Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. Wu-Tang Clan are regarded as a highly influential group in hip hop, helping to popularize and develop the East Coast hip hop and hardcore hip hop styles.
Corey Woods, an American rapper of the stage name Raekwon, is a core member of the Wu-Tang Clan, an iconic rap group mainly from New York City borough Staten Island, which debuted by a 1993 album dubbed 36 Chambers. Raekwon's debut solo album, an August 1995 release, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., employing Mafioso imagery and widely acclaimed, is a 1990s classic.
Dennis Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper, songwriter and actor and lead member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film Mystery of Chessboxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.
Enter the Wu-Tang is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records. Recording sessions took place during late 1992 to early 1993 at Firehouse Studio in New York City, and the album was produced by the group's de facto leader RZA. Its title originates from the martial arts films Enter the Dragon (1973) and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978).
Clifford Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of the hip hop duo Method Man & Redman. He took his stage name from the 1979 film Method Man. In 1996, Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By", featuring American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, whom he currently stars with in Power Book II: Ghost, a spin-off of its original show Power.
Beth Torbert is a Canadian singer-songwriter best known by her stage name Bif Naked. Between 1996 and 2016, she was among the top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada.
Ronald Maurice Bean, better known professionally as Mathematics, is a hip hop producer and DJ for the Wu-Tang Clan and its solo and affiliate projects. He designed the Wu-Tang Clan logo.
Tarik Azzougarh, better known as his stage name Cilvaringz, is a Dutch-Moroccan record producer, rapper, and artist manager from Tilburg, North Brabant. He is associated with the Wu-Tang Clan and is best known for conceptualizing and producing the world's most expensive work of music, Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
Remedy is a rapper and hip-hop producer. He is known for being the first non-black and the first Jewish rapper to be affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan. He owns and runs Code Red Entertainment, his label which released Cappadonna's The Struggle album in 2003. He also served as executive producer on Inspectah Deck's album Manifesto in 2010. Remedy has produced and been featured on various works for ESPN. He released a mixtape, It All Comes Down to This, in 2010. He is the co-executive producer of the Wu-Tang Killa Bees: Return Of The Swarm album.
Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hop and hip hop in the mid 1990s. Mobb Deep became one of the most successful rap duos in history, having sold over three million records. Three of their most notable albums were The Infamous (1995), Hell on Earth (1996) and Murda Muzik (1999), and their top hits include "Shook Ones ", "Survival of the Fittest" and "Hell On Earth ". They were known for their dark and hardcore delivery.
SRC is an American record label created by former Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind. It was a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and was distributed through Republic Records.
The Lox is an American hip hop group from Yonkers, New York, formed in 1994. The group is composed of East Coast rappers Sheek Louch, Styles P and Jadakiss. They had originally signed to Sean Combs' Bad Boy in 1995, before joining Ruff Ryders in 1999, and have since launched their own label, D-Block.
The W is the third studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. It was released on November 21, 2000, by Loud Records. After their 1997 album Wu-Tang Forever, several of the group's members released solo projects before The W, which has a more rugged, less polished sound than that of most Wu-Tang related albums from that era. The album also features guest appearances from Isaac Hayes, Redman, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Junior Reid. It is the group's last album to feature Ol' Dirty Bastard before his death in 2004, as he was absent from their next album, Iron Flag (2001).
David Franklin Reeves Jr. is an American musician, DJ, and producer best known for his work in cooperation with Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, and Jam Master Jay. An early associate of Russell Simmons and Larry Smith, Dave first made his name in the 1980s.
Rock the Bells was an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert featured a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a more mainstream artist. The first festival was held in 2004, featuring a re-united Wu-Tang Clan, who performed four months before Ol' Dirty Bastard's death. That festival is covered in depth by a documentary film also called Rock the Bells.
Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang is the fifth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan-member Raekwon, released March 8, 2011, on Ice H2O and EMI Records. Guests for the album include Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Lloyd Banks, Method Man, Nas, and Rick Ross, among others.
"Sucker M.C.'s" is a song by American hip hop group Run-D.M.C. It was first released in 1983 as B-side to "It's Like That". The two-sided release marked the start of Run-D.M.C.'s career as their first single, and it is widely regarded as ushering in a new school of hip hop artists with a street image and an abrasive, minimalist sound that marked them out from their predecessors. Both tracks were collected on the trio's self-titled debut album in 1984. WBAU was the first station to play the two songs.
Ratking was an American hip hop group from New York City, which consisted of rappers Wiki and Hak, and producer Sporting Life. A leading force in the underground in the early 2010s, their music has been described as "stridently youthful", and the group themselves have stated they wished to reinvent rap music.
Wu-Tang Forever is the second studio album of American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released June 3, 1997, on Loud/RCA Records in the United States. Pressed as a double album, it was released after a long run of successful solo projects from various members of the group, and serves as the follow-up to their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang . Forever features several guest appearances from Wu-Tang affiliates Cappadonna, Streetlife, 4th Disciple, True Master, and Tekitha. The original run of compact discs featured an "Enhanced CD" which allowed users to walk around the "Wu Mansion" and access additional content.
Gary Earl Grice, better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American rapper, songwriter and actor. A founding member of the hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in the group to receive a record deal and being the oldest member. He has appeared on his fellow Clan members' solo projects, and has maintained a successful solo career starting with Liquid Swords (1995).
