Wu-Tang Clan is celebrating the 25th-anniversary of its legendary debut next month. Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers set the stage for dozens upon dozens of releases to follow, from the nine founding members and more. Just last Friday, Ghostface Killah dropped The Lost Tapes. Method Man’s Meth Lab IIis arriving in November. U-God and Inspectah Deck dropped albums on the same day in the spring. However, hardcore Wu fans may know that defining albums from members were originally intended to sound quite different. Several floods forever affected solo members’ post-36 Chambers rollout, with hundreds of RZA tracks forever washed away.
(October 5), RZA was interviewed before a live audience during Atlanta, Georgia’s A3C Festival. Wu-Tang Clan’s Abbott spoke about his career, personal transformation, and the earliest days of his group to National Public Radio’s Rodney Carmichael. Ambrosia For Heads was in attendance for the revealing conversation featuring one of the architects of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). That monumental Loud/RCA Records LP is celebrating its 25th birthday next month, prompting a “WuTangATL” multi-day event at A3C.
A highlight in the discussion occurs with Rodney Carmichael asking RZA about a period in his life between 1990 and 1993. During this time, the Brooklyn, New York MC/producer/DJ was a struggling Rap artist with label frustrations. He was facing a felony for shooting a man while living in Steubenville, Ohio. It was during this same time that RZA was also expecting a child. Out of these circumstances the Wu-Tang was born.
On April, Ambrosia For Heads launched a tournament where Hip-Hop fans were able to vote on theirfavorite group of all time. After more than 60 match-ups across six rounds, we now have an answer. Wu-Tang Clan is decidedly the readers’ greatest Hip-Hop group of all-time.
The championship was hard-fought. The Wu brothers defeated A Tribe Called Quest 51% to 49%. It was the most narrow margin for both groups, and one of the closest face-offs in the tournament. To get the crown, Wu defeated Heltah Skeltah, M.O.P., Cypress Hill, The Roots, OutKast, and at the most critical point, A.T.C.Q. Throughout the rounds, voters on social media speculated that Wu would win. It was the most popular forecast, and it proved to be correct.
Wu’s “Finding The GOAT” victory comes during a busy week for the collective. The surviving members appeared on Friday’s (September 28) YSIV release from Logic. RZA, GZA, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa as well as Cappadonna appeared on “Wu Tang Forever.”
Congratulations to RZA, GZA, Deck, Masta Killa, U-God, Meth’, Rae’, Ghost’, Cappadonna, and the eternal essence of Ol’ Dirty Bastard on this statement victory.
Twenty-five-year-old Chicago MC Joey Purp first made waves when he dropped his sophomore mixtape iiiDrops in 2016. His buzz-worthy project balanced socially conscious, often braggy lyricism with gritty Windy City realism with a punchy delivery. The beat selection ranged from addicting dance rhythms to horn-laden production akin to an explosive early-2000s Just Blaze. And appearances by fellow Chi-town artists Chance The Rapper, Mick Jenkins, Vic Mensa, and Saba aided in Purp creating a name synonymous with Chicago. iiiDrops was the type of breakthrough success many rappers could only hope to achieve.
But Joey Purp seems to have solidified his undeniable Chicago charm with his recently-released debut LP, QUARTERTHING. Rather than only dabble with fellow Chi artists for his debut, Purp gathered some helping hands by reaching toward the east and tapping into the Wu-Tang Clan.
QUARTERTHING’s second track, “Godbody – Pt. 2,” features RZA spitting a dizzying set of boastful bars. He serves the song’s intro up before Purp demolishes the beat, rapping: “A billion data, bitcoins and microchips, Intel Pentium, silicon and biochips / Sitting on Oprah’s sofa, my drink is on a solid gold coaster / Cigars with the capio, a Rock & Roll’er, you still rock the Casio / Ace Of Spade, popped on the patio, Aston Martin, powder, Blue and Pistachio.” Purp takes the reigns as he hastily spits into the mic some verbal daggers to prove he’s worthy of some RZA support: “I don’t owe nobody nothing, everything come straight from me / Young ni**a go get your bread, only thing that’s bred in me / Some my ni**as still alive, they already dead to me.”
Perhaps the most surprising feature on QUARTERTHING comes from GZA, who delivers a Spoken Word poem as the album’s closer. The poem, titled “In the Morning,” 30 seconds of GZA delivering an acapella : “I wake to the sound of the alarm clock ringing / Squirrels leave the burrows, early birds are singing / Just coming out of a dream state / Awake, visions fade, I think new thoughts and meditate / I open the curtains and pull back the drapes / A beautiful blue sky reflecting off a lake / Eyes fixated on the amazing view / The windows to my soul I am gazing through / The sun has risen in the east.”
