1 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,240 Do you think your Wu-Tang sword can defeat me? 2 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:28,040 The best sword style that I've ever witnessed in a martial art film 3 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:29,920 was the Wu-Tang sword. 4 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,640 If what you say is true, 5 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,720 the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang could be dangerous. 6 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:43,440 Yo. I got this idea of the Wu-Tang Clan. 7 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:52,920 Some of the best MCs are my homies, my peers. 8 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,520 They was different, yo. 9 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,800 It was something only Staten Island had developed. 10 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,760 COMPOSITION 11 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:11,840 I named it the Wu-Tang slang. 12 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,760 What's the deal? 13 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:20,080 Wu-Tang became the style that identify 14 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,080 the best MCs. 15 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,040 Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, U-God, Ghost face Kill ah, 16 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,920 Cappa donna, Ol' Dirty Bastard, The GZA, The RZA, Masta Kill a. 17 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,520 25 years is a long time. 18 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,880 Even through all the trouble that we may have or cause among each other. 19 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,600 Any given time we come back together, there's a goodness of energy. 20 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:52,160 WU-TANG CLAN 21 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,000 Wu Tang. We started with camaraderie and brotherhood. 22 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,000 That's how I saw it. It has nothing to do with business. 23 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,200 The only way it makes sense is in brotherhood 24 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,760 and that's what we proclaim. 25 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,320 Start from the bottom in order to get to the top. 26 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,480 And once you get to the top 27 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:56,840 there's only one way to go. 28 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,960 These young motherfuckers from Staten Island, NY had captured 29 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,160 the world. 30 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,920 WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN 31 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:28,120 I think what made us different was the experiences we'd been through. 32 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,720 We was poor, looking for a way. 33 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,480 From where I came from... 34 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,480 ...stage, this way. 35 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,960 ...I'm grateful for everything. 36 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,040 It was rough. 37 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,880 I'm from the era where you're gonna get robbed. 38 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,880 Cut Era. Lawless. 39 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,440 Motherfuckers punching your face for your shit. 40 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,200 It was a nightmare, you know, but at the same time it was home. 41 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,720 The bible says that when the son of man returns 42 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,320 out of his mouth will come a double-edged sword. 43 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:19,800 Our tongue is our sword. 44 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:06,440 I was like, who are they, why are they superheroes that can rap? 45 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,280 It was unlike anything I'd seen. 46 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,600 I was like, what is this? 47 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,600 I was like, what is this shit? I don't know. 48 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,440 You hear about these dudes that roll up 100 deep everywhere. 49 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,560 The lights went out, and all of a sudden you hear "sooo, sooo." 50 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,320 You hear swords and you go "What was that? What's going on?" 51 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,600 These girls in the front got it. Everyone else was like... 52 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,400 What just happened? 53 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:04,520 Wow. I think I've seen The Wizard of Oz or some shit here. 54 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,400 It be years, though. Look good though. 55 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:08,880 ST. GEORGE THEATRE STATEN ISLAND 56 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,400 - What up, y'all. - It's good. 57 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,680 The only time we basically see each other now is at shows, 58 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,200 or the studio, if the studio. 59 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:20,320 Like this, do that. 60 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,960 But see, when we're all in the same room 61 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,800 and you genuinely miss it because of the lack of communication. 62 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,320 Because you know, dudes don't hang out with each other, shit like that. 63 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,200 All that shit goes out the window. You don't think about it anymore. 64 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,080 Ah, you smell good, Chef. 65 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,680 Method Man, nobody had his cadence, his flow, it was unique, original. 66 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:34,880 Colin Kap might take a knee, 67 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,320 I need action figure, that way it would take a knee just to Kaepernick. 68 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,920 "Take a knee just to Kaepernick," that's nice. 69 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,320 I still write my rhymes to impress these dudes here. 70 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,080 I know if they like it... my shit official. 71 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,720 I learned my flows from the rest of the Clan. RZA, Dirt, Rae... 72 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,360 I'm just a product of them. 73 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,760 The Ghost face Killer was the most dangerous villain 74 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,480 to ever hit the movie screen. 75 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,240 Ghost face killer! 76 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,040 And I felt that Ghostface's energy was that character. 77 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,560 Just the vibe alone around that time. You know what I mean? 78 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,640 Just... the spirit was good. 79 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,400 That was the beginning of the journey. 80 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:40,120 Right? 81 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,040 We did everything together. Like, our mothers know each other. 82 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:46,600 You know what I'm sayin'? 83 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,000 I don't know if our pops know each other and shit, but... 84 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,320 Most of us come from broken homes. Know what I'm sayin'? 85 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:55,800 Like, yo! 86 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,200 That's how far we go back, that's the real glue behind this shit. 87 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:00,640 You know what I'm sayin'? 88 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,480 This is where we live at, man. 89 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,920 It's the Wu-Tang monument right here, ya'll. 90 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,520 Raekwon the Chef. You know, Raekwon's like the street's elegance. 91 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,760 It says 2cent, and Kase right there. 92 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,200 All the names of the ones who passed away, who we ain't forget about. 93 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,840 But they're still alive in our hearts. 94 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,760 I always felt Raekwon had one of the best voices in the Wu-Tang Clan. 95 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,960 Once he got on a track, for some reason it sounded like a record. 96 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,640 This is where it started, the green. You're right on the soil, right now. 97 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,480 This is Shaolin right here. Just look at it. 98 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,800 Flash around. You see a lot of leaves and shit. 99 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,320 In the back of the projects was undeveloped land 100 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,000 and it had two ponds. 101 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,080 One pond was the white boy side of town, so we stayed on the black side. 102 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:25,480 It was our side. 103 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:28,360 We had mad crazy imagination. We'd just take old dirty rafts 104 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:34,040 and put tires underneath, long sticks and poles, and have raft fights. 105 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:38,800 Then we'd find salamanders and spiders, and dig up worms. 106 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,840 You know, just kids shit, man. 107 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:43,480 We was like The Little Rascals. 108 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,640 We used to build clubhouses, go-karts, 109 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,160 bows and arrows... 110 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,680 I mean, we did it all together, man. 111 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,720 Most of the Clan members are from Park Hill. 112 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:57,800 PARK HILL STATEN ISLAND 113 00:10:57,840 --> 00:10:59,960 There it go, right there. There she go. 114 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,680 Verrazano. 115 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:11,120 U-God... he always had this aggressive violence about him. 116 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,680 He's a beautiful guy. When he smiles, the whole room lights up 117 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,040 and they're gonna smile a lot. 118 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,560 Inspectah Deck was like the guy who'd seen everything. 119 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,120 Maybe because his window was in front of that building. 120 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,280 He could look out that window and see everything that's going on. 121 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:33,200 Cappa donna. 122 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:38,480 He's a slang master. 123 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,440 Probably the strongest inspiration to a lot of MCs from Park Hill. 124 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,400 Me and him used to make tapes when we were kids, 14 years old. 125 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,440 Oh, look at the kids in the back plates. 126 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,640 Staten Island, we burn calories. 127 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,000 That's where we used to play at, right there. 128 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,520 - Kickball and shit. - Yeah. 129 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:06,160 We was really young. Raekwon, U-God... 130 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,280 You'd come out the block and see everybody. Meth was living in 55. 131 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,000 I was in 260. Raekwon was 225. Deck lived in 160. 132 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,480 I used to walk home from school with Chef everyday. 133 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:18,640 Me and Deck was in the same homeroom. 134 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:20,280 Shit done changed. 135 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,480 Used to come up here and think about the rest of the city. 136 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:28,600 Me and Cappa donna would come here and write our rhymes, freestyle. 137 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:32,440 Whatever it was. We just had big dreams of getting away from it all. 138 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:33,520 You know what I mean? 139 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,840 The hood is like an economic prison. You can't move out. You can't... 140 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:48,640 go where you wanna go, you can't go to certain blocks. 141 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,400 What you want is a kind of freedom. I think Wu... 142 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,040 It felt like the streets that I knew as a kid. 143 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,640 It felt like the 80s that I had just come up out of. 144 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,440 I felt like they were speaking to me, for me. 145 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:08,280 The violence on the streets was just very, very 146 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:10,440 familiar to me. 147 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,280 In the hood, you can feel like your life is so small. 148 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,440 Like, nobody sees you. Your story is not important. 149 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,720 I don't feel like TV represented where I come from. 150 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,520 You feel like that experience is completely erased. 151 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:27,880 You feel like people don't even see you. 152 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:31,240 And that's the importance of Wu and all these cats. 153 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,560 For me, I felt like... I felt seen. 154 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:41,520 You know, Masta Kill a was one of the last MCs to join the Cypher. 155 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:47,480 He started letting his lyrics loose, and through his realness 156 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,040 he became the Masta Kill a. 157 00:13:55,920 --> 00:14:00,720 This is the first home I came home to from Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. 158 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,640 On your right side, that's the window I would look out every day. 159 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,760 My father was a singer. He was heavy into R&B, 160 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:13,320 and he would even come up the block singing sometimes, you know? 161 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,120 When I'd hear his voice, I'd almost jump out the window. 162 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,080 I was so excited that my father was coming home. 163 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:26,640 So, through trials and tribulations, when he left home for good. 164 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:30,600 That was traumatic for me, man. 'Cause you know... come on. 165 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:36,480 Pops was everything. That's like your first superhero, your father. 166 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:39,400 One thing he left was all his records. 167 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,480 He left all his records, and I'd play them everyday because 168 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,160 that's how I connected with him. 169 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,520 I remember him singing this record. I'd get it on the turntable 170 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:56,760 and listen to it, just to remember hearing his voice. 171 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,120 - Looking out of that window. - That's right. 172 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,960 I was too little to even cross the streets by myself. 173 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:10,680 But I'd look across the street and see legendary DJs like himself. 174 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,280 Divine Sounds and other brothers in the neighborhood 175 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,840 and hip-hop was just everywhere. 176 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,040 You know, I grew up on that kind of music in my house. But... 177 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,720 I didn't grow up with someone catching the break 178 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:26,640 and spinning it back and forth 179 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:28,600 and that's what I heard coming from the park. 180 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,920 I go down to this block party, and the DJ is cutting. 181 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,360 I'm just standing next to the DJ booth watching the dude do this shit. 182 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,200 And one dude comes out with an amp and a bass guitar 183 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,280 and all he plays was "The Breaks." 184 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:00,000 Know what I mean? 185 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,320 I used to have skates on at the jam. Sometimes one. 186 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,960 One skate, one sneaker. That's how nice we was. 187 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,560 They used to call us The Roller Derby Click. 188 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:16,480 Ghost used to breakdance. 189 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,640 We used to try to battle Ghost going to school. 190 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,160 Ghost would windmill. He was a floor general, man. 191 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:27,560 Got your windbreaker jackets on, on all them nice, slippery floors. 192 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:28,640 Just doing it, boom! 193 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:32,720 I was 12 when my feet started getting wet with the streets, 194 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:34,920 and now I'm magnetized. 