Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is released

Why it matters

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) came out on Loud Records on November 9, 1993. The Wu at this point was nine MCs from Staten Island (with one, Masta Killa, just barely on the album). RZA produced everything. The album was recorded in a basement on a small budget over the course of months, after the "Protect Ya Neck" single had done enough independent business to get the major-label deal that paid for the studio. 36 Chambers does not sound like any other 1993 rap album. The production is dusty, sparse, off-time, sometimes deliberately unfinished. The MCs trade verses in unconventional combinations: Method Man takes a solo cut, then Ghostface and Raekwon trade on the next track, then ODB plays the tenth man on a song he was not supposed to be on. The kung-fu samples are everywhere. The cover art is a group photo of nine masked figures. Loud assumed the album would do underground numbers and watched it eventually sell three million copies. By the end of 1995, all nine members had solo deals at six different labels. The album is the foundation of everything Wu-related that has followed. You should hear it. There is nothing like it.