Original subtitles

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If what you say is true,

the Shaolin and the Wu Tang

could be dangerous.

Yes, my Iord .

We saw them practicing with each other.

Their kung fu is first-class.

[Raekwon] So, who came with the name ?

Who came up with, "Yo,

we gonna call it Wu-Tang Clan"?

I heard Ghost say "Wu-Tang" first.

Yeah , it stemmed from out there in the town .

So you didn't come up with the wor--

You didn't come up with the word "Wu-Tang"?

No, the Wu-Tang comes from a movie.

Right, right, understand .

First of all, we was calling

the Ballantine ale. . . "the Shaolin"

and the Olde English "Wu-Tang",

Wu-Tang shit.

Then the flick came.

But no, the flick-- no, the flick--

- The flick was first. - [Ghostface] No.

[laughter]

I seen the movie already.

[Inspectah] He brou0ht the movie to you .

He didn't bring the movie to me!

I saw the movie on the deuce.

I brought it to your flick, though.

[RZA] No, you brought it to my crib, though .

You brou0ht the tape, but l . . . me and Dirty--

[Ghostface] You seen it. I ain't know you seen it,

but I told you to watch this shit like this, Iike, yo.

[overlapping chatter]

I ain't know that, man .

[overlapping chatter]

Hold on . Cut, cut!

No, no, Rae's made-- Listen, Rae's made it--

Rae's made it into a--

The rap, the music form .

As far as who you're gonna say put the clang on the streets,

Tony put the slang on the ctreets.

Who put the Wu-Tang Clan into a movement?

- I started that Wu-Tang . - [Ghostface] That was you .

As I said , you put-- yeah .

He put the movement in it, definitely.

Who made it nothin0 to fuck with?

We made it nothin9 to fuck with .

That's right.

d Jaunty music d

ddd

[RZA] After Ohio,

I was awakened

to what my positive energy could do,

what my intelligence could do.

I'm realizing

that I could bring that energy

to the world through music.

d Contemplative music d

[I nspectah] RZA 's house was the spot, man.

Like, it just became the thing to do,

like, "Yo, when you've done hustling ,

Iet's go to RZA house."

RZA got the tracks. He'd play the tracks.

We going on for hours,

spending the night,

waking up the next day

you know, sleeping on top of each other.

He Iooked very determined .

He looked like he was on a mission .

His aura just stood out amongst...

everybody.

Literally, I was in the streets a Iot,

know what l'm saying?

But Meth was more serious than me

when it came to entertainment

and making his rhymes.

Just finding something elce to do

instead of just bein9 on the block,

selling drugs, wasting away, and worrying about

if you're 9onna get Iocked up or not.

Come do this rap shit.

RZA was, like, a getaway thing

when it came to me escaping our life.

The condition of the nei0hborhood and the people--

That shit started hitting family and friends.

You know, my brother is me.

You know what l'm saying?

There's no separation in knowledge and understanding .

The father and the son is one and the same.

I was just going with the flow,

but I also felt...

there was gonna be a breakthrough .

It was just a feeling that I--I had .

I felt--I just felt that, Iike...

RZA came to everybody with the proposal

and he told us exactly what he wanted to do.

[RZA] We got-- okay, we got--

We got a Iot of offers and shit,

but the best deal is the deal that we got to do--

To do everything ourselves.

[Method Man] The creative control type of--

[RZA] Right.

And it's the kind of deal

where none of us ain't tied down .

You know, we can sign to another labeI

and all that shit.

That's the kind of deal we want,

where we gonna be no slaves and shit,

'cause most of these record companies

treat you like their son .

We 0onna make it for ourselves

at the same time, the singles, and ...

...nobody gonna steal nothing from us and shit.

That'c our entire plan .

He knew how to speak

in a way where we all felt

what he's sayin0 is real .

He told me, "Just give me a year of your life

and after chit don't go right after a year,

you can 0o back to doing what you're fuckin9 doin0 ."

[indistinct chatter]

[Mook] Yo, that's one of the next moves

we 0otta do, man. We gotta start

building something in Shaolin

of our own shit, you know what I'm saying?

Real , man , you know what I'm saying?

[Mook] At first, we was trying to do everything together.

Every evening, I met with RZA.

We'd have dinner, we'd talk about tomorrow's plan,

what we gonna do.

We started taking meetings

with different labels

and when we went for this deal ,

it's one of the thin0s he told me

he need to have, you know,

regardless of what, when, and where,

we need to have full creative control .

We gonna slaughter it, y'all . We gonna take over this rap world .

[Ghostface] PIay with the niggas.

[Mook] You know, remember,

'cause he had a project before.

It was a dud .

"Ooh , We Love You , Rakeem."

Yo, this is Prince Rakeem,

the Wu-Tang slang master

with the Shaolin posse on Staten Island .

Check out my video, "Ohh , We Love You Rakeem,"

because I love you , too. [Iaughs]

- [woman] Yes. - [woman] Aoow.

[RZA] Sexy stuff.

d L've got too many ladies d

d I've got to learn to say no d

d Ohh, we love you, Rakeem d

d Ohh, Rakeem d

[RZA] When l signed to Tommy Boy,

I wac 1 8 years old .

- What Iabel you on? - I'm on Tommy Boy Records.

[RZA] My record came out at 19.

d Time is moving slow d

d Life is a drag d

d There 's money to make d

d And more girls to bag d

d Fully aware so l step up on the square d

d Looking for what? The cooty and the chair d

[RZA] Got a few shows at 20,

the chance to go out, move that record,

get some fans and a few dollars in my pocket,

and that was it.

d Love to hear them scream d

d Ohh, Rakeem d

d And my ladies love me deeply d

d Because I'm handsome, charming and freaky d

d And when they need me they won 't go d

d And now l'm stuck, I should've said no d

- d No, no, no d - d Ohh, we love you Rakeem d

d And I love you too d

d Oh, oh, we love you Rakeem d

d Thank you d

[RZA] lt wasn 't successful, right?

The song wasn't the kind of vibe I really was on , personally.

I didn't think l was to be sold as a ladiec' man .

d Ohh, we love you, Rakeem d

But l didn't know no better.

Those are very, very, smart people

at the top of this music business.

They got their act together at Tommy Boy.

I didn't know that the label could be wrong.

Yo, it's the Wu-Tan9 CIan, boy.

It started from my man Genius

and Rakeem, you know,

being up in the business and all of that.

Thin0s ain't work out.

[GZA] l had an alhum out on Cold Chillin '.

They try to get a fellow to cross over

on some old crazy stuff and put out somethin0

that wasn't really going with the flow,

you know what I'm saying?

Rakeem was on Tommy Boy, too.

They tried to front on him, you know what I'm saying?

Now they fronting on two members.

Two members of the clan , now,

so what happened now was...

it's time to--it's time to do it ourselves, man .

You know what l'm saying?

'Cause yo, the-- in the street, survival and all that.

You gotta protect your neck, man . See, we from the streets, man .

Don't let these people

change you , baby.

Do what you gotta do, man .

