wu-tang clan
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The classic and once super rare Nike x Wu-Tang Clan Dunks in the black and yellow silhouette will be returning to shelves Nov. 9 on the Nike SNKRS app and select sneaker boutiques.
A few weeks ago, Nike shock dropped the coveted Wu-Tang Clan Nike Dunks on their SNKRS app. While millions of Wu-Tang fans took L’s on the sudden release, they’ll be getting another crack at owning a pair as a release date has been officially set.
To hype up the upcoming drop (as if they needed to), they’ve incorporated the talents of the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart to hype up the release. Standing alongside The Abbot himself, The RZA, the Nova Knicks throw up the “W” in solidarity with the Hip-Hop legend from Shaolin.
We need those kicks in our lives.
While the young’ns these days aren’t up on the Wu like the OGs, we don’t expect these to be an easy cop as sneakerheads will be coming out in droves to own a pair of these classics once release day comes around.
“These Dunks are important to me and the Wu-Tang legacy because of the cultural impact they’ve had since their original release,” says Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA in a statement. “For many years, the sneaker world was reserved for athletes and some entertainers, and Nike recognizing us in this way is a testament to hip-hop and our contribution to culture.”
No word on how many pairs will be available but with a $600 resale price tag on the ones that dropped a few weeks ago, they’ll definitely be hard to get regardless of availability.
Will you be trying to cop a pair of the Wu-Tang Dunks come Nov. 9? Let us know in the comments section and see more detailed pics below.
1. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Dunk
2. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk x New York Knicks
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk x New York Knicks
3. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
4. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
5. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
6. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk x New York Knicks
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk x New York Knicks
7. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
8. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
9. Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
Source:NIke
Nike Wu-Tang Clan Dunk
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Source: @dazed / Instagram
With the 90’s era of style seemingly making a comeback in 2024, Tommy Hilfiger got creative for this years Fashion Week in New York City and not only rented out a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry to host his show, but got some Hip-Hop legends to partake in the festivities.
This past Sunday (September 8), Tommy Hilfiger gave the passengers on his Staten Island ferry show quite a treat when he had the Wu-Tang Clan pop up and perform for everyone who was lucky enough to be in attendance for the event. Having the likes of Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon The Chef decked out in Tommy Hill-Fly sh*t on the boat, the Hip-Hop icons took everyone through a trip down memory lane as they rocked out classic hits such as “C.R.E.A.M.,” and “Ice Cream” as Questlove manned the 1’s and 2’s on the wheels of steel.
We’d be lying if we didn’t say we’re hella jealous of everyone that was on that boat for that experience.
While we know this was probably a once in a lifetime performance, we wouldn’t be mad if the Wu bit this idea and threw a Staten Island Ferry concert series at some point in the future. Just sayin.’
Check out the Wu-Tang Clan legends do their thing and let us know if you’d buy tickets to this kind of show in the comments section below.
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Source: Drew Angerer / Getty
The drama behind Wu-Tang Clan’s one of one album continues. Martin Shkreli has been ordered to surrender his copies of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
As spotted on The Verge the controversial businessman is now being mandated to give up any duplicates he may have made of the 2015 project. This week the new owners PleasrDAO, a organization that focuses on investing and collectibles, filed a claim alleging that the former Pharma Bro “improperly retained copies of data and files”. The filing cited several occasions where he played the album during livestreams post his release from federal prison and forfeiting the work as per his securities fraud conviction.
“On June 30, 2022, during another live stream, Shkreli again played a portion of the Album and again admitted to having retained the Album, stating: ‘of course I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all around the world’” the document reads. PleasrDAO also point to several occasions where Martin openly admitted to violating the terms of the sale by sharing the music with his friends and associates even writing on X, formerly Twitter, “i can just upload the mp3s if you want? email addy?”
The presiding judge has given Martin Shkreli until Friday, August 30 to file an affidavit confirming he has turned over all the existing copies he has made of the album. Additionally, he also has document how many copies he made, who he has shared them with and if he has profited from doing so by Friday, September 30.