QUARTERTHING is a stellar release in the ’18 landscape, just as iiiDrops was two years prior. This year, we’ve already seen Purp’s Chicago rap contemporary Saba release his solid 2018 effort, CARE FOR ME(included in Ambrosia For Heads‘ mid-year list), while this past weekend saw Noname release her album, Room 25. Joey Purp joins them with his explosive record, shouting from the city’s rooftops: And you say Chi city…
Wu-Tang Clan’s Abbott has been a longtime film director. The RZA’s past credits include 2012’s The Man With The Iron Fists, and last year’s Love Beats Rhymes. This past weekend, the accomplished producer, MC, and entertainment mogul premiered the trailer to his third film, Cut Throat City. RZA screened the work at San Diego, California’s Comic-Con. Now that trailer is released to the public.
Cut Throat City, written by P.G. Cuscheri, follows four friends returning to New Orleans, Louisiana’s Lower 9th Ward, following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. With few ways to earn a living, the friends team up to plot a casino heist.
Prince Paul was a founding member of The Gravediggaz. At a time when he was still very active in producing De La Soul records, the Long Island, New Yorker assembled a quartet with Stetsasonic band-mate Frukwan (aka “The Gatekeeper”), as well as onetime Tommy Boy Records label-mate Poetic (aka “The Grym Reaper”) and Wu-Tang Clan’s Abbott, The RZA (aka “The RZArector”). Paul assumed the alias “The Undataker” and would eventually help the horrorcore act land a deal with Gee Street Records and find success.
Members of The Gravediggaz have been off and on for more than 20 years. Sadly, member Poetic passed away in 2001. However, the crew is best known for its original lineup, and 1994 debut 6 Feet Deep. Although it was recorded first, the LP was released less than a year after Wu-Tang’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). It entered in the Top 40 and became a hallmark of the horror-core sub-genre. In its history the group had one song enter the charts, “Diary Of A Madman” (embedded below), with production credited to RZA, Prince Paul, and RNS. In a new interview, Prince Paul corrects history.
Wu-Tang Clan is a diverse collective. In addition to an assembly of MCs from different sections of New York City, the Wu brothers signed to different labels and reached varying levels of success. The members of the Clan also split their money differently. When it comes to touring and other revenue, there is an internal pay scale that favors some members more than others.
Meth’ spoke at length with Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast and alluded to the internal issue. Having topped the charts as a solo artist, Method Man—who released his Tical debut shortly after the crew’s game-changing debut, and has seemingly always been an elite member of the clique.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Shkreli was today (March 9) given a seven-year sentence for “defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds.” The formal charge is securities fraud and the conviction was handed down by U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. According to the report, Shkreli cried in court and told the judge “I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me. I took down Martin Shkreli.” His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, reportedly told Judge Matsumoto “that he sometimes wants to hug Shkreli and sometimes wants to punch him in the face.”
However, as the judge made clear, Shkreli’s sentencing had nothing to do with his “self-cultivated public persona … nor his controversial statements about politics or culture.” Rather, Matsumoto called his crimes serious and agreed with prosecuting attorneys that “the 34-year-old was a master manipulator who conned wealthy investors.”
Much respect to acclaimed journalist, Toure. He launched a new podcast this month called the Toure Show through Cadence 13. On the show, Toure talk to successful to see what jewels are dropped for us to snag along our own journey to the next checkpoint. Wu-Tang’s RZA was the guest this week.
The wide ranging discussion tackles how he became the leader of the Clan, his relationship with Quentin Tarantino, chessmaster Bobby Fischer, the time he went on trial for attempted murder charges. It gets deep. In one of the episode’s most visceral moments RZA reflects on the passing of Ol Dirty Bastard and explains why he believes he could’ve done more to prevent his untimely death.
In 2016, Ghostface Killah released video single “Worldwide” with French DJ/producer Wax Tailor. Always prolific, Tony Starks made a song about acquiring stamps in his passport as he kicks science and rugged raps while trotting the globe.
Some a la carte singles come and go for any artist, but “Worldwide” has been given second life by way of an official remix. Veteran MC, producer, drummer, DJ, and author J-Zone was commissioned to rework the song with his band, The Du-Rites. The duo is comprised of the Queens, New Yorker on the drum kit and keys/organ with Pablo Martin on guitar and bass. Playing double-duty each, they create a sound that’s greatly informed by so many of the ’60s and ’70s 7″ Soul, R&B, and Funk records that Zone has long collected and curated.
For Ghost’, who is influenced greatly by the precise break-beat concoctions of Ced Gee, The 45 King, and Paul C., this is a great re-working. The band does not just create a groove. Their music hugs the vocal track and create movements within that give Ghost’ (and Wax Tailor’s creation) the perfect second-go-round the globe.
Earlier this month, Wu-Tang Clan released The Saga Continues. Charting at #15, the album is produced entirely by DJ Mathematics—creator of the Wu logo, and longtime touring mix-master for Method Man as well as Meth & Redman. Originally, in 2016, RZA—who executive produced the project and raps—stated that the next Wu release’s production was in the hands of Ghostface Killah. “He’s been the most prolific—the one that’s really got [his] feet on the ground in music,” RZA told Sway In The Morning less than one year ago. It is unclear what happened between then and now, other than the beats Mathematics made (using some of the same equipment RZA favored in the ’90s) impressed the gods. On Saga…, Ghostface appears on four cuts. He joined RZA and Cappadonna for a recent televised collabo performance with The Roots. However, his history with Queens’ Allah Mathematics runs deep—and alludes to some 30-year-old Wu-Tang history.
