Hands down one of my favorite Hip Hop crews of all time is the Wu Tang Clan so when one of my favorite bands, El Michels Affair began covering those Wu classics back in 2006 with a pair of 45’s and then the 2009 full length LP Enter The 37th Chamber, it was match made in shaolin. It’s 2017 and the band is back at it with their latest 7” drop via Big Crown Records featuring two beloved tracks, “Tearz” b/w “Verbal Intercourse”.
Side A’s cover of Tearz pays as much of a homage to the original Wendy Rene sample as it does to the Wu-Tang Clan track. The song starts as a glazed over cover of “After laughter, comes tears” with Shannon Wise of The Shacks singing Wendy Rene’s timeless mantra. Halfway through, the mood dramatically shifts and the drums and organ that drives the original Rza sample, takes over. A dubbed out Lee Fields taps in like only he can, and the song spirals into outer space.
Side B finds EMA dipping into the deeper side of the Wu catalog with Raekwon’s Verbal Intercourse. Mixing the grimy, gritty production aesthetic of the original with elements of dubbed out reggae, El Michels Affair once again pushes the definition of a “cover” and truly makes it a tune of their own.
This latest 45 set’s up for another full length LP, this time titled “Return to The 37th Chamber” which drops April 14th via https://bigcrownrecords.com