Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

#1 – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) : Wu-Tang Clan

I wanted to branch out in 2026 and try listening to artists and albums that I’ve never heard before. I reached out to my friends on Facebook to feed me some albums and this was the Wu-Tang Clan was the first one that was suggested to me, by Hugh Fraser.  I loaded all the albums onto a virtual wheel that I can spin to get a random album each week and lo and behold, the first spin gave me the first suggestions. 

First of all, thanks Hugh – you understood the brief! I know there are plenty of albums in the list that are going to be very safe, familiar ground. I know rock music and I know indie pop, folk, etc. so I was hoping I’d get albums like this that would push me out of my comfort zone. Wu-Tang Clan is definitely outside my comfort zone as I don’t listen to rap or hip-hop. I don’t think there’s any active aversion to it, I’ve just never been introduced to an artist or album that has really grabbed my attention. 

That’s a good place to start with this review; there’s a fairly sizeable cultural gap between me and the members of this collective. Lyrically, there’s a huge disconnect between a kid who grew up in a working class town in the Northwest of England and the rap scene in New York city. I have to say that there’s definitely a case of diminishing returns when it comes to the lyrical themes on the album. That emphasis on bragging about how good you are at rapping or how tough you are just don’t really interest me that much. Likewise, references to drug and gun culture just feel really trite and predictable even though I know that this is part of their lived experience so it’s entirely valid for them to be writing about it. Yet, when they venture into more thoughtful subjects like record industry treatment of hip hop artists, or the cautionary tale in the penultimate track, Tearz, you see that there’s definitely the potential for real depth there too. 

Lyrics aside, the way they deploy language is definitely engaging. I find it fascinating how they construct the phrases and sections. The syllabic meter and count fluctuates drastically between the different members and internally within a passage, with the rhyme schemes similarly ebbing and flowing and call and response vocals coming in and out to punctuate or highlight different ideas or points. I know that a lot of traditional rock fans criticize rap en masse for being “just talking” but man, to put together some of the run-on sentences, some of the specific word choices, and where they accentuate, or spell out words really is cool and impressive. There is also a very distinct blend of vocal styles and tones that trade off and complement each other to good effect. I’m not sure which member of the collective it is, but one of them has a very theatrical delivery and almost talk-sings at times. This breaks up the more straight ahead rapping of the rest of the group for me and it’s a welcome detour when this guy shows up! I don’t love all the dialogue and again, when it turns self-congratulatory or overly violent, it just bores me, but I get that this  is also part of the culture of this genre of music.

Musically, I have to say that I like pretty much all of this record. There’s a relentless repetitiveness and consistency through the album that makes it feel really cohesive. The drums sound absolutely fantastic and I wonder if they were influenced by Cypress Hill in that regard. Their album, Black Sunday, is the only hip hop record I’ve ever really listened to. The drums on that album and this one both have that heavy reverb and slightly lazy tempo to them that I really like and they sound rich and full and musical, rather than super electronic and programmed. You can imagine someone actually playing these parts and then looping them, which I doubt is the case, but it gives the beats a more human feel. There’s a lot more piano on this album than I was expecting too and when you add in the soundbites from the movies that I understand influenced the name Wu-Tang Clan, you have what almost feels like a concept album and a statement of intent as much as a commercially-focused set of songs. 

All in all, I enjoyed listening to this album. I didn’t find myself tempted to skip any songs. It’s maybe a couple of tracks too long, with tracks like “Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber” and “Can It Be All So Simple/Intermission” feeling like album filler. 

For these 52 albums, I figured I’d end with three evaluation criteria. First of all, a rating between one and five, which will be based on the following scale:

1 – I didn’t enjoy it at all and won’t listen again.
2 – I didn’t hate it but it’s not my thing and I won’t listen again.
3 – OK. I probably wouldn’t turn it off but might not actively seek it out.
4 – I enjoyed it and would listen to it again
5 – I really enjoyed it and will probably check out more by this artist.

The second criterion is, “Will I buy this on vinyl?”

The last criterion is, “what is my favourite song on the album”. In this case, it was a close race between “Shame on a Nigga”, “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit”, and “Tearz”, but I had to give it to the second of those three tracks; it’s just a fun song and one that feels more playful and less self-serious. 

36 Chambers by Wu-Tang Clan is a 3/5 for me. I may try another, later, album to see what sort of musical or lyrical development they went through, but I don’t know that they’ll ever be a go-to for me and I won’t be picking this up on vinyl.

If you want to listen to the album, you can find it here (I didn’t listen to the extended edition tracks; just the twelve tracks from the original release)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lI803fQndcUvj0u0MGTuACIVpA7L4OTAU