Wu-Tang Clan release 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'
Loud / RCA issues the debut LP by the Staten Island and Brooklyn nine-member collective. RZA produces the entire record from a basement in Stapleton with a single Ensoniq EPS — sparse, dusty, kung-fu-film-soundtracked beats over which GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa trade verses. The contract RZA negotiates with Loud allows individual Wu members to sign solo deals with other labels.
Why it matters
*36 Chambers* fully resets the East Coast aesthetic away from the polished, commercial sound of the early-90s majors. RZA's clause about solo deals — almost unheard-of in 1993 — produces an unprecedented run of Wu solo records (Method Man *Tical*, Raekwon *Only Built 4 Cuban Linx*, Ghostface *Ironman*, GZA *Liquid Swords*) that effectively run the second half of the 1990s East Coast canon.
Branches
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