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A Comprehensive History of Wu-Tang Clan'south Endless Beefs

Wu Tang Clan at the filming of their new video in Los Angeles, Ca. 9/18/00.

Wu Tang Association at the filming of their new video in Los Angeles, Ca. nine/18/00.Wu Tang Clan at the filming of their new video in Los Angeles, Ca. 9/18/00. Photo past Kevin Winter/ImageDirect. Photo: Kevin Wintertime/Getty Images

Just as a house divided against itself cannot stand, a Wu-Tang Association apparently cannot stand each other. Last week, RZA revealed that he and Raekwon hadn't been speaking and that Raekwon wouldn't be on their upcoming anthology, A Improve Tomorrow. Rae — offended, because he thought the 2 had been in communication — appear that he was "on strike." On Monday, RZA tried to make the peace, saying, "When you class Voltron, you demand every piece. We demand [Raekwon] in that location. I want him there. I ask him over and over to be there. Let's but come together." And at present, in an interview with SI At present, he says the post-obit: "The album is slated to come out in July. If we don't come up to terms within the next 30 days, it will either be an album without Raekwon, or an album that never sees the calorie-free of day … I would not want to put out a Wu-Tang album without every live fellow member available." And on and on it volition likely go. But these are just the latest crumbles in the Temple of Shaolin. At that place take been cracks in the foundation since, well, the foundation.

1990s: At first, Wu-Tang's internal tension was channeled productively. RZA — the group's de facto producer and trusted visionary — pits members against ane another as they battle to get on his beats, in the hopes of winning "the right to announced on each song."

June 1997: In a Q&A for Rolling Stone, RZA says, "If two parties are disputing [in a Shaolin temple], they would go to the abbot to get a 3rd party's thoughts. And then I'k the abbot." Wu-Tang Forever debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, selling 612,000 in the first calendar week. All is well in Wu world.

July 1997: Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis writes up a embrace story, finding that "each member contributes 20 per centum of his earnings dorsum to that company, and all of the members share equally in the profits, regardless of how well their private albums sold, or whether or non they fifty-fifty made an anthology." While that might sound pretty good, DeCurtis thinks it's "a blueprint for jealousy and competition — and it may eventually show to be" their downfall.

July 1997: The group announces a ii-month tour with Rage Confronting the Machine.

September 1997: "It is my understanding, through the twisted labyrinth that is the communication organisation of the Wu-Tang Clan, that they're not playing whatsoever more shows on the tour in part considering of difficulties they're having within their own group," says Rage guitarist Tom Morello. Before long later, RZA tells MTV that nigh of the group wasn't showing up to tour dates by that point, anyhow.

1999: Nether the title "Wu-Tang Forever?" U-God says he's tried to talk to ODB nearly his … problems, only that "he'due south his own man." When told that Method Human "didn't know a Wu-Tang video game was out until someone asked him about it," U-God responds "angrily." (Says U-God: "He'southward on the road, so nobody should ask him that shit. He's always on the fucking road, and then he doesn't know what the fuck is going on.")

Nov 2000: The A.V. Lodge reviews The Westward , saying it sounds similar they're "struggling to make order out of chaos without being swallowed up past information technology."

2000: RZA calculates that each member of the grouping would've fabricated $220,000 if only they'd all shown up to concert dates. (The Chicago Tribune adds, helpfully, "They did not.")

June 2001: Method Man lets loose that the Shaolin swordplay has turned inward and denies that anyone'south busy at work recording their 3rd album Iron Flag since there's "internal bullshit" and "the sales aren't what they used to exist." I reason could exist that studio sessions aren't as full as they one time were: ODB's in jail, GZA opts to send over ProTools files from afar (no one'south sure why), and Cappadonna has somehow ended upwardly driving a taxi in Baltimore. It's rumored that the FBI has cornered him into acting as an informant; plainly, at that place's some connection between the Wu-Tang Clan and the Gambino family unit. (RZA volition later say that the album was put together in 30 days. Upon its release in December, The Guardian's reviewer calls the record "sloppy and uneven." It lands at No. 32 on the Billboard "200," behind debuts from Nas, Mystikal, and Lil Bow Wow.)

June 2003: Method Human goes on Big Boy'southward Neighborhood radio show and lets loose: "Ain't no Wu-Tang album going downwards unless everybody comes together as a group and stops meeting as these solo artists. Everybody, you lot know, basically, suckin' they self off … you're but as good as your final hit homey. Know what I'k maxim? And our last hit was 'C.R.E.A.Chiliad.' That vocal came out in 1993."