If they don't want to accept your material , man ,

do it yourcelf, man .

And I'm cool with a little bit money save up your joint, man .

Do it yourself. What?

We did it ourselves!

Do it yourself.

[cheers and applause]

d Bring da motherfuckin' ruckus d

d Bring da motherfuckin' ruckus d

d Bring da motherfuckin' ruckus d

- d Bring da motherfuckin ' d - d Yo, yo d

d Ghostface catch the hlast of a hype verse d

d Glock burst, leave in a hearse, l did worse d

d l come rough, tough like an elephant tusk d

d Your head rush, fly like Egyptian musk d

d quiet synth music d

- [RZA] Tangl - [crowd] Wu-Tang!

- [RZA] Ohl - [crowd] Wu-Tang!

- [RZA] Come on, louder! - [crowd] Wu-Tang!

[RZA] Louderl Yeah!

[Mook] You know, l don 't think RZA knew

that it was gonna be ac big as it ic.

I know he always probably wanted it to be.

[RZA and crowd] Wu-Tang! Wu-Tangl

[Mook] That's all he fucking dreamed about, you know--

Was being in this music shit.

[RZA] Give it up for the Wu-Tang Clanl

[cheers and applause]

ddd

[U-God] Power is another brother l knew

since l was a kid.

Power's a stone-cold hustling machine.

Money-getting little nigga from the block.

[indistinct chatter]

[Iaughs]

There's two things that make you do good .

Either you're inspired or you're desperate.

Everybody wac hustling .

Divine Just, Power Cipher.

[Power] Divine is my man, right?

Like, l never really hung out with RZA, hut

ohviously, yeah, this is my man hrother.

He's like, "Yo!

You still wanna do this music shit?

Yo, we gotta do it now

if you want to do it."

That'c when, you know,

I started forming my crew,

started formin0 my company.

What's up? This big Power Cipher,

executive producer on the Wu-Tang Clan joint,

you know what I'm saying?

[Mook] Power came with a shoebox

full of cash .

Shit. "Here."

But yo, who cares about the money, man?

The shot is what it's worth .

[RZA] Then I went to Mike McDonald,

my man Lask.

[Lask] I'm originally from the Bronx.

I moved to Staten Island in 1 976.

We moved to Park Hill .

d Contemplative music d

l was already established in the industry

before Wu-Tang , and I ran into RZA,

and he's like, "Yo, I was looking for you ."

RZA introduced MC. You know,

"Mike could be a great help with us."

[Lask] He 's like, "Yo,

I ain't 0ot no money right now,

but once shit take off,

l got you ,"

so I'm Iike, "Yo, let's do it."

All right, you vice president.

Mook was president of management.

I was vice president of management.

[Iaughs] There was no office, man .

It's street, man . [Iaughs]

We had no office. The office ic RZA's house.

The room was no bigger than this, kid .

Right here is where his little bit of equipment

was set up at. I don't even think

he had a bed in there, 'cause I think

he used to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag.

And I already understood , listening to shit,

"Yo, that shit is bangin0 .

If people could hear that on the radio,

they fucking with that."

I was the promotion man .

That was my thing.

So we 's getting college play, we's getting chart action,

so then me and RZA,

we put come money together,

we hired a publicist.

At the time, I ain't know Divine was involved .

I found out Divine was involved later.

[Mook] Divine...

...was still doing what he do,

but he was feeding the program,

but he wasn't physically there.

'Cause he was away,

doin0 what he do to feed the program .

[Lask] We didn 't have no guides,

so it was a lot of...

...trial and error.

It's, like, on-handc Iearnin0 and fronting a Iot,

because we all came in this together.

Didn't know the business.

Only a couple of us knew some of the business.

It didn't matter, right?

I knew whatever we was gonna try,

win , lose, or draw,

would probably be better

than what we was already doing .

[man] AII right, we're rolling .

My first gig in hip-hop

was doing A&R at Jive Records.

I was a person that, uh, recognized the talent

and then ...

cajoled the label .

So, we had 0otten the, uh,

Wu-Tang demo with "Protect Ya Neck,"

"Method Man," maybe a couple of other songs,

but nobody could touch it,

because it was a non-exclusive deal .

There was no label that was going to give RZA

a non-exclusive deal , meaning that...

when any Iabel si9ns a 9roup,

they have the exclusive right

to si0n every single one of them

if they choose to go do their own solo deals,

so if I sign Destiny's Child ,

I get Beyonc�.

We couldn't sign them ,

hut we met with RZA.

I really Iiked the music,

but more than the music,

I was just so impressed by him .

He had a really unique way

of lookin0 at everything .

Talking about his music,

talking about his group,

his whole vision for everybody.

First it's gonna be Meth,

and then it's gonna be GZA,

and then it's gonna he Dirty,

and then it'll be Ghost and Rae.

We bonded right away,

and we've been friends ever since.

[Ralph] l'm the longest-running

music video show in the world.

Hi , I'm DJ Ralph McDaniels, and , uh ...

welcome to New York's

numher one video show, Video Music Box.

I started in 1983. We still come on.

For 35 years,

we 've been doing Video Music Box.

Voice of the street till I die!

This is the-- the archives.

[coughs]

Um ...

[Ralph] There's tons of tapes down here.

This is ctuff that should be in a museum.

It should be in a better cpace,

'cause there's stuff here that I don't even remember.

You know, Iike, I used to come down here

and go, "Oh, yes, right here,"

and I could do that pretty much with everything right here,

but if it's back there somewhere,

I forgot what's back there now.

Let'c 9o up here.

[gruntc]

U m, okay, this is, uh , Wu-Tan9 "Protect Ya Neck."

RZA said, "Look, l got a video

for a song called 'Protect Ya Neck, '

and I'm gonna bring it to you

and , you know, tell me what you think."

I said , "All right."

So he came

and it was all of these guys.

"What's going on here ? Who are these people ?"

You know.

But that was the rest of the Wu.

I throw in "Protect Ya Neck"

in the 3!4-inch deck, the big cassette decks,

and boom .

I'm like. . . "What the hell is this?"

d I smoke on the mic like "Smokin' Joe" Frazier d

d The hell-raiser raising hell with the flavor d

d Terrorize the jam like troops in Pakistan d

[Ralph] RZA said, "Would you play it?"

I say, "Yeah, l'll play it. ljust, you know--

Just clean it up, you know, when you finish it."

He said , "You can play it Iike that,"

so l said, "lt's got timecode on it."

He's Iike, "That's cool . That's cool .

You can play it like that."

And l started playing it for a while.

You know, I didn 't know what the reaction was,

you know, 'cause there was nothing like that.

d First things first, man, you. . . with the worst d

d l'll be sticking pins in your head d

d Like a. . .nurse d

d l'll attack any. . . d

d Who's slack in his mack d

d Come fully packed with a fat rugged stack d

d Shame on you when you step through to d

d The Ol' Dirty Bastard. . . d

[Ralph] Steve Rifkind called me, and he was like,

"Yo, Ralph, what d'you think of the Wu-Tang, 'Protect Ya Neck'?"

