Rating: NNNNN
The RZA’s deep knowledge of Shaw Brothers kung fu action flicks and past film scoring experience appears to have made the Wu-Tang warrior the perfect choice to create the soundtrack to Takashi Okazaki’s new anime miniseries, Afro Samurai, for Spike TV. While the instrumental cues have exactly the sort of menacingly dark, tension-filled vibe you’d expect from the RZA, collecting them together with a few rap tracks involving Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Daddy Kane doesn’t make for a terribly exciting stand-alone album. The RZA probably realized this and added four demo-quality tracks from the forthcoming Bobby Digital solo album as a buying incentive, but unless you’re a fiend for the RZA’s production, save your cash and just watch the series instead.