When the Wu-Tang Clan released their first album, Enter the 36 Chambers, in 1993 they stood out. Not only wasn’t there a group with so many members (9), but they also sounded different compared to what was out at the moment. The beats producer RZA created were very raw and the group quickly gained popularity. Back in the day I myself walked around with a Wu “W” on my backpack and listened to a lot of their music and the various solo albums the various artists released. 25 years later the group is still performing (I’ll be seeing them live on Thursday, together with Public Enemy and De La Soul). The four-part documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men looks at the group’s history, how they came together, their first album and many moments in their long career.
Director Sacha Jenkins has gained access to a lot of private material from the group and also brings all the members together in an old cinema to show them various clips, including their reactions. Making a documentary about such a well-known group is a huge challenge, but Jenkins succeeds in making it something which isn’t your standard documentary. It isn’t a complete chronological story and doesn’t visit all well-known moments again. As a viewer you hear a lot of personal moments by various members. For example, Method Man tells of his experiences in a house for battered women and U-God about the effect that violence in his neighborhood had on him personally when his son was shot and how they had to go through a tough road to recovery. It is also spends some time on Ol’Dirty Bastard, his family and his personal problems, including his imprisonment and frustrations when he is finally released.
Jenkins doesn’t shy away from talking about difficult moments that went on behind the scenes. As the success and egos increased, the various members no longer wanted to be signed to Wu-Tang management, which was run by RZA’s brother Mitchell “Divine” Diggs. There was a lot of disagreement about money and that led to deteriorated relationships, something you clearly feel in the last episode. Everyone is open about it, which is painfully clear when the project by the Dutch Cilvaringz is discussed, the art project “The Wu – Once Upon A Time in Shaolin”. A Wu-Tang album of which only one copy was made, which was eventually bought by the controversial Martin Shkreli. RZA was closely involved in this project, but the other members make it very clear to him that this should not have been called an official Wu-Tang Clan album. Ghostface Killah is not a fan and is clear about what he thinks of Cilvaringz and how the project came about.
For fans of hip hop, the Wu Tang Clan is a group most will know and this documentary succeeds in sketching a clear picture of the road to success, how the various members dealt with it and what kind of effect money can ultimately have on the close bond that these men once had. The first three episodes have a strong structure. The last episode lacks the tightness of the previous episodes, but it does have the most candid moments and makes it clear that Wu Tang Clan is a company where not everyone is as close anymore, but where they show up for money. The Wu-Tang Clan may not be as relevant as it was in the 1990s, but this documentary is an important film that captures a bit of hip-hop history in a fascinating way.
[score8]
This is on Showtime as I do want to see this as I saw most of part 1. I love Wu Tang. I see them as the one hip-hop group that really matters. They were different and kept things real and authentic as it’s something that is lacking in today’s music.
Yeah, hope you’ll manage to watch the rest of them well. Went to see them live yesterday and they were almost complete (only Method Man was missing), performing most of their classic songs, had a blast.