Icon: Wu-Tang Clan
About halfway through their game-changing 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang, a radio interviewer asks Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface about the Clan’s “ultimate goal.” They jockey for the privilege to answer. “Can I say this one?” Rae thirstily begs, before Meth offers a simple “domination.” “This is longevity right here,” Ghost cuts in. “We gon ‘keep it raw.”
Mission: accomplished. From their Staten Island-as-Shaolin self-mythologizing to their inventive business model – separate solo deals under the Wu-umbrella, profit sharing, a clothing line – the Wu-Tang Clan changed hip-hop. There was a special feeling to those early records, a desperate, all-in exhaustion that made Enter and the first wave of solo discs from Meth, Rae, Ghostface and GZA so engrossing and exciting.
They created their own origin myths and refused to abide by the conventional wisdom of hooks and stars. They did it their own way. And even if the Clan itself has seen better days – constant infighting, the stalled careers of U-God and Inspectah Deck and the sad death of Ol ‘Dirty Bastard – history will remember them among the most significant – if not unlikely – heroes of postwar pop culture. Some decade and a half since they first brought the ruckus, the Wu-Tang Clan has proved to be more a global movement than a group. Need proof? Try and track down all of the 300-plus releases by Clan members, their friends, cousins, weed carriers, hype-men and back-up singers, and the bizarre global network of Wu-approved affiliates. But start first with these essentials.
Form Like Voltron: The Group Albums
-
Nine MCs, nine personalities, one brash, brilliant debut. It shouldn't have worked, but thanks to the astonishing, dusted production of the RZA, the distinct outlooks of each of our nine new heroes and a shared vision of their Staten-by-way-of-Shaolin mythology, this was one of the tightest end-to-end albums of the 1990s of any genre. From the raucous ("Shame on a Ni--a," "Protect Ya Neck") to the sublime ("C.R.E.A.M.," "Can it Be All So Simple"), from the sacred bonds of brotherhood to the profane wit that became their shared, secret language, this was the founding of a new world and we never left.
-
he Clan's 1997 sophomore effort was a brave and occasionally confounding departure from form. Despite stellar Clan moments "It's Yourz," "Cash Still Rules," "The City," "Triumph" seeded in the double-album are signs of their coming dissolution: cleaner but inconsistent beats, few tracks boasting a Wu-quorum and moments of dusted paranoia that lacked the desperate wit of earlier records. Still, it is a surprisingly listenable two hours, and it endures as a gripping document of the Clan's awesome aspirations just listen to lead single "Triumph," six, hook-free minutes of lyrical bravado, from Inspectah Deck's legendary lead-off to Raekwon's closing shout-out to Rod Strickland.
-
Full of the millennial angst previewed on their double-disc sophomore effort Wu-Tang Forever, the Clan's third album (released in 2000) was darker and stranger than anything they had done before. The sinister "Careful Click Click" and the soul-baring "Hollow Bones" rank among their best efforts. But despite distracting, by-the-numbers guest turns from Redman, Nas and Snoop and signs of group dissolution, The W's most powerful moments benefit from some unlikely helping hands. Reggae singer Junior Reid reprises an old classic for the raggedy, deconstructed "One Blood Under W," while Isaac Hayes' guest hook on the epic "I Can't Go To Sleep" reduces a manic Ghost into a puddle of tears.
A Swarm of Bees: The Early Solo Records
-
If Rae was the Clan's resident lexicographer, then Ghost was the one who emoted on behalf of everyone else. His fearsome name, aggressive flow and early days rapping behind a mask legal troubles, if you believe the rumors notwithstanding, Ghost proved to be a man of deep contradictions on his excellent debut. While the speed-racing "Daytona 500," the spooky, free associative "After the Smoke is Clear" and the brutally misogynistic "Wildflower" captured Ghost at his toughest, few rappers achieved the kind of vulnerability he did on the gripping ballad "All That I Got is You."
-
Grime and horror can often veer toward schlock, and the Gravediggaz a RZA side-project co-captained by Prince Paul which featured rappers Frukwan and Too Poetic allowed the Wu-head to indulge his lighter side. At times sounding like Wu-Tang demos the rickety horror show effects of "Constant Elevation," the disarmingly laidback, Funkadelic-inspired "Mommy, What's a Gravedigga?" the super-group's 1994 debut the first and last masterpiece of the short-lived micro-genre of "horrorcore" was both engrossing and gross, a mish-mash of atmospheric, neck-snapping (figuratively speaking, of course) beats and Freddy and Jason-inspired, spine-snapping (literally, sadly) rhymes.
The Ruckus, Pt. 2: More Solo Albums
-
Ghost perfected his fabulously high-living, gold medallion-and-plush bathrobe-wearing, showman persona on this flawless 2000 album. At a time when the Wu brand was flagging, Ghost put the Clan on his back. Beats by the RZA and a host of RZA sound-alikes insured that Supreme Clientele would have a classic feel, but it was Ghost's flair for language Nikes, Monty Hall, Zima and ziti all find a home in his rhyme book that made this album a classic. "Cherchez La Ghost" was a rare moment of disco infiltration, while no-frills classics like the late-1980s-signifying "Mighty Healthy" and the regal horn blasts of "Apollo Kids" were reminders of the empire that once was.
-
A strangely bewitching what-could-have-been release, Osirus was a stopgap mixtape issued shortly after ODB's death in 2004. Despite its cobbled-together feel, the mixtape's best moments are full of the energy and weirdness of Dirty at his best. The DJ Premier-produced "Pop Shots" is all snotty attitude and 86-reminiscences, and on "Dirty Run" he splays out over David Bowie's "Fame" it all makes you wonder what he might have done had he lived to fulfill his Roc-A-Fella contract. Meanwhile, the gurgling organ of "Dirty Dirty" is a perfect complement to Dirty's wildly all-over-the-place rhymes about everything from his phallus to Rosa Parks.
-
The lowest-profile of all Wu members and the victim on multiple occasion of bad timing, Masta Killa's 2004 debut album proved to be worth the wait. His careful, deliberate flow was in fine form on "D.T.D." featuring Rae and Ghost and the philosophical, career-retrospective of "No Said Date." One of the album's stronger moments was "Digi Warfare," a humble shout-out to all the DJs and producers of the 1980s and 1990s. It might have taken Masta Killa a long time to properly debut, but it's nice that he didn't forget everyone who had helped along the way.
The Saga Continues: The Wu Legacy
-
Such was the appeal of the Wu in the late 1990s that people actually looked forward to Cappa's solo debut it ended up going gold. With a husky, deliberate flow, enough nicknames for nine more guys and a swagger borrowed from mentors Raekwon and Ghostface, the Wu's unofficial "tenth member" always offered a reliable, at times punchy distillation of all the classic Wu elements. A decade later, this 1998 disc is not without its charms, most notably the proud gangland tales of "Slang Editorial" and the howling, Rae and Meth-assisted "Dart Throwing."
-
RZA submitted some of his most interesting work for the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's 1999 existential samurai flick. A few star turns notwithstanding the underrated Clan gem "Fast Shadow" and RZA solo joint "Samurai Showdown" Wu affiliates like Northstar ("4 Sho Sho"), Black Knights ("Zip Code") and Sunz of Man ("Strange Eyes") made the most of their chances with some impassioned, memorable verses. One of the most unnerving moments: dancehall crooner Suga Bang Bang haunting the beat on "Don't Test/Wu Stallion."