195 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,840 My next-door neighbor Silky Dan took a Fischer-Price turntable 196 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,680 and he turned the volume down on the spin back. 197 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:56,120 And he'd cut, and his man would kick rhymes to the cuts. 198 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,720 Watching them doing that. 199 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:59,520 This is something I wanna be a part of. 200 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,240 We used to write on the walls in the hood. Meth used to write Rugbee. 201 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:09,760 Raekwon used to write Remo. 202 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:10,840 You know what I mean? 203 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,320 My first time meeting RZA was at a block party 204 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,320 and RZA was DJing. His name back then was Prince Rakeem. 205 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:20,600 Before RZA. 206 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,160 And I'm checking RZA, and thought, 207 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,360 "This kid just look like... he got a glow about him." 208 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,040 RZA started making beats with his 4-track. He used to give us tapes. 209 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:35,120 I'd take them home. 210 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,600 I'd just look out the window and just see everyone dancing. 211 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,960 DJs cutting. It was different, yo. 212 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,120 It just became you. 213 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:51,760 EAT GRITS CAUSE WE WAS POOR 214 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:53,160 GRAB THE PLIERS FOR THE CHANNEL 215 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:54,720 FIX THE HANGER ON THE TV 216 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,120 ROCKIN' EACH OTHERS PANTS TO SCHOOL WASN'T EASY 217 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,840 WE SURVIVED WINTERS SNOTTY NOSE WITH NO COATS 218 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:00,800 STAPLETON STATEN ISLAND 219 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:02,680 I was the only one from Stapleton. 220 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,320 Our project was known for our knuckle game. 221 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,520 Raekwon and 'em lived in Park Hill. We had to meet in the middle 222 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,200 to go to the same junior high school. That's how we got to know each other. 223 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,240 10 cent chocolate milkshake. Toasted almond ice cream shake. 224 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,240 You know? Probably one of the best ice creams I ever had. 225 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,960 Toasted almond, vanilla joints. 226 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:26,776 WELCOME TO STAPLETON HOUSES PROPERTY OF NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY 227 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,480 Life... father split with your mother, the regular shit. 228 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,480 It was like okay, mommy taking care of you. 229 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,680 Mommy had two kids with muscular dystrophy. 230 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,520 So that's hard on mommy. Mommy starts drinking. 231 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,320 I'm the oldest, so I gotta take care of the two brothers. 232 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,000 Pick 'em up, on the toilet, off the toilet, put 'em on the bed. 233 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:53,080 Dress 'em. Me. With my little body. 234 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,800 Maybe I was depressed, and I didn't know it. 235 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,600 My aunt used to say, "What's wrong with you?" You know, nothing. 236 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,920 "Why do you look sad?" "I don't know." 237 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,840 I don't know I look sad. Know what I'm sayin'? 238 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,640 Not knowing what my brothers is going through. 239 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,320 'Cause they can't go outside. 240 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:15,360 They sit and watch TV all day. 241 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,000 And I'm not knowing like, 242 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:21,280 "OK, let's go outside and push 'em around and take 'em outside." 243 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,680 Now, shit brings a tear to my eye, 'cause I wish I did that. 244 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,560 What kids would go through. 245 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,560 Wasn't no $300 Jordans. It was those kind of times. 246 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,120 NO LOITERING 247 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:40,600 Yo! 248 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,080 You see, oh shit! I mean... 249 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,040 Hold on, I'm comin' over there. 250 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:53,920 Are we gonna be on TV? 251 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,720 You live in these environments and you know you're broke. 252 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,440 But it don't matter, 'cause everyone around you is in the same situation. 253 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:10,640 Ayo. 254 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,680 This is my old school right here. 255 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,840 Not even old school, but true school. 'Cause we brothers is the same. 256 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,400 What's up, baby. 257 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,800 I didn't wanna go to the same school as my brother. 258 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:27,760 We went to the same school. When you have 4 pair of pants between 3 boys. 259 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,200 So, if I wore the black ones on Monday, 260 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,760 he wants Tuesday. By the time I get to Friday... 261 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,720 I'm back with the black ones, and my brother already wore them. 262 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,160 Going to different schools gave us a way to do the swaps. 263 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:46,680 Do you know Biggie Smalls? 264 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,240 Yeah, I know Biggie, I know Tupac... 265 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,280 This is Park Hill, Kill a Hill projects, 10304. 266 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,240 You can never get away from the reality of it. 267 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,880 The project is almost like a police state, 268 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,680 'cause you have housing police located in your projects. 269 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,480 And you're surrounded by a 4 block radius. 270 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,800 You've got your bodega, your barbershop, your pharmacy. 271 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,000 Your Shop 'n Save, your check cashing place. 272 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:32,200 It's designed so you don't have to leave, and a lot of people don't. 273 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,720 It's like a jail, the way it's set up. Like tiers. 274 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,840 We ain't glorifying it. 275 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,520 First hand. You wanna know what we're seeing in our lives. 276 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,560 We're talking about this. 277 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:57,200 And somewhere in the middle of that shit is that hope, 278 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:03,120 that one of us, or all of us, is gonna make it in this lifetime. 279 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,480 Now I say that about the projects. 280 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,600 Good ol' Bed-Stuy. 281 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:14,600 Do or die. 282 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,000 The GZA/Genius is the foundation. 283 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,040 He's the Genius, the way he thinks. 284 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:23,920 And his lyrics has that content. 285 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,440 This is where the All In Together Now crew started. 286 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,880 Right here on this block. At 719, Monroe. 287 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,360 I still live right there in that apartment up the steps. 288 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,920 The constant was RZA and GZA making moves, and they got a record deal. 289 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,760 One, two, three... 290 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,760 RHYTHM & SOUL 1991 PUBLIC ACCESS NEW YORK 291 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,880 - Oh, that sounds kinda ill. - Yeah. 292 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,840 Dirty, RZA and GZA are cousins. So they had a bunch of routines. 293 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,320 - There was a lot of battling, man. - Yeah. 294 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:10,080 Walking from borough to borough, looking for MCs, battling. 