Emerging in 1993, when
Dr. Dre's
G-funk had overtaken the
hip-hop world, the Staten Island, NY-based
Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary
rap group of the mid-'90s -- and only partially because of their music. Turning the standard concept of a
hip-hop crew inside out,
the Wu-Tang Clan were assembled as a loose congregation of nine MCs, almost as a support group. Instead of releasing one album after another,
the Clan were designed to overtake the record industry in as profitable a fashion as possible -- the idea was to establish
the Wu-Tang as a force with their debut album and then spin off into as many side projects as possible.
In the process, the members would all become individual stars as well as receive individual royalty checks.
Surprisingly, the plan worked. All of the various
Wu-Tang solo projects elaborated on the theme the group laid out on its 1993 debut, the spare, menacing
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Taking their group name from an powerful, mythical kung fu sword wielded by an invincible congregation of warriors, the crew is a loose collective of nine MCs. All nine members work under a number of pseudonyms, but they are best known as
RZA (formerly
Prince Rakeem; aka RZArecta, Chief Abbot, and Bobby Steels; born Robert Diggs),
GZA (aka the Genius, Justice, and Maxi Million; born Gary Grice),
Ol' Dirty Bastard (aka Unique Ason, Joe Bannanas, Dirt McGirt, Dirt Dog, and Osirus; born Russell Jones),
Method Man (aka Johnny Blaze, Ticallion Stallion, Shakwon, Methical, and MZA; born Clifford Smith),
Raekwon the Chef (aka Shallah Raekwon and Lou Diamonds; born
Corey Woods),
Ghostface Killah (aka Tony Starks and Sun God; born Dennis Coles),
U-God (aka Golden Arms, Lucky Hands, Baby U, and 4-Bar Killer; born
Lamont Hawkins), Inspectah Deck (aka Rebel INS and Rollie Fingers; born Jason Hunter), and
Masta Killa (aka Noodles; born
Elgin Turner).
Although
RZA wasn't one of the two founding members --
GZA and
Ol' Dirty Bastard were the first -- the vision of
the Wu-Tang Clan is undoubtedly due to his musical skills. Under his direction, the group -- through its own efforts and the solo projects, all of which he produced or co-produced -- created a hazy, surreal, and menacing soundscape out of hardcore beats, eerie piano riffs, and minimal samples. Over these surrealistic backing tracks, the MCs rapped hard, updating the old-school attack with vicious violence, martial arts imagery, and a welcome warped humor. By 1995, the sound was one of the most instantly recognizable in
hip-hop.
It wasn't always that way. Like most rappers, they began their careers trying to get ahead whatever way they could. For
RZA, that meant releasing a silly single, "Ooh, I Love You Rakeem," on Tommy Boy Records in 1991. On the advice of his label and producers, he cut the humorous lover-man single, which went absolutely nowhere. Neither did the follow-up single, "My Deadly Venom." The experience strengthened his resolve to subvert and attack record industry conventions. He found partners in
GZA and
Ol' Dirty Bastard.
GZA had also released a record in 1991, the full-length Words from the Genius on Cold Chillin', which was preceded by the single "Come Do Me." Both records were unsuccessful. After the failure of his album,
GZA teamed with an old friend,
Ol' Dirty Bastard, to form the crew that would evolve into
the Wu-Tang Clan within a year.
RZA quickly became part of the crew, as did several other local MCs, including
Method Man,
Ghostface Killah,
Raekwon,
U-God, Inspectah Deck, and
Masta Killa. The nine rappers made a pact to a form an artistic and financial community --
the Wu-Tang Clan wouldn't merely be a group, it would be its own industry. In order to do this, they decided to establish themselves through a group effort and then begin to spread the word through solo projects, picking up additional collaborators along the way and, in the process, becoming stronger and more influential.
The first
Wu-Tang Clan single, the hard-hitting "Protect Ya Neck," appeared on their own independent label and became an underground hit. Soon, the record labels were offering them lucrative contracts. The group held out until they landed a deal that would allow each member to record solo albums for whatever label he chose -- in essence, each rapper was a free agent. Loud/RCA agreed to the deal, and the band's debut album,
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), appeared in November 1993.
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful; although its financial success wasn't immediate, it was the result of a slow build. "C.R.E.A.M.," released in early 1994, was the single that put them over the top and won them a devoted following. The group wasted no time in pursuing other projects, as a total of five of the members --
GZA,
RZA,
Raekwon,
Method Man, and
Ol' Dirty Bastard -- landed solo contracts as a result of the success of "C.R.E.A.M."
RZA was the first to re-enter the studio, this time as a member of
the Gravediggaz, a group he founded; in addition to
RZA, who was rechristened RZArecta, the group included
De La Soul producer
Prince Paul,
Stetsasonic's Frukwan, and Brothers Grimm's Poetic.
The Gravediggaz's album
6 Feet Deep appeared in August 1994; it eventually would go gold. Labeled "horrorcore" by the group, it was an ultra-violent but comical
tour de force that demonstrated
RZA's production prowess. Shortly after its release,
Raekwon released his first single, "Heaven and Hell," on the Fresh
soundtrack; the song was produced by
RZA and featured
Ghostface Killah.
The first
Wu-Tang member to become a major solo star was
Method Man. In November 1994, he released
Tical, the first official
Wu-Tang solo album. Again,
RZA produced the album, creating a dense, dirty sonic collage.
Tical became a big hit in early 1995, as did
Meth's duet with
Mary J. Blige, "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By."
Ol' Dirty Bastard followed
Method Man's breakthrough success with
Return to the 36 Chambers, which appeared in March 1995 on Elektra Records. Thanks to the hits "Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," the record became a gold success. Out of all the solo albums, it was the one that sounded the most like
Enter the Wu-Tang, although it did have a more pronounced comic bent, due to
Ol' Dirty's maniacal vocals. Tales From the Hood, a movie soundtrack featuring Inspectah Deck's first solo track, appeared in May.
Later in 1995, the two most critically acclaimed
Wu-Tang records appeared:
Raekwon's
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and
GZA's
Liquid Swords.
Raekwon released his album on Loud/RCA in August 1995; the record featured extensive contributions -- a total of 12 songs -- from
Ghostface Killah, his greatest exposure yet.
GZA's solo album was released by Geffen Records in November 1995. In February 1996,
Ghostface Killah's first solo track, "Winter Warz," appeared on the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While You're Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
soundtrack. Later that October, he released his own solo debut, the critically acclaimed, '70s
soul-flavored
Ironman; the record was the first released on
RZA's new Epic subsidiary, Razor Sharp Records.
The Wu-Tang Clan finally reconvened and returned with their second album, the double CD
Wu-Tang Forever, in June of 1997. Hugely anticipated, the album entered the charts at number one -- selling over 600,000 copies in its first week alone -- and quickly spawned the hit single "Triumph." There were several contributions from guest associate
Cappadonna (born
Darryl Hill), who'd appeared on
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and
Ironman, and would later become the tenth member of
the Wu-Tang Clan. The group toured extensively in support of the album, getting into a few minor scuffles with the law along the way.
In the meantime, the next phase of the
Wu-Tang plan started to take shape: unearthing new associates and spinning the resulting stable of talent into a brand-name franchise. A group of
Wu protégés dubbed
Killarmy released their debut album, Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars, on Priority Records in August 1997, drawing heavily upon
the Clan's martial imagery. 1998, however, was truly the year for
Wu-related side projects. In March,
Cappadonna released his solo debut, The Pillage, on Columbia. The same month,
Killah Priest -- not an official part of
the Clan, but a frequent guest and a member of another protégé group,
the Sunz of Man -- made his solo debut on Geffen Records with Heavy Mental, an acclaimed album filled with spiritual imagery that established him as one of the more distinctive solo artists in the
Wu-Tang orbit. In July
the Sunz of Man released their own debut album, The Last Shall Be First, on Red Ant, and yet another group of up-and-comers dubbed the Wu-Tang Killa Bees released their first album, The Swarm, Vol. 1, on Priority, featuring a number of guest appearances by
Wu members and associates. In August,
Killarmy issued their second album,
Dirty Weaponry.
1998 was also the year
Ol' Dirty Bastard began a long and bizarre saga of erratic behavior and run-ins with police that found him making headlines with alarming (and ridiculous) regularity. In February he interrupted
Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards to protest
the Clan's loss in the Best Rap Album category; shortly thereafter, he announced he was changing his name to Big Baby Jesus, an idea that never picked up steam. This was only the beginning -- over the next year and a half,
ODB would be arrested for a litany of offenses that included assault, shoplifting, making terrorist threats, wearing body armor after being convicted of a felony, possessing cocaine, and missing countless court dates. Plus, in early 1999, the whole
Clan fell under suspicion of masterminding a gun-running operation between Staten Island and Steubenville, OH -- charges that were never proven to have any validity.
