Wu Disciples

Ghostface, and Raekwon Tapped For 2012 Soundset Festival; Full Lineup Revealed

2012-03-06T09:38:00.002-08:00

Earlier today (March 5), Complex revealed the lineup and details for the 2012 Soundset Festival which is slated for Sunday, May 27 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota.

The 2012 Soundset Festival, which boasts a lineup of over 40 artists, acts, and groups, is being presented by Rhymesayers Entertainment and Rose and will be hosted by Brother Ali, MaLLy, and J Pratt.

This year’s lineup includes acts like Lupe Fiasco, Big K.R.I.T., Atmosphere, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon from the Wu-Tang Clan, Kendrick Lamar, Action Bronson, DJ Premier, Danny Brown, and many more.

In addition to the concert portion of the festival that takes place across three stages, there will be a production showcase, custom car show, skateboard showdown, live paint exhibit, and a B-boy/B-girl dance battle.

Tickets for the Soundset Festival will go on sale to the general public this Saturday, March 10 at 11 a.m. Festival tickets are priced at a reasonable $41; V.I.P. tickets can be purchase for $91.

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Young Dirty Bastard - Son Trailer

2012-03-05T02:34:00.002-08:00

Uncle Ray's Weekly Wuspiration #6: Hate....

2012-03-05T01:20:00.004-08:00

'When people hate you and talk behind your back, remember they took time out of their pathetic lives, to think about you. They love you.'

- Ray Acosta (President/GM @ Wu Music Group)

Raekwon Reveals U.S. Dates For “Unexpected Victory” Tour With Freddie Gibbs

2012-03-03T03:09:00.004-08:00

Wu-Tang member and Ice H20 founder Raekwon has just announced dates and cities for the U.S. leg of his “Unexpected Victory” tour.

The tour, which is named after the rapper’s New Year’s Day released mixtape, Unexpected Victory, kicks off at the Gargoyle Club on Wednesday, March 7th in St. Louis, MO and wraps up a month and a half later on April 20th at Ziggy’s in Winston-Salem, MA.
The 28-date tour will take Raekwon across the United States and even have him perform at this year’s SXSW Conference in Austin, TX on March 14th and 15th and at the Paid Dues Independent Hip-Hop Festival on April 7th in San Bernardino, CA.
In addition to Raekwon and his Ice H2O family, Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs will be trekking across the country with “The Chef” as the tour’s opener.
Currently, Raekwon, Ghostface, and Cappadonna are putting the finishing touches on their collaborative project with The Lox titled Wu-Block, which is set for release later this year.
Check out a full list of tour dates and cities below:

3.07.12 – St. Louis, MO – Gargoyle Club
3.09.12 – Pontiac, MI – Crofoot
3.10.12 – Steger, IL – Another Hole In The Wall
3.12.12 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
3.13.12 – Chicago, IL – Cubby Bear
3.14-3.15.12 – Austin, TX – SXSW
3.16.12 – Dallas, TX – Prophet Bar
3.17.12 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
3.18.12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Kamps
3.20.12 – La Jolla, CA – Porter’s Pub
3.21.12 – Santa Ana, CA – Observatory
3.22.12 – San Francisco, CA – 103 Harriet
3.23.12 – Reno, NV – Cargo
3.28.12 – Salt Lake City, UT – Club Elevate
3.29.12 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theatre
3.30.12 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
3.31.12 – Denver, CO – Casselman’s
4.01.12 – Sioux Falls, SD – Vault
4.02.12 - New Orleans, LA – New Orleans
4.03.12 – Pensacola, FL – Vinyl Hall
4.04.12 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
4.05.12 – Jacksonville, FL – Brewster’s Pit
4.06.12 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
4.07.12 – San Bernardino CA – Paid Dues Festival
4.13.12 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar
4.14.12 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Vassar College
4.19.12 – Portland, OR – Port City Music Hall
4.20.12 – Winston-Salem, MA – Ziggy’s

The Black Keys Names RZA as an Inspiration for their Sound.

