5/10
After numerous controversies and delays, the new Wu-Tang Clan album finally makes its way out and breaks a seven years silence from this legendary hip-hop supergroup. Originally announced in 2011, the album was a slow and steady process that was supposedly due to coincide with the group's twentieth year anniversary last year. But after a falling out between producer RZA and Raekwon, the album fell back once again until finally, a year later, it was ready to go. But with so much expectation now riding on it, what have they managed to produce?
Ultimately 'A Better Tomorrow' isn't quite the comeback we were all expecting. With the emergence of newer and fresher hip-hop acts like Tyler, The Creator, Run The Jewels and the rebirth of Kanye West bringing the genre into unexplored ground over the last few years, this new material doesn't have that same instant bite we have grown used to. Even by their standards, this is a forgettable piece of work that just doesn't seem to hold any resonance within it. The raw, visceral passion they all had seems dampened and ineffective when compared to older material and just seems like a lukewarm release.
Their flow and lyrical expertise are still unmatched but without the punch in the production, they just don't seem to gel as well as they used to. A so-so release that fails to live up to its insanely overbearing hype.