Wu Tang Clan Yeah Baby I Like It Raw

"Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu-Tang sword style."

The iconic line is ubiquitous with 1983 revenge kung-fu film Shaolin and Wu-Tang and the opener of Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 genre-shifting rap anthology Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). While late-'80s East Coast rap was brimming with Afrocentrism through the Native Tongues commonage and the quintessential B-boy flair of Run-DMC, Wu-Tang Clan rose from the ether as a minatory, philosophical force hailing from Staten Island. Although 36 Chambers was just a decade autonomously from Shaolin and Wu-Tang, the cross-cultural impact of Wu-Tang Clan resounded through martial arts flick samplings and homage to the Five Percenter teachings that ran rampant on New York hip-hop and mainstream airwaves alike.

Before Wu-Tang'south ascension, they were All In Together Now (doubling equally Force of the Imperial Master), a trio of budding rap icons including superproducer polymath Prince Rakeem ("The Scientist"), audacious, drunken rapper Ason Unique ("The Specialist") and ornate emcee The Genius. The three were cousins, led by Rakeem subsequently his 1991 EP Ooh I Love You Rakeem hit a flatline on Tommy Male child Records, while The Genius was scrapped from Common cold Chillin' Records when the label failed to promote his beau 1991 debut album Words from the Genius. On one manus, both artists were simultaneously dropped from their respective labels, but on the other, a fire was ignited. Feeling deceived as label executives opted for clean-cut and white rappers — Tommy Boy Records turned their attending from Prince Rakeem to West Coast enclave Business firm of Pain — Rakeem and The Genius assembled, convincing Unique to go on lath.

In 1992, with a smashing heart for vintage grindhouse kung-fu films, Eastern philosophy, chess, Five Percenter ideologies and Supreme Mathematics, Rakeem, Unique and The Genius soldiered the streets of Shaolin for new emcee recruits. As the mastermind of Wu-Tang, Prince Rakeem instinctively selected five additional members that would become uncontested marksmen in hip-hop. With their power-in-numbers strategy, a new legion of emcees surfaced from the arsenal of Staten Island: Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Raekwon the Chef and U-God (Masta Killa, the group's ninth member, joined last). Remerging with new monikers, the lyrical and production technique remained as Rakeem became RZA, The Genius morphed into GZA and Unique emanated as Ol' Muddy Bastard.

In an Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) 25th anniversary tribute for DJBooth published in 2018, journalist Matt Wilhite describes the group's transformation precisely:

"The group was comprised of a potential star in Method Human being, defended marksmen in Inspectah Deck and GZA, an unhinged tour de force in Ol' Dirty Bounder, mafioso stylists in Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, a rap newcomer in Masta Killa, and an MC in legal troubles with U-God. RZA wanted to merge the skill and power that each of these MCs possessed and turn the frenzied fashion that they had created together into something trained and masterful. A swarm moving in unison, but each bee with its own particular stinger."

The "Killa Beez" that fraternized became Wu-Tang Clan, a salute to aboriginal East Asian fighting styles and religion, merely doubled as various acronyms such every bit "Wise Universal Truth Allah Now God," "Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game" and "We Unremarkably Take All Niggas' Garments." Their approach was tactical and gritty, retelling the grimness of their Staten Isle upbringing while energetically paralleling their genesis to say-so of Far E civilization. The fine art of rapping within Wu-Tang Clan was a seamless hybrid of nods to sword fighting, dark introspection and bloodied neighborhood rivalries. During Wu-Tang Clan'southward first appearance on '80s to mid-'90s rap-devoted video countdown series Yo! MTV Raps, RZA hungrily explained the meditative prophecy backside the group:

"We're living a revolution. You lot sentry those old martial arts movies or whatever, it's always one child or five against a hundred — that's how information technology is with us," he said. "Nosotros're the viii brothers who rode in thick and we're fighting the whole world, human being. We're at war, and with 'war' backwards, we're giving information technology to you raw, uncut, no lies told."

