In the latest edition of the DX Daily, HipHopDX Editor-In-Chief Justin Hunte breaks down everything we know about the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan A Better Tomorrow album and reveals new information about the group’s inner politics, including the revelation of a tiered class system that channels more money to certain prominent members within the group.
“I don’t know where it came from but it definitely penetrated,” RZA said of the group’s “upper tier” in an interview with DX that premiered in the clip. “I think it came from a third party, one of our solo managers maybe. But when it penetrated I was like, ‘Yo, that really don’t make no sense.’ In that case just give me the most money. If you wanna just go stupid like that. But what I’ma do with that? There’s a eight-slice piece of pie here, eight slices in the pizza. I’m gonna take two pieces? Nah, I’ll take my slice, you take your slice. If I take two slices somebody gotta cut theirs in half. That don’t make mathematical sense in that cypher. But as far as me going along with it, I was like, ‘Yo, I’ll put myself on a lower-tier and y’all could try it for a year if y’all want.’ But I’m not participating in that ideology nor am I gonna stop the boat from running when you got that many brothers saying, ‘Fuck that, this how they feel.’ So, we actually tried it for a year and I think we’re gonna have to vote on that again. That has to be talked about.”
In a separate interview, Cappadonna expanded on the approach.
“There’s an upper tier now,” he said. “The upper tier consists of Raekwon The Chef, Method Man, GZA, The RZA, and Ghostface. That’s the upper tier. They started this on the European tour. It’s a system that was developed within our system to bring a certain status to individuals. That was the most stagnant part of the building and structuring of this album. We had to deal with that. Even until the last minute, brothers had to overcome our differences in order to make it work. But there’s still an upper tier. I don’t know if that’s gonna affect anything in our future plans, but that’s what it is. I say that not to be a back biter; not to sprinkle any salt on our wounds. I say that as remarkable wisdom and giving you insight on true facts of what we had to overcome to make this thing a reality to us and for our fans.”
Cappadonna added on, addressing why each of the “upper tier” Wu-Tang Clan emcees deserve the status.
“I’m looking at it like, Rae, he’s done a lot of collabs with a lot of known artists so that puts him in a different bracket,” he started. “You’ve got Ghost who’s doing various TV shows. He’s in one bracket. Meth has been a success since the beginning. He’s doing movies, that puts him in a bracket. And GZA, based upon his delivery and sales, I guess he’s in his bracket. And of course, RZA. RZA never wanted to be in no upper tier or none of that. He don’t really trip on that right there. He’s not really comfortable with it for him but he’s just gonna play that part because, ‘I’m just gonna play this position to keep a balance,’ the team being more valuable than the captain. He can’t let nobody out rank you. He’s the captain. He had to take on the position just for that. To me, that’s real talk right there. That’s real active because it affected all of us and we had to deal with it the best way we knew how. And that’s why this album is such a beautiful significance. That’s why it’s so strong it can be considered, if not the best, one of the best because of the sweat that was put into it, the essence of our nature, the hardship, the tough love, and consistency. It was like a bunch of chaos and confusion that we came through. We came through obstacles. It wasn’t an easy album.“
RELATED: 3 Insights From The Wu-Tang Clan’s “A Better Tomorrow” At Their Quad Studio Listening
i love the wu and all but this is some schoolboy system shit right here lol
I got a feeling the new album will be boring and a waste of time..RZA is not hot at the beats nomore.
THEN Y WASTE UR TIME COMMENTING AND WANTING 2 LISTEN FRCUKBOI
JUS’ GO AWAY, NOBODY BEGGING 4 UR INPUT
LOL
The rest of the WU are no name rappers that’s why.
SMOTHER YASELF BITCH
CAPPADONNA & INSPECTAH DECK ON THAT 2ND TIER
the pay scale would be higher if all these hasbins get on their knees and shine drakes shoes for a living. Drake made more in 1 year than all these hasbins combined through out their whole carreers.
call me when drake gets his own video game dog
wu tang is for the chillren
Slap to your face for that comment you 1990’s born wet behind the ears muthafucka your tongue needs to be cut the fuck out of your mouth stupid ass muthafucka respect the wu&all other mc’s,groups who were before your time fuck jake to.
Has beens?? what are you 12?? anybody thats been listening to hip hop for more than a Half Hour knows what Wu-tang means to hip hop. They are legends you moron not has beens. AND you cannot compare a solo acts to group either. Method Man is a waaaay better lyricst than Drake on top of that too. I’m saying this as a big Drake fan too. Don’t let fanboyism cloud your Judgement dude cause your taking out of your ass and even Drake would tell you the same. Every music has its ERA just cause its not there ERA doesn’t mean they are has beens or erase what they did in the past IDIOT!!
this “system” is some bitchasness…
I fully agree with what Rae had in mind,two beats from each Wu Element producer, and a sprinkle from a few outside producers with Rza guiding the whole cohesiveness and structure of the project. If this is really their last which I seriously think it to be at this point, the Wu deserve to go out on a triumphant hurrah which not only we the fans will appreciate but also the producers involved who were all influenced by the Wu in one way or another with regards to their own music careers.
