18 Oct
RZA Explains the Origins of Wu-Tang Clan
“I thought of the concept in my crib really,” said RZA. ” It was a slang word running around my neighborhood in Stapleton. Olde English was Wu-Tang, you nah mean, Ballantine Ale was Shaolin, you nah mean, and then anything that was fly [we] was like ‘That’s that Wu! That’s that Wu!’”
From there, RZA explained how he strung those concepts together with the crew’s fondness for Japanese movies, particularly Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang in this case, to create the Wu-Tang Clan moniker. “The Wu-Tang was like the sword style, the best sword style, and I’m like your tongue is like a sword. We the Wu-Tang Clan. We the illest MCs.”