Wu-Tang season is in the air. And there’s a lot going on with the Clan. Wu’s mystery project, Wu, once upon a time in Shaolin is allegedly back on the market. Super villain Martin Shkreli said he planned to sell the work of art for $1 million, about reportedly half of what he paid for it. Shkreli was convicted of fraud in April. Now there’s another Wu project on the way. Wu-Tang the Saga Continues. This one’s produced by Clan member Mathematics, and judging by the first two releases, Lesson Learn’d and People Say, it sounds like quintessential Wu. Then we break down what happens when you keep cutting music funding in public schools.
Two of New York’s finest MCs, Nas and Ghostface Killah, have a great history of bringing out the best in each other when they’re on the same track. Both possess intricate storytelling ability, effortless wordplay, and immense street credibility. They’ve only rhymed together but a few occasions. However, the synergy is undeniable.
Their collaborations date back to the early album-making days in their respective, careers. The Queensbridge icon and Wu-Tang Clan legend will be performing as headliners at the 2017 A3C Festival in Atlanta next month. Ahead of the October 8-9 affair, Ambrosia For Heads explores the songs that these two pillars in Hip-Hop’s pantheon have come together to produce.
Mobb Deep featuring Nas, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah – “Eye For An Eye”
Later this month, Wu-Tang Clan member Masta Killa will release his fourth album, Loyalty Is Royalty. The Brooklyn, New York veteran remains a Nature Sounds artist, the label with whom he released his acclaimed solo debut, 2004’s No Said Date.
Flipping an archived Ghostface Killah verse and an obscure Rza beat, Halley Hiatt does everything she can to "Make It Right" for this bootleg from her mixtape "Heartbeats" - coming soon
Masta Killa made a last minute debut on a Rap classic: Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).What Heads may not realize is that was the Brooklyn, New York MC’s first rhyme and his first time in the studio. Having described himself as the “little brother” within the Clan, Jamel Irief is in fact, an O.G. He was a B-Boy since the 1980s when he grew up within an earshot of Big Daddy Kane, and experienced lunchroom battles at Jesse Owens High School P.S. 26 in BK. In the years since, he released a standout album in 2004’s No Said Date, rhymed on multiple Wu singles, and put in work with Public Enemy, Afu-Ra, and R.A. The Rugged Man. Long before he was a PETA-endorsed vegan, teenaged Killa was flipping Big Macs and Egg McMuffins at McD’s, alongside Jeru The Damaja. There is so much more to a story that was Made In Brooklyn.
In 2002, during an era where mainstream Hip-Hop appeared heavily saturated with gangsterism and hustler narratives, a preppy, middle-class, pink Polo shirt-rockin’ producer from the Chicago suburbs shocked the Rap game by signing to Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records at its pinnacle. While renowned for his distinctive, soulful production, Kanye West had a notoriously hard time being taken seriously as a rapper. Even his future “Big Brother” and longtime collaborator Jay was hesitant to give the artist his big break, worried that ‘Ye wouldn’t fit into the Roc’s roster. “We all grew up street guys who had to do whatever we had to do to get by,” Jay told Time in 2005. “Then there’s Kanye [West], who to my knowledge has never hustled a day in his life. I didn’t see how it could work.”
When Wu-Tang Clan emerged with their debut album Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers in 1993, it warned the Rap world to protect its neck from the collective’s chokehold. ONYX did the same when they “slammed” anything and anyone in their way.
Five years later, in 1998, Wu-Tang and ONYX reached new plateaus success, establishing them as two of the most unpredictable crews in Hip-Hop. Each group’s aesthetic of graveyard grit lyricism, personal tales of their crime-filled neighborhoods, WWE levels of in-your-face intensity, and Timberland boot-stomping beats gave them endless amounts of street credibility.
So when the Killa Bees of Staten Island and the bald headed Queens crew joined forces for their long-awaited 1998 collaboration, it was aptly titled “The Worst” because that’s exactly what they had ambitiously set to inflict on their foes.
In 2002, GZA was fast at work on his fourth solo album (the third since the ’93 sonic-boom of the Wu-Tang Clan). At the time, 1995’s Liquid Swords was well on its way to eventual platinum status, while 1999’s Beneath The Surface was his second consecutive Top 10 release, grabbing gold. The Genius’ label, MCA/Geffen Records was restructuring, and the lyrical shogun within the Clan followed Nas, as he did with Stillmatic, as one of the artists willing to re-visit his classic catalog in moving forward. The Legend Of The Liquid Sword is not a definitive sequel album per se. But in the minds of faithful Clan fans, it made a big wager, simply by using the hallowed name.
RZA, who put down some of his finest drum programming and filthiest sampling back in ’95, would contribute just “Rough Cut.” In his place, Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs (who eventually collaborated with GZA at an album level), Roc-A-Fella’s Bink!, and Jay Z mentor Jaz-O stepped in. The Genius even slid behind the boards for a cut too.
