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Trending on Billboard In addition to being likely to receive nominations on Friday Nov. 7, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Brandi Carlile, Doechii and more are set to announce the nominations on a livestream that begins at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET. Carpenter, who won two Grammys on the telecast in February, could be nominated for […]
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Travis Scott‘s recent co-sign of Tame Impala‘s Deadbeat, its first album in five years, marks the right time to reexamine the Kevin Parker’s psychedelic outfit’s long-standing relationship with rap.
Scott described Deadbeat as “the best album to come out in the last 2 years” on his Instagram Story shortly after its release on Oct. 17; it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 this week (chart dated Nov. 1), marking Tame Impala’s third top five (and top 10) LP. Deadbeat also topped six Billboard charts, including Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Top Dance Albums (the act’s first entry on the latter list). Tame Impala produced The Weeknd-assisted “Skeletons” on Scott’s 2018 album Astroworld, and wrote on Instagram that he was “very proud to be on this one.”
“Tame came by the studio and he played this beat. I’ve always had this hook stuck in my f–king head. I’ve been having it stuck in my head for months and s–t. I’ve never heard a beat to ever put it on,” the Houston rapper told the crowd during Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in 2018. “And when I first heard this f–king beat, I always felt like this was the f–king song. This is one of my favorite songs on the album.” Tame Impala, John Mayer and “Skeletons” co-writer Mike Dean also performed the song and “Astrothunder” on Saturday Night Live that year.
Parker further broke down the recording process of “Skeletons” to Billboard in his 2018 cover story. “I remember going through this stuff to play to Travis, and just thought, ‘Oh, this is actually really up his alley.’ I know Travis likes his psych-rock. He likes his crusty metal guitar sound. I was struck by how much I thought it would fit Travis’ thing even though it’s not hip-hop-sounding,” said Parker, adding that “Skeletons” is “the most artistically satisfying” collaboration he’s done “because it was over a long period of time and had a lot of sessions to it. And it was fulfilling to watch.”
The Australian multi-hyphenate shares co-writing credits on “Skeletons” with Ye, for whom Parker co-wrote “Violent Crimes” on the rapper’s 2018 self-titled album. He said in his Billboard cover that designer and creative director Willo Perron introduced the two after telling Parker that Ye “wanted some psychedelic guitars…. So he took me out to [West’s] studio one day, and we just chatted for a bit, and it kind of went from there,” Parker recalled. “I was completely starstruck, obviously. I was numb with excitement…. I feel like I was so privileged to be in the room. He wasn’t totally head-in-the-clouds. He seemed really switched-on and lucid. Even though you can see him [being] all over the place, musically I always knew I was in safe hands.”
His writing credit on “Violent Crimes” (No. 27, 2018) — as well as Kid Cudi’s “Dive” (No. 80, 2020) and Don Toliver‘s “Bandit” (No. 38, 2024), both of which sample Tame Impala songs (broken down below) — and production credits on “Skeletons” (No. 47, 2018) and The Weeknd’s “Repeat After Me (Interlude)” (No. 69, 2020) from his 2020 blockbuster album After Hours have brought Tame Impala to the Hot 100 over the years. But “Dracula,” the spooky single from Deadbeat, marks Tame Impala’s first Hot 100 entry as an artist, reaching No. 33 on the chart this week. “My Old Ways” and “Loser” also debuted on the all-genre songs tally this week, at No. 56 and No. 91, respectively.
Parker was also surprised to hear Rihanna‘s cover of “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” (dubbed “Same Ol’ Mistakes”) on her 2016 magnum opus Anti, after he said in his Billboard cover story that the band thought she was going to sample or remix the cut from its 2015 critically acclaimed album Currents — not cover it. “It was only when the song came out that I was like, ‘It sounds like a cover,’” he said at the time. “I thought, ‘That’s cool, I guess that means she thought it didn’t need changing in any way.”
