The Best Wu-Tang Clan Songs
Legends like the Masters of Shaolin are rare; here's a list of best important Wu-Tang Clan songs that highlight a piece of what makes the Wu so inimitable.
Image via Getty/Bob Berg
If you woke up today out of a thirty-year coma, you may be tempted to draw some conclusions from the Wu-Tang logo that graces T-shirts, bus stop stickers, and dorm room posters in every major American city from New York to San Diego. It might appear that these are the markings of a cult, signifiers of a hip-hop movement that ran counter to the mainstream and reshuffled the canon in the process. Eventually, you would figure out that this is, in fact, partially true.
The Wu-Tang Clan does have a cult-like following that has remained devoted disciples to this day, decades after RZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, GZA, U-God, and Ol' Dirty Bastard made their 1993 debut. What makes the Masters from Shaolin so unique and so alluring is that, as hyper-specific and uncompromisingly weird as their music was, they were able to dominate rap’s commercial channels with clever wordplay, unforgettable hooks, and a deep roster of rap world legends. Aside from their creative output, they also gained respect on the inside of the music industry, as they are credited with bolstering the agency artists had when negotiating with record executives when each member was given the ability to negotiate their own solo deals apart from the group contract.
That music this cutting-edge became so ubiquitous feels like a happy accident of history, but it really speaks to the determination and resiliency of the group’s nine founding members, a handful of close affiliates, dozens upon dozens of extended family members, and disciples of a number that would be difficult to accurately count.
And while Wu-Tang music has racked up play-counts and record sales that other rappers only dream about, their catalog (both as a group and as solo artists) deserves constant, careful attention, from newcomers and longtime listeners alike. Legends like these artists don’t come around often. What follows is a list of the most important Wu-Tang Clan songs that highlight, for one reason or another, a piece of what makes the Wu so inimitable to this very day.
"Bring da Ruckus"
The first song on Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers is their chaotic chemistry in action, from Ghostface and Raekwon’s potent one-two punch, to RZA’s inimitable growl, and Inspectah Deck’s grit to GZA’s cool precision. This is the mission statement that puts the rest in context.
"Can It All Be So Simple"
The interlude at the end of “Can It All Be So Simple” hears Method Man break down the group’s members according to their most colorful attributes, forging the reputations that would last for decades. The song proper is one of RZA’s rainiest, gloomiest beats.
"Release Your Delf"
Method Man’s Tical marked the beginning of the group’s foray into the world of solo work (and highlighted their groundbreaking record deal, which allowed each member to work out his own solo situation, separate from the group’s contract). Songs like “Release Yo’ Delf” remind you that Meth was at one point the greatest technical rapper in New York, and maybe in the world.
"Goin' Down"
Though it gets overlooked by critics who defer to Liquid Swords and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version may have been 1995’s most purely creative rap album. Look no further than “Goin’ Down,” wherein ODB drowns out a girlfriend’s angry voice by singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in his most operatic voice.
"Ice Water"
On Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Raekwon tapped Ghostface for sidekick duties, setting the stage for one of hip-hop’s greatest masterpieces. But “Ice Water” is notable for reflecting RZA’s creative calling card of the time: mutated, constantly looping vocal sample, interspersed with spine-snapping drums.
"Heaven and Hell"
Though Cuban Linx is stuffed with deadpan threats and icy stares, Ghost and Rae are at their most chilling when they weigh the psychic and metaphysical consequences of actions on Earth.
"Labels"
GZA’s Liquid Swords was audacious: It cast the Genius as a no-frills answer to the outside world, a man who could slaughter armies simply by rapping better, smarter, and more furiously than anyone before him. “Labels” kills two birds, showcasing GZA’s pen while taking aim at record labels that attempt to stifle artists.
“B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)”
Speaking of audacious moves on Liquid Swords, GZA ceded his album’s final song to a guest. Killah Priest’s phenomenal turn on “B.I.B.L.E.” is an artifact of how deep Wu-Tang’s extended family ties ran in the mid-’90s.
"Wildflower"
Even in the thick jungle of mystique and mystery that was growing around Wu-Tang, Ghostface’s Ironman was uniquely difficult to crack. It practically created a syntax of its own. But “Wildflower,” his crude, pained, and vengeful breakup song, reveals him at his most vulnerable.
"Winter Warz"
“Winter Warz” is the signature Wu-Tang sound from this period, playing as if it was beamed in from another solar system that had less sun and more peril. RZA’s beat is from several centuries in the future.
"Deadly Medley"
Much is made about how glossy hip-hop became in 1997, but there’s no way to be more minimal—or more vicious—than this, from the group’s sprawling second album, Wu-Tang Forever.
"Black Shampoo"
By the time Wu-Tang Forever came out, the group was defined by its stars: Ghost and Rae, GZA and RZA, Method Man, and ODB shouting from the fringes. The double disc album gave the lower-profile MCs some well-deserved room to breathe; “Black Shampoo” establishes U-God as a thoughtful writer all his own.
"Unspoken Word"
RZA’s solo debut, RZA as Bobby Digital In Stereo, is one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented entries in the Wu-Tang pantheon. “Unspoken Word” is two pieces of machinery that shouldn’t fit together: the starkly simple beat and RZA’s outlandish, untamable vocals. It’s a study in contrast.
"Got Your Money"
You know this song, from ODB’s Nigga Please. But it bears revisiting for its sheer absurdity: flipping blaxploitation themes and Slick Rick songs, denying paternity, and the line “I don’t have no trouble with you fucking me / But I have a little problem with you not fucking me.”
"Nutmeg"
After nearly a decade of careful scrutiny, the rap world had started to decode Wu-Tang’s inner workings and predict its members next moves. And then came Supreme Clientele. Ghostface’s magnum opus opens with “Nutmeg,” a track that throws songwriting conventions, recognizable syntax, and basic sanity out the window in favor of something inscrutable and endlessly fascinating.
"Mighty Healthy"
“Mighty Healthy” is a villain’s theme, a warning, a sign of foreboding. In the nearly two decades since Supreme Clientele, no one has bent the English language to his will quite the way Ghost has. This song has so many topical and stylistic left turns that you simply have to take your hands off the wheel and wait for the crash.
"Hollow Bones"
RZA’s flip of Syl Johnson’s “Is It Because I’m Black?” from the group’s third album, The W, lays the perfect bed for Rae, Deck, and Ghost to air their many grievances. It’s soft, but wizened, warm, but wistful.
"Shakey Dog"
The intro from Ghostface’s remarkable Fishscale is the sort of detail-laden, barely-believable story that he’s spun countless times in his career—but with the stakes somehow raised even higher by the smell of onions cooking in the hallway and the Sanford and Son theme soundtracking the robbery.
"Firehouse"
While Pro Tools was a superb mid-period effort for GZA, the truest star turn came from the then-unknown Ka, who—unbeknownst to listeners at the time—was a firefighter with the FDNY.
"Pyrex Vision"
Against long odds, the 2009 sequel to Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… lived up to its title. That was thanks in large part to the focus embodied in “Pyrex Vision,” a 54-second vignette that distills the poet laureate’s style down to its core elements.