When the Wu-Tang Clan signed their first deal for
36 Chambers they made sure it covered the respective members as solo artists. This exemplifies the Clan's business-like approach and the creation of hip-hop's first franchise and dynasty...
Here is a whistle-stop tour of the first (i.e. pre-'Forever') slew of
Wu-Tang solo albums that I believe to be essential. Seriously recommended if you are not sure where to go after the debut:
Method Man -
Tical (1994)
The first Wu solo album, 'tical' = weed. RZA is on the boards of course, steering Meth (the Clan's dynamic, charismatic, substance-fuelled MC) through a dark and gritty soundscape that was responsible for kicking the Wu into commercial overdrive.
We're still in early Wu-Tang mode here, with 'Bring the Pain' being a classic example of the quickfire sampling and minimal beats limited by the technology employed by RZA at the time - to great effect.
******
Raekwon -
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)
This is, for all intents and purposes, a collaboration between the Clan's two most surreal, slang-driven story-weavers - Raekwon the Chef and Ghostface Killah. Ghost appears on nearly every track on the record, and what a record...
Cuban Linx is credited with inspiring hip-hop's longtime mafioso obsession, courtesy of Raekwon's 'Wu-Gambinos': the diamond-studded aliases of the Clan, all of whom appear on
Cuban Linx between mob movie samples and the usual 5 Percenter/kung-fu VHS vernacular.
To my ears, Ghost's and especially Raekwon's bars are often indecipherable (I'm a long way from Staten Island), but a cursory search for lyrics and you'll see there is a deep, deep goldmine of slang-thick narrative that coalesces into what can only be described as... poetry.
RZA is no slack on this album either, bringing the bleak but also, this time, painting an appropriate background for the tales of gang war and botched drug deals.
******
Ol' Dirty Bastard -
Return to the 36 Chambers (the Dirty Version)(1995)
For the next solo debut, ODB yanks us across the water to Brooklyn Zoo. Cousin of RZA and one of the Wu-founders, ODB is a one-off MC that needs little introduction - coming like a demented, drug-addled hybrid of rapper and soul singer. RZA produces again, as he does for all the early solo projects, and the murky beats combine with the Drunken Master's off-the-wall, profoundly entertaining meanderings to produce a macabre banger.