Today Tim Westwood has unearthed a Wu-Tang Clan freestyle from 1997 and it's nothing short of incredible. Clocking in at 52 minutes the freestyle features Ol' Dirty Bastard, The RZA, Method Man, Masta Killa and U-God, as they each spit some bars over instrumentals spun by DJ Mathematics.
Now, to put into context: 1997 was the same year that the Wu-Tang Clan released Wu-Tang Forever, the collective's follow up to their iconic debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The double album featured several guest appearances from Wu-Tang affiliates, including Cappadonna, Streetlife, 4th Disciple, True Master and Tekitha.
The album still achieved commercial and critical success despite limited radio and TV airplay, offering songs such as "Triumph" and "It's Yourz," both of which became some of the Wu-Tang Clan's most popular songs. There's also the song "Impossible," which features a verse from Ghostface Killah that's so good that even RZA has hailed it as the "greatest Wu-Tang verse ever written."
The freestyle serves as a reminder of how untouchable the Wu-Tang Clan was in 1997. It feels like a celebration honestly: all of them having fun, riffing off of each other's bars and offering those distinguishable deliveries that not only make their solo work so memorable, but their stuff as a group too. Everyone is alive and energetic, with ODB offering several different verses while simultaneously serving as hype man for the other members.
"As I land here at the Heathrow Airport, my first thought was to bring you a fat J that you can't get on import," RZA states before going into a verse of his own. It's fun, goofy, brilliant — everything you've come to love about the Wu-Tang Clan.
Wu-Tang Clan was unstoppable around this time. They were pushing the boundaries of raw NY rap, while showcasing how a group of rap and kung fu movie fanatics could come together and create one of the most important rap collectives of all time.
And this freestyle is a testament to that.
