1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: the Wu Tang Clans the Jizza are insane. He may 3 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: be the only rapper who lectures about quantum physics at 4 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: Ivy League institutions, including Harvard and MIT. That honor stems 5 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: from his acknowledged role as the genius the so called 6 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: voltron head of hip hop's most notorious group. A group 7 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: that was targeted by the most hated man in America 8 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: after that same man bought their one of a kind 9 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: album at auction for two million dollars. A group that 10 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: nearly crumbled under the weight of resentment, acrimony in lawsuittes. 11 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: A group who's passed continued to come back to haunt them, 12 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: particularly when Staten Island's undisputed drug Kingpins went on trial 13 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: after a nearly twenty year reign of fear and violence. 14 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: A group that made great music, music made even greater 15 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: and more profound by the presence of the Jizza. Unlike 16 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: that clip I played for you at the top of 17 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: the show that wasn't great music, that was a preset 18 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: loop for my melotron called life Moves Pretty Fast MK one. 19 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 20 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: rights to Hello by Adele And why would I play 21 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: you that specific slice of from the Other Side Cheese? 22 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 23 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: song in America on December seventeenth, twenty fifteen, And that 24 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: was the day that the Federal Bureau of Investigation made 25 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: an early morning rest in New York City after a 26 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: prolonged investigation and arrest that sent a shock through the 27 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: Wu Tang world. On this episode Quantum Physics Ivy League 28 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: institutions the most hated man in America from the Other 29 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: Side Cheese and Wu Tang clans the Chisha. I'm Jake Brennan, 30 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. Few people living in New York 31 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: City in the nineteen seventies were as uniquely prepared for 32 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: the dawn of rap music as Gary Grice, the boy 33 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: the world would later know as the Jizza. But Young 34 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: Jizza aka the Genius aka Young Gary Here didn't know 35 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: that he was uniquely prepared for anything. All he knew 36 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: were rhymes, the nursery rhymes and his mother goose book 37 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: that he memorized as a kid. The rhymes on records 38 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: by the spoken word group The Last poets. He listened 39 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: to those over and over, repeating every verse, every inflection, 40 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: every cadence. He mashed both worlds together in his head, 41 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: poems for kids and poems for adults, two halves of 42 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: one brain. On one side, Humpty Dumpty, all broken up, 43 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: but no one to put him back together again. On 44 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: the other side, Jesus Christ himself standing on the corner 45 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: of Lennox in one hundred and twenty fifth, trying to 46 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: catch the first cab out of Harlem. You know when 47 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: the revolution comes. When the revolution did come, when Curtis 48 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: Blow dropped the brakes in nineteen eighty and Grandmaster Flash 49 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: and the Furious Five hit the arm Beach Yard in 50 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two with the message Gary now a teenager. 51 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: His head flowing with verses by local mcs like Spoony 52 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: g and Ati Chiva, understood better than most what he 53 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: was hearing. Hip hop made sense. It was a language 54 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: he was already speaking, the style he was already living. 55 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: The hip hop ciphers that broke out on street corners 56 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: and block parties were all about inclusion. The ciphers were circles, 57 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: and circles were made to be unbroken. They brought people together, 58 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: people who had no other options, no voice. Like the 59 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 1: punks across the pond in England, they had no future. 60 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: Until now hip hop made something out of nothing. Hip 61 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: Hop triumphed over adversity. It brought meaning to the absurdity 62 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: of life and thus brought life to burnt out and 63 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: deteriorating buildings in the South Bronx projects where Gary here 64 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: spent the summers with his father. The South Bronx was 65 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: ground zero for hip hop. DJs rolled up, plugged their 66 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: huge speakers into a random lighthole on the street, hijacked 67 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: electricity and started spinning, and next a dude just jumped 68 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: on the mic, and then another dude challenged the first dude. 69 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: It was all about standing your ground, proving your worst, 70 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: mastering your flow. Gary took that flow with him to 71 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: his mom's place, first on Staten Island and later in Brooklyn. 72 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: On paper, Staten Island was just another burrow, but it 73 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: was not the Bronx, and this being the late seventies 74 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: and early eighties, news traveled as slow as the Staten 75 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: Island ferry. So Gary's cousin Bobby Diggs aka the Rizza, 76 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: got hipped to the Floe before the rest of Staten Island, 77 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: only because Gary brought it to him. Hip hop blew 78 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: Bobby's mind between the Kung Fu movies and now rap music. 