295 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,120 - Making routines. - We thought we the illest MCs in NY. 296 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,800 It was a hunger to be known as an MC. 297 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,760 Once we've seen these two brothers, the GZA and the RZA come through 298 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,920 and did they thing, that's when I know sooner or later 299 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,680 it was gonna be a bigger situation. 300 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,920 'Cause now it was somebody from Staten Island, 301 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,480 even though GZA is Brooklyn to the fullest, he was still... 302 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,600 That nigga Park Hill in his heart. 303 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,440 - Yeah, Park Hill. - He a hillbilly. 304 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,720 You know what I mean? But one of our brothers from our hood. 305 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,040 To have a brother who made it, 306 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:46,840 to still come around and see them, that was actually new. 307 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:52,640 He was our first local superstar. 308 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:57,720 That was the first video. 309 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,080 Ol' Dirty was in it also, doing the funky Ason slide. 310 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,440 So tell me, how did you guys get into rapping? 311 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,760 We was almost born rhymin' 312 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,120 -Born rhymin' -Yes, in our genes. 313 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,120 Been doin' it for a long time. Tearin' up parties, waxin' MCs. 314 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,000 Okay. Where did you get your style of rapping? 315 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,040 - It just grew on us. Natural talent. - Natural talent? 316 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,120 You gotta be born with raw talent. Definitively. 317 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,120 It's a family thing, too. He was always the hypest in his town. 318 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,840 Where he lived at he was the hypest MC. 319 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,840 - Where are you from? - Brooklyn. 320 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,040 I'm from the East. He's from Bed-Stuy. 321 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,080 He's the flyest MC in his town, like I am. 322 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,200 He's from Staten Island, flyest MC out there. 323 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,600 - How long have you been dancing? - Since I was a little kid. 324 00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:58,920 - A little kid? - Yeah. 325 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,840 I always had a funky style when it came to dancing. 326 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:03,680 I got this dance called the Ason. 327 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:05,200 - Ason? - Yeah. 328 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,360 - Popping dance. - The funky Ason slide. 329 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:08,880 - The funky Ason slide. - Yeah. 330 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:10,800 Can you teach me that before you leave? 331 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:12,880 - Maybe so. - Maybe so? 332 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:15,120 That's crazy. 333 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,280 Even though GZA is the one that taught me hip-hop, exposed me to it, 334 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,840 the person I nurtured with is ODB. 335 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:23,720 Howdy! 336 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,880 So, Ol' Dirty Bastard. 337 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,680 This Ol' Dirty Bastard. 338 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,960 He was different from the others in the household. 339 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,120 So he realized he was a son that was unique. 340 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,120 He eventually chose the name Ason Unique. 341 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,360 As my cousin, knowing him... 342 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:48,560 Big Ra! 343 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:50,560 He had a personality... 344 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:51,840 We got the RZA in da house. 345 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,560 ...that was just raw and unapologetic. 346 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:00,640 Yeah, man. 347 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,200 Just sit in the car, babe. 348 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:05,640 Good ol' New York. 349 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:08,760 Gonna sing a song or something. 350 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,880 Let's forget about Ol' Dirty Bastard, you know what I'm sayin'? 351 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,760 Let's get back to Rusty. My mama. 352 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,080 Cherry Jones. She called me Rusty Jones. 353 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:36,760 That's what my momma called me. 354 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,240 I had six. And I had them all before I turned 25. 355 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,280 - Yeah. - And I started at 19. 356 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,720 Like Rusty. Rusty was a mama boy. 357 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,040 My mama's the sweetest woman I've ever met. 358 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,200 I love you, mama. 359 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,000 I love you dearly. Thanks for bringing me here. 360 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,200 Our musical background is from our parents. 361 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:08,360 Matter of fact, Mom, you gotta mention that she and her sister... 362 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,240 - They were a group. - Tiny & Terry. 363 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,920 Tiny & Terry is my aunt and my mom. 364 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,600 My music was my life. 365 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,240 I never listened to rap. I hated it. I just don't like it. 366 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,160 I never did. And Rusty never listened to it. 367 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,320 I like Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding. I grew up on those songs. 368 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,720 All that singing stuff, that's natural. 369 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:37,920 That's how I feel. I'm like Pattie LaBelle, Millie Jackson. 370 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,640 My brother used to play heavy metal. All he played, rock 'n roll. 371 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,280 I started out playing drums. 372 00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:49,320 My cousins RZA and GZA often came to our house in Linden Plaza. 373 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,400 We'd make our own hip-hop tapes. I'd take a headphone 374 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,640 and plug it into the input of the amplifier, 375 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,280 put it underneath a shoe box and play break beats on that. 376 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:04,120 We'd turn the volume up and get this loud sound - it sounded killer. 377 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,880 They would rhyme over the beats I would do, right in our bedroom. 378 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,640 They called it the All In Together Now Crew. 379 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,560 RZA had this rhyme about sex... 380 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,720 I won't even say it on camera. 381 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,880 TALENT SHOW 1991 HOT RODS NEW YORK CITY 382 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,280 The RZA told me everything I know about the way. 383 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:45,240 I remember back when he'd make me rhyme. He'd write lyrics for me. 384 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:46,760 If I ain't rhyme, we fought. 385 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,640 Ason in the motherfucking house. Gone! Peace. 386 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,520 I went and got a job. Statue of Liberty was hiring. 387 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,480 A lot of my friends worked there. I started, and I loved the job. 388 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:15,640 It was my first real fucking job. 389 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,440 Meth worked full-time. I just worked on the weekends. 390 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,680 I was a janitor. I used to take out all the garbages. 391 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,600 Clean up all the condiments. All the tourists were nasty. 392 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,160 The bathrooms, all types of nasty shit. 393 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:38,280 I had to steam the floor 'cause the seagulls shit all over the place. 394 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:44,040 The Statue of Liberty, given to us by the French. Supposedly a black woman. 395 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,120 - They say it is. - I don't know. 396 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,760 Mind you, we worked here for years and never went to see this woman. 