You can read the court paperwork here.
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Source: D.L. Chandler / Hip-Hop Wired
The RZA is ensuring that Wu-Tang is indeed forever. The Abbot has just partnered with Iconic Artists Group and Rock The Bells to help propel the group’s legacy.
As reported by Variety Magazine, the RZA has a vision for his band’s future. This week it was disclosed he struck a deal with Irving Azoff‘s Iconic Artists Group and LL Cool J‘s Rock the Bells. According to the announcement all three parties will work together to not only preserve Wu-Tang Clan’s name but to expand the brand further into television, film, merchandise and more. Additionally, this cooperative will also leverage their music catalog which includes their game-changing debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Wu-Tang Forever and more.
The RZA detailed his enthusiasm regarding the partnership in a press release. “As we evolve from ‘Legendary Status’ to ‘Iconic Status,’ it’s only fitting and serendipitous that we join the team at Iconic Artists Group and Rock The Bells,” the “Tragedy” rapper said. “This partnership will help us continue to expound and expand the Wu-Tang Clan’s legacy.”
LL Cool J went on to detail why the deal is important for the culture. “The Wu-Tang Clan’s brand and music have been cornerstones of hip-hop culture,” his formal statement reads. “Our partnership with Iconic Artists Group will enable us to leverage Rock The Bells’ multi-faceted platform — encompassing radio, e-commerce, licensing, content and live events — to unite and engage fans with this iconic brand. Together, we’ll guarantee that the Wu-Tang Clan’s legacy and timeless hip-hop remain powerful forces for generations to come.”
As per Billboard Magazine, some of the collective’s recent work includes the “Wu-Tang x MLB Night” at Oracle Park on June 1 and the upcoming rerelease of the Wu-Tang x Nike Dunk sneaker.
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It’s been almost 20 years since the Hip-Hop world mourned the sudden passing of the iconic Wu-Tang Clan member, Ol’ Dirty Bastard. And though many of today’s generation of Hip-Hoppers probably aren’t familiar with the man’s musical genius, A&E will be putting many on to game as they have a documentary centered around the “Brooklyn Zoo” artist on the way.
Recently, A&E announced that after years in development, they will be premiering Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys on August 25, and the documentary will feature never-before-seen footage of Dirt McGirt courtesy of his wife, Icelene Jones. Delving into the life of Russell Tyrone Jones, the man, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the entertainer, A Tale of Two Dirtys will showcase sides of the Wu-Tang Clan legend that many of us weren’t familiar with before he passed away in 2004.
With interviews from his fellow clansmen such as Ghostface Killah, GZA, RZA, and other music heavyweights like Mariah Carey and Damon Dash, the documentary is sure to shed light on the man that Big Baby Jesus (ODB) was whenever he wasn’t one of his many alter egos in the entertainment industry.
In a press release for the upcoming project, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s wife, Icelene Jones, explained how elated she feels to finally get this documentary out to the public.
Said ODB’s wife, Icelene Jones, administrator of the estate of ODB, “I am absolutely thrilled to have brought this project highlighting my husband’s life to the screen with my partners at Four Screens. They brought this dream to reality and I am forever grateful. ODB was and is an inspiration to my family, children and fans across the world. Like all of hip-hop, I have missed him dearly. And this project has solidified my belief that he is alive and well in all of our hearts.”
Yeah, heads still bump “Brooklyn Zoo” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” like it was still 1995 ’round the streets of New York. We love that man.
Directed by Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI, Black Art: In the Absence of Light), and his son Jason Pollard, Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys is sure to have day one Wu-Tang Clan fans glued to their TVs and might even garner him some new followers come August 25.
Check out the teaser trailer for the documentary below, and hit up the comments section to let us know if you’ll be tuning in come next month.
