Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (1LP/Yellow)
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is not an album.
It is an ancient martial discipline disguised as a record.
Legend tells of nine masters emerging from the forgotten borough of Shaolin, each possessing a different lyrical weapon, each trained in a separate school of lethal verbal combat. Bound together beneath the teachings of The Abbot RZA, they forged an artefact so powerful that, once released into the world, every rap group that followed would either study it... or fall before it.
Within these 36 Chambers are sacred texts known to ordinary mortals as "Protect Ya Neck", "C.R.E.A.M.", "Method Man", "Clan in da Front" and "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'". Do not be deceived by these names. They are merely gateways to higher levels of lyrical enlightenment.
The beats were not produced.
They were excavated.
Recovered from abandoned soul records buried beneath Staten Island, coated in dust, kung fu dialogue and enough vinyl crackle to summon the spirits of forgotten masters. RZA didn't clean the samples. He left the dirt on because dirt contains wisdom.
Each member of the Clan fights with a different style.
GZA strikes with scholarly precision.
Method Man attacks with effortless swagger.
Ghostface Killah appears before you've realised combat has begun.
Ol' Dirty Bastard ignores the known laws of this petty and limited universe.
Inspectah Deck waits patiently before delivering a verse so devastating it causes nearby MCs to fall upon their mics.
Raekwon and U-God handle close-quarters combat.
Masta Killa remains silent until absolutely necessary.
Together they form Voltron (if Voltron had grown up watching Shaw Brothers films while eating Chinese takeaway in Staten Island).
Many have entered the Chambers.
Very few have returned unchanged.
Even today, seasoned hip-hop disciples approach this record with the same reverence archaeologists reserve for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Professors have analysed it. Critics have praised it. Producers have spent thirty years trying to recreate it.
They all failed.
Because the first rule of Shaolin is simple...
Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthing ta f' wit.