2012-03-01T05:26:00.006-08:00

Ten years ago, The Black Keys hauled their gear up the steps of Used Kids Records and played their first Columbus concert for a handful of fervent underground music acolytes. It wasn’t the humblest way to debut — the show got local press coverage, and lots of upstart bands play to empty rooms — but it still seems quaint compared with the gig the band will play Sunday, when they headline the Schottenstein Center in the thick of their first arena tour.

The Black Keys seemed like an afterthought, late-comers to a wave of guitar-slinging “The” bands heralding a so-called return of rock. Through perseverance and serendipity, Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have surpassed and transcended bands like The Strokes (defiled) and The White Stripes (defunct).The Keys have survived and thrived long enough to spawn a whole new wave of think pieces anointing them as rock’s last hope, a mantle Carney more or less accepted in a January Rolling Stone interview. positioning the band’s meat-and-potatoes melodic blues bash-up as an alternative to both hipster-baiting indie and knuckle-dragging modern rock. Though they boast countless imitators, in the top-flight pop stratosphere they are a band alone.“It’s crazy. I mean to have this sort of success — you couldn’t ever bet on it in a million years,” Auerbach said. “But to have had this success without having to have come up with a real shtick, it’s pretty awesome.”The Keys’ shtick is, of course, having no shtick.

Auerbach and Carney began making grimy lo-fi recordings in an attempt to emulate Wu-Tang producer The RZA. They worked off the cuff with as few frills as possible.“You’re talking to somebody who made a record in one afternoon,” Auerbach said. “Nobody made records quicker than we did.”They stuck to that approach until taking a sharp turn with 2008’s “Attack and Release,” which featured production from serial collaborator Danger Mouse.

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Wu-Wednesday : Rugged Monk & Reverend William Burk - 5 Stages Remix

2012-02-29T12:11:00.005-08:00

MONK AND REV.
BACK IN CHUUUCH.....
TRUTH & LOVE

"FIVE STAGES OF CONSCIOUSNESS" KILLARMY REMIX

Cappadonna "A-Alike, B-Alike, C-Alike" Official Video

2012-02-28T14:05:00.002-08:00

WuMinati Series (Interviews) with Solomon Childs, Dexter Wiggle, Napoleon (Wu-Syndicate) & Shaka Amazulu the 7th.

2012-02-28T05:45:00.005-08:00

Let’s take it back to 1993 aka Wu Tang’s Big Bang year: faster than anyone could have predicted this swordstyle themed hip hop style took over the streets. Kung Fu was the obvious main influence on Wu Tang Clan’s “36 Chambers” debut and one of the intriguing novelties this crew had to offer the world. Pretty soon others emerged, especially the comics influences, just think of Ghostface’s Ironman persona, Meth aka the Ghost Rider, RZA’s Bobby Digital superhero alter ego or recently the comic themed covers for the Wu Massacre project and off course the many comic references in the vast Wu Catalogue.

Most comics bring the story of a superhero with superpowers fighting the evil forces out there. But sometimes one superhero isn’t enough to get rid of all the Negative Forces this (and other) world(s) have to offer so an alliance or a pact between powerful men comes to be: the X-Men, the Marvel Family or the Avengers come to mind to name just a few …

So, with our beloved and treasured art form Hip Hop being molested by The Business Men with only the mighty Dollar on their mind … is it really a wonder somewhere deep down underground some cats from all sides (East, South and West part of America stretching internationally to Europe) joined forces to bring Hip Hop back where it once belonged? And should it really be a surprise those cats emerged out of the immense Wu Family? Following or rather borrowing a similar concept as the marvel comic “Illuminati ”, the project is structured around these MCs from different locations, affiliations and clicks working secretly together under different personas to maintain or save an art form lost in hip-hop while keeping that Wu tradition.

