A lot of things were happening in 1997 that rattled Hip-Hop culture.
It was another era. Gas was only $1.22 per gallon, and Steve Jobs was negotiating his return to Apple. What was devastating was the loss of the Notorious B.I.G.
It was life-shattering. It made the culture feel abandoned by all the elements we believed were real, “Peace, Love, and Having Fun.”
But then, on June 3rd, the boys from Staten Island gave the world hope and a feeling that all could be right in the universe as they united (for the first time in four years) and released the iconic album, Wu-Tang Forever.
The project was more than a set list of great songs. It was a life preserver for a group of like-minded head-nodders exhausted by the nonsense that took ‘Pac and Biggie away. It was a return to the real.
So, we pause, 25 years later, to celebrate what RZA, GZA, Ason Unique aka Big Baby Jesus aka Dirt Dog aka Dirt McGirt aka Ossirus, aka the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon the Chef, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna, gave to the world.
The Grammy Award-nominated double-disc opus saved lives with the information it gave and the musicality of the project.
Who doesn’t remember the first time “Triumph” blasted through their speakers, and you heard that over five minutes and nine verses of lyrical mastery?
To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever, Get On Down and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is releasing an anniversary collection that includes the album with a lyric booklet, a silver-colored 7-inch single of “Triumph” with “Heaterz” on the B-side in a picture sleeve, and a reissue of the double cassette in a slipcase.
In addition to the album’s 25th-anniversary release, the Staten Island natives have shared a new installment series of newly found video interviews from 1997 that the members made while shooting the video for “Triumph,” which took a mindboggling five days to shoot and was filmed by Brett Ratner.
Also, the Wu has created a visual playlist on YouTube called “New York is Home,” including some of their favorite spots that helped create the group that we love so much.
Other visual delights made available to fans is the “new Wu-Niverse, documentary-style profile series on Certified, the digital destination platform celebrating SMEs R&B and Hip-Hop catalogs.
These mini-documentaries follow fans worldwide and spend a day with them as they show us their love for Wu-Tang. From the eccentric to the unexpected, these profiles uncover the power of Wu-Tang and their lasting effect on so many fans’ lives.”
As aforementioned, this album was nominated for Grammy for the project.
While they did not win on the show for the record, they won big in another way. In celebrating Wu-Tang Forever, we would be remiss if we did not celebrate the most legendary moment in rap history.
#WuTangIsForTheChildren