Wu-Tang Clan is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of its debut album, 1993’s Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers this month. During an interview discussing the anniversary, Method Man spoke about the group’s longevity.

“It’s alright,” Method Man said in an interview with XXL. “It’s alright. It’s bittersweet. Like I said, it’s great to be doing something for 20 years. It’s great to be recognized as a pivotal group in the business. But in the same sense, the fame don’t reflect that shit. The profits don’t reflect the fame at all. And it’s a constant struggle to stay relevant, or a constant struggle to keep some type of revenue coming in ‘cause at the end of the day, the same place the labels picked you up at, when they’re done with you they wanna drop you off there. And it’s up to you and what you do in order to maintain your lifestyle. I’m just glad that I just rhyme ’cause I want to, not ’cause I have to.” 

Method Man also spoke about how the group has or has not changed since the release of Enter The Wu-Tang.

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“[What’s changed?]” Method Man said. “Zip codes. That’s as simple as I can put it—zip codes have changed. We’re all still the same dudes. At least, I feel like we’re the same dudes; you’d have to ask somebody on the outside looking in. I still see the child in all my niggas. And it’s funny, I can see it in the things they do. RZA made a Kung-Fu movie last year. If that’s not screaming childhood fantasy, I don’t know what is, you know what I mean? Rae’s living the lifestyle of a mobster and shit—childhood fantasy? Yeah. Me? I got millions of pairs of sneakers and video games, shit that I didn’t have as a child. So in that sense, yeah” 

Wu-Tang Clan was reportedly set to release an album this year to commemorate the group’s 20 years in the industry. However, those plans have folded. 

During an interview with grantland.com, RZA recently discussed the status of the new album.

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“One of the guys who showed up the most was Method Man,” RZA said. “He showed the most tenacity, he was the most vocal, he showed up the most, and he got the most lyrics on the new album. He’s already recorded eight or nine songs. He’s been on it. You know, I give Cappadonna credit, he’s been really on it. U-God has been present. Masta Killa be representing. Inspectah Deck has been somewhat present. Ghost has been, you know, 20 percent present. And Raekwon hasn’t shown up at all. When you look at somebody like Masta Killa and U-God, they seem to have that original hunger to complete the legacy. I respect that everybody [is] busy with they own lives. I started with a plan that I thought would work. Now maybe my plan not working.”

Raekwon responded to this comment on Twitter.

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