Emerging in 1993,
when Dr. Dre's G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, New
York-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the
mid-'90s and only partially because of their music. Turning the standard concept
of a hip-hop crew inside out, the Wu-Tang Clan was assembled as a loose congregation
of nine MCs almost as a support group. Instead of releasing one album after
another, the Clan was designed to overtake the record industry in as profitable
a fashion as possible — the idea was to establish the Wu-Tang as a force with
their debut album, and then spin off into as many side projects as possible.
In the process, the members would all became individual stars, as well as receive
individual royality checks. Although he wasn't one of the
two founding members — Genius/GZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard were the first — the
vision of the Wu-Tang Clan is undoubtedly due to the musical sklls of the
RZA. Under his direction, the group — through its own efforts and the solo
projects, all of which he produced or co-produced — he created a hazy, surreal
and menacing soundscape out of hardcore beats, eerie piano riffs, minimal
samples. Over these surrealistic backing tracks, the MCs rapped hard, updating
the old school attack with vicious violence, martial arts imagery, and a welcome
warped humor. By 1995, the sound was one of the most instantly recognizable
in hip-hop.
It wasn't always that way. Like
most rappers, they began their careers trying to get ahead whatever way they
could. For the RZA, that meant releasing a silly single, "Ooh, I Love You
Rakeem," on Tommy Boy Records in 1991. On the advice of his label and producers,
he cut the humorous, lover-man single that went absolutely nowhere. Neither
did the followup single, "My Deadly Venom." The experience strengthed
his resolve to subvert and attack record industry conventions. He found partners
in Genius and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Genius had also released a record in 1991,
the full-length Words from the Genius on Cold Chillin', which was preceded by
the single "Come Do Me." Both records were unsuccessful. After the
failure of his album, Genius teamed with an old friend, Ol' Dirty Bastard, to
form the crew that would evolve into the Wu-Tang Clan within a year.
The RZA quickly became part of the
crew, as did several other local MCs, including Method Man, Ghost Faced Killa,
Raekwon, U-God, Inspecta Deck, and Masta Killa, who rarely raps. The nine rappers
made a pact to a form an artistic and financial community — the Wu-Tang Clan
wouldn't merely be a group, it would be its own industry. In order to do this,
they decided to establish themselves through a group effort and then begin to
spread the word through solo projects, picking up additional collaborators along
the way and, in the process, becoming stronger and more influential. The first Wu-Tang Clan single, the
hard-hitting "Protect Ya Neck," appeared on their own, independent
label and became an underground hit. Soon, the record labels were offering them
lucrative contracts. The group held out until they landed a deal that would
allow each member to record solo albums for whatever label they chose — in essence,
each rapper was a free agent. Loud/RCA agreed to the deal and the band's debut
album, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, appeared in November of 1993. Enter the
Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful,
although its financial success wasn't immediate, it was the result of a slow
build. "C.R.E.A.M.," released in early 1994, was the single that put
them over the top and won them a devoted following. The group wasted no time
in pursuing other projects, as a total of five of the members — Genius, RZA,
Raekwon, Method Man, and Ol' Dirty Bastard — landed solo contracts as a result
of the success of "C.R.E.A.M." RZA was the first to re-enter the studio,
this time as a member of the Gravediggaz, a group he founded; in addition to
RZA, who was rechristened the Rzarecta, the group included De La Soul's producer
Prince Paul, Stetsasonic's Fruitkwan, and Brothers Grimm's Poetic. The Gravediggaz's
album, 6 Feet Deep appeared in August 1994; it eventually would go gold. Labelled
"horrorcore" by the group, it was an ultra-violent but comical tour
de force that demonstrated the RZA's production prowess. Shortly after its release,
Raekwon released his first single, "Heaven and Hell" on the Fresh
soundtrack; the song was produced by RZA and featured Ghost Face Killa. The first Wu-Tang member to become
a major solo star was Method Man. In November 1994, he released Tical, the first
official Wu-Tang solo album. Again, the RZA produced the album, creating a dense,
dirty sonic collage. Tical became a big hit in early 1995, as did Method's duet
with Mary J. Blige, "You're All I Need (To Get By)." Ol' Dirty Bastard
followed Method's breakthrough success with Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty
Version, which appeared in March, 1995 on Elektra Records. Thanks to the hits
"Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," the record became
a gold success. Out of all the solo albums, it was the one that sounded the
most like Enter the Wu-Tang, although it did have a more pronounced comic bent,
due to Ol Dirty's maniacal vocals. Around this time, Ol' Dirty Bastard became
instrumental in the formation of the Zoo, a group of Wu-Tang protegees. Tales
from the Hood, a movie soundtrack featuring Inspecta Deck's first solo track
appeared in May. 
Later
in 1995, the two most critically-acclaimed Wu-Tang records appeared — Raekwon's
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Genius' Liquid Swords. In August, 1995 Raekwon released
his solo album on Loud/RCA; most of the record featured extensive contributions
— a total of 12 songs — from Ghostface Killa. Genius' second solo album was
released by Geffen Records in November 1995. In February of 1996, Ghost Face
Killa's first solo track, "Winter Warz," appeared on the Don't Be
a Menace to South Central While You're Drinking Your Juice in the Hood soundtrack.
The Wu-Tang Clan finally returned
with their second album, Wu-Tang Forever, in June of 1997. — Stephen Thomas
Erlewine