I say, "That was dope. We 're playing the video."

d Yo, chill with the feedback d

d Black, we don 't need that d

d lt's 10 o'clock, ho, where the. ..your seed at? d

d Feelin ' mad hostile wearing A�ropostale d

d Flowin ' like Christ when I speaks the gospel d

He says, "Do you think I should sign them?"

I said , "Absolutely."

d G-Gka-Genius d

d Take us the.. .out of here d

d The Wu is too slammin' for these Cold Killin' lahels d

d Some ain 't had hits since l seen Aunt Mahel d

d Be doin ' artists in like Cain did Abel d

d Now they money's gettin' stuck d

d To the gum under the table d

[Steve] lt was early '93.

- "Protect Ya Neck." - [man] Steve?

- 'N . - [man] "Steven".

I'm like, "What the fuck is this?

This is a rock band ."

So I tried reaching out to RZA.

No answer.

Went on for six weeks.

[man] You called him for six weeks?

Six weeks, no answer,

and he just shows up.

He says, "The guys are here."

You know, "Do you want to meet everybody?"

I'm like, "Yeah ."

So, I'm in a guest office--

I want to say from here--

The size of this table.

And all nine 0uys come in

and they start performing.

[indistinct rapping]

d They drip right out the faucet d

d l'ma walk these dogs seven days a week d

d Niggasjust stay weak, yo d

d Bless the Lord, speak d

d We're on a real rap dip d

d Yo, l got fat shit d

d Just like fittin ' in a phat whip d

d Burning MCs with the bad Gs of war d

d Just like 25 MPV d

d Embalming them like Tutankhamun d

d Lightskin and charmin', hack-packed and armed d

d And ready for the tons of fun d

d And the ones get done d

d Are the ones that are mostly headstrong d

d Bite the rhyme, show 'em who's like that d

d And packing my raps compared to a MAC-10 d

d Rhymes are wholesome d

d All right, hold some d

d Don't fuck with Golden Arms, yeah, l told ya d

d The radio today is making moves d

d With the airplay d

d So l make my own way to get a fair say d

d Niggas here to get shot d

d Making watered-down hip-hop d

d Trying to get played midday at 12 o'clock d

d Rhymes l design hit the ground like the hammer d

d Of Thor, rip the floor like a circular saw d

d You wanna be hard rocks, grab your fake Glocks d

d Watch, this is where your madness stops d

Boy, we got this going .

Wu-Tang . Wu-Tang comin0 at you .

[Steve] Somebody comes barging in

and says, "That'c that shit,"

and then storms out. Never saw him again .

Walked in, said it, left,

so I don't know if I got cet up, didn't get set up...

l thought that was one of hic fucking ctaff people.

I never saw the guy ever a9ain.

So he's saying he ain't know the motherfucker either?

[man] He said he had no idea who-- he said some random guy

came in the office and said , "Yo, that's that shit."

Yeah, no, he wasn't with us, but yeah, it did-- that did happen .

I'm Iooking at that man and I was just starting--

I mean, the energy in the room that day,

just even the energy of the record--

To me, that wac about survival .

It wasn't Iike, "Oh , I'm-- l'm chan9ing the industry."

This was Iike, "I gotta jump-start

this fucking company."

[man] What magazine is that?

This is Beat Down , nigga.

[man] Tell us about it, kid .

A'ight, Beat Down.

Get this shit, $2, man .

Hey, y'all .

They still be 9etting two beans for it, though,

but we got Wu-Tang on the cover, all right?

[ODB] Nah , they poct-- they get how much

the fuck they want to get, they got us up on that beat.

[RZA] Wu-Tan0 on the cover and shit, man .

You'd be like, "This is fuckin' Staten Island advance."

[ODB] I almost lost it, man . I don't even wanna be

in the scene and shit. I ain't even wash up today,

and l hit-- and I had pussy.

[woman] I told you you done stank.

I still got pussy on my balls and dick right now.

- [woman] Eww. [Iaughc] - [Iaughter]

[woman] Eww!

Smell like shit, too.

[indistinct chatter]

[Lask] RZA called me,

says, "Guys, Steve Rifkind's interested in the group."

I was Iike, "I-I-I don't know."

He's a promoter, you know what I'm saying?

So he can get your--

Get your shit out there, you know what I mean,

but as far as a label album-- you know.

He had this Twista,

and that wasn't really happening .

Then he had another artict, too. I forget.

RZA said, "There's nine of us.

You know, l need to shop

each guy on my--"

I have no problem with that, as Iong as I have first ri0ht,

because, to me, the group is always bigger than the solo.

He signed the Wu-Tang CIan as a group,

but not the individuals.

If I go and get my guys signed

somewhere else, they 9ood , right?

We give you opportunity to bid it, but...

you pass on it,

you know we're goin0 over here with them .

He had first right to each member.

You know, if somebody offered them a solo deal,

you run it past him .

If he could match it, he match it.

If he can't, you was free to go,

but that was revolutionary, 'cause it wasn't done before.

A month later, the deal was done.

AII he had was 60 grand , he said .

What I got out of that?

I probably got about a G out of that.

You know, he Iucky, 'cause I don't remember

getting nothing, you know what I'm saying?

"But," he say,

"I'm gonna let you do anything you want to do.

No restrictions.

I support anything y'all want to do,"

and that's all we wanted to hear.

It wasn't about just getting all the money now.

You know, it wasn't about the dough , man .

It was about the-- the plug .

You know what I mean? And the--the doing something

that you could feel good about,

you know, when it's time to get pulled over or--

You know, like, "What?

You're fucking with me?

You don't want to fuck with me, Officer.

You don't want to fuck with me, man .

I 9ot a fucking rap fucking contract, man ."

[indistinct chatter]

Y'all can't stop with that camera.

What's up? Yo.

Look at this shit. Turn around .

See that shit ri0ht there?

They fucking sweating uc. Listen.

They sweating us for no apparent reason.

They on our dick 'cause they see us

with a little bit of something ,

you know what I'm saying, and they want

to come fuck with us. That's my manager!

Know what I'm saying?

Focus on that chit. Word up.

Why they fucking with us?

They always bring that shit to the minority, man .

We can't have shit.

AII ri0ht, no problem .

[Raekwon] They searching people 's shit like that, man.

That's sad , man.

We political , man . We rap stars,

and look what we gotta go through .

I'm letting you know, this chit is real .

You find your 0un?

[man] AIl right, listen to me.

If you want to discuss this,

we'II 0o back to the station house and we'II talk about it.

Whatever, you want to take it to that Ievel?

- We can take it to that Ievel . - We'll take it to that Ievel !

[indistinct chatter]

d Somber music d

[Raekwon] And you just see how it's so hard

for people in the ghetto

to fucking be able to make it,

'cause nine times out of ten ,

we all criminals in they eyes,

and that's fucked-up.

You know what that's for?

'Cause they said they heard

somebody had a gun in there.

- They do that shit all the time. - They heard.

We ' here with babies, man.

AII this shit for nothing . Look.

They acting Iike--like they had M 1 6s

or some shit over there.

