Wu-Tang Clan Vinyl, CD & Tape

Kung Fu Movies and New York Street Life

The Wu-Tang Clan isn’t just a rap group – it’s also an underground movement, a game changer that fundamentally transformed US-hip hop as a music genre as well as a cultural whole. Whether it’s beats, lyrics, or flow, the ten-member collective creates its own artistic world and even shapes the scene with its own slang words. Their legendary album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) influenced a new generation of artists and is seen by many across genres as one of the best albums of all time. After their sudden mainstream success, the collective sets out to revolutionize the hip hop industry, releasing a significant number of solo and collaborative albums, many of which continue to shape the scene for years to come. The group’s career begins in 1992 in New York City, where rappers RZA, GZA, Ol‘ Dirty Bastard and Ghostface Killah join forces to form the Wu-Tang Clan – a crew simultaneously inspired by kung-fu movies and the streets of New York. It is set out to not only back them as solo artists, but to change the market as a large entity. Soon the clan is complete after adding members Method Man, Raekwon, U-God, Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa, years later Cappadonna is also added.

The cornerstone of the new East Coast

Each of the rappers equipped with different strengths, the Wu-Tang Clan, led by RZA, releases its first single Protect Ya Neck and generates a hype that makes it known in the mainstream a year later with their vinyl Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) – despite DIY approach and an extremely low budget. The album is considered a turning point in hip hop, and today Rolling Stone ranks it high on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. With its gritty beats and raw film samples, producer RZA creates the foundation for an entirely new rap sound, and the members’ mostly aggressive flow makes the record a milestone in the hardcore subgenre. East Coast hip hop can once again hold its own against the West Coast, and 36 Chambers paves the way for The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and many other emerging rappers. After laying the groundwork with their collaborative album, the individual members go on to find further success with their solo and side projects: RZA releases the horrorcore masterpiece 6 Feet Deep with his group Gravediggaz, Method Man proves his solo talent on Vinyl Tical, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard releases Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, a record that is nominated among the best rap albums at the 1996 Grammy Awards. His track Shimmy Shimmy Ya, among a bunch of others, is a widely sampled classic today. The Wu-Tang Clan makes history by releasing a number of major records in just a few years, creating their own hip hop cosmos – with RZA usually behind the mixing desk providing the Wu-Tang signature sound.

The many facets of the Wu-Tang world

More albums by Ghostface Killah, GZA and Raekwon follow until the crew reunites in 1997 for their second joint album, Wu-Tang Forever, which goes straight to number one in the charts. A new wave of solo albums arrives, but by now the clan is doing much more than just music – it is releasing its own merchandise, a comic book and even a Wu-Tang video game. The group’s discography grows so fast that fans can hardly keep up. In the years that follow, a huge amount of solo and collaborative albums are released, and every few years the clan keeps recording a record together. In 2014, the group makes headlines after it is revealed that they produced an album on a secret mission, which only exists on a single CD – in 2015, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin sells for $2 million, making it the most expensive album of all time. A worthy prize for an undefeated rap crew.