Priest probably thought his solo career was enough to support himself, since his own debut, Heavy Mental, had been released a year prior to the Sunz effort to critical acclaim. They were also searching for a dwelling with less bedrooms: Killah Priest infamously began fighting with The RZA prior to the release of The Last Shall Be First and ultimately severed ties with the Clan, not unlike how former Sunz Of Man member Shabazz The Disciple did before the group even made a name for themselves. Still, The Last Shall Be First is no longer available for purchase, since the label folded shortly afterward, and the Sunz Of Man found themselves once again without a home. Although it contained none of the original songs that made them popular (among Wu stans, mind you) in the first place, it still managed to sell a decent amount, thanks to collaborations with Clan members, Wu b-teamers, and their unlikely pairing with Wyclef Jean and Earth, Wind & Fire. Undeterred, Sunz Of Man, who at this point found themselves trailing acts such as Shyheim and Killarmy, both of whom they predated, secured a deal with Red Ant Records, and released their new debut, The Last Shall Be First, in 1998. (In this day and age, it is kind of ridiculous that Nothing New Under The Sun still hasn't been bootlegged, which actually leads me to believe that the album was never completed, not unlike Inspectah Deck's intended debut, with that tracklist someone kindly left in one of my earlier comment sections that sounds like a Wu stan's wet dream. The quartet were originally signed to Wu-Tang Records, conveniently enough, but although they managed to drop those aforementioned singles and even shot a video, the vanity label's distribution deal with Priority Records dried up, with their debut album, Nothing New Under The Sun, left sitting in a vault, never to be heard from again. Unfortunately, the Sunz Of Man were victims of circumstance, and they were never truly able to capitalize on their buzz. All four members shamelessly flaunted their connections to the Clan while trying to build a career, some of them more successful than the rest (or at least far more prolific, in the case of Killah Priest, who has released ninety-seven solo albums, only one of which anyone ever wants to actually listen to). The Wu-affiliated quartet Sunz Of Man, made up of Killah Priest, Hell Razah, Prodigal Sunn, and 60 Second Assassin, were the first team of bench players to establish an identity outside of the core group, using the logo as a jumping-off point to gain their own rabid fanbase with their many well-received twelve-inch singles, some of which were produced by Wu figurehead The RZA himself. But I don't want to hear any complaints: longtime readers all knew this was going to eventually pop up.
If this appalls you greatly, there are literally hundreds of other posts you can bitch about in the sidebar, or you can just wait a few days and see what else Max has up his sleeve. Yes, it's another Wu-Tang Clan-related review.
#Killah priest heavy mental zip series
Today's post is yet another in a lengthy series that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
0 kommentar(er)
