The Wu-Tang Clan had a seismic impact on hip hop 25 years ago by completely altering the genre. Led by RZA, they brought together 9 MCs who appealed to different audiences and broke conventions with their debut album. RZA was an ingenious entrepreneur who ensured the group's success through securing unique record deals and later launching their iconic Wu Wear clothing line. The Wu-Tang Clan brought hip hop into the mainstream and reshaped the future of the music industry through their persistence and ability to stay relevant for years.

1. A Seismic Shift in Hip Hop
All Began 25 Years Ago
with the Wu-Tang Clan

2. Even if you don’t know their music,
even if you couldn’t name a single
member of this iconic hip hop group,
you’ve undoubtedly seen the impact
Wu-Tang Clan had on an entire
industry. It’s rare for a music group
to completely alter the trajectory of
any genre, but it’s not unheard of.

4. Elvis Presley and the Beatles are
legendary for the impact they had on
fledgling rock -n-roll. The Rolling
Stones, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin
remain iconic for more than just their
songs. Black Sabbath, Metallica, and
even Bon Jovi, the Police, and
Nirvana all altered the shape of their
respective styles and genres.

5. Yet even in light of these small tremors
that reverberated throughout rock and
metal for decades, all fall short of the
significance Wu-Tang Clan had on a
newly forming style: hip hop.
What’s more is that their influence
wasn’t just about the music genre but
branding for dozens of iconic artists
that would follow in their wake.

6. RZA: An Ingenious
Entrepreneur

7. Of the nine (yes, you read that right …
nine) founding members of the Wu-Tang
Clan, RZA was the innovator, the
forward-thinker, the brand building mind
behind their early success. He was the
reason this group rattled the music world
and brought tradition down amidst the
earthquake that was their debut album.

8. RZA had a plan and he forced his will
and vision onto not just the group, but
an entire industry.

9. The Wu-Tang Clan consisted of RZA,
GZA, Old Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck,
Raekwon the Chef, U-God, Masta Killa,
Ghostface Killah, and Method Man, but it
was RZA who stood out as the business
force early on. All of the members grew
up poor, in the projects of New York City
and formed on Staten Island.

10. Up until Wu-Tang Clan, though, hip hop
was one of two distinct styles: hardcore or
more mainstream crossover. No one had
been prepared for the shear difference
this group would be or make, and it was
what helped establish a unique personal
brand.

11. RZA refused to allow the group to sign
any contract with a record label unless
they would each be allowed to sign
individual music contracts with any label
they chose, even if that meant a
competitor. It was a unique request, but
what it ultimately did was impose the Wu-
Tang sound into hip hop and multiple
competing labels for years.

13. Their iconic ‘W’ logo may be confused by
some outsiders as a cheap attempt at
drawing a bird or a weak Batman symbol,
but for those who know, its image is
recognizable anywhere within the hip hop
and rap world today.

14. Altering the
Music Industry

15. When brand building, it’s essential that
you know your target market, your prime
audience. You need to understand what
they want, what they may want in the
future, and how best to tap into their
desires while filling that specific need no
one else is.

16. RZA brought together MCs who could
appeal to the college crowd, U-God and
Inspectah Deck were skilled at creating
complex and tight rhymes, while
Ghostface and Raekwon spoke to the
street crowd, the young men and women
who understood street life, the struggle
amidst gangs and drugs and trying to
make it out alive.

17. Their music spoke to a broad
audience, not just a narrow
niche. Typically, that could
be detrimental to an up-and-
coming artist, but with nine
members, it was brilliant.

18. It was Method Man,
though, who was going to
be the key player over
the years, the star the
world focused on.

19. Their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36
Chambers) broke all the rules. Each song
was crafted and fronted by a different
member of the group. Each one had a
different structure; some broke the rules
completely, with no chorus or hook, while
others rapped and rhymed off-beat.

20. For what was being done at the time, it
was unheard of and it revolutionized the
way hip hop and rap artists would create
for the next generations.
Over the next four years, the members
would each have their solo albums
released. Traditionally speaking, some
competed directly with one another, but
that was never how it felt.

21. It merely solidified the sound of Wu-Tang
Clan, building its presence even more
through the independent efforts of its
members. Raekwon’s solo record was
molded upon a mafia theme and it
heralded in a new age of rap that would
trigger competition between both the East
and West coasts: gangsta rap.

22. The
Clothing Line

24. Building a personal brand isn’t merely
about coming up with a creative logo and
slapping it on the side of some products.
If that were the case, there’d be
thousands of recognizable brands in
almost every industry.

25. It’s about presence, uniqueness, and most
importantly offering your target market
value. When Wu-Tang was at its peak in the
mid-1990s, there were bootleg Wu-Tang
Clan tee-shirts being sold and they decided
to launch Wu Wear, not necessarily to build
on their empire, but rather to give fans a
legitimate option.

26. That’s what it means to build a personal
brand. It’s about keeping your fingers on
the pulse of your audience and stepping
up to fill a need if and when you’re able.
It’s also about creating real value for
them.

28. Urban hip hop at the time Wu-Tang
released their debut album was still
predominantly underground, being
enjoyed on independent radio and in city
clubs. The Wu-Tang Clan reshaped the
future of the industry and brought this
style blaringly into the mainstream. Crude,
vulgar, harsh, they weren’t concerned with
etiquette or what was ‘socially
acceptable.’

30. They focused on being true to
themselves, their upbringing, and their
experiences. The group as a whole may
not have been tuned into brand building
per se, but RZA certainly was and it was
his ability to envision a future with Wu-
Tang Clan as a formidable presence, it
was his determination to hold out for a
contract that would work for their goals
that made a difference.

32. From there, the brand grew, not just
because they tapped into a broad
audience and shifted the industry into the
mainstream, but because they worked
hard, played the underground venues, and
diversified when they could.

33. 25 YEARS
LATER

35. It’s unclear how much impact the Wu-Tang
Clan would have if they started out today
in the digital age, but in 1993, when
consumers were still forced to purchase
the entire album of the artist they loved,
their unique and chameleonic sounds from
song to song captured a growing
audience.

36. Their ability to stay relevant and
constantly in the forefront of the hip hop
scene with solo efforts for years
hammered home their mark on the
industry. Today, bad blood, a changing
landscape for hip hop, and many other
factors have impacted sales, but their
brand is still iconic.

37. If you want to build a brand, develop a
plan, research it, and hold fast to your
principles. Always keep your target
audience in your sights and deliver the
value they deserve. Find a way to
separate yourself from the pack, be
responsive, and make sure people keep
hearing about and from you.

39. No matter your platform -digital or
traditional- brand building is about
planning, confidence, and persistence.
The Wu-Tang Clan shows us that still … 25
years later.

41. BREAKING THROUGH THE NOISE!