79 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: Bobby didn't sleep much who needed sleep? Along with their 80 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: third cousin, Russell Jones aka a Son Unique aka old 81 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: Dirty Bastard, the cousins just wanted to walk the streets 82 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: at all hours and look for a cipher, a circle 83 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 1: of other MC's dropping freestyles off the top of their domes. 84 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: Ciphers or where you learned cipher's or where you picked 85 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: a fight, not physically, but with your words, with your rhymes, 86 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: with your flow. Gary learned quick soon he was like 87 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: the lone wolf and showgun assassin, only if the lone 88 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: wolf wasn't alone but instead had a wolf pack. And 89 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: this wasn't the peaceful Eto period in Japan. This was 90 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: New York in the nineteen eighties. Muggers, murderers, thieves, and 91 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: dope fiends were behind every corner. Fear City was not 92 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: for the faint of heart. You had to be sharp 93 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: and your words, your delivery, your confidence that had to 94 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: be wustaf some cheap gins your shit. The rush you 95 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: got when you brought fire to the cipher. When you 96 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: were funky, cool, confident, like butter or better yet like mercury, 97 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: both liquid and metal at the same time. That rush 98 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: was incredible. Nothing felt better. Gary loved that feeling, so 99 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: he did it more. He battled, he learned, he got better, 100 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: and soon he was coming in for the kill. A 101 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: choice verse was like a broad sword to the chest 102 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: in a couplet. Here a rhyme. There, knees buckled and 103 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: blood ran red. He was ruthless. He sliced necks, He 104 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: cut heads, and the heads rolled. But as the decade 105 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: rolled on and rap music gained commercial traction, the genre 106 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: was increasingly vilified by those who didn't understand it the 107 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: way Gary did. Tipper Gore, a Democrat senator's wife from Tennessee, 108 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: led the charge of the Parents Music Resource Center. We 109 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: have the PMRC to thank for those parental advisory stickers, 110 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: as well as the erroneous claim that rap simply glorified 111 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: violence and degraded women. In nineteen eighty eight, Paulus Queen's 112 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: his own run DMC held a press conference to blast 113 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: the media and come to rap's defense after a fan 114 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: died at a hip hop show at the Nassau Coliseum. 115 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: Writing about that show, The New York Times described rap 116 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: music as quote a rhymed chant to an electronically produced beat, unquote, 117 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: and reported that the violence at this particular show was 118 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: and I also quote the latest in a wave that 119 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: seems to follow rap performances almost as closely as its 120 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: fans decked out in gold chains. That wasn't what hip 121 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,439 Speaker 1: hop was about at all. Not to Gary. It was 122 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: hip hop was lyrical. It came from the streets, sure, 123 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: but it also came from the heart, from the depths 124 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: of your imagination. It was poetry and mathematics, Mother Goose 125 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 1: and Last Poets. It didn't have to be about your life. 126 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: It could be about anything. It was multidimensional, cosmic. Rap 127 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: was dust and stars, and in Gary's hands, rap was 128 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: straight up genius. But genius isn't recognized by everyone. Mediocrity 129 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: is much easier to spot, and thus mediocrity dominates the conversation. 130 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: It turns out mediocrity. 131 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:55,599 Speaker 2: Wants to rule the world. 132 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: Martin Chakrelly had something that no one else had. Wu 133 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: Tang Clan's seventh studio album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolan, 134 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: was one of a kind. A singular copy had been made, 135 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: just literally one copy, two compact discs housed at a 136 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: silver jewel encrusted box with a wax Wu Tang seal 137 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: and liner notes bound in leather. There was quite literally 138 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: nothing else in the world like it. It wasn't just music, 139 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: it was art. It was twenty sixty, the year prior 140 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: Chaqurelle put up two million dollars at auction to own 141 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: the world's rarest album. He paid more money for Once 142 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: upon a Time in Shadowland than anyone had paid for 143 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: an album in history. Two million dollars. That's nuts. It's 144 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: fucking crazy for char though it was a drop in 145 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: the bucket, he had that kind of money, or at 146 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,719 Speaker 1: least he made it look like he had that kind 147 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: of money. His parents worked hard for their money, immigrants 148 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: who came to Brooklyn and found work pushing brooms. Definition 149 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: of working class not entirely unlike the guys in Wu Tang, 150 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: and also not unlike a lot of the guys in 151 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: Wu Tang. Chakrelli dropped out of high school to hustle, 152 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: But he didn't hustle dice games like method man, and 153 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: he didn't hustle crack like you got Rayquon and Deck, 154 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: Chakrelly had a different hustle the stock market. Incredibly, he 155 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,959 Speaker 1: was buying shares of a little company called Amazon at 156 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: just fifteen years old. He interned for Wall Street hedge funds. 