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Photo: Getty
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Nike is ready to re-enter the 36 Chambers. More than two decades after first releasing the Wu-Tang “Killa Bees” Nike Dunk […]
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Source: @wutangclan / Nike Sportswear
With sneaker companies dropping so many retros, a criticism is that the novelty of an OG shoe’s rarity and the feelings they evoke are now being lost. One shoe that has managed to duck the re-release treatment for years, and thus had its legend only exponentially grow is the famed Wu-Tang Clan x Nike Dunk.
Well, the black and yellow basketball shoe is finally getting the retro treatment. On Sunday, June 30, the official Wu-Tang Clan Instagram account (and Nike Sportwear’s) teased the return of the ultra grail-level sneaker with the caption “BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ” and a shoe covered in bees. Originally released in 1999, the Wu-Tang x Dunk High LE was gifted strictly to friends and family of the Staten Island Hip-Hop group. The shoe is a high top Nike Dunk in a yellow and black colorway (release sneakers consider it the “Iowa” colorway), with the familiar Wu-Tang Clan logo on the heel.
Word is only about 100 pairs of the sneaker were ever created. Finding a deadstock pair has become increasingly rare, and pricey—for example, an alleged deadstock promo sample is going for a smooth $45,000 on eBay right now.
The retro will cost less coin, but depending on how many Nike decides to actually manufacture, you can bet the aftermarket price will skyrocket since resellers and bots will be itching to get their hands on as many pairs as possible to cash out. Meanwhile, sneaker civilians will pray for the best via raffles and quick fingers, and strong wi-fi, on drop day.
No word on a proper release date, yet (and surely it will be sometime in the Fall), but I need two pairs, at least.
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Source: MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / Getty
A new lawsuit claims that convicted executive Martin Shkreli copied and shared a rare album from the Wu-Tang Clan bought by an art collective, violating their deal.
On Monday (June 10), a lawsuit was filed against former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli aka “Pharma Bro” in a Brooklyn, New York, court by digital art collective PleasrDAO. The group claims that Shkreli has violated the deal where they purchased the rare Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin from him by retaining copies of the album and sharing it with his followers on social media, alleging that he’s done so since his release from prison in May 2022.
“Any dissemination of the Album’s music to the general public greatly diminishes and/or destroys the Album’s value, and significantly damages PleasrDAO’s reputation and ability to commercially exploit the Album,” the filing reads. PleasrDAO pointed to recent comments made by Shkreli in posts on social media, particularly on X, formerly Twitter. “I was playing it on YouTube the other night even though somebody paid $4m for it,” one post reads.
The collective also claims that he played parts of the album in a “Wu-Tang official listening party,” in another post on Sunday (June 9). PleasrDAO claimed that they completed the purchase of the physical copy and the digital rights of Once Upon a Time In Shaolin in 2021 and 2024 in two separate deals. Shkreli was forced to sell the album, which he acquired in auction in 2015 for $2 million to pay off a $7.4 million order of forfeiture after his conviction in 2017 for scheming to defraud investors as a drug manufacturer and defrauding hedge fund investors. Shkreli became notorious for hiking the price of Daraprim, the drug his Turing Pharmaceuticals manufactured, from $17.50 per tablet to an astronomical $750 per tablet.
U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Chen issued a temporary restraining order against Shkreli on Tuesday (June 11), blocking him from sharing the album and stating the suit “is likely to succeed on the merits” leading to a possible injunction and seizure of Shkreli’s copies. The rare Once Upon a Time In Shaolin album is currently set to be on display at the Museum of Old and New Art in Australia, which is planning to hold private listening sessions featuring songs from the album this week. Shkreli has so far been defiant online, taunting them in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on the same day and retweeting his followers who joined in the derision.
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Source: Department of Justice / buzzfeed
An ultra-rare album by the Wu-Tang Clan is now on display for fans—but only in a museum in Australia.
