Watch the video of Curly Castro + Zilla Rocca on Raw the Breakdown Episode 5 via Rhymestreet.com, featuring a live performance of “Monty Hall Expo” off Wu-Tang Pulp.
“Pulp”: cheap books or magazines: novels or magazines produced on cheap paper, especially crime, horror, or science fiction stories
You know Wu-Tang, but what is Pulp about this? Pulp is a paperback wrinkle, something dirty and edgy, something only a select few would ever embrace. Frayed corners and shaky spines on yellow magazines, hidden under desks and store counters. Crime. Horror. Devastation. Greed. Science Fiction. Violence. Women. The city. Wu-Tang has mixed these ingredients into various albums since 1993. Wu-Tang Pulp pours them all in the same flask.
What started as a simple idea in 2009 has formed into a completely flushed out re-imagining of the most iconic collective in hip hop history. Wu-Tang Pulp is an album shaped from the hearts and minds of three diehard killa bee fanatics who spared no details in paying the ultimate homage to their heroes. Tackling records from RZA, Ghostface, Method Man, etc. is no easy task when you grew up with 36 Chambers in your Walkman, drawing the “W” on your high school composition books, and rocking Tommy Hilfiger tees in the summer because Raekwon said so.
The Wrecking Crew (Curly Castro x Has-Lo x Zilla Rocca) built Wu-Tang Pulp like a film, and cast rappers and producers from around the world to play the parts of specific criminologists from the Wu cannon. You may not be familiar with all the names, but hell — Ghostface didn’t reveal his face until 1995. Trust the slang doctors and the scientists behind the boards.
2. “The Boxcutter Went” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato, Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage, Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, Elucid aka E Gutta
3. “Mad Light Inside the Dark” (prod by Small Professor)
Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage & Elucid aka E Gutta
4. “Scallops” (prod by Y?Arcka)
Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage, Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato
5. “Crown Renowned Kings” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
Random aka MegaRan, Al Mighty aka Al Lyrikal, Gee Dubs aka Smoke Saloon, Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato
6. “Dedicated to the Winners and the Losers” (prod by Has-Lo)
Castle aka Franky Rooks & Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato
7. “Pain Bringer” (prod by Has-Lo)
Ethel Cee aka Vietnam Betty, Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato
8. “FCK YR LF (Verse 32)” (prod by Floodwatch)
BLKHRTS aka The Tremor Brothers & Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston
9. “Mystery Inside” (prod by Son Raw)
My Man Shafe aka Muscles Minkavich & Alaina Nelson aka Domino Sable
10. “Awkard Slang” (prod by Castle)
Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato & Alaina Nelson aka Domino Sable
11. “Monty Hall Expo” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston & Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage
12. “Devastating Mentality” (prod by Zilla Rocca)
Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage & Deal the Villain aka Deal Dollars
13. “12:10” (prod by Has-Lo)
Castle aka Franky Rooks, Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato, Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage, Alaina Nelson aka Domino Sable
14. “Homeless Swordsman” (prod by Disco Vietnam)
Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston
15. “Venom #2” (prod by Has-Lo)
Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, Zero Star aka Cobra Tongue, Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage, Yonnas Abraham aka Arsenic LaBeau
16. “Pulp Banga 101” (prod by Small Professor)
Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato, Boogieman Dela aka Mischief Muhammed, Dave Little aka Digable Slim, Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage
Art Direction, Design & Layout by Kyle Tierce aka Johnny Holograms for Memetic Supply Co.
Photography by Anthony James aka AJ Mirrors for RHYMESTREET.com
Photo Trace by Antonio Diaz aka Smooth Hand Tone
Mixing & Mastering by Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage @ The International Dart Parlour, Philadelphia
Just days after getting love on HipHopDX for the swift facemelting video “One-Fifty”, Philly’s true femme fatale Ethel Cee squares up with Wrecking Crew grifters Curly Castro and Has-Lo for “Pain Bringer”, the last leak off the wildly anticipated album Wu-Tang Pulp.
“Pain Bringer” is produced by Has-Lo, inspired by Method Man’s breakout single “Bring the Pain”, and pumped with enough sub bass to flip over a Chevy Beretta. Ethel Cee channels a dusted out Tical on the mic: “Cold like December, hot like it’s June, label me whatever just as long as I’m remembered, cause I intend to keep it real, no pretender, forever and always a worthy contender”. Jeff Weiss aptly calls her verse “torture duty” on some old Vietnam shit…
Produced by yours truly and featuring Curly Castro, this song has been a staple of our live set since 2010. We’ve performed this monster in countless venues, Philly to Phoenix. Flipping Ghostface’s classic “Mighty Healthy” into a speaker bleeder was easy like bank heists in the ’60s. Curly Castro’s verse is walking through the Wu universe step by step as a youth in Brooklyn. Five Deadly Venoms on VHS. Jackie or Jet Li. Neighborhood joes in Starter caps. Alleyway kids pushing lah to the Darkman. For my part, I just pulled the pin and let it blow. Stylish and powerful non sequiturs on vodka nights, twin sisters, and bottle rockets. Wish you could see us.
Hand drawn illustration by Will Macey. Cover design by Dr. Quandary for Memetic Supply Co.
“Check his history: Zilla Rocca’s been a beast. In just 16 bars, no other rapper could seamlessly namedrop the futility of the Seattle Pilots, Neruda, Hemingway’s love of daiquiris, Medellin, Omega 3′s, chicken nuggets, and Southern Comfort while flipping the beat to Tony Stark’s “Fish.” When the Wrecking Crew co-founder first floated the idea of a Wu-Tang Pulp project, I thought it was totally superfluous. Vintage Wu-Tang songs can’t be improved, but what Zillaknew and I didn’t, is that they’re the perfect jump-off — spring boards for creativity that manifest in “Scallops,” the second leak from the project.
Enter the Wrecking Crew. ZR with the unfadeable Has-Lo and Curly Castro, both of whom have been snapping on tracks like emaciated men ripping shells off a platter of bottom feeder seafood. As Has points out, the only thing left to do is go to Red Lobster. Or if you’re in LA, get the shrimp burrito at Senior Fish.
Either way rappers, this is how you tastefully reference the past without cranking out empty nostalgia. If you didn’t think that yesterday’s selection of RZA as the #1 producer of all-time was crackpot, you will want to hear this song. (And probably the J-Zone remix of Has-Lo’s “Light Years” that also dropped this week).” – Passion of the Weiss
Download “The Boxcutter Went” (prod by Zilla Rocca) by Has-Lo aka Lo Custamato, Zilla Rocca aka Vic Sage, Curly Castro aka Smuggla Winston, and Elucid aka E Gutta
Sketches of the artwork for Wu-Tang Pulp by William Macey
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