Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (2019): Season 1, Episode 4 - 104 - full transcript

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[swishing sword noises]

♪ upbeat ambient music ♪

♪♪♪

[RZA] Evolution is the main goal

of a man's life.

Hit me with a little.

- Nah...
- Hit your brother.

[laughs]

That's good.
Thank you.

[RZA] He has to evolve.

And his family or his children



gotta evolve past him.

If a man was in a cave,
you know what I mean,

somebody gotta
walk out that cave.

If he was crawling,
somebody gotta stand up;

and once he stands up,
somebody gotta be able to run;

if he runs,
one should be able to jump;

after he jumps,
one should be able to fly.

♪♪♪

Yo, we... we really came
from some shit, y'all.

We did so much, man.

And the time went by
fast, right?

It don't even feel
like a quarter.

But it was a quarter
that we took out our lives

- to be where we at today.
- Right.



I feel like we brothers,
regardless of what, you know?

Through good, through bad,
through ugly, through worse,

through everything, you know?

Us sitting here today,
we came together for a meeting

about our publishing
and our economics,

something that my company
dominates

over my peers.

So I have to evolve
past the company mentality

to say I'ma sit down
with my peers

and we're gonna go through this,

you know what I mean,
and write this out

for ourselves, so we all

understand the same thing,

and that's evolution
right there, so.

I'm grateful that I can live
to see a day like this.

We gonna get this shit
right, man.

I'ma keep building regardless.

It's a lesson that they say
what Krishna taught,

he said, "Contemplation,"

meaning reflecting on your past,

"is better than praying."

- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.

♪ El Michels Affair's
"Protect Ya Neck" ♪

♪♪♪

[distant traffic]

[cheers and applause]

[man] Ladies and gentlemen,
it's a honor right now

doing "The Jump Off,"
party people,

the Wu-Tang Clan!

♪ Wu-Tang Clan's "Protect
Ya Neck (The Jump Off)" ♪

♪ Dance with the mantis,
note the slim chances ♪

♪ Chant this anthem,
swing like Pete Sampras ♪

♪ Taking it straight
to big man on campus ♪

♪ Brandish your weapon
or get dropped to the canvas ♪

♪ Scandalous,
made the metro panic ♪

♪ Cause static with
or without the automatic ♪

♪ And while we at it,
yo, you got cash, pass it ♪

♪ It's drastic ♪

♪ Gotta send half
to Dirty Bastard ♪

[RZA] By the year 2000,
the company had to be

worth at... easy, $50 million.

And it's because of its assets.

Method Man,
multi-platinum artist;

Raekwon, platinum artist;

Ghostface, platinum artist;

GZA, platinum artist;

ODB, world-famous
multiple-gold artist;

Inspectah Deck, gold artist;

Cappadonna, gold artist;

the Wu-Tang Clan itself,
multi-platinum.

It had all this
under one umbrella.

And one by one,
each person came to be removed

from Wu-Tang Productions,

decreasing the value
of that company.

I lost $10 million a year.

I'm from the streets, nigga.

You gotta crack me
over my fucking head

to get that money from me.

Who in their... I mean, who
in their right mind does that?

As a businessman,
my brother Divine is right.

That's the worst
business decision in hip-hop,

just like the Loud deal

was the best business decision
in hip-hop.

You don't sign away
$40 million worth of artists

at the time
when hip-hop is about to

become worth
a billion dollars, almost.

But at the same time,
you do not keep

that which you consider
your brother

in any kind of thing

that feels like a bondage
upon him.

Know what I'm saying,
even though

it'd have brought
great economic reward to you.

I only had one request, though.

You can have back your...
your contract

and your career,

but Wu-Tang Clan
remains with me.

Let me see if I can...

♪ ambient music ♪

Oh, shit, I never finished this.

This is protect your neck,
take your head moment.

[laughs]
This is an early sketch.

He holding a guillotine.

He's doing the Wu-Tang
with the sword,

have "Clan" come down.

Oh, I got something else
in here.

♪♪♪

That was, like,
the first variation,

probably, of the W.

Nah, it definitely didn't work.

Let's just see... oh, yeah, now,

this is one of the early Ws too.

Sort of taking the head.

That's the head of anybody
fucking with the Wu.

The logo was...
like, RZA and GZA would...

you know, they used to
talk to me all the time

and be like,
"Yo, we need something

that really stands out."

And the crazy thing
about it was that,

when he actually needed it,
he hit me up like,

"Yo, I need the logo
by tomorrow."

So I'm like, "Tomorrow?"

So I went to the store.

I went to...
I went to the weed spot.

I came in, rolled up,

smoked, was drinking my 40.

Then I remember,
I sat on the floor.

Ah.

♪♪♪

So I drew it.

And knowing all the sketches
we done went through

previously and all the talking,

I was like, you know what?

This gotta be it.

When I finished,

"This gotta be it."

So...
[imitates ripping]

Ripped the page out,

gave it to him.

I paid Mathematics $400.

And at that time,
that was half my rent money.

And I know
Mathematics, to this day,

it was the fucking worst $400
he ever got.

[laughs]

[Mathematics]
I had no idea

it was gonna be
what it is today.

♪ Wu-Tang Clan's
"Fast and Furious" ♪

Wu...

This motherfucker's ill!

[RZA] I felt like the Wu-Tang W

actually is a phoenix...

♪♪♪

- [tattoo machine buzzing]
- This a great story, though.

[RZA] I said with these wings,
we can fly above

all the negative things.

We can rise above it.

[camera shutters clicking]

♪♪♪

[tattoo machine buzzing]

You see that shit?

♪ How come the streets
don't want me to live? ♪

♪ Plus my niggas
keep telling me fibs ♪

♪ Then the devil
done poisoned my wiz ♪

♪ I'm doing this
for my family and kids ♪

♪ I'm trying to be wealthy ♪

♪ Take my time right,
stay healthy ♪

♪ Said it before but
I don't think nobody felt me ♪

♪ Yo, I'm ready to eat,
I'm ready to grip it ♪

♪ Got enemies everywhere,
I got chicks that's wicked ♪

♪ Sick shit ♪

♪ Niggas doing
wicked-ass witch shit ♪

♪ Bitch shit ♪

♪ Telling Jakes
that I had the biscuit ♪

♪ Niggas be wanting
my leftovers ♪

♪ I'm like a general
that died ♪

♪ And lost
some of his best soldiers ♪

♪ I burn holsters and I kill
that dirt religion ♪

♪ Murk that pigeon ♪

Hit 'em like uh.

[Cappadonna chuckles]

Hold that one, and let me...
let me get it

from right there,
again off of the quarter.

♪♪♪

Let me try something else.

[Cappadonna] Every
business has conflict.

♪♪♪

Some of the conflicts are...

a little more deeper than others

because of
our personal relationships.