NOT 1 OF US HAVE SEEN THE CREDITS TO EVEN KNOW WHO DID WHAT SO WTF IS U TALKING ABOUT
THEY CAME IN WITH RZA ON THE BOARDS, THEY CAN GO OUT THE SAME WAY, NOT WHAT HEADS THINK & U HEADS WASN’T THERE WHEN THEY WAS IN THE STUDIO SHARING CHINESE FOOD, 40’S & BLUNTS, FCUK WHAT Y’ALL THINK
i think they all just gave up like: here, rza do what you want, so we can all get on with our lives
Rza – 100%
Rae – 90%
Meth – 80%
—————–
Cappadonna and all those other bums – 1%
This no GED getting nigga has added up 271%. Made my fuckin day.
^^ is that you Chief Keef? LOLL
Truth- I know this is three months late and you’ll never see it, but you just made my fucking day. I laughed my ass off at your comment.
And at the fact that Anonymous lumped Ghost in with the “bums” category even though he’s the most musically relevant member of the Clan to this day.
Damn near the whole clan is on the 1st tier. ODB would definitely have been 1st tier. So whose left.
Capadonna – He just barely made the group honestly, not skills wise or anything, but still.
Inspecta Deck – Its gotta be a hard pill to swallow for this guy.
Masta Ace – Gotta be the least known dude in the group.
U God – Unanimously thought of as the worst in the group.
So outta 10 guys, 4 guys get straight dcked! Mathwise, with 6 gys taking bigger portions, those bigger portions CAN’T be THAT much bigger. If the lower 4 got absolutely ZILCH, the bigger portion would, at best, be 16.6% of the TOTAL, compared to an even 10 way split of 10% each. So a 66% boost in dollars for each upper tier member.
A more realistic, yet still fcked, split would put the bigger portion at twice the size of the smaller. That would make the bigger portion be 12.5% of the TOTAL (with the smaller amount being 6.25% of the TOTAL). But again, you compare the 12.5% against the even split of 10%, and you get a 25% boost in dollars for each upper tier member.
Is 25% more dollars enough to screw over your wu “BROTHERS”, well apparently it is. Way to WU!
(eh, I just realized I did all that math with ODB still taking a cut. Not going to re due by math, but at most that 25% boost would be no more that 30%).
did you just confuse mast killah with mast ace lol
this kinda information goin public is surely the beginning of the end, or maybe the last straw. why would a u god or a cappa accept to keep join out there with the clan known that ppl will look at them as low bargains I’m jus saying…
^ U MUST B NEW ‘ROUND HERE ‘CAUSE THEY BEEN FIGHTING OVER $ SINCE THE 1ST ALBUM
ALL THIS IS IS THE WORK OF A GASSED MEMBER WHO THINK CATS ONLY LISTEN TO WU ‘CAUSE OF THEM, SO THEY WANT MORE CHEESE ON THEIR SLICE
lmfao nigga said masta ace!!!!!!!!!!!! im dying
who thought it’d be a good idea to reveal this to the public? that’s when you know it’s not really family, when dirty laundry becomes so public. if it’s gonna be all this drama every time they make a wu album, might as well hang it up.
Why haven’t you reviewed thestand4rd’s new LP? I’m just saying, the production was handled by Don McKinney (House of Balloons), and it has some extremely well-structured songs. You’d get a kick out of it.
Lol @ self-promoting your own music.
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The “upper tier” appears to be the first dudes that got signed solo.
RZA(Prince Raheem) and GZA(Genuis I think) had solo deals before Wu began.
Meth signed with Def Jam.
ODB signed with Elektra I think.
Rae signed a solo with Loud.
GZA signed another solo with Elektra or Epic.
And Ghost signed with a Wu imprint, maybe with Elektra or Epic, Capitol, some’n(??dunno).
RZA got them they Loud Wu deal.
The upper tier that’s alive all signed the first solo deals.
I haven’t heard the album BUT they haven’t sound cohesive since Wu Forever. And these feelings towards the differences between money and status within the collective can’t be good for recording.
gza’s in the upper tier because of seniority. he’s the oldest and taught rza how to rap. when’t the last time his music made an impact?
lol whiteboy giving a history lesson up in dis bish
In all honesty, all of them are on the same level at this point. Raekwon is the most popular member right now, but that’s not saying much. When his album drops it will sell 5000 copies, maybe even less. This pay scale stuff is bullshit. Why reward the members who were lucky enough to come out when Wu Tang was popular, and punish the ones who came out later? That’s not a very fair system. The members who weren’t fortunate enough to get those RZA beats and come out as early as the others should be the ones who make the most money off the group stuff now, because they need it the most. I’m not impressed
You CLEARLY wasn’t allowed outside when the first Wu album came out. If you DID. .You’d known, GHOSTFACE Music Wise has kept Wu Alive. You were also Breastfed huh? Fyk outta here!!
