Watch RZA, Snoop Dogg, and Common in “Simpsons” Hip-Hop Episode Trailer

“The Great Phatsby” airs January 15

Dear Wu-Tang, Please Come Save Hip-Hop Again!

Doggie Diamonds No Filter Podcast (Links Below)

Soundcloud -- https://soundcloud.com/doggiediamonds...

iTunes -- http://tinyurl.com/nofilteritunes

DONATE HERE! http://tinyurl.com/DDTVDonations

http://doggiediamondstv.com

Guess Wu Is a Custom Version of Guess Who Featuring the Wu-Tang Clan

Isn’t it about time for other classic board games to get an upgrade? Vice’s music site Noisey site decided it was, and so turned a copy of Guess Who into Guess Wu featuring 25 members of the Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop group.

 Illustrated by Dan Evans, the custom version of the game is played the same as the original, with players asking questions like, “is your rapper wearing a baseball cap?,” or, “did your rapper appear on GZA’s 1999 album Beneath the Surface?” Depending on how your opponent answers your inquiries, you can slowly eliminate members until you figure out the rapper they’ve chosen.

The only real difference between the original and upgraded version is that in Guess Wu whoever can rap all of C.R.E.A.M. gets to go first—so it’s an important skill that’s strategic both in this game and in real life. [Noisey via ToyNews]

[via Toyland]

GZA Speaks: The Lost Art of Lyricism

Music is forever changing. Hip-hop is not going to be what it was 15 or 20 years ago. Everything changes. There are different sounds, different dances. But at the end of the day, to me it’s all about the lyrics.

Hip-hop started with street poets with great lyrical skills, and that’s what hip-hop has always been about for me. If you hear people talking about the Golden Era of rap they’re usually talking about the early-Wu Tang Clan era. And then Nas and Biggie and so on. But for me it goes back to the 80s — 1986 to 1989.

Click here to read more over on Medium

The Beatles vs Hip-Hop Legends - An Adventure To Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space

48 track double album available to download for free now on monkeyboxing.com

Very little is known about the origins of the album and the details of who did what are a little fuzzy.
The double album is available as MP3, FLAC & M4A and you get 2x stunning PDFs.
You can even grab the instrumentals which features a few extras

Listen on Soundcloud
Download from Monkey Boxing

Tracklist:

Part 1

1. Intro
2. Hello Hello – Edan
3. Mr Mustard – Big Daddy Kane
4. Second To None – Rakim
5. Taxman – The Notorius B.I.G.  
6. Gentle Thief – Nas
7. Where I’m From – Large Professor
8. Country Grammar – Talib Kweli & Bun B
9. Parlay – J-Live
10. Twist - Salt-N-Pepper
11. Birthday Dedication – Busta Rhymes
12. Open Mic Session pt. 1 – Masta Ace, Percee P, Lord Finesse, Frankie Cutlass, Easy Mo Bee & KRS-One
13. Number Nine – YZ
14. Self Titled - Heltah Skeltah
15. Bang Bang - MOP
16. Pepper – Kool G Rap
17. Bring Your Friends – Public Enemy
18. Interlude / Bridge – MC Shan
19. Last Forever – Artifacts
20. For The Children – Freddie Foxxx
21. Ringo’s Big Beat Theme – Spoonie Gee
22. Hold Poppa’s Large Hand – Ultramagnetic MC’s
23. Open Mic Session pt. 2 – Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane & Rakim
24. The End - Run DMC & Afrika Bambaataa
25. Circles - Wu-Tang Clan
26. Brooklyn Walrus – Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Buckshot , Masta Ace & Special Ed

Part 2

1. Intro
2. Secrets – Slick Rick
3. Beneath The Diamond Sky – GZA
4. Within Tomorrow – Busta Rhymes
5. The Beginning - Sunz Of Man  
6. Gentle Drama - RZA & Rugged Monk
7. Becausizm - KRS-One & Channel Live
8. Mary Jane – Tha Alkaholiks
9. Bong Water – Viktor Vaughn
10. Hold On
11. Love In Summertime – Ghostface Killah & Beyonce
12. And I Lover Her Crazy – Jay-Z & Beyonce
13. Ruffneck Soldier – MC Lyte
14. Hey! – Beastie Boys
15. Get Back To The City – Large Professor
16. Hard To Leave Home - Nas
17. The Flyest – AZ
18. And Who? - Heiroglyphics
19. Lonely Thoughts – The Notorious B.I.G.
20. Can You Dig It? - Gravediggaz
21. How To Smile – Tupac & Scarface
22. A Day In New York – AZ, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah

 

Raekwon Defends Iggy Azalea, Calls Hip-Hop a Uniter & Discusses Rap Authenticity

Peter Bailey's critically-acclaimed series continues with Raekwon in North Miami where the Wu-Tang legend celebrated his birthday and discussed the controversy surrounding Iggy Azalea, hip-hop's role in breaking down barriers and Wu-Tang's legacy.

