Digi Snacks

Since the release of the first Bobby Digital album ten years previous, so much has changed for RZA and his whole Wu-Tang empire. Of course there's the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard plus the Wu's resurgence and their 8 Diagrams album, but what this final entry in the Bobby Digital trilogy is most colored by is RZA's recent soundtrack work and the Wu's move from major-label powerhouse to a free and thriving, free indie crew. Digi Snacks is as homegrown but not nearly as over the top as its cover, and while you won't find the dynamic productions and powerful hooks that fueled the first two albums, this is a fantastic marriage of RZA's pimp-ish superhero character and the mysterious, suspenseful grooves found on his Ghost Dog or Kill Bill soundtracks. That may sound like his Afro Samurai album, but there's more of the head-bobbing, haunted-house vibe here with slow grooves dominating tracks like the single "You Can't Stop Me Now" and the aptly titled "Creep." Like "Creep," both "Try Ya Ya Ya" and the great "Good Night" feature the Erykah Badu/Billie Holiday-sounding vocals of Thea van Seijen, whose affiliation with Massive Attack perfectly describes the landscape Digi Snacks is leaning toward. Save the Jay-Z sample guest producer David Banner brings to "Straight Up the Block" and the pimp hand the Bobby character shows frequently throughout, the world of mainstream hip-hop fails to penetrate the album, making this the most unique entry in the trilogy. Fans of the first two albums might find it difficult to adjust, but Digi Snacks brings that "through the looking glass" feeling and offers a murky world unto itself, one where Wu-Tang Batmans and blaxploitation anime seem entirely possible.