Maryland rapper Logic was only seven years old the last time a Wu-Tang Clan track really took the world by storm with “Triumph,” so it’s pretty ironic that the now-28-year-old Young Sinatra spitter is the one to unite the Clan once again for a truly epic, eight-minute lyrical broadside on his latest album, YSIV, titled “Wu-Tang Forever.” He teased the track a week prior to the release of the album, but now we can all hear that it was definitely worth the wait.
Logic himself unsurprisingly fits right in among the wordy masterminds that make up the mid-90s supergroup, as he sets things off with a typically high-speed, rhyme-packed verse, then steps aside to allow his guests time to shine. Ghostface Killah is the first of the Wu warriors to step to the mic with a wild verse that repurposes Colgate as a synonym for coke and references another old Wu-Tang guest spot on SWV’s “Anything”: “Kaboom! Guess who stepped in the room.”
Next, Raekwon, RZA, Method Man, and Inspectah Deck turn in sterling verses before Cappadonna and U-God make their appearances, sandwiching an intriguing appearance from little-known Wu affiliate Jackpot Scotty Wotty, who’s made appearances on U-God’s albums and was apparently an early pick to be a founding member of the Wu. Masta Killa and GZA bring up the rear with short verses.
Even the beat, produced by longtime Logic collaborator 6ix, is a vintage Shaolin snare and kick combo with a menacing bassline and soulful sample and, yes, the standard kung-fu movie clip, hijacked from 1979 film Ten Tigers from Kwangtung. Not bad for a rapper who says he was introduced to the Clan through the soundtrack of Kill Bill.
