Wu-Tang Clan

Ol' Dirty Bastard's death on November 13, 2004 should have a limited impact on the Clan, given that his involvement with the group had been very sporadic for many years. source (http://www.freehostz.com/celebrity_vocals/others.html). This renewed interest in the group fuelled rumors that another group album is on the way soon, although nothing concrete has been announced by the Clan themselves. E3 - "Dangerously In Love", Grammys, 2004. The concert was released on DVD shortly afterwards, along with another greatest hits compilation. C6 - During a live performance of "Emotions", Kodak Theatre, 2002. 2004 also saw the unexpected return of the Clan to the live stage, and minus Ol' Dirty Bastard and Method Man (who was filming the Fox sitcom Method & Red) they embarked on a short European tour, before coming together as a complete group for the first time in several years to headline the Rock The Bells festival in California. D6 - She hits it in her song "Happy Face".

The Pretty Toney Album was critically acclaimed in the mainstream press, and the independently released No Said Date was well-received by the group's hardcore fanbase and hip hop enthusiasts in general for its unpretentious, back-to-basics approach and in-house production. Besides her awards gained during her solo performing years, Beyoncé also has a host of other awards with Destiny's Child. After GZA released Legend of the Liquid Sword in late 2002, the following two years saw a spate of new solo releases, including new works by Cappadonna (The Struggle), Method Man (Tical 0: The Prequel), Raekwon (The Lex Diamonds Story), Ghostface Killah (who, in his new contract with Def Jam Records, changed his pseudonym to simply Ghostface, and released The Pretty Toney Album), Inspectah Deck (The Movement), Masta Killa (No Said Date), Shyheim, Wu-Element producer Mathematics (Love, Hell & Right) and an untitled work by the ODB (recently released from prison, and then signed to Jay-Z and Damon Dash's Roc-a-Fella Records Label). She's not sexy, she hasn't got a great body and she's not a great singer." He went on to defend Ashlee Simpson, something even the paper's editors found outrageous. The group's latest album (as a group) was 2001 Iron Flag, made without the participation of the still-incarcerated Ol' Dirty Bastard, and which received mixed but mostly positive reviews. "I find the whole Beyoncé thing really mystifying. 2001 saw the release of Digital Bullet (the second RZA album released as Bobby Digital), Bulletproof Wallets (Ghostface Killah) and The Yin and the Yang (Cappadonna). Simon Cowell, CEO of the BMG publishing house has openly criticized Beyoncé Knowles in the January 2005 edition of Esquire magazine.

The W itself was mostly well-received by critics, particularly for RZA's production, and also gave the group a hit single with the uptempo Gravel Pit (which was supported by an extravagant faux-prehistoric Flintstones-inspired video). She is also set to play Deena Jones in the adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, set for release in 2006. Ol' Dirty Bastard managed to escape the club, but was captured by Philadelphia police and sent to New York to face charges of cocaine possession. In April, 2001, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison. The film is scheduled for release in 2005. Almost finished with his rehab, Ol' Dirty Bastard escaped suddenly and spent one month on the run as a fugitive before showing up onstage at the record release party for The W, the group's new album. Beyoncé is currently in post-production for The Pink Panther in which she plays role of Xania, appearing opposite Steve Martin who plays Inspector Clouseau. In 2000 the group reconvened to make a new album: minus Ol' Dirty Bastard who was incarcerated in California for violating the terms of his probation. In a Universal Music poll conducted in 2004, Beyoncé beat out Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to be crowned the "Princess of Pop".

Fans also bemoaned the lack of RZA input on these albums, which were mostly produced by the Wu-Element producers, other lower-ranking affiliates or by outside producers such as the Trackmasters or the Neptunes. Both have also made the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Method Man and ODB were still quite popular, and the critics still fawned over GZA and Ghostface Killah, but their sound was becoming heavily imitated by others, and they were no longer superstars of hip hop. Fresh off the success of "Baby Boy", Beyoncé released her third solo single, "Me Myself And I" towards the end of 2003; Dangerously In Love's fourth single, "Naughty Girl", came out in mid-2004. However, with a seemingly never-ending line of mostly poorly-received releases from affiliates such as Killarmy and Shyheim, a greatest hits album, as well as Wu-Tang branded clothing and video games, the market had been saturated with Wu-Tang products, and the second round of Clan member solo albums didn't do as well, either popularly or critically. The same year, Beyoncé was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher just couple minutes after ruining Christmas at Universal Studios Hollywood. RZA also composed the score for the film Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai, directed by Jim Jarmusch, while he and other Wu-Tang members contributed music to a companion "music inspired by the film" album. Unlike Beyoncé's own singles, the song did not become popular, although the movie was a moderate success.