Members Respond To Drake's "Wu-Tang Forever"

Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon also says he plans on recording a guest verse for "Wu-Tang Forever's" remix. Read more over on Hip-Hop DX.

Get More: Music News

Inspectah Deck Denounces Drake's "Wu-Tang Forever," Denies Remix Involvement

Read more about Inspectah Deck here on Hip-Hop DX. 

Raekwon - Lost Jewlry EP [Free Download]

Wu Tang Clan veteran emcee Raekwon drops off his new Lost Jewlry EP. The project has features from Maino, Freddie Gibbs Altrina Renee and Faith Evans

Download Here or Here

Ghostface Killah Discusses Delivering Music With A Message

Ghostface Killah recently sat down to discuss his legendary career and explained that he’s always been interesting in delivering music with a message. The Wu-Tang Clan rapper took a look at how he’s influenced the world, and expressed his view of new hip hop which he says is predominantly filled with lyrics about living the high life.
Ghostface explained that Islam allowed him and the Wu-Tang Clan to deliver music with a message. “We all studied Islam. It just helped us more to get the awareness to the people; the message that we’re trying to drive. We came up with a message and also thugged out at the same time. We were just regular brothers that were on the block that were fly. We were building. Building is talking, trying to teach somebody. Give somebody some knowledge. And we’d do that all day while we were on the block smoking and drinking,” Ghostface told Bad-Perm.com.
Ghostface also took a look at his own influence on the world at large and cited a number of trends that were started as a result of his music. “At the end of the day, people know who it is and stuff like that. I got so many people that follow me — I did ‘Might Healthy,’ they came out with a store called Mighty Healthy. I did ‘Supreme,’ they came up with a store called Supreme. ‘Fishscales,’ they had a clothing line called Fishscales. People tend to just follow a lot of things. I set a lot of trends. My robes to the Wallabees. I don’t think people do it out of disrespect. They’re just fans,” said Ghostface.

According to Ghostface, the substance in hip hop has changed over the years and he says the focus has shifted from content to glamor. “A lot of ones [rappers] today just really talk about the club and their jeweler and cars. I really don’t know, because I don’t hear Slick Rick no more. Nas has slowed down for a minute, because he was one of my best. Even The Genius was one of my best. I don’t really, really hear too much like that,” said Ghostface.

MTV2' 'Hip-Hop Squares' To Star Amber Rose, Method Man, Fat Joe & More!

MTV2 has announced that their new Hip-Hop Squares show will feature the likes of Amber Rose, Wu Tang, Fat Joe and more.

The new MTV series reboots the classic 'Hollywood Squares' game show for the YouTube generation. On 'Hip-Hop Squares,' the nine squares of the tick-tack-toe board are filled with a rotating cast of rappers, D.J.’s, comedians and sports and television personalities, and they field questions about music, history, pop culture and the Kardashians.

As on the original series, contestants must agree or disagree with the stars’ answers to score an X or an O, and the stars, who are given the answers beforehand, do their best to entertain or confuse with shtick and attitude.

It's exactly what it sounds like: rappers, comedians, DJs, and assumedly the Twitter-famous answering trivia questions about pop culture.

Among those tapped for the first season, are Community star Donald Glover, neé Childish Gambino, Machine Gun Kelly, Fat Joe, Method Man, DJ Khaled, Amber Rose and Wu Tang alum Ghostface.
Paul Ricci, the senior vice president for programming and production at MTV2, explained how casting for that unpredictability was key.

“There’s so many charismatic personalities” in hip-hop, Mr. Ricci said. Among the first to sign on was Ghostface Killah, the Wu Tang Clan member, rap eminence and conoisseur of 80's TV.
“I knew it was going to be big,” Ghostface said of the show, sitting on a green-room couch after a taping. “MTV do what they do to the third power, you know what I mean? They do it big.”

Hip-Hop Squares will be premiering on May 22.

LeBron James Uses Wu-Tang, Jay-Z & DMX To Beat The Mavericks

When the Miami Heat played the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night, LeBron James wasn't just revisiting the single biggest failure of his career, he was playing hurt (dislocated finger) in a game the Heat badly need to break out of a sluggish stretch (8-6) the past few weeks. He needed some extra motivation, and ... Well, there are times when it's easy to hate LeBron James, and then are there are times when he makes it really difficult.

MIAMI -- About 90 minutes before Thursday's home game against the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron James walked over to the stereo system in the Miami Heat's locker room, inserted his music device and pumped up the volume loud enough to send vibrations through a nearby dry-erase board.

There was Wu-Tang Clan's "Bring The Pain."

Then came Jay-Z's "Reservoir Dogs."

By the time a compilation of DMX's greatest hits blasted through the speakers, James had pounded and paced himself into a sweat-lathered, rhythmic routine that more resembled a boxer preparing for a big fight than a basketball player anxiously hoping to lead his team onto the court and out of a slump.