Taking shelter in The Firehouse, a quaint 2-story building in Brooklyn, Wu-Tang Clan kept it raw past surviving on an insatiable nutrition of chicken wings, blunts and Olde English language 800s while in the recording process of 36 Chambers. With holes and exposed wires peeling from the walls, the spot was admittedly hazardous and repulsed studio visitors, merely it was the origin of Wu-Tang Association's breakout hit "Protect Ya Neck," which featured an early on take of "Tearz" on the B-side. Recorded nether the guidance of Firehouse engineer Yoram Vazan, the ferocious underground impact of "Protect Ya Neck" led to Wu-Tang Association's eventual signing, only at the time, the group scourged for coin to pay the recording debt. Costing a meager $300, Wu-Tang Clan paid the fee in both dollars and loose quarters as RZA promised Vazan that the group would render to The Firehouse to work on future albums. Despite the intensity of sessions and having to cram multiple rappers in the recording booth behind a single mic, in a 2013 interview with Scarlet Bull Music Academy, Vazan assures that Wu-Tang Clan treated The Firehouse as a sacred space: "They had a lot of respect for the place — information technology was similar a shrine, not just a studio."

In truthful guerilla manner, the New York radio bear on of "Protect Ya Cervix" transformed the Wu-Tang Clan from underappreciated to a hot article. Releasing "Protect Ya Neck" on Wu-Tang Records, the group shortly signed an unprecedented deal with Loud Records, a New York-based boutique hardcore rap label founded by music moguls Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson. Vowing to eschew mainstream expectations, Wu-Tang Clan signed to Loud as a grouping, but allowed each rapper to take the helm of their solo careers, especially Method Human being, the charmer of the group, who outsourced to Def Jam.

Despite their solo ambitions, Wu-Tang Clan remained a ring of brothers with tunnel vision to make it out of Staten Isle through offbeat skits and lyrical stamina. The thematic construction of 36 Chambers was an abstract retelling of life in Shaolin, a format that would exist emulated past other eventual classic New York rap albums of the '90s. On Illmatic, the 1994 debut album past raspy then-teenager Nas, the album's mise-en-scène was the New York City subway, always returning him domicile to the oft-menacing projects of Queensbridge. On Black on Both Sides, the 1999 final-golden-age debut album past Mos Def (pre-Yasiin Bey), the record concentrated on the nuanced portrait of life in Brooklyn, whether it meant existence jacked in apparently sight or venturing into hip-hop distinction.

As the impetus of hardcore rap, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was a succinct orchestration of mayhem and ruthless lyricism that introduced a new dawn of hip-hop luminescence. Over the sound of repetitive snapping and combative slamming, head honcho RZA is the introductory phonation of the album on "Bring Da Ruckus." Challenging all foes, the song is a nexus between Wu-Tang Association and martial arts civilization, aggressively daring hip-hop rivals to compete.

On 2nd runway "Shame on a Nigga," ODB, Raekwon and Method Man have a verbal sparring friction match among zany, manic product. Meticulously sampling the bassline and horns of 1968's "Different Strokes" by '60s soul artist Syl Johnson and smooth keys from 1956'south "Black and Tan Fantasy" by Thelonious Monk, RZA was the conductor of the album, and the entirety of Wu-Tang Clan fulfilled their vision of blasting into hip-hop elite.

"Wu-Tang Association revolutionized '90s rap based on their volatile origins and street wisdom. On 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),' the once-overlooked posse emerged straight from the undercover."