And, you know,
just because of the years.

♪ My slang's editorial,
explicit material ♪

♪ Briefcase, yo,
live in stereo flow ♪

♪ Feel me, Donna realty
set the black people free ♪

♪ Work hard WTZ ♪

I'm about to come out
with a album soon, you know?

Coming out through Razor Sharp.

I dropped The Pillage album.

That was my first solo project.

Still rocking, G.
[chuckles]

♪ I came to the fork in
the road and went straight ♪

♪ Right out the crack vial
to the Golden Gate ♪

♪ See, the silver spoon
in my mouth, it had cake ♪

♪ My rap birth date
debut song was ice bait ♪

It went gold in, uh, two weeks.

I was very happy about that.

It was something
I didn't expect.

It just blew my mind.

I-I'd never seen or expected

a gold plaque of any sort.

It was like
my high school diploma.

It was like my driver's license.

You know, to me...
it was a victory that...

became all the other victories
for me.

♪ soft dramatic music ♪

[man] So you were supposed
to get a 50 grand advance,

because your, uh...

- 50 grand bonus.
- [man] Bonus, yeah.

Because that...
because The Pillage went gold

in less than a month.

But they tried to say,
"No, we gave you that already."

You know what I'm saying?
Divine, Mitchell Diggs.

He try to say, yeah, you gave...

"I gave you that."

I was like, "Man,
what you gave me?"

and shit,
you know what I'm saying?

Somebody said that Cappadonna
said to Ghostface,

"Divine's hiding money."

Now, he got
a publishing check for...

I think it was 150.

And it stipulated
if he goes gold,

he gets an additional $50,000.

A nigga gotta eat,

got babies to feed, man,
and it's like,

everybody understand
the struggle.

The lawyer called and says
Cappa's doing, um, his...

the back end, because he's gold.

I called my lawyer, said,
well, you shipped gold,

but it didn't certify
SoundScan gold.

I don't give a fuck
if it SoundScan'd or not.

I shipped it.

Let... pay him his money.

When he called me on it,
I didn't deny it,

and I paid it.

It's all a political game
right now.

But it's like,
it gotta be played

in order to manifest the peace
that's gonna come.

That... that peace
is that prosperity, man.

I knew many men,
only trust a few.

Women, loved a few.

Represent the worldwide W.

Plus I helped build rap,
helped build you.

Helped build Capp.

How could you say
that I jerked him?

I put money in his pocket
and kept him working.

[RZA] Nothing
was more important to me

than the Wu-Tang.

That's how inspired I was
by what we had created.

But I had a family.

And I took my family
and sent them

to another house in Ohio

so I could stay focused
on my shit, yo.

♪ hip-hop beat playing ♪

You know, the time, the hours.

[Raekwon] Stayed in the crib,

looking like a dirtbag
in his basement.

Hair all out, making beats.

[Rifkind] Beat after beat,
he was creating

so much material
in such a short period.

[RZA] My focus work.

I created something that'll
most likely outlive me.

But when I do look back
at how much I put

my brothers in front
of so many things,

even in front of my own family,

when you go back
and see the dissatisfaction

and the non-gratitude,

it... yeah, it could hurt,
you know what I mean?

It could hurt on the physical,

normal, mortal level,
you know what I mean?

[record scratching
on hip-hop beat]

One thing I think
that we forgot about

in the business of Wu-Tang
is that...

Wu-Tang Production is a company.

[man] So what would you say
the value is now,

as opposed to what it was
in 2000?

Well, the value now,
it's hard to measure.

But I think it's more valuable
now than it was in 2000.

[man]
It's time to enter...

[RZA] It's found its way,
of course, into pop culture

in a new way.

I take a lot of credit

for bringing it to new mediums.

You see it in Hollywood.

You're GZA, The Genius.

- That's right.
- And you're RZA.

And you're Bill Murray.

- Who you gonna call?
- I know that.

Just don't tell anybody.

But one of the big catalysts

is Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

[man] Legendary rap
collective Wu-Tang Clan

created only a single copy
of its new album,

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,

an album

that is being auctioned
in a private auction.

RZA and the producer Cilvaringz

have come together to make this.

This could go for 5 million,
6 million, 7 million,

but how do you justify that
to the fans?

This is not for the fans.

I hope it maintains its course
as an art piece

and... and... and literally
disappears into darkness.

[cheers and applause]

Welcome, everyone.
My name is Cilvaringz.

I want to thank everybody
for coming today.

In a few minutes,
we'll be playing you

13 minutes of Once Upon
a Time in Shaolin.

It will be the first
and last time

any music from this work

will be heard by anyone else

besides the eventual collector.

I, uh, met RZA in 1997.

Since then, I've had
the privilege to not only

study the way he produced music,

but to learn about the character

that drove the music.

It's cloudy today
with a chance of showers.

Uh, forecast, we're coming in
at a smooth 50 degrees and...

You know, '97, Wu-Tang is major.

The Clan was coming
to Amsterdam.

This is
the Wu-Tang Forever tour.

♪ Yo, RZA, yo, razor,
hit me with the major ♪

♪ The damage, my Clan
understand it be flavor ♪

♪ Gunning, humming,
coming at you ♪

♪ First I'm gonna get ya,
once I got ya, I gat ya ♪

[Cilvaringz] I went
to the show super excited.

And at the end of the show,

RZA invited local emcees

to basically jump on stage.

I think him and Meth
pulled me up

and just gave me the mic.

And I just started
busting a rhyme.

So when I was done,
I'm talking to RZA.

He said, "We're about to open

this Wu-Tang International
record label,"

like, they were going to expand
into Europe.

And he said he wanted me
to be a part of that

and signed me on the dot
right there.

[male announcer] Straight from
the slums of Shaolin, Europe...

Cilvaringz!
[whoops]

♪ Cilvaringz'
"Brothers Ain't Brothers ♪

What up!
Yo!

♪ I love RZA,
he gave me a start ♪

♪ He could've given a fuck
but chose to give me a spark ♪

♪ Took me to 36 chambers
and let me spit out some darts ♪

♪ That's why I'm rapping
his name ♪

♪ In every song I take part ♪

I said to him, like,

how 'bout if I put together
a tour?

I had never booked
a tour before.

I didn't know the logistics.

The only thing I did
was draw a line on the map,

like, "I would like
to go to Budapest.

I would like to go to Sofia."

- The fuck is going on, Sofia?
- [cheers and applause]

"Istanbul would be nice."

Got my man Cilvaringz on the...

[Cilvaringz] Somehow,
it just fucking happened, man.

RZA showed up, and we had
a great, great tour.

You see how they welcome me
in Australia?

[chuckles]

[Cilvaringz] Obviously
being on tour with RZA

day in, day out, got us closer.

"Cilva-ring."

[Cilvaringz] It's very much

a student-mentor relationship.

