When you think Wu-Tang, you think U-God first. Right?

It might come as a pleasant surprise that U-God’s newest album (the only one I’ve ever had on my computer), The Keynote Speaker, is raw as fuck. Is U-God the first big rapper to have God in his name? Street cred. A few tracks on Keynote were produced by RZA while plenty of Clan members make appearances: GZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck. Elzhi even comes out of his upsetting hiatus to spit some bars on “Mt. Everest,” a hell of a beat with 900 dueling pianos and a sample that doesn’t disappoint. One of the strongest moments on the album is actually a solo track by U-God, the song “Be Right There” which features a RZA beat that sounds like a B-side of his Bobby Digital days. Song needs a video of 42-year-old U-God duct taping a fat sack of dope in an apartment without windows. It’s great that the Wu member with the golden hands now has a golden album. “Hit a nucleus, I’m the reactor. War scar, Battlestar Galactica.” Don’t doubt the talent. After all, he slayed a couple of verses on Ghostface’s newest, 12 Reasons to Die.

Check the video for the album’s single, “Fame”, below.