Wu-Tang Clan marked the first decade of its existence as the craziest, most influential, most avant-garde, and overall best rap group, NME Magazine wrote in 2005, and that description has remained the status quo to this day. Around the same time, the famous Rolling Stone called them “the best rap group ever“, NME added that they “changed hip-hop forever“, and Billboard defined their significance by simply saying, “Wu-Tang is forever“.
From their first album until today, Wu-Tang has set a standard for hip-hop, providing a blueprint for musical careers, from the first shows in Texas when they were paid a counterfeit $100 bill to selling out the biggest stadiums worldwide.
They’ve released eight albums and sold over 40 million copies, creating an oeuvre that redefined hip-hop as a genre. Aside from artists in the same musical genre, whose style and musical development they directly influenced, Wu-Tang Clan also has the respect and affection of numerous greats such as Bob Dylan, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Quentin Tarantino, Mariah Carey, System of a Down, Jim Jarmusch and many other global superstars The group’s historical and musical significance was presented in the documentary series “Of Mics & Men”, as well as through the feature series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”, based on the book by the band’s founder, “The Tao of Wu”.
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From the very beginning, Wu-Tang has consisted of complete alphas: leader and master visionary RZA, and warriors GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna. They are legendary precisely because of the strength, individuality, and character of each member, whose attachment to the clan is so strong that they perceive each other as family.
Formed in 1992 in New York, they drew inspiration from kung-fu movies and superhero comics and are responsible for some essential hip-hop tracks with which they laid a strong foundation within the genre. Their debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”, released in 1993, now triple platinum and part of the US Library of Congress, spawned the singles “C.R.E.A.M.“ (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) and “Protect Ya Neck“, probably the most recognisable songs in the rap canon. Shortly after, their second album, “Wu-Tang Forever”, cemented their position on the scene for eternity.
Od samog početka Wu-Tang čine potpune alfe, vođa i master vizionar RZA, zatim ratnici GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa i Cappadonna. Legendarni su upravo zbog snage, individualnosti i karaktera svakog pojedinog člana, čija je privrženost klanu toliko jaka da se međusobno doživljavaju kao porodica.
Formirani 1992. u Njujorku, inspiraciju su vukli iz kung-fu filmova i superherojskih stripova, a zaslužni su za neke od krucijalnih hip-hop numera sa kojima su postavili jake temelje unutar žanra. Samo njihov debitantski album „Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”, objavljen 1993. godine, sada trostruko platinasto izdanje uvršćeno u Kongresnu biblioteku SAD-a, doneo je singlove „C.R.E.A.M.“ (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) i „Protect Ya Neck“, verovatno najprepoznatljivije pesme rep kanona. Odmah posle, njihov drugi album „Wu-Tang Forever” zauvek ih je zacementirao na sceni.
