No Said Date

The long-delayed first solo release fromWu-Tang Clan's Masta Killa (legendary for recording his contributions to "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" onEnter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)while in jail) features guest raps and beats by most ofthe Clan's main members. Unlike a lot of albums where the guy whose name is on the cover sounds like a guest on his own album (pagingP. Diddy), this is strictly Masta Killa's party. His aggressive but nimble flow is all over each of these songs, with the guest raps by the rest of the crew -- includingRaekwon,Ol' Dirty Bastard,Method Man, andGhostface-- limited to a verse or even just a couple lines at a time. The settings, mostly by the usualWu-Tang Clanproduction team ofthe RZA,True Master, andMathematics, are mostly utilitarian, keeping the focus on the words, but a couple of inspired samples stand out, particularly the use of the creepy strings fromOutKast's "Skrew It On the Bar-B," speeded up slightly to give them an otherworldly atmosphere, on the title track and the brilliant use of the instantly familiar bassline fromQuincy Jones' "The Streetbeater" (the Sanford and Son theme) as the basis of "Old Man." In production and supposedly "almost finished" for literally years, No Said Date is worth the wait.