The founders of the Wu-Tang Clan were RZA, GZA, and Ol' Dirty Bastard, who had previously formed the group Force of the Imperial Master (later known as All In Together Now after the release of a popular single by that name). The group attracted the attention of some notable figures in the industry, including Biz Markie, but did not manage to secure a record deal. After the crew dissolved, GZA and RZA (then known as Prince Rakeem) embarked on their solo careers with Cold Chillin' Records and Tommy Boy Records respectively, but to little success. Their frustration with the workings of the hip hop music industry would provide the main inspiration to Wu-Tang Clan's revolutionary business plan. According to The Wu-Tang Manual, at the group's inception, RZA promised the members that if he had total control of the Wu-Tang empire, it would conquer the hip hop world within a dynastic cycle, after which he would relinquish his total control.
Wu-Tang Clan was gradually assembled in late 1992 from friends and accomplices from around Staten Island, New York, with RZA as the de-facto leader and the group's main producer. Two of the cousins, GZA (pronounced Jizza) and RZA (pronounced Rizza), created their new Wu-Tang aliases by mimicking the sound that the words "genius" and "razor" would make when scratched on a turntable.
"Wu-Tang" comes from the name of the Taoist holy mountain Wu Dang in northwest Hubei Province in central China; it was also the site of the Ming Dynasty Purple Imperial City built during the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century. RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard adopted the name for the group after seeing the kung fu film Shaolin and Wu Tang, which features a school of warriors trained in Wu-Tang style. The group's debut album loosely adopted a Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang theme, dividing the album into Shaolin and Wu-Tang sections and using dialogue excerpts as skits.
The group have also developed various backronyms for the name (as hip hop pioneers like KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane did with their names), including "We Usually Take All the Niggas' Garments," "Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game" and "Wisdom, Universe, Truth, Allah, Nation, and God".
Method Man has also mentioned that the "Wu" is the sound a sword makes when cutting through the air, and "Tang" is the sound it makes against a shield.
The Clan first became known to hip hop fans, and to major record labels, in 1993 (see 1993 in music) following the release of the independent single "Protect Ya Neck", which immediately gave the group a sizeable underground following. Though there was some difficulty in finding a record label that would sign Wu-Tang Clan while still allowing each member to record solo albums with other labels, Loud/RCA finally agreed, releasing their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), in late 1993. This album was popular and critically-acclaimed, though it took some time to gain momentum. Though hip hop had long had a gritty texture, the surreal aggression and minimalist production of 36 Chambers nevertheless had a huge impact on the genre, and was to prove massively influential over the next decade. By the beginning of the 21st century, the album had become a regular fixture on "Best Albums of the 90s" lists as well as a frequent choice for "Best Albums of All Time" lists. The success of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) established the group as a creative and influential force in early 1990s hip hop, allowing GZA, RZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa to negotiate solo contracts.
www.wutang-corp.com
The MGM
Wu-Tang Clan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sike! Six niggas walked in flashing they gems peace
Aight! One dark skinned nigga fifty-six inch rope
Wrapped around twice
Smash the Gilligan boat with ice
They threw sign language
Ordered hot coffee
Wit a danish
Had Lizzy on, two Japanese birds with furs look good kid
Laid back handlin hors d'ourves
It's like round three
We too black for BET
You memorize the 1 to 40
I'm at the 19th degree
If a civilized person doesn't perform, his duty
What shall be done?
Pardon me God, that nigga gotta gun
Bulgin' out his sweatpants, check out his stance
See the side of his grill?
Look like my cousin Lance
Left hand rock a Guess watch
Yo I think I did his Clarks he wore the crush bone leather
With the strings dark
Now I remember
He from Bear Mountain
He and Mitch Greene shot the fair one
Near the water fountain
Seventh round, Chavez bleedin' from his right ear
Yo keep ya eye on that same nigga from right here
Popcorn spilling all on Liz Claiborne
Ghost had the fly Gucci mocks wit no socks on
Seen Deion Sanders in the back with the fat fur on
Workin dem hoes with the fly Wu shirts on
Mixed drink session Dunn
Pour me some more
Chef leathered down blinking at Chante Moore
Tenth round Chavez tearin em down
Sweet Pea get ya shit off
It's like blacks against the Germans
Gettin' hit off
Smooth and them walked in
Brownsville representin'
They sent a bottle over, autograph blessin'
Chef pull out the doodle twist the dank pink noodles
Yo I'm bout to roll one
Matter fact twist two of those
Yo they wound up stoppin' the fight
Steels took a point away from Chavez
Rematch scheduled on October Ninth
Rematch scheduled on October Ninth