157 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: Before he was twenty one. He grew tall by short 158 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: selling biotech stocks. He played huge risks and used the 159 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: art of bullshit to cover his ass when those wrists 160 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: didn't pay off. His pharmaceutical company infamously bought the rights 161 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: to market draprim, a drug used by AIDS patients. Chakerelle 162 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: immediately raised the cost from twelve dollars and fifty cents 163 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: to seven hundred and fifty dollars and that's over five 164 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: percent per pill. The Daily Beasts labeled Schakrelly the most 165 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: hated man in America. And it wasn't just as wealth 166 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: for his greed, or as bullshit, or the fact that 167 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: he made a life saving drug next to him possible 168 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: for sick people to afford. It was his smirk, the 169 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: shit eating granny flashed every time he was on the news, 170 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: sent a very clear message. He may be despised, and 171 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: he may be a scam artist, but one thing could 172 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: not be denied. He was untouchable. Every time he smirked. 173 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: He confirmed this very entitled and very smug and very 174 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,719 Speaker 1: safe up in his white collar tower. What's my name is? 175 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: Smirk seemed to say, fuck you, that's my name. It 176 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: was the same smirk he was flashing now. In a 177 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: video posted onlineanked by three men wearing masks over their faces, 178 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: Chakerelle gave the patent an insufferable smirk as he addressed 179 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: one particular member of the hip hop group who's one 180 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: of a kind album I just purchased. Dennis, I'm going 181 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: to call you by your government name. You're not a 182 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: ghost face killer. 183 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 2: I'm sorry. 184 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: You're an old man that's lost his relevance and you're 185 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: trying to reclaim a spotlight from my spotlight. And that's 186 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: not okay. Most people don't even try to beef with me, 187 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: you know why, because nobody's that dumb, and for whatever reason, 188 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: you think that's okay to beef with me, that's. 189 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 2: A big mistake. 190 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: Chakrelle, of course, was addressing ghost face Killer aka Dennis Coles, 191 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: who called Schakerelli a shithead when TMZ asked him to 192 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: comment on the buyer wu Tan's unprecedented work of art. 193 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: Ghost wasn't wrong. He told his truth, but hearing that 194 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: truth pushed Chakrelle over the edge. His verbal missive online 195 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: turned downright threatening. I'm going to erase you from the 196 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: record books of rap I butter your bread. You understand 197 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: me without me knew nothing. Stop acting, stop pretending, stop lying, 198 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: be real, and don't ever fucking mention my name again, 199 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: or there will be more of a price to pay 200 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: than just this video. Chakerelle's threats may have phased a 201 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: weaker person, but not ghost Face. In fact, Ghosts could 202 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: not wait to respond to that fake ass supervillain's video, 203 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: and my god, man did he respond. Google Ghosts is 204 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: eleven minute video in which he destroys the farmer brow 205 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: with humor and heart, in the help of his sister 206 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 1: and his mother. But I digress. It's reasonable, however, to 207 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: think that Ghosts and the rest of Wu Tang were 208 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: aware of, and perhaps concerned with, the unspoken threat in play. 209 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: You could laugh all you wanted at s Chakerelli's weak 210 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: thug act, but you could not deny this, that a 211 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: man could be so entitled, so untouchable, so above the law, 212 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: that he could take whatever he wanted. Didn't matter if 213 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: Ghost could out disson or the Jia could out Genius. 214 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: This guy had money, influence, and power, just like the 215 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: PMRC back in the day. Today it was a silver 216 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: jewel encrusted box, and tomorrow it could beat everything else. 217 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. 