Yesterday, a man known to the music world as Ghostface Killah retweeted a picture of my beautiful one year old daughter wearing his group's logo on her onesie. That group is the Wu-Tang Clan and on November 9th, 1993 they dropped their debut LP, the timeless Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers.
Anyone who has an understanding of Hiphop music and the culture surrounding it is well aware that the nineties were an era chuck full of classic albums. It was a time when emcees weren't afraid to be themselves, they pushed boundaries both sonically and lyrically to gain interest in their crafts. The vibe of the time, in New York especially, was linked to an aesthetic of rawness and clever wordplay that the music world hasn't experienced since. At the forefront of this movement was a nine man collective from Staten Island or "Shaolin" as they called it. Nine emcees with completely different voices and lyrical content, that somehow managed to mash together musings on street life, styles of martial arts, metaphors about movies and comic books, that would all weave together and form their mythology for many years to come.
At the helm was the crew's producer and business mind, The RZA, at the other end was his cousin, the late, legendary mad man, Old Dirty Bastard. In between was a group of men, some would become stars (some not so much) but all capable of getting your head nodding at least once with a classic verse (ready? theres a quiz later) The GZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Raekwon the Chef, U-God and the aforementioned Ghostface Killah.
As a white kid in his early teens, submerged into the Hiphop culture of the day, these nine dudes seemed like Superheroes to me when they first stormed the scene. Up until then I was heavy into groups like Public Enemy, N.W.A and Run-D.M.C and of course the big time solo acts like Snoop Doggy Dogg and 2-Pac but never had their been a crew that was as intimidating and mysterious and intense as the Wu. And being such a large group made it fun to learn their unique styles and find a new favorite every other month.
It wouldn't be long after I made a daily habit of sneaking into my Brother's room and throwing on his 36 Chambers cassette that I started to mimic their words with verses of my own. I would sit by his boom box with my pen and pad, listen to a track or two, then put together rhymes that were piss poor knock offs of theirs but planted the seeds for my own foray into music. A craft of rhyme writing that I still practice to this day and if may say so, have become quite good at.
In the 20 years that have followed their platinum selling debut, they've released four more group albums and countless solo projects, some going double platinum, some going double plywood. Members have been in movies and television shows, The RZA has become somewhat of a staple in Hollywood, scoring movies and acting in several big budget films. They've spawned many spin off groups and solo artists. They've had their own clothing line and cologne back before those things became the norm, they even had their own video game. To say they are the greatest rap group of all time would not be in the least bit hyperbole.
But perhaps the most endearing part of their legacy is their fans. Case in point. After Ghost retweeted me last night, bells and whistles went off in my phone for the rest of the night. People from all walks of life retweeting and favoriting a picture of my wide eyed little girl with a big yellow W on her chest. It's because we understand exactly what ODB meant when he interrupted Puff Daddy at the Grammy Awards to proclaim "Wu-Tang is for the Children". He didn't necessarily mean that their explicit, bass heavy, sometimes violent rap music is actually suitable for kids. He meant that children like me, children of the nineties, Hiphop children will continue on their legend.
I've seen them a handful of times live, at various venues. Each time I stood shoulder to shoulder with guys and girls of all races, colors and creeds, sometimes waiting a few hours for them to take the stage. But it never mattered. We were waiting for the Wu-Tang Clan, we had an unspoken connection to one another, we understood what were about to witness.
As a white guy from the suburbs of New Jersey, turning 32 in a couple weeks, that spends his days surrounded by Minnie Mice, Princesses and other various glittery pink things, my admiration for the Wu has not faded at all. I wait in anticipation for everything from a solo U-God album (I'm serious) to the much talked about reunion LP. They have a legacy that intertwined itself into the fabric of Hiphop culture and it all started two decades ago today.
