, but U-God’s verse contains an extreme over use of the words “out” and “here”. Getting back to the chorus part, “Lipton” has chorus so annoying that it was the only thing preventing me from giving it 6 stars. It was just way too much. And the “Rims Poking Out” chorus just hurts, along with the unlikeable synth riff that grates the ear for the whole song.
“New Classic” was nice, but WAY too short...
And lastly, “Hips” is just horrible. Don’t listen to it. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life. It doesn’t even work as the club song it claims to be, with it’s weird horror movie organs, terrible bass synth, and a creepy *ss misogynistic chorus. Oh, speaking of which, pay no attention to the remixes. “Hips” was already bad enough, and you really don’t want ruin the experience of “Stomp da Roach” with the techno-garbage remix they did.
How does it fare for Dopium?
A big plus for this album is that U-God kept it short. Lengthy albums seem to eventually bring a certain monotony to them. As well, they seem to cause an artist to stuff the album with commercial filler, which, thankfully, was kept to a minimum with songs like “Hips” (ugh...) and “Rims Poking Out”. For each of these mistakes, there were cuts like “Dopium,” “Stomp da Roach,” and “New Classic” (which I must add was produced by Large Professor, but anyways...).
It’s safe to say, though, that the positive far outweighs the negative, making this album a worthy purchase, regardless of a few blemishes.
1. Train Trussle (feat. Ghostface Killah and Scotty Wotty) (5 out of 5)
2. God Is Love (feat. Cappadonna and Killah Priest) (3 out of 5)
3. Stomp Da Roach (feat. GZA & Scotty Wotty) (4 out of 5)
4. Lipton (feat. Mike Ladd) (5 out of 5)
5. Coke (feat. Raekwon & Slaine) (5 out of 5)
6. Magnum Force (feat. Jim Jones and Sheek Louch) (3 out of 5)
7. Hips (1 out of 5)
8. Wu-Tang (feat. Method Man) (4 out of 5)
9. Dopium (6 out of 5)
10. Rims Pokin' Out (feat. Leathafase) (3 out of 5)
11. New Classic (4 out of 5)
(and the remixes don’t count....)
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