Review by Steve 'Flash' Juon

Artist: GZA
Title: Alphabets
Label: Babygrande Records

Normally if a hip-hop artist decided to call their album "Pro Tools" I would think it's some kind of joke, but as GZA says himself on "Alphabets" he's the kind of rapper who can "compose like a symphony without a chorus" on every single song. I'm not sure produced the beat, but the simple piano and drum track is a pleasant throwback to the earliest and ruggest days of the Wu. GZA is clearly inspired, as he manages to go A to Z mathematically on the chorus before vowing "I brought butter for the popcorn, dips for the chips/an ego for your trip and some scripts for you to flip." WORD. When GZA vows that he's "a legend in my lifetime" he's not exaggerating, as he's still one of the most witty engaging and original lyricists in hip-hop over 15 years after the first Wu-Tang LP dropped. Don't sleep on "Pro Tools."

* http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/GZA%20-%20Alphabets.mp3 *