After GZA’s watershed Liquid Swords (which already received the ultimate boxset treatment here), Raekwon the Chef”s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is widely considered the best solo Wu Tang record of the 90s. And just like Liquid Swords, it’s Get On Down that gives Only Built 4 Cuban Linx the deluxe treatment. Known in uderground […]

Looks like the Wu Tang Clan are making a concerted effort to come out strong in 2012 — maybe it’s the impending Mayan Apocalypse that’s got RZA all riled up. Besides cornerstone member Raekwon unleashing a free mixtape to kick off the year and persistent rumors of an upcoming album, now the Wu have collaborated […]

The Chef Raekwon welcomes 2012 with a freshly pressed mixtape to get all the Wu Tang Clan heads nodding. The 17-track Unexpected Victory features appearances by other New York hip hop heavyweights including Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga and Busta Rhymes, with production duties handled by 9th Wonder, Statik Selektah, Scram Jones and more. Stream Unexpected Victory below […]

Time for the fourth edition of our Best Of 2011 retrospective series (after ART, BOOKS & STYLE), where we look back on the LIAS Year In Music. Frankly none of these lists are easy — we can trim each down to about 20 but then cutting them down to 10 means we gotta chop some […]

I think four hundred years from now, when we’re zipping around on jetpacks and making sweet tender love to our personal Marilyn Monroe clones (with bi-polar disorder removed, naturally), we’ll still be listening to new Wu Tang-based mixtapes being freshly released. You just can’t go wrong with the formula: take some rare Wu accapellas (there’s […]

When you say that Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s landmark 1995 debut Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version is one of the best Wu Tang Clan records, you’re basically suggesting it’s one of the best hip hop albums of all time. And you’d be right. Next to eminent classics like GZA’s Liquid Swords and Raekwon’s […]

My god, what in blazes is there not to love about this musical project??? The fruits of a yearlong obsession by emcee, producer and founding member of Doomtree Cecil Otter and Minneapolis musician and producer Swiss Andy, Wugazi: 13 Chambers is a mixtape blending two of the greatest musical artists of the modern era. Cecil Otter […]

A great, super quick 7-minute mini-mix from London’s incomparable A.Skillz highlighting the massive cross-genre influence of The Beatles. “This is a Mini Mix I was asked to do for The Beatles & Black Music Documentary on BBC Radio 1xtra Hosted By Semtex and featuring Interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Q-tip, Questlove, Common, Benga and Roots […]