Fifteen years in, the claim seems just as remarkable, improbable and fucking righteously correct: Wu-Tang (still) forever. Right? Around the time of 8 The Hard Way this elegant maxim felt like defiance; we said it with equal parts regret and pride, knowing it still meant something even if Ghostface and the RZA were fighting. Today, sandwiched between Cuban Linx 2 and whatever the Wu-Massacre record ends up coming out as, when I say “Wu-Tang forever” (and I frequently do) I don’t feel like I’m trying to prove something. Wu-Tang may be old but it still feels active, alive, dangerous. Perhaps more so because they’re old.

The same could be said for Mathematics’ new compilation Return of the Wu & Friends, which stitches together fifteen of the producer’s tracks with the Staten Island collective to surprisingly deft effect. The cuts here date back to 2000, but taken front to back, it just sounds like a great lost Wu record, each emcee taking his turns at the mic with the rest snarling behind him like leashed dogs eyeing a steak. Wu odds and sods collections can be brutal–and I’m including in this assertion every RZA solo record–but Mathematics isn’t interested in reinvention or experimentation here. When the ethereal bounce of Raekwon’s “Treez” flips to the true-blue summertime banger “What It Is,” the record feels less like a Wu-centric mix than just a good mixtape–period–with hooks mostly discarded and beats clapping quick and angrily off-kilter. Mathematics’ more traditional drumwork keeps this distinct from a RZA production and provides a surprisingly snappy cohesion to the whole affair. Pack it up and tie a new bow on it: Wu-Tang is still Wu-Tang. Forever, right?

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