Stormshadow

Learning that a rapper is a “Wu-Tang Clan affiliate” is not the criterion of unassailable quality that its pedigree might suggest. I know at least one hip-hop fan who refers to forgotten artists like Deadly Venoms and GP Wu as “RZA’s weed carriers.” But even were it not measured against such paltry competition, Killah Priest’s Heavy Mental – the consensus greatest Wu affiliate album of all time – would still go down as a landmark worth mounting a 25th anniversary tour for. Even if it was a bit of a cheat code to re-include “B.I.B.L.E (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth),” Priest’s classic contribution to GZA’s Liquid Swords, the album remains a dense, dark, heady brew. And don’t sleep on the Brooklyn MC’s 12(!) released albums this decade – a prolific burst of material more ambitious and experimental than anything released by an actual Clan member in two decades. DJ Notion, ChiClopz, Cooley Fly, Bubs Rubino, Big Nothing, Frederick Boom, and more support. – Julian Towers