Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop musical collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, Ol' Dirty Bastard. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. They are credited for revitalizing East Coast hip hop and are considered one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time.
Corey Woods, better known by his stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang , in 1993. Raekwon would subsequently pursue a solo career, releasing his first solo album, entitled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., in 1995. The album received critical acclaim, and is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, as well as a staple of 1990s rap.
Enter the Wu-Tang is the debut studio album by the American hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records and RCA Records. The 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, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & Redman. He took his stage name from the 1979 film Method Man. In 1996, Method Man 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 R&B singer Mary J. Blige, with whom he later starred in Power Book II: Ghost, a spin-off of Power.
Rap metal is a fusion genre that combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
Beth Nicole Torbert is a Canadian singer best known by her stage name Bif Naked. Between 1996 and 2016, she was among the top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada. She charted #1 on Billboard Canada for the single Spaceman and was heavy rotation on MTV TRL for the video Moment of Weakness. The album I Bificus was multiplatinum internationally.
Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is considered to be rock music in which lyrics are rapped, rather than sung. The genre achieved its greatest success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I Bificus is the third album by Canadian singer Bif Naked, released in 1998. It features her best known songs "Moment of Weakness," "Spaceman," "Lucky," and "Chotee."
Loud Records, LLC. is a record label founded by Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson in 1991. Rifkind served as the chief executive officer while Isaacson served as the president of the label.
Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The Lox is an American hip hop trio composed of East Coast rappers Sheek Louch, Styles P and Jadakiss. Each hailing from Yonkers, New York, the group formed in 1994 and signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records two years later to release their debut studio album, Money, Power & Respect (1998). Despite critical and commercial success, the group parted ways with the label in favor of Ruff Ryders Entertainment in 1999, through which they released their similarly successful follow-up, We Are the Streets (2000).
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).
Brittin "Britt Black" Karroll is a Canadian rock musician whose father Peter Karroll is the founder of Her Royal Majesty's Records (HRMR) which signed and promoted her punk rock band LiveonRelease. Her song "Night Time" was included in the game Scarface: The World Is Yours soundtrack.
Method Man & Redman are an American hip-hop duo composed of rappers Method Man and Redman. They are signed to Def Jam Recordings both as solo artists and as a duo. While they had been collaborating since 1994, it was not until 1999 that they released a full-length collaborative effort, Blackout!. The follow-up album, Blackout! 2, was released in 2009.
This article summarizes the events, album releases and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2010.
Undisputed is the seventh studio album by American rapper DMX, his first studio album in six years since Year of the Dog... Again (2006) and the last to be released during his lifetime. It was released on September 11, 2012, on Seven Arts Music.
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 by the American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released June 3, 1997, by Loud and 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 Eldridge Grice, better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American rapper. A founding member of the hip hop group 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 Wu-Tang members' solo projects, and has maintained a successful solo career starting with his second album Liquid Swords (1995).
Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darrin "Dee" and Chivon Dean in 1988. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Interscope Records, with Def Jam Recordings serving as the distributor for DMX albums. The label went on to launch the careers of several successful artists such as DMX, Eve, The LOX, Drag-On, MC Jin, producers Dame Grease and the Deans' nephew, Swizz Beatz among others. The Ruff Ryders namesake also referred to a loose-knit hip hop collective composed of the core signees of the label. Ruff Ryders and its main studio Powerhouse Studios are headquartered at 33 South Broadway in Yonkers, New York.
