Track Review
Just reading the title of this release is enough to make you double take. The idea that Wu Tang Clan’s 1994 classic C.R.E.A.M from their landmark debut Enter the 36 Chambers is getting the Call of Duty treatment seems like a mashup that no one expected (nor really wanted.)
Activision’s CMO, Tyler Bahl had this to say about the collaboration:
“At its core, ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ tells the story of a group of young people coming together, overcoming adversity, and rising from nothing to something. That journey mirrors the arc of our characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Bringing that story to life through some of Korea’s most exciting hip‑hop artists connects two generations of music and culture in a way that feels authentic to the game and its setting.”
Which is perhaps the most tenuous thing I’ve ever read.
This updated version is a collaboration with Korean rappers Lee Youngji, E Sens and Jay Park with RZA and Martin Wave overseeing the remix. The original version of C.R.E.A.M will apparently appear during the game’s opening credits, while this version will appear during the end credits.
It’s difficult to go into this one without a healthy dose of cynicism. Call of Duty has long become emblematic of the mass-produced, disposable culture we currently live in, with each new entry into the long-running series somehow becoming less and less inspired and more of a blatant cash grab. The fact that they’ve been given the go ahead to remix this classic makes me think that a lot of money must have changed hands to make this happen.
RZA himself has praised the track, however as he himself actually was involved in making it its going to take a bit more convincing for me. Additionally, ever since I saw the video of him making one of the worst hip hop beats of all time, I don’t necessarily always trust his judgement.
Onto the track itself, its actually not the worst thing I’ve ever heard but its still pretty bad. The rapping itself is not terrible, this version includes all new verses which go between Korean and English (due to the games setting in Korea) while keeping Method Man’s classic hook.
Despite the decent rapping, the soul of the original has been completely sucked out and replaced with big budget, maximalist production. The main charm of the original C.R.E.A.M along with most of Enter the 36 Chabmers is that it had this low-fi dusty quality. It sounded like it was made in a basement, which made the music all the more real and authentic.
Despite it slightly exceeding my expectations, this remix is still pretty bad. The only reason this thing exists is to market a video game to teenagers, its not exactly high art. Even as far as video game/song tie ins, it’s not great. Still, this likely won’t do too much to tarnish Wu Tang’s legacy. You likely won’t be hearing this on the radio any time soon, it will exist purely within the game for most people and will be promptly forgotten about when Modern Warfare 5 inevitably drops with a remix of Regulate or something.
In summary, if you want to listen to one musician/video game cash grab tie in this week, listen to the new Tame Imapala, Justice, SZA collab for GTA VI instead…