The Tao of Wu (Tang Clan)

“Cash Rules Everything Around Me/C.R.E.A.M./Get the money/Dollar, Dollar bill, y’all…”

Thus begins the legendary lyrics of C.R.E.A.M. by the Wu-Tang Clan, one of the greatest collective lyrical syndicates in the entire history of hip-hop.

Led by Robert ‘RZA’ Diggs (pronounced ‘Riz-za’), Clifford Smith (known better by his nom de guerre Method Man), Raekwon, GZA (pronounced ‘Jiz-za’…Yes, Jizza), Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa and (the late) Ol’ Dirty Bastard (better known as ODB), the Wu-Tang Clan has successfully launched into the hip-hop stratosphere by taking their respective lyrical games from the projects of Staten Island to the hallowed corridors of Hollywood over the years.

From their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) to Robert ‘RZA’ Diggs most recent Hollywood foray in Adam Sandler’s 2009 movie Funny People, the syndicate MCs of Wu-Tang have successfully expanded their influence from the hip-hop world to Hollywood movies and now even literature.

From Method Man improving his acting resume with roles in Hollywood movies like Belly, How High, Garden State, One Eight Seven and Soul Plane, now fellow Wu member RZA has entered into the literary world with his latest book entitled The Tao of Wu by Robert ‘RZA’ Diggs.

In The Tao of Wu, Robert Diggs sets down his lyrical microphone to lay out a philosophical framework with elements of “traditional Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, chess and numerology” as part of his Wu-like worldview. During a recent interview with TIME Magazine, RZA states about his book:

“First of all, the concept of Tao means ‘the way’…And there are many ways to get to a place as long as you stay on the path…So if you want to travel the way of Jesus, the way of the Prophet Muhammad, if you want to travel the way of Buddha or Bodhi Dharma, if you want to travel the way of a great chess master like Kasparov or Fisher — any way you can reach self-enlightenment or self-worth works…Many great men have left paths for us…In the end, we are all searching for the same thing…We’re just taking different routes to the same location…”

RZA on Music: “You know who I love? I love the Bee Gees, and I love Barry Gibb and Andy Gibb. I listen to them almost every day…That’s one of my dreams, to get Wu-Tang on Broadway. I have two entertainment dreams I have to live out. One is to play Carnegie Hall with an orchestra and me on piano. The other is to have a play based on Wu-Tang music. The 36 Chambers needs to be on Broadway, baby!”

RZA on Money: “I’ve never really been a money hungry guy or chasing money. And I already gave a lot of my money away to people who needed it more than me, I guess. But what I mean is that we go through our society, a lot of us is underprivileged, especially in today’s recession, there’s a lot of hard times out there for people. And if you think that money is the only cure or solution, you’ll never find a cure. Wisdom is the cure…”

According to both RZA and Method Man, there were several times in history that Wu-Tang Clan almost ceased to exist.

During a recent CNN interview, RZA writes in his book that Method Man was almost a victim of a deadly drive-by shooting before the hip-hop supergroup was ever formed.

According to RZA, Meth (nickname for Method Man) was walking to buy marijuana at 160 Park Hill Avenue in Staten Island (the house in Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck” video) when RZA saw him across the street, he wrote in The Tao of Wu.

“Come over here, yo!” RZA called out to Meth from across the street, according to The Tao of Wu.

“He [Meth] stopped and came running over…A few seconds later — pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! — a guy started shooting up the front of 160 [Park Hill Avenue]…A buddy of ours, Poppy, an innocent, school-going, nice guy — he was shot and killed right there…”

This was not the only close call that Wu-Tang would have before its formation. According to the same CNN interview, the year before the group formed in 1993, Robert ‘RZA’ Diggs was acquitted on an attempted murder charge that could have put him behind bars for eight years, he writes in The Tao of Wu.

Expanding on the book’s anecdotes in an interview with CNN, RZA explained that if he had been imprisoned or if Method Man (aka Clifford Smith aka ‘Johnny Blaze’) had been killed, the Wu-Tang Clan would never “have come to fruition”.

In summarizing his Zen-like amalgamation of many different world philosophies, RZA further extrapolates on his worldview: “Like it says in the Bible, ‘In the beginning was the word, and the word became flesh’ — if we go to the root of the word, we will find that, yeah, everything is similar. Everything is teaching us all the same path.

“It’s just that one religion was good for these people because of their living conditions. In the Quran, they mention paradise being filled with wells, wells of water, and if you’re in the desert and you’ve got a chance to get water and gardens — as they describe paradise in the holy Quran — if you’re going to get gardens, that’s the paradise that fits your situation. … Everything they’re saying relates to the people they’re talking to. …

You remove the messenger and take the message…”

From the projects of Staten Island to 36 Chambers to the most recent RZA book The Tao of Wu, the members of the legendary hip-hop syndicate known as Wu-Tang Clan have brilliantly expanded their global empires to the intersecting worlds of music, Hollywood and literature.

Not bad for a bunch of guys from the projects of Staten Island…

On behalf of the entire hip-hop world…Long live the Wu-Tang Clan…