In the midst of this legal sideshow,
the Clan kicked off a second round of solo projects in late 1998. This time around,
RZA curtailed his activities somewhat, making appearances but often leaving the majority of the production duties to his protégés. Still, he released his own solo debut, the
soundtrack-styled
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo, in November 1998 on V2; the same month,
Method Man's second album,
Tical 2000: Judgement Day, debuted at number two on the charts. June 1999 saw the release of an excellent singles compilation, RZA Hits, which covered the first
Wu-Tang album and the first round of solo albums (1994-1995); the very next week,
GZA's second album,
Beneath the Surface, was released. September brought plenty of new
Wu product:
Ol' Dirty Bastard's
Nigga Please, released while the rapper was in rehab;
Method Man's acclaimed duo album with
Redman, Blackout!; and the first-ever solo album by Inspectah Deck, Uncontrolled Substance, which appeared on Relativity. Another
Wu member made his solo debut in October, when
U-God issued
Golden Arms Redemption on Priority;
Raekwon returned the following month with
Immobilarity. Finally,
Ghostface Killah issued his well-received sophomore set,
Supreme Clientele, in January 2000.
However, this second round of
Wu-Tang solo albums didn't attract as much attention, either critically or commercially. True,
Method Man remained a popular solo star (and, to a lesser degree, so did
ODB), and reviews were highly positive for
Ghostface Killah (and, to a lesser degree,
GZA). But the
Wu franchise was suffering from inconsistency, overexposure (they'd spawned a clothing line, a video game, a comic book, and more), and a flood of musical product that even diehards found difficult to keep up with. Their once-distinctive sound was becoming commonplace and diluted, not just through the collective's own releases but also
RZA's many imitators; plus, by this time,
Timbaland had taken over the mantle of
hip-hop's most cutting-edge producer.
Indie filmmaker
Jim Jarmusch commissioned
RZA to compose a
soundtrack for his acclaimed Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, the results of which were unveiled in early 2000. Other than that,
the Clan reconvened for a new album and was mostly quiet during much of 2000 -- aside from
Ol' Dirty Bastard, who unfortunately continued to spiral out of control. He spent some time in a California jail for violating the terms of his probation, but appeared to be on the right track when suddenly, in October -- with just two months of rehab to go -- he escaped the California facility and spent a month on the run from the law. Fans were shocked when
ODB turned up on-stage at the New York record-release party for
the Clan's new album,
The W, which was released with considerably less fanfare in November 2000. A leaner, more focused collection,
The W featured only one track from
ODB and pictured
Cappadonna as a full-fledged member of the group (though he remained unnamed on their official contract with Loud).
ODB managed to exit the club after his surprise performance but was soon captured by police in Philadelphia and extradited to New York to face charges of cocaine possession. In April 2001, he cut a deal with prosecutors that resulted in a sentence of two to four years in state prison, bringing his outlaw saga to a sad end. In August 2001,
RZA issued his second
Bobby Digital album,
Digital Bullet; November brought solo albums from
Ghostface Killah (
Bulletproof Wallets) and
Cappadonna (
The Yin and the Yang). This time, though, there was no full round of solo projects in between
Wu albums; the full group (minus
ODB) assembled for their fourth album,
Iron Flag, which was released in December 2001, just one year after its predecessor. Despite a lot of activity for the various solo projects,
Wu-Tang released only a live album, 2004's Disciples of the 36 Chambers, during the subsequent five years. That document was one of the last places to hear
Ol' Dirty Bastard, who died of a heart attack in November 2004. In early 2007, in anticipation for
the Clan's upcoming album,
8 Diagrams, Nature Sounds issued the Mathematics-compiled
Unreleased, a collection of new remixes and hard-to-find, previously unreleased songs from the group and some of their friends. It wasn't until the end of the year, however -- after a couple of delays and some criticism from
Raekwon and
Ghostface directed at
RZA regarding the overall sound of the record -- that
8 Diagrams came out. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Steve Huey, All Music Guide
(
collapse)
