So why is Inspectah Deck’s The Movement on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
It took me some time back in the day to connect the dots between the Wu-Tang Clan and the vast number of albums the collective and its extended family has produced as solo artists and in various permutations.
Inspectah Deck’s The Movement was one of the first Wu-Tang alum solo albums that I can recall owning on compact disc, and led me down the path to many subsequent sonic riches.
The Movement was released in 2003, a relatively short time after the horror and tragedy of 9/11. Being a Long Island, New York native and one-time NYC resident, there’s something about the album that connects me to my great love for New York City*. Musically, the album’s spare yet exciting production, paired with Deck’s gruff but nimble flow, creates a distinctly Wu-Tang and NYC flavor that connects beautifully.
* Beastie Boys’ To the 5 Boroughs from 2004, and especially the brilliant track, “An Open Letter to NYC,” also epitomizes this feeling and mood.
The title track, “The Movement,” gives me the sensation of walking down a street in New York City. If you’ve spent any time in NYC, you know that the city has a special energy unlike anywhere else on the planet. And the production is such a great blend of gritty hip hop break beats and exciting keyboard and horn samples.
Speaking of samples, the pretty yet slightly spooky xylophone riff on “Get Right” is just perfect, and overall the track has a pleasing, aggressive tempo and a very old school hip hop feel.
The soul sample on “Who Got It” is hypnotic and groovy, and Deck gets into a great lyrical groove himself here.
Some stats & info about Inspectah Deck – The Movement
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rap, Hip Hop, East Coast Rap, Hardcore Rap
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was The Movement released? 2003
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #571 out of 1,000
Inspectah Deck’s The Movement on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Inspectah Deck’s The Movement that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Want to measure my size? I rise above the norm, the urban icon ridin’ on the eye of the storm, fool.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.