GZA: ♪ I put mad pressure ♪
♪ On phony wack rhymes that get hurt ♪
I'm not playing with this one, cuz.
I'm in a whole other different chamber on this, cuz.
'Cause you know I got that staccato beat for you
with that Willie Mitchell sample on it.
GZA: ♪ I flow like the blood on the murder scene ♪
Hey, yo, this is that classic Genius fire.
Loving it, dog.
DIVINE: Geffen's getting a little antsy.
GZA: The only thing I'm missing now is just
the verses from the Clan, son.
And you know when we come together, the music is raw.
It's irreplaceable.
My album might be the last time we can pull that shit off, yo.
[thunder rumbling]
Yo.
Yo! Anybody home?
God. Fucking Jersey.
GZA: ♪ Niggas are fascinated how the shit begin ♪
♪ Get vaccinated, my logo is branded in your skin ♪
♪ And when the MCs came to live out the name ♪
♪ And to perform ♪
♪ Some had to snort cocaine ♪
DIVINE: Yo, peace!
GZA: Peace, god.
Power went out again.
Yeah, well, that's Jersey for you.
Why are you sitting here alone in the dark?
GZA: I ain't alone.
DIVINE: Well, talk to me. What's been eating you?
Yo, you don't get it, 'Vine.
I did a whole album
with me spitting by myself
on every track.
That ain't work.
If the Wu-Tang forms like Voltron,
and I'm the head,
how I'm supposed to function without the body, god?
Yeah, but y'all haven't been on the same album
since 36 Chambers. GZA: Exactly.
That's why I gotta assemble the entire team for my album.
Yeah, but you don't got time for that, GZA.
The label needs the album handed in to them
by next week, and it's already gonna be
a challenge for them to market it
without a radio-friendly single.
Look, instead of trying to get Wu-Tang features,
let's try some other flavor.
Now, I heard D'Angelo gonna be at Battery Studio next week.
Now, I'm sure RZA can get him
- to hop on a track with you... - Man.
DIVINE: And then the label will love that, know what I mean?
Man, fuck the label, 'Vine.
Fuck being friendly to the stations.
They need to be friendly to us.
We the ones that the people are coming to see,
to find out what we're saying.
However, the label are investing in our music
and expanding our reach.
And watering us down.
Divine, I'm the one who learned the hip-hop culture
from the Bronx.
The first Wu member to get knowledge of self.
Meth got a hit with Mary.
You got Dirty with Mariah.
But GZA's album?
My album gotta be pure, god.
And all I need is my Wu brothers
to achieve that.
[electronics buzzing and beeping]
A'ight.
A'ight, well, let me see
if I can get two more weeks with Geffen, okay?
But you gonna need the Abbott to help you
convince your brothers to jump on.
Especially the ones who careers are blossoming.
Where's the Abbott?
[laughs] Look, I don't know.
That nigga got back from LA with these books
from the Bodhi Tree, and now he's looking
for a Shaolin monk named Sifu Shi Yan Ming.
A'ight, prophet.
You know what to do.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
[thunder rumbling]
GZA: Yeah.
On some lyrical swordsman-type banger.
I gotta connect with the Abbott.
[energy pulsing]
PERSON: Genius, help us. We need you.
You're our only hope.
[thunder rumbling]
[Darren grunting]
♪ ♪
[wheelchair beeps]
GENIUS: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Peace.
It's me.
Lower them.
DARREN: You-you-you--
you're the Genius.
I can't move.
My wheelchair's broken.
Let me see what I can do.
Hell, your motor's busted.
What are you doing out here?
I'm on my way to see the Abbott.
To give him this, and it broke.
Wait, so you know where the Abbott is at?
Yes.
He's on top of the Wu-Tang Mountain.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
WISDOM: The labels are on the precipice
of ending the culture,
putting us at the brink of doom.
We reunited once, but over time,
our brothers wanted to outshine one another.
This allowed the head of the labels, Cyrus,
to infiltrate them one by one, using the ministers to buy up
all the broadcasting signals and pump pop into the system,
keeping the masses stuck on stupid.
They fragmented our empire of culture
into separate fiefdoms like Medina, Pelan, and Mecca.
Our radio signal is the last true broadcast
of culture that is left,
which is why we've locked ourselves in the booth.
But there's a prophecy.
The legend of the Liquid Sword,
which says that a man of words, a genius perhaps,
will come forth to save the culture
when he's needed the most.
That he will reunite the brothers, somehow.
GENIUS: We'll start here, in Medina.
[jaunty woodwind melody]
♪ ♪
WISDOM: But the fiefdoms have never been further apart
than they are now.
There's Pelan, home of the savages,
where beef isn't served on a plate--
it's a way of life.
The desert, which has truly been deserted
since the Fatherless Child disappeared.
Mecca, land of the riches, where they keep making it
and try to keep the others from taking it.
Then there's the Zu, the underground, and...
GENIUS: Medina, where the gods are meaner.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
[bell dings]
Can I help you?
Yeah. We're looking for Chief Irif.
He passed away a few years back.
I'm his daughter, Yenji.