- [yelps]
- [chuckles]

[laughter]

[Cilvaringz] Tell me, Mr. Diggs,
why are you doing this?

- Why not?
- [laughter]

[Cilvaringz] We were
doing some countries

no hip-hop act had ever been in.

- Say hi, Jordan.
- [cheers and applause]

It was the biggest world tour
done in hip-hop

in 67 countries.

Hip-hop don't belong to America.

Hip-hop belongs to you.

It's yours!

RZA... Cilvaringz...

Wu-Tang Clan!

♪ rousing upbeat music ♪

♪♪♪

[man] What's the kind
of relationship now

between General RZA
and blue coats from Wu-Tang?

- Blue coats?
- [man] Blue coats.

Yeah, they're like soldiers.

At the beginnings,
you were like general

and then those relationship,
like, changed.

So what's the...
what's the situation now?

All the members now

have their own solo careers,

so they... they're not
soldiers no more.

They all generals.

And they have their own armies.

♪ dramatic string music ♪

I love the battlefield.
We all here.

Shit... and we...
ain't no motherfucking game.

I don't know
what was happening, sir.

They were just coming
from everywhere.

So I just started shooting.

I didn't see the corporal
standing there.

[Mook] Once they get out
of Wu-Tang Productions,

everybody's doing
they own thing.

You know, they...
they had their freedom,

but they still here.

We under fire, captain.

Get up over that obstacle!

[Mook] With
the management contracts,

I never held nobody.

You know, I don't want
to fuck with nobody

that don't want to fuck with me.

[Divine chuckles]
You killing it, Capp.

♪♪♪

When I started seeing

everyone's new managers around
at my events...

and if we put
a Wu-Tang project together,

I gotta split my income
with their managers...

it created a little tension
for me.

[GZA] There was not
a collective focus,

more of a individual focus.

So "our" became "my."

Fucked up
a brand-new pair of Timbs.

Most gotta do it every morning.

Niggas is crazy.

Any given time,
when it's necessary,

I can pick that sign up,

and we should
all be able to gather.

♪♪♪

- [man] Yep.
- [indistinct chatter]

- [camera equipment clicking]
- [man groans]

[Method Man] Shit just
wasn't the same and shit.

Everybody was just turned off
for different reasons.

And not exactly with
the whole Wu-Tang movement,

but just with the business.

[camera shutter snaps]

We was our own worst enemies

when it came to
destroying our own self.

Everything that negative
happened to us,

it was because of us.

- [groans]
- [indistinct chatter]

♪ I'm so spectacular,
a Valentine's massacre ♪

We get a little...
got water inside, right?

Yeah, we got water here.

You... you done
with your juice for now?

- [U-God] Yeah, for now.
- All right.

[U-God] I'm reading some things
from my book.

And I'm putting it together,
the audiobook.

Yeah, so... so check this out.

We got a couple of...
a couple of spots

that'll be fun for you to do
for this that I highlighted.

- Take a look at that.
- Yeah.

[U-God] Okay, I'm back.

[man] And then we'll jump in
and we'll do it.

Okay, I'm ready?

[man] Yeah, yeah.
"Time is a motherfucker."

Go ahead.

Time is a motherfucker.

Nice.

Time reveals shit.

It wears things down.

Breaks things.
Crushes things. Kills things.

Reveals truth.

♪ soft dramatic music ♪

[Method Man] Everything
goes around in a cipher,

a complete 360-degree circle.

[RZA] We know everything
but for knowledge...

going back to knowledge,
there is a cipher.

Yo, this is Prince Rakeem,
the Wu-Tang slang master

with the Shaolin posse
off Staten Island.

[man] When you're living it,

the beginning that you might...
might be the end.

Now the end is the opening line.

I'd like to congratulate
my physical cousin Ason

for his newborn
baby daughter today.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [cheering]

- I'm in there, I'm in there.
- [both] Boom, boom, boom!

[ODB]
What things that exist

within the father
exist within the babies,

you know what I'm saying?

♪ Resurrect the god
through birth ♪

♪ Best believe ♪

[ODB] People always
trying to change people.

You can't change nobody.

[Cherry] I don't cry
when anybody pass.

Because I know
I'm gonna see 'em again.

[Icelene] Our son.

[Raekwon]
Life is too short, man.

You know, by the time,
I don't care if you reach 85,

it's gonna look like
a short 85 to you.

[Method Man chuckles] Yeah.

[Raekwon] You know what
I mean, like, yo, where...

where it all go?

- [U-God] Where the time go?
- [Ghostface] That's right.

We here, Wu-Tang forever, man.

I'ma keep representing that W.

But we gonna be here
forever, man.

[U-God] Time breaks things,

crushes things, kills things.

See that right there?

That's the big boy
right there, see?

♪ soft dramatic music ♪

♪♪♪

[U-God] If you have patience,

time will be on your side.

[Rae] Y'all know how long
we been doing this shit.

Two years in this shit.

My man Chef Corleone in the cut.

[Raekwon] We plan
on being around

for the next three or four years,
till the wars start.

[Method Man] Even after that.

If you in the right place
at the right time,

you be a'ight, though;
you in the wrong place

at the wrong time,
you know what time it is.

It's real out here.
Word to God.

[U-God] And if you recognize

how valuable time is,

and if you know the right
time to make your move,

you'll be a bad motherfucker.

♪♪♪

There's nothing greater
than Father Time.

[chuckles]
That was great.

- Just do it one more time.
- Do it one more time?

[man] Slow and powerful.

All right, let me get at it
one more time then.

[Divine] Nobody wants
to be reminded of their mistakes,

especially if you got away
with it.

I haven't wrote a book
because...

I never wanted to remind
any of us of our mistakes.

We made it through the storm.
Why relive it?

♪ gentle jazzy music ♪

♪♪♪

[Master Killa]
When you hustle,

it's a big adjustment to...

leaving that life alone.

And I was in that
transition state.

It was just time
to do something different.

This is where it all started.

- Yeah.
- This is my father.

The man who gave me life,
you know?

The rest is history.

[man] Like, yo,
he was a good kid.

Family structure, a pops.

- Mm-hmm.
- [man] He had advantages.

- Yes.
- [man] But simultaneously,

he also got caught up
in the street.

Hey, that's life.

Life is about change, you know?

And it's just about
not allowing whatever it is

not to be bigger than you.

People will give you
different hands in life

that aren't fair.

They're not right.

But you have to play the hand
that's been dealt to you.

As long as you're in the game
and you're in that game,

you have a chance to win.

When you throw your hands up
and say, "Oh, well,"

then you've taken on
a defeatist attitude.

That's not who people are.

That's not who we are.

When he was a baby,

I used to sing The Stylistics
to put him to sleep.

[chuckles]

He was always calm.
That's his nature.

But he needed that music
to just put him to sleep.

