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New York and the East Coast · Shaolin, NY · since 1993

1993
East Coast
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Staten Island

Shaolin, NY
Dusty kung-fu soul · nine MCs · one producer
Ride the roster1:40
Story, bloodline and 6 names

One crew, one island, one plan: RZA signed the group collectively, then negotiated the right for every member to sign solo elsewhere. Wu-Tang Clan is the most successful business structure ever attempted in rap, and the records are grimier than anything around them.

Bloodline · 2 stops from The Bronx
  1. 1973The Bronx
  2. 1982Queens
  3. 1993Staten Island

TransferBrooklyn·The Bronx

RZA and GZA came up in the Cold Chillin' and Tommy Boy orbit and got dropped by both. They went home, watched kung-fu films off 42nd Street, and rebuilt the whole thing as a crew with a contract nobody had tried.

Wu-Tang ClanKilla BeezWu-Tang Records
Roster
1993
Wu-Tang Clan

Enter the 36 Chambers: nine MCs, no hooks, a producer with a filthy sampler.

YTW
1994
Method Man

The voice that took Wu to radio without softening it.

YTW
1995
GZA

Liquid Swords — the coldest, most surgical writing in the crew.

YTW
1995
Raekwon & Ghostface

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx invented the technicolour mafioso album.

YTW
1995
Ol' Dirty Bastard

No father to his style; the most unpredictable presence rap has had.

YTW
1997
Killarmydeep cut

The Wu affiliate album for people who wanted it even bleaker.

YTW

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