Well, uh, do you have anything good to eat?
We don't serve food here.
No one is allowed to grow or sell food anymore.
I have only sake.
Filtered, unfiltered, bitter, sweet, and spicy.
I'll try the spicy one.
♪ ♪
[grunts]
I see you mastered your father's recipe.
How did you know my father?
We used to work together
as imperial masters.
And I know one thing.
No one brews spicy sake as he does,
and dead men can't brew,
so why don't you tell me where your father is?
[inquisitive music]
♪ ♪
YENJI: [whispering] He's in his old laboratory.
GENIUS: Positive Education...
Activates Constant--
Elevation.
[laughs]
Genius. [chuckles]
The culture was usurped by Cyrus,
and the Ministers of Culture turned out
to be culture vultures.
They tranquilized the people with popotronics.
So you got a whole fiefdom staring into oblivion?
Looks like they're staring into emptiness,
but they're staring into illusions and false images.
So why didn't you and your daughter become affected?
Oh, we only listen to the classics,
either on vinyl or through this faint radio transmission,
all produced by the Abbott or the Godfathers.
The classic headphones were built with antennas,
but mine are damaged and take forever to get a signal.
[static crackling, signal warbling]
[broadcaster speaking indistinctly]
WISDOM: ♪ Hell's wind staff ♪
♪ The rise of rap titans ♪
♪ Ninjas battling, sword swinging ♪
♪ Cutthroat women, whirlwind spinning ♪
♪ Save the children ♪
♪ Escape the poverty we're living in ♪
Yo, who's broadcasting this?
♪ Hell's wind staff, the rise of rap titans ♪
♪ Ninjas battling, swords swinging ♪
♪ Cutthroat women ♪
♪ Whirlwind spinning, save the children ♪
♪ Escape the poverty we're living in ♪
♪ Hell's wind staff, the rise of rap titans ♪
♪ Ninjas battling, swords swinging ♪
♪ Cutthroat women ♪
♪ Whirlwind spinning, save the children ♪
♪ Escape the poverty we're living in ♪
♪ Hell's wind staff, the rise of rap titans ♪
♪ Ninjas battling, swords swinging ♪
♪ Cutthroat women ♪
♪ Whirlwind spinning, save the children ♪
♪ Escape the poverty we're living in ♪
Nobody's listening.
Somebody is always listening.
And even so, will they be in tune?
Smart enough to decipher the codes?
I don't understand why you just don't spurt it out.
Because if the ministers understand
what we're talking about, they will make sure
we are disconnected from the people forever.
We're running out of time.
We got, what, 36 hours before the time runs out?
Before it's lights out for you, me, and all we stood for?
WISDOM: To save our culture,
we gotta connect all the fiefdoms.
It starts with the spreading of the word through the music.
Our transmissions have been broken
at these strategic points.
If we can get someone to reconnect us,
we can sound the signal.
Yes, but they all need to be connected
in order for us to be successful.
We must... BOTH: Move as one.
Let me try this one.
♪ All day underground sound ♪
♪ From the hallway on 4th and Broadway ♪
♪ To connect the dots to Watts to hear what all say ♪
These lyrics have messages in 'em.
WISDOM: ♪ All day underground sound from the hallway... ♪
All dope lyric have messages. Hold on, hold on.
Underground...
All day underground sound.
Underground.
4th and Broadway.
Come on. Let's go.
I'm not going anywhere.
What do you--
It was good to see you, brother...
But me and my daughter are good where we're at.
What's the use of being woke while everyone else is asleep?
Chief, I need you to join me.
Maybe if we get all our brothers together,
we can reverse the effect that the ministers put on us.
Make the culture pure again, god.
Father, he's right.
Now is the time to join the fight.
[thunder rumbling]
[inquisitive music]
♪ ♪
GENIUS: What happened to the Abbott?
He couldn't help?
IRIF: The Abbott tried to help,
but he eventually gave up on the people
and retreated to the mountain to live as a recluse.
DARREN: He didn't give up on us.
He went to go develop a new sound
to compete with the ministers.
They're only broadcasting regurgitated music
sampled from familiar hooky tracks.
They trying to put an end to lyrical consciousness
and street lo-fi aesthetics.
Well, while the Abbott is busy meditating,
the people out here hurting.
GENIUS: 4th and Broadway.
Underground sound.
4th... and Broadway.
Yo, this is it.
It's the place where the signal's broken.
[laughter]
IRIF: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's Manifesto, the Underground King.
Looks like he's completely lost it.
MANIFESTO: I can do it!
[panting, muttering]
Yo, I got an idea.
[indistinct whispering]
MANIFESTO: Let's go. Boom!
Ah! Brother.
[whispering indistinctly]
[lively woodwind melody]
[grunting]
♪ ♪
[soft music]
♪ ♪
JODI: We got one of the chambers connected.
WISDOM: Oh.
Try to broadcast.
[clears throat]
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
GENIUS: Manifesto.
My brother, it's been far too long.
MANIFESTO: Peace, brother.
Pardon self.
The Fatherless Child warned us
that they were gonna make us all fight each other.
Black versus white.
Asian versus Native.
