The story of Wu-Tang Clan. How could rivals make one of the most successful hip-hop bands ever?

For the past 30 years, a band founded on Staten Island has been changing the hip-hop/rap music scene in an enormous and revolutionary way. Wu-Tang Clan was destined to hit the charts with their perfect symbol, perfect style, and perfect harmony. Ever since the members united to make their first album, the desirable sound in the rap industry has been influenced by them. But was it all so perfect? Inside, not entirely. Internal conflicts between the main members before and at the time of the establishment of the band were really intense. Despite all of the ups and downs, Wu-Tang Clan managed to release “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” which is considered by many to be the “best rap album ever”. Their history is complex, but it shows that the band is more than just music.

Family by blood and family by music

Robert Fitzgerald Diggs - RZA, is the cousin of two other original members of the band: GZA and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Diggs had spent his summers at his uncle’s house, who later introduced him to music. He had immersed himself in rap battles by the age of 11 and competed actively. Since the very beginning of his musical journey, he has dreamt about making a band that would be a blend of “eastern philosophy picked up from kung fu movies and comic books” GZA (Gary Eldridge Grice) was called the Genius, he was the “spiritual head” of the band. He often mentions philosophical issues in his music and has been characterized as “armed with sharp metaphors and a smooth flow”. The artist himself said he wanted to promote science education through hip-hop music. Russel Tyrone Jonesknown by the stage name Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB). Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending since ODB overdosed on drugs - his funeral was held in 2004. Many of his friends tried to somehow help him- including some members of the Wu-Tang. Before Wu-Tang, GZA had formed a three-man group with his cousins whose name was “Force of the Imperial Master” (also known as The All in Together Now Crew). Each member had to record under an alias they had chosen- The Scientist, The Genius, and The Specialist.

RZA, GZA, and ODB were in a group called All in Together Now before Wu-Tang Clan.

A complex feud

As the tv series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” directed by RZA, aired on Hulu, there were plenty of speculations about a feud between two important members of the band. Precisely, the feud was happening between Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. Whereas the internet was going crazy over their argument, Raekwon decided to speak up about the scene he had been involved in. The scene in question pictured Raekwon and his friend shooting up Ghostface’s house when he was looking after his brothers who suffered from muscular dystrophy. “Ghostface Killah got into a situation with my man (Jamie) over Divine. Divine and my man had a problem. Ghostface was more or less trying to help out his man—help out Divine in a way.” said Raekwon in an interview with TV a year ago. To the questions involving him shooting up Ghostface’s apartment, Raekwon nodded and said: “Yeah. It was an eye for an eye situation. He was like, ‘Yo shot at my crib, so...’”. He also added that meanwhile, he was taking Jaime’s side, RZA remained neutral. “RZA loved both sides. We loved him as well”. In the meantime, other members: Method Man and Inspectah Deck supposedly witnessed a man being wrongfully killed by the police officer. Later on, it was revealed that the killed man’s name was Ernest “Kase” Sayon, a friend of Method Man. Reportedly, the tragic events that members of the Clan witnessed, later had an impact on their music style.

Image from Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019) created by RZA, Alex Tse.

Beginning of a never-ending story

All good things must come to an end. So do bad things. Robert, was the visionary and producer of the band that actually cared for all of them, cared so they wouldn’t hurt one another. “RZA was the middle guy, he brought all the families to the table, and made people make amends, due to the fact of how we’re going to move forward and get this money.”- claims Raekwon. RZA is known for his dreams and how much he wanted to accomplish them- “If two parties are disputing in the Shaolin temple (a reference to their symbolism) they would go to the abbot to get a third’s party thoughts. So I’m the abbot”. However, the way they all managed to create the desirable band wasn’t entirely good under the law. They all started by selling illegal substances and ended up being one of the most successful hip-hop bands in history. But, it wouldn’t be a powerful story without all the obstacles they had to face to make it this far. Some of them went to jail, some wanted to help their families, and some sought fame. But they had one thing in common- a passion. The drive the young men had was stronger than the rivalry. U-God knew he was about to get arrested, so he went to Robert’s house to record his verse within 15 minutes he had left. As he claims he didn’t know anything about recording and rapping but RZA was next to him telling him exactly what to do. “Those two verses saved my life. RZA saved my life, and I could never go against that.” said the man. But what happened to the enemies? Reportedly, Ghostface and Raekwon did not talk to each other and recorded their verses at different times so they wouldn’t have to see each other. However, during the postproduction part, they had to cooperate. Their anger had been slowly fading. They went from enemies to friends. A common passion has somehow healed the wounds. Even though, their relationship wasn’t intense- they wouldn’t shoot up each other’s houses ever again.

Enter the Wu-tang (36 chambers)

Finally, their debut album has been released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records studio. Their album and symbolism have multiple references to “Enter the Dragon” and “The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin”- martial arts movies. Four singles were released to promote the album (“Protect Ya Neck”, ”Method Man”,” C.R.E.A.M” and “Can It Be All So Simple”) Their influence helped a lot of rappers to find their style and path. The band feared that the general public would find the album sound to be inaccessible, however to their surprise “Enter The Wu-Tang” had chart success and was placed at number 41 on the “Billboard 200 list”. In its first week on sale, 30000 copies have been sold. Now, it is regarded by music critics as “one of the most significant albums of the 1990s” The next album was released in 1997. The majority of members produced solo albums that were critically acclaimed as well.

Will the never-ending story ever end?

The band has not split up but is still facing many internal problems. In 2013, RZA attends an interview with Grantland where he called out Raekwon for a lack of effort saying “He [Raekwon] hasn’t shown up at all”. The same week as the interview was published, the group’s official Twitter account blamed Raekwon for the delay of their new album “A better tomorrow” As time passes, a feud between Raekwon and RZA continues. In April 2014, Robert claimed he hadn’t talked to him about his absence in the production of the newest album. As a result of the argument, Raekwon did not appear nor was he given credit for the project. But answering the question- no, the story will never end. The legacy they hold is too powerful to ever disappear. Many young artists are inspired by them and the impact they had and still have on the music industry will never fade. They are a family- and the fact they haven’t split up despise all the arguments just proves their bond is really strong.

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu-Tang_Clan

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_Wu-Tang_(36_Chambers)

https://www.factmag.com/2013/11/09/20-years-of-shaolin-shadowboxing-the-myths-and-legends-of-the-wu-tang-clan-examined/ https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2022/02/wu-tang-american-saga-fact-or-fiction/

Events shown is Hulu original tv series: “Wu-tang: An American Saga”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GZA

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190426-how-wu-tang-clan-revolutionised-hip-hop-forever

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu-Tang:_An_American_Saga

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostface_Killah

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raekwon

https://www.vulture.com/2014/04/comprehensive-history-of-wu-tang-clans-beefs.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspectah_Deck https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol%27_Dirty_Bastard Cover photo:

Photograph: Bob Berg/Getty Images