Number 17: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
Ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit
Release: November 9th, 1993
Genre: Hip-Hop
Favorite Tracks: Protect Ya Neck, Da Mystery of Chessboxin', Bring Da Ruckus
Where I heard it:
I'm only just now realizing how strongly Reddit influenced my musical taste post-high school. Next year will be the ten year anniversary of my Reddit account, and while that doesn't carry much weight to me personally, it does bring to mind all the fascinating links that I've clicked over the years. As I mentioned previously in my entry for Aesop Rock's Labor Days, perhaps the most interesting article I ever came across on Reddit was a chart that measured the diverse vocabularies of several rap artists' repertoires. While this page initially gave way to an obsession with Aesop Rock, I also gleamed the fact that not only did the Wu-Tang Clan rank number five in this chart, six of their members landed in the top twenty based on their solo releases alone. While this information alone wasn't enough for me to drop everything and pick up a Wu-Tang record, the data certainly stuck with me for months as I began to consume an assortment of classic hip-hop tracks. Combined with my limited knowledge of the Wu-Tang Clan for their abundance of artists, my curiosity for the group festered throughout 2015, right around the time I seriously began investing in my vinyl record hobby. My aim was to fill my collection with a wide variety of certified essentials; albums that were practically mandated for any self-respecting audiophile to own. After amassing about 25 albums, I noticed that the hip-hop genre severely lacked representation in my rock-heavy music library. So I asked myself: what is the quintessential hip-hop album? To this point, I could barely even name an artist that I thoroughly enjoyed, let alone an entire compilation of tracks that I'd be willing to commit to. Suddenly, all the prior months of subconscious admiration dawned on me at once. I took a bit of a risk by purchasing an album I hadn't heard in its entirely but bought based off word-of-mouth alone: Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). With all the high praise this album had been given, I still felt confident in my decision when I unwrapped the vinyl out of its cellophane packaging a few days later. When the needle dropped, the noise through my dinky phonograph speakers immediately dispelled any prior doubts I had about the Wu-Tang.
I'm causin' more family feuds than Richard Dawson
And the survey said: you're dead
Fatal flying guillotine chops off your fuckin' head
Mister, who is that?
Ayo, the Wu is back
Makin' niggas go bo bo like I'm Super Cat
Me fear no one
Oh no, here come the Wu-Tang shogun
Killer to my eardrum
~ Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit
What to expect:
It's shocking to me how relatively young hip-hop is, having celebrated a half-century just this year. Throughout its history, hip-hop has hinged on the close relationship between MC and DJ. Both symbiotically rely on one another in order to successfully execute the group's creative vision, undoubtedly enhanced by the collaborative innovation of multiple minds. With that in mind, it shouldn't be surprising that some of rap's earliest breakthrough acts like the Beastie Boys and N.W.A. contained posses of MCs that brought their own flavor to a verse. Hailing from the hip-hop Mecca of New York City, the Wu-Tang Clan took this idea a bit further in their 1993 debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), touting a whopping double-digit total of ten personnel. In no particular order, Wu-Tang is comprised of Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, GZA, RZA, Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, U-God, and 4th Disciple rounding it out on the turntables. Showing their strength in numbers, the Wu-Tang Clan were one-of-a-kind in an era of rap that was lucky to see anything more than a trio. While their roster can appear overwhelming, Enter the Wu-Tang wisely distributes the duties of its members across tracks, featuring only a portion of its workforce through bite-size samples of eight or sixteen bars each before swapping to the next artist. The exceptions to this rule are the jam-packed Protect Ya Neck and Da Mystery of Chessboxin', which manage to squeeze in verses from all nine MCs in under a five minute runtime. It's impossible to identify each artist's contributions on first listen, but once the names are associated to the respective voices, you begin to understand just how integral each member is to the flow of a song. Countless permutations within the group develop different sounds based on the qualities of a specific artist's rap style. Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck viciously deliver a roughneck edge to the hard-hitting Bring Da Ruckus and Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin ta F' Wit. Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard embrace an intimidating gangsta persona with bold bars in spots on Shame On A Nigga and Method Man. RZA and GZA are masters of rhyme engineering, penning lengthy and verbose lyrics over the jazzy beats of Clan In Da Front and Tearz. No matter the amalgamation, Enter the Wu-Tang offers a view into the rugged lifestyle on the streets of Staten Island, likening its deadly tendencies to the times of samurai and shoguns in feudal Japan. These comparisons are highlighted by excerpts from the martial art films Enter the Dragon and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, the inspiration for the album's namesake. It's clear the Wu-Tang Clan as a whole were heavily influenced by these movies, as several allusions to ancient Japanese culture are mixed in right alongside modern pop-culture references in their raps. This loose concept is strictly adhered to throughout Enter the Wu-Tang, merging the unlikely pairing of underground hip-hop and Japanese cinema to create a theatrical and dramatic experience for the ages. Draw your blade, and test your might against the devastating Wu-Tang style.
This goes on in some companies with majors
They're scared to death to pump these
First of all, who's your A&R?
A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?
But he don't know the meaning of dope
When he's lookin' for a suit-and-tie-rap
That's cleaner than a bar of soap
And I'm the dirtiest thing in sight
Matter of fact, bring out the girls and let's have a mud fight
~ Protect Ya Neck
Why it's my favorite:
For the longest time, I was under the assumption that the only release from the Wu-Tang Clan was Enter the Wu-Tang, since it was the only record of theirs I ever heard about. Oh, how wrong I was. As it turns out, Wu-Tang would continue churning out albums throughout the 90's and 2000's both as a group and individually, which spawned masterpieces in their own right such as GZA's Liquid Swords and Method Man's duo album with Redman, Blackout! I find it amusing that even when attempting to distance themselves from the Wu-Tang, most solo releases still feature a fair lot of Wu-Tang members on certain songs. It's as if the Wu-Tang understands their collective power is greater than the sum of its parts, valuing the chemistry between the group so dearly that they're practically drawn to each other. While these albums have earned a spot in my musical rotation, I can't deny the intangible elements that are lost without hearing the entirety of the Wu-Tang involved in the production. The variance each artist brings to every verse on Enter the Wu-Tang leaves indelible impressions that make you excited for each member's appearance. I love how in-your-face Ghostface Killah gets, nearly shouting the words on the page. Method Man is guaranteed to slip in drug vernacular with his deep, grizzly voice. Although his lines are few, I always look forward to the explicit, off-key delivery of ODB. How could I possibly crown just one of these artists when each is vital to completing the Wu-Tang formula? Without their plethora of performers, Enter the Wu-Tang wouldn't have the advantage of filling its contents with consistent S-tier material. Think of it this way: a single MC has to empty their notebook in order to meet the requirements for a full-length album. The Wu-Tang clan had numerous lyrical geniuses at the helm, meaning each MC could focus on quality bars that utilize exuberant wordplay and literary devices. Hip-hop collectives in the modern age such as Odd Future and BROCKHAMPTON derived success from this same model, but there's nobody in the game that does it better than the Wu-Tang.
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