“I would’ve been like, ‘I couldn’t imagine doing hip-hop,’ just because I didn’t come from that world. I never really looked at it as something I could do,” he told Billboard in his cover story. “Even on the things I’ve collaborated with, they’ve still got me star-crossed.”
Billboard rounded up 13 rap songs that have sampled or interpolated Tame Impala, in order of newest to oldest.
Don Toliver, “Bandit” (2024)
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It may have been a random Tuesday in Nashville on Oct. 28, but current CMA new artist of the year nominee Tucker Wetmore was welcoming a packed house of fans to “Tuck’s Tasty Tavern” pop-up show experience at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, supported by NÜTRL VodkaSeltzer.
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“We are going to have the best night of our lives,” Wetmore said, leading the packed-to-the-walls crowd through songs including “Wind Up Missin’ You,” “Silverado Blue” and his breakthrough song “Wine Into Whiskey.”
In between songs, he took swigs of NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer (watermelon is one of Wetmore’s preferred NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer flavors, he noted to Billboard prior to the show).
“Y’all know how to have a good time,” Wetmore told the crowd, blending music with plenty of light-hearted crowd banter, as the audience sang along fervently to his songs.
Undoubtedly, one of the evening’s premier moments was when he commandeered the stage while seated at a keyboard. When a fan shouted out a request for Wetmore to play Beethoven, he leading fans through a medley of classical, rockabilly and pop, including Beethoven, followed by the Jerry Lee Lewis classic “Great Balls of Fire” and the Commodores’ “Easy.”
Taking up the mic again, Wetmore tore through his own top 15 Billboard Country Airplay hit “3, 2, 1” before breaking from the main stage to head into the middle of the crowd and then return to his keyboard, for his own “What Would You Do,” and covers of The Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” and Hank Williams, Jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.” He wrapped the evening with the title inspiration for his upcoming The Brunette World Tour, the fan-favorite song, “Brunette.”
Joking that his excursion into the crowd came at a bit of a cost, he recalled his days as a high school and college athlete, saying, “I’ve blown out my knee too many times to be doing that s–t, but I’m fired up.”
He ended the show by throwing out limited-edition shirts to fans, then holding up his can of NÜTRL, encouraging the crowd to do the same, and declaring, “Here’s to Broadway on a Tuesday.”
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.
Tucker Westmore performs at Tootsie’s in Nashville on October 28, 2025.
Chase Foster
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When you think of Sid Wilson, it’s likely you’ll think of the unsettling gas masks he sports on stage as Slipknot‘s DJ. You’ll likely think of Wilson’s disorienting scratch and drum effects, or of his signature mullet and tattoos. You likely won’t think of the Geto Boys and Bushwick Bill.
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It’s admittedly hard to picture at first. When Billboard chats with Wilson via Zoom, he sits in his studio wearing a leopard print jacket, a chain-linked necklace and dark-tinted sunglasses in what is essentially the signature starter kit for any successful metal star. He is holding a large Chucky doll with ski goggles placed around its head. It is almost Halloween after all, but Wilson says he brought it to our interview in the spirit of Bushwick Bill — the Geto Boys rapper who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2019.
“I’m gonna put him back here so he can keep an eye on things,” Wilson says before placing Chucky on his keyboard. “He’s here for quality assurance.”
Wilson started his record label Vomit Face earlier this year, and announced the first big release would be a debut album by Lil Bushwick, who is late rappers son. The album drops on Oct. 31, but a closer look at Vomit Face’s roster shows that it’s actually all rappers at this moment. Wilson notes that this was a very intentional decision, but that the most important thing is that each artist here learns how to become multifaceted.
“We don’t gatekeep here,” Wilson says. “I want you to know the secrets behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz. Like, when you go to film school, they make you take a class that’s called “respect for acting.” A lot of people don’t wanna take that class cause they wanna be a director! But when they take that class, they understand what’s it like to be in the actor’s shoes when a director is pushing the artist to do the things they need to do… That’s the thing about teaching the secrets of the industry. This way we can work together and be a family.”
