I remember it like it was yesterday.
November 10th, 1994....
The day I became a Hip Hop nerd ; by accident.
I'm a little white kid from Long Island, New York,
wet behind the ears to all of the classic music that is being created around me.
I used to pop my blank cassette tapes into the tape player and just hit the
"record/play" button then go do my homework or go outside and play some street hockey,
rewind the tape, and listen to all the songs I caught.
I usually timed it around Funkmaster Flex's show on HOT 97,
or sometimes caught DJ Red Alert's show, which both showcased
the finest in golden era Hip Hop.
On this one day, I heard something so abstract and raw that I was flabbergasted that
Hip Hop could go into this world ... and it changed my life forever.
The song was, "C.R.E.A.M.".
To this day I can not put my finger on what part of the song it was that caught my ear.
Was it the piano sample? Was it the low bass tones?
Or was it Method Man's chorus, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me,
C.R.E.A.M. Get the Money, Dollar Dollar Bill Y'all".
I rewound that part of my radio recorded mixtape so many times
I broke the fucking thing within a week.
This song, album, group, movement, art was so different than anything I had ever heard before
that I knew it was now time for me to do some research.
Time to go buy the compact disc, "Enter the Wu Tang : 36 Chambers".
The ret my friends... is history.
On this day 20 years ago, 9 teenagers :
the RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, U God, Masta Killah, Raekwon,
Ghostface Killah and the Method Man (Sorry Cappadonna)
from the projects of Staten Island, New York
changed music forever.
I could sit here and talk about Wu Tang for hours and pages upon pages, but I would not want
to bore you with my feelings and opinions, because truthfully, we have all
been moved by Wu Tang Clan in one way or another.
In honor of Enter The Wu Tang, I give you the Wu Tang Clan Youtube Playlist
of over 200 classic Wu Tang Clan songs from every group and solo studio album,
plus remixes, singles and freestyles.
So throw up your W's... sit back... roll up some Wu
and reminisce / pay homage to those we call...
The Wu Tang Clan.
Special Thanks to : Public Enemy, Organized Konfusion and Ultramagnetic MC's for paving the way for Wu Tang Clan to be the group they were and to the RZA for locking himself in his Staten Island basement for 6 months with only Ramen noodle, Weed, Angel Dust, Soul records, Kung Fu samples and a beat machine in order to record all of Enter the Wu Tang.
