Wu Tang Clan consists of Clifford Smith, Corey Woods, Darryl Hill, Dennis Coles, Gary Grice, Jamal Turner, Jason Hunter, Lamont Hawkins, Robert Diggs, Russell Tyrone.
Wu-Tang Clan is a pioneering hip hop group, originally from Staten Island, New York, USA (Staten Island is referred to as "Shaolin" in their lyrics).
The crew was initially composed of nine MCs, though it was reduced to eight with the death of original member Ol' Dirty Bastard in 2004. All nine members have released solo albums, and the group has spawned many affiliate groups. This was the plan from the group's inception: to become an empire by taking over the hip hop community through saturation of like minded artists.
Though the group's style has evolved considerably over the years, and the solo projects of individual members differ in tone and content, the group is generally well-known for thumping, surreal beats and aggressive lyrics loaded with metaphor, references to life in New York City, and allusions to Chinese folklore and martial arts films.
The founders of Wu-Tang Clan were cousins GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and The RZA who had previously comprised the by-then-defunct trio Force Of The Imperial Master, who became better known as All In Together Now after they had a popular single of that name. The group had attracted the attention of some in the industry, including Biz Markie , but had never managed to secure a record deal. Since the crew dissolved, GZA (then known as the Genius) and The RZA (then known as Prince Rakeem) had also embarked on separate unsuccessful solo careers with Cold Chillin Records and Tommy Boy Records respectively. The three cousins' frustration with the workings of the hip hop music industry would provide the main inspiration to Wu-Tang's revolutionary business plan.
Wu-Tang Clan was gradually assembled in late 1992 from friends and accomplices from around Staten Island, with The RZA as the de facto leader & the group's producer. The two cousins (GZA and The RZA) created their new Wu-Tang aliases by mimicking the sound that the words "genius" and "rakeem" would make when scratched on a turntable. The name of the group itself originates from the Wudang (or Wu-Tang) Mountains in the Hubei province of China, which are a traditional center of Chinese martial arts; The RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard adopted the name for the group after seeing the kung-fu film Shaolin and Wu-Tang, which features a school of warriors trained in Wu-Tang style (many dialogue excerpts from the film were used on their debut album). The group have also developed various backronyms for the name (as hip hop pioneers like KRS One and Big Daddy Kane did with their names), including "We Usually Take All Niggas' Garments," "Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game" and "Wisdom, Universe, Truth, Allah, Nation, and God". This is reflected by the teaching of the 5% nation of Gods and Earths. The group's now-famous logo was designed by long-time associate and graffiti artist Mathematics, who would go on to become the group's DJ and one of its most sought after in-house producers.
