Hear Unreleased Snippets From RZA & GZA Demos That Birthed The Wu-Tang Clan (Audio)

Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and GZA each had careers prior to 1993’s game-changing Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). While GZA’s February, 1991 Cold Chillin’/Warner Bros. Records release Words From The Genius garnered some hardcore interest, RZA (t/k/a Prince Rakeem) did not fare as well with his Tommy Boy Records maxi-single, Ooh, I Love You Rakeem. While the July of ’91 maxi included a “Wu-Tang” mix on Side B, the video single of a similar name did not blaze a path for Robert “Rakeem” Diggs as planned.

Appearing on episode #171 of The Cipher, Monica brought cassette tapes from 1991 and 1992. Included–and believed to be not previously digitized, these recordings feature post-Ooh, I Love You Rakeem RZA coming into form. In the podcast, Heads can hear snippets of RZA and GZA long before they had a Loud contract or advance. In fact, these are the recordings believed to be the very moments that led a nine-man collective to literally swarm on the labels, suits, and powers that be that did believe.

[via Ambrosia for Heads & The Cipher]

How the Wu-Tang Clan Rose Up Out of GZA's 'Words From the Genius' Debut

It may be hard to imagine nowadays, but in the late ’70s to late ’80s, rap was mostly seen as a fad by corporate America, if it was even noticed at all. With hip­-hop being left alone to build its own infrastructure, it seemed like anyone who was plain dope enough had a shot at making a name in this game of rap. One of the many young men dreaming of leaving his mark as a rapper wasRobert Diggs, who learned to rhyme from his cousin Gary Grice in the summer of 1980. He would go on to pass those lessons to another cousin of his by the name of Russell Jones, and the three would eventually form a group called All in Together Now. Born in 1969, Robert came of age during those formative years in the 1980s when rap did well, but when he and his cousin Gary were finally granted a turn to rock mics themselves in 1991, something in the hip-­hop landscape had dramatically shifted: Money had entered into the equation.

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