Origin | Brooklyn, New York City, USA |
---|---|
Genres | Hip Hop |
Years active | 1994–present |
Associated acts | Wu-Tang Clan Black Market Militia Killarmy Royal Fam |
Members | Prodigal Sunn Hell Razah Killah Priest 60 Second Assassin |
Past members | Shabazz The Disciple 7th Ambassador Su-Preme |
Album: The Last Shall Be First Year: 1998 Track: 3 Track Produced By: Supreme (A. Wilder) Samples: 'Here I Am (Come and Take Me)' by Al Green Lyrics: Intro. 'Natural High' by Sunz of Man feat. Traybag sampled Al Green's 'Here I Am (Come and Take Me)'. Listen to both songs on WhoSampled, the ultimate database of sampled music, cover songs and remixes.
Sunz of Man is a Wu-Tang Clan affiliated group that currently consists of Prodigal Sunn, Killah Priest, Hell Razah and 60 Second Assassin. The group's first incarnation also included Shabazz the Disciple, 7th Ambassador and Su-preme.
History[edit]
1994-1996[edit]
Prior to being affiliated with Wu-Tang, Sunz were initially known as Da Last Future and included Shabazz the Disciple, 7th Ambassador and producer Su-Preme, but not 60 Second Assassin,.[1] Upon their induction into the Wu-Tang family, the group became the first group signed to Wu-Tang Records. In 1995 and 1996, the group released a number of singles, including 'No Love Without Hate', 'Soldiers of Darkness' (a collaboration with Killarmy), 'Five Arch Angels' and 'Bloody Choices'. These tracks were to be included on the group's planned debut album Nothing New Under the Sun, originally scheduled for release in 1996.[2] Due to label complications, the album was eventually shelved.
1997-2001[edit]
In 1997, the group signed a deal with Red Ant Entertainment. Their first release on the label was the 'We Can't Be Touched' b/w 'Natural High' single, released that same year. They also made an appearance on Mood's debut album Doom on the song 'Illuminated Sunlight'. 'Natural High' was included on the group's 1998 debut album The Last Shall be First. The album featured production from Su-Preme, as well as Wu producersRZA, 4th Disciple and True Master, and Wyclef Jean. Album guests included Wu-Tang members Masta Killa, Method Man, Raekwon, Ol' Dirty Bastard and U-God, as well as Killarmy's Beretta 9, Dreddy Kruger and Tekitha. The album debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and #7 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts.[3] The album received moderate acclaim from critics.[4]
Before the release of the debut, Killah Priest began to clash with Wu leader RZA, as Shabazz had earlier, both eventually cutting their Wu ties, and leaving the group for solo careers. In 1999, the album The First Testament was released, compiled of the group's earlier work, with contributions from Shabazz and 7th Ambassador.[5] A number of tracks from the album were released on singles, including 'Deep in the Water', 'In the Beginning...' and 'The Sins of Men'. However, due to heavy bootlegging, the album never saw a proper release. The group took a hiatus, while Killah Priest established his solo career.[citation needed]
2002-present[edit]
Hell Razah, Prodigal Sunn and 60 Second Assassin, returned in 2002 with the group's second official studio album Saviorz Day. The album was met with a lukewarm reception commercially[6] and critically.[7] In 2004, The First Testament saw a re-release as Elements, which featured most of the tracks from The First Testament, as well as a handful of other previously unreleased tracks.[8] Later in 2004, Hell Razah and 4th Disciple (under the prefix 'Sunz of Man presents') released the album Freedom of Speech,[9] which spawned the single 'Article One' b/w 'Project Love'. In 2003, Shabazz announced a return to the group,[1] but a new group album has yet to be recorded, and no further efforts were made. The group's most recent release was a 2006 compilation titled The Old Testament, which features the group's early singles as well as some of their later hits.[10]
Solo careers[edit]
Killah Priest was the first SoM member to embark on a solo career, releasing his acclaimed debut album Heavy Mental a few months prior to The Last Shall Be First. He released more studio albums, 2000's View From Masada, 2001's Priesthood, 2003's Black August and 2007's The Offering. Hell Razah released his solo debut When All Hell Breaks Loose in 2001 and received little attention. Shabazz the Disciple released his long-delayed debut album The Book of Shabazz (Hidden Scrollz) in 2003, which included a number of his early singles, such as 'Crime Saga', 'The Lamb's Blood' and 'Street Parables'. Prodigal Sunn released his solo debut The Return of the Prodigal Sunn in 2005. Also in 2005, Killah Priest and Hell Razah, along with Royal Fam's Timbo King and New York veteran Tragedy Khadafi formed the Black Market Militia, and released their self-titled album. Hell Razah released two albums in 2007, first Renaissance Child in February, and second Razah's Ladder, a collaboration with producers Blue Sky Black Death, released in October. Razah and Shabazz teamed up with producer Ayatollah in 2008 to form T.H.U.G. Angelz, and release their debut Welcome to Red Hook Houses.