218 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 2: We're We're, We're. 219 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: Jiz was pissed. He knew he was getting fucked and 220 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: they were all getting fucked. Kid Capri, Granddaddy, IU Cool, 221 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: g rap Master Ace each given a twenty five dollars 222 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: per DM on this ten city promotional tour, while the sponsor, 223 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: their record label, Cold Chilling, was pulling down sixty thousand 224 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: dollars a night. Sixty grand, Now that was cold. It 225 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: was also a wake up call the labels, the music 226 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: industry at large. They didn't care about you. They only 227 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: cared about how you could make money for them, and 228 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: also they cared about keeping as much of that money 229 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: from you as possible. Jizza, just twenty four years old, 230 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: wide eyed, optimistic, hungary, was about to be taught a 231 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: major lesson in how the world really worked. Cold Chillin 232 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: the label was not going to change Jisus's life. He 233 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: was going to have to find another way nineteen ninety one, 234 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: one year before the Dawn of Wu Tang, Jizza was 235 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: still going by his original stage name, The Genius. His 236 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: Cold Chill In Records solo debut Words from the Genius 237 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: was barely making it dent. To be completely honest, it tanked. 238 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: Very few people heard it. Lost out there somewhere between 239 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: the Tone loaks and the NWA's and the public enemies. 240 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: Jizz gave it his all. He poured his heart and 241 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: sold to every line on every track Cold Chillin poured 242 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: it all down the drain in Jesus eyes. They didn't 243 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: give him a chance, they didn't give his promotional budge 244 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: enough zeros, and now they're offering him this mere pennies 245 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: on the dollar while they raked in the big bucks. 246 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: Jizza may have been young, but he knew a screwjob when. 247 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:09,160 Speaker 2: He saw one. 248 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: Not that life as an undervalued Cold Chillin artist was unique, 249 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 1: far from it. Like Hunter S. Thompson once said, the 250 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: entertainment world is a quote long plastic hallway where thieves 251 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: and pimps run free and good men die like dogs 252 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: for no good reason. 253 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 2: Unquote. 254 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: He was actually talking about the television industry, but it 255 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: tracks for the music visz too. These recording deals were 256 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: almost always made by young artists desperate to change their reality, 257 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: and desperation will make you do just about anything, And 258 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: in the case of guys like Jizza and his brothers 259 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: in Wu Tang, a record deal meant they were doing 260 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: the impossible. They were making something of their lives. A 261 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: record deal meant you could stop running, stop dealing, stop 262 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: living hand in mouth. Thus it was easy to sign 263 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: on the dotted line, but even easier to feel like 264 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: a when he realized he'd been played. The thing is 265 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: getting played wasn't something that was exclusive to an artist's 266 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: formative years. Cold Chilling wouldn't be the only time Chizza 267 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: was going to do the math and scratch his head. Hey, 268 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: Dirty Baby, I got your money was a line that 269 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: the Riza likely never uttered, but Old Dirty Bastard's nineteen 270 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 1: ninety nine hit single was allegedly written about Riza and 271 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: how he initially balked at letting odb out of his 272 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 1: Wu Tang contract. As we covered in an earlier episode, 273 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: that sentiment was echoed by many in the group who 274 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: said they didn't have an easy time parting ways with 275 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: Wu Tang productions. Additionally, You God claimed in his autobiography 276 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: that Rizza's deep knowledge of the music industry put the 277 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: rest of the group at a distinct disadvantage. From what 278 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: I can tell, he got rich, you got rope, but 279 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: I still don't know what I'm doing. This confusion and 280 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: resentment never went away. It bubbled up time and again, 281 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: and most notably around the creation of Once Upon a 282 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: Time in Shaolin, the one of a kind album sold 283 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: to Farmer Brough Martin Chakrelli in twenty fifteen, an album 284 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: which You Got called quote some sucker shit, pure and simple. 285 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 2: Unquote. 286 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: Ray Kuan agreed in his own book, Ray called what 287 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: went down during the making of that album as quote 288 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: some of the dirtiest shit. 289 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 2: I've ever heard of. 290 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: Once Upon a Time in Shaolinn was conceived by Silver Rings, 291 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: a Dutch Moroccan rapper and producer, originally discovered by ODB 292 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: and Method Man and signed to Wu Tang Records by Rizza. 293 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: The concept of a single copy of a single album 294 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,639 Speaker 1: sold to a single buyer was, of course the end 295 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: result of the increasingly worthless nature of all recorded music, 296 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 1: most of which has now given away for next to nothing. 