The lyrics to "The M.G.M." by Wu-Tang Clan portray an experience at the luxurious MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The song begins with the singer referencing cocaine before quickly retracting the statement, instead introducing six flashy individuals entering the establishment. One of the individuals is described as having a 56-inch gold rope chain around his neck and after ordering coffee, the group reveals themselves to be rap entertainers. The singer then describes the scene, mentioning Lizzy, two Japanese women in fur, and hors d'ourves. The rapper presents himself as someone well-versed in knowledge by mentioning the 19th degree, while the other is memorizing the 1 to 40 - something to think about. The third verse is dedicated to describing a man with a gun and the singer questioning if he is a cousin, describing the situation in detail. The fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker (Sweet Pea) is also talked about in the song, with the singer urging listeners to keep an eye on the same guy he mentioned earlier. The song ends with drinks being poured and Wu-Tang Clan smoking weed.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo, up in the M.G.M. coked up
We were high on cocaine when we went inside the MGM Grand
Sike! Six niggas walked in flashing they gems peace
Just kidding, six of us walked in showing off our expensive jewelry
Aight! One dark skinned nigga fifty-six inch rope
Okay! One of us, a dark-skinned man, had a large 56-inch necklace
Wrapped around twice
Smash the Gilligan boat with ice
It was wrapped around his neck twice and he smashed a boat-shaped piece of ice
They threw sign language
Ordered hot coffee
Wit a danish
They communicated silently through sign language and ordered coffee with a danish
Relax, whispered, "They rap entertainers"
We stayed calm and whispered to each other that we were rap entertainers
Had Lizzy on, two Japanese birds with furs look good kid
Laid back handlin hors d'ourves
We were wearing expensive Liz Claiborne clothes and there were two attractive Japanese women wearing fur coats serving us hors d'oeuvres
It's like round three
We too black for BET
It felt like we were in the third round of a boxing match, and we felt that we were too dark-skinned to be accepted by Black Entertainment Television (BET)
You memorize the 1 to 40
I'm at the 19th degree
You only know the basics, but I am much more knowledgeable about our culture
If a civilized person doesn't perform, his duty
What shall be done?
If someone who is considered civilized fails to perform their responsibilities, what should be done about it?
Pardon me God, that nigga gotta gun
Bulgin' out his sweatpants, check out his stance
See the side of his grill?
Look like my cousin Lance
Oh my god, that guy has a gun! It's bulging out of his sweatpants and his stance is aggressive. He even looks like my cousin Lance from the side
Left hand rock a Guess watch
Yo I think I did his Clarks he wore the crush bone leather
With the strings dark
Now I remember
He from Bear Mountain
He and Mitch Greene shot the fair one
Near the water fountain
He was wearing a Guess watch on his left wrist, and I think I sold him the Clarks shoes he was wearing made of crushed bone leather with dark laces. I now remember that he's from Bear Mountain and he fought Mitch Greene near the water fountain
Seventh round, Chavez bleedin' from his right ear
Yo keep ya eye on that same nigga from right here
Popcorn spilling all on Liz Claiborne
Ghost had the fly Gucci mocks wit no socks on
Seen Deion Sanders in the back with the fat fur on
Workin dem hoes with the fly Wu shirts on
In the seventh round of the boxing match, Chavez was bleeding from his right ear, and we kept an eye on the same guy from earlier. There was popcorn spilling on expensive Liz Claiborne clothing. One of us, Ghost, was wearing cool Gucci shoes without socks. We also saw Deion Sanders in the back wearing a large fur coat and talking to women wearing our Wu-Tang Clan shirts
Mixed drink session Dunn
Pour me some more
Chef leathered down blinking at Chante Moore
We were having a mixed drink party and someone named Dunn was there. We asked for more drinks while our friend Chef was wearing a lot of leather and flirting with Chante Moore
Tenth round Chavez tearin em down
Sweet Pea get ya shit off
It's like blacks against the Germans
Gettin' hit off
In the tenth round of the boxing match, Chavez was really giving it to his opponent. We encourage Sweet Pea to fight well even though it feels like black people are fighting against white people and losing
Smooth and them walked in
Brownsville representin'
They sent a bottle over, autograph blessin'
Our friends Smooth and others from Brownsville arrived and gave us a bottle of alcohol as a gift, which we autographed and returned to them as a blessing
Chef pull out the doodle twist the dank pink noodles
Yo I'm bout to roll one
Matter fact twist two of those
Chef rolled a joint filled with strong pink marijuana while we watched, and we plan to smoke not one, but two of them
Yo they wound up stoppin' the fight
Steels took a point away from Chavez
Rematch scheduled on October Ninth
Rematch scheduled on October Ninth
The boxing match ended up being stopped, and Chavez lost a point because of a foul. They scheduled a rematch for October ninth
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: COREY WOODS, DENNIS DAVID COLES, DERRICK R. L. HARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
G
Ghost and Rae combo unstoppable
Cut killer Show
Yeah Awesome combo
Jumah Brady
Facts 💯
Joel Shalom
Dead ass ✊🏿
Ravi Joshi
Obviously the Wu put this joint back up to sh@t on the new age mumble-rappers.
Fair play to them 🙏
Wu Tang forever 👐
Coco Chanelly
😮This takes me back in the day, driving around in my car w/ friends late at night! ❤
Cintia Amor
Mierda que bien se sigue escuchando esto . Es brutal 2023
tantabi
wish this track went longer and featured the other members too
DevanteTheDCGuyReloaded
Method man would be nice on this track
Smarter Gang NYC
THE DYNAMIC DUO!!!!