Below, Sid Wilson talks about what it’s like being a label head, his relationship with Bushwick Bill, and why he prioritized hip-hop for his new label venture.
How’s being a label head?
Oh, I love it. This time around I was just producing so many different things and different people and quite a few of them were independent, so it was kinda like we’d finish a project and we’d be like, “Ok, who are we gonna shop this to? How many things do we gotta come up with to entice a label?” It was kind of a pain in the butt to sell yourself with someone, especially when you’re an artist who already believes in yourself.
So I just started accumulating all of these projects and didn’t have anywhere to release it, and I just did not wanna deal with these labels having to finagle different things out of them. “We want the artist to keep his masters,” and all this f—king bulls—t you gotta argue about with them about, when they don’t even know the blood, sweat and tears it took to create the stuff. That just seemed unfair to me, for the artist to not have total control of their art.
Like, we [Slipknot] just finished our contract with Roadrunner Records. Seven albums, I’m 48 years old now. We signed that when I was like 20 years old. Over half of my life, and it took that long to get free of it. Like, the amount of money the band could make off of one album could be more than potentially the entire career of the band, and that’s not fair to me.
And the name Vomit Face Records just kinda came to you?
I grew up in Chicago doing a lot of warehouse parties, and out there it was called the “ugly face.” Like when you hear something really good, like a good beat or track. Way before that when I was young they had the “gas face.” In the Bay area they had the “thizz face.” So when I was doing the Lil Bushwick album, the beat just dropped and I was like, “ewwww!” Like that’s the “vomit face,” you know? Like the pinnacle of faces. What’s the craziest of the faces when the beat drops? The vomit face, its so gnarly it gives you face paralysis. Everything from then on just kinda maintained that format.
Your debut roster here is mostly rappers, which considering your background with Slipknot feels surprising. How intentional was that?
Yeah, Vomit Face was more directed to hip-hop but with a punk rock edge. There’s a couple hip-hop groups on the label but bands are a very in depth process. I still produce bands, but generally I’ll shop them out to another label. There’s a lot of logistics involved. With a group you have more than one persons life happening. There’s a lot of logistics involved outside the group. How many people are in the group, how many of those people have families, how many of those people have kids, how many of those people are living in the same city together or spread out? What’s their capability of being able to practice together on a daily basis?
There’s a psychological side to it where you have to get to know them on a more personal level, and talk to them about more than just music. Dealing in hip-hop, there’s a lot less logistics, even if it’s a hip-hop group. Traditionally they won’t have a drummer, a guitarist, a DJ. There’s not a whole surroundings of each person’s instruments and what it takes to capture those instruments.
I’m not saying hip-hop is easier, there’s just a lot less logistics to focus on so you can really grind a lot harder with the individual and spend more time with the individual than with a band.
Do you find the psychological aspect easier to manage with rappers?
I don’t know if it’s easier. Maybe that’s a whole other thing to. The work flow from hip-hop can be vastly different from artist to artist. You’ll hear music that comes out that’ll be like, “Oh, this was recorded seven years ago,” or, “We just did this last night!”
You just never know what you’re getting into and you’re talking to a lot of people who come from street life too so you’re not gonna know what’s going on in their lives, or where they’re at, or what their availability is going to be. Some people just drop off the face of the earth for a minute, and don’t get back until later. Some of them because of the street aspect are very hungry, and are kicking your door down every day. It’s vastly different from artist to artist, but then having less logistics to deal with makes it easier to get it done.
What was your relationship to The Geto Boys and Bushwick Bill, specifically?
Obviously, the Geto Boys are iconic, and I met Bill through my buddy’s skate shop “Brooklyn Projects” here in L.A. The owner’s from New York, and a lot of different artists and entertainers will come through this place just because of the skate culture. So I met him through that shop and we decided, “Yo, let’s make some music! Like Bushwick Bill and Slipknot? C’mon!” Logistically, we just couldn’t get it locked down — and we both being entertainers were just traveling a lot and unfortunately not knowing he was ill, I don’t think anybody really knew, so when he passed away it was like, “What?”
