Reunited, double LP, we're all excited...

So much of the year in hip-hop is taken up by speculation on who should/could/would reunite for another album. In the last few years I've read stories and heard rumours about Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Arrested Development, Snoop/Dre, Fugees, EPMD, Ultramagnetic MC's and many many more getting together to do an album. Now while some of these are true, the others are just wishful thinking. Now where am I going with this, well I'm here to question why the hell we want so badly for artists to reunite.

To cover this point properly I've taken two examples; ATCQ and Wu Tang. Arguably the two bands that every hip-hop fan has wet dreams about reuniting. Now I'm a huge fan of both Tribe and Wu, to the point where I would quite comfortably say they are two of my all time favourite. However, that is precisely the reason that I don't think I want them to reunite.

For the last few years I've gone on about (to anyone who would listen) how dope it would be if Tribe reunited. The glaring problem with this is; "The Love Movement" was shit. It seriously was. Everyone has assumed that if Tribe do reunite then they'll knock out another Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders which is highly unlikely. It's more likely that they will produce another "The Love Movement", which will be worse in relative terms than their last album due to the serious amount of hype it would get.

The same can be said of the Wu, although their musical downfall was maybe less dramatic than Tribe, it was still fairly evident that the chemistry was gone. "The W" had about two or three heaters at best and "Iron Flag", despite being better, was still a far cry from "36 Chambers" or even "Forever". If they were to reunite, I would be more hopeful than if Tribe did simply because the Wu mc's never went away, they just didn't work as a group anymore.

I guess the point of this is to give some perspective. All artists have a shelf life, whether it's one album or ten albums. Prolonging that shelf life may end up ruining the legacy that they left behind, and in the case of these two bands in particular, that would be fucking criminal.

So the problem is, enough time has passed for us to forget that there was a reason why they went their separate ways in the first place. For as long as this genre thrives, it will be rife with talk of artists of yesteryear making a spectacular comeback (S.Carter anyone?). Despite everything I've just said though, I for one will carry on praying for a Tribe and Wu reunion even if the results might make me wish they didn't bother.

Peace.

Now you know how we roll:

ATCQ - ICU (Doin It)
This was the big 'reunion' track that did the rounds a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it is average at best. There are rumours that it was recorded for "The Love Movement" but who knows. Either way it wouldn't have made it on LET or MM.


ATCQ, The Fugees & Busta Rhymes - Rumble In The Jungle
Now this is more like it, from the "When We Were Kings" OST. Dope shit.

Wu Tang Clan - Shoalin Worldwide

Another one that might have slipped your radar, from the "Next Friday" OST. Deck and Meth kill it.


Tags - Hip Hop, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan