''Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop group

Killarmy Killarmy () is an American hip hop group that is affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan. It is one of the earliest and most successful of the many Wu-Tang affiliates along with Sunz of Man. Killarmy's music consists of lyrics and songs focused on the ...

. It was released on August 5, 1997 through Wu-Tang/

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Silkk the Shocker, Jay-Z, Paris, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, ...

Background

Recording sessions took place at 36 Chambers Studio in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and 4th Chamber Studio in

Steubenville Steubenville ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area has an es ...

. Production was mainly handled by member

4th Disciple Selwyn Bougard, now known as El-Divine Amir Bey (born May 23, 1974), better known by his stage name 4th Disciple, is a DJ, record producer and audio engineer who was one of the founding members of Killarmy and one of the best-known Wu-Tang-a ...

, except for two tracks that were produced by the

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Hell Razah,

Masta Killa Jamel Irief (born Elgin Evander Turner; August 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Masta Killa, is an American rapper and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He was only featured on one track on their 1993 debut album '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chamb ...

Prodigal Sunn Lamar Ruff, known professionally as Prodigal Sunn, is an American rapper. He is a member of Sunz of Man and Wu-Tang Clan original affiliate. Career The name "Prodigal Sunn" was given to him by childhood friend Killah Priest. Along with Hel ...

and

Streetlife Street life or Streetlife may refer to: Music Albums * ''Street Life'' (The Crusaders album), 1979 * ''Street Life'' (Fiend album), 1999 * ''Streetlife'' (Geeza album), 1977 * ''Streetlife'' (Sqeezer album) * ''Street Life'' (Patrick Street a ...

. The album features the singles "Camouflage Ninjas" b/w "Wake Up" and "Wu-Renegades" b/w "Clash of the Titans". The group consists of six rappers: Killa Sin, Beretta 9, Islord, 9th Prince, P.R. Terrorist and ShoGun Assasson; and one producer, 4th Disciple, who produced the majority of the album. Like Black Lung's album of the same name, the title was taken from a document that came to light in the mid-1980s detailing an alleged New-World Order plan for world domination, a topic that was explored in

Milton William Cooper Milton William "Bill" Cooper (May 6, 1943 – November 5, 2001) was an American conspiracy theorist, radio broadcaster, and author known for his 1991 book ''Behold a Pale Horse'', in which he warned of multiple global conspiracies, some i ...

's infamous book ''Behold a Pale Horse''.

Reception

''Silent Weapons'' initially received mixed reviews from critics, who saw the group as a low-rent version of the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

because of similarities in the group's street-oriented Five-Percenter rhymes and dark production. The album was well received by Wu-Tang and

underground hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

fans—acclaimed for its unique combat themes and stellar production work. The album peaked at number 34 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 10 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

*Terrance "

9th Prince Terrance Hamlin (born February 10, 1977), better known as 9th Prince, is an American rapper and one of the founding members of rap group Killarmy. He was initially responsible for bringing the various members together, under the guidance of his ...

" Hamlin – performer (tracks: 1-6, 8, 10, 11, 14-17) *Jamal "

ShoGun Assasson Killarmy () is an American hip hop group that is affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan. It is one of the earliest and most successful of the many Wu-Tang affiliates along with Sunz of Man. Killarmy's music consists of lyrics and songs focused on the ...

" Alexander – performer (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12-14, 16, 17) *Jeryl "

Killa Sin Killarmy () is an American hip hop group that is affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan. It is one of the earliest and most successful of the many Wu-Tang affiliates along with Sunz of Man. Killarmy's music consists of lyrics and songs focused on the ...

" Grant – performer (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8-11, 15, 16) *Domingo "Dom Pachino" Del Valle – performer (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17) *Samuel " Beretta 9" Murray – performer (tracks: 2, 4, 9, 10, 12-14, 16, 17) *Rodney " Islord" Stevenson – performer (tracks: 5, 8) *Patrick "

StreetLife Street life or Streetlife may refer to: Music Albums * ''Street Life'' (The Crusaders album), 1979 * ''Street Life'' (Fiend album), 1999 * ''Streetlife'' (Geeza album), 1977 * ''Streetlife'' (Sqeezer album) * ''Street Life'' (Patrick Street a ...

" Charles – performer (track 2) *Chron " Hell Razah" Smith – performer (track 8) *Vergil "

" Ruff – performer (track 8) *Elgin "

" Turner – performer (track 17) *Selwyn "

" Bougard – producer (tracks: 1-7, 9-15, 17), co-producer (track 16), engineering, mixing *Robert "

" Diggs – producer (tracks: 8, 16), executive producer * Joseph M. Palmaccio – mastering *Ney "Flava" Pimentel – art direction, design, layout *David Corio – photography *Mitchell "Divine Justice" Diggs – coordinator, supervisor *Sherin Baday – coordinator, supervisor

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Killarmy albums 1997 debut albums Albums produced by RZA Priority Records albums Albums produced by 4th Disciple