Last year already gave you a small sign of things to come as we put this cover for an upcoming project in our album list from a crew intriguingly called “Illuminati Network aka Wuminati”, shortly followed by a snippet (featuring Holocaust and Pro the Leader from American Poets 2099) leaked through Wu-International. This snippet already revealed some of the artists involved: Napoleon (Wu-Syndicate), Solomon Childs (see Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, Wu Music Group and Theodore Unit), Dexter Wiggles (from the West Coast Killa Bee camp) and UK’s mystery MC/producer Shaka Amazulu the 7th as the driving force behind this whole project. Not alone did curious fans discover who was involved through this snippet, it also immediately showed the Wuminati modus operandi to rid Hip Hop from its Evil Overtakers: quality music, 4 (or is it 5?) talented members and an all-star Wu guest list on the features (to give you an idea: basically think of any dope MC you can name in the Wu-niverse).

Now, after a long time, our wait has almost come to an end as from this week on Wu-International will run a Wuminati-series the whole of February to shine some more light on this promising project for which 3 (three!) volumes have already been announced to be released (hopefully) soon. So come with us as we will join forces one by one with Napoleon as Da Kingpin with da Inkpen, Dexter Wiggle as Brown Dracula and Solomon Childs as Red Heroin, three of this crew’s superhero characters on their quest for the Illuminati Network plus try to put the spots on the enigmatic but hard to reach brain behind the Wuminati: Shaka Amazulu the 7th (as Black Stone of Mecca). In the meantime, take a good look at the front page, listen to the accompanying snippet mix (featuring amongst others Popa Wu and Timbo King) or check out the first official full track “S.I.N.” on our main page to get an idea of what this promising project has to offer. The first interview will be posted tomorrow and followed subsequentally after each other every week, Be ready for the emerging Wu World Order!!!

www.wu-international.com

Uncle Ray's Weekly Wuspiration #5: Love....

2012-02-27T01:46:00.003-08:00

Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.

- Ray Acosta (President/GM @ Wu Music Group)

Ol' Dirty Bastard: 6 Reasons We Sure Miss That Guy

2012-02-26T05:22:00.004-08:00

Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan is the only rapper to use his welfare card as an album cover; and the only rapper to take America along with him as he used the card to pick up his welfare check.
Ol Dirty Bastard was a breakout star on the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), but as he began his solo career, he contributed less and less to successive albums. In fact, he may have invented more names for himself than verses on Wu-Tang records: Dirt Dog, Dirt McGirt, Freeloading Rusty, Big Baby Jesus, and Knifey McStabb, just to name a few.

But whether he was Big Baby Jesus or Ason Unique, he aaaalways kept it real. He was unrelentingly erratic and seemed to be constantly battling legal troubles. He also was convinced that the government was trying to kill him. But maybe Ol' Dirty was right.
Last month, FBI records were released alleging that the Wu-Tang Clan was a criminal organization and that Dirt Dog was heavily involved in selling drugs and firearms.

Personally, we've never thought that ODB was crazy. Not even for a minute. He always spoke his mind, embraced his lifestyle, and never apologized for it. Every television appearance is a testament to that.

We have a few of those interviews for you; a few are infamous. We'll aaaalways love him, forever.

Ol Dirty interrupts Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech at the 1998 Grammy Awards: Kanye, i'mma let you finish, but ODB had the best interruption of all time. Many people don't know that the night before this famous Grammy incident, ODB saved a four-year-old girl from a car accident after witnessing it from his recording studio. That makes his statement "Wu-Tang is for the children" even more appropriate.

Ol Dirty takes MTV News on a limo ride to pick up his welfare check: This tops all MTV interviews ever conducted. ODB took a camera crew, his kids, and his babies' mother to get their food stamps in a limousine. His defense when asked about welfare reformation? "You owe me 40 acres and a mule anyway!"

Phone interview asking what Ol Dirty contributes to young mothers: A teen mother called into MTV's TRL to speak specifically to Ol' Dirty Bastard about being a young black parent. She asked him what he contributed to struggling teenage parents. She was probably wanting some interesting feedback from the father of 13. She must have been surprised when she heard his candidly honest reply.

ODB says he's no longer "afraid of the government stuff": ODB joins Canibus, Mya, and Pras on the same TRL special as the previous video. While Canibus responds to callers' questions with previously memorized answers, Big Baby Jesus keeps it real. So real that he pops out his fake tooth to discuss how he's not afraid of the government anymore. He does acknowledge that Biggie and Pac were killed by the people in the White House, though.

