By Blair “Bliz” Milbourne
On the last leg of his acclaimed Liquid Swords tour, the emcee known as the Gza took a young pupil to school, a student who has since 1993, never been late to a class taught by the thoroughbred Staten Island academics known as the Wu-Tang Clan. With the recent release of Gza’s fifth solo venture, Pro Tools (Babygrand Records), tonight’s lesson revolves around longevity and the use of metaphor in a hip-hop verse. The Brooklyn-bred professor (born Gary Grice) proudly opens his mental vault when the enlightenment-seeking pupil asks an astute question of what the metaphor means to his teacher’s work and what he hopes his listeners take away from the words he crafts and how that has enhanced his longevity.
The Gza has been sharpening his darts since the age of 11 in 1976. On this specific night he asserts himself stating that his key to longevity is a concoction mixed of one part being true to himself, one part knowing how to adapt to the listener, with a splash of the ability of being able to stay ahead of changes that are sure to come in this ever-fickle industry filled with “here today, gone tomorrow” artists and fans alike. Dropping his first commercial joint in 1990 on Cold Chillin’ Records (Words From the Genius) and subsequently adding four solo albums and countless features to his discography since his debut, is what has primed the Gza for a seat on board of directors of the Lyrical Come Correct Committee, if there ever was such a thing.
Just as his pupil begins to understand what longevity means to a teacher who can claim a fan base that spans two generations, the Gza attempts to adjust the aperture on the mind’s eye of his student, hoping to shed more light. “The power of the metaphor brings color to the picture. It makes it three-dimensional. You can turn it around. See it this way. See it that way. It’s like when Meth said ‘Killa Bee, holding down his honeycomb.’ That could mean your loot, ya girl, ya crib…just a small example of how metaphor is powerful. Take Rakim for example. I don’t know if you know remember this joint but on ‘Musical Massacre’ Ra says, ‘…If this is imitation it can’t be the same show/Maybe what you’ll find somewhere over the rainbow/Courage, heart, brain, you need rhyme/Turn on your mic, snap your fingers three times/We gone, or the story won’t end the same/And you’ll feel the flame/The potion was weak, make another antidote…’ It took me eight years to figure out he was talking about the Wizard of Oz right there. That’s how good metaphor can be used, it keeps people listening.”
1 comment:
good read...
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