Documentary series chronicles the history and cultural impact of hip hop artists, Wu-Tang Clan.
One of the biggest and most successful rap groups of all time returns to Staten Island at the St. George Theater to take us down memory lane of how it all began. Real friends who grew up like brothers and go by the professional names RZA, Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Cappadonna all shared the same struggle of growing up poor and striving for success in the Park Hill housing complex in Staten Island. RZA mentions that the group’s name actually derived from martial arts Wu-Tang style of sword fighting which he became fascinated with as a kid. Growing up attending block parties and watching DJs spin records was a huge influence on them and they knew that making it big was something they knew they could make happen.
They describe in detail their childhood, which was not easy. They had to endure a lot of racism from students and adults at the school they attended called New Dorp High School in Staten Island. They account stories of being chased down the street and threatened, plus people would write the N-word for them to see. Their neighborhood was constantly invaded by police that profiled the community in every possible way, mostly in the form of pulling them over and searching their vehicle with no probable cause. The message was clear that they were not welcome.
Despite their obstacles, they always kept writing and creating music. Each member would contribute their strongest talent; they say Method Man always came up with the hooks. When they realized the only way to gain any success was to get their music heard on the radio, RZA hired his cousin John “Mook” Gibbons to manage the group. John was a very creative businessman and decided to take the music straight to the DJs asking them to play the record. Stretch Armstrong was the first to play the album, “Protect Ya Neck” was the first single and it was well received. When Ralph McDaniels and Lionel C. Martin created Video Music Box and aired in 1983, this enabled fans to see videos of artists and connect in a way that was never done before; this was also a huge success for selling records. After their first single took off, they started touring and doing television shows like Arsenio Hall. This documentary has the most amazing footage from the early days, incredible stories about their individual family lives and how they were raised and, of course, the concerts! The ending was interesting as they all tried to figure out who really came up with the name for the group, we finally find out it was, in fact, RZA.
“Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men” recently premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