John Norris' famous ODB interview; "Keep it good, kids": Interviewing ODB was a tough job even for MTV's most seasoned interviewer, John Norris. Clips from this particular interview have been used in numerous songs. A$AP Rocky, for instance, used the soundbyte from 4:50 and Wu Lyf used the last minute in their song, L Y F. L Y F stands for Love You Forever, which Dirt often reminded the yout.

ODB, Ladies' Man: True to ODB form, in this interview he went into great depth about his favorite part of a woman... from how she walks to a woman's "sexy prophecy." Trust us, the content of this video is probably NSFW. Ol' Dirty never failed his own name.

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RZA Talks Californication Season 5, Iron Fist Movie, Apps etc Part 2

2012-02-26T05:16:00.003-08:00

Method Man Names His Top 5 Horror Movies

2012-02-26T05:07:00.003-08:00

Hip hop artist and Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man about his title role in the new thriller The Mortician, now available on DVD, Digital Download and On Demand from Lionsgate.

Method Man's Top 5 horror movies are: "In no particular order…
1.) Dead Alive, directed by Peter Jackson,
2.) Evil Dead II. Even though part I was great, part II was better.
3.) The whole Halloween series.
4.) The whole Friday the 13th series, for obvious reasons.
5.) Alien.
It scared the shit out of me, man…"

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Sunday Fun: Little Wu-Tang Clan - Shame on a N.....

2012-02-26T05:01:00.002-08:00

Featuring Methodshy, Applekwon, and the Ol' Pinkie Bastard

Friendship Ain't Nothin to fuck with.

Our Generation Accepting Responsibility Live Webcast

2012-02-26T04:19:00.002-08:00

AllHipHop.com co-hosted “Our Generation Accepting Responsibility”, a youth Hip-Hop town hall meeting and live webcast. The full lineup of panelists included Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, Masta Killa, and Divine, along with rappers Cormega, Lah Tere, Jasiri X, G.O.O.D. Music’s Malik Yusef, Lady of Rage, and Min. Farrakhan’s special assistant, Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad.

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Method Man speaks on his latest film release "The Mortician" and how he approaches a role.

2012-02-24T05:25:00.002-08:00

Method Man may be hard at work on his fifth studio album Crystal Meth with his Wu-Tang partner the RZA, but that isn't keeping him from pursuing his acting career. Now, in a recent interview with Global Grind, Johnny Blaze talks about his latest starring role in the indie flick The Mortician.

Meth explained that he was inspired to dip into the independent film market by his "The Wire" co-star Wendell Price, who also co-stars in The Mortician. He explained that acting in an independent feature gave him more freedom to interpret the character he portrays.

"My man [Wendell Pierce] from 'The Wire' had did a few independent movies — you get way more freedom to act when you’re in a independent movie as opposed to being in a well-known television series, where they make you actually stick to the script. So when I actually got my chance at a independent, it was the experience that I wanted, didn’t matter what the part was," he explained. "The director [Gareth Maxwell Roberts] knew exactly how he saw the character and he would give me tips here and there of what that scene should look like. We did two week prep before I even got in front of the character, which was cool for me. I love more prep, the better I think the product comes out. I won’t say it was easy, because it’s always a challenge, but it was fairly easy when someone is giving you the blueprint, right there in front of your face."

Method Man also spoke about his approach to acting some of the challenges it presents. He explained that while the difficulty of roles varies, he always finds it important to completely delve into the world of character.

"Jesus, I don’t know [what the most difficult part of acting is]," he said. "I mean there are different things at different times, depending on the role that you take. The most challenging thing is translating what’s on paper into film. If you don’t have a full understanding of a character, you’re going to fail every time. I try my best to get a full understanding and put myself in a character’s shoes, so to speak. Doesn’t always work, but I do my best."

The Mortician is currently available for purchase on DVD.

