Enter the 36 Chambers begins with the most classic of Wu-Tang elements... a kung-fu movie sample. The members of Wu-Tang Clan use sword-fighting as a metaphor for rapping, with their tongues serving as swords. As such, the music is harshly confrontational, but not without a sense of humor. Each line is buried in metaphor and analogy, and every other line is a clever pun or a self-referential nod to the music itself. Added to this is the incredible chemistry that each personality in the Clan brings to the music, with each imparting their own delivery and lyrical vision on the project. Ol' Dirty Bastard, for instance, adopts a modernist emphasis on the sounds of words and their relations in the musical phrasings, whereas GZA is the self-proclaimed lyrical “genius” whose dense rhymes cut up whack MC's. Of course, what makes Enter the 36 Chambers a true masterpiece is its razor sharp edge, courtesy of RZA. From the stripped-down, minimalist opening of Bring da Ruckus, the mood of the entire album is impeccably crafted by RZA. Whether sparse or voluminous, RZA's production complements the lyrics so well that it's hard not to get drawn into the dark urban soundscapes Wu-Tang Clan wrap around themselves. Grounded by its gritty delivery while ambitious in its vision, Enter the 36 Chambers is a concept album done right. At times it lacks the cohesion of the solo albums of some of these rappers, which is not unexpected, but this unpredictability and variation is also what makes it such an interesting and re-listenable album.
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