Everyone against everyone,
and that's how I lost all control.
Positive Education Always Corrects Errors.
Glad to see you back on track.
We need you.
[inquisitive music]
♪ ♪
DARREN: That's what we have to do.
Reconnect all the signals.
That's how we'll reunite the fiefdoms.
That's how we're gonna free more minds.
IRIF: If we're heading to the top of the mountain,
we'll be passing through a lot of savages.
Everyone is on they own shit.
Do or die.
Kill or be killed.
I know a way to avoid trouble.
We take the route through the desert.
It'll add some more time, but it's safer.
Lead the way.
WISDOM: ♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
[crowd chattering]
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
♪ You gotta dip, dip, dive, so socialize ♪
♪ Clean out your ears and open your eyes ♪
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
SAVANT: My lord.
We've lost one of the fiefdoms.
Someone reconnected the severed signal.
It could be the one the legends speak of.
CYRUS: Send our spies.
Round up any strangers.
We'll see if he's the wielder of the Liquid Sword.
Bring him to me.
♪ ♪
[record shatters]
[thunder rumbling]
[sniffs]
All of this was a playground to the Fatherless Child?
Why did he abandon it?
He was the only one in our crew
who didn't need a book to invoke his word.
Rumor in Medina was, he gave in to the system,
just like the rest of us.
Y'all call this a desert?
It's not an actual desert, but it is deserted.
Desert or not, I'm exhausted.
We need some water.
[thunder rumbling] [pop music playing faintly]
MARIAH: ♪ Hectic inside ♪
♪ Baby, I'm so into you ♪
I'm starting to see a mirage.
MARIAH: ♪ Darling, if you only knew ♪
♪ All the things that flow through my mind ♪
♪ But it's just a sweet, sweet fantasy, baby ♪
♪ When I close my eyes, you come and take me ♪
♪ On and on and on ♪
♪ It's so deep in my daydreams ♪
[music stops]
You boys need a ride?
We got a man wheelchair bound.
He can ride with Wendy. We'll strap him in.
WENDY: You boys gotta be thirsty.
GENIUS: You know these wizzes?
Nah, G-O-D,
but I'm trying to get to know them.
I'm Roma,
and these are Roma's bitches.
WOMAN: Hey, fellas.
Why are you ladies being so nice to us?
Women are known to be nice
when they're feeling nasty.
WOMAN: Hey, boys. [women giggling]
Sounds good to me.
[Manifesto laughs]
[inquisitive music]
GENIUS: Everything's gonna be all right.
♪ ♪
WENDY: Come on. I got you.
[laughter]
Drink up.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- [Roma kisses] - [Genius coughs]
[breathing heavily]
Where are we?
ROMA: You're in Roma's Lair.
[distant moaning]
GENIUS: Where's Darren?
He doesn't fit into our plan.
[inhales sharply]
The fuck you trying to do, torture us?
[whip cracks] Ahh!
Your pain is our pleasure.
[Manifesto groaning] [whip cracking]
[Manifesto laughing]
I ain't into that S&M shit.
Get me out of here. Get--fuck.
[groaning]
The minister has some questions.
Which one of you undies
reconnected the signal in Medina?
I did.
[tense music]
Bring him.
♪ ♪
CYRUS: Legend speaks of one with a sword.
Where is your sword?
GENIUS: I don't know what you talking about.
CYRUS: Who are you?
My attribute is Allah Justice.
They call me the Genius.
CYRUS: Why did you reconnect the underground signal?
And how did you know where to find it?
I get it.
You're the motherfucker trying to keep people down.
CYRUS: Not keep them down.
Keep them in line.
By keeping them in line, you're forcing them down.
If people aren't exposed to the real,
they make a world on they own of the fake.
People need art and culture!
It all starts with the music.
CYRUS: Yes.
That is why we have developed the sound and the word
of the popular artist, to be more susceptible
to the larger population.
We have gotten it down to a science.
Recruit only pop artists.
In order to be pop, you have to be popular,
and hip-hop has gained great popularity.
So what's wrong with the raw, uncut hip-hop?
Why are you trying to dilute it or censor it?
CYRUS: Because it inspires revolt!
IRIF: [coughs, groans]
[muffled speech]
I said we gotta get free before Roma's bitches get back.
Yo, my ex girl, Christin,
she was a freak, but this?
This is some other level shit.
[door clatters, creaks open]
[Darren laughing]
IRIF: Come on, man.
Come on, god.
Get me out of this thing.
SAVANT: He's not the one of legend, but we can use him.
He's handsome and has a look that will resonate
with the common folks.
You should make him the offer.
CYRUS: If you sign with us,
we will show you all that we are.
Make you appear rich
beyond your wildest imagination.
Put you in the shiniest clothes,
the most luxurious mansions and cars.
Surround you with the most exotic women.
Consume all the abundance you desire.
You will be representative of the culture.
All of those things that you're promising me--
it's just shit.
Shit that's gonna be on a loan.
You want to use me to lure the youth
into your illusion of luxury.
An illusion that they gonna chase their whole lives...
but only a few will obtain.
Nah.
