The Wu-Tang Manual

We picked up a copy of the Wu-Tang Manual, a book written by RZA (and Chris Norris) and released by Penguin in 2005. Wu-Tang has put their name on a lot of "stuff" over the years, from jeans to jackets to video games and cologne. The Wu-Tang Manual, however, is more a work of art and history rather than just another commodity.

Wu-Tang's place in hip-hop/music history is an article all it's own but it goes without argument that they've established themselves as one of the top five hip-hop crews to date, if not the greatest of them all.

RZA opens the book covering each of the original nine members of Wu. He really tries to break down the essence of each man and where each one stood in the development of the crew. The next hundred pages are dedicated to his personal influences. The list includes Chess, Cinema, Organized Crime, the 5% Nation and Capitalism amongst others.

Touching on a broad range of subjects and connecting them with his life's experiences, the reader begins to understand and better appreciate the mentality of the RZA and the Wu-Tang crew.

He breaks down the meanings of and stories behind a handful of classic Wu songs such as C.R.E.A.M., Triumph, Protect Ya Neck and Uzi (Pinky Ring). Lastly, he writes about music, technology, samples and the effects of money on the music.

In pop culture and even more so in pop music, where artists are regularly a flash in the pan and songs stimulate the dance floor rather than the mind, it's refreshing that an icon like the RZA writes a book about the stories behind one of the illest crews to date.

Now that this book is a couple of years old, you'd be wise to snag a used copy from Amazon for less than $10.

Did You Know...

After the Laughter was the first Wu-Tang song. It featured Ghostface and RZA.

RZA was dropped by Tommy Boy when they chose to promote House of Pain instead. Soon afterward RZA found himself getting in increasingly more trouble and wound up in jail. When he got out he dedicated 3 months to walking around, thinking of what to do with his life. He decided to start a production company, which eventually led to the formation of Wu-Tang.

The skit where Method Man breaks down all the members of the Wu-Tang on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was recorded live on air at WNYU radio in NYC.