^raekown should be added. i feel like OB4CL2 was the album that put wu back up. that album slapped and noone was even talkin about any wu members b4 that
“In all honesty, all of them are on the same level at this point”
LOL FOH, U-God and Deck are not on Ghost, Rae, Meth or RZA’s level. I aint talkin about skills or music either.
theyre right..while ilove wu as a whole..if it was just u got, cap and deck i wouldnt listen.. i look forward to those rae and meth verses..even tho cap, deck and them always go hard i cant say id be interesed at this point in their careers if rae, meth, rza wernt involved.
“Damn near the whole clan is on the 1st tier. ODB would definitely have been 1st tier. So whose left.
Capadonna – He just barely made the group honestly, not skills wise or anything, but still.
Inspecta Deck – Its gotta be a hard pill to swallow for this guy.
Masta Ace – Gotta be the least known dude in the group.
U God – Unanimously thought of as the worst in the group.
So outta 10 guys, 4 guys get straight dcked! Mathwise, with 6 gys taking bigger portions, those bigger portions CAN’T be THAT much bigger. If the lower 4 got absolutely ZILCH, the bigger portion would, at best, be 16.6% of the TOTAL, compared to an even 10 way split of 10% each. So a 66% boost in dollars for each upper tier member.
A more realistic, yet still fcked, split would put the bigger portion at twice the size of the smaller. That would make the bigger portion be 12.5% of the TOTAL (with the smaller amount being 6.25% of the TOTAL). But again, you compare the 12.5% against the even split of 10%, and you get a 25% boost in dollars for each upper tier member.
Is 25% more dollars enough to screw over your wu “BROTHERS”, well apparently it is. Way to WU!
(eh, I just realized I did all that math with ODB still taking a cut. Not going to re due by math, but at most that 25% boost would be no more that 30%).”
you got niggas dropping novels thinking they know it all but said master ace was in wu GTFOH
When did Master Ace join the WU TANG CLAN
Dude,
Masta Ace IS NOT IN THE WU-TANG CLAN. How the fuck don’t you know that???? Lmao. WOW.
Masta Killa you’re referring too?
F for fucking fail, dude. Master ACE, hahaha.
And Deck still got the illest rhymes. Fuck a GZA.
Ghostface is the best mc in wu-tang he got the jokes storytelling and street shit on lock but the INS is so under-rated n slept on definitely in my 2nd place
wait the best rapper in the wu is inspectah deck and he’s not upper tier. fuck this group already. they should release album and flop fast so we stop hearing all this BS
Damn what about my man masta killa?i love the wu, but damn, lets not forget about gza,deck&u-god with out them wu would not be where there are right today.
They haven’t they just lower tier not known on the bigger scale especially Deck
this makes total sense to me. you get paid for what you bring to the table. you want to be upper tier, make a soundtrack to an award winning cartoon, act in a box office movie, have a consistently great catalogue, move units and establish a presence in the hip hop community, or release a classic. the rappers not in the upper tier have not done these things
Just drop U-God and Cap. Then divvy up the loot…
Cap not even a official member, so there’s only eight not hard to dived a mill into eight bro
Inspectah Deck lingering in the middle bracket just like he lingers in the middle of the entire game.
Rae
Ghost
Meth
GZA
RZA
God
Killa
Deck
who cares these bums gonna sell 2000 copies in the first week. Only nigga selling is Drake and Wayne.
I read that as Drayne and Wake. Holy shit, that should be an actual thing. Let’s kick off the DRAYNE AND WAKE MOVEMENT.
anyone know how much the Wu charge per show/concert performance? Cos it must really suck having to toe to the tiered pay scale when everyone’s bustin they ass off on stage
Daaaaamn Christ Bearer must have smoked a few too many crack pipes. Nigga’s trippin 24/7 stuck in the twilight zone
Fuck a Better Tomorrow. When the FUCK is RZA gonna drop The Cure??
just download it u fucking idoit
i had that like 10 years ago, oh u want it to actually come out on a label or something weird motherfucker
And yeah Cap isn’t an original member of the Wu, but he’s repped the W since day one Ghostface Killah’s – Ironman album for example.
Actually he is, but right before he recorded for 36 chambers he got locked up for a few years.
Their business. Their bread.
Except for inspectah deck who is grossly underrated the rest of the lower tiered Wu tang members are the st lunatics.
Capp: “[…] and we had to deal with it the best way we knew how”, PARK HILL PROJECTS CLICK-A-POW !
respect
If the other members wanted more money, then they should’ve teamed up for collabo albums in-between group albums, I mean, they only had 7 years to beef up their pay packet…come on, the last projects that really done anything for Wu were OB4CL2, Shaolin vs wutang on a minor scale, Wu-Blocck on a minor scale, GFK last record, Man with Iron fist soundtrack, Blackout 2…slightly….Raekwons FILA has been delayed for 2 years ongoing so he’s clearly worried that it will affect his pay because prior to that he released a Justin Bieber feature…oh yeah, Rae + Iron man on Kanye albums doesn’t hurt either…
respect
The only reason was not an member of the Wu is because he went to jail. He was replaced by methodman.