[chuckles]
He'd just go right out.

Music has always been
our foundation in my family.

With my mother,
her cousin was Marvin Gaye.

And we had that... that music
in the family, the arts.

[man] So wait, Masta Killa
is related to Marvin Gaye?

- Shh.
- [both chuckle]

[man] So you've known this?

Yeah, I-I've known that.

- He knew that.
- I've known that.

But, you know,
if I'm just saying it,

maybe somebody might think,
oh, yeah right,

you know, you just talking.

Well, my mother,
her maiden name was Gaye.

My mother's from North Carolina,

and my father's from Virginia.

Which... we are direct
descendants of Nat Turner.

[man] So wait.

- Masta Killa...
- [chuckles]

[man]...is related
to Marvin Gaye...

- and Nat Turner?
- And Nat Turner.

[chuckles]
That's his family.

♪ tender music ♪

[Divine] My mother didn't
raise no damn fools.

Her goal was to raise
intelligent men.

And women, of course.

I remember she said, "Boy,

you can take life two ways.

You could take it the wise way

or the smart way."

Now, we grew up hearing

that a wise man learns
from what?

Other people's mistakes.

And a smart motherfucker
learns from his own.

She said, "Be wise."

Me and my brother, it's almost
like we could've been twins,

even though
we're, uh, a year apart.

[Divine] First of all,
he was my best friend.

We did everything together,
you know?

And as we got older,
we shared our clothes.

We worked the same
little summer jobs together.

You know,
we read the same books.

And whenever I wasn't sure,
I wasn't intimidated

about asking my little brother
what he thought.

RZA was always smart.

Too damn smart sometimes.

Yeah... yeah, I mean,
he was just a smart...

he was a smart kid.

Little big head.
[laughs]

Physically, a big head.

I guess it was his big-ass brain

or something, you know,
but yeah.

He played by hisself a lot,

when he was really small.

As he got older,

individuals gravitated
towards him.

Well, RZA is
the common denominator

between all of us.

You know, RZA came up
with the thought,

and then everybody
agreed with that right there.

RZA was the savior to our...
to our universe

or whatever we was dealing with.

He gave me mathematics.

He gave this brother
mathematics.

So it's like mathematics
is something dealing with

knowledge, wisdom,
and understanding.

It's a way of life.

Future for the Clan,
it's like you saying it.

- Wu-Tang forever, man.
- [woman laughs]

Word up, the future is now.

It's like... united we stand

and divided
we still stick together.

You know, that...
that's our triumph right there.

- [Cilvaringz] On?
- [man] Yeah, we on.

Yo, what's up?
Cilvaringz right here.

We in the Wu Wear storage room

right here in Hamburg.

Let me take y'all around.

We got sportswear right here.

The Wu Wear jacket.

- [man] Wallets, man.
- Bulletproof wallets.

Now tell me you ain't gonna get
no bitches wearing this shit.

Look at this.
This is some old-school shit.

This is the Wu Cologne.

Wu Cologne,
I had this back in 1995,

when I bought it...
Staten Island.

Brothers right here.

[rapping]
I never smoke blunts,

tote weight, nor bust shots.

But fuck with me, I guarantee

you'll get your neck chopped.

Be the haunting, daunting,

brothers won't fuck
with the Wu-Tang swordsman,

slowly get dropped
with my Shaolin sword.

Of hip-hop, yo, my shit drop...

In 2004, RZA and I
both traveled to Egypt

and spent two weeks studying
its remarkable history.

[camera shutter snapping]

[Cilvaringz] We would ride
into the desert

completely alone

and have pyramids
pretty much to ourselves.

[blowing]

[Cilvaringz]
Halfway climbing

the Pyramid of Cheops,

we sat down
to overlook the desert,

and I said to RZA that one day,

we should do something
special together

that would last
through the ages.

That moment in 2004,
when we sat upon

maybe the greatest work of art

ever devised by man,

marks the time for me when

this journey started.

We went back to move forward.

♪ ambient music ♪

♪♪♪

We felt that sonically,

we had to travel back
to the 36 Chambers.

I was so much into
RZA's early work.

The gritty beats,
the obscure samples.

My production,
it's a complete mimic.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,

sonically, it's kind of like

a nostalgic journey
through '93 to '98.

The golden era of the Clan.

RZA told me
that most of the time

it was just, like,
organic recordings.

People would come in

and jump on a beat.

[RZA] If you look
at 36 Chambers,

they did not hear the album
until I completed it.

We didn't hear it
until it was done.

[Method Man] That shit
sounded amazing to us.

It was like,
this nigga made a movie.

That process has happened
multiple times.

Because this is
how Wu-Tang music was made,

I was going to have to implement

that same method of working.

RZA just kept encouraging me,
"Just... just record.

Don't think about it too much.
Just record."

It wasn't until I kind of
put it all together

that we was like, "Yo.

This is...
sounds like a Clan album."

I then personally called

each Clan member.

I had at least an hour phone
call with each one of them,

because it's a complex concept.

When I looked at the art world,

where Damien Hirst pieces
or Andy Warhol pieces

are going
for stupendous money...

Why is music,

that's also a work of art,

not being priced as such?

Well, it's very simple.

It's because music,

you can multiply it
a gazillion times.

So I'm gonna take this record

and only sell one copy of it.

And we came up
with the auction idea.

Things have value
when they are rare.

A diamond
will always be a diamond.

I spoke to seven
out of nine directly:

Rae;

Ghost;

Killa; Deck;

spoke to James Ellis for Meth;

Domingo Neris for U-ey.

[chuckling]

I got a call
from this kid Cilvaringz,

and he said, "Yo,

I'll throw you a couple Gs,

rhyme on this beat,"
whatever, whatever, whatever.

The album was recorded in secret

with the members not knowing...

- Yeah.
- ...the exact outcome.

This project was for Cilvaringz,

for some shit he's doing
to be released in Europe.

We would just...
just... just record, man.

I heard it one time.
Trash.

'Cause it was bullshit.

'Cause it's not a real
Wu-Tang album.

It's like you coming to me
to get a verse from me,

okay, 'cause I'm giving it
to you

at a fucking... a bullshit rate

because you my man.

"Yeah, I'm trying to put together
this compilation, Ghost.

A'ight, yo, Rae, we..."

you know, go to Rae,
go to Method Man.

So he did that shit

over the course
of, like, five years,

and he started collecting
little crumbs and pieces

from everybody.

And to everybody's dismay,

this motherfucker
was being a scientist

in the lab somewhere,
piecing all this shit together.

Now you got the whole Clan
on his shit like that.

'Cause we looking out for you,

because you RZA's peoples.

Yeah, I'm talking
about Cilvaringz.

To think
that I tricked everybody

into recording
a Wu-Tang Clan album,

that's just simply not true.

