The 500 - #387 - Enter The Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 387

Album Title: Enter The Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers)
Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
Genre: Hardcore Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop
Recorded: Firehouse Studios, New York City
Released: November, 1993
My age at release: 28
How familiar was I with it before this week: A little
Song I am putting on my Spotify: Protect Ya Neck

Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) is the debut record by Wu-Tang Clan. The nine-member, Staten Island Hip Hop group is regarded by some music critics to be one of the most influential forces in the development of the hardcore style from the east coast. Hardcore Hip Hop is most easily defined as an aggressive form of the genre, featuring lyrics that include detailed observations of urban street life within the inner-city.

Each member of the band adopted stage names. They are are, RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa. This link provides a comprehensive breakdown of each member's birth name and aliases and this article provides additional information about each nickname.

To get your own Wu-Tang moniker, check the Wu-Tang Clan name generator. My Wu-name is Monkey Oblong. I am tickled by the fact that multi-talented entertainer Donald Glover used that website in 2008 to create his successful hip hop persona, Childish Gambino. Gambino's 2016 record Awaken My Love, which fused psychedelic soul and funk influences is a favourite of mine. But I digress...

Childish Gambino - aka Donald Glover in concert (2017)

1992 to 2001 was a productive time for Wu-Tang Clan. This period, featuring the original line-up (named above), released three platinum-selling records and numerous solo projects, including Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Linx, which appeared at #480 on The 500 list. I wrote about it in May, 2009. 

That blog entry foreshadowed a story that I wanted to share in this post...

In March, 1996, I began my second placement as a student teacher in a Grade 7 class at F.D. Roosevelt Public School in London, Ontario. (That's right -- help end a war and get a school named after you in another country).

F.D. Roosevelt Public School (London, Ontario)

Unfortunately, my pairing with a teacher who was supposed to be my mentor for five weeks was not fortuitous. In fact, after two weeks, I considered seeking reassignment elsewhere. After all, my future career was in the hands of someone who was decidedly negative -- offering deprecation rather than support.

Mid-placement, I considered contacting the university to be reassigned -- but this would have become ugly and my graduation would certainly have been delayed.  Instead, I sought the advice of my previous mentor, a Grade 4/5 teacher with whose class I had spent the past November and December.  

She encouraged me to persist and document every encounter to protect myself in the event of a failing evaluation. 

The Grade 7 class at F.D. Roosevelt was large and many of the students presented challenges for a new educator. However, we slowly started to connect over those five weeks as winter became spring. 

More than half were obsessed with Wu-Tang Clan. Their preoccupation was impossible to ignore; they recited the lyrics at recess and doodled the logo on everything from notebooks to desktops to worksheets.

Adhering to the concept of "siding with the majority", I set about learning as much as I could about the band. I'd be "the cool teacher" who was "in the know". However, dispensing my new, hip knowledge landed like wet-noodles splashing on a floor -- Chinese noodles I suppose, given the inspiration for the band's name -- a 1983 martial arts film Shaolin and Wu-Tang.

Theatrical Poster for Shaolin and Wu-Tang (1983)

Eventually, I won many students over when I incorporated the Wu Tang logo into a lesson on basic Euclidean geometry. They were delighted to translate, rotate and reflect the asymmetrical image across an X and Y axis.

The Wu-Tang Logo translated on a Cartesian Plane         

Two months later, I was hired by the same school board, having learned that tapping into student interests is a powerful way to connect with them as learners.

This week, I listened to Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) many times and, although it is not my usual fare, it grew on me. I suppose, more importantly, the band and this record will forever be connected in my mind to those five challenging weeks in the late winter months of 1996. A time when I learned the importance of documenting everything. Or, in the immortal words from Wu-Tang Clan's first single -- Protect Ya Neck.