That was a hard lesson for me. I would have moved some mountains around if I had known, and it’s terrible to say that because that shouldn’t be the reason to get work done with someone you click with. I felt really bad about that.
What was your last interaction like with him?
It was at the shop, actually. I had an Irish wolf hound named Fred and he was dying of cancer. He had [three kinds] of cancer and we were fighting it with him. He’d get better from one then another would pop up. He was an amazing dog, and I was going through that with him the last time I saw Bill — and he wanted to come track some stuff, and without explaining what was going on in my life, I was like, “I really can’t today.” I was just trying to get back to my dog, but not realizing Bill himself was… you know.
I should have just been like, “C’mon over man, my dog is sick but it’ll be cool.” We might have had a moment together there, something really special. There would have been a whole magical thing there and we all missed out on it. Then meeting his son and finding out he was an artist and doing music and coming to Slipknot concerts, we just hit it off. I made a promise to Bill’s spirit: “I’m gonna do this with your son and I’m not gonna flop. I’m gonna make sure I get it done.” That was that, flew him out to Wilson Estate in Iowa and recorded the album.
What was your relationship like with Lil Bushwick?
I wanted to be there for him. So when I flew him out, we recorded but we went to do things he would have done with his pops. We went fishing — he had never been fishing before! We got to know each other, on a level beyond artists and doing music. We’re family now, and I’d like to be able to be there for him in that respect.
What was it like fishing with him and bonding with him outside of music?
It was awesome, man! I could hear Bill going: “Hey man, that’s cool. Thanks for doing things like that.” We could have just been at the studio recording but I was like, “Hey, let’s go to the pond and catch some fish. Let’s go ride the four wheelers around.” I’m in no way trying to replace his father but to be able to do things with him it was cool. I can be an uncle!
You can hear Bill [in his music]. He’s like a youthful version of him — that was cool to see, how it gets passed down. His dad was really smart too, man, he had a lot of knowledge on a lot of things, and you can see that passed down to Lil Bushwick. He’s very locked-in spiritually.
Amazing, man — it must feel really good to finally have Vomit Face rockin’ and rollin?
It does, man. I got a great team, a great roster. I look forward to bringing people to this roster. I’ve already gotten a million messages from people wanting to be involved. This is a label for the artist by the artist. Own your own music, own your own stuff. Grow with us!
Trending on Billboard New Year’s Eve 2026 just got more interesting with the announcement that both Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex together with Four Tet will play over two-nights in San Francisco on Dec. 30-31. Both shows will happen at San Francisco’s Pier 80, the same site where the festival Portola has happened annually since […]
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In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, a devastating Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in Jamaica (Oct. 28) and Cuba (Oct. 29) earlier this week, several musicians have offered words of support and shared resources to help rebuilding efforts.
The storm made landfall in New Hope, Westmoreland, Jamaica on Tuesday, marking the strongest storm in the island’s history. Hurricane Melissa surpassed 1988’s low-end Category 4 Hurricane Gilbert as the strongest such storm to hit the island. On Wednesday, the hurricane hit Cuba’s southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba. Hurricane Melissa has since continued its journey across the North Atlantic Ocean, bringing copious rain and intense wind to the Northeastern United States. On Thursday (Oct. 30), The New York Times reported over 20 deaths in Haiti, five in Jamaica and one in the Dominican Republic.
On Thursday, dancehall queen Spice shared a photoset chronicling the wreckage on her official Instagram page. “Together we gonna build back stronger,” she wrote in a caption highlighting her Grace Hamilton Foundation. “Even if it’s as small as [manpower] to help us for even a day, please reach out and let’s build together as a team!” Her frequent collaborator, King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel, also took to Instagram, reminding his followers, “This is not about politics, it’s about Jamaica. So, help if you can, and pray if you can’t, but keep your politics to yourself.”
