7/10 Will 26 July 2019

Inspectah Deck is one of the founding members of the world-conquering legendary rap group Wu-Tang Clan. He's released his fourth solo studio album 'Chamber No. 9' (which is surely a reference to Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's macabre BBC series 'Inside No.9'). It's very much continuing the kind of music Wu-Tang Clan popularised, namely lyrical references to things like shaolins, obscure samples, completely cocksure bars, and hard-hitting analogue-sounding beats.

Though this album isn't really doing anything new or different, it's always great to hear a proper originator do his thing. The bars are witty, "raisin butt", and whimsical, "it's 2019 I seen Stranger Things", didactic "use your mind wise", and surreal "we drippin' in Napalm". Producers Danny Caizzo and Remedy Ross have done a brilliant job on the production. It sounds relatively close to the rap blueprint RZA created on 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' in 1993. Again, this album won't win prizes for originality, but when you helped create albums that people have tried to recreate the sound of for over twenty five years who cares?

If you like dusty beats, far-reaching and wide-ranging lyrical content then this is an album for you.