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: Remerging with new monikers, the lyrical and production technique remained as Rakeem became RZA, The Genius morphed into GZA and Unique emanated as Ol’ Dirty Bastard. 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). As the mastermind of Wu-Tang, Prince Rakeem instinctively selected five additional members that would become uncontested marksmen in hip-hop.

In 1992, with a keen eye 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. Feeling deceived as label executives opted for clean-cut and white rappers - Tommy Boy Records turned their attention from Prince Rakeem to West Coast enclave House of Pain - Rakeem and The Genius assembled, convincing Unique to get on board. On one hand, both artists were simultaneously dropped from their respective labels, but on the other, a fire was ignited. The three were cousins, led by Rakeem after his 1991 EP Ooh I Love You Rakeem hit a flatline on Tommy Boy Records, while The Genius was scrapped from Cold Chillin’ Records when the label failed to promote his fellow 1991 debut album Words from the Genius. Although 36 Chambers was just a decade apart from Shaolin and Wu-Tang, the cross-cultural impact of Wu-Tang Clan resounded through martial arts film samplings and homage to the Five Percenter teachings that ran rampant on New York hip-hop and mainstream airwaves alike.īefore Wu-Tang’s ascension, they were All In Together Now (doubling as 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.

While late-’80s East Coast rap was brimming with Afrocentrism through the Native Tongues collective 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. 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 album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). “Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu-Tang sword style.”

Wu tang clan cream piano sheet music