Missy Elliott, who collaborated with Kartel on 2005’s “Bad Man,” wrote, “Prayers up for everyone in Jamaica,” on X, followed by several Jamaican flag and prayer hands emojis. When reminded to also pray for those in need in Cuba and Haiti, Eliott responded, “Absolutely.”
More of the island’s biggest stars sprang into action to assist aid efforts. Dancehall icon Beenie Man assembled a team to deliver supplies to hospitals in St. Elizabeth; “Bruk Off Yuh Back” singer Konshens shared an informative video directing social media users to government-approved aid channels, and Shaggy posted infographics explaining the collection process for those donating supplies from the Kingston area. Last week, shortly after the release of his long-awaited Exile LP, Grammy-nominated reggae star Chronixx dedicated an acoustic rendition of the aptly titled “Hurricane” to his beloved home country. “Stand firm, Jamaica,” he captioned the video.
According to Rolling Stone, the Catherine Hall Sports Complex, a Jamaican stadium that hosts the annual Reggae Sumfest music festival, is in the midst of rebuilding after being completely submerged in water. In addition, the Jamrock Reggae Cruise, an annual ship-set festival co-founded by Damian Marley, had to be rerouted to Cozumel, Mexico. Notably, all of the Marley properties in Jamaica, particularly the Bob Marley Museum, have been temporarily repurposed as relief centers for those in need of aid, food, and supplies.
Silent Addy, one of the producers of “Shake It to the Max,” the year’s biggest crossover dancehall hit, processed his emotions in an Instagram Story. “Finally heading home and really taking in everything Hurricane Melissa did to Jamaica,” he wrote. “It’s been hard to even pause and process… just ready to be home with my family and rebuild.”
Meek Mill also sent “prayers to Jamaica” via X, while RiotUSA, Ice Spice’s go-to producer, revealed that he was actually on the island when Hurricane Melissa hit. “I’m alive. I’m safe! [Fighting] to get off the island,” he wrote. “This is the most traumatic experience ever.”
Sevana, who starred in 2024’s Bob Marley: One Love film, lamented, “My beloved country. God know.” Grammy-nominated dancehall-pop star Shenseea expressed similar sentiments, writing “Praying for everyone on my island right now… We’re strong people and we’ll get through this together,” in a now-expired Instagram Story. On X, Armanii, who recently performed at Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Live concert, wrote, “And once Jamaicans come together we are unstoppable! We will rebuild 10 times stronger, prayers up!”
As Jamaica, Cuba and several other Caribbean nations begin to pick up the pieces, residents across the islands have highlighted World Food Programme, Project HOPE, GiveDirectly, American Friends of Jamaica, Friends of Caritas Cuba, and the Jamaican government’s official hurricane relief portal as verified channels of support.
Roda Osman, known as the “Brick Lady” on social media, has been found guilty of launching a GoFundMe to defraud donors after falsely claiming a man hit her with a brick for refusing his advances. While most were initially on Roda Osman’s side after she gave her side of the fabricated incident, with the guilty verdict, some are voicing their thoughts on social media.
As reported by local outlet KPRC-TV, Roda Osman, 35, was found guilty by a jury that heard three days of testimony regarding the case. In 2023, Osman claimed that a male Uber driver allegedly tried to kidnap her and, after refusing his attempt, struck her in the face with a brick.
Olan Douglas was said to be the perpetrator of the attack, but surveillance video shows that Osman struck Douglas in the face before he retaliated, hitting her with what looked to be a plastic bottle. When Osman went wide with her account, she shared images of the alleged damage done to her face, but the evidence shown in the case didn’t match her testimony.
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Trending on Billboard Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson, roommates edition? Megan sparked rumors that she moved in with her NBA boo after posting a photo making a hand-heart with Thompson in front of a house while showing off a key. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The picture led Meg’s Wednesday (Oct. 29) […]
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President Donald Trump has been taking jabs at Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett, claiming that they were “low IQ” and couldn’t pass a cognitive test he boasted about passing with exemplary marks. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel caught wind of Trump’s remarks and mocked the president, with Crockett joining in.
