The Wu-Tang Clan‘s long discussed and extensively delayed reunion album, A Better Tomorrow, has become the rap world’s very own Chinese Democracy in recent years. RZA has explained that a lot of the troubles surrounding the album are due to difficulties getting all nine members of the hip-hop collective back together and on the same page, but anytime a member has gotten behind a microphone or in front of a camera in the past year or so they cannot help hyping the record.

Last night a new single from the album titled “Keep Watch” found its way online, proving once and for all that production on A Better Tomorrow has been continuing in recent months. In fact, the release of the song coincided with the launch of album pre-orders on the group’s official website. The product description reads, “The long awaited 20th anniversary album by Wu-Tang Clan is in the works and almost ready to ship. Be the first to order it!”

You can stream “Keep Watch” below, but I will tell you now it may be best to temper your expectations. It’s no doubt exciting to hear Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, and GZA all on one track at the same time, but the production from DJ Mathematics leaves a lot to be desired. His beat is incredibly basic, and while that is the type of sound that helped the group make their name it does not pair as well with the bars being delivered as one would hope. There’s also an RnB hook provided by the vocalist known as Nathaniel that feels incredibly unnecessary, but his delivery is perfectly fine.

We are as excited as the next 36 Chambers fan to learn that A Better Tomorrow may soon be in stores, but “Keep Watch” is a strong reminder that big name reunions do not always result in hit records. Big sales, sure, but it’s going to take material better than this to make a lasting impact on listeners today.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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