In early 2019, Hell Razah was featured in the song 'The Grandmaster' on Cryptik Soul's album Killer's Blood.
Discography[edit]
Sunz of Man (Group) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Album Title | Album Info | ||
Nothing New Under The Sun |
| ||
The Last Shall Be First |
| ||
The First Testament |
| ||
Saviorz Day |
| ||
Elements (The First Testament re-release) |
| ||
The Old Testament |
| ||
The Rebirth |
|
Sunz of Man Singles | |||
---|---|---|---|
Track Title(s) | Producer | Release Date | |
Soldier of Darkness (with Killarmy) b/w Five ArchAngels | 4th Disciple | 1995 Wu-Tang Records | |
No Love Without Hate | Su-Preme | 1995 | |
Bloody Choices | 1996 | ||
We Can't Be Touched b/w Natural High | Su-Preme | 1997 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records | |
Shining Star b/w Cold | Wyclef Jean b/w 4th Disciple | 1998 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records | |
Shining Star (remix) b/w Intellectuals (featuring Raekwon and U-God)/Cold | Wyclef Jean b/w True Master/4th Disciple | 1998 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records | |
The Plan b/w Collaboration '98 (featuring Method Man) | 4th Disciple/True Master | 1998 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records | |
Deep in the Water/Writing Rhymes With a Liquid Pen b/w In the Beginning .../The Sins of Man | 1998 | ||
Who are the Sunz of Man?/The Valley of Death b/w Bring Back the Mike/Valley of Kings | 1998 | ||
Rosewood b/w Hell's Inmates | 1999 | ||
Savior's Day | 2002 |
Videography[edit]
Sunz of Man Videography | |||
---|---|---|---|
Artist(s) | Album Info | Video Title(s) | Release Date |
Sunz of Man | 12' Single | Soldiers of Darkenss (featuring Killarmy, various Wu-Tang Clan cameos) | 1995 Wu-Tang Records |
Killarmy | Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars | Wake Up (featuring Prodigal Sunn and various Wu-Tang Clan cameos) | 1997 Loud/Priority/Wu-Tang Records |
Sunz of Man | The Last Shall be First | The Plan | 1998 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records |
Hell Razah | The Razah Code: Underground Hip-Hop Vol. 1 | Hell Razah DVD | 2004 Threat/Red Ant/Wu-Tang Records |
Hell Razah | Renaissance Child | Renaissance (featuring Tragedy Khadafi, Timbo King, R.A. the Rugged Man) | 2007 Nature Sounds |
Hell Razah & Blue Sky Black Death | Razah's Ladder | Razah's Ladder | 2007 Babygrande |
Hell Razah & 4th Disciple | Freedom of Speech | High Science | 2009 X-Ray Records |
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Wu-Tang Clan Family Tree at Wu-International.com'. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23.
- ^'Nothing New Under the Sun bootleg mixtape release'.
