Wu-Tang Clan Archives

Reviews 5

Wu-Tang Clan
The Saga Continues

Full Clip: July’s Hip Hop Albums Reviewed By Gary Suarez

Wu-Tang Clan
A Better Tomorrow

Full Clip: July’s Hip Hop Albums Reviewed By Gary Suarez

Kung-Fool Fighting: Wu-Tang Clan Wobble In Brixton

Articles 18

Anniversary

Long Game: Ghostface Killah’s The Pretty Toney Album 20 Years On

Often overlooked today, Ghostface's fourth solo LP marked the moment where the iconoclastic rapper became the first among Wu equals, Angus Batey argues

Books

Talent & Natural Game: S.H. Fernando Jr On The Wu-Tang Saga

S.H. Fernando, Jr, author of a new book about the Wu-Tang Clan, talks to Angus Batey about making skits with RZA and the fall of Ol' Dirty Bastard

Low Culture Essay

Low Culture 14: Wu-Tang Clan, William Blake, The Fall & The Hidden City

Trudging through the inverted worlds of Staten Island, Putney and Prestwich come a crew of rappers, a poet/ engraver and a dyspetic singer, says Tom Ellen. They steel themselves against the disappointment of the surface world - the feeling of 'Is this it?' - by doodling on the maps of their cities, adding monsters and demons, gods and angels, hidden passageways and secret portals.

Books

5th Chamber—Creative Reorganisation: Will Ashon Enters The Wu

In an exclusive extract from his new book, *Chamber Music: About the Wu-Tang (in 36 Pieces)*, Will Ashon discusses re-referentiality, Wu-slang, and "one of the finest musical evocations ever recorded of the sensation of being baked"

Books

Raw Power: U-God On The Genesis Of The Wu-Tang

In the following interview plus extract from his new book, Raw, U-God, one of the original members of the Wu-Tang Clan talks about the origins of the group, RZA's BO, and that time he nearly punched Leonardo DiCaprio in the face

A Quietus Interview

Clannish Boys: Rza & Mathematics On The Latest Chapter In The Wu-Saga

They may be better known these days for in-fighting and taking each other to court, but most of the surviving members of the Wu-Tang Clan have reunited for a better-than-you-might-expect LP. Interview by Angus Batey

Anniversary

Wu-Tang Forever: The Making And The Breaking Of The Clan

Angus Batey looks back 20 years to the album that came at the end of the Wu-Tang Clan's five year plan and asks, What went wrong?

Anniversary

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads As Gangsta Rap Album

Dele Fadele looks back to The Bad Seeds album that has odd parallels with gangsta rap

Anniversary

25 Years On: Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Revisited

Angus Batey looks back into his archive of interviews with Raekwon in order to better understand this high water mark in mid-90s hip hop

Anniversary

25 Years On: Angus Batey On Liquid Swords By GZA

Angus Batey delves into his own extensive interview archive to reassess Liquid Swords a quarter century on

A Quietus Interview

It’s All About the Respect: Raekwon Interviewed

Ahead of new album Fly International Luxurious Art, the rapper talks to Cian Traynor about life lessons, the early days of Wu-Tang and the importance of leaving a legacy

Anniversary

Keepin’ It Dirty: A celebration of ODB’s Return to the 36 Chambers

Cian Traynor re-appraises a hip hop anomaly by speaking to some of those who knew Ol' Dirty Bastard best

Black Sky Thinking

Why The Music Business Shouldn’t Turn Into The Art Business

As Wu-Tang Clan unveil their one copy luxury new LP, Robert Barry argues that even in these straitened times, the last thing we need is for the music industry to start resembling the shady, exploitative art world

Anniversary

20 Years On: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Revisited

Simon Price looks back at how the many-headed Staten Island collective brought the motherfucking ruckus

Books

Sworded Tales: Tim Burgess On What The Wu-Tang Clan Did For Me

Tomorrow night Luke Turner is doing a Q&A with Tim Burgess at Rough Trade East. Ahead of that, we print the missing chapter of his Telling Stories autobiography, where he discusses how the Wu-Tang Clan inspired The Charlatans

Black Sky Thinking

Bum Rush The Show: Why Reality TV Has More To Do With Violence Than Rap

Luke Turner refutes the Daily Mirror's assertion that hip hop was to blame for this week's unrest. But there's another popular cultural form that reflects the kind of society that caused it

Film

Shogun Assassin, GZA’s Liquid Swords & The Sound Of Militant Dysphoria

Robert Barry examines this classic of Japanese cinema in relationship to the music of GZA and the Wu-Tang Clan

Rock's Backpages

Hurling Expletives, Dropping Rhymes: A Classic Interview With The Wu-Tang Clan

In this month's Rock's Backpages, Angus Batey of _HHC_ magazine talks to the Wu-Tang Clan about their classic debut _36 Chambers_ and turning the hip-hop tide from the West to the East... PLUS! Method Man's guide to the WU

Baker’s Dozen Appearances 8

Baker's Dozen

Licence To Sing: Afrodeutsche’s Favourite Albums

From a childhood spent dancing to Top Of The Pops, a complicated relationship with Michael Jackson and the tragic loss of her tape collection, Afrodeutsche takes Manu Ekanayake through the thirteen albums that changed her life

Baker's Dozen

Relentless Education: Krust’s 13 Favourite Albums

Drum & bass pioneer Krust takes Neil Kulkarni through the records that shaped him, from the lessons learnt from Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and Yellow Magic Orchestra to the "revelation" of Flying Lotus, via The Beatles, Michael Jackson and more

Baker's Dozen

No Limits: Jaakko Eino Kalevi’s 13 Favourite Albums

Finland's finest selects a varied mix of metal, jazz, funk, prog and kraut for his Baker's Dozen

Baker's Dozen

Vibrations: Roll Deep Man Riko Dan On His 13 Favourite LPs

The grime veteran has a varied musical history, and his 13 selections across rap, soul and dancehall are proof.

Baker's Dozen

Experimentalism Wrapped Around Pop: Barry Adamson’s Favourite LPs

Post punk polymath Barry Adamson guides Julian Marszalek around his favourite albums, from Baker's Staples like Iggy Pop and can to the Wu-Tang Clan, Ornette Coleman and Micachu. Photo by Jone Reed

Baker's Dozen

Something Searing: Yannis Philippakis Of Foals’ Favourite Albums

Before the release of new album What Went Down, the Foals frontman gives Lisa Lavery his top 13 LPs, all records united by "people's voices that connect directly", moving through Arthur Russell, Pixies and Howlin' Wolf

Baker's Dozen

Everything Serves The Rhythm: Panda Bear’s Favourite Albums

The Animal Collective man released his fifth solo album, Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper, this week. Before he did, he sat down with Joe Clay to pick 13 formative favourite records

Baker's Dozen

Happy Songs? Stuart Braithwaite Of Mogwai’s Favourite Albums

Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite takes us through his favourite albums, and explains why it's Margaret Thatcher's fault that everyone in Scotland is a goth and how John Peel funded the Scottish music scene