Look at that shit, man .

[indistinct chatter]

Killer Hill ! Stay out!

- Get out of here! - Killer Hill ! Stay out!

Ah!

[cheering]

[rap instrumentals playing in background]

[indistinct rapping]

ddd

I want to give a shout-out to my girl , Jennifer!

...I love you ! What's up?

Yeah, b-bum-bum-bum .

I wanna say "peace" to my brother Haas,

the nigga in C94. Peace, boy.

Oh , what's up? I'd Iike to give a shout-out

to Marissa and Jennifer and to all my girls...

I want to give a shout-out to my nigga

born scientifical Van Dyke projects.

Shout out to my sicter Peggy. I love you !

Yo, I wanna give a shout-out to MGP!

We in here, Carl , but bring your full effect.

Zulu king'c in the house.

[cheering]

You too, Mom ! Sue 6�--

I wanna make a shout-out

to my motherfucking brother, Method Man .

Wu-Tang in the house!

I wanna give a shout-out to the whole GP crew!

Hey, yo, Now Born . Now Born's in the house, dog !

I'd Iike to give a shout-out to all my peoples in Shaolin .

[man] Wu-Tan0 !

[man] Shaolin 's coming through.

Protect your motherfucking neck, kid .

Protect your necks, niggas.

This world is real .

[Method Man] Now check it.

L'm cool with the peoples from Park Hill ,

I'm cool with peoples from Stapleton,

I'm cool with peoples from the wild, wild west,

the jungle, [inaudible] .

Now what I'm saying is, right,

there's some shit being spread .

Know what I'm saying?

Nig0as is going and shit--

Whatever, whatever. Do your shit,

but don't involve my peoples with that.

We out here trying to get our shit legal ,

you know what I'm saying?

Don't knock us because we trying to get our shit legal .

We real , we came from the same place y'all came from.

You know what l'm saying?

If y'all with me, where y'all at?

My peoples if you with me, where y'all at?

[indistinct chatter]

[Method Man] Yo, yo! Shaolin ! Shaolin! Shaolin!

[they chant]

Yeah , now RZA, bring that back...

[Method Man] l was actually horn in Long lsland.

'71, March 2nd,

to Genola Williams

and Clifford Smith, Sr.

My old daddy was young , my mom was young ,

and I think they had kids too early.

Either both of them wasn't ready,

one of them wasn't ready-- I don't know.

I'm not here to judge Dad .

I just know that as a child ,

we would move around a Iot

without him .

Sometimes, he would probably be sleep in the bed

and we packed up and we gone,

'cause Genola done packed up the kids

and went back home to I ndiana.

He would always find us, though.

He--he loved his kids, you know.

I know for a fact my father Ioved me, man ,

'cause he used to try and steal me.

You know?

He would try and take me.

"I want my son. " You know what l mean ?

My mother wasn 't having any of that.

We wound up going to

a. . .shelter for battered women

in Brooklyn.

I had to be, Iike, six, seven years old .

It was an experience that I--I cherish ,

because it's the reason why I even ended up

in Staten Island .

See, the thin9 about the shelter was

they would take women in

off the street Iike, right then and there.

Extreme cases, whatever.

That's a dangerous situation regardless,

men beating on women.

I've never put my hand on a woman, no.

The Iady that ran the place was a Muslim lady

named Ummi.

"Ummi" means "mother", of course.

Juct the people that Iived there

there was an African family, Renaldo and his family, and ...

Wayne and Ronnie, who had been there

before l was there,

and just, you know, l took to them

off top, 'cause we were, like, besties.

They gonna bug out when they see this shit,

because they probably think I don't remember them

or they don't know it's me.

It's me, Ronnie, Wayne, and Sean . Yeah .

I used to go through depressions,

'cause all my friends were leaving,

'cause you couldn't stay there that long,

and l rememher Jose was the first one who left.

Wayne, Ronnie--

It was just sad, 'cause l ain 't have no friends there anymore.

I used to just sit by myself.

I wouldn't eat.

Just thinking about, like,

you know, "When is it our time to get the fuck out of here?"

And that time came.

Our first month in Staten Island ,

we Iived with Ummi ...

and then my mother found a place.

The apartment we moved in-- I did not like it.

The look--it smelled funny,

it was weird-Iooking and shit,

'cause I'm a Long Island kid . Green grass...

You know, suburbia.

Black middle class. Very black middle class.

But I adjusted, made friends,

and this was my first exposure to hip-hop.

[hip-hop music playing]

ddd

[GZA] lt feels good

to still be out, performing,

25 years later.

I mean, it's always good to be in a studio

as one, as a single unit,

sharing thoughts and ideas

and rhymes.

It always feels good to he together

and get around each other.

[music briefly plays on computer]

*aunty percussive music resumes]

ddd

[no audible dialo0ue]

[RZA] One thing about the Wu-Tang Clan:

most people don't know that it started

with a man with an idea and a business,

pursuing a dream.

- [man] And that's you . - That's me.

It started with me, Mr. Robert Diggs,

having the experience in the industry--

A bad experience, but an experience

that also gained me knowledge.

I went and formed Wu-Tang Productions.

I have my own record Iabel .

So, Wu-Tang Productions is a company,

similar to Def Jam,

and l pursued talent to join me,

and the talent didjoin me.

d We make music, we make tragic d

d We make music d

d The words came up without the music d

I then went and got contracts drafted up,

and I signed a 50I50 production deal

with each individual .

But the Holy Our'an cays

make it work with your brother,

but put it in a contract

to secure it on paper.

I was never signed to Loud .

I was signed to Wu-Tang Productions.

We was all signed , yeah ,

except for Genius.

I wac never si0ned

to Wu-Tang Productions.

I told RZA, "Man , we family. I mean , we don't--

I don't need to sign anything .

Ac Iong as I keep my word

and you keep yours,

we're good ."

- [man] And rolling . - Okay.

Back in those days, you had , you know,

signin0 directly to the record Iabel ,

or, in some casec, you had the option

of signing a production deal ,

and a production deal was basically,

you have a--a company

that signs to the Iabel

and you sign artists underneath your company.

It--it's easier, in a sense,

to tell these Iabels, "Hey,

I am Whatever Productions.

These 0uys are under me. You deal with me directly."

But in the Iong run,

you know, when people realize

that the label went through you ,

you know, they paid you and you paid them,

then they wonder why how come they don't get

all the money from the Iabel .

You know? It becomes a problem .

"Like, yo, how come I'm ain't get paid as much as you ,

and blah , blah , blah , and you didn't do much

for this record ,"

and it--you know, it gets touchy,

and , you know,

it's a form of control , too, you know,

so I could see that being a problem ,

'cause people don't want to be controlled .

d Dramatic music d

Yeah, yeah, yo, what's up?

This is Lefty Left on the Ieft-hand side

and I'm ri9ht here now

at Firehouse Studios.

We gonna go check out the Wu-Tang Clan.

Follow me.

[GZA] "Protect Ya Neck" was already out there.

Ralph McDaniels was playing a video...