I'll pass. [attendants gasp]
Your brother seems to be enjoying himself.
[suspenseful music]
Fatherless Child!
FATHERLESS CHILD: Genius?
GENIUS: Brother, how could you forget who you are?
CYRUS: Join us.
Enjoy the spoils of life.
ROMA: Don't you want to be a star?
Can't you picture yourself in his position?
♪ ♪
[hip-hop music playing]
♪ ♪
♪ Yo, picture bloodbaths in elevator shafts ♪
♪ Like these murderous rhymes, tight from genuine craft ♪
♪ Check the print ♪
♪ It's where veterans spark the letterings ♪
♪ Slow-moving MCs is waiting for the editing ♪
♪ The liquid soluble that made up the chemistry ♪
♪ A gaseous element that burned down your ministry ♪
He is the one.
The Liquid Sword isn't a literal sword.
It is his tongue.
GENIUS: ♪ Try to keep a shark nigga guessing ♪
♪ Give crazy shouts, son, here's the outcome ♪
♪ Cut across the semi-gloss rhymes you floss ♪
♪ Shit is outdated, just like neckloads of sterlings ♪
IRIF: You coming, Dar?
MANIFESTO: Let's fucking go.
DARREN: Right behind you.
♪ Blood splash, rushing fast like running rivers ♪
♪ I be that whiskey in your liver ♪
♪ Duel of the Iron Mic! ♪
♪ It's the 52 fatal strikes ♪
CYRUS: Stop him!
♪ This is not a '85 affair ♪
♪ Made clear when the gods get on to perform ♪
♪ Storms blew up, Wu's up ♪
♪ Causing the crowd to self-destruct ♪
♪ Who can withstand the astonishing ♪
♪ Punishing stings to the sternum? ♪
♪ Shocked in the hip-hop livestock ♪
♪ Seeking for a serum to cure 'em ♪
♪ The thugs kill for drugs plus the young bucks bust ♪
♪ Ducking handcuffs ♪
♪ Throats get cut when dough rush ♪
♪ Building lobbies are graveyards for small-timers ♪
♪ Bitches caught in airports, keys in they vaginas ♪
♪ No peace, yo, the police mad corrupt ♪
♪ You get bagged up depending if you're passing the cut ♪
♪ Plus shorty's not a shorty no more ♪
♪ He's living heartless, blinded by illusion ♪
♪ Finding it confusing ♪
♪ Duel of the Iron Mic ♪
♪ It's the 52 fatal strikes ♪
♪ Duel of the Iron Mic ♪
♪ It's the 52 fatal strikes! ♪
[Cyrus grunting]
♪ ♪
Return to the palace.
[door slams]
Thanks for saving me.
GENIUS: Thanks for being who you are, brother.
We need you.
Assume your mantle, god.
You know, the Abbott always said
if we came together for the common cause,
nothing could stop us.
Well, where's the Abbott now?
[sustained woodwind note]
He's on top of the Wu-Tang Mountain,
developing a new sound.
FATHERLESS CHILD: Well, I wish he would come down from there.
That's what we're trying to convince him to do now.
Well, I'll go back in here and reconnect the desert signal
and let my people of the Zu know
that we all stand together.
[soft sentimental music]
IRIF: Peace.
Proper Evaluations...
Activates Controllable Emotion.
♪ ♪
Peace.
[door rattling]
[Jodi grunting]
Maybe it was a bad idea to lock ourselves inside.
Something's going on out there.
The desert interference net is down.
WISDOM: Is this the one from the prophecy?
And if so, can he reconnect all the fiefdoms in time?
You got the next broadcast ready?
Yeah, but we need to expand our radius.
Pelan isn't the largest fiefdom,
but its sphere of influence is.
I mean, its reach goes to Y.O. Now Rule
all the way to the Palisades of New Jerusalem.
If we connect there, a lot of ears'll be open.
Yeah, and maybe somebody can open our doors.
Maybe.
[inquisitive music]
♪ Move right through the night ♪
♪ Give sight beyond sight ♪
♪ When the ears hear the sound ♪
♪ They'll resound from the light ♪
MANIFESTO: [sighs] Damn.
I wish homegirl wasn't so crazy.
We could have made some magical music together.
Yeah, the sound of her whipping yo' ass
had a nice rhythm to it, right?
[laughter]
Ugh!
You hear that, Genius?
[radio interference warbling]
GENIUS: Yo, yo, yo. Hold up, hold up, hold up.
WISDOM: ♪ Move right through the night ♪
♪ Give sight beyond sight ♪
♪ When the ears hear the sound ♪
♪ They'll resound from the light ♪
[exhales] Light.
When the ears hear the sound,
they'll resound from the light.
[thunderclap]
When the ears hear the sound,
they'll resound from the light.
Light. Come on, man.
[thunder rumbling]
Been hearing a lot of thunder, but no rain.
It's starting to come together.
Come on.
♪ ♪
[indistinct shouting]
[thunder rumbling]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[baby wailing]
[overlapping voices]
[person wailing]
PERSON: Get back right now! PERSON: No!
[wailing and shouting continue]
MOTHER: They killed my baby!