Baronial 2003: MTV reports that neither Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, nor Method Man like the idea of ODB signing to Roc-a-Fella. "Inspectah Deck compares it to fighting on Iraq's side." Meth says, "Brothers ain't actually been in contact with each other. Don't let none of them fool you like we talk to each other every twenty-four hours, 'crusade we don't. Where we're at right now, a lot of people got a lot of problems they gotta bargain with — personal likewise as concern." RZA jumps in to say, "I know some [members of the grouping] are upset about information technology. They're upset about it based on the egos."

November 2003: "Number i on my shit list right now is [RZA"south business partner] Divine from Wu-Tang management. He took something major from me that he had no intention of giving back," said Method Man, speaking to Blender magazine.

March 2004: U-God leaves the group, releasing an anti-RZA DVD,Rise of a Fallen Soldier. He accuses RZA of existence the devil and a slavemaster, of favoring certain members' projects over his. RZA posts on the Wu-Tang website: "U-Godzilla has a distorted retentiveness of the Wu and his involvement." U-God goes on Hot97 and tells Sway — direct up — that information technology'southward a publicity stunt … earlier RZA calls into the show. It's a foreign conversation! U-God rejoins the group.

Summertime 2004: To get ODB to get out his hotel room and perform at Hot97's Summer Jam, RZA bribes him with an extra five g.

November 2004: Ol' Muddy Bastard misses another concert, prompting Method Man to call him out onstage: "There's no i bigger than the Clan. When you encounter Ol' Muddied Bounder, tell him that." The adjacent day ODB dies at a recording studio from an accidental drug overdose.

2005: Ghostface Killah sues RZA for unpaid royalties. RZA, who also acts as the group's producer, claims his l percent accept is standard.

August 2007: RZA: "How can hip-hop be expressionless if Wu-Tang is forever?"

October xv, 2007: Ghostface tells MTV: "the bureaucracy at Wu-Tang Clan is on some bullshit" and complains that the group is trying to release 8 Diagrams (their album) on the verbal same twenty-four hour period as The Large Dough Rehab (his anthology), to sabotage him. He closes past saying, "N***equally amend pay my fucking coin. Matter of fact, they tin keep the money — just get me out of their life correct now."

Oct 22, 2007: "While the Wu-Tang Association's tour has been cancelled until bound 2008 Ghostface will be performing on stages throughout the land," reads the Wu website.

November eight, 2007: Raekwon tells Hot97'south Miss Info: "One minute, you my blood brother, one infinitesimal we doing business organisation. … And that's the problem … A n***a may know you love them because yous dearest them like that, and then next affair y'all know he uses that every bit a weakness against you and your mind." These are shots at RZA, in case you lot haven't been reading.

November 8, 2007: And and so RZA responds: "I don't know if everybody agreed with [the idea behind eight Diagrams]. Everybody has their own opinion. This is in my vision at the cease of the solar day."

November 27, 2007: RZA yells at U.K. radio DJ Tim Westwood: "I ain't never take no coin from nobody, and I don't owe nobody no coin! Don't never say that. I pay all my bills. I piece of work hard and pay all my bills."

November 29, 2007: Bing bong, example closed! Ghostface wins $158,000, maxim, "I but won my court case from them n***every bit. The suit been in there for three years. So put that out in that location. They but lost their fuckin' instance. And then who don't owe who coin? Let'due south go it direct, RZA. That's all I'yard sayin', baby. It was a loss, they lost. 50-O-S-T. That'south actually it."

Nov 29, 2007: Ghostface is on a press run, getting a lot of questions well-nigh 8 Diagrams : "That shit is wack. I heard RZA was changing some of the beats effectually the last minute. I didn't hear that. I don't know what y'all listening to out there. I never heard it. I'g with Raekwon."

November 29, 2007: More from Ghostface: "I don't see RZA, man. That n***a'due south real sneaky. I love him, though. Ain't no bad blood. Own't nobody doing no bad to him. It's just that you can't become money with a n***a."