They were not aware
that this record

was gonna be this entity.

But they was hired to put verses

over a track.

Bullshit.

If we knew
that was gonna be a Wu album,

some brothers would've been...
probably been like,

"Yo, okay,
you gotta pay me this."

Somewhere down the line,

he came up with
this fucking idea

to make this shit
a Wu-Tang record

and sell it as an art piece.

When we announced it to them
that this was the plan,

uh, you know, everybody,
of course, agreed

that it was, um,
a very unique idea.

[man] Who... who actually
got paid for the record?

Exactly.

[chuckles]

♪ soft dramatic music ♪

♪♪♪

- [indistinct chatter]
- [spray can hisses]

♪♪♪

[Raekwon] We all 'bout landed
yes... I mean, the other day.

[Raekwon]
I would say it's both.

I say art reflects culture
and vice-versa.

You gotta remember,
everything started

in these areas

where a lot of things
wasn't being done at.

So we had to create
something positive

in our culture at that time
to make it big.

Let me see the ball, kid.

[indistinct chatter]

[Divine] You got kids out here

trying to make it in sports,
but you got also

a variety of kids
that's going to school,

that's doing what they gotta do
and is taking...

taking their time out
to learn mathematics,

trying to get a education.

That's what we trying to
bring back in the community.

Some type of community,
that's what Wu-Tang do.

[yelps]

[laughs]

[Divine] Me and Raekwon
was best friends.

We'd been friends
before Wu-Tang.

So that's why it's so hard
for me to accept

the... the distance
between me and Rae.

Since he dropped his album,
Rae changed on me.

He's been... bitter.

He's been mean.

- My guy.
- [man] That's what's up.

That's what's up.
Have a good night, man.

[Raekwon] I told RZA
a long time ago.

I said, yo, bro.

I said, "Yo,
you a good leader, man."

I said, "But you ain't
a great leader."

It's like, yo, man,
we a billion-dollar franchise.

And you mean to tell me
we gotta wait to hear from you

to get answers?

That's leadership?

Leadership is when
you have everybody speaking up

to endorse
what we all feel is right.

And it comes and hits your desk,

and then you make a decision.

'Cause in that,
you going with the people

on what they feel
and what they're saying.

- [Raekwon] Oh, shit!
- [record scratching]

What's going on?

That means, yo, real hard,

make some
motherfucking noise, man.

[RZA] That's to say,
before Raekwon

joined Wu-Tang,

he was down with DMD:
Dick 'Em Down Crew.

[chuckles]

To be identified as Wu-Tang,

to be identified as it
and to accept it,

was a whole process, though.

I identified it,

and then I accepted
the individual to be that.

[RZA] The Raekwon album
is gonna be

dropping July 18th.

It's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

And the Cuban Linx
is gold, shining links.

That's what Wu-Tang is,
you know what I'm saying?

- Oh! Good one.
- [indistinct talking]

And my little street prophets
gonna be coming up soon.

Word up.

- [gunshots]
- Hear the... hear the gunshots.

- Everything is real.
- [man] That's real.

Know what I'm saying,
hear the gunshots in the back,

so y'all see what's really going on.
Know what I'm saying?

That's where we at,
it's the jungle right here.

[rapping] I collaborate
the real and never steal

on a professional rapper.

Even if he says that
he was dapper than Cappa,

I wouldn't stoop down.

♪ hip-hop beat playing ♪

♪ Hey, yo, I just came back
from up north ♪

♪ Trying to see
if shit is going on ♪

♪ And I can get my dots off ♪

♪ A lot of emcees come
and emcees go ♪

♪ But when me
and Masta Killa come ♪

♪ You can't stop the flow ♪

♪ So set those table up,
bring all of the chairs ♪

♪ Bring us more drinks,
bring us more beers ♪

♪ All we want to do
is just entertain the peers ♪

♪ We been doing this shit
for 25 years! ♪

♪ pensive music ♪

Me doing what I love is
what got me where I am today.

I'm especially grateful
for the art

and the music that I love

that it would create a way
for me to provide for my family,

you know what I'm saying,

and make something
out of myself.

♪♪♪

Hip-hop gave us a way to be free

from the daily pressures

and the social
and economic pressures

of regular life.

This was our escape.

You know what I noticed?

Like, a lot of cooks
from, like, overseas,

way better than in the States.

It seem like
them motherfuckers just know

how to just, like...
like... like, cook shit, like...

[RZA] Have you... have you been

to fucking, uh, Rousseau?

- [Cappadonna] What's it called?
- [RZA] Uh, Rousseau.

His food is so good,
even for a vegetarian,

that after I ate, I was horny.

[U-God] It's like,
traveling the world,

you learn a lot of shit,

learn about currency.

You gotta walk around
with this type of shit

on you,
you know what I'm saying?

[U-God] Like, American money
ain't shiz-nit.

Looking like food stamps.

It's crazy. It's crazy.
It's crazy...

♪♪♪

[Cappadonna]
Being able to find

that hidden talent in yourself

and to be able
to create something

out of nothing

when all the odds
are against you.

♪♪♪

- [U-God beatboxing]
- [Inspectah] That's my guy.

He used to do this shit
back in the day!

[Cappadonna] It's a culture,
you know what I mean?

It's a culture

that was created
from oppression.

[Inspectah Deck]
♪ So how you feel ♪

♪ You know the shit is real ♪

♪ You throw a shout out
to Mass Appeal ♪

♪ You know the deal,
we in that Park Hill ♪

♪ The hill that's Park,
it ain't safe after dark ♪

♪ Some niggas talk shit,
they get slapped up ♪

♪ Some niggas is slapped up
and capped up ♪

♪ It don't matter,
we make niggas scatter ♪

♪ When that shit air ♪

♪ Put your hands
in the air, yeah ♪

- Whoo!
- Holy shit.

Reminisce some shit like that.

[laughter
and indistinct talking]

[U-God] Hold on, remember,
remember Larry?

[rapid beatboxing]

[laughter]

♪ soft ambient music ♪

[Cappadonna]
It was a way of life.

Hip-hop.

♪♪♪

[Inspectah] I'm older now,
you know what I'm saying,

so my whole view of everything
is a lot different

from what it was
when I was young.

'Cause it's, like,
20, 25 years later,

you know what I'm saying?

Like, I done traveled
and seen the world.

I just came back from...

I was in Sofia, Bulgaria,
and shit like that.

- So, you know...
- Love Bulgaria.

- Yeah, Bulgaria's beautiful.
- Oh, my God.

So, yeah, they treated me
like a king out there.

But coming back here, bro,
you, like...

what it really do, man,
it make me feel for my...

for anybody
that's really in the struggle.

Not like I'm out the struggle,

but, like, for my niggas
who ain't really...

they may not have
the talent to rap

or... or make beats
or none of that shit.

Like, a lot of niggas out here
is gonna murder a lot of cats,

so they gonna get murdered.

And that's just the tale
of the cycle,

you know what I'm saying,
until something come along

that can break that.

♪♪♪

Blow right on there, ah!

[man] You don't even need
no coin tonight.

We good, we good, boss.
We good.

Good.
Good.

- Oh, for real?
- [man] Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

- Uh-oh.
- [U-God] Are you serious?

I didn't want to mess
with nobody.

- No.
- U-God.

You being regular.

Wow.

Damn.

- Yes.
- Don't make me cry.

We still here, though.
We still here, though, mama.

You know all that shit
we been through.

All right. And you smell good
like a motherfucker.

Damn!

She smell like... she smell like
almondy goodness.

Mwah! Whoo!

- Blessings.
- [laughs]

Whoo!

[kisses]
Good to see you, though, mama.

- Bless the Lord.
- We still here.

- We still here.
- [man] That's right.

We still here,
that's all that matters, right?

- We still here. Yeah.
- Yes.

♪ ambient music ♪

♪♪♪

[crowd chanting]
No justice, no peace!

No justice, no peace!
No justice, no peace!

- [indistinct shouting]
- No justice, no peace!

[chanting]
No justice, no peace!

- That's what...
- [indistinct shouting]

They trying to tell me
homicide is not a murder.

[indistinct shouting]

That could have been
any... any one of us

at any given time, you know
what I mean, it's like...

Before I even started hustling,
I'm on my way to work,

early in the morning,
I'm 16 years old.

I'm leaving my building.
Something must've happened.

I get out the elevator,
police got guns in my face,

and going in my pockets.

And then somebody coming in,
saying, "It wasn't him,"

and then them letting me
go about my business.

You don't think my rights
were violated,

at least five,
six different ways?

16-year-old.
And it felt normal.

And that's the fucked up
part about it.

[RZA] When you 16, right,

you don't even realize
how much of a kid you are.

But when you have
a 16-year-old son or daughter,

and you look at them,
you realize

how much of a child
you really are.

These policemen,
they wouldn't want to see

one of their 16-year-old kids

be put in any situation
that our kids face every day.

They our kids,

whether you want to talk
about Trayvon Martin,

a 17-year-old kid.

You know what I mean,
a grown man is up on him

and kills him.

He's a kid.

How do you have Ernest Sayon
get killed the same way

Eric Garner got killed?

- But 20 years earlier.
- In the same neighborhood.

It's one of those moments
where you shake your head

and be like, not another one.

- Broken record, man.
- Broken fucking record.

That's why it bugs me out
to hear people talking about

this shit so passionately
and shit

when it's been going on.

[Al Sharpton] I got a call
from the mother.

She came from Liberia,

told that this was
the land of the free.

- [all] Yes.
- Home of the brave.

And she sits now
trying to reason

how her son lost his life,

not in the hands
of official hoodlums

but in the hands
of official police.

[all] Amen.

[Al] We must pursue justice

because Ernest could
have been any of us.

[all] Yes.

♪ soft ambient music ♪

[RZA] My brother Divine,

he could have been
a Fortune 500 guy,

you know what I mean,

if he would've just went
to college.

But he ends up with
this group of individuals,

you know what I mean?

And he gets them out the hood.

He had stocks set up
for brothers.

Life insurances, trust funds.

[Divine] Each year,
I'd buy a cheap property.

Now, you know if you bought
a condo for 80 grand

back in 1995...

[laughs]
Come on.

It's worth way more
than 80 grand today, ain't it?

By the time
you get to house five

and six and seven and eight,

they looking at you wondering,
"Yo, how you got all that?"

I told you, every time
I give you your check,

I got my check.

I'm telling you to come with me.

[RZA] Wu-Tang would've owned

at least ten blocks
in Staten Island by now

with his plan.

But even if you had ten
city blocks in Staten Island,

and you wasn't at peace
and you wasn't at trust?

You ain't gonna have shit.

[U-God] It seems like
we've been having

the same argument
for maybe 20 years now.

[Divine] It started in '98.

Once the Wu-Tang Forever
album and tour collapsed,

that was not nothing
about a company's problem!

That was a group's problem!

That wasn't supposed to
stop me from working!

That stopped y'all from working!

I-I can't do nothing
if you ain't mobilized first.

You wasn't focused
on the right things working.

[Divine] But then
I gave you your deal!

Where the fuck you think
the money came from?

- You didn't give me shit.
- [Divine yelling]

You didn't give me
a damn fucking thing.

We a team, dawg.

That's all the fuck
I care about.

You was paying your bills.

You was buying
new fucking cars, man!

Let me ask you a real question.

And I want you to be
a man about it.

[Divine] Mm-hmm?

Any deal you go sign for niggas,

you don't get nothing...
you don't get a check

written for you, personally,
for putting it together?

If I got a deal for fucking
$800,000... or $1 million,

and you gotta take fucking
whatever, whatever, that's...

- You got a million?
- No, no, no, no.

I get 200, you get 800.

Nah, I want
my whole fucking million.

In serving each other,
we became free from poverty.

Our loyalty to one another

freed our mothers from welfare,

and feed our kids to this day.

Our children are in college.

When we ain't have
no fucking money,

- y'all came and got checks...
- Who made it?

Hold on, hold on,
hold the fuck on.

- Let's hold on for one second.
- Who made it? Who made it?

- That... that's real, Ghost.
- Who made it?

[Divine] Now, would that have
been able to happen on welfare?

Could we have made all these
dramatic changes in our lives

if it wasn't for us
coming together

for one common cause?

So how did we achieve
such measures

and then allow it
to be destroyed... for what?

A verbal disagreement?

So we down here
fighting amongst each other

for the crumbs and shit,
because the shit is real

around...
around this cycle right now.

You had to do
whatever you had to do

to keep the legacy alive.

I'm trying to keep
a company alive.

It's the money.

There wasn't even
thinking like that

when the money wasn't there.

The money is the shit
that fucked it up.

[indistinct yelling]

[RZA] When you look at families

no longer communicating
with each other,

love not seeming to be present,

to think that that common energy

is gone and replaced by money...

or how Divine would say

everything he gave to Wu,

they...

have stripped him of it
and gave it to somebody

who didn't even build it
with 'em.

[Divine] I brought in
$4 million one week.

And I said, I got 3.2 million

for you guys to do
whatever y'all want.

I got a phone call the next day

saying that the guys said

I cannot have a commission
on this money.

I got up and RZA was like...
he walked in the office,

he said, "Just go, 'Vine.

Sit on your boat, man."

♪ soft dramatic music ♪

"You're done."

I haven't been back.

I don't talk to them.
I don't see them.

And I chill on my fucking boat.

♪♪♪

- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.

All right, so let's, uh...

I probably got less time
with you today,

so you want to get to some...
get to some meat?