Trump spoke about the test (he took a similar one in 2020), which was administered at Walter Reed Medical Center, telling reporters in the clip Kimmel showed to his audience, “You give [Ocasio-Cortez] an IQ test. Have her pass the exams that I decided to take. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump.” In his monologue, Kimmel said after, “I agree. It sounds like a challenge.”
He continued, “Not only do I want to see this contest happen, I want to make it happen… I want to give our brilliant, bigly brained president a chance to teach those left-wing lightweights a thing or two about brain power live on national television.” Kimmel called the test “The James C. Kimmel Cognitive Aptitude and Mental Brilliance Invitational,” and brought on the representative from Texas via video call.
When Kimmel asked if she heard the comments, Crockett confirmed that she did.“I know that he can’t seem to find himself in the Oval Office to make sure that he can end this shutdown, but he does have time to troll me. So, listen: If he’s down, I’m down,” she said. She also called out Trump’s pattern when using “low IQ” as an insult: “They tend to be women, and they tend to be women of color.” Kimmel then went on to make fun of the test’s supposed complexity, asking Crockett basic questions of identification like holding up a picture of an elephant and asking her if she knew what it was. When she answered correctly, he joked, “Wow, you’re going to crush this.”
The test Trump refers to is actually a variation of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The MoCA Test is usually ten minutes long, and is designed to identify signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s in a person. ““It’s a very, very low bar for somebody who carries the nuclear launch codes in their pocket to pass and certainly nothing to brag about,” said Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist and George Washington School of Health and Medicine professor said in an interview last year.
Source: Rick Kern / Getty
It was the late summer of 1997, and the Wu-Tang Clan was imploding. The two-fisted Staten Island, N.Y. Hip-Hop crew had been on the road with radical leftist rockers Rage Against The Machine on one of the summer’s most buzzy and infamous tours. The gloriously combustible union between the two counter-culture behemoths was a ‘90s kid’s fever dream.
The double-platinum Wu-Tang Clan was certainly an inspired pick as touring mates for Rage Against The Machine. Along with unconventional mastermind and producer, the RZA, the ragtag army included a murderer’s row of boundless, hood-stamped lyricists — the GZA, Raekwon the Chef, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, U-God, and Masta Killa. Their philosophy was a bewildering mix of Kung Fu film fandom, harrowing street testimonies, and Five Percent Nation ideology.
But cracks had already begun to appear. There were frequent issues over the $45,000 that the Wu was being paid per performance. Back then, such a figure was a tidy sum, especially for a nuclear hot act whose sophomore double album, Wu-Tang Forever, had just sold a whopping 612,000 copies its first week of release. Yet the large makeup of the crew was starting to take a toll. Members frequently missed shows. There was grumbling amongst the clique that they had forsaken their around-the-way base for Rage’s largely white suburban followers.
“We were some young, dumb gangsters back then until we got our sh*t together.”—Raekwon
It was during an Aug. 29 show in Tinley Park, Ill., when the bottom completely fell out. There were backstage reports that some members of the Wu beat up a promotions manager who worked for their home label, Loud Records. The next day, the group officially jumped ship.
“It is my understanding, through the twisted labyrinth that is the communication system of the Wu-Tang Clan, that they’re not playing any more shows on the tour in part because of difficulties they’re having within their own group,” said Rage guitarist and leader Tom Morello in a press release.
Nearly 30 years later, Ghostface Killah is in an immaculate mood on a rainy August evening. The acclaimed wordsmith is basking in the glow of the warm reception surrounding his newest release, Supreme Clientele 2, the proper sequel to his 2000 classic. “I know how important that album is,” Ghostface says of the daunting task of recording a follow-up to Supreme Clientele, one of his most celebrated solo statements in Wu-Tang Clan lore. “But I never felt any kind of nervousness. That never came to mind.”