MAN: We got ten of yours.
PERSON: Well, we got over a dozen of yours.
[gunfire, screaming]
♪ ♪
In the name of Allah,
this shit has to stop!
Our ancestors did not fight,
struggle,
and die for us to be living like this.
[footsteps approaching]
[guns cocking]
Hey, yo, who the fuck are you
stepping up in the middle of our square?
[sustained woodwind note]
It's Justice, AKA the Genius.
Genius?
Nah, you must be a fucking fool
thinking you can run game over here in my hood.
Nigga, this ain't your hood.
This hood belong to the Sunz.
Hoods don't belong to none of us.
We all just rentin' it.
GENIUS: Pelan.
If you rearrange those letters, you get the word plane,
meaning plane of intelligence.
This place used to be on this highest plane.
Now it's devolved.
In order for us to evolve, we must all get involved.
Man, how about I just let this .44 barrel revolve,
and all the problems out here'll be solved.
Problems still gonna be here tomorrow, god.
And one day, you gonna be on the receiving end.
Look, brother...
Everything goes through a circle.
Now, in order to multiply, we must add more circles.
Not repeat the same ones.
Man, this fool trying to teach a math class.
[phone chiming]
Hey, yo, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
This fool worth a lot of credits.
Chill, yo.
9TH PRINCE: Shit.
Hey, it's your lucky unlucky day.
This you?
Hey, let's combine and split the reward.
All right. That's a bet.
Nah, but that record deal's mine.
Nah, son.
I been trying to get that record deal for years.
Man, you sound stupider than your music--
Wait, wait, wait, so y'all will work together for evil,
but not for good.
Nigga, getting signed to the major label
is for the good.
The ministers know how to bless people.
Maybe if you got the right people in those seats,
but not when it's ran by a bunch
of culture vultures, god.
Hey, yo. Tuck the guns up.
We taking this pussy nigga alive.
♪ ♪
GENIUS: My brothers, we don't have to do this.
Bomb these niggas, god!
GENIUS: ♪ Tommy ain't my motherfucking boy ♪
♪ When you fake moves on a nigga you employ ♪
♪ We'll all emerge off your set ♪
♪ Now you know, God damn, I show living large niggas ♪
♪ How to flip a Def Jam ♪
♪ And Ruff up the motherfuckin' House ♪
♪ 'Cause I smother you Cold Chillin' motherfuckers ♪
♪ I still Warner Brother ♪
♪ I'm Ruthless, my clan don't have to act wild ♪
♪ That shit is Jive ♪
♪ An old Sleeping Bag Profile ♪
♪ The soft comedian rap shit ain't the rough witty ♪
♪ On the reel to reel, it wasn't from a Tuff City ♪
♪ Niggas be game, thinkin' that they lyrical surgeons ♪
♪ They know they mic's a phone to Virgin ♪
♪ And if you ain't boned a mic, you couldn't hurt a bee ♪
♪ That's like going to Venus driving a Mercury ♪
♪ The Capitol of this rugged slang is Wu-Tang ♪
♪ Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game ♪
♪ Now, who's the Bad Boy character? ♪
♪ Not from Arista, but firin' weapons released on Geffen ♪
♪ So duck as I struck with the soul of Motown ♪
♪ My central broadcasting systems is lowdown ♪
♪ And Dirty, like that Bastard ♪
♪ It's gettin' drastic ♪
♪ ♪
Give 'em back their guns.
MANIFESTO: What?
GENIUS: Guns are only used for war or for hunting,
and we don't go to war with ourselves,
nor do we hunt each other.
When the time comes, use them wisely.
[pensive music]
♪ ♪
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[slurping, sucking]
MINISTER: I want more.
[elevator dings] More.
♪ ♪
SAVANT: We lost Pelan.
The people are returning to the purer form.
CYRUS: We cannot allow this.
The purer form cannot be emulated
by the rest of the industry.
We must keep the people accepting
the watered-down version of the craft.
SAVANT: Perhaps we can negotiate with them.
Give them a small piece of our spoils.
Avoid a war.
[raucous laughter]
We will give them what they deserve.
Annihilation.
♪ ♪
[tapping]
IRIF: That radio is a classic.
It should be able to contact the station.
GENIUS: Come in.
[static crackling] Come in. Come in. Come in.
Go ahead. This is Wu Radio.
Peace. This is Genius.
WISDOM: The wielder of the Liquid Sword?
Indeed.
Yo, you've helped give us a chance,
but there's still three remaining chambers
that need to be connected.
The gold chamber of Mecca,
the rugged chamber of the Shadow Boxer,
and the slums of Shaolin.
You can't make it to all these fiefdoms in time.
GENIUS: I have a plan.
What if we split up simultaneously
and reconnect it like that?
How will we do that?
GENIUS: Voltron.
[inquisitive music]
When you reach the Abbott, give him this message.
C-E-F-A.
GENIUS: All right, look, fellas.
The only way we'll be able to do this in time
is if we split up, like the lions of Voltron.
Manifesto, you go to our brother
Johnny Blaze, the Shadow Boxer,
and tell him to prepare his forces.