Source: Department of Justice / buzzfeed
According to reports, the rare Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time In Shaolin will be made available to the public for the first time since its creation nine years ago. The catch? It will be on display in a museum in Tasmania, Australia. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has announced that it will be on display as part of its “Namedropping” exhibition, highlighting some of the world’s most captivating musicians and artists. The exhibition will run from June 15 to June 24, with the Wu-Tang Clan exhibit available twice daily from Friday to Monday.
“Every once in a while, an object on this planet possesses mystical properties that transcend its material circumstances,” Jarrod Rawlins, Director of Curatorial Affairs at MONA, said in a press statement. “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is more than just an album, so when I was thinking about status, and what a transcendent namedrop could be, I knew I had to get it into this exhibition.” Visitors will also get to listen to the album in specially curated 30-minute mixes and at private listening parties at the institution’s Frying Pan Studios. There will be a limited amount of free tickets available for visitors.
Once Upon a Time In Shaolin, produced in secrecy, was announced as a one-of-a-kind mission to “put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music,” as stated by The RZA in an interview with Forbes in 2014. The album would go up for auction in 2015, where it would be purchased by the controversial Martin Shkreli aka “Pharma Bro” for $2 million, making Once Upon a Time In Shaolin among the most expensive albums ever sold. Shkreli would have the album seized by the Department of Justice as he was convicted of securities fraud. The DOJ would then sell it to the digital art collective Pleasr in 2021. “With this single work of art, the Wu-Tang Clan’s intention was to redefine the meaning of music ownership and value in a world of digital streaming and commodification of music. Pleasr is honored to partner with Mona to support RZA’s vision for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” the group said in a statement.
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Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty / Wu-Tang Clan
Word on the video game streets is that the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan video game is coming along and will feature an animation style from Sony’s animated Spider-Man films.
Spotted on Insider Gaming, two separate reports from WindowsCentral’s Jez Corden and VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb (via Game Mess), more details about “Project Shaolin” are emerging.
“Project Shaolin” first appeared on radars thanks to a 2021 NVIDIA leak that revealed a plethora of codenamed project titles in development.
Both Corden and Grubbs reports share details about the game and what gamers can expect from it.
Per Insider Gaming:
According to both reports, the game is a third-person melee-oriented RPG complete with four-player co-op. The game was also said to heavily involve the Wu-Tang Clan members themselves with the game’s soundtrack and would feature the likes of loot, weapons, and gear from defeated enemies. According to the reports, the game is in development at Brass Lion Entertainment, a new studio formed in 2019 by Manveer Heir.
Insider Gaming can corroborate these original reports and understands that the game is currently in its Alpha stage.
The gameplay evolves around fast-paced melee combat in third-person, with a strong focus on having both music and combat intertwined. Players can choose from four different weapons that all have different and unique playstyles (single swords, dual swords, etc.). It’s understood that the game features a massive catalog of the Wu-Tang Clan’s music, most of which has been re-imagined by producer and DJ Just Blaze for the game.
“Project Shaolin” Will Feature Playable Wu-Tang Clan Members
Insider Gaming also reports that all nine Wu-Tang Clan members will be playable characters and that each character will serve as “the player’s limited-time buff that will give you ultimate moves, increased health, and more.”
The website also says it did see gameplay footage of “Project Shaolin” under the condition that they don’t share it and that the animation is similar to Sony’s animated Spider-Verse films.
As for the Wu-Tang Clan, this is not the first time the iconic rap stable’s involvement in the video game space. The group’s love for martial arts and kung-fu flicks led to the development of PlayStation’s game Wu-Tang Shaolin Style in 1999.
The game didn’t feature the actual Staten Island-based rap group members, but they did lend their voices to characters based on their rap monikers.
The members of the Wu-Tang Clan also appear in other games, such as Def Jam: Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight For New York.
We can’t wait to finally see what Project Shaolin looks like when the first trailer arrives. Maybe Xbox might unveil it at its upcoming Xbox Showcase next month.
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