297 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: But Silver Rings's idea was not exactly a new one. 298 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: It harkens back to the golden age of classical music, 299 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: when music was not just art but work. In work 300 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: was time and time was money. Back when composers like Bach, Beethoven, 301 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: and Mozart to name a few, were put on retainer, 302 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: were hired outright by wealthy patrons or royalty to make 303 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: their music according to the market, and they were fairly compensated. 304 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: But there was only one Mozart, not a clan of Mozarts. 305 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,880 Speaker 1: And that's where the problem was. Once upon a time 306 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: in Shaolan starts the problem of fair compensation. Depending on 307 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: which member of Wu Tang you ask, they were either 308 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: compensated very little or not at all for this album, 309 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: And they were compensated very little or not at all 310 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: for random verses they laid down here and there, verses 311 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: they weren't even aware were being used for a new 312 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: Wu Tang record, a record that was produced in secret, 313 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: a record that sold for two million dollars, And where 314 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: was that money going? They wanted to know. At every step, 315 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: Wu Tang were kept in the dark. Even when the 316 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: album went out for auc most of the guys in 317 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: the group had never heard it. Wu Tang weren't the 318 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: only ones complaining. The artists who created the intricate Silver 319 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 1: Box said he never got paid either. Hey, silver Rings, baby, 320 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: you got my money, And the question was asked in vain. 321 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: Silver Rings wasn't answering. He wasn't in Shaoland anymore. So 322 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: the disgruntled artist went after whoever he could track down. 323 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: He sued some of the guys in Wu Tang, who, 324 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: as it turns out, were busy suing Wu Tang Productions 325 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 1: after the biggest sale in the history of recorded music. 326 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:38,360 Speaker 1: Wu Tang Clan was splintering. The lawsuits, the acrimony, the resentment. 327 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: It was the perfect moment for a guy like Martin 328 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: Chakrelly to weasel his way in and take advantage of 329 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: the crumbling foundation. But Shakrelle wasn't the only one Wu 330 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,880 Speaker 1: Tang had to worry about, because just as the group 331 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: was attempting to sort out what would become of their future, 332 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: their past was working overtime trying to catch up to them. 333 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: Renell Wilson shot the first detective in the back of 334 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: the head at point blank range. He didn't know the 335 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: cop had two sons waiting for him at home, not 336 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,439 Speaker 1: that it would have mattered. The other detective, sitting inside 337 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: the unmarked police car, begged for his life while the 338 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: first one let out on his seat. He had three kids, 339 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: for Christ's sake, and he told Wilson he'd give him 340 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: whatever he wanted. He wouldn't say shit about any of this. 341 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: Just don't kill him, not here, not now. Wilson wasn't listening. 342 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: All his life, he'd known chaos and hardship. He saw 343 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 1: plenty of foster homes and psycho valves. 344 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 2: But no happy endings. 345 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: Ever, the only thing that mattered in life was getting 346 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: what you wanted by any means necessary and right now, 347 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: Wilson wanted two things. First, the twelve hundred dollars that 348 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: the undercover detectives were carrying for this botched buy and 349 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: bust operation. Then second, no witnesses. He pointed his pistol 350 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 1: at the whimpering detective and pulled the trigger. Then he 351 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: dumped the two lifeless bodies in the middle of a 352 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: Staten Island street and drove off into the night with 353 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:14,400 Speaker 1: the cash. NYPD arrested Wilson two days later. They found 354 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: some remedial rap lyrics he scribbled on a piece of 355 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: paper bragging about being a cop killer two times over 356 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: hip hot and death. Not so strange bedfellows two constants 357 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: in the shithole of a city, So went to thinking 358 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: by members of law enforcement. Anyway, Rana Wilson didn't give 359 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: a damn with the copstole. He had no regrets and 360 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: no remorse, And the prosecution told the jury that only 361 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: a man with no remorse didn't take the stand, So 362 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: the jury sentenced Wilson to die. This was in two 363 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: thousand and seven. Three years later, Wilson's sentence was overturned 364 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: by a federal appellate panel, and the prosecution had violated 365 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: Wilson's right not to testify when they told the jury 366 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: that stuff about remorse and testifying didn't matter if that 367 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: sentiment was ultimately true or not. The law was the law. 368 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: Back in park Hill, Staten Island, where the law was 369 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: anyone's guests, Wilson's temporary reversal of fortune was caused for celebration. 