In the space of just three years, RZA's Bobby Digital In Stereo, Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day, GZA's Beneath the Surface, Ol' Dirty Bastard's Nigga Please, U-God's Golden Arms Redemption, Raekwon's Immobilarity, Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele and Inspectah Deck's Uncontrolled Substance were all released. and recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation", with rappers Missy Elliott, Free, and MC Lyte. In the midst of such problems, the Clan released yet more solo albums. Around the same time, Beyoncé starred in the movie The Fighting Temptations opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. The investigation never found significant evidence for the allegations. It, too, went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating radio airplay for the fall of 2003. The whole Wu-Tang Clan also fell under suspicion as alleged leaders of a gun-running scheme between Staten Island and Steubenville, Ohio. Towards the end of the summer, "Baby Boy", Dangerously In Love's second single, which featured reggae star Sean Paul, began to climb the charts.

He was also in trouble for missing multiple court dates. "The way the world is now, who cares?" said Chapman Grant, "who knows? If the old guy were alive, he might have enjoyed it.". He was also arrested several times for a variety of offenses, including assault, making terrorist threats, shoplifting, wearing body armor after being convicted of a felony and possession of cocaine. President Grant's great-grandsons Ulysses Grant Dietz and Chapman Foster Grant, spoke up on Knowles' behalf. He then announced a name change to Big Baby Jesus, but never followed through. Grant. At the Grammy Awards, he protested the Clan's loss (in Best Rap Album) by interrupting Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech. On the televised celebration of July 4 in 2003, Beyoncé came under controversy from the Grant Memorial Association for her performance of "Crazy In Love", in which she danced in a "patently inappropriate" way on the steps of the tomb of President Ulysses S.

The same year, 1998, Ol' Dirty Bastard began a long career of erratic behavior, landing him in both the headlines and jail on a regular basis. When single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the US and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men At Work in 1983 - in the '60s and '70s, it was performed by the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart. A compilation album, Wu-Tang Killa Bees: The Swarm, was also released showcasing more Wu-affiliated artists as well as including new solo tracks from the group members themselves. This album has sold in excess of 6 million copies worldwide. The group's close associate Cappadonna, who first appeared on Raekwon's debut and was a large presence on both Ironman and Wu-Tang Forever, followed the group project with March 1998's The Pillage, and soon after Killah Priest (like Cappadonna a close associate of the Clan, though not an official member) released Heavy Mental to great critical acclaim. Dangerously In Love went to the top of the album charts in the UK and Canada, as well as on both the American pop (Billboard 200) and R&B charts. However, the live tour supporting the album was cancelled halfway through amid rumors of internal disputes. Its first single, "Crazy In Love", featured a propulsive riff and a guest rap from Jay-Z and rapidly became one of the biggest hits of that summer, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for ten weeks.

The group members also appeared much more ambitious lyrically than on 36 Chambers, with many verses on the album being dense stream-of-consciousness narratives heavily influenced by the teachings of the Five Percent Nation. In 2003, Beyoncé released her debut solo album Dangerously In Love. The sound of the album mostly built upon the sounds of the previous three solo albums, with RZA increasing his use of keyboards and string samples, as well as for the first time assigning much of the album's production to his proteges True Master and 4th Disciple (known as the "Wu-Elements"). The song was included both on her debut solo album and on Luther's Dance With My Father set, and they shared the Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. It was eagerly anticipated and entered the charts at number one ; no mean feat for an album that made very little attempt to have wide commercial appeal, and whose lead single Triumph was a five minutes plus nine-MC "posse cut" with no chorus. In this version, the vocal parts are flipped around, with Luther taking Roberta's part and Beyoncé taking Donny's. With solo careers established, the Wu-Tang Clan came back together to release the enormous double album Wu-Tang Forever in June 1997. In the spring of 2003, Beyoncé remade a duet with Luther Vandross, called "The Closer I Get To You", originally performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.