397 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,400 Never one time, we went up there. 398 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:55,200 Wow. 399 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,160 - How you doing? - I'm good. 400 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:05,200 - How you been? - Good, thank you. 401 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,840 Still here. Still here. 402 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:09,200 Let me see something. 403 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,520 Mr. Hill was the owner of the restaurant at the Statue of Liberty 404 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:16,760 and he had us some bread. 405 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,680 That is the man right there. How are you, sir? 406 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,880 - How are you? You look great! - You, too! 407 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,320 Wow... Sir, how you doing, sir. Yes, sir. 408 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,440 - Are you doing good? - I'm doing good for myself. 409 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,760 - You've transitioned a bit. - A little bit. 410 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,160 - Absolutely. - What are you doing? 411 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,240 Wu-Tang. Still the same group. 412 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:47,360 You know, we're best friends. We transitioned to something else. 413 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:52,640 I have dreams where I'm working here. 414 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,760 For me, these moments are etched into my brain forever 415 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,160 'cause it was a highlight of my life. Even with the career and everything 416 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,920 this is still one of the highlights of my life. Best job I ever had. 417 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,040 Thank you. Still in Staten Island? 418 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,640 - Yeah. Same place. - Same place? 419 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,560 I mean, same borough. 420 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,120 - In a little nicer place. - Yeah, a nicer place. 421 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,640 My kids didn't have to grow up where I grew up. 422 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,440 That's the best part. 423 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,080 Let me see if I still remember it. I still got it. 424 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,880 How you doing, sir. Mind if I get this? Thank you. 425 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,800 That's what I was telling him, it's about getting the money. 426 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,960 Only thing that'll give you freedom is the money. 427 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,720 The truth. Dudes don't like to put emphasis on money. 428 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:43,880 That's the only thing that'll get you freedom. 429 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,160 Other than that, this is going to be, 430 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:48,920 I don't know man, it's just fucked up. 431 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:55,920 Look at her. 432 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:01,040 There's no way she's black. 433 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,920 You know, I think New York is a mecca of entrepreneurs. 434 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,120 Sometimes we'd be at the highway selling newspapers. 435 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:12,920 We sold newspapers on the Verrazano Bridge. 436 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,680 On the Verrazano. I remember RZA and them had those lanes. 437 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,880 They smart enough to know what lanes were jumpin'. 438 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:23,520 The worst you could get was the truck lane. Papers were 30 cents. 439 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,960 They give you a dime each paper. So you'd get about $15 a day. 440 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,040 For a welfare family, that's an important income, $15 a day. 441 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,120 I was working in Grand Central Station as a messenger. 442 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,280 Packing bags at the supermarket. 443 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,680 I worked for the Transit Authority. 444 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:42,720 Cleaning two cars a day. 445 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,280 My pops died when I was 6, so I tried to take a little, 446 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:51,240 a little bit of the pressure off my mom, trying to raise 3 kids. 447 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,600 Trying to make money any way I can, so I was working. 448 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,560 I grew up in a mostly white community, so 449 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,400 for me, hip-hop is the love of language 450 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:11,480 and it's beauty, and the amazing things you can do with it. 451 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,160 It's in me, because of my appreciation for it. 452 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,800 We live in an apartheid in America, I don't care what anybody says. 453 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,280 This is like apartheid. 454 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:25,440 And oppressed people on any level in the world 455 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:30,800 in the history of humans, you cannot destroy the strength of ideas 456 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,720 and the Wu-Tang celebrate that. 457 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,960 They are warriors of the imagination. 458 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:41,600 And the power of the imagination is far stronger than guns or money. 459 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,400 STATEN ISLAND 1988 460 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,040 RACIAL VIOLENCE DESTROYS US 461 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:55,840 APARTHEID END RACIST ATTACKS 462 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:57,960 STATEN ISLAND, STAND UP! 463 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:02,160 Staten Island is to me, the most racist of all the boroughs. 464 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,320 Our district was in a white neighborhood, so you know 465 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:10,600 some of us didn't like going to school, 'cause we wanted the mixture. 466 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:12,800 We wanted to see more black people too. 467 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,240 Park Hill niggas... 468 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,880 We went to 13. Where was 13? Rose bank. 469 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,200 Mini Mississippi. 470 00:34:21,240 --> 00:34:23,920 This is Tufton's Avenue, Rose bank, Staten Island 471 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:28,120 Rose bank, Rose bank! 472 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:35,000 Don't get caught in Rose bank. They'll fuck you up in Rose bank. 473 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,680 Where's your basketball? 474 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,560 Black leaders on Staten Island say a black teenager was killed by a car 475 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:47,680 that may have escaped from a group of whites. 476 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:49,760 When I used to go to PS13. 477 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,800 I could have been nine, ten years. 478 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,040 I remember riding under this bridge trestle and it said. 479 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,760 "Kill all niggers. KKK." 480 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:00,760 That was really frightening. 481 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,400 I had to go to school every day like that, and we were just kids 482 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:08,440 on the fucking bus, like who the put that shit there? 483 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:12,320 That shit is still in me for a long time. 484 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,960 MARCH FOR DECENCY 485 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,000 Did you bring your crack with you? 486 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:18,080 Go home! 487 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,640 Go home and clean your... 488 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:28,120 As a nine-year-old, you're getting chased from school by grown men. 489 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,840 Damn, I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be. No blacks. 490 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:33,560 Do black kids come around here? 491 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,040 ROSEBANK TEENAGER 492 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:37,280 They walk by freely. 493 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,200 So the guy said what are you niggers doing here? 494 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:45,120 Calling you nigger, get the fuck outta here, I'ma kill you. 495 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,680 Throwing shit at you, bottles busting in the streets. You're nine. 496 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:49,560 They chased me. 497 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:52,280 One guy had his car and he started chasing us. 498 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,440 They were like, "Let's have a whipping!" 499 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,560 You're running, bottles smashing around you. 500 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,880 A rock comes skipping, hitting you in the back. 501 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:06,600 They're calling for more guys like, "Hey Johnny! Come on!" 502 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,240 You think they're gonna kill you. 503 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:10,040 I'm like "Ah, shit". 504 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,640 Scared to death. 505 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:14,200 NEW DORP HIGH SCHOOL 506 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:16,280 New Dorp. Fights. 507 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,480 Sometimes a riot jumped off. 508 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:19,560 White boys chasing you. 509 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,320 You have to fight a bunch of these football dudes. 510 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:23,840 Hoping to make it to the bus. 511 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,120 Back then, the Italian white boys were tough. 512 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,960 They grew up like Richie Cunningham and The Fonz. 513 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,760 Coming to school in leather with no shirt under. 514 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:39,400 Bold motherfuckers, like Grease, those types of dudes. 515 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,040 It's why Grease is one of my favorite movies. Reminds me of those dudes. 516 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:49,840 In Park Hill, if you go to 350, 320... 517 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,840 That's Little Spain. They'll whoop your ass. 518 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:59,680 We got the Africans over here. They'll whoop your ass. 519 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,720 We got the Jamaicans over here. They'll whoop your ass. 520 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,000 You got us. We'll whoop your ass. 521 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,840 All the different sections of people that there is. 522 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,080 Fighting for everything. 523 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,280 Fighting for parking space. 524 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,080 Fighting for the same jacket from the same store. 525 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:19,840 It was always conflict. 526 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,160 ALLAH SCHOOL IN MECCA 527 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:26,400 ALLAH 7 528 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:27,480 Peace! 529 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:33,600 Peace! 530 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:39,760 If I get your undivided attention, you'll learn what the 5% is all about. 531 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,320 We're about elevation. All of y'all 532 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:45,480 is us, one family. 533 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,760 So we build and tell our babies how to live right and exact 534 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,760 by giving them knowledge of the self so they can elevate themselves. 535 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,480 Being part of the Five-Percent, the Mathematics and the knowledge itself 536 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,440 let brothers be very unified. 537 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,440 We all could say we were totally converted after that. 538 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:07,320 Totally immersed into it. 539 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:13,920 So the Five-Percent Nation has its origins with a brother who 540 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,040 was called The Father, Allah. 541 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,480 His birth name was Clarence 13X Smith. 542 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,240 He was a student at Temple No. 7 under Malcolm X. 543 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,640 Malcolm X being an student of the Honorable Alliance of Muhammad. 544 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,480 But the Father said these lessons belong in the hands of the youth. 545 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,560 So he left the temple, took the lessons 546 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,600 and brought them to the streets of New York. 547 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,120 We are Five-percenters, poor righteous teachers. 548 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,800 We'll do our job in the poor parts of Earth. 549 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,040 The high intelligence people of planet Earth. 550 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,720 We gonna build a black nation that's all wise, and all righteous. 551 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,360 Ain't no difference. We all as one. 552 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,040 I was given knowledge of myself from my cousin, The GZA. 553 00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:00,200 The GZA was the one who enlightened me at the time. 554 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,680 His name was Allah Justice. 555 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,040 - He explains the mathematics. - The Supreme Mathematics. 556 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,320 Knowledge, wisdom, understanding, 557 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,720 culture of freedom, power of refinement, equality, god, 558 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,040 build or destroy, born, knowledge, cipher. 559 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,360 This is the essence of the lessons we study. 560 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,400 Knowledge is to look, listen and also respect. 561 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,000 Wisdom is the way we keep the snakes in check. 562 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:27,600 Understanding is to see things clear. 563 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:29,680 Cultures makes the deaf hear. 564 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,800 The first lesson of Five-Percent teaching says, 565 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:37,720 Who is the original man? 566 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:42,360 The answer is the original man is the Asiatic Black man. 567 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:47,520 It's a powerful thing at a young age, learning about yourself. 568 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:51,600 We are not just children of slaves. 569 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:55,160 The original man is the Father of civilization. 570 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:58,080 Say who is the original man? 571 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:00,440 Who is the original man? 572 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,080 Say who is the original man? 573 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,440 Who is the original man? 574 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:10,200 The Asiatic Black man. 575 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,920 I feel like the Mathematics gave brothers high self-esteem. 576 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,240 It gave you a different outlook on life. 577 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:33,000 When you heard the black man was God, you was like what? 578 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,240 - Your chest got poked out. - Made you responsible. 579 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,280 And that wisdom and knowledge ended up as who we are. 580 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:40,640 A whole new outlook. 581 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:44,800 People said, "Why do you go off track, you got knowledge of self." 582 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,880 I had mental freedom, but I didn't have economical freedom. 583 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,040 A storm of Jamaicans came through our hood, in like 85 or 86. 584 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:17,920 Big chunks of gold on. 585 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:22,000 Gold in the mouth, the first time I'd seen that shit. 586 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:23,920 I was like "How did he get it there?" 587 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,480 The majority of people I grew up with was drug dealers now. 588 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,080 Everybody selling crack. 589 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:38,760 Typical workday: Get up at 5 in the morning, get a sandwich. 590 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,520 Pastrami and Swiss. Then go around the corner. 591 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:43,440 Find your stash. 592 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,120 It's on. 593 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,280 And you rock it. I was moving a brick a week. 594 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:56,160 U-God always tried to live his American dream, paying for college. 595 00:41:56,720 --> 00:42:00,120 We wasn't partners. I was out there selling his shit. 596 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:05,080 Boom, next thing you know I'm out there with the pack, scrambling. 