[Method Man] When you think about "Protect Ya Neck, "

we just displayed all the swordsmans we got

so now it was time to record.

Yeah , Firehouse. Yeah, we in here now, y'all .

[RZA] "Enter the Wu-Tang (35 Chambers)."

You know, Prince Rakeem's...

Here we are. This is it.

[man] 'Sup, baby? Look into the camera.

- What's goin0 on , baby? - The fuck you wanna know, man?

[indistinct chatter]

I'm gonna get rich this shit. You know what l'm saying?

Old GZ back in this piece, what you eating, fish , do?

[man] Word up. What's going on?

Do you wanna give me some freectyle off the dome

a Iittle Iater on?

It's the manager ri0ht here, Mike.

What's going on , baby? How you doing?

What's going on? Peace.

My man , l nspectah Deck.

What's up, baby? What's up?

[I nspectah] Firehouse Studios.

It was like a Iittle hole-in-the-wall spot.

It had some decent equipment in there.

I remember the pipes and everything

coming through there.

You know, it used to get hot

and we uced to just have

mad people coming in and out.

It was a party every night.

Method Man , what's up, baby?

Love, Iove. What's up, yo?

My man, Raekwon the Chef. What's up?

What's going down up in this piece, son?

It's on , baby, I'm telling you .

This year is our year, man .

[Raekwon] l was excited, you know, from looking

at something on TV

to saying, "Damn, l could do that, "

to now,

I'm getting that shot!

It's like, "Holy shit. Niggas giving me the floor?

Oh , I'm gonna. . ."

Shh , shh. If it make it, it make it.

If it don 't, shh. lt was just ahout heing there.

You know, we making come noise

and we about to blow the fuck up.

Genius is just the beginning

of what's about to take place. Know what I'm saying?

We gonna rock the fucking rap industry.

We gonna fuck everybody up.

I don't give a fuck. We fucking running

all this shit. Know what I'm saying?

Well , 'cause shit definitely ain't gonna be

the same no more. Trust me.

d Somber orchestral music d

ddd

[ODB] l got three babies out here.

I like to see my children and they wake me up.

ddd

Where I grew up,

it was always a struggle.

Being with the Wu-Tang Clan--

I could change a lot of things in my life.

ddd

l got my earth, my wife right here.

Know what I'm saying? Shaquita be earth

in the name ofAllah.

I Iove my wife,

dearly.

[Icelene] We had our first two children

while we lived here.

Yeah, 11 2 Putnam Avenue.

We used to put our milk out on the, um--

On the Iedge.

We ain't have no refrigerator.

We went through a lot.

ddd

We were righteous people

in the nation of gods and earths.

They're not like other kids

because they have knowledge.

Knowledge, wisdom , and understanding.

They know the real true meaning of it.

He was god, and l was considered as the earth,

and earth has to he watered.

[Iaughs] So being watered means

that just nourished me, and take care of me,

and teach me how to take care of mycelf.

By this time, he done gave me my name and everything.

"Shaquita be earth in the name of Allah ,

for I be the one who reflects

the li0ht of Allah into the seats of Allah ,

thus bringin9 forth thece positive reactions

of the one and only.

I be the reproducer for what Allah borns.

Being black is being beautiful,

for all things come from originaI

Peace, I sincerely Iove AIIah's mathematics

is good for the mind and good for the body."

Uh, sorry.

[cries]

He, um...

He made me, um...

...remember that, 'cause when we were in a--

In a bathroom in his apartment,

I wacn't allowed to Ieave the bathroom

until I knew it,

and he wouldn't let me out of the bathroom .

He said , "No, when you learn that,

and what your name means,

then you can come out of the bathroom ,"

and I stayed in there for hours. . . [laughs]

...'Cause I didn't Iike to study,

and I didn't want to, um-- I didn't want to learn it,

but, um , I see that he wasn't Ietting me out of the bathroom,

and he's seeing I have problems with ctudying,

so he was on the other side of the bathroom,

and we would go over, word for word,

centence for sentence,

and I would learn how to-- what it meant,

and it just took me a Iong time to get it, but I 0ot it,

and then , by me goin0 through that,

it meant a lot to me,

'cause he made me learn it,

and once I learned it,

I kept it with me all my life.

Yeah , yeah , it did .

It sort of--at that point, it just changed my whole life,

'cause I had a meanin9 to my name.

No one never gave me a meaning to my name.

My grandma named me Tracy, 'cause I look Iike a Tracy,

but it was just real special .

d Smooth music d

I think that what was different about them

was that you could really hear

the truth through their lyrics.

That was definitely one of the things

that we had in common

because we was coming from this--

We was cut from the same kind of cloth .

You know, I was able to just let my frustration off

on the microphone.

d Sometimes l wonder do l deserve to live d

d Am l gonna burn in hell for all the things l did d

It was like, [sighs] I got that out.

You know.

One of my friends, Saul Moskovich , had , uh ...

like, uh , "36 Chambers," Iike, on tape,

so I was, like, nine or ten,

and we Iictened to it

just, like, over and over and over

and over and over and over again .

You know, I remember, like, we were really into

"Cash Rules Everything Around Me,"

and , like, my friends would listen to it,

and it's a really sad song in a Iot of ways,

and the beat is kind of sad, and , Iike,

it just alwayc seemed like

the music I listened to had a very hard approach

to these terrible circumstances,

and , I think,

some of the Wu-Tang songs

were the first songs

that I heard that had , like,

an approach that really acknowled0ed, Iike,

the sadness, um , and, Iike, the pain of it.

And I think even to-- to take it further,

I think that's why they was

the moct successful,

because. . .they

was masters at expressing

their pain . You know?

Bein0 able to speak it where you could understand it

and , you know, it didn't-- it never went over your head ,

you know?

[Bobbito] WKCR 89.9 FM .

My name is Bobbito Garcia.

[Stretch] DJ Stretch Armstrong .

[Dontae] l heard 'em up on Stretch and Bobhito's show,

and then l rememher finding out

that they weren't all cigned to Loud ,

that they all had individual options.

Peace to Bobbito!

Shout out to everybody in Shaolin!

d First of all, son, peep the arson d

d Many brothers I be sparkin ' d

d And hustin' mad light inside the dark d

d Call me dough snatcher d

d Just the hrother for the rapture d

d l hang glide holdin ' on strong d

d Hard to capture d

[Dontae] And l took a cab up there

and l went to meet 'em. RZA knew who l was,

and he was like, "Yeah, you knew me when I was wack,

when l was fucking with Tommy Boy Records."

d Somber music d

RZA, Masta Killa, and Dirty

all came to my office.

I thought that Meth was a standout star,

and l was Iike, "Where's Meth?" and he was Iike,

"Yeah, I'ma put Meth over here with Russell now,"

Iike he's gonna be on Def Jam.

I'II sign that piece today.

Def Jam .

It's goin0 DZA.

Hell yeah . Ah !

Ah! Go--Ah , shit, nig0a.

Yeah .

Sitters said they'Il buy it.

Getting fucked up now to celebrate.

[Iaughs]

"But I-I want to put Dirty here with the 0ods."

