The age-old icebreaker question of “If you could time travel, where would you go” is quick to elicit a plethora of responses from everybody. People would go back and watch the most iconic moments in history, the moon landing or their favorite sports team’s first championship are common answers and not incorrect ones. Ask any fan of Hip-hop where they would travel to and it would have to be November 9, 1993. On this random day thirty years ago, two of the most iconic albums in hip-hop were released simultaneously. A Tribe Called Quest dropped their groundbreaking concept album Midnight Marauders and a large group of Kung-fu enthusiasts entered the world of rap and changed it forever. Being at a record shop and coming across Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album, 36 Chambers, with its ominous cover must have sparked curiosities across the board. The music on this album was unlike anything we’d heard before it, and even three decades later, it’s still difficult to compare its sound to anything.
The recording for Wu-Tang’s debut album began a year before it was released to the public. Everything from the array of unique styles deployed by the vocalist to RZA’s murky production style continues to influence the entire genre to this day. While 36 Chambers set the tone for almost everything that came out of the New York City rap scene in the ’90s, it may be lost how daring this album was for a brand-new crew. The influence goes so deep that people may not realize that nine guys from Staten Island rapping over sharp drum patterns and movie samples went against everything that was happening in the genre at the time. It wasn’t the jazzy sound of A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul and it wasn’t the polished, bouncy G-Funk coming out of the west coast. It was the Wu-Tang Clan, a name that will forever be synonymous with innovation and influence, and a movement that would prove to be unstoppable.
The amount of iconic and quotable moments from this LP is countless. Method Man’s self-titled classic, “C.R.E.A.M”, the dark chants of “Tiger style” before “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit”, every detail of this LP is etched into the storybook of hip-hop. The most important element of their iconic debut is the natural chemistry on display. You can pair any two or more members of Wu-Tang together and you are going to witness hip-hop at its highest form. The word “Perfect” is rarely appropriate, but there are no other words to describe the dusty drums and technicolored verses that line this album. This album introduced the world to nine emcees who were already reaching new heights before the album even came out, and the solo careers that came after 36 Chambers proved the Wu-Tang Clan would stop at nothing to bring New York City to a new level of recognition.
30 years and the sword-slashing sound effects of Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album still pack the same punch. No matter how many times you’ve heard 36 Chambers, every time you press play feels like your first. The unabashed youthful energy of nine artists with a world of possibilities and unfiltered creativity is as palpable as it was three decades ago, and by the sound of it, it’ll be just as potent in another 30 years.
