Steve 'Flash' JuonI’m a sucker for an obscure Wu affiliated album. In my teens and 20’s I had a brief stint making my own Wu-Tang mixtapes, and I would go out of my way to dig up any obscure appearance or promotional single with a Wu-Tang Clan member. Around the time I got out of the game what had previously been a matter of crate digging and tip trading on message boards got played out like the drift on Switch controllers. It’s not that the source material wasn’t available — it’s that there was too much material to be worth combing through. Solo albums from original Wu members had guest appearances from their friends, which then spun off side projects with their friends, which then… you get the idea. Still I do miss the days of tracking down any Wu related or Wu affiliated record no matter how tenuous their connection to the original Clan might’ve been.
Fes Taylor is just such an emcee, despite the fact he proudly declares “I’m Not a Rapper!” on his album’s cover. He got in the game by being friends with Inspectah Deck, released one album and several mixtapes as a spinoff group called House Gang, then got even further removed from that Wu core by striking out as a solo artist. Our favorite boutique for Wu affiliated rappers and producers, the one and only ChamberMusik, is the label of record for this album. Like other ChamberMusik albums it appears this one was printed on demand and/or sold hand to hand live in concert. I sincerely doubt you would have found Fes Taylor’s album in record stores, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong after hearing tracks like “Middle Finger.”
Blastah Beatz successfully captures the rugged feel of early Wu-Tang records, that almost inexplicable mixture of grimy and polished, and Fes Taylor is clearly relishing the sound as he his bars. “Just give me a shot, like when RZA put Deck on/Rock +Cuban Linx+ in the kitchen, getting my +Chef+ on.” Come on son. If you love the Wu how can you not smile at that? Fes Taylor is proudly defiant on the track, branding himself “anti-social” and grousing about “fake ass rappers (are the) reason why the street’s fucked up now.” He also seems to recognize that neither rap nor crime is unlikely to lead to profitable future. “That’s why I hope my little man pay attention in school/I tried to tell him stay away from the streets.” He’s dropping gems on ’em! “I do it for the masses/even if my record sales slower than molasses.”
Fes also proves himself a capable producer on songs like “In My Mind.” I’m not saying it will blow you away. In fact you could tell me it’s a knockoff of Just Blaze and I’d agree with you, but I’d also say that’s better than anything I could do with the same equipment Fes used. It could believably be a demo track that Jay-Z discarded and Fes pulled out of the trash and said “I can work with this.” I’d rate “The Jux” even higher than that. This is one that could fall straight off a GZA or Deck solo album. It wouldn’t have been out of place to hear either of them drop bars on it, but sadly this is a Fes Taylor release featuring only Fes Taylor. Here’s out here all on his own without even any affiliates to spin off into the next generation.
That doesn’t mean you won’t get some classic back in the day reminiscing on the good old days tracks though, because “Life As a Shorty” shouldn’t be so rough. I honestly cracked up when Fes said “niggaz won’t Chi-Ali me” but I realize that’s showing my age a bit (it’s more than a number). The entire song reads like a tribute to the bygone raps of the 1980’s and 1990’s, and if you miss everything from Slick Rick to Death Row, you’re going to wish life wasn’t so rough too.
I didn’t expect to like “I’m Not a Rapper!” as much as I did. In truth a lot of obscure rappers with Wu ties are obscure for a good reason. It’s like making a clone of a clone of a clone and at some point you’re just going to have horrible genetic mutations that are an abomination at best and a sin against God at the worst. What we have here though is a genuinely talented emcee with production far better than I would have expected considering how low budget this project had to be. I’ve heard major label albums not half as good as Fes’ album, which makes it sad when I see listen counts in the low dozens for most of these tracks. He may have just come along too late to ride the Wu wave. That wave crashed and left him stranded on the beach, but if you find his album there, blow off the sand and pop it in your Discman for a listen.