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Method Man Smells What The Rock's Cooking

2012-02-23T17:01:00.002-08:00

Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man may not be fighting in the ring, but Tical recently opened up about being inspired by former professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Asked to name some of his musical inspirations, Mef said Rock topped his list.
"I got so many, man. I can tell you where I get my showmanship from, what expires my showmanship on stage. Ralph Tresvant from New Edition. Great showman. Busta Rhymes. The Rock, from WWE. The way he used to cut promos--dude was like the truth when he cut promos, man," Method Man said in an interview. "Nobody can take that away from him. A lot of my stuff I get from WWE--a lot of my inspiration. Even though people know all the moves aren't real and sh*t, it's the way they sell them that makes it official. That's how I feel about my sh*t; if I can sell it, then no matter what I say, it's going to sound hot."

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Raekwon To Feature On The Remix of Mac Miller's 'Of The Soul' alongside Posdnuos

2012-02-23T16:54:00.002-08:00

Combine the lighthearted, comical lyrics of Mac Miller with Raekwon's drug raps and Posdnuos’ dense wordplay and what do you get?

Well, we don't really know. But we're soon going to find out.

Mac Miller was recently on DJ Skee's SkeeTV doing an interview, when he mentioned that he had a remix planned for "Of The Soul," one of the standout tracks off his debut album, Blue Side Park.

On the remix, Miller said he planned to have verses from Wu Tang Clan's Raekwon and De La Soul's Posdnuos.

Wu-Tang Clan mentioned in “25 Living Monuments of Hip-Hop”

2012-02-23T01:49:00.002-08:00

Who can forget the names RZA, GZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Masta Killa, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard? Hailing from the Shaolin, the Wu-Tang Clan delivered some of the rawest Hip-Hop records in history. Not only did the group’s debut Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers rank on over 40 “Best” lists, it introduced to the world to nine of the most gifted, ferocious and honest lyricists to ever do it. While the Wu found immense success as a group, each member found success with solo careers that resulted some other certifiably classic albums. With RZA handling most of the production on Hip-Hop staples like Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Link, GZA’s Liquid Swords, Method Man’s Tical, Ghostface’s Supreme Clientele, and ODB’s Return to the 36 Chambers, Wu-Tang had a proven formula for success. To this day, Wu-Tang records as solo artists and a group, and they still tour – minus the deceased ODB and plus Cappadonna. They are currently working on their sixth studio album which is set for release in Summer 2012.

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Cappadonna, Raekwon & Rutchet Rush - Life's A Gamble

2012-02-23T01:39:00.001-08:00

2012-02-23T01:15:00.000-08:00

Wu-Wednesday : Black Knights - Barmitzfa

2012-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Inspectah Deck + 7L & Esoteric = Czarface

2012-02-22T02:53:00.002-08:00

The trio of artists is now Czarface, which has been described by Esoteric as "a vigilante, anti-hero character." The project, which currently has no set release date and will be released on Boston rap label Brick Records, will feature some pretty impressive hardcore rap icons, notably DJ Premier and Large Professor.

Deck had this to say about it all in a press release.We are Czarface because they know our faces and they know us for being dope rhyme suppliers, like Tony Montana we are known for our balls and our word.

Source:http://wu-international.com/

RZA Talks Californication Season 5, Iron Fist Movie etc

2012-02-19T22:02:00.001-08:00

Video Game - E3 2012 - Movies and TV

Uncle Ray's Weekly Wuspiration #4: Trust...

2012-02-19T21:40:00.003-08:00

'Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.'

- Ray Acosta (President/GM @ Wu Music Group)

GZA & Masta Killa Performing @ Opera House Toronto, Canada

2012-02-17T13:08:00.001-08:00

Performing together for the first time in Canada Wu-Tang Clang swordsmen GZA & Masta Killa will be in Toronto on March 2nd 2012 at The Opera House. These two MC’s will undoubtedly let fans know they can rock a stage as good as any Wu-Tang member. Between Gza’s lyrical wordplay and Masta Killa’s consistent, but often overlooked rhymes this show will definitely satisfy any Wu fans appetite.

What:Origin-iLL Presents Gza & Masta Killa March 2nd.
Where:The Opera House 735 Queen Street East, Toronto
When:March 2nd. 2012
Admission:$30 19+ Tickets available online at Origin-iLL