Liquid Swords

GZA

1995

Liquid Swords is a concept of being lyrically sharp, according to GZA: “flowing like liquid metal – mercury, y’know? It comes from this flick, Legend of the Liquid Sword, where people would get their head cut off but it would still be on their shoulders. No one else would notice, because the sword was so sharp.” 

RZA produced the entire album and used Shogun Assassin samples throughout the album. RZA told Vanity Fair, “Most of our influence came from kung-fu movies. Sometimes there’s a lot of swinging, a lot of blocking. But in Japanese samurai movies, it’s one stroke kills. BING, STROKE! BING, STROKE! When it came time to incorporate a film into the Wu-Tang world, I chose this film to represent the GZA. His lyrics are straight to the point.”