Wu-Tang Clan have been awarded their own day in their hometown of New York City on the same day as the 30th anniversary of their debut album.
Last month, the rap collective finished touring around the world with fellow rap legend Nas on the ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ tour, celebrating hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
Yesterday (November 9), New York City mayor Eric Adams declared the day as Wu-Tang Clan Day and the iconic Empire State Building was lit up in the colours of the Wu-Tang logo; black and yellow. The event also honoured the date the Staten Island group dropped their debut album ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ in 1993.
Empire State Building lit up Black & Yellow for Wu-Tang’s 30th Anniversary of 36 Chambers
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— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) November 9, 2023
On Wu-Tang Day, Legacy Recordings issued a special edition seven-inch box set featuring a ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ vinyl, a 60-page book of liner notes with RZA interviews, rare photos, and album lyrics, and a pack of “36 Chambers Trading Cards.” The album has also been re-released on a colour vinyl and cassette.
Next week (November 15), Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater in Manhattan will screen the new documentary A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The screening will be presented by the Hip-Hop Education Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and RZA’s company 36 Chambers ALC.
In April 2022, the National Recording Registry immortalised ‘Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ in the US Library of Congress alongside A Tribe Called Quest‘s 1991 album ‘The Low End Theory’ for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
“I won’t say I was surprised, I was thankful,” RZA told the Library of Congress. “Look — this part will sound egocentric — but during the creation, I knew we were making something special. And that there would be an audience for it.
“For me, it [the album] didn’t exist and it needed to exist. It felt like we were capturing New York life and youth in a way that had never been exposed before, not the way that 36 Chambers and Wu were doing it.”
In other news, RZA performed the classic album at Manhattan’s Gramercy Theatre with a live orchestra on November 9.
Last year, a limited-edition Wu-Tang Clan coffee book called Legacy was released. Only 36 copies exist and each one is encased in a 400-pound steel chamber. The 300-page leather-bound book features never-before-seen photos of all 10 members of the group captured by photographers including Danny Hasting and Kyle Christy.
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