Wu-Tang Clan

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Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most successful rap music posses of the 1990s. Membership: RZA (real name, Robert Diggs); Genius/GZA (real name, Gary Grice); OF Dirty Bastard (real name, Russell Jones); Method Man (real name, Clifford Smith); Raekwon the Chef (real name, Corey Woods); Ghostface Killah (real name, Denis Coles); U-God (real name, Lamont Hawkins); Inspectah Deck (real name, Jason Hunter); Masta Killa (real name, E. Turner).

Using the same business plan as George Clinton did nearly two decades earlier, the Wu-Tang Clan signed a contract that would allow the individual members of the collective to record for whomever they pleased. This allowed the group exposure on nearly every major label and many of the larger independents, with the diverse financial results and security of a wide distribution base.

The collective started coming together under aegis of DJ RZA, GZA Genius, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard (most frequently known by his initials, ODB). Both ODB and GZA had recorded with little success. They brought in RZA as the collective’s beatmaster general and producer. RZA took off from the P-Funk inspired beats of West Coast producers like Dr. Dre, creating something more stripped down and ominous. Bringing in a half a dozen more homiez, the collective took the name WuTang from a piece of martial arts mysticism about an invincible sword and the warriors who wield it.

They self-released their debut single “Protect Ya Neck,” It quickly rose to the top of the underground, becoming a substantial hit, introducing RZA’s musical style as well as the group’s bantering cross-talk between eight intelligent, wise-ass MCs. They received many offers, but their demand for individual artists to record where they wanted caused many labels to withdraw. BMG-distributed Loud records finally proved amenable to their demands, and the Wu-Tang Clan released Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993. The album received considerable critical acclaim and slowly built a following. “Method Man” rose into the pop charts. “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” broke them even further, rising to #60 and topping the maxi-single chart. The album went platinum and the Clan was on its way.

Over the course of the next four years, GZA, RZA, Method Man, Raekwon, and ODB all recorded solo albums. RZAs recorded with the hip-hop supergroup the Gravediggaz, which included De La Soul’s Prince Paul and Statsasonic’s Fruitkwan. Their debut album went gold. Raekwan recorded a track with Ghostface Killa for the Fresh soundtrack. Method Man’s Tical in 1994 became a huge hit, with his duet with Mary K. Blige on “You’re All I Need (To Get By)” leading the way. ODB followed with Return to the 36 Chambers, which went gold. In 1995 Genius and Raekwon released critically acclaimed albums. Raekwon’s disc was almost a duo project with Ghostface Killah. Ghostface Killah dropped his solo debut in 1996. ODB recorded the bizarre single “Fantasy” with Mariah Carey. As with P-Funk before them, every solo album was treated like a group project, with different pieces of the group on them.

Additionally, the group created their own line of clothing, Wu-Wear. Image Comics put out a book based on their actual characters and their mythical roots.

In 1997 the group reunited as the Wu-Tang Clan for Wu-Tang Forever. Going gold out of the box and debuting at #1, the album lived up to its build-up as the most anticipated hip-hop album of the year. By year’s end, it went quadruple platinum. Another spate of solo albums followed, with U-God’s Redemption debuting the group’s own imprint, ODB came out with another album, Na, Please, and became involved in several drug cases. Inspectah Deck put out Uncontrollable Substance, featuring most of the group; it sounded like a continuation of the Wu-Tang albums. Method Man recorded a duet with Redman called Blackout that went platinum, as did his Tical 2000.

With a mixture of business smarts and street smarts, the Wu-Tang clan has the right stuff to make hip-hop legends long into the new millennium.