Ghost professed he reveled in the throwback energy of Hip-Hop’s Golden Age on Supreme Clientele 2 tracks like the first single “Rap Kingpin” and “Beat Box.” He admitted he gets a tad uncomfortable when asked to ponder his legacy (“I really don’t be tripping off that stuff…”). But it’s not until the subject turns to his Wu brothers that you realize the wide-eyed irony of the collective’s full circle evolution.
This past summer, the Wu-Tang Clan embarked on a 27-date concert tour in June and July dubbed The Final Chamber. It was one of the more intriguing concert industry success stories, grossing $30.6 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. And there were no crackups like in ’97.
This time around, all the original Wu members, along with slang master Cappadonna and the son of the late wild man ODB, Young Dirty Bastard, presented a strong, energetic, united front. This was a heart-on-the-sleeve showing that featured such crew classics as “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit,” and “Triumph” as well as celebrated solo cuts by Method Man (“Bring the Pain”); Raekwon (‘Incarcerated Scarfaces”); the GZA (“Liquid Swords”); Ghostface Killah (“Holla”); and ODB (“Shimmy Shimmy Ya”).
“We were some young, dumb gangsters back then until we got our sh*t together,” Raekwon said of the Clan’s turbulent journey while at the group’s capacity-packed July 16 gig at New York’s crown jewel, Madison Square Garden. The Wu’s triumphant return especially hit home, given that when the rhyme troop first hit the scene in the early ’90s, Staten Island, known as a haven for cops and firefighters, was virtually a punchline in New York’s Bronx-Queens-Brooklyn dominant scene. “It’s amazing to be in the game 30 years and to sell out [MSG],” an overwhelmed Method Man added. “That sh*t is ridiculous.”
Ghostface echoes his Wu mates. “Yes, it’s surreal,” he says of the 2025 Wu love fest. “To see how we developed up to this stage is crazy. Like damn, we still headlining tours. And then for us to still be writing at the level that we are writing at is like, okay, now you get the chance to really see who the true masters are.”
It’s almost inconceivable that the same rappers hailing from the Slums of Shaolin that warned the world to “Protect Ya Neck” on their landmark 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), have become cuddly, elder statesmen. They are all practically family men now (GFK himself has one daughter and three sons). In an Oct. 15 interview with People, Inspectah Deck opened up about how raising kids has mellowed the once wild bunch.
“My daughter is going to medical school. My son’s about to start art school. I have a young one.” Deck said. “Everyone’s growing, families are growing now. RZA’s son plays in our band. Some of us are grandfathers, and so I understand the life cycle. I’m not trying to stop what’s the natural progression of things. You can’t hold on to everything forever. But Wu-Tang is forever.”
“Not everybody is going to love you. But in certain people’s eyes we did something right.”—Ghostface
The Clan has grown so respectable in recent years, in fact, that their music can frequently be heard in corporate television ads. Ghostface’s frenetic 2006 joint, “The Champ,” anchors Amazon Prime. NIKE tapped the group’s catalog for their 2024 New York Knicks player-featured, Wu-Tang Can Dunk Highs Killer Bees campaign. Raekwon appeared in a Super Bowl TV commercial for DoorDash, reacting drolly to a shopper reciting the lyrics to the Wu’s classic single. “C.R.E.A.M.” And there are commercials featuring ODB’s “I Got Your Money” (LG WashTower) and the RZA (Apple Watch).
Yet Madison Avenue co-signs and high-profile sit-downs with instant viral podcasters Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Fat Joe and Jadakiss, and Smartless would just be stuck in mere sentimentality if the grizzled Wu vets weren’t still lyrically sharp.
“There is the nostalgia of having their music in our DNA,” says Yves “DJ Whoo Kid” Mondesir, longtime New York Hip-Hop tastemaker and SHADE 45 radio host. “But the Wu are showing that Hip-Hop is back. All these young rappers can’t f*ck with them. The older artists are taking it back.”
