The revolutionary course of hard-core rap took a sharp turn to the real in 1993. That year, the platinum debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), struck a strategic, genre expanding blow for the hip-hop nation. Eternally elevating the urban art-form, it justly propelled the Wu-Tang Clan to the apex of rap music. Now bonafide superstars, Staten Island’s Wu-warriors: Prince (The RZA) Rakeem, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man, GhostFace Killah, Genius (GZA), U-God, Master Killa and Inspectah Deck, fearlessly return to rap’s forefront with Wu-Tang Forever, their aptly titled and much anticipated second Loud Records (enhanced double) CD. Produced by the RZA, the impressive album features the lethal lead single "Second Coming - Triumph," a sonic reflection of Wu’s cumulative vision, talent, skill and focus. Avowed students of the mental (or Shaolin) aspect of the martial arts and Islam, and rabid fans of kung-fu films, Wu once again attaches an Afro-Asiatic discipline to the art of rhyming. Drop kicking powerful, "Protect Ya Neck" (their first hit) type furor into the new mix, they push the lyrical envelope, plundering metaphorical gold mines in the process. "This is the bomb Wu-Tang record we wanted to make for years," advises Raekwon. "It not only gives the peeps more of what they already liked about us, it also takes us as a group, to the next level." Emphasizing the point, in addition to "…Triumph," other on target, off-the-hook cuts adding to Wu-Tang’s treacherous track record include: "Hellz Wind Staff," "Reunited," "Older Gods" and "MGM." Like a giant sponge, each track absorbs your brain cells into the group’s complex, multi-layered world of edgy Wu-Tang ghetto-speak. Once inside, shocking scenarios, inspired revelations, tragic truths and even wall-to-wall Wu-Tang insanity take over. It’s all delivered in Wu’s infamous, totally unpredictable, wild verbal combat style. "We’re comin’ off with the crazy n!@@a shit that can’t nobody touch," says Ol’ Dirty Bastard, whose confusing, effectively surreal 1996 "Fantasy" duet with mega-pop star Mariah Carey, is an example of how far Wu-Tang’s tentacles reach into music’s mainstream. Yet, they still maintain respect and support from real hard-core hip-hop heads, and do so without selling-out. If anything, the mainstream brought in. - Press Kit, 1997. Hit the tags for more & listen below...