Nov xxx, 2007: Ghostface to Rap Basement: "I've had that date since like last June and the Clan anthology was supposed to been came out. Information technology was supposed to drib in August, then October and I guess it wasn't making the deadlines or whatever. Rza and Divine didn't want me to driblet this year. They wanted it to be all most the Wu and information technology seemed similar a lot of funny sh*t was going on. Rza ain't listening. He wanted to make [8 Diagrams] how he wanted it and it ain't come out correct. He wanna e'er do the whole thing himself, produce the whole album. We're like, let'due south bring in some other producers too. Bring in Kanye, bring in Pharrell. You ain't gotta do the whole thing yourself. He wanna make his own instruments and shit and it sounded real horrible."

Dec 3, 2007: RZA tells MTV that U-God is blown away past everything RZA's making, that he believes they're on the correct rails. Equally for anybody lament, " Wow, I thought we were all on the same page." In the same interview, RZA says, "When we do come together, a lot of things just seem to evaporate. When we get on the stage together, we tin have a problem x minutes before we get onstage. Merely one time nosotros're onstage, we feel like everything evaporates."

December 10, 2007: Raekwon says that he'southward supporting the release of 8 Diagrams, after supposedly getting in RZA's face up and telling him, "This is a Wu-Tang Clan album. This ain't RZA'southward album." Rae says that he'due south working on a new album — to be called The Wu Tang vs. The Shaolin — and that everyone simply RZA will be on it.

December 17, 2007: "We're non then much talking to each other. "Nosotros take lawyers speaking to lawyers at present," says Cappadonna.

April 2008: Wu-Tang reunites onstage for the showtime time in a year! RZA'south publicist makes a big deal out of proverb, " There is no more beefiness! " to a writer from HipHopDX.

Jan 2008: U-God sues RZA and management for unpaid royalties, a move Raekwon supports, wholeheartedly: "It's concern homo. Don't have friendship and humbleness outta pocket considering nosotros doin' business."

January 14, 2008: Method Man: "They said U-God is suing Wu for 170k … that'southward it?"

July 2008: RZA responds: "They sayin' U-God suing the RZA for a hundred and seventy thousand dollars. You know what? I could never owe y'all a hundred and seventy g dollars. But even if I did owe you a hundred and lxx thousand dollars, U-God, after all these years of millions yous fabricated, motherfucka, you gonna come dorsum and bitch about a hundred and seventy thou dollars?"

January 2009: "I stopped doing business with Raekwon," RZA tells MTV. "I said, 'We can be brothers, but we can't do business concern,' because he was doubting my business judgment. You lot doing business, you gotta take that faith. It takes organized religion to practice that business. Me and Ghost is family unit, so I don't like to speak on that situation, merely he has people around him that's deluded. They make him believe something that'due south not existent. I said this to Ghostface last week on the omnibus and said to U-God, 'If y'all try to sue me for $100,000 … I don't owe you shit.' Why would you say something like that? You let your lawyer gas you. I said to Ghost, 'How the fuck I owe you lot $2 million, God?' Shit is crazy, G. All that shit is really mirage."

October 2009: CNN has RZA admit that he ran Wu-Tang like a dictatorship for the offset 5 years, a move he doesn't regret.

October 2009: "I have a legal contract with Wu-Tang Productions, thing of fact all of us do. We all signed that. We signed that years agone … Ghost made a deal with someone who thought they should get more from him than what they've got," RZA said, speaking to Vulture.

February 2011: Raekwon does his best to explain the Wu-Tang vs. Shaolin championship, which he at present claims isn't a knock confronting RZA. It'south only the "potent fighting the motherfuckin' ego." And so, in other words, it's sort of a knock confronting RZA.

July 2011: RZA appeals following his legal loss to Ghostface in 2009. In July of 2011, Judge Kapnick says, "This is one of the nearly bizarre procedural things I've ever seen," and refuses to encounter the case.

February 2012: Raekwon tells XXL: "I feel like united states doing solo things hurt us. I never told nobody that. Because when you have something so pure and then solid together, it could've been structured more togetherly. Information technology could've been more stronger if we knew nosotros had to stay together similar that. But when we allow each other to practice us, some did better than others … it jumped into some ego shit. If we would've stayed together, nosotros would've had 30 albums by now."

October ix, 2012: RZA is on with "The Breakfast Lodge" morning time testify, where he reveals that "everyone'southward on lath" for the planned 20th anniversary: globe tour, a record, everything. When asked about Wu-Tang's money problems, he responds, "Money'south e'er funny" and then calmly explains why he's getting more money than everyone else. (Short respond: He works harder.)

