NEW BOOKS | FROM THE STREETS OF SHAOLIN THE WU-TANG SAGA BY S.H. FERNANDO JR.

The defin­it­ive bio­graphy of rap super­group, Wu-Tang Clan, fea­tur­ing dec­ades of unpub­lished inter­views and unpar­alleled access to mem­bers of the group and their asso­ci­ates

Her­al­ded as one of the most influ­en­tial groups in mod­ern music – hip-hop or oth­er­wise – WTC cre­ated a rap dyn­asty on the strength of sev­en gold and plat­in­um albums that launched the careers of such fam­ous rap­pers as RZA, GZA, Ol’ Dirty Bas­tard, Raek­won, Ghost­face Kil­lah, Meth­od Man, and more. Dur­ing the ‘90s, they ushered in a hip-hop renais­sance, res­cuing rap from the cor­por­ate suites and bring­ing it back to the gritty streets where it star­ted. In the pro­cess they changed the way busi­ness was con­duc­ted in an industry known for exploit­ing artists. Cre­at­ively, Wu-Tang pushed the bound­ar­ies of the art­form, ded­ic­at­ing them­selves to lyr­ic­al mas­tery and son­ic innov­a­tion. One would be hard pressed to find a group who’s had a big­ger impact on the evol­u­tion of hip hop.

From the Streets of Shaol­in by S.H. Fernando Jr. provides a start­ling por­trait of over­com­ing adversity through self-empower­ment and broth­er­hood, giv­ing us unpar­alleled insight into what made these nine young men from the ghetto tick. While cel­eb­rat­ing the myri­ad accom­plish­ments of The Clan, the book does­n’t shy away from con­tro­versy, reveal­ing anec­dotes from their child­hoods in the crack-infes­ted hall­ways of Staten Island hous­ing pro­jects, to stints in Rikers for gun pos­ses­sion, to mil­lion-dol­lar con­tracts that led to reck­less­ness and drug over­doses (includ­ing Ol’ Dirty Bas­tard’s untimely death). More than a his­tory of a single group, Fernando sheds new light on a music­al and cul­tur­al shift that star­ted on the streets of Staten Island and quickly spread around the world.

From the Streets of Shaol­in weaves togeth­er inter­views from all the Clan mem­bers, as well as their friends, fam­ily and col­lab­or­at­ors to cre­ate a com­pel­ling nar­rat­ive and the most three-dimen­sion­al por­trait of Wu-Tang to date. It also gives social, cul­tur­al, and his­tor­ic­al con­text on The Clan’s devel­op­ment to help fans under­stand pre­cisely how they have become the cul­tur­al icons they are today.  Unique in its breadth, scope, and access, From the Streets of Shaol­in is a must-have for fans of WTC and hip-hop in gen­er­al.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: S.H Fernando Jr., a vet­er­an music journ­al­ist who spent a sig­ni­fic­ant amount of time with The Clan dur­ing their hey­day of the ‘90s, has writ­ten extens­ively about the group for such pub­lic­a­tions as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Vibe, and The Source. He is the Author of The New Beats: Explor­ing the Music, Cul­ture, & Atti­tudes of Hip-Hop, one of the first books about hip-hop. He is an Alum­nus of Har­vard Uni­ver­sity and The Columbia Uni­ver­sity School of Journ­al­ism.

The fol­low­ing two tabs change con­tent below.
Rishma Dhaliwal

Rishma Dhaliwal

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voice­less. Cur­rently work­ing in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media know­ledge to I am Hip Hop and oth­er pro­jects by No Bounds.

About Rishma Dhaliwal

Rishma Dhaliwal
Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless. Currently working in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media knowledge to I am Hip Hop and other projects by No Bounds.