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January 25, 2007 at 05:59:00 PM | more stories by this author
Staten Island hip-hop collective to regroup for first studio album since 2001; tribute to the late Ol' Dirty Bastard to be included.
If you're strolling down the street tonight and happen to catch a glimpse of a giant "W" in the sky where the moon should be, there's only one explanation: the Wu is back.
The Wu
Wu-Tang Clan, the seminal hip-hop collective from Staten Island, New York, said today that it plans to release its fifth studio album, and its first since 2001, through a one-album deal with Steve Rifkind's SRC label and Universal Music.
The album will be called 8 Diagram, appropriately named after a cult kung-fu film, Eight Diagram Cudgel, and will include all eight of the living original members of the group: RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, and U-God.
"People want something that gives them an adrenaline rush," group leader RZA said in a statement. "We're here to supply that fix. How could hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever? We're here to revive the spirit and the economics and bring in a wave of energy that has lately dissipated."
The album will likely include unreleased material from the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, whose posthumous solo album has been given several release dates by Dame Dash Music group but has failed to see the light of day.
The Wu album is also expected to include an Ol' Dirty tribute track called "Life Changes." Ol' Dirty, who went by a litany of aliases (Osirus, Joe Bananas, Dirt McGirt, Dirt Dog, and Big Baby Jesus) but whose real name was Russell Jones, died of a drug overdose in November 2004.
"This is the perfect time for us to come back, the stars are aligned," RZA said. "It's like when we first started with Steve. We put out real hip-hop at a time when it was turning into pop or R&B. We brought the focus back to the music in its rawest form, without studio polish or radio hooks."
Also on the way is Wu-Tang Clan & Friends - Unreleased, a rarities collection that shines the spotlight on some lesser-known Wu-Tang affiliates. That album hits stores February 6.
11 Comments
Oldest First | Newest FirstFor instance, GZA's Grandmasters is great, but the fact that it tries to sound to much like deja vu, it simply stills a little bit of shine because of the long gap between release.
I truly want that the 8th Diagram maintains the same tradition of the other Wu albums, Iron Flag and The W are probably the ones could sound similar the most; fore the rest, The W sounds so different from WTF, and the same goes for WTF relating to The 36 Chambers.
Quality and creativity above all.
Rap needs a good kick in the pants.
Gotta diversify yo stuff dude.