Oct 17, 2012: RZA tells the New York Times that it's hard to be in accuse: "[Laughs] It's like, 'What makes yous remember you lot're the genius?' Earlier, they believed in me like that, they trusted me like that. Now, they've had a take a chance to do their ain thing, and some things they liked meliorate. Whether it was successful or not, they may like information technology ameliorate. But I would say, if nosotros get one more shot of me being completely trusted equally the driver of the send, I think we could give the globe one more record, maybe."

November 2012: RZA thinks that dealing with Wu-Tang members over the years helped him diffuse problems on the set of The Homo With the Fe Fists, his feature film directorial debut. "Me and Meth always used to argue. It's natural. When steel rubs against steel, it makes both blades sharper. Raekwon and Ghostface started off as enemies in the neighborhood. They grew to exist best friends later joining the Wu-Tang." Not mentioned: how Rae and Ghost became and so close only subsequently finding a common enemy in RZA.

Jan 2013: Raekwon says that when Wu-Tang formed twenty years prior, the grouping was built on shaky relationships and mistrust, and only came together because of RZA'south affairs. At that time, Rae thought Ghostface was a "crook," though "talented." As he says, "When RZA was the heart guy, it was virtually like he did a Gotti move, he brought all the families to the table, and made niggas make apology, due to the fact of how we gon' move forward and get this money."

March 2013: "I already spoke to the RZA," Cappadonna told Radio.com. "We've been texting each other. We're definitely concentrating on more positivity and teachings and trying to put that back into the original recipe for this side by side Wu-Tang album."

July 2013: Cappadonna performs a freestyle for ForbezDVD where he complains about getting paid neither money nor attention.

August 2013: GZA'southward record label sues U-God's promo team, saying that GZA's song shouldn't have been used the way it was.

September 2013: Method Homo walks offstage at a Rock the Bells show after sound bug. Neither Ghostface nor Raekwon even show up, though ODB does — in hologram form.

November 8, 2013: RZA does an interview with Grantland, where he calls out Raekwon, Ghostface, Method Human being, and GZA for a lack of endeavour. "Raekwon hasn't shown up at all."

November 9, 2013: Raekwon responds on Twitter: "Yea i just read that rza article? Shit is funny to me." (He'll add : "I love u rza, u know what it really is.")

Nov 12, 2013: The group's official Twitter business relationship blames Raekwon for the delay of their new anthology, A Better Tomorrow: "RAEKWON Non GIVING INPUT HOLDS UP WUTANG CLAN 20TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM AND Move." RZA goes on Arsenio, repeating his claims that Ghostface's been giving xx percentage, Raekwon, none at all.

March 2014: In a sprawling commodity in which Grantland somehow catches up with all nine living members of the Wu, Cappadonna says the Wu-Tang legacy is "togetherness!" In the same commodity, it'south revealed that the grouping is more fractured than always. Raekwon says, "It'due south like getting the United nations to all concur on one fucking matter." U-God complains, "Raekwon is tired of hanging around me"; Ghostface has been rebuffing his offer for a full-album team-up, chosen Goldie and Ghost, for years. Me and RZA "go through it" but "I love this due north—. He saved my fuckin' life. He gave me a purpose. Nobody better be disrespecting him in forepart of me."

April fifteen, 2014: To absolutely no one's surprise, RZA and Raekwon are still having issues. The bandleader says to VladTV, "I haven't had a chance to really talk to him near why [he'due south not involved with the album]. But I would say that maybe creatively nosotros on unlike paths." The headline? "RZA Talks Raekwon Non Being On A Better Tomorrow."

Apr 2014: Raekwon is on the phone with Rolling Stone, where he says he's "on strike." He hates the single they put out. He doesn't like the production. He doesn't like the contracts. He doesn't like that RZA has decided this is the last Wu-Tang album. He closes out by proverb, "It's lamentable. It hurts. It'due south all about the fans. It's all nearly them saying, 'This is my favorite fuckin' hip-hop group in the world.' I have a chore to practise for them. And I would never let my fans downwards and make something I feel is mediocre just to say I made it. That's not Raekwon."

April 21, 2014: Responding to the Rolling Stone slice, RZA appears on Hot 97′s "Morning time Testify" and says: "There's no animosity with me and my brothers. My effect is with fuckin' management. … Raekwon is very important. When you form Voltron, you need every piece. I want him there and nosotros need him at that place." He urges the rest of Wu-Tang to not pay attention to the media interviews and communicate straight with each other.

A Comprehensive History of Wu-Tang Clan'due south Beefs