WU-TANG FOREVER: HOW 9 STATEN ISLAND KIDS BROKE EVERY RULE

## The $60,000 Deal That Changed Everything For just $60,000, Steve Rifkind signed Wu-Tang Clan to Loud Records with one revolutionary catch: each member remained a free agent, able to sign solo deals with any label while keeping the Wu-Tang name. This was 1992. Hip-hop executives were chasing radio-friendly acts like Will Smith and Young MC. RZA looked around and saw the industry betting on rap-lite, but he and his crew were "street kids," "guys that was more like felons, or high-school dropouts." RZA told his eight members: "I want all of y'all to get on this bus. And be passengers. And I'm the driver. Give me five years, and I promise that I'll get us there." Wu-Tang became known in 1993 following the release of "Protect Ya Neck," which helped gain them a sizable underground following before Loud/RCA agreed to release Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in November 1993. ## The Album That Rewrote Hip-Hop History With virtually no marketing, Enter the Wu-Tang sold more than two million copies. The album has sold more than 3 million records and landed at No. 27 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list as of June 2023. On November 9th, 1993, straight from the slums of Shaolin, Wu-Tang emerged and changed the landscape of not only rap, but the music industry as a whole with an impact on America that is almost immeasurable. The album was gritty, with a brash style recalling old-school rappers like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, laced with snippets from kung fu movies and soul songs. Wu-Tang hit the scene with lyrics about chess, street slang, and Marvel comics while sampling kung-fu flicks, and though these were not common themes in hip-hop at that time, for every reason that Wu-Tang should not have worked was another reason that it did. ## The Business Model That Broke The Game RZA's plan was to spread his group's sound as widely as possible, and just a few years later, members of Wu-Tang were recording for five of the six major labels. Method Man released Tical in 1994 as the first Wu solo album, signed to Def Jam, the most coveted label at the time, and the album went platinum. 1995 became one of the most important years in hip-hop due largely to the triple punch of Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers, GZA's Liquid Swords, and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, each of which went gold. Sales from solo albums enriched each label, which meant labels saw more potential in hip-hop made by street kids, and Wu-Tang consequently laid the groundwork for hard-edged rappers such as Nas, Mobb Deep, and The Notorious B.I.G. to land deals with record companies. ## Cultural Architects Beyond Music In 1995, Wu-Tang established Wu Wear, one of the first artist-inspired clothing lines in music history, opening doors for hip-hop culture in retail and inspiring global interest in Wu-Tang's simple, raw style. The group opened four Wu Wear stores across the country and the line was carried by retail giants such as Macy's before being discontinued in 2008 and relaunched in 2017. Marvel makes much more money by subconsciously using a flipped version of Wu-Tang's group/solo model, and while it's probably ridiculous to suggest that Marvel actually got this idea from Wu-Tang, the two are definitely connected, showing Wu-Tang's impact on entertainment marketing as a whole. Thirty-one years later, Wu-Tang's blueprint remains the gold standard. When Rihanna and A$AP Rocky named their son RZA in 2023, the Wu-Tang founder called it "a great honour to know that there's another generation that feels the strength and the inspiration of that name." The revolution they started in a Staten Island basement continues to echo through every corner of culture.