Just as they regarded The Firehouse with high esteem, Wu-Tang Association sought a temple of their own, one that would reflect the biblical proportions of 36 Chambers. Coming together Wu-Tang Association at a Jack the Rapper convention in Atlanta, photographer Danny Hastings was booked to capture the coiffure for the 36 Chambers anthology artwork equally the group finalized recording. RZA envisioned a monastery for the photoshoot to demonstrate Wu-Tang Clan's religious-like precision, and Hastings closely followed his cue, locating the formerly abandoned synagogue Affections Orensanz Foundation on New York'southward Lower East Side. Visibly destroyed, the location was fitting for the album's unapologetic nature and grindhouse intensity. With a few of the Wu-Tang Clan missing, the remaining members resorted to covering their faces with stocking masks, creating a ghostly effect and innately symbolizing the grouping's cluttered equilibrium.

Attesting to their forthcoming rap takeover on "Clan in da Forepart," RZA and GZA called upon predestined Wu-Tang Killa Beez far and wide. Over a haunting pianoforte loop, ODB sounds nearly possessed every bit he drops merciless science on "Wu Tang: 7th Chamber." RZA's scratch breakbeat is the inimitable framework of the rails, concretely maneuvering through rhymes nearly being rap assassins, brutal wartime flashbacks and using the pencil as lyrical weaponry.

The amped free energy of 36 Chambers winds down on "Tin It Exist All Then Unproblematic / Intermission," where Raekwon and Ghostface Killah introspectively reminisce on their gun-toting upbringing, avoiding drug habit and being determined to score big in music. Melding throughout the album are skits that blend stream-of-consciousness barrack, the dozens composite with unsettling jokes well-nigh torture and copious sword-swinging. The kung-fu saga continues on "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'," where Shaolin and Wu-Tang makes a sampled render aslope cult 1978 Hong Kong pic V Deadly Venoms. Avid chess players, Wu-Tang Association connects chess and sword-fighting on the bizarre track, verbally piercing their opponents while strategically pivoting multiple moves ahead.

With bone-chilling snaps, RZA pays homage to the breakbeat snare of '80s New York rap on "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit." The swirling "tiger mode" sample from 1977 duel martial arts film Executioners From Shaolin is infectious, every bit Wu-Tang Clan declares global domination over a slowed-downwardly sample of the theme song from '60s cartoon series Underdog. The latter half of 36 Chambers arguably belongs to "C.R.E.A.M.," coining ane of the most iconic hooks in rap history and becoming the group's first mainstream hit. The song went through several revisions after 1991 until it was perfected before the anthology's release, but the concluding version was at bona fide smash. Laced with chopped groundwork vocals and a fragile piano riff from 1967's "Equally Long Every bit I've Got You" by 1960s harmony girl group The Charmels, on "C.R.E.A.M" (or "Cash Rules Everything Effectually Me"), the group contemplates get-rich-quick schemes and capitalistic inequity.

One of two solo tracks on 36 Chambers (GZA was unaccompanied on "Clan in da Front end"), the uncivilized, bear witness-stealing "Method Man" was dubbed afterwards the commercial standout of Wu-Tang Clan. Scrambled posse cut "Protect Ya Neck" had random animated sound effects strewn across the group's buckness while the plucked keys on "Tearz" cultivates solemness personified. Taking a mantle telephone call, the album'south finale "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Office II / Determination" revisits the fourth track remixed with an industrial vanquish.

Equally Wu-Tang Clan became a global awareness, the success of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was a slow burn, but somewhen certified Platinum in 1995. The forefathers of current-day venomous rappers and crews like Denzel Back-scratch, Pro Era and A$AP Mob, Wu-Tang Clan revolutionized '90s rap based on their volatile origins and street wisdom. On Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the once-disregarded posse emerged directly from the hugger-mugger.

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Jaelani Turner-Williams

Jaelani Turner-Williams is a culture writer from Columbus, Ohio. With a focus on music criticism, literature, visual fine art and social issues, Jaelani has written for Billboard, MTV News, Remezcla and others. Vince Staples one time told her she was mean.

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Source: https://www.vinylmeplease.com/blogs/magazine/wu-tang-clan-liner-notes

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