Although these albums were released as solo albums, the rule of RZA behind the boards and the large number of guest appearances from other Clan members (Raekwon and Ghostface's albums only had two or three actual solo tracks each and both included tracks which only included other Clan members and not themselves) means they are usually considered as important to the group's evolution as the group albums proper. The couple are engaged, and current rumours say that they will marry soon. It was critically acclaimed and is still widely considered one of the best Wu-Tang solo albums. During the fall of 2002, Beyoncé was the featured vocalist on Jay-Z's smash single, "'03 Bonnie And Clyde". Ghostface Killah released his own debut, Ironman, in 1996; it struck a balance between the sinister keyboard-laden textures of Liquid Swords and the sentimental soul samples of Cuban Linx, while Ghostface himself explored new territory as a lyricist. "Work It Out" was a top 10 hit in the UK and a top 40 hit in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, despite being Beyoncé's biggest flop to date in her home country; in America, radio barely played the song and the video received very minor exposure, only on digital video channels, MTV Jams and VH1 Soul. The two 1995 solo albums remain widely regarded as two of the finest hip hop albums of the nineties. She also recorded a song entitled "Work It Out", for the movie soundtrack.

GZA's Liquid Swords had a similar focus on inner-city criminology to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, yet was far darker, both in GZA's grim lyrics and in the ominous, forbidding production which saw RZA heavily reliant on keyboards for the first time. The movie is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Highest Box Office Comedy Film gross . Raekwon the Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was a diverse, theatrical criminological epic that saw RZA move away from the raw, stripped-down beats of the early albums and towards a richer, cinematic sound more reliant on strings and classic soul samples. In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember opposite Mike Myers' role of Austin Powers, as Foxxy Cleopatra. 1995 saw two significant and well-received albums from the group members. Beyoncé then turned to acting, starring alongside Mekhi Phifer in the MTV TV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera without any previous training.This movie was the modern day equivalent to the 1954 musical Carmen which starred Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge. Ol' Dirty Bastard found success soon after with Return to the 36 Chambers: the Dirty Version, which saw the 36 Chambers sound become even rawer and rough-edged. She is the first African American woman and the second woman of any race to win the award.

RZA's hands-on approach to Tical, which extended beyond him merely creating the beats to devising song concepts and structure, would continue throughout the first round of solo projects from the Clan members. In 2001, Beyoncé won the Songwriter of the Year award, from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Pop Music Awards. Method Man was the first member of Wu-Tang to hit stardom with his November 1994 solo album, Tical, produced by the RZA who continued with the grimy, raw textures he explored on 36 Chambers. [1] (http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/13/music.destinys.child.ap/index.html). The Gravediggaz released 6 Feet Deep in August of 1994, which became easily the most famous work to emerge from hip hop's small sub-genre of horrorcore. On June 13, 2005, it was announced the group will disband after their world tour ends in the fall of 2005. RZA was the first to follow up on the success of 36 Chambers with a side project, founding the Gravediggaz with Prince Paul (a producer, most famous for De La Soul), Frukwan (of Stetsasonic) and Poetic (of the Brothers Grimm). "Lose My Breath", "Soldier" and "Girl" all of these reached the top 10 Billboard album and singles charts respectively.

Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers did indeed establish the group as a creative and influential rap group in the early nineties (it was released in 1993), allowing GZA, RZA, Raekwon, Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard to negotiate solo contracts. After Langford's arrest, safety seemed apparent and the release of Destiny Fulfilled went through. Though there was some difficulty in finding a record label that would sign the Wu-Tang Clan while still allowing each member to record solo albums with other labels, Loud/RCA finally agreed and the debut album Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers was popular and critically-acclaimed, though it took some time to gain momentum. Langford continued the threats, until her arrest on August 23, 2004 in home in San Diego home. The Wu-Tang Clan first became known to hip hop fans, and to major record labels, following the release of the independent single Protect Ya Neck, which immediately gave the group a sizeable underground following. Primarily aimed at Beyoncé, the threats caused major setbacks for the group. The group have also developed various acronyms for the name (as hip hop pioneers like KRS One and Big Daddy Kane did with their names), including "Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game" and "Wisdom, Universe, Truth, Allah, Nation, and God". In 2004, the group began receiving threats from an obsessed fan from San Diego, California named LaToya Langford.