You know, he's a very smart guy, RZA.

He knew what everything wac. He's playing chess,

so he had already, I think, in his mind--

Even before I met him, he probably wanted to put

Dirty on Elektra.

I think he thought that was

the place for him to he.

[Method Man] We had labels that

would usually be competing against each other

actually working with each other

for our cause.

I nsane.

Unheard of.

RZA had the plan ,

but who knew?

And , uh ...

I guess I got lucky.

I 9uess we all did .

That's pretty cool. Pretty cool.

ddd

[ODB] Yo, yo, yeah, yeah.

Know what I'm saying?

Getting ready to do something with Elektra,

you know what I'm saying?

Watch out for it.

It's called "Dirty Kung Fu ."

You know, it's gonna come to you loud .

[laughter]

Yo, ignore these nig0as, yo.

AII right, what's going on , man?

- Hi . - [Iaughter]

This is my Iittle sister over here.

I'm saying? Just chilling

and shit, you know what I'm saying?

[Dontae] So when I signed him, RZA Iiterally brought me

the two-inch reels,

and he was Iike, "Yo,

here's the record ."

I was like, "What the fuck?"

[Iaughs]

- Yo. - [man] That finish weak.

Nigga dissing me.

[Iaughs]

[man] Go ahead , man .

Yo, check it out. Yo, yo--

[Dontae] Dirty was a genius. Like, you know,

he was a hrilliant guy.

The whole album cover was his idea.

"I want to make my album, uh , my welfare card ,"

and he brought his card.

It's strictly fucking welfare. You know what l'm saying?

'Cause I've been living in a shelter

all my life and shit.

[Dontae] You know, he sold a lot of records.

He was a star.

White people love OI' Dirty Bastard .

You know, and it's fucked-up, why they Iove him , right?

They Iove him because he's like Flavor Flav.

He's a fuckin0 clown.

You know, some liberal

clandestine racism to me.

Dirty was being Dirty,

but to me, he was never a clown . He was brilliant.

This is how I get my money.

You know? I'm not ashamed .

Don't you be ashamed !

There was a, um , food stamp card

that I had as an I D,

and he didn't have one, but l had one,

and it had my picture on it,

and he put his face on it and used the same thing.

He put "35 Chambers"

or "ODB. " He just fixed it up

and that's what was hic album cover,

and he just did that, and he's like,

"Oh , l got a 0reat idea, Shaquita."

I'm Iike, "Really?" [Iaughs]

I say, "You can't do that." I say, "No, it's embarrassing,"

'cause I was embarrassed to be on food stamps.

I never was ashamed of welfare.

I love being on welfare. l don't care.

You owe me 40 acres and a mule anyway.

For real .

I wasn't asked to come here.

Know sayin'?

From--from-- from a bad action ,

you're gonna get a bad reaction , you know?

You make a dollar bill

and it's only paper.

That's all it is, is paper.

Know saying? And then you make us fi0ht

and kill one another

over paper.

That's how I feel about it,

and that's how I'm always 0onna feel about it, man .

d The GZA on the motherfucking set d

d We got the prince, the RZA d

d The Ol' Dirty Bastard d

d Kicking mad shit d

[GZA] lt felt good,

especially after Ieaving Cold Chillin'.

ddd

Boy. Yes, yep.

[Inspectah] ljust rememherjust hearing them heats

for the first time.

[GZA] Almost like striking back.

We'll show them.

[indistinct chatter]

[Method Man] l mean, l sat there watching

RZA make the beat, you know.

Well, you see him have the record. lt was--it was

you know, a lot of [scatting]

playing the shit, looping it.

[scatting]

Playing the shit, looping it.

d Smooth music d

But the thing that I paid attention most to

was when he caught the melody.

ddd

lt was like, "Ooh, that right there sounds dope.

ddd

Raekwon and Power, Deck, and Meth

would come over often.

[Inspectah] God bless, you know, RZA 's mom.

She used to welcome us in

and then kick us out.

She used to make us 0o out on the balcony,

so RZA had to get the Iong mic cord ,

and while he's inside the house

we on the balcony, on the mic, and he's working the beats

and we just passing the mic back and forth ,

and he'c just recordin0 everything .

RZA wanted that dusty,

45 record ,

"shit popping off the needle"

style of music, you know what I mean?

He felt that the more clocer we are to the streets,

the more respect it's gonna get.

I pick the beat up,

and Iet Deck and Raekwon go,

and they 0ot on this track, yo,

and they both did

about 64 bars apiece. [Iaughs]

Me and Rae did , like, three verses apiece on that.

Anyway, that cong was called

"The Lifestyle of the Mega-Rich ."

That's "Lifestyles of the Mega-Rich,"

It's simply that freestyle shit, G .

But it had no hook.

Method Man had the best hooks,

hands-down . You know what I mean?

And if l wanted a hook,

"Yo, Meth , I need a hook for this chit."

[Method Man] My hoy Raider Ruckus got locked up.

He used to write me these letters

and l remember him

putting "C. R. E.A. M ." in one of them .

Gotta get this C. R. E.A. M .

Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

[both] C. R. E.A. M .--Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

Because cream rises, you know?

So money make you rise, so "cream" was money.

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A.M. get the money Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A.M. get the money d

d Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A. M., get the money d

d Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

and I was Iike, "S--that's it right there."

Deck and Rae, man .

Like, that is Wu-Tang right there

when I think of Wu-Tang and shit

in my--in--in my head .

[RZA] Yo, Rae, come here, man .

[falcetto] What up?

Hey, Rae, you ready?

I can't even fucking hear it!

I got the shit jacked , G .

I can hear it, but turn it up.

d Take you on a naturaljourney d

- You all set, Rae? - [man] Here we go.

d Yo, l grew up on the crime side d

d The New York Times side d

d Staying alive was no jive d

d Had secondhands d

d Mom's bounced on old man d

d So then we moved to Shaolin land d

d A young youth, yo, rocking the gold tooth d

d 'Lo goose only way l be getting d

d The G off was drug loot d

Raekwon's first verse

just was a--

I think a great way

to describe growing up in New York.

His voice and his--his cadence followed by I ncpectah Deck.

d Mothertucking lifestyles and shit d

[RZA] "22 long hard years and l'm still struggling".

d It's been 22 long hard years d

d l'm still struggling d

d Survival got me bugging d

d But l'm alive on arrival d

d l peep at the shape of the streets d

d And stay awake to the ways of the world d

d 'Cause shit is deep d

"And I'm alive on arrival".

[Iaughs] Instead of dead on arrival ,

I'm alive on arrival .

You know what I mean? They describe his life.

d A man with a plan, a dream d

d To make cream, which fail d

d l went to jail at the age of 1 5 d

Each one of them describing their Iives, I think,

was--was powerful.

[Method Man] When this nigga came home from camp,

l Iook up, I remember looking for Deck

for three days, 'cause everybody was buzzing,

talking about, "Yo, Deck is-- Deck--Deck--Deck--

This nigga--this nigga nasty."

Never even heard the nigga rhyme.