His flow will penetrate the astral planes.
Give him this.
♪ ♪
Chief Irif, you have to go visit our brother,
the Wally King in Shaolin.
He may act if he sees this.
♪ ♪
[helicopter whirring]
GENIUS: Darren, you ascend to the top of the mountain
and go find the Abbott.
And I will go to the gold chamber of Mecca.
♪ ♪
Peace.
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
I'm sorry for your loss.
Look, I don't mean to disturb you while you're mourning,
but we gotta talk.
I grew up in a small project apartment.
Without my father.
My mother, she struggled to keep the roof over our heads,
and I thought to myself, "I'ma end her struggle."
I'ma--I'ma move into a big, old house in the suburbs,
and we was gonna enjoy life.
And me, put in work.
Dedicate your time to your craft,
and if you're lucky, one day, you hit success.
But when you hit,
it takes up more of your time.
Day after day, month after month, year after year.
You-you-you keep working to keep the status
so you can come back with another hit.
Get a bigger home. GENIUS: Word.
You've done well for yourself, and all from your art.
LOUIS: I work hard, son.
My schedule got so busy, I barely stepped
in my mother's house a dozen times.
Yo, I jumped onstage.
Spent nights in the studio hundreds of times.
All the way up until the day the reason I was doing it
is gone.
Taken from me
by a thief in the night.
The day she didn't wake up is the day I fell asleep.
Yeah, but you can't mourn forever, god.
A'ight? Now, the people need you.
Hey, yo, fuck the people, son!
GENIUS: You don't mean that.
You're successful because of the people.
They the ones that supported you.
Where was the people when I was in pain?
My mother passed, and the world kept spinning.
People went on 'bout they daily chores.
Eating, laughing, drinking and shit, right, but my shit
came to a standstill.
I ain't want to get out of bed.
I ain't want to see the sun shine,
but they still wanted to write stories about me.
Niggas wanted new music, photos, and interviews
and performances and shit.
Nigga, they ain't give a fuck about my pain.
And family? Oh, word. [scoffs]
They only gave a fuck about my money.
All they cared about was their accommodations.
They would take my life
in order to take my place.
I shut 'em out. [scoffs]
I shut them motherfuckers off.
Look, life has no partnership with death.
So guess what.
We gotta keep living.
Look, use everything that you got to help the people.
Yo, burying it ain't gonna benefit no one.
[laughs]
See, that's where you're wrong.
When I pass, my servants gonna bury me
in the casket right next to my mother.
Fill it with gold.
And who's that gonna benefit?
Me.
It's gonna benefit me.
[scoffs] I'ma live forever.
Know what I mean?
Like King Tut.
Son buried his riches and got tour support for centuries.
Get this Black brother up outta here.
[somber music]
♪ ♪
[electronic popping, fizzing]
[beeping]
GENIUS: He won't flip the switch.
Now we won't have everyone in the fight,
but we don't have time.
We've gotta attack.
Without his blockade, we'd be flanked
from the left loose of Mecca and Shaolin.
Yeah, but if the Abbott sounds the signal,
Mecca will join Shaolin on the attack.
But he won't sound a signal without hearing the broadcast.
He will if he gets my note.
How are you so sure about that?
Because he's my brother, and I know my brother.
The prophecy said we needed everyone together,
but we don't have time.
It's our final broadcast.
Can I do the honors?
♪ Investigative reports ♪
♪ Rugged rhymesters ♪
♪ Crooked crimesters ♪
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[system chiming]
♪ Dime droppers, 25-to-lifers ♪
♪ Backstabbers, low blowers ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Anxiety, brothers trying me ♪
♪ Gunslingers, dead ringers ♪
[hip-hop beat drops]
♪ ♪
♪ Dime droppers, 25-to-lifers ♪
♪ Backstabbers, low blowers ♪
♪ Illegal cocaine growers ♪
♪ Starvation, profanity ♪
♪ Anxiety, brothers trying me ♪
♪ Gunslingers, dead ringers ♪
♪ Investigative reports ♪
♪ ♪
Well, we did all that we could do.
It's up to them now.
I'm switching to two-way broadcast.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[coughing]
[GZA's "Shadowboxin']
SHADOW BOXER: ♪ Maximillion ♪
♪ Maximillion ♪
PERSON: Shadowboxin'.
SHADOW BOXER: ♪ I breaks it down to the bone gristle ♪
♪ Ill-speaking scud missile ♪
♪ Heat seeking, Johnny Blazing ♪
♪ Nightmares like Wes Craven, niggas gunning ♪
♪ My third eye seen it coming before it happened ♪
♪ You know about them fucking Staten kids ♪
♪ They smashing everything, uh ♪
♪ In any shape, form, or fashion ♪
♪ Now everybody talking 'bout they blastin' ♪
♪ Hmm ♪
♪ Is you bustin' steel or is you flashing? ♪
♪ Hmm ♪
♪ Talking out yo' asshole ♪
♪ Should have learnt about the flow and peasy afro ♪
♪ Ticallion stallion ♪
♪ Chinky-eyed and snot-nosed ♪
♪ From my naps to the bunion on my big toe ♪
♪ I keeps it moving ♪
♪ Know just what the fuck I'm doing ♪
♪ Rap insomniac ♪
♪ Fiend to catch a nigga snoozing ♪
♪ Slip the cardiac, arrest me ♪
♪ Exorcist hip-hop possess me ♪
♪ Crunch a nigga like a Nestle ♪
♪ You know my steez ♪
♪ Burning to a third degree ♪
♪ Sneaky-ass alley cat, top pedigree ♪
♪ The head toucher, industry party bum rusher ♪
♪ You don't like it, dick up in you, fuck ya ♪
PERSON: Shadow.