Love LeBron or hate him, that is AWESOME. Just a few stray thoughts here.

1. "Bring The Pain" is a Method Man solo from the Wu era, but the name's a little misleading. As far as reckless, anti-social rap that'll scare the shit out of everyone, "Bring The Pain" isn't even in the top 50. If I was going for Wu-Tang pregame music, I'd go with "Criminology" because the beat is outrageous, and it includes Ghostface Killah telling us that he's "throwin' n****s off airplanes because cash rules." REAL TALK, SON.

2. When you think of Jay-Z, you think of the post-Blueprint, culturally transcendent Jay. Watch The Throne, own the Nets, join the Illuminati, etc. Marry Beyonce, have a baby. Whatever. This is the Jay-Z that LeBron looks up to, and that's cool. But "Reservoir Dogs" is whole other story.

3. Put it this way: Jay-Z is a frequent guest at the White House these days. Beanie Siegel, Sauce Money, and The Lox ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

From Michael Wallace at ESPN:

XXL Names The World's Top 10 Rap Books Which Includes The Wu-Tang Manual.

These days, when rappers pull out a pen and a pad, or even get on the computer or their smart phones, it’s not certain they do with the intent of writing a rhyme. More and more MCs are using their creative talents to turn a gift for words into literary works, instead of recorded tracks. Over the years, rhyme slingers from Prodigy to C-Murder to 50 Cent to Jay-Z and The RZA have released their own tomes, ranging from memoirs to novels to guides behind their rhymes. Traditionally, only journalists, scholars and outsiders took aim at putting hip-hop in book form, but as the culture has expanded, more artists have cranked out material for the page, becoming players in the literary world. Most recently, Common, T.I. and Odd Future have released projects, with Nas’s coming down the pike. XXL recaps the 10 best rapper-penned books of all time. Bookmark this.

THE WU-TANG MANUAL
Authors: The RZA and Chris Norris
Release Date: January 4, 2005
First Line of Chapter 1: “And The Rza, he the sharpest motherfucker in the whole clan, he on point.”

Wu-Tang Clan’s Abbot, The RZA, offered rap scholars a comprehensive introduction to his group’s world with his first book, The Wu-Tang Manual (Penguin Group). The curriculum is broken up into four “Books,” each having nine sections, or “Chambers.” Book One familiarizes the reader with all of the Wu members, Book Two explains in detail the Clan’s varying influences (martial arts,
Five Percenter ideology, mafia culture, comic books, chess, etc.), Book Three breaks down several of the group’s biggest songs, and Book Four ventures into the signature musicality of the WTC.

The guide was devoured by fans, with many followers bringing it to shows for Bobby Digital to sign in person. “The book was able to catch people from different walks,” The RZA says. “Some people respected the Christian part of the book; some people were able to relate to getting knowledge of self.”

Manual was such a success that The RZA penned a follow-up, The Tao of Wu (2009), that focused more on his own spirituality. And he’s currently working on a third book, outlining the 36 principles that help steer his life.—by Adam Fleischer, Jesse Gissen, Mark Lelinwalla and Jayson Rodriguez
Image by Socrates Gomez

Others include

I MAKE MY OWN RULES
Authors: LL Cool J and Karen Hunter
Release Date: September 15, 1998
First Line of Chapter 1:
“It took four hours of labor, sweating and pacing.”

REVELATIONS: THERE’S A LIGHT AFTER THE LIME
Authors: Ma$e and Karen Hunter
Release Date: September 16, 2003
First Line of Chapter 1:
“Elder Gus, one of the preachers at the Salvation Deliverance Church on 116th Street in Harlem, was leading the altar call on this particular Sunday.”

E.A.R.L.: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DMX
Authors: DMX and Smokey D. Fontaine
Release Date: October 21, 2003
First Line of Chapter 1: “My name is Earl Simmons.”

**FOR MORE OF THIS STORY, PICK UP THE NOVEMBER 2011 ISSUE OF XXL, ON STANDS NOW**

Source

Wu Music Artist Gab Gotcha Feat Solo - Mama If

This is a song by Wu Music Group Artist Gab Gotcha Feat. Solo dedicated to the memory of his late mother Nohemy Velasquez. This song was written and recorded before her passing but was unfortunately never heard by her.

Mama If - Gab Gotcha Feat Solo

Wu-Tang Vs. Gil Scott Heron - The Gil-Scott Suite

Shaolin Jazz – a collaborative project by Gerald Watson and DJ 2-Tone, just released The Gil Scott Suite; a tribute to the late Gil Scott-Heron. The EP contains 3 tracks that feature samples from his work blended with select Wu-Tang acapellas. The musical product is conceptually based on the design project “Wu-Note” by Logan Walters, where he re-imaged some classic Wu-Tang album covers in the style of old-school Blue Note albums.

Shaolin Jazz took Gil Scott Heron’s instrumentals and Wu-Tang Clan’s accapellas and as a result you have The Gil Scott Suite EP. Download it here.