Raekwon and Ghostface is the only reason street nikkas fukked with Wu-Tang Clan

[Rasille]

Immediately reminds me of that time Ghost cut meth off told him stfu





Straight sonned him. Meth ain’t no punk but you can tell Ghost/Rae is on another level of hood/grimy

Inspectah Deck’s facial expression behind Meth was always hilarious to me.

 

[Buckeye Fever]

And I don't think this is taking anything away from the greatness of Wu-Tang, but my cousin wasn't baggin' up dope listening to Liquid Swords, which I feel is one of the GOAT pieces of work

 

[Yehuda]

RZA said the same as OP before.

Other members in the group have too, over the years. He said that after they went platinum, he started to realize that most Wu fans weren't black. He's said a few times that when they first started, at the shows, the whole crowd would be black. But now, when he looks out there, he sees mostly white people. Ghost said that he thinks "his people" moved on from Wu when white people got put up on them, lol.

And it's true. Back when OB4CL dropped, Wu was still very much held mad high in the community. Once they went global, and hit the suburbs, there was definitely a shift in support from the street. White folks worship Wu. RZA said when he started seeing that, he saw less support from the day one black fans.

Matter fact the @Ayo!-BEZ dude in this thread who had the most to say about this topic is a white man (who by the way was banned for being racist but that's neither here nor there, right)

 

[2ATMsYouSteppinOrWhat]

I always thought U God was the hardest

 

[get these nets]

OP

Method Man was the HOTTEST rapper in the streets since the Wu used his solo single as the breakout song.
He is the reason why everybody gravitated toward the group. His style was gritty enough for the streets, and melodic enough for women. Plus he was a great performer, and Wu paid their dues at every hole in the wall club across the country. Where only the most dangerous dudes would dare attend.

 

[EastsideRio]

Meth, Rae, Ghost, and Deck probably had the streets

 

[Awesome Wells]

When's the last time they put out some back to basics, beat and rhymes shyt? RZA took the group in a whole new direction after 36 Chambers.

That's true.

I was good with it until after Ironman. By the time Supreme Clientele dropped, I had lost faith, lol. That was the last time I went crazy for a Wu-related project. Ghost was saving the brand for years after that. Alone.

 

[Billy Ocean]

Fresh is usually on point, but til this day this is one of the weirdest, most inaccurate takes I've seen on here. There's older hustlers all throughout NYC that will tell you 36 Chambers was one of the soundtracks to their hustling days. Street nikkas not fukking with Wu until Cuban Linx is laughable. Also, as others have pointed out, street nikkas pretty much fukk with anything hot at the moment...whether street (which Wu was) or not. nikkas selling weight in the days were bumping LL and Run DMC and some of the wildest street nikkas these past few years here in NY was jacking Drake.

 

[mbewane]

RZA said the same as OP before.

Other members in the group have too, over the years. He said that after they went platinum, he started to realize that most Wu fans weren't black. He's said a few times that when they first started, at the shows, the whole crowd would be black. But now, when he looks out there, he sees mostly white people. Ghost said that he thinks "his people" moved on from Wu when white people got put up on them, lol.

And it's true. Back when OB4CL dropped, Wu was still very much held mad high in the community. Once they went global, and hit the suburbs, there was definitely a shift in support from the street. White folks worship Wu. RZA said when he started seeing that, he saw less support from the day one black fans.

So Black fans stopped supporting the Wu not because of the music but...because they weren't the only ones supporting them anymore?

Ironically that sounds like hipsters who stop liking a band when they get success

 

[Piff Perkins]

That's true.

I was good with it until after Ironman. By the time Supreme Clientele dropped, I had lost faith, lol. That was the last time I went crazy for a Wu-related project. Ghost was saving the brand for years after that. Alone.

I feel like the last non-Ghost related good/great Wu record was Masta Killa's No Said Date in 2004. Ghost was holding it down solo outside of that. Ghost was having noteworthy solid releases for a minute too. Apollo Kids (2010) was dope, and I liked the Apollo Brown version of 12 Reasons To Die (2013).

 

[Awesome Wells]

So Black fans stopped supporting the Wu not because of the music but...because they weren't the only ones supporting them anymore?

Ironically that sounds like hipsters who stop liking a band when they get success

Happens all the time.

In the history of music, black listeners move on when it seems we've "lost" certain artists. Early days of Hip Hop, once you went "pop" and white people started buying your records, you'd hear MC's speaking on it and condemning the rapper. Happened in the 80's with R&B too. Once acts commercialize and start targeting different listeners away from the initial base, that base usually steps off. RZA speaks about this all the time. It's how it's always been in music.

