Bobby Digital: Digital Bullet

As the Wu-Tang Clan’s leader, RZA had the daunting responsibility of turning the bizarre and disparate personalities of a dozen or so rappers into something coherent. Freed from that responsibility, his 1998 solo debut, Bobby Digital In Stereo, sucked pretty bad. Weak beats and dull, corny rhymes spun a mostly incoherent narrative that may or may not have made more sense when taken with the accompanying movie which no one saw. Digital Bullet revives RZA’s Bobby Digital character, but without many of his less compelling traits. With sharp rhymes, dark, foreboding soundscapes, and appearances from Method Man, GZA, and the indomitable Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Digital Bullet could pass at times for a Wu-Tang album. Tracks like the trip-hoppy “Can’t Lose,” the Latin-flavored “La Rhumba,” and the ominous, reggae-singed “The Way” display the wildly diverse sounds RZA’s capable of, though, much like Wu-Tang albums, Digital Bullet would hit twice as hard if it was half as long. One day, RZA will learn to stop firing when he runs out of creative ammunition.