Triumph

a controversial ranking of the men from shaolin

My good friend Keenon brought this up in discussion the other day: which members of the Wu-Tang Clan would be your fourth and fifth best? He posited that the top three were relatively inviolable in some order, but the real distinction comes with the middle spots. I agreed, but since I am known to be long-winded for little to no reason, I wanted to expand it out to a complete ranking of members. I also have a sneaking suspicion that my top three won’t align with Keenon’s (or anyone else’s for that matter). I promise I’m not being difficult, it’s just that my brain sometimes works very differently from sane people.

For our purposes, we will only be considering the ten core members (yes, Cappadonna is included). If I were to expand this list out to all Wu-Affiliates and Wu-Associates, I’d have to break this up into at least five separate lists and I don’t have the attention span for that. Getting through a hundred individual tracks over the past two weeks was bad enough.

These rankings are my opinion and my opinion only. No one else will share either the blame or the credit. When evaluating the members, I am considering both their contributions to Wu-centric releases and any outside endeavors. That some of the contenders have far fewer appearances is an unfortunate side effect, but must be taken into account in terms of both widespread appeal and artistic integrity as judged by their peers.

Let’s get to it.

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10. U-God

Someone has to be last, and unfortunately it falls to U-God. Lamont Hawkins was incarcerated for the majority of the recording of the debut album, and spent several years out in the wilderness after disagreeing with RZA on the group’s direction in the early 2000’s. I want to make something explicit: despite coming up in the rear of this ranking, he’s still a formidable rapper and more talented than the vast majority of hip-hop artists working in the medium.

Best Track: “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”

9. Cappadonna

Darryl Hill was present at the beginning of the Wu-Tang Clan, but lost his spot due to being entirely unavailable for recording for several years due to his incarceration. Upon his release, he made an appearance on Raekwon’s first solo album, before becoming an integral part of the group’s associates. Prior to the recording of 8 Diagrams, RZA welcomed Cappadonna as an official member despite not making that clear until 2014.

Best Track: “Winter Warz”

8. Masta Killa

Jamel Irief doesn’t sound like any of the other members, but still fits into the milieu. His slow, methodical, deliberate flow allows each syllable to breathe, sinking in with complexity and richness. His solo releases also take their time with his debut album coming out in 2004, well after his colleagues. He is featured less on group albums than most others, which means his collaborations on others’ solo recordings are his most prominent work. His verse from GZA’s “Duel of the Iron Mic'“ on Liquid Swords is a standout, as he mixes Five Percenter imagery flawlessly with martial arts movie wordplay.

Best Track: “Duel of the Iron Mic”

7. RZA

The mastermind behind most of the Clan’s business ventures and the person most responsible for the vision and presentation of the group at large, Robert Diggs might be the most musically inventive member. That being said, his skills behind the board decidedly outweigh his lyrical contributions in my mind. So much of modern hip-hop can be traced to RZA’s inventive use of samples and interpolations, to the point where other producers owe their entire existence to his influence.

Best Track: “Impossible”

6. Raekwon

Corey Woods is one of the most consistently promoted members of the Wu-Tang Clan in outside media, and is renowned as the developer and maintainer of the massive Wu-Tang lexicon of slang. That being said, your tolerance for Raekwon’s style largely hinges on how much you enjoy the organized crime (or Wu-Gambino) aspects of the group’s output. My own tastes veer further towards the other two cornerstones of Wu-Tang, namely Five Percenter vernacular and Asian martial arts movies. More to the point, Raekwon isn’t as good at the style as others further down on this list. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is undoubtedly a classic, but its strength relies on killer features more than Rae himself. His attempts to catch lightning in a bottle again frequently fall short.

Best Track: “Criminology”

5. GZA

Gary Grice is the veteran presence of the group, as he has the most music business experience in addition to being the oldest member. He also has the most complex and lyrically diverse vocabulary, coming in at number one of a selection of mainstream rappers in a linguistic study conducted in 2014. Liquid Swords is almost certainly the best of the solo albums released in the immediate aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang, and at the absolute least in the top three. In my opinion, though, GZA’s rhymes sometime take a back seat to RZA’s production and the numerous guest verses that serve to make a better album but a less impressive solo showing.

Best Track: “Clan in da Front”

4. Ol’ Dirty Bastard

When you think of Russell Jones, you think of dynamism. The ODB was a vast river of lyricism, ever changing in composition. No one sounds like him, either before or after his tragically shortened career. His fatherless style resulted in his profane sobriquet, as a matter of fact. His rhymes are bombastic and attention grabbing, but there is a depth of idea and imagery that is easy to overlook. The way in which he built a world and told a story in it is a lesson to any young rapper: you can have a gimmick, but in order to be successful you must fully inhabit your character.

Best Track: “Brooklyn Zoo”

3. Inspectah Deck

I know this is going to be controversial, but Jason Hunter is the most consistently underrated member of the Wu-Tang Clan and deserves his flowers. Most people’s introduction to Wu-Tang was “Protect Ya Neck”, which is utterly incomplete without Inspectah Deck’s first verse. There is also no other member who was more hurt by the RZA’s basement flooding, since he had to re-record and re-produce his debut album Uncontrolled Substance, delaying it by more than two years. Deck’s solo career is frequently more interesting than other Wu-affiliates, as he uses a variety of producers outside of the norm and with features from a wider array of artists. Take for example his Czarface project, which is a collaboration with 7L and Esoteric, with input from MF DOOM and DJ Premier for some tracks. Variety is the spice of life, and with Deck you never know what’s going to happen next.

Best Track: “Triumph” / “C.R.E.A.M.” (tie)

2. Method Man

Clifford Smith is the most visible member of the group, thanks to his frequent acting appearance and his higher notoriety features on hit songs. No other member of the Clan has had multiple series of well-received movies (sorry, RZA) or a sitcom on the FOX network. Meth was the first to capitalize on the newfound fame of the collective, releasing Tical in 1994 to widespread acclaim, and quickly gained purchase in the mainstream thanks to features with Mary J. Blige, Tupac Shakur, and Notorious B.I.G. The chief criticism of Method Man is his tendency towards losing his core nature within passing trends, sounding like his duet partners or the producer du joour rather than himself. His populism means that his skills are overlooked; he’s as good and competent as almost any of the members of the Clan when it comes to pure rhyming ability. His vocals are immediately recognizable thanks to his tone and style, meaning that he never gets lost in the mix. I’d listen to arguments that he was the best of them all, but I disagree thanks to one man.

Best Track: Method Man

1. Ghostface Killah

Everyone uses the same terminology when speaking about Dennis Coles, but just because it’s trite doesn’t mean it’s untrue. Ghostface Killah is a born storyteller, able to weave a narrative around a beat as well as any rapper ever. His output is overwhelmingly abundant, and he had a higher quotient of hit solo albums than any of his colleagues. Ironman, Supreme Clientele, The Pretty Toney Album, and The Big Doe Rehab are as good as any of the other members’ work. When Ghost has a feature, it’s always appointment listening. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is as much a Ghost album as it is a Raekwon album, and I would posit that Ghost outperforms Rae at his own style. No matter the venue, Ghostface paints pictures with his rhymes, describing in short bars and verses completely fleshed out worlds that resonate with the authenticity of the finest non-fiction. Ghostface isn’t just the best rapper in the Wu-Tang Clan, he’s one of the most engaging poets in modern America.

Best Track: Can It Be All So Simple