Shadow boxin'.
♪ ♪
Shadow boxin'.
♪ ♪
Shadow boxin'.
♪ ♪
Shadow--shadow boxin'.
[sustained woodwind note]
ABBOTT: What are you doing here, little man?
I've come to find you...
Give you help,
and seek help from you.
I know you're looking for a different sound,
but it's gonna take time for you to develop it
and time for the people to get used to it.
Until then,
you have to keep doing what's been working for you.
Abbott, the people need you.
Your sister needs you.
We can't win without you.
All right, save your breath.
DARREN: Must deliver the signal.
Join the fight.
What's the signal?
[gentle woodwind melody]
♪ ♪
[machine whirring]
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
[synth playing woodwind melody]
♪ ♪
[helicopter blades whirring]
[indistinct shouting]
[synth humming]
PERSON: So...
come, boy.
Choose life or death.
[GZA's "4th Chamber"]
[all shouting]
♪ ♪
♪ The only man a ho wait for ♪
♪ Is the sky-blue Bally kid in '83 rocked Tale Lords ♪
♪ My Memorex performed tape decks ♪
♪ My own Fostex ♪
♪ Watch out for Haiti bitches ♪
♪ I heard they throw hex ♪
♪ Yo, Wu whole platoon is filled with raccoons ♪
♪ Corner-sittin' wine niggas sippin' Apple Boone ♪
♪ This ain't no white cartoon ♪
♪ 'Cause I be duckin' crazy spades ♪
♪ The kid hold white shit like blacks rock ashy legs ♪
♪ Why is the sky blue? ♪
♪ Why is water wet? ♪
♪ Why did Judas rat to Romans while Jesus slept? ♪
♪ Stand up, you're out of luck ♪
♪ Like two dogs stuck ♪
♪ Iron Man be sippin' rum out of Stanley Cups ♪
♪ Unflammable Noriega aiming knives ♪
♪ Stay windy in Chicago ♪
♪ Spine tingle, mind boggles ♪
♪ Kangols in rainbow colors ♪
♪ Promoters try to hold dough ♪
♪ Give me mine before Po wrap you up in so-and-so ♪
♪ I ran the Dark Ages, Constantine the Great ♪
♪ Henry the Eighth ♪
♪ Built with Genghis Khan ♪
♪ The red suede Wally Don ♪
♪ ♪
ABBOTT: ♪ Hey, yo, camouflage chameleon ♪
♪ Ninja scaling your building ♪
♪ No time to grab the gun ♪
♪ They already got your wife and children ♪
♪ A hit was sent from the president ♪
♪ To raid your residence ♪
♪ Because you had secret evidence ♪
♪ And documents on how they raped a continent ♪
♪ And lynched the prominent, dominant Islamic ♪
♪ Asiatic, Black Hebrew ♪
♪ The year 2002 ♪
♪ The battle's filled with the Wu ♪
♪ 6 million devils just died from the Bubonic flu ♪
♪ Or the Ebola virus under the reign of King Cyrus ♪
♪ You can see the weakness of a man right through his iris ♪
♪ Unloyal snakes get thrown in boilin' lakes of hot oil ♪
♪ It boils your skin ♪
♪ Chicken heads getting' slim like Olive Oyl ♪
♪ Only plant the seed deep inside fertile soil ♪
♪ Fortified with essential vitamins and minerals ♪
♪ Use the sky for a blanket ♪
♪ Stuffin' clouds inside my pillow ♪
♪ Rollin' with the Lamb, 12 tribes ♪
♪ 144,000 chosen ♪
♪ Protons, electrons always cause explosions ♪
♪ ♪
[door rattling]
[cheering, fireworks exploding]
CROWD: [chanting] Wu-Tang! Wu-Tang!
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
You believe you freed the people
and gave them back their culture,
but it will not last.
There will be new ways to keep them in line.
Not if I have anything to do about it.
You and I are the same.
Two cultures fighting to make our mark on this world
while we can.
Well, I'm afraid you won't be able to see that world.
Your Liquid Swords will not work on me.
Cool. That's why I got a real one.
GZA: ♪ All right, well, okay ♪
♪ Well, if you like the way it sounds ♪
[singing along] ♪ Then clap, man ♪
♪ And if the women love it too ♪
♪ Well, then raise your hands ♪
Yo, this shit is a masterpiece, god.
Mm, better than that Cuban Linx album.
I told--yo.
Hey, you only saying that shit
- 'cause it's your album, nigga. - Nah, nah, nah, cuz.