[man] All right,
we'll jump around.

Take us through

this Wu-Tang album,
Shkreli, all of it.

I think one of the big...
resurgence

in the weirdest way
of the Wu-Tang brand

was this single album.

♪ pensive music ♪

The owner of the most expensive
album ever

has finally been revealed.

Martin Shkreli.

[woman] Turing CEO
Martin Shkreli purchased

the sole copy
of Wu-Tang Clan's latest album

for a mere $2 million.

[camera shutters clicks]

[Cilvaringz]
It was an open auction.

We had a variety of people

that were interested
in the record.

And Martin was one of those guys

that came to the table.

So he ended up
getting the record.

- This is the Wu-Tang album.
- ["Entrance (Intro)" plays]

[Raekwon] Welcome.

Once upon a time in Shaolin.

[Cilvaringz]
The deal was closed.

When Martin's news leaked

that he had purchased
the rights to Daraprim

and upped the price
by over 5,000%...

This is the same guy
that paid that $2 million

for the only copy of
the latest Wu-Tang Clan album.

How you gonna go
from like $13 a pill

to fucking, like, $700?

Who the fuck does that?

Doctors and patient groups
saying they can't access this drug.

Are you gonna change the price?

No.

[Cilvaringz] He put
a smirking face

to a scandal.

It was everywhere.

It kind of became... like a virus

found this way to penetrate
into different bodies.

That guy is nothing.
He is zero, he's nothing.

I mean, it's disgraceful.
Go online, read this article.

He has no respect for life.

Because I know people
that passed away from AIDS.

It's like, you got people
that need this medicine

every day.

Then he's coming
with all this shit

and going on the radio,
"Yeah, I'll smack Ghostface Killah."

Dennis... I'm gonna call you
by your government name...

you're not a ghostface killer,
I'm sorry.

[mocking] This, that,
and the third and this...

Why are your goons
not as hard as mine?

Lift up your skirt,
mother[bleep]!

But you will never see these
motherfuckers in the street.

You know what,
these is my goons, Martin.

- [chuckles]
- Where you at, Martin?

- Where you at, baby?
- Where are you, Martin?

You bought a $2 million

Wu-Tang album?

It's like, yo, man, it wasn't...

nobody didn't go in the studio

and put a album together
for you.

You were just the sucker
that bought it for $2 million.

I mean, what do you
want to see happen here?

I mean, I want to see
justice be served.

You know what I mean,
I want Congress and them

to really get him,
you know what I mean?

I want the courts to get him,
because people is dying.

And he's laughing at it.

I just saw the thing
on the other day

when he was in court,
he was like, he was smirking,

he couldn't answer...
he pleading the Fifth

every... every question.

On the advice of counsel,
I invoke my Fifth Amendment.

I invoke
my Fifth Amendment privilege.

My Fifth Amendment privilege.

[Trey Gowdy]
We can even talk about

the-the purchase of a...
is it "Wu-Tang Clan"?

Is that the name of the album?
Name of the group?

On the advice of counsel,
I invoke my Fifth Amendment

privilege against
self-incrimination

and respectfully decline
to answer your question.

I am stunned
that an album he purchased

could subject him
to incrimination.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

[Method Man] "Once Upon a Time
on These Nuts."

[Inspectah] You know?

Speaking for myself,

I don't give a fuck
about that fucking album.

That was never even supposed
to be a Wu-Tang album.

Talk about it.
See, I ain't wanna say nothing.

That was A1.

But, you know,
we gonna leave that alone.

The issue is, you know,
when you... when you're a group,

and, um, certain things happen
to individuals in the group

and it reflects
on the whole group.

So this album, it... it did make
us look like we a circus act.

And I don't want
no part to that.

Ever since that shit
came to the table,

it's been like a fucking circus,

you know what I'm saying,
so I agree with that.

If anybody can get
one individual in this group

to do something with them
and shit,

they feel like
they've accomplished something.

[Inspectah] That's right.

It's some corny-ass nigga
trying to capitalize,

like everybody else do, man.

Shout-out to Cilvaringz
Tarik Azzougarh.

[laughs]

[Cilvaringz] What record
goes through life in this way

where it's a secret record
in a vault;

it's sold to the most
hated man in America;

the FBI has to tweet
about the record;

then it goes to U.S. Congress

and is discussed in
the House of Representatives?

It was the equivalency
of $25 million of press.

And it put the Wu-Tang brand

in a different location

that it wouldn't
normally appear in.

[Cilvaringz] We were in
The New Zealand Herald.

We were in Chinese newspapers,

French, Der Spiegel in Germany.

It was literally...

everybody was talking
about this record.

[overlapping talking]

Martin Shkreli gave a very
negative spin to the whole thing.

You may remember the name

Martin Shkreli.

Well, now a federal court
has sentenced him

to seven years in prison
for defrauding investors

out of more than $10 million.

[cell door slams]

[RZA] Martin Shkreli

is gonna serve
seven years in prison.

So he went through
the due process

of the justice system,

which usually works
for the white man.

Like...
[chuckles]

But in this particular case,

it didn't work for that man.

Jail is... is the farthest thing
he could have probably

imagined for himself,
you know what I mean?

And I hope he don't run into...

none of those Shaolin
motherfuckers up in there,

'cause Ghost got a lot
of cousins up in there.

All them might want
to make a sandwich out of him.

Wu-Tang Clan strikes again.

- The RZA, the GZA!
- [crowd] Ol' Dirty Bastard!

- The RZA, the GZA!
- [crowd] Ol' Dirty Bastard!

- The RZA, the GZA!
- [crowd] Ol' Dirty Bastard!

♪ gentle ambient music ♪

[indistinct talking]

[Cappadonna] You know,
I don't speak about ODB

as if he gone,
you know what I mean?

Because he always with us.

...when I'm on tour
with y'all.

♪♪♪

[RZA] Dirty's son is him.

Talk about
spitting somebody out.

This dude is his father
for real.

- Ooh.
- Like that?

[man] He's a rap star!

That's you right there.
That's...

that... you came through
like, yeah, that's you.

[RZA] You gotta remember,
"Wu-Tang Clan,"

it's a description.

It means something.

And where it is now,
it's at the point of renewal.

[indistinct chatter]

♪♪♪

Because our story is a template

for a next group of men,

not just through our music

but also through
our whole living of life.

That went hard.
That's a hard jacket right there.

[crowd cheering]

[Jimmy Kimmel]
This is their album,

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

Here with the classic
"Protect Ya Neck,"

Wu-Tang Clan!

[cheers and applause]

[mouthing words]

[indistinct talking]

[man] Show time, man!

♪♪♪

[soft chatter]

What's your name again?

Lexi.
L-E-X-I.

♪♪♪

[U-God] I cannot front.

Motherfuckers fucked up
a lot of shit.

