Wu-Tang Clan

The Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with. A Hardcore Hip Hop group from Staten Island, New York City that has been active musically since 1992, Wu Tang stopped being something to fuck with around the time you heard'em for the first time, son. Their fame is largely derived from their Signature Style of music, highly conceptual lyrics with frequent name-dropping of comic books, an obsession with Hong Kong martial arts films ^[1] and their Crazy Awesomeness.

They ain't nuthin' ta fuck with.

The group's lineup is:

• The RZA, AKA The Razor, Prince Rakeem, Rzarector, The Abbott, Chief Abbott, Bobby Steeles, the Scientist, Prince Delight, Prince Dynamite, Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah (real Name: Robert Diggs Jr.)
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Bobby Digital in Stereo
• The GZA, AKA the Genius, Justice, Maximillion (real name: Gary Grice)
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Liquid Swords
• Method Man, AKA Meth, Methtical, Shakwon, MZA, Iron Lung, Hott Nikkels, Ticallion Stallion, Johnny Blaze; Real name: Clifford Smith
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Tical
• Ghostface Killah, AKA Ghost, Sun-God, Ironman, Tony Starks, Starky Love, Pretty Toney, P Tone, Ghost Deini, The Wallabee Kingpin (real name: Dennis Coles)
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Iron Man
• Ol' Dirty Bastard, AKA ODB, Dirt McGirt, Dirt Dog, Big Baby Jesus, Sweet Baby Jesus, Mudbutt McMurder, Osirus, Osiris the Father, Joe Bananas, King Bong, Rob Dog, Ol' Dirt Schultz, Hasaan, Old Dirty Chinese Restaurant, Ill Irving the Murderer, The BZA, Ol' Daddy Skidmarkz, The Drunken Master Styles, Ason Jones, Ason Unique, Rain Man, Free Loadin' Rusty, The Man of All Rainbows, (real name: Russell Tyrone Jones) - deceased
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
• Inspectah Deck, AKA Rebel INS, Fifth Brother, Rollie Fingers (real name: Jason Hunter)
• Masta Killa, AKA High Chief, Noodles (real name: Elgin Turner)
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: No Said Date
• Raekwon, AKA Chef, Rae, Shallah Raekwon, Lex Diamond, Lou Diamonds (real name: Cory Woods)
  • Wu-Tang Solo Debut: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
• U-God, AKA Baby-U, Golden Arms, 4-Bar Killer, Lucky Hands (real name: Lamont Hawkins)

Discography:

• Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
• Wu-Tang Forever (1997)
• The W (2000)
• Iron Flag (2001)
• 8 Diagrams (2007)
• A Better Tomorrow (2014)
• Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... (2015, only one copy of the album exists)

Wu-Tang Clan provides examples of the following tropes:

• Badass: The group as a whole qualifies, but RZA in particular took lengths to try and become a real-life superhero. He studies kung fu and owns a bullet/blade-proof suit, Suburban and briefcase.
• Band of Relatives:
  • RZA, GZA & ODB - Cousins
  • Method Man & Raekwon - Cousins
    • The familial connections expand for more cousins, children, siblings and adopted relatives with the second and third generation Wu members and affiliates.
• Batman Gambit: RZA claims the period between 36 Chambers and Wu-Tang Forever to be this, the goal being to take over the hip hop scene. C Mo A, if anything.
• Boastful Rap: "Protect Ya Neck", for starters.
• Buffy-Speak: One of the lines in the intro of "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber": He was layin there with fuckin', all types of fuckin' blood comin' out of his fuckin'...
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: ODB was completely insane, but he was a damn fine rapper.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Did you expect something else?
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The beginning of "Method Man".
• Comics Rule Everything Around Me: Trope Namer
• Excited Episode Title: Method Man's Blackout! and Blackout! 2.
• Gangsta Rap
• Fun with Acronyms: We Usually Take All Niggas' Garments, according to 7th Chamber.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Method Man gets a lot of this due to his acting career. His resume spans shows from The Wire to The Fairly OddParents.
• I Have Many Names: I have MANY names.
  • For what it's worth, a skit taken from an interview is hidden at the end of "Can It Be All So Simple" explains the meaning of nicknames.
    • A particularly extreme example of this is the Ol' Dirty Bastard who has been called ODB, Dirt McDirt, Black Baby Jesus, BZA and several others.
• Insistent Terminology: Besides their adoption of the Supreme Alphabet and Supreme Mathematics and their deluge of references... well, there's their use of "Shaolin" as a synonym for "Staten Island".
• Large Ham: Ghostface Killah. Expect him to really Chew the Scenery on the more dramatic songs in the group's catalogue.
  • Most songs featuring him and Ol' Dirty Bastard usually become Ham-to-Ham Combat.
• Living Lie Detector: Inspectah Deck, apparently:

"Inspectah Deck, he's like that dude that'll sit back and watch you play yourself and all that right? And see you sit there and know you lyin; and he'll take you to court after that, cuz he the Inspectah."

• Loads and Loads of Characters
• Money Song: "C.R.E.A.M."
• Reference Overdosed: To put it mildly.
• Refuge in Audacity: Shows up a lot on album skits. :"Put a hanger on a fuckin' stove and let that shit sit there for like, a half hour..."
• Sampling
  • Sampled Up: Enter the Wu-Tang will render you unable to listen to the Underdog theme without hearing "the Wu-Tang Clan ain't nu-thin' ta fuck wit!"
• Scary Black Man: For certain values of scary. The lyrical content certainly seems to deliberately invoke this.
• Signature Style: RZA's production style. Minimalism and roughness at the start, drifted into movie and sped-up soul samples as the years went on.
• Take That: GZA's "Labels" is a huge bitchslap aimed at every single label that treated him poorly.
  • "Paper Plate" drops the weight on 50 Cent and G-Unit, in response the verbal mudslinging they initiated. Furthermore, GZA does it all without a single profanity save for one semi-averted Precision S Strike.
• Team Dad: Popa Wu, in addition to acting as a road manager, was an actual father figure for several members growing up.

1. ↑ their name comes from the martial arts movie Shaolin & Wu Tang