Wu- tang clan wu- tang forever Continue This article is about wu-Tang Clan. For other purposes, see Wu-Tang Forever. 1997 studio album Wu-Tang ClanWu-Tang ForeverStudio album Wu-Tang ClanReleasedJune 3, 1997Re96-1997GenreHardor hip-hopLengt444:58 (Disc 1)67:08 (Disc 2- USA)77:77:77:77:77753 (Disc 2- International)LabelLoudRCAProducerR'A4th DiscipleTrue MasterInspectah DeckWu-Tang Clan Chronology Enter Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) Wu-Tang Forever (1997) W (2000) Singles from Wu-Forever Tang Forever Released: 11 February, February 11, 1997 It's Yourz Released: September 23, 1997 Reunited: November 24, 1997 Wu-Tang Forever was the second studio album by American hip-hop band Wu-Tang Clan, released on June 3, 1997, on Loud/RCA Records in the United States. Pushed as a double album, it was released after a long run of successful solo projects from various band members, and serves as a sequel to their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Forever has several guest appearances from the Wu-Tang branches of Cappadoxna, Streetlife, 4th Apprentice, True Master, and Tekitha. The original launch of the CDs featured an Advanced CD that allowed users to walk around Wu Mansion and access additional content. Despite limited radio/TV airing, and lead single that famously clocked nearly six minutes without a chorus, Wu-Tang Forever debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 612,000 copies sold in its first week. The album was certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association (RIAA) on October 15, 1997 and sold more than 2 million copies in the United States. As a dual drive release it earns a selling point on a sold disc. It is the band's second-selling album to date. After its release, Wu-Tang Forever received positive reviews from most music critics, and received a Grammy Nomination for Best Rap Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. Music and lyrics produced While the band's previous album is known for its minimalist production style, the producer of the RZA has since expanded the musical background of each Wu-Tang solo album. Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in particular, was praised for its cinematic appearance. The RSA has won awards for its new dense production style, which includes strings, heavy synthesizers and samples of old kung fu. The production of the plate has also become a pioneer in the technique of the RSA in grinding and accelerating the samples of the soul, so that it became unusually high; this production style later became influential on producers such as Just Blaze and Kanye West. Wu-Tang Forever was the band's first album in which the RSA appropriated a portion of Wu-Tang's album production to True Master and 4th Apprentice, as well as a member of Wu-Tang Inspectah Deck. The lyrical themes of the Lyrics differed in many ways from the 36 chambers, with many written in the style of the stream of consciousness, while influenced by the teachings of the five percent nation. The group showed a mature depth, talking about the pitfalls of the vices of life (Better Tomorrow) and the harsh realities of central urban life. Impossible, for example, touches on the less glamorous realities of the same violence that the band often marched. The clan took advantage of the double disc format, which allowed each of the nine participants to perform a significant number of performances, including four solo tracks. Some of them were recognized as particularly strong performances. The Inspectah deck has raised its stock in the public eye with a hip-hop source quota for his performance at Triumph. This verse is considered one of the greatest in hip-hop. Despite being one of the last members to release a solo album, Dec's contribution to Wu-Tang Forever led to him becoming a sought-after collaborator of other artists; he appeared on subsequent tracks with Gang Starr, Pete Rock and Big Pun, among others. Ghostface Killah continued its rise to fame with a verse in The Impossible, which the R.I.P. called the greatest Wu-Tang verse ever written. It has also been featured in The Source's hip-hop zuotable. Cash Still Rules/Scary Hours was also noted as one of Ghostface's most memorable poems on the album, notable for the way the verse cuts off, first popularizing the feeling that it can go on forever. Ghostface Killah will follow his work on Forever with the Supreme Clientele, which is usually regarded as a classic. The sum of our parts is worth organizing, Method Man said. - It's like Power Rangers, where they get together to form this megazord shit. Their guys are deadly, but when they get together, it's even more incredible. This album will destroy all the hip hop records made over the last ten years. Critical Reception Professional RatingsReview ScoresSourceRatingAllMusic 9 Chicago Tribune10Entertainment Weekly11The Guardian12Los Angeles Times13'NME8/1014Rolling Stone 15 The Rolling Stone Album Guide 16Spin7/1017USA Today Wu-Tang Forever received positive reviews praised the production work of the RSA and the lyrics of the group members. Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly commented: Forever continues the artistic Grand Slam tournament. Like their ancestors in Public Enemy, Wu-Tang are musical revolutionaries without being afraid to bring noise along with their barrel funk. The RSA allows a few outside manufacturers to board this time, but it's its gritty designs and numbness bumps that get the batch moving. Sasha Frere-Jones of Spin called his album for hip-hop junkies, followers of the rhyme who want to hear their favorite swallow swords throw extraordinarily good styles over extraordinarily good beats. Comparison of some album with with from Wu-Tang member to GHA's Liquid Swords (also produced by the RSA), Neil Strauss of The New York Times wrote an auspicious review of the album and stated: Wu-Tang Forever is a smooth, clean set of 25 songs and two speeches, only a few disposable on the second CD. Wu-Tang Clan offers something for every kind of rap fan. More importantly, after a four-year wait, the Wu-Tang Forever clan retains its mantle as standard rap wearers. Melody Maker also gave Wu-Tang Forever a favorable review, stating: It had to be so big. It shouldn't have been so good... Every track detonates every pop rule you thought is sacred... Forever is one of the greatest hip hop LPs of all time. Stephen Thomas Erlevin of AllMusic stated: Where contemporaries such as 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. have released double discs cluttering with filler, Wu-Tang Forever is purposeful and surprisingly thin, illustrating the immense depth of the producer of the R.A.O.O. and the entire nine-team team... The result is an intoxicating display of musical and lyrical virtuosity that shows how devoid of imagination of Wu-Tang's contemporaries. Stephen Thomas Erlevin, describing the album's lyrics as obsessively descriptive stories about ghetto crooks and victims, Nathan Brackett of Rolling Stone said: The whole Wu-Tang Forever bursts with electricity at midnight, which more than justifies two disk indulgences, while the back and forth wordfire Method Man, Raekwon, Ghost Killah, etc. confirms the clan in a special way. like storytellers. Heo Hodari Coker of the Los Angeles Times commented, The clan's strikes push the line between advanced hip-hop and industrial feedback, with jugular-squeezing rhymes, following its melodic diktat and insular messages, running along a gamut from the ancient maxims of war art to spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the Islamic five percent nation. Steve Jones of USA Today wrote: The most anticipated hip-hop album is cracking with unique nooks and crannies of the nine-person clan. On this two-disc, 112-minute set is, on the whole, certainly more than the sum of its parts. The RSA avoids overproduction by using rhythms to promote lyrics, and keeps the music free from the cliches of the RCB loop. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a two-star honorary mention rating and called the Wu-Tang clan five percent of the nation's Oscar aspirations. In 2018, the BBC included him in the list of known albums that no one else listens to. Accolades Wu-Tang Forever were recognized as some of the best albums of the year according to several well-known publications, such as Spin, The Village Voice, NME and Melody Maker. Popular Belgian magazine HUMO and popular German magazine Spex put it in sixth place album lists of the year. In 1999, Ego Trip placed Wu-Tang Forever at number three on the list of the 25 greatest hip-hop albums on the list of 1980-1998. In the March 2005 issue, Hip Hop Connection ranked 57th on the list of the 100 greatest rap albums of 1995-2005. In addition, in 2005, Blow Up magazine from Italy included Wu-Tang Forever in the 600 Essential Albums list. A commercial performance despite limited radio/television, and the lead single that famously clocked on nearly six minutes without a chorus, Wu-Tang Forever debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 612,000 copies sold in its first week. The album was certified 4× platinum by the American Recording Industry Association (RIAA) on October 15, 1997 (each disc in the double album is counted as a separate unit for certification purposes) and has sold more than 2 million copies in the United States. It is the band's best-selling album to date.