Wu-Tang Clan

The Wu-Tang Clan is a pioneering hardcore hip hop group, originally from Staten Island, New York, USA (Staten Island is referred to as "Shaolin" in their lyrics).

Solo Careers

RZA was the first to follow up on the success of 36 Chambers with a side project, founding the Gravediggaz with Prince Paul (a producer most famous for De La Soul), Frukwan (of Stetsasonic) and Poetic (of the Brothers Grimm). The Gravediggaz released 6 Feet Deep in August 1994, which became the most famous work to emerge from hip hop's small sub-genre of horrorcore.

Related Topics:
Gravediggaz - Prince Paul - Producer - De La Soul - Frukwan - Stetsasonic - Poetic - Brothers Grimm - 6 Feet Deep - 1994 - Horrorcore

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It had always been planned for Method Man to be the first breakout star from the group's lineup, with the b-side of the first single being his now-classic eponymous solo track. In November 1994 his solo album Tical was released. It was entirely produced by the RZA, who for the most part continued with the grimy, raw textures he explored on 36 Chambers. RZA's hands-on approach to Tical extended beyond his merely creating the beats to devising song concepts and structure. This approach would continue throughout the first round of solo projects from the Clan members, producing successful results. Ol' Dirty Bastard found success soon after with ', which saw the 36 Chambers sound become even rawer and rough-edged.

Related Topics:
Method Man - B-side - Tical

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Late 1995 saw the release of the group's two most significant and well-received solo projects. Raekwon the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was a diverse, theatrical criminological epic that saw RZA move away from the raw, stripped-down beats of the early albums and towards a richer, cinematic sound more reliant on strings and classic soul samples. It also featured Queensbridge MC Nas on the song "Verbal Intercourse", the first non-Wu-Tang artist to appear on a Wu-Tang album. GZA's Liquid Swords had a similar focus on inner-city criminology to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, yet it was far darker, both in GZA's grim lyrics and in the ominous, foreboding production that saw RZA more reliant on keyboards than ever before. The two 1995 solo albums remain widely regarded as two of the finest hip hop albums of the nineties.

Related Topics:
1995 - Raekwon the Chef - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx - Criminological - Epic - Strings - Soul - Samples - Queensbridge - Nas - Liquid Swords - Keyboards

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Ghostface Killah released his own debut, Ironman, in 1996. It struck a balance between the sinister keyboard-laden textures of Liquid Swords and the sentimental soul samples of Cuban Linx, while Ghostface himself explored new territory as a lyricist. It was critically acclaimed and is still widely considered one of the best Wu-Tang solo albums. Although the 1994-1996 albums were released as solo albums, RZA's presence behind the boards and the large number of guest appearances from other Clan members (Raekwon and Ghostface's albums only had two or three actual solo tracks each and both included tracks that only included other Clan members and not themselves) means they are usually considered as important to the group's evolution as the group albums proper.

Related Topics:
Ghostface Killah - 1996

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With solo careers established, the Wu-Tang Clan came back together to release the enormous double album Wu-Tang Forever in June 1997. It was eagerly anticipated and entered the charts at number one after selling 600,000 in its first week—no mean feat for an album that made very little attempt to have wide commercial appeal, and which had a lead single Triumph was a five minutes plus nine-MC "posse cut" with no chorus. The sound of the album mostly built upon the sounds of the previous three solo albums, with RZA increasing his use of keyboards and string samples, as well as for the first time assigning much of the album's production to his protégés True Master and 4th Disciple (known as the Wu-Elements). The group members also appeared much more ambitious lyrically than on 36 Chambers, with many verses on the album being dense stream-of-consciousness narratives, heavily influenced by the teachings of the Five Percent Nation. However, the live tour supporting the album was cancelled halfway through amid rumors of internal disputes.

Related Topics:
Double album - Wu-Tang Forever - 1997 - Chorus - Stream-of-consciousness - Five Percent Nation

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Wu-Tang Forever also marked the end of RZA's "five year plan"; at the group's inception, he promised the group members that if he had total control of the Wu-Tang empire, it would conquer the hip hop world within five years. After Forevers success, RZA ceased to oversee all aspects of Wu-Tang product as he had previously, delegating much of his existing role to associates such as Oli "Power" Grant and his brother Mitchell "Divine" Diggs. This move was designed to enable the Wu-Tang empire to expand further into the fabric of the hip hop industry, and in accordance with this an extremely large amount of Wu-Tang product (both musical and otherwise) was to be released over the next two years.

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