From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga

Description

This is the definitive biography of rap supergroup, Wu-Tang Clan (WTC). Widely regarded as one of the most influential groups in modern music--hip hop or otherwise--WTC has released seven albums [including four gold and platinum studio albums, as well as the genre-defining Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)] and has launched the careers of famous rappers like RZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and more. Beyond the musicians in the group itself, WTC has also collaborated with many of the biggest names in the game-from Busta Rhymes and Redman to Nas and Kanye West), and one is hard pressed to find a group who's had a bigger impact on the evolution of the hip hop genre. S.H. Fernando, Jr. is a journalist who has interviewed WTC several times over the past several decades for publications like Rolling Stone, Vibe, and The Source. Over the years, he has "built up a formidable archive--including over 100 pages of unpublished transcribed interviews, videos of the group in action in the studio, and several notepads of accumulated memories and observations." The result is a startling portrait of innovation, collaboration, and adversity, giving us unparalleled access to the highs and lows of the WTC's illustrious career so far. And this book doesn't shy away from controversy--along with stories of the group's musical success, we're also privy to stories from their childhoods in the crime-and-cocaine infested hallways of Brooklyn and Staten Island housing projects, stints in Rikers for gun possession and attempted murderer, and million-dollar contracts that led to recklessness and drug overdoses (including Ol' Dirty Bastard's untimely death). Even more than just a history of a single group, this book tells the story of a musical and cultural shift that encapsulates and then expands beyond NYC in the 20th and 21st centuries. Though there have been biographies written about the band, both from members (like RZA) and collaborators (like Cyrus Bozorgmehr), most of the material that's been published so far has either focused on a single member of the group's story, or a narrow timespan of their work. This book will not only feature interviews with all living WTC members and a comprehensive look at their discography, it also includes never-before-revealed insight into their childhoods and the neighborhoods that shaped them growing up. It's unique in its breadth, scope, and access--a must-have for fans of WTC and music bios more generally.

S.H. Fernando Jr. is a journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, and Vibe. After graduating from Harvard and the Columbia University School of Journalism, he began his career as a music journalist for The Source magazine. The author of The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture & Attitudes of Hip-Hop, he now lives in Baltimore, MD.

One of SLATE's "Must-Reads for Summer" (2021) "This sweeping history of the Wu-Tang Clan, the nine-man rap crew from Staten Island whose eclectic sound transformed the genre, traces the journey of its members from their childhoods in New York City housing projects to their current role as elder statesmen of American hip-hop. If the Clan's initial success was surprising, in an early-nineties rap scene dominated by a slick, West Coast style, its longevity has been astonishing; its various artists have produced nearly a hundred albums. Fernando dutifully narrates the group's origin story, but his real contribution lies in a careful analysis of how its mastermind, RZA, that 'mystic, majestic magus from the slums, ' created a dynasty."--New Yorker "An authoritative history of seminal hip-hop collective the Wu-Tang Clan.... Fernando vividly evokes the hardscrabble landscape of the group's home turf of Staten Island, where RZA first brought them together with an ambitious vision.... The go-to source for anyone interested in one of the most significant hip-hop groups of all time."--Kirkus Reviews "An undisputed labor of love, this is the account diehard fans have been waiting for."--Publishers Weekly "Playing chess, not checkers, author S. H. Fernando Jr. has written a blunted history of the Wu-Tang Clan that reads like a textual tapestry weaving together New York history, old school hip-hop, gritty futurism, crack corners, Five-Percent Nation knowledge, kung-fu flicks, Time Square tricks, Blaxploitation aesthetics, vintage soul, Asian philosophy, Black power, and streetwise poetics. Like the Wu crew, Fernando was driven by passion, knowledge and the desire to drop science. Master-mixing journalistic discipline and research with gonzo enthusiasm, From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga is a masterful contribution to the culture and beyond."--Michael A. Gonzales, Senior Writer, Wax Poetics "S.H. Fernando Jr. is the original Wu-Tang chronicler. His early work is foundational and his latest tome delivers the titillating travels of these original men with more flavor than Flav."--Sacha Jenkins, Director, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men "So much has been written about the Wu-Tang Clan, but finally we have the entire story in one place. S. H. Fernando Jr., one of the first ever journalists to cover the group, walks us through not only the backstories of the founding members, but also the specific conditions that led to Wu-Tang's formation. Economic/racial inequality, the drug trade, the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths, kung fu cinema, and the early days of New York hip-hop are explained in full detail, as well as production techniques and the machinations of the music industry, with analyses of the albums (both as a group and solo projects) that took the world by storm and helped define a generation. This is an essential text for any fan of hip-hop culture or American history in general."--Ben Merlis, author of Goin' Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin' Records "To truly tell the story of a group like Wu-Tang, a writer needs to see so much more than just the music, and look deeper into the culture, sociohistorical context and sheer rawness of the streets that these young gods emerged from. It's rare that a writer so poignantly unravels the riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma that is the Wu. S.H. Fernando Jr.'s unprecedented early access and immersion into the golden era of hip-hop lends to a deeper story of Wu-Tang's brotherhood, visual inspirations and the gritty ecosystem that informs Wu-Tang's come up story. From the Nation of Gods and Earths to The Zulu Nation to Raekwon's immortal Snow Beach Polo parka, Fernando lyrically illustrates why the life and times of the Wu stands as a great American story. Beautifully nuanced and lushly written, Fernando's telling of the Wu-Tang story shows (and proves) that it can, indeed, all be so simple."--Vikki Tobak, author and curator of Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop "Wu-Tang Clan led a revolution, and S.H. Fernando Jr. was on the front lines--at the shows, in the studio, and on set for the video shoots where these nine hip-hop warriors changed the world. With vivid reporting and sharp critical analysis, From the Streets of Shao-Lin offers a chronicle of the Wu in real time, and truly allows the reader to enter the 36 Chambers."--Alan Light, former Editor-in-Chief of Vibe and Spin magazines, author of What Happened, Miss Simone?: A Biography and Let's Go. Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain