Wu-Tang Productions Present Killa Beez: The Sting

Since the end of Wu-Tang Clan's early golden age, the group's commercial and musical death has been predicted roughly as often as that of any cultural institution this side of Saturday Night Live. But just when it seemed safely relegated to the dustbin of hip-hop history, it struck back, most notably with Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele. Wu-Tang Clan continues to turn out compelling (though wildly uneven) group albums, yet it seems perpetually on the verge of irrelevance. That's unlikely to change with the release of The Sting, the second album from Wu-Tang supergroup Killa Beez. Essentially a clearinghouse for RZA-produced concoctions from second-generation, lesser-known affiliates like Shyheim, Black Nights, and Solomon Childs, The Sting runs the risk of getting dismissed as just another attempt to exploit the Wu-Tang name for a few more dollars. Though a mercenary air lingers over the project, it's offset by the solid work of RZA, whose unmistakably atmospheric production gives the disc what little cohesiveness it possesses. Grounded in the sinister loops, vocal samples, and haunted-house piano that have long been the super-producer's stock in trade, The Sting puts him on the boards on nearly every track. In his Bobby Digital guise, he also makes his vocal presence felt, but Wu-Tang Clan's heavy hitters are mostly absent, which gives their B-team a chance to shine. Though it's unlikely that any of the disc's newcomers will join Ghostface, RZA, Method Man, and Ol' Dirty Bastard atop the Wu-Tang hierarchy, a few newcomers stand out. War Cloud's abstract, impressionistic flow and bugged-out imagery calls to mind an artier Ghostface Killah, while Black Nights' infectious "Bar Mitzvah" celebrates not the ceremony in which a Jewish boy makes the transition to manhood, but a considerably less wholesome ceremony involving group sex with Black Nights. The Sting also includes a bonus EP featuring new Bobby Digital material, including a remix of "La Rhumba" featuring Fat Joe. Like The Sting, RZA's EP is all too representative of late-period Wu-Tang material: far from essential, but still quite a bit better than it has any right to be.