Used to be in his house all the fucking time.

And , do you remember when he spit?

I think it was the one--

"The rhyme where I shine Iike gold ."

[Method Man] That rhyme. That was the first verse.

I told him that the other day. "Average Flow" shit.

When he came over and dropped "Average Flow Niggas"--

Yeah, he blew niggas out of the water with that one.

That's when we was all at Stapleton .

You remember, you used to come

from Park Hill , and then we'd go to Stapleton?

You know, we knew we wac 9onna see Ghost, RZA,

GZA might be there,

Dirty might be on his way on the ferry.

Yo, let me tell you something . This is Iike a test, man .

Everybody keep their Iittle doss to themselves,

- but it's Iike, "Yo, it's hard ." - No, nig9as are still sharing.

No, niggas are still sharing bars, do0 .

- A few lines. - I crumpled up mad paperc,

writing rhymes with these nig0as, yo.

We wrote rhymes to0ether, though .

We write rhymes together, but--but not everybody.

[Raekwon] When lnspectah Deck came out

with "l smoke on the mic, "

that's when I knew that "Yo, you know what?

I ain't waiting for nobody else.

I'm getting up next."

We knew how to feed off each other,

you know what I mean ? 'Cause RZA started to learn

who sound good with who.

That's the worst shit you can do

to an MC in the studio

- while he writing . - [Inspectah] Bug anybody?

"Yo, check thic shit out I just wrote."

"Nah , nigga, I'm writing ri0ht now."

[laughter]

It's like he might come through with the crazy shit

and then just kill your shit. Like, damn ...

- Deck was definitely known for that, too. - Yeah , yeah .

He--he the first. He go first.

He humble as fuck.

He had us in that studio for hours,

trying to follow one of his verses.

It's a challenge, B.

[U-God] Deck was a Iittle fucking moncter.

d . . .And l ask: what's it worth d

d Ready to give up so l seek the old Earth d

d Who explained workin ' hard and now you maintain d

d To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain d

d We got stick-up kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks d

d And stray shots all on the block that stays hot d

d Leave it up to me. . . d

[Ghostface] All of us was around each other

for that first album.

Everyhody was there all the time.

d Ain't tryna hear what I'm kickin ' in his ear d

There was a Iotta input.

Everything was

critiqued, tight, and was no feelings involved.

ddd

Yo, shit is getting 'tiqued out here.

ddd

d Yo d

[Raekwon] Hey, you , it's nighttime.

[Cappadonna] And it was just fun.

We was just there.

The spirit was in the air.

[l nspectah] And it's like, "Yo, what's happening?"

Like, yeah , we just Iooking at each other, like

"You ready? You ready?"

But that's Mister Smith, right?

That's all l nspectah Deck killing that shit.

I nspectah Deck?

What's the name of this joint right here?

Enou9h about here.

It's called "C. R. E.A. M ."

Mm, yeah.

d Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

I'm here, bro. Steve from Loud Records.

Kick a Iittle song for me, Steve. What's up?

Waiting to have Wu-Tang finish their album

so we can 0et this out and go platinum with it.

- [man] That's about it? - That's about it.

I have nothing to say. I don't like to talk.

[man] All right, I hear that. Oh, Steve, yo.

Everybody was young .

Pan that shit the fuck up.

[Mook] The only way you sell a product:

motherfuckers gotta know you got a product,

and then they gotta know that that shit is good .

I had to market that album, mold it,

hit the streets with the dudes.

Interviews...

'Cause you dealing with a group

of righteous men ri9ht here.

We the gods, man , and our job is to teach.

[Mook] Shows...

Wu-Tan9 is comin0 to your neighborhood pretty soon .

Power Cipher, Divine! Power Cipher, Divine!

Power Cipher, Divine!

[Mook] Guest appearances, walkthroughs...

[woman laughs]

Hey, thank you .

[woman] Everybody else was full .

[Mook] Anything l could find to get them noticed,

get them out there in the street,

to make motherfuckers listen to 'em .

ddd

[Lask] You know, it was all new.

I mean, you put a single out and it took off.

Next thing you know, you're doing shows, you're in demand ,

and when we're out there, we all learning.

We 're all making mistakes.

We only here to show and prove the realism .

We ain 't here just to be rhyming, man.

[Lask] They was hungry.

We was going for Boston ,

to Florida, hack up, Virginia, Philly...

Sometimes we 'd do two, three shows in one night.

You know, I remember going to Philly and do a show

and then we had to be at the Fever

in the Bronx the same night,

and we just on the highways,

speeding, 1 0� miles an hour,

zipping back to the Bronx.

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A.M., get the money dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d A young youth, yo, rockin ' the gold tooth, 'Lo goose d

d Only way l begin the G off was drug loot d

d And let's start it like this, son d

d Rollin ' with this one and that one d

d Pullin ' out gats for fun d

d But it was just a dream d

d For the teen who was a fiend d

d Started smokin ' woolies at 1 5 d

Hi , my name is Tonya. I want to give

a shout-out to my son , Dontae,

and a shout-out to my man, U-God.

[Method Man] Peace, bahy, you.

You'II be home in a minute.

I love you , my nigga.

U-God was in jail at the beginning.

[U-God] l came in

out of the fuckin0 can ,

so l'm trying to adjust to all this shit

that was going on.

I got two feloniec, so I gotta report

to the parole officer.

You know, is it cool

to go to Baltimore to do the show?

For the most part, he was working with me.

You know, as long as they see that you're making moves...

That's just the beginning, all ri0ht?

It's just the beginning!

We did it...

...the only way we knew how to do it.

We just did it.

[man] If you came out here

to see Wu-Tang,

Iet me hear you say

"Wu-Tang!"

Wu-Tang!

- [man] Wu-Tang ! - Wu-Tang !

- Wu-Tang ! - Wu-Tang !

[man] We up in this Wu-Tang Clan record release party,

you know what I'm saying?

I got the clan ri0ht here.

I 0ot Inspectah Deck, I got U-God .

Shaolin is in the house, man . 36 Chambers.

This the RZA's cister. Sharif. What's up, baby?

Yo, this party is mad phat.

Mad industry people,

mad girls.

We got mad celebrities up in here.

Loud Records up in this piece, you know what I'm saying?

My man Dres from BIack Sheep.

What's up, baby? How you doing?

Just taking it eacy, bro.

Oh , we got West Coact flavor here.

We got MCA up in this piece.

What's up, baby?

Yeah , I'm just chilling , know what l'm saying ,

over here on the East Coast

at the Wu-Tan0 Clan party.

Oh , shit, we got Sadat up in this piece.

What's up, bro?

Lounging , man . You 0ot some hot-ass Iights.

I got my man Evil Dee from BIack Moon up in this piece.

[man] Fucking Buckshot Shorty and Dru-Ha and shit.

d Rolling with the kids is not your kind d

d Whether you're deaf, dumb, and blind d

d Nah d

Yo, get a look at this crowd !

[man] Say it now, motherfuckin0 house!

[all] Wu !

[man] Wu-Tan0 !

- [all] Wu-Tang! - [man] Wu-Tang !

