walking upstream…
Wu-Tang Clan
photo: miloš krstić · cc by-sa 3.0 ↗Wu-Tang Clan
sourcesWikipedia
Formed on Staten Island in 1992, Wu-Tang Clan built a sprawling nine-MC crew around RZA's raw, low-fi productions stitched from vintage soul samples and kung-fu movie dialogue. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) and the double album Wu-Tang Forever (1997) reset East Coast hip-hop's sound and its business model, launching a web of solo careers and a 'Wu' brand that outlasted the golden era that produced it.
the sound in question
1993
C.R.E.A.M.Wu-Tang Clan
walk the tributaries ↓
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five1980s · hip hop / old-school hip hop / electro
RZA has described old-school records by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five resonating 'like gospel' in his Staten Island youth, and Wu-Tang later sampled the group's 'Superappin'' directly — a straight line from hip-hop's first wave into Wu-Tang's own structure of multiple MCs trading verses over one beat.
listen: upstream & here
1979
Superappin'Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
1992
Protect Ya NeckWu-Tang Clan
listen forThe Furious Five's tag-team verse-trading on 'Superappin'' is the blueprint Wu-Tang scales up to nine voices on 'Protect Ya Neck,' where each MC gets a few bars before handing off to the next.
Isaac Hayes1970s · Soul / Funk / Orchestral soul
RZA built much of Wu-Tang's early catalog out of vintage Stax soul samples, repeatedly chopping Isaac Hayes records for hooks and interludes; years later Hayes appeared as a credited guest vocalist on the group's own material.
listen: upstream & here
1969
Walk On ByIsaac Hayes
2000
I Can't Go to SleepWu-Tang Clan
listen forHayes' string-laced 'Walk On By' is both a sample source and a sonic blueprint for Wu-Tang's own 'I Can't Go to Sleep,' which brings Hayes in himself to sing over RZA's soul-soaked production.
Eric B. & Rakim1980s · Hip hop / Golden age hip hop / Boom bap
Wu-Tang members have pointed to Rakim as a defining influence on their internal rhyme schemes, with RZA recalling the group studying Rakim and Eric B.'s records closely while building their own style out of that same golden-age soul-sampling era.
listen: upstream & here
1987
Paid in FullEric B. & Rakim
1997
TriumphWu-Tang Clan
listen forRakim's unhurried, internally-rhymed cadence on 'Paid in Full' is the direct ancestor of the dense, multisyllabic wordplay Wu-Tang piles up verse after verse on the posse cut 'Triumph.'