Tonight’s episode of @WuTangOnHulu is called “Criminology” wrote by me & directed by Matthew Ross (@lolafilm). It’s an “allegorical movie” episode inspired by Rae’s classic solo album, “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” aka The Purple Tape featuring Lex Diamond and Tony Starks.
Rae & Ghost went to Barbados, but they weren’t feeling the vibe, noting the black workers at the resort were treated poorly. So they bounced to Miami where they wrote a majority of the tracks before returning to NYC to record the classic gangster/mafioso inspired album.
If it feels confusing or clunky when you’re dropped into Lex’s world, missing a little backstory & details, that could be because the first 10 pages (helping to set the stage) were cut from the episode.
Rae wanted everyone to come with aliases for his album. Rae became Lex Diamond. Ghost = Tony Starks, Rza = Bobby Steels, GZA = Maximillian, Deck = Rolling Fingers, U-God = Lucky Hands, Masta Killa = Noodles, and Meth = Johnny Blaze (not able to dance with us for this episode).
Shout out to @FreddyRdriguez for doing his thing and rocking with us. He plays Detective Greco. Fans might recognize the name Greco from a skit off before “Killah Hills 10304” off Gza’s Liquid Swords album.
Lex and Tony go to each borough to check with the “bosses” running those neighborhoods.
Escobar from Queens. L Corleone from Harlem. Don Cartagena from the Bronx. Frank White from Brooklyn. I don’t need to tell you who these bosses are…
When Lex & Tony sit down with Frank at Blanco’s, Tony thinks that he’s biting off Escobar’s club. On “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” Ghost called out “people” biting Nas’ album cover. Any misunderstandings were squashed before Big’s death though.
“I’ll fuckin’ hang you by your fuckin’ dick off the twelfth story building out this motherfucker…” #WuTangOnHulu
Shout out to former Wu-Tang writer @TheRodneyBarnes
Sorry I had to do you like that, Rodney. Make sure you check out Winning Time on HBO and Rodney’s comics and all of his other projects. The man is prolific!
Cappaccino aka Cappadonna comes in (out of nowhere) for the save. He made his first debut with the Clan on Rae’s album on “Ice Cream” and made an immediate impact. The trio of Rae, Ghost and Cap would come together again to kill it on Ghost’s debut the following year.
“Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” dropped in August of 1995, the first 10,000 cassette tapes were a transparent purple. Rae wanted his tape to be recognizable in the street. Those original 10k Purple Tapes are collector’s items. It’s still arguably one of the best hip-hop albums ever.
“I got a crazy idea how to do Clarks now…” Ghost starts to explain his custom dyed Wallabees on the intro to “Glaciers of Ice” one of my favorite skits on any Wu album. Too many easter eggs and references to mention. But real hip-hop heads will catch all of ‘em. #WuTangOnHulu
Brought it back like... bong!
High praise from The Abbot. 🥹
You can watch the full Q&A Panel hosted by @RealSway at 92ny.org
#WuTangOnHulu
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