[all] Wu-Tang!

[man] Wu-Tan0 !

[crowd] Wu-Tan0 !

[man] Wu-Tan0 !

[cheering, chantin0]

[U-God] It wasjust new.

It was different, it was grimy,

it was hard.

It was the essence of us from the streets,

and we was really living that shit.

Shaolin representin0 this joint.

[U-God] Just, like,

you can absorb ener0y

and that shit just stick to you .

Itjust spilled out in the music.

But yo, Cream, that stand for money, man .

Cash rules everything around me, man .

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C. R. E.A.M., get the money d

d Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d lt's been 22 long, hard years d

d I'm still strugglin ' d

d Survival's got me huggin ' d

d But l'm alive on arrival d

d l peep at the shape of the streets d

d And stay awake to the ways of the world d

d 'Cause shit is deep d

d A man with a dream with plans to make cream d

d Which failed, l went to jail at the age of 1 5 d

d A young buck sellin ' drugs and such d

d Who never had much d

d Tryin ' to get a clutch at what I could not d

When "C. R. E.A. M ." dropped ,

that's when shit got funky.

d The court played me short, now l face incarceration d

d Pacin ', goin ' upstate 's my destination d

d Handcuffed in the back of a bus, 40 of us d

d Life as a shorty shouldn't he so rough d

They dropped the fucking music video

and the record the next day after.

More things just started popping off, then.

We did Arsenio Hall .

PIease give it up for Wu-Tang CIan .

Go, yo. Go, go, go.

ddd

[indistinct shouting]

Since toni0ht is the night

of all nights!

Moct people gather around

to see the show

that is coming through your town .

My name, besides you don't know,

is Wu-Tang!

[U-God] That shit went from

200, 000 sales.

That shit went to 500, 000,

then 500, 000 to 700, 000,

then I0�,000 to 1 .2 million to 1 .5 million .

Then shit just went nuts after that.

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A.M., get the money, dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d Wu-Tang d

d Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang d

d Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang d

d Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang d

After that, I knew Iife wac never gonna be the same.

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C. R. E.A.M., get the money d

d Dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

d Cash rules everything around me d

d C.R.E.A.M., get the money, dollar, dollar bill, y'all d

ddd

Music, to me,

is a reflection of what you go through .

We in the hood. We don 't go to therapy.

We just take it for what it was.

If somebody get their head blown off in front of us,

or we duck shotc and we fuck around

and get into scuffs and fight and 9et cut

or 0et chot, or grazed , or--

We just wipe it off and keep it going .

Then my son got shot.

d Uneasy music d

[RZA] U-God, one of our members--his son Dontae--

He got blasted,

understand, around the way--

Force-fire shootout, man, you know what I'm saying?

- [Dontae] Mommy! - [Tonya] What?

[Dontae] My boy, Method Man . Woo!

[Tonya] That's nice.

Dontae, you know he lost his spleen.

- [man] How old is he ? - He's two years old.

Lost his spleen [inaudible).

Yeah, he 's paralyzed in one leg.

He's going through therapy right now.

We gonna push it.

Up a Iittle bit more. Hi0h up. H igh up.

High up, high up. There.

And so Iet's see if you can do thic.

One, two.

Oh, you're doing such a good job.

We just realized that

all that gold record and all that

will not really save you

from the brutality

or from the subtext you gotta go through

[inaudible].

- Wu-Tang. - Wu-Tangl

[applause]

Welcome home, Dontae Hawkins,

Staten Island's littlest hero.

Aww.

[man] There's a lot of Dontaes out there.

[woman] Look at Dontae!

[man] And we, as a society,

owe it to these young people

to make life safer for them,

so that's our mission.

This is a Staten Island story, ladies and 0entlemen .

This is our story.

We 're not gonna let them

forget Dontae. We can't.

d The Charmels' ''As Long As l've Got You" playing d

d No fire is too hot d

d No snow is too cold d

ddd

d Youth will never Ieave me d

d l'll never grow old d

d Never, never d

d Never, never d

d l feel free as a hird d

d Flyin ' around in the hlue d

d As long as, haby d

d As long as I've got you d

ddd

d As long as I've got you d

d You d

d As long as I've got you d

ddd

[ship horn honks]

d Contemplative synth music d

[Power] Arsenio Hall?

Forget about it.

Shit was perfect.

It was beautiful.

ddd

We came out and we made our mark,

and I think

dudes lost sight of

how that actually really happened.

ddd

Man , we done came a Iong way.

Yo, this is Rakeem's brother...

Divine was always my man, right?

Wu-Tang, baby. Watch out!

Watch out! It's coming down , baby!

[indistinct chatter]

[Lask] Well, Divine, l mean,

early, early on, l didn 't really see him

that often. You know what l mean ?

I started seeing him a little later.

Like, l rememher one time,

RZA came and he say, "Yo,

Power and 'Vine 's gonna he part of management."

You know what I mean?

More or less. So I wac Iike,

"Okay, you know, whatever."

[Power] l mean, Mook and Lask--

A lot ofpeople don 't know our husiness

and didn't know our business.

They just seeing everythin0 comin0 together

and yeah , those guys worked for us.

When they came, they was work for hire,

and we was growing ,

co we needed somebody

to be a mana9er every day.

I ain't know they were investors.

I was Iike, "Yo, like, okay," but Iike,

l didn't understand.

L'm thinking

"Okay, now we got to split this four ways."

Like, "Oh, man ." You know?

Just when we starting to make money,

now my--my cut's gettin0 lower. [Iaughs]

[electronic beep]

ddd

[man] This is, uh , Divine interview, take one.

- [clapboard claps] - [electronic beep]

No.

RZA's kept a--a ban

on my--my ability to speak publicly.

He's just been Iike, "No, they're not ready for you ."

RZA's Iike, "Vine, you are a fucking tyrant."

[Iaughs]

I am a tyrant,

and not in the negative sense of the word .

I'm a bucinessman .

I think about business

when I'm asleep,

but I can honestly tell you

that them motherfuckers drove me

to the point whereas l Iost it,

and l Iost myself

because I stopped believing in who I was.

I basically wasn't allowed to speak,

but now he's like, "Eh, your 25 years is up.

You're free to go do whatever you want."

[Iaughs]

d Mellow hip-hop music d

ddd

d Yo, yo d

d Champagne nights on the corner mad heavy d

d Around the time when I was beefin' with Wizzy d

d Starks, State, and Clayhourne drawers d

d Dickin ' bitches down, they man come through d

d Damn near kissed the ground jumpin ' out of big shit d

d With Benetton pajamas on d

d Line my soldiers up, strategize d

d Then l move my pawns d

d Should've heen ltalian d

d How l'm getting that Parmesan d

d Talkin ' 'bout the ones d

d You keep puttin ' those commas on d

d And l'ma keep hope alive d

d 'Cause mad lil' niggas look up to me outside d

d Breaking dawn blunted d

d Yums in they mouth d

d I drop a jewel, they see the C-ciphers d

d Then bounce d

d Peace, God, you see Rae. .. d

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