“The Grain” by Ghostface Killah and RZA is at the top of Wu-Tang Bboy Breaks, and to find out how it came together we’re about to take a trip through time… First, “The Grain”:
“The Grain” is the seventh track on Ghostface Killah’s (@ghostfacekillah) 2nd solo album, “Supreme Clientele”. I picked up the vinyl in early 2000 at Orlando’s Virgin Megastore and I know personally that by the time you reach track 7, your mind is already blown many times over.
With the opening track “Nutmeg”, Ghostface and RZA (@rza) make clear that Wu is here to stay after 7+years (at that time) on the national Hip-Hop stage.
But to focus on “The Grain”, RZA opens up with a sample of the very Funky Rufus Thomas doing “The Breakdown” when Rufus is about to do his dance. Check out a live rendition below at about 3:00:
What becomes the main sample is also from Rufus Thomas, this time the opening, mostly instrumental bars of Rufus’ “Funky Penguin”. Despite the horrible sound quality of the video, as finding the original online is not easy, it’s worth giving a listen to the opening bars:
The Moonstrucks also did a dope cover of the track, so check out the opening here as well.
And finally, Ghostface and RZA reprised the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Don’t U Know” for the closing bars’ lyrics (2:54):
…Which is itself a rethink of The Dramatic’s Soulful Classic “In the Rain” (2:10):
Some background on production of “Supreme Clientele” from Wikipedia:
In the mid-1990s, Producer RZA had a flood in his basement studio, which resulted in the loss of recording equipment and several hundred beats, many of which were un-finished.[1] As a result, he would have to use new equipment, and start over from scratch for production contributions. In a later interview, he stated “The jewel of the whole shit is that I lost mad shit in that flood. I got it again. It took me about two years, but I got now at least 200-300 beats. I studied the music, I studied the books and I said ‘fuck that. Hip-hop is gonna be able to be played in Carnegie Hall. Not with aDAT, but with a 10-piece orchestra, and have a turntable in it, and Bobby Digital right there in the middle’.[1] ”
Although a number of producers, such as JuJu from The Beatnuts, Hassan of the U.M.C.’s, The Hitmen, and several Wu-Tang affiliates are credited for production, RZA and Ghostface Killah did the majority of the production and mixing for the album, as they “re-compiled” and “re-worked” the album’s beats.[1] In regards to this, RZA explained “Usually a producer comes in, makes a beat, mixes it, and gives the direction for it. But not with this album. That’s why you get that special sound. I just needle and threaded the beats all together.”[1] This approach would later result in critical praise and recognition for its fluidity and cohesiveness.[1]