The name of the group itself originates from the Wudang (or Wu-Tang) Mountains in the Hubei province of China which are a traditional center of Chinese martial arts. The album's fourth and final single, "Emotions", was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten hits. The two cousins (GZA and RZA) created their rap nom-de-plumes by mimicking the sound that the words Genius and Robert would make when scratched on a turntable. The title track "Survivor" would win the band their second Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The RZA is the producer of the group's albums, as well as many of their solo projects. The group quickly became known for hardcore violence, thumping, surreal beats and a warped sense of humor, all filtered through allusions to ancient Chinese folklore, mythic legend and martial arts film. "Independent Women" (Part 1) had been the theme song for Charlie's Angels in late 2000, prior to the album's 2001 release. The GZA is the de facto leader of the group, as well as being widely regarded as the best lyricist among the group. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100: "Independent Women" (Part 1) and "Bootylicious", with the album's title track reaching number 2.

The founders of the Wu-Tang Clan were GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard and RZA (who also formed the by-then-defunct All In Together Now Crew). The next album, Survivor, proved to be another smash, going to number one on both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, and on the Canadian album chart, as well as being generally successful around the world. This was the plan from the group's inception: the group would make each of them famous enough to launch multiple side projects, and take over the hip-hop community through saturation of like-minded rappers. ("Bug-A-Boo" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" were also popular singles off the album.) "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammys for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best R&B Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Beyoncé herself. All of the nine members have released solo albums and have performed under several subprojects with other Wu-Tang "Family" members and musicians outside the Clan. Destiny Child's second album The Writing's On The Wall released in 1999 featured two number one hits in "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". There are nine original members of the Wu-Tang Clan. The album itself also went platinum.

The Wu-Tang Clan is a pioneering hardcore rap group, originally from Staten Island, New York, USA (Staten Island is referred to as "Shaolin" in their lyrics). The group's self-titled album, released in 1998, was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the platinum-selling, number one Hot 100 single "No, No, No". 2004 Disciples of the 36 Chambers: Chapter 1 (Sanctuary). The group has currently returned from a hiatus since 2001, when its three current members, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, each decided to temporarily pursue solo careers. 2001 Iron Flag (Columbia). Beyoncé is the main songwriter for the group and is generally regarded as its leader. 2000 The W (Columbia). The band is managed by her father, Matthew Knowles, who is acknowledged as a strong force in Beyoncé's life.

1997 Wu-Tang Forever (Loud). Beyoncé and Destiny's Child toured as an opening act for both Christina Aguilera and TLC before their first album, also called Destiny's Child. 1993 Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Loud). As a teen, she attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she honed her musical talents. UGodz-Illa. Beyoncé has won five Grammy Awards for her solo work and three as a member of Destiny's Child. Lucky Hands. The album has spawned four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 including "Crazy In Love" featuring boyfriend Jay-Z, "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul, "Me Myself & I", and "Naughty Girl" all of which were back-to-back multi-week number ones on said chart during last summer and fall.

Golden Arms. Her debut solo album, 2003's Dangerously In Love, topped both the R&B and pop charts in America, as well as the main album charts in Canada and the UK. Four-Bar Killer. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles is usually referred to by only her first name, Beyoncé, which is now her stage name, but has come to be called "Beyoncé Knowles" by many in the media. Baby Huey. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, (born September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas) is an African-American R&B singer, actress, and chief songwriter and producer in the group Destiny's Child. Universal God of Law. Vocal range: 3.5 octaves (C3-F6).

Baby U. Lowest notes: C3,. 4-Bar Killer. Highest notes: C6, D6 possibly F6. U-God (birth name: Lamont Hawkins)