597 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:06,960 All of a sudden, this epidemic hit. 598 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,280 Now the neighborhood is worth 1/4 million a day. 599 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,200 That's interesting to me. 600 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:14,680 My older brother Divine was the hustler. 601 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:17,920 He was the source of the family in a way. 602 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,920 Come to my house, you see two 1200 turntables. 603 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,120 My brother got that from hustling. 604 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:28,720 In the midst of all this, we had been making tapes at RZA's house. 605 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:32,000 Gotta go to Rakeem's house, work on this music. 606 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,200 Hustling in front of the building, we should just say to hell with it. 607 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,520 Go see Ra at the Stapleton, ho hit them beats up. 608 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,720 - It's gonna blow, boy. - It was my dream, 609 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,800 but Divine contributed to that dream. But he got locked up. 610 00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,520 A child can be guided on the right path 611 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:03,200 if you put that proper knowledge, wisdom and understanding inside, 612 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,080 and the proper opportunities. 613 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,200 When I got knowledge of self, I had to choose a name for myself. 614 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,400 I came with the name Rakeem. 615 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:12,680 There's not really an Arabic word for it, 616 00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,720 so I defined the word as original. 617 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,440 Z-Zig Zag Zig means knowledge, wisdom, understanding. 618 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:24,680 I was going the right path, and then I got caught in a world 619 00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:28,880 of trouble, turmoil, doing the wrong things. 620 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:32,920 And I zagged away. Which led to no more trouble for me. 621 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:35,880 Once Divine got locked up, 622 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:40,400 my mother had left NYC, she went to Ohio. 623 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:41,520 STEUBENVILLE OHIO 624 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:42,960 Steubenville, Ohio. 625 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:44,840 The birthplace of Dean Martin. 626 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:46,000 STEUBENVILLE'S DEAN MARTIN 627 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,000 I was 18 years old. 628 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:54,000 Me and Ghost face become roommates, and we got months behind the rent. 629 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,640 The only way to put bread on the table was back to street hustling. 630 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:06,200 Crack damaged the hood in an explosive way overnight. 631 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:11,640 There was a lot of cash flow, but the consequences was big. 632 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:14,520 I hated that shit. Hated selling on the block. 633 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,680 Dudes is getting murdered! 634 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:19,760 My brother got shot in the stomach a couple of times. 635 00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:24,320 I got the phone call that Ghost got shot. My stomach dropped. 636 00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:27,680 "Bitch nigga shot me in my neck, God." 637 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,760 No, I got shot out there. But that's not why we wrote "Protect Ya Neck". 638 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:34,040 That was a very scary time. 639 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,200 A lot of niggas, gone, in jail. 640 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:40,960 I got locked up for 3.5 ounces of coke and a gun. 641 00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:42,640 Cappa was gone, in jail. 642 00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:47,200 Yeah, I got smacked around 87. They sent me to Rikers Island. 643 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:49,360 Deck was gone, in jail. 644 00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:52,640 I sold crack to an undercover officer. 645 00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:55,560 Instead of stopping, we went harder. 646 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:57,840 TWO CITY MEN SHOT CHRISTMAS DAY 647 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:00,120 It's just a bad night, know what I mean? 648 00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:01,120 SHOOTING AROUND 3 A.M. 649 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:03,880 ROBERT F. DIGGS 650 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,080 I got into some trouble, and violence ensued. 651 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:08,960 ROBERT DIGGS 652 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:10,040 K got shot. 653 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:11,360 DEADLY WEAPON 654 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,000 Led to me facing eight years in jail. 655 00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:17,560 I went to trial. 656 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,320 Black dudes don't really go to trial and win. 657 00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:21,480 ROBERT WAS HOLDING A GUN 658 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:24,720 The prosecutor wasn't making deals with me, he's taking me all the way. 659 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,320 THE DEFENDANT SHOT WALTERS IN THE RIGHT THIGH 660 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,240 I'm in prison, yo. I felt totally alone. 661 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:33,120 VERDICT-NOT GUILTY 662 00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,960 I was blessed to beat that one. 663 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:41,280 My mother came and looked in my eyes 664 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:45,520 and said this is my second chance. Don't look back, walk straight. 665 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:47,600 Walk that straight and narrow path. 666 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,320 I did that. I zigged back. 667 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:55,440 I said, "Nah, I'm not Prince Rakeem. I'm The RZA." 668 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,160 I'm Rakeem Zig-Zag-Zig Allah. 669 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:02,560 I got out of jail, drove back to New York 670 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:04,360 and started making music. 671 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,200 I was ready to get serious again. 672 00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:15,800 RZA'S APT MORNINGSTAR ROAD '92 673 00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:20,360 And this part is clear, you know what I'm sayin'? 674 00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,400 - Life is hectic. - I don't get you. 675 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:25,920 When RZA moved to Morning star, that's around the time 676 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,120 he got the idea of putting the Clan together. 677 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:30,200 Take that shit. 678 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,600 Yo, what he said sounded crazy, crazy threatening 679 00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:45,840 but he wasn't adding to the violence being spoken. 680 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:48,040 - That's right. - Terrorizing jams... 681 00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:52,080 He terrorizing jams, not old ladies, not little kids. 682 00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:54,840 He terrorizing the jams like the troops in Pakistan. 683 00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:58,280 Troops in Pakistan they was terrorizing. 684 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:03,720 I identified Staten Island and these poor dudes that I have cyphers with, 685 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,560 and these dudes in my house making demos, 686 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:08,120 are the illest. 687 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:23,640 Being around my brothers, rhyming and getting down is like, 688 00:47:23,720 --> 00:47:28,240 "Damn, heard that shit? Say that part again, what was that?" 689 00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:40,520 That's when the vision hit me. Everything came to me. 690 00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:43,920 This is the road manager in Wu-Tang. 691 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:46,840 I don't know how in the world you keep these guys together. 692 00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:50,000 I must shake your hand, 'cause I know it's a hard job. 693 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:55,320 Mook was our first manager back in the days. 694 00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:00,160 They were my cousins. You know, RZA... 695 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:02,880 Not only my cousin, but my godbrother. 696 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,640 I was an entrepreneur, just like everybody else. 697 00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:09,600 I had my first child, and I knew my life had to change. 698 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:12,720 Then I became a NYC bus driver. 699 00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:17,920 RZA came and said, "I really want you to help me with my music." 700 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:20,480 I ain't got time for that bullshit. 701 00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:23,560 I was... driving the bus. 702 00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:27,400 When I'm talking to him, I'm looking at his eyes. 703 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:31,560 I see something in his eyes. He ain't bullshitting. He's for real. 704 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:35,240 So I told him, "Aight, I'll work with you". 705 00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,080 But don't fuck with me. If we're gonna do this shit, 706 00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:43,240 you gotta give me all you got. I'll do the same. The only way I know. 707 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,480 I knew nothing about the music business. 708 00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:50,600 I was brand-spanking new. I just knew how to move a product. 709 00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,000 To me, record was product. 710 00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:56,680 First thing, "Protect Ya Neck". We gotta make people listen. 711 00:48:56,760 --> 00:49:01,280 CLUB INTERNATIONAL 1993 PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND 712 00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:44,440 December '92, I don't remember the exact date. 713 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:45,760 We were on Thursday nights. 714 00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:47,840 Stretch happened to be out of town. 715 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:49,920 I was not FCC licensed. 716 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:53,480 I wasn't technically allowed to do a show on my own. 717 00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:57,880 I don't know how to DJ. Now the door rings, and I open. 718 00:49:57,960 --> 00:49:59,520 And there's five cats! 719 00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:03,880 "Yo B, we got a new record. Play that song!" 720 00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:05,960 "Yo, play it right now!" I'm like, chill! 721 00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,240 I go into the studio. 722 00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:13,080 It's a white label! With no fucking writing on it. 723 00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:16,800 I put it on, and I hear martial arts. 724 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:21,880 Like, "What the fuck is this? This shit is dope". So I played it. 725 00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:13,840 My man calls up, right after it's done. 726 00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:16,920 "Yo, what the hell is this shit?" I don't know. 727 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:21,880 No video out. Steve Rifkind wasn't in the picture. Straight out the trunk. 728 00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:23,680 Selling shit. 729 00:51:56,480 --> 00:52:01,040 I'm taking the record to the DJs, the stores, the clubs... 730 00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:04,800 Anywhere music is being played, I'm taking it there. 731 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:08,640 Rock and Soul. The number one hip-hop store back in the day. 732 00:52:08,720 --> 00:52:11,760 The young lady, at first she didn't want to take the record. 733 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:15,280 So then I came up with a little plan. 734 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:17,320 Can I stand up when I say it? 735 00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:20,560 I'm gonna send someone in the store and ask for the record. 736 00:52:21,120 --> 00:52:26,360 "Their record, their record. It's a bunch of guys emceeing." 737 00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:29,240 It was my cousin Vince. I swear to God this is true. 738 00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,760 So I came back another time with my cousin. 739 00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:36,680 I played it for him. All of a sudden he goes, 740 00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:40,840 "That's it! The shit I was talking about! Heard it on Bobbito's show." 741 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,680 Bobbi to & Stretch Armstrong, first motherfuckers who played the record. 742 00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:48,760 I swear to God, out of nowhere this other motherfucker came, 743 00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:53,840 "Yeah! Heard it from Bobbito's show, I been looking for that!" 744 00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:57,280 And another motherfucker, "Oh shit, been looking all over!" 745 00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:58,920 Everybody in the store. 746 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:01,880 So I pull out the box, "Yeah, you can buy it." 747 00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:05,320 She said, "No! Not in my store," and she grabbed the box. 748 00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:10,640 And she bought the whole box. That was the first box I sold. 749 00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:13,080 Damn! That shit work like that? 750 00:53:14,120 --> 00:53:18,000 I did that shit in the Bronx, I did it in Brooklyn, I did it in Virginia. 751 00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:22,760 We went from here to North Carolina, I did it everywhere. 752 00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:24,600 Shit was going crazy. 753 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:32,600 Wu-Tang Clan, ya'll! 754 00:53:35,720 --> 00:53:39,640 I remember we was in Rae's house. 755 00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:43,640 Waiting for "Protect Ya Neck" on the radio. Just hearing that shit 756 00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,240 on that radio, all the way through. 757 00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,240 Man, I saw Rae jump so high. 758 00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:52,920 Yo, he jumped like "Yeah!" 759 00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:55,080 Like, oh shit! 760 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,080 Once I heard it on the radio. 761 00:53:57,160 --> 00:53:59,600 Oh my fucking God, I was like, we goin'. 762 00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:02,520 It was in front of 160. And I was still selling drugs. 763 00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:07,120 Niggas was amped the fuck up. Everybody listening for their part. 764 00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:10,720 My boy Shae B let it shot off. 765 00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:14,440 Ha has a little 22, maybe a 38, who knows? 766 00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:21,360 It just gave you a battery like, "Oh shit, yo!" 767 00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:24,560 Yo, we made it! 768 00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:27,360 Nobody thought the shit was gonna be anything. 769 00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:31,000 I was one the dudes who came with RZA to every meeting in the beginning, 770 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:33,520 when he was shopping it, met with labels. 771 00:54:33,600 --> 00:54:36,240 With Russell Simmons and Def Jam, 772 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:39,720 and everybody at first was like, "Yo, it's too many, man." 773 00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,680 "Too many, man. Like how the fuck..." 774 00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:45,640 "Nah, this ain't gonna work." 775 00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:48,760 "Nine members? How are you gonna split the money?" 776 00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:52,080 Why you worrying about how we gonna split the money? 777 00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:56,760 We all sat with one goal in our minds. 778 00:54:56,840 --> 00:54:59,640 If you're not taking all of us, you get none of us. 779 00:55:00,360 --> 00:55:02,520 It's like this, you know what I'm saying? 780 00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:06,520 People look at us as nine individuals who ain't gonna make it. 781 00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:12,360 We ain't gonna let money break us up. Money is the root of all evil. 782 00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:17,000 We gon' do this. Wu is never gonna break up. 783 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:18,680 - No... - Straight up. 784 00:55:19,840 --> 00:55:22,280 The word Wu-Tang itself means. 785 00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:26,120 "He who is deserving of God." 786 00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:27,560 The legend is 787 00:55:28,840 --> 00:55:32,240 that general Wu goes to the top of this mountain to meditate. 788 00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:37,400 And he pondered all the questions of life 789 00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:43,560 and the legend says he decides to jump off the mountain. 790 00:55:45,640 --> 00:55:49,160 And when he jumped off, he re-emerged, it says, 791 00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:52,320 as a spirit or a dragon 792 00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:54,920 and became immortal. 793 00:55:55,640 --> 00:55:58,720 And thus they named the mountain Wu-Tang. 794 00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:06,840 Subtitles: Håkon Hoffart plint.com