This my family, B.

I got my blood family,
but then I got this Wu family.

I got a big fucking family.

[chuckles]

How many brothers can say

they been around the same dudes

since they was five years old,
five, six years old?

And in that situation,
you gonna go through some shit.

But at same time, you still...
you're family.

[hip-hop instrumental music
plays over phone]

[Cappadonna] We mastered
the art of hatred, so,

you know, we all
just chalk it up as,

"Yo, it's not personal.
It just business."

Sometime that might cause us

to go a little separate
for a minute,

but then we know and understand

the value of the conglomerate.

And we all want to make sure
that our business right

on all levels.

[chuckling]

[RZA] To economic freedom
in America, it's tough.

You know, we actually
are fathers that

don't care how many
babies we got,

our babies know us.

- [Raekwon] That's important.
- We... yeah.

We not looking for our pop...
we was looking for our pops.

You know what I mean, we...
most of us...

[Raekwon]
Don't even know our pops.

- Yeah.
- [Raekwon] For real.

You know what I mean?
So we beat that.

[Raekwon] This is
what family's about.

It ain't always
about the business.

It's about, you know, the time.

And I know some brothers,
you know,

had... had some babies, you know.

- I wanna know them. I wanna...
- [RZA] Right.

You know, let them know that,
you know, I'm here for them.

And that's why
it's so important for us to...

recognize our business

as well as what we have
with each other.

Right.

We was soldiers,
now we all generals today,

you know, putting in
so much work and so much time.

But a good general
always remembers

that he's still always
still a soldier.

[Raekwon] Still a soldier,
that's right.

You always a soldier.
You right.

You right. Yup.

♪♪♪

'Cause it's like,
sometime we get too serious,

it don't be no real
love and... and brotherhood,

I feel like,
you know what I'm saying?

Like, yo, loosen up
a little bit, man,

you know what I'm saying?

Like, let's do
some real epic shit

and stop fucking trying

to bite each other head off
all the time

and act like a nigga can't smile

and laugh and shit.

You know, ain't nobody
smarter than nobody, man.

You know what I'm saying,
if you was smart like that,

you had all
the intelligence in the world,

then you should be helping me
right now,

'cause I'm fucked up,
know what I'm saying?

How 'bout that?

Mm-hmm.

Who got $5?

[men chuckling]

[chuckles]
Know what I'm saying?

- Place is tough...
- [laughs]

[laughs]

♪ gentle music ♪

[RZA] When I came up
with the concept

to use Wu-Tang as a name,

I didn't know
what Wu-Tang really meant.

I know what it meant to me.

[Rae] You want to know
about Wu-Tang, right?

All right, I feel...
I know the Clan feel

like Wu-Tang is something that,

you know what I'm saying,
that we live out.

You know what I'm saying?
In our heart.

We said in the beginning,
the witty

unpredictable talent and natural game.
- Unpredictable talent and natural game.

But mathematically, it was
the wisdom of the universe.

But there's no Chinese word,
really, "Wu-Tang,"

really, you know what I'm saying?
It's called "wudang."

When I finally took a pilgrimage

to Wu-Tang Mountain in China,

they defined
what the word "wutang" meant

in Chinese.

I come to learn
that the word "wu"

is the foundation
of the universe.

It's called "wu chi."

And "wu chi" means

total formlessness

of which everything springs
out of,

which there is multiple
variations, causes,

everything we see and hear
around us.

[Method Man rapping echoes]
Everything around... round...

♪♪♪

[RZA] Wu-Tang ain't just a word.

You know what I mean,
it's not just a group of people,

you know what I mean?

It's a certain energy,
in all reality.

That's why it was named
what it was named.

♪♪♪

We brothers, man.
We came in this shit.

We started together as a group.

It just hit me
not too long ago, like...

- [chuckles]
- We... we in the group.

Like, if you in that group...

Nigga, I was looking at it,
like, shit, I had a job.

- [Method Man] Yeah.
- You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm. 25 years
is a long fucking time, man.

Life is too short, man.

You know, by the time,
I don't care if you reach 85,

it's gonna look like
a short 85 to you.

- [chuckles] Yeah. Yeah.
- You know what I mean?

Like, whatever we go through,
we always still manage

to come back to the table
and still be real with it.

Yeah, despite all of,
you know, ups and downs,

it's... it's just
fucking, you know...

it... it's part of
the struggle, man.

It's part of the journey.

Love y'all niggas, man.

I love you too, man.
Love all y'all, man.

- I love all y'all brothers.
- [Ghost] Thank you.

- [Ghost] Yeah, B.
- Peace to my brothers, man.

Thank every one of
y'all brothers for

being a part of my life,
you know what I mean?

I feel gratitude
to y'all brothers,

for also... for putting
your trust in me

at times in your life,
you know what I mean,

where you didn't know
what was ahead

and you trusted
that I could get you there.

So I thank you for that.

We walked and we got here,
actually, by coming together,

you know what I mean?

It's like you don't have to...
we don't have to...

none of us
have to walk it alone.

That's the blessing
Allah gave us.

I do a lot of things by myself,
as each one of us do,

you know what I mean?

And it's definitely
self-rewarding.

But when we move together...

the world moves.

- Inshallah.
- Peace.

- It's been fun.
- Cha-cha-cha.

- Church.
- Yeah.

Next Wu album
we gonna auction for 10 mil.

- 10 mil.
- Oh, yo, hold on.

That'll be dope, right?

- The real one.
- Real one, right?

♪ Wu-Tang Clan's
"C.R.E.A.M." ♪

- Photo time.
- Ah, shit.

[indistinct chatter]

[Meth]♪ Dollar,
dollar bills, y'all ♪

[Rae]♪ I grew up
on the crime side ♪

♪ The New York Times side ♪

♪ Staying alive was no jive ♪

♪ Had secondhands,
Mom's bounced on old man ♪

♪ So then we moved
to Shaolin land ♪

♪ A young youth,
yo, rockin' the gold tooth ♪

♪ 'Lo goose, only way
I begin the G off ♪

♪ Was drug loot,
and let's start it ♪

♪ Like this, son,
rolling with this one ♪

♪ And that one,
pullin' out gats for fun ♪

♪ But it was just a dream
for the teen who was a fiend ♪

♪ Started smokin' woolas
at 16 ♪

♪ And runnin' up in gates ♪

♪ And doin' hits
for high stakes ♪

♪ Makin' my way
on fire escapes ♪

♪ No question I would speed
for cracks and weed ♪

♪ The combination
made my eyes bleed ♪

♪ No question I would flow off
and try to get the dough all ♪

♪ Stickin' up white boys
in ball courts ♪

♪ My life got no better,
same damn 'Lo sweater ♪

♪ Times is rough and tough
like leather ♪

♪ Figured out
I went the wrong route ♪