- ^'The Last Shall Be First chart positions at AllMusic.com'.
- ^'The Last Shall Be First at AllMusic.com'.
- ^'The First Testament lyrics at OHHLA.com'.
- ^'Saviorz Day chart positions at AllMusicGuide.com'.
- ^'Saviorz Day review at AllMusicGuide.com'.
- ^'Elements at AllMusicGuide.com'.
- ^'Freedom of Speech at AllMusicGuide.com'.
- ^'The Old Testament at AllMusicGuide.com'.
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- The Last Shall Be First (1998)
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- Natural High
Testo Natural High
[Intro: Killah Priest]
In the Beginning, no different from the ending
It's the Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the middle east
Lacing it Sunz Of Man, you know what Im sayin
Big Moe up in the house
Ty G and Dreddy Kruger representin
[Chorus x2: Trebag (Hell Razah)] We make that music, that moves your body (natural high, natural high)
We make that music, that moves your body (natural high, natural high)
We got the fire, that gets you higher (natural high, natural high)
We got the fire, that gets you higher (natural high, natural high)
[Killah Priest]
Roamin in the 4-runner all summer
Laid back, state maps and 8-tracks
Its great that, I laugh at competition
I'm champion nigga, I can't be sunned
Check the royal posture, by the way where's my oscar
Crack your legs like a lobster, break your arms
Beat you to death, snap your neck
Crack your chest, lay you to rest
Then confess, I judge wisely
All spys, tryin to size me
If you phony, I leave you lonely with your
Sony headphones, layin stiff in the dead zone
[Hell Razah] In the dead zone they lay, King Nostradamos
With Golden Armless, teachin hartlets
That be strippin for they garments
Searchin for a broken promise, regardless though
You godless, still feed you full for your conscience
Red Ant now launch this, rockets
From where her projects, come to street
Profit a Lisha, to fish ya, roll wit a militia
Mr. Military, now, roll with a team of Jim Kelly's
Send my hoes to your telly
Sprayin holes through your belly, you ain't ready
For the deadly, gently MC's
There ain't a school boy to test me
East coast to wesley strite
Those who stress me, we streit
Fuck you with the fight, fight, fight, fight
[Chorus]
[Prodigal Sunn]
A young king at the age of 15, caught up in things
The golden scorpio, sportin material diamond rings
Physical, historical, mystical, shinin, crystal-like
Stackin, packin pistols, FA and they brought the crystal meth
To Crown heights, where the fiends get high
Cross Atlantic avenue, bone down through the Sty
What we do or die unite the kingdom
Multiply, I sick of seein his mother's cry
It's time to purify
[Trebag]
Like an Alaskan breeze, I blow through your april's
stuck to your mentals like thumb-tacks and staples
Been to temples, learned egyptian time-tables
My trade marks on labels and biblic-oohs from mavels
give life to trapped ex-cons and expedites
You can't escape my prison, I'ma livin Israelite
Killin more trabatites and build my paradise
Green grass grows, the white house is wiped out
Keep your red meat, I'll be fishin for trout
That means I'm the mouse, I'll figure my way out
pinky and the brain had to find another house
Wherabouts, go walk and frolic in the forest
Next time you lie, think about bein honest
I bomb this
[Hell Razah]
We kill with calmness, words come forth like a savior
A wicked man's heaven is the hell for the Razah
Raised up in Brooklyn, two decades of meetin slaves
from Grenada to the grave, from the cradle to the cage
State-pens be like play-pens, the government in-slavin
Inside a science project with no escapin, unless
they die for us, you for the cream so you lie for us
While other thieves already spy for it
I watch snake eyes everywhere around me
Devils try to drown me in the water and the town built for slaughter
without order you got chaos, player haters
who play us, death-bed layers, who forgot to pay us, now they
covered up with layers, it's too deep for you rap duplicators
who's packs be betrayers
[Chorus to fade]
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