Wu-Tang Clan signs to Loud Records with unprecedented solo-deal terms

Why it matters

In 1992, the RZA negotiated a record deal for the Wu-Tang Clan with Loud Records on terms that nobody in major-label rap had pulled off before. The deal preserved each Wu-Tang member's individual right to sign a separate solo deal with a different label. There was no exclusivity clause. The collective deal was for the group; the solo deals were each member's own to make. Within three years the strategy paid out. Method Man went to Def Jam. Raekwon stayed at Loud. ODB went to Elektra. GZA went to Geffen. Ghostface went to Razor Sharp/Epic. The Wu got nine members getting nine solo platforms instead of one group platform. RZA was producing most of the records across all the deals, which meant the Wu sound (the dusty kung-fu-sample, sparse-drum, raw-MPC sound) spread across every major label in New York. No other group in rap history has been able to copy the trick at scale. RZA had not just made a hot album. He had made a labor contract. You can argue it is the smartest single negotiation in the business history of rap.