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. 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).Īlthough 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. 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 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). In the process, the members would all become individual stars as well as receive individual royalty checks. 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. 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. Dre’s G-funk had overtaken the Hip Hop world, the Staten Island, New York-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-’90s - and only partially because of their music.
Some hailed Wu-Tang Forever as the best double-disc hip-hop album yet released, but others regarded it as a disappointment despite its many high points, it's the first time the Wu didn't quite fulfill their ambitions.Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Wu-Tang Forever easily would have made a brilliant single CD RZA's production is more polished than the debut, thanks to a bigger budget and better equipment, and leans heavily on soundtrack-style strings to underscore the album's cinematic scope. The second disc is far too long, diluting the impact of its better songs (the terrific single "Triumph") with an excess of lackluster material. Once you get past the rambling Five Percenter introduction, the first disc is pretty tight, partly because it was kept short to leave room for enhanced CD content. In other words, the group is starting to go off in more individual directions here, making it harder to maintain an overall focus. On the other hand, you also get some of the group's most explicit sex raps yet ("Maria," "The Projects," the utterly bizarre ODB solo track "Dog Shit"). On the one hand, there's more social consciousness on Wu-Tang Forever, taking hard looks at ghetto life while finding pathos and offering encouragement and uplift ("A Better Tomorrow," "Impossible").
While the result, Wu-Tang Forever, is frequently brilliant, it's also sprawling and unfocused, losing its handle on the carefully controlled chaos of Enter the Wu-Tang. So why not give it a shot? With a main crew of nine MCs (plus new protégé Cappadonna), the Wu wouldn't have to depend heavily on guest appearances to flesh out two whole discs of material, as Biggie and 2Pac had. By the time the Wu-Tang Clan finished their first round of solo projects and reconvened for their second album as a group, the double-disc album had become the hip-hop fad of the moment.
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