For Grammy-winning icon DJ Premier, often celebrated as one of Hip-Hop’s most influential producers alongside old rival and friend the RZA, the Wu transcends fads. “Ghostface reminds me of the era I grew up in,” Preemo explains. “I’m 59 years old, so he sounds like he’s spitting over some ’86 breakbeats, but for today. That’s the Wu-Tang Clan. Timeless.”
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Indeed, there’s something downright inspiring about witnessing Method Man, 54, jump from his professional working actor bag to reclaiming his spot as one of rap’s most charismatic voices still capable of turning heads with a random, rewind-worthy freestyle like him and Raekwon on 50 Cent’s “Window Shopper.” In April, all nine living members of the Wu appeared on the Mathematics-produced limited release Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.
Last July, Raekwon dropped his eighth studio album, The Emperor’s New Clothes, to critical acclaim. Hearing the Chef and an in-the-zone Nas on the standout track “The Omerta” is like being transported back to the youthful pair’s classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx deep cut, “Verbal Intercourse.”
Yet perhaps the award for the most WU-TANG CLAN (!!!) statement in years goes to Ghostface’s “The Trial” from Starks’ Supreme Clientele 2. The concept record, featuring GFK’s fellow spitters Raekwon, Method Man, and the GZA, is essentially a courtroom drama on wax. It’s the type of high art recording made for Hip-Hop nerds.
“That was a fun one,” Ghostface recalls. “The Trial” is me and Rae on the stand facing a case. We were going back and forth with that one for about a year and [a] half. Rae finally coughed it up, and my brother was like, ‘Yo, you need to get the Genius and Meth on it.’ Meth plays the judge. He got his sh*t done in one day. The Genius was taking all day… you know how he is [laughs]. He did his verse two months later.”
Of course, this is the kind of good-natured, brotherly ribbing that can only come with decades of fighting in the trenches together. The Wu-Tang Clan can be an unmitigated mess (U-God filed a lawsuit against RZA and his brother Mitchell “Divine” Diggs, CEO of Wu-Tang Productions, in 2016 over royalties and placed blame on the producer over the group’s breakup in his 2018 memoir RAW: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang).
But in the end, the Wu is too big to fail. In a bit of ultimate Hip-Hop karma, Martin Shkreli, the disgraced “Pharma Bro” who was forced to forfeit ownership of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin following his securities fraud conviction, currently faces a lawsuit for copying the work and playing it online without permission. (Shkreli purchased the auctioned album back in 2015 for a record $2 million and was later universally rebuked for raising the price of a life-saving, anti-infective drug Daraprim overnight.)
There are plans to extend the Clan’s successful “final” jaunt overseas in 2026. Last June, Raekwon unveiled the trailer for the much-anticipated documentary for his seminal Only Built 4 Cuban Linx release titled The Purple Tape Files, featuring appearances by the Chef’s OB4CL partner-in-rhyme Ghostface, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Mobb Deep’s Havoc, Method Man, along with other Wu alumni. That same month, RZA debuted his martial arts indie film One Spoon of Chocolate at the Tribeca Film Festival. And Ghost is eyeing a Supreme Clientele 2 tour.
Both Rae and Ghost are featured on the Oct. 10 Mobb Deep set Infinite, which includes unreleased, posthumous bars from late rhyme great Prodigy. And Method Man recently updated his long-in-the-making team-up album with Mobb spitter and all-world producer Havoc. “We are still working on our Covid album we started in 2019,” Meth recently told TMZ of the project called Dirty P, a release that serves as a tribute to both ODB and the aforementioned Prodigy. “It needed some tracks, and it should be out soon. Havoc is a master of his sound. He has mastered sound like RZA.”
“We are trying to figure some things out,” says Ghostface when asked about the Wu’s next move. Ghost recently postponed his Supreme Clientele 2 Tour due to, strangely enough, the government shutdown.)When asked his thoughts on Raekwon proudly hailing his brothers as “one of one,” he responds in classic GFK fashion. “You know, not everybody is going to love you,” he says. “But in certain people’s eyes, we did something right.”
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
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