I'm saying that 'cause I got
every Wu-Tang Clan member on it.
I feel you.
Look, I think--I think this album is gonna
expand us to a whole new breed of fans, yo.
We gotta keep this momentum going, though.
I got all the brothers coming to this session tonight, nigga.
GZA: Word, word, word. All good, but yo.
I gotta go down to Medina real quick.
I gotta meet with Priest.
Yeah, Geffen talking about giving me
my own production deal to start signing artists.
RZA: I see you, nigga.
GZA: Yeah. RZA: I see you. Yeah.
Well, cuz, you ain't the only one learnin'
the other side of the business, guy.
- RZA: Hey, apparently not. - [GZA laughs]
Hey, yo, yo. What about the session?
GZA: I'll be back before y'all wrap it up, bro.
Just hit me.
Suu!
♪ But only raise your hands if you're sure ♪
Yo! Peace.
Yo, what up, 'Vine?
DIVINE: Yo, what up with you?
RZA: Long time no see, sir. DIVINE: I know.
That Shaolin monk don't let you check yo phone no more?
RZA: Oh, watch out, yo.
Yo, I been in the studio blasting music, a'ight?
DIVINE: A'ight, well, see, that's why
I installed that phone light.
Oh, I know. Shit went off, like, ten times.
It's fucking irritating, yo.
Well, excuse me, because I only hit you up twice,
and that was for good news,
because GZA's "Shadowboxin'" is number one on Hot 97,
and the album is about to debut in the top ten
on the fucking Billboard charts, my nigga.
Come on, god. RZA: Hey, yo.
Get the fuck out of here, yo. DIVINE: You did it again.
Another hit release!
Hey, look, look.
That's what happens when the Wu stands together.
Yo, we got another session tonight.
We're bound to produce another banger.
All right, well, you gonna have to miss me,
because, uh, I told Nia that I'd be back in by 11:00,
so I'll check in with you tomorrow.
Hey, uh, tell her I say what's up.
DIVINE: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I will.
And, uh, you know what?
Maybe you should listen to these.
[answering machine beeps]
METH: Peace, lord.
I ain't gonna make it tonight.
I'm working on this joint with Redman.
Shit gonna be bananas, son. One.
[answering machine beeps]
DIRTY: Yo, peace, cuzo.
I'm at this crazy party with Mariah.
I'm about to put a baby in one of these R&B chicks, son.
[answering machine beeps]
DECK: Peace. It's Rebel.
Yo, send somebody to pick me up.
I'm not driving out tonight
dodging all them fucking deers.
[answering machine beeps]
GHOST: Hey, yo, Bobby Steels, this Ghost.
I'm here with Rae. RAE: Yeah, thun.
We uptown with Jodeci right now.
We 'bout to splash this "Feenin'" you remix.
Know what I mean?
GHOST: This shit gonna be fire!
Ooh!
RAE: We'll catch you next week, son.
Out.
[answering machine beeps]
U-GOD: Yo, Abbott. U-G-O-D here.
Yeah, I ain't gonna make it out to the woods tonight, man.
Gotta take care of something with Dontae.
You know what it is. One.
[answering machine beeps]
KILLA: Peace to the god. It's Killa.
Yo, Abbott, since I'm already on the Brooklyn side,
I'ma roll with GZA to this thing,
know what I'm saying?
By the way...
♪ Duel of the Iron Mic! ♪
Yeah. [laughs]
You need to do a video for that joint.
Peace.
[Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"]
♪ ♪
RZA: I might as well take my ass back to LA.
JIMMY: ♪ As I walk this land of broken dreams ♪
♪ I have visions of many things ♪
♪ But happiness is just an illusion ♪
♪ Filled with sadness and confusion ♪
♪ What becomes of the brokenhearted ♪
♪ Who had love that's now departed? ♪
♪ I know I've got to find some kind of peace of mind ♪
♪ Maybe ♪
♪ ♪
♪ The roots of love grow all around ♪
♪ But for me they come a-tumblin' down ♪
♪ Every day heartaches grow a little stronger ♪
♪ I can't stand this pain much longer ♪
♪ I walk in shadows searching for light ♪
♪ Cold and alone, no comfort in sight ♪
♪ Hoping and praying for someone who care ♪
♪ Always moving and going nowhere ♪
♪ What becomes of the brokenhearted ♪
♪ Who had love that's now departed? ♪
♪ I know I've got to find some kind of peace of mind ♪
♪ Help me ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I'm searching though I don't succeed ♪
♪ But someone look, there's a growing need ♪
♪ All is lost, there's no place for beginning ♪
♪ All that's left is an unhappy ending ♪
♪ Now what becomes of the brokenhearted ♪
♪ Who had love that's now departed? ♪
♪ I know I've got to find some kind of peace of mind ♪
♪ I'll be searching everywhere ♪
♪ Just to find someone to care ♪
♪ I'll be looking every day ♪
♪ I know I'm gonna find a way ♪
♪ Nothing's gonna stop me now ♪
♪ I'll find a way somehow ♪
COACH: Get on the line!