From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga

Music writer Fernando pens the first full-length biography of the influential, nine-member rap collective, the Wu-Tang Clan. Mostly using interviews that he conducted during his years as a hip-hop journalist, he describes the bleak childhoods of the group, who grew up when crack cocaine addiction was pervasive, as well as their influences: first-generation hip-hop; the ideology of the Black Muslim offshoot the Five Percent righteous teachers; and kung-fu movies such as Shaolin vs. Wu Tang. Fernando then delves into the first two multi-platinum Wu-Tang albums—Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993) and Wu-Tang Forever (1997)—and the solo discs of Wu-Tang members, which all featured the path-breaking, gritty production of Clan mastermind RZA, who sampled a wide array of sounds, from Thelonious Monk to dialogue from kung-fu films. Fernando concludes with Wu-Tang spin-offs (fashion, books, the film projects of RZA and Method Man) and subsequent albums, including the single copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (2015).