Here's the video for Twista's new single, which features some dynamite production from the veteran Chicago team of No I.D. and Traxster (I don't know what that sample is, but I wish I did) and a cooled-out guest verse from Raekwon. Twista, who was original known as "Tung Twista," and, as you might know, was named the world's fastest rapper the Guiness Book of World Records, delivers a typically complicated and impressive staccato rhyme. Ignore the part where he says that he's "as good as Pelican Brief is..." (Because, really? Was The Pelican Brief that good? A matter of opinion, I suppose.) And listen to rest of the song, which is even better than The Pelican Brief.

The busy, busy Kanye West took a pretty simple approach to his much-hyped bringing together of teeny-bopper Justin Bieber and the Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon: he basically recorded Rae and himself rapping over the grimy finger-snap beat from the 1993's "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" (funny that, when Rae was so careful to write lyrics appropriate for his 16-year-old co-star), and laid clips of Bieber's vocal track overtop for the chorus. But in the way that shows how simple is so often best, it sounds pretty great. It definitely has the feel of the mid-'90s heyday of hip-hop/R&B mashups. You could almost imagine hearing it between Method Man and Mary J. Blige's "All I Need" and Mariah's "Fantasy" remix with O.D.B. at the Tunnel. And at least from the first few listens, I prefer it to this other Kanye track that came out over the weekend, "Monster," featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver. READ MORE

His Wu-Tang Clan will be performing their 1993 debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) this summer on the annual Rock the Bells rap tour. (Only four shows this year, though: New York, L.A., San Francisco and D.C.) But for now, Raekwon is back on a track produced by BT, who made the beats for "Return of the North Star" and "Penitentiary" from last year's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... 2. Also, look at this Wu-Tang pizza someone made.

Raekwon's got drugs from the Philippines. Capone has guns from Czechoslovakia. Nore's got a headband from Afghanistan. This exciting new song from beloved Queens rap duo CNN and their Wu-Tang pal Raekwon the Chef is full of international intrigue. The video keeps it in NYC, and plays like an episode of "The Wire" with much worse acting. It was directed by Janelle Abraham (a "Bad Bish," according to the hip-hop-lady-and-bikini-made-out-of-$100-dollar-bills website Baddestbish.com), who started out as a "video model" before understudying with Spike Lee and eventually getting behind the camera. Nice!

Are we witnessing the commercial comeback for New-York-rap-besides-Jay-Z that everybody's been waiting for? Probably not. While you hear hear Lloyd Banks and Juelz Santana's"Beamer, Benz Or Bentley," on the city streets these days, the song hasn't yet cracked Billboard's national charts. I think it's just okay. A catchy-if-formulaic beat built off the kind of simple, ascending and descending keyboard line that worked for Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" two years ago, and Mims' "This Is Why I'm Hot" the year before that, and playboy rhymes about money, cars and women. Much less exciting, in my opinion, than the grittier sounds issued by Banks' G-Unit colleague Tony Yayo, or Staten Island's resurgent Wu-Tang Clan. The best thing about the video, I think, is Juelz' eye-wear. Wu-Tang's Raekwon was caught on camera in something similar lately, too. So at the very least, we might be witnessing the comeback of one of the greatest and most ridiculous '80s hip-hip fashion innovations: urban ski goggles.
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I remember people saying, back when the recession started, one good thing that could maybe come out of it was it could save music from its dismal state. Not the music industry, which was already pretty much doomed whatever happened, but music itself. Because of the commonly held belief that bad times make for good music. I guess because of the famously fertile early '70s? That is probably my favorite musical era. But maybe that's because that's when I was born. Do people have a built-in preference for the music that was made around the time they were? Do the first sounds we hear, even before we're fully conscious of it, become the ones our tastes gravitate to? Pandora should do a study. Anyway, I was skeptical. And I guess I still am. It's always hard to see the relative quality (if it's even valid to assert such a thing) of current art without the benefit of a couple years' hindsight. But I'd offer the resurgence of the Wu-Tang Clan as evidence that something good did happen during the recession. It has taken me by surprise in a way that makes me very happy. Above, "Criminology 2.5," the first track from the Wu-Masacre album, coming March 30th from Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the Chef. It's a remake of a 1995 song, but the guys sound as strong and as sharp as ever. They've maybe mellowed a bit with age, but not in a bad way. Here's the track list and production credits for the new album: READ MORE