Run from Run DMC said that black fans stopped listening when they felt the group crossed over to get more white fans in '86. Rick Rubin spoke on it too. Said the shows started looking different after Raising Hell, and the black fans bounced. That's why Tougher Than Leather was made to be more "street". They wanted to get back their OG fans. Ironically, that was also the album they said white people bailed on them, lol.

 

[Awesome Wells]

I feel like the last non-Ghost related good/great Wu record was Masta Killa's No Said Date in 2004. Ghost was holding it down solo outside of that. Ghost was having noteworthy solid releases for a minute too. Apollo Kids (2010) was dope, and I liked the Apollo Brown version of 12 Reasons To Die (2013).

Masta Killa!! That was a cool project too.

I was into like 1/2 of the album. Some of tracks were all over the place, but the high's on that album were really dope. I really wanted him to get a RZA-produced album around '95-'96 though. I f*cked with "Old Man" heavy, but you could see that RZA was way past his prime on No Said Date. True Master and Mathematics went crazy on there.

 

[mbewane]

Happens all the time.

In the history of music, black listeners move on when it seems we've "lost" certain artists. Early days of Hip Hop, once you went "pop" and white people started buying your records, you'd hear MC's speaking on it and condemning the rapper. Happened in the 80's with R&B too. Once acts commercialize and start targeting different listeners away from the initial base, that base usually steps off. RZA speaks about this all the time. It's how it's always been in music.

Run from Run DMC said that black fans stopped listening when they felt the group crossed over to get more white fans in '86. Rick Rubin spoke on it too. Said the shows started looking different after Raising Hell, and the black fans bounced. That's why Tougher Than Leather was made to be more "street". They wanted to get back their OG fans. Ironically, that was also the album they said white people bailed on them, lol.

But when did the Wu "go pop"? Even the rnb joints with like Jodeci or whatnot still sounded raw. Or all we calling ODB and Meth "pop" for doing songs with Mariah Carey (like Mobb Deep did) or with Mary J Blige? Because from the Ghost quote he says nothing about the music in itself, just that success brought white fans and black fans started hating on the Wu just because of that

It sounds high key wack to start hating on a group just because they achieve success, if they basically keep the same style. Like I said it's basically hipster behaviour.

 

[Awesome Wells]

But when did the Wu "go pop"? Even the rnb joints with like Jodeci or whatnot still sounded raw. Or all we calling ODB and Meth "pop" for doing songs with Mariah Carey (like Mobb Deep did) or with Mary J Blige? Because from the Ghost quote he says nothing about the music in itself, just that success brought white fans and black fans started hating on the Wu just because of that

It sounds high key wack to start hating on a group just because they achieve success, if they basically keep the same style. Like I said it's basically hipster behaviour.

They definitely went "pop" on the second album. Meth talked about this before. Videos where they were using CGI to transform into swarms of bees and climbing buildings like Spider-Man, etc. LOL!! They got away from focusing on putting out raw Hip Hop. Even visuals. Which is why RZA said that Forever was when they started making "more accessible records". They turned into MTV darlings then.

What ODB was doing with Mariah was cool. That's a feature. He made that song doper with the remix. That wasn't his track. Meth's joint with Mary was the same because that was a street record that he just happened to get a Grammy on. But it was raw. But once your own music starts getting softer and the same outlets that didn't embrace you as much before, start championing you after you crossover, that's when you know you've switched and gone pop. You've lost your edge.

It's not hate though. Typically when the white audiences start buying into sh*t, it's way after the fact, and when the artists or group isn't making the kinda sh*t they were before. It's not a hipster thing because hipster culture is poser culture. This is more about purists. Black audiences don’t want their artists to switch up to bring in people who weren't f*cking with the music at its purest or the beginning. That's why "crossing over" was such a sin in Hip Hop. You're not supposed to change your sh*t to bring in more people. They're just supposed to support you the way you are, not expect you to change to gain more coverage and ears. That's always been Hip Hop 101.

 

[newarkhiphop]

RZA said the same as OP before.

Other members in the group have too, over the years. He said that after they went platinum, he started to realize that most Wu fans weren't black. He's said a few times that when they first started, at the shows, the whole crowd would be black. But now, when he looks out there, he sees mostly white people. Ghost said that he thinks "his people" moved on from Wu when white people got put up on them, lol.

And it's true. Back when OB4CL dropped, Wu was still very much held mad high in the community. Once they went global, and hit the suburbs, there was definitely a shift in support from the street. White folks worship Wu. RZA said when he started seeing that, he saw less support from the day one black fans.

White folks are the ones that gave Wu cult status and @FreshAIG title is 100 % correct if it wasn't for Rae and ghost, WU would be a forgotten about backpacking group