Staten Island
rappers.
Shaolin. One crew off the ferry turned a rap group into a business model.
Staten Island's rap history is mostly one story, and it is a big one. The Wu-Tang Clan built a sound around RZA's dusty, kung-fu-sampling production and nine distinct voices.
Their record deal let members sign solo contracts with other labels, which is why the mid-'90s produced a run of Wu solo albums on different imprints. Rappers still study that structure as much as the music.
Staten Island1993
Wu-Tang Clan
36 Chambers and a group deal that let every member sign solo elsewhere
Golden ageProfile →Park Hill1994Method Man
Wu-Tang's first solo star: Tical, the Mary J. Blige duet, and the Redman partnership
Golden ageProfile →Stapleton Houses1996Ghostface Killah
Supreme Clientele, Ironman and the most vivid storytelling in the Wu-Tang camp
Golden ageProfile →Keep moving