370 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: Wilson's fellow sympathizers in the Bloods partied in a parking lot, 371 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:24,719 Speaker 1: including Anthony and Harvey Christian aka the Christian Brothers aka 372 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: the Undisputed Kingpins of the park hilled drug trade for 373 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: close to two decades. Now, I should say that the 374 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: Christian brothers allegedly celebrated a cop killer's stay of execution, 375 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,159 Speaker 1: as this detail was provided in the sworn testimony of 376 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,720 Speaker 1: one of their former associates, who in twenty fourteen turned 377 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: snitch for the Feds. When the Christian brothers were arrested 378 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 1: and put on trial, Anthony and Harvey Christian were accused 379 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: of running a feared in violent enterprise, charged with racketeering, 380 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 1: firearms possession, multiple counts of drug trafficking, and murder conspiracies, 381 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: including in the case of Anthony Christian, the murder of 382 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: a man named Jerome Boo Boo Estrella. Now, if the 383 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: name Jerome Estrella sounds familiar to you its ship, you 384 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: may remember him from our previous episode of Disgraceland about 385 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: Masta Kila. Estrella was the Blood's member murdered in nineteen 386 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: ninety nine, a murder that at the time the FEDS 387 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: were trying to pin on Wu Tang clan, reason being 388 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: that Estrella had supposedly robbed the Rizz's little brother, and 389 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: according to testimony from former gang members turned snitches, the 390 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 1: murder was payback alleged to have been ordered by Wu Tang. 391 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: Of course, the FBI's designation of Wu Tang Clan as 392 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: a major crime organization was old news. Their five year 393 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: investigation was closed shut had been for a decade. Their file, 394 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 1: which made connections between the hip hop group and numerous murders, 395 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: not to mention the never ending transgressions of old Dirty 396 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: Bastard was stashed deep in the bowels of a government building. 397 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: Case closed, but nothing is ever truly closed. The past 398 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: is never truly dead. It's only a matter of time 399 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: before it wakes up again. Sometimes though, it wakes up 400 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: in Steubenville, at other times on Staten Island. Once it 401 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: woke up at the House of Blues in Los Angeles 402 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: when a cryp tried to put a piece and met 403 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: the man's hand. After the notorious Big was gunned down, 404 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 1: and now in a high profile case involving two of 405 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: New York City's most dangerous drug kingpins, it woke up again. 406 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,200 Speaker 1: Anthony Christian's lawyer heard about the FBI's file on Wu 407 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: Tang Clan. He demanded to see it. What if the 408 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,239 Speaker 1: bureau's cold case had hot legs? But what of all 409 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: that existing due diligence could actually clear Anthony Christian's knee. 410 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: What I'm trying to ascertain, the lawyer said, is the 411 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,880 Speaker 1: FBI's stated belief in an official file that Wu Tang 412 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: ordered this homicide. He wasn't suggesting that Wu Tank committed 413 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: a crime. The FBI had gone ahead and done that already. Thursday, 414 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: December seventeenth, twenty fifteen, six am, New York City was 415 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: still shrouded in darkness when the knock came at the 416 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:48,439 Speaker 1: apartment door, and then another. Finally, the door opened. Federal 417 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: agents wearing neatly pressed suits with guns at their hips 418 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: and badges around their necks, flooded inside. The man inside 419 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: the apartment was barely awake, or maybe he'd never gone 420 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,120 Speaker 1: to sleep the night before. It was hard to tell 421 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: what the ones who lived outside the law for so long. 422 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: The lead agent told the man to put his hands 423 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: behind his back, and the man did as he was told, 424 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: and the agent got out his handcuffs. He locked him 425 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: tight around the man's wrists and began to read Hi 426 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: miss rites. And the agent led the man to the 427 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: front door of the apartment building and out into the 428 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: tree lined streets of Murray Hill. The Sun was struggling 429 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 1: to come up with a crowd of reporters struggled to 430 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: get a quote. The man wasn't talking. His gray hoodie 431 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,440 Speaker 1: was pulled over his head. He didn't say a word. 432 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: He just let the Feds walk them the word on 433 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: marked carr idled on the side of the street, and 434 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: then he quietly ducked inside. After a prolonged investigation, after 435 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: years of surveillance and CEOs and dead end leads of 436 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: knowing in their guts that they were right, the FBI 437 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: finally had vindication. They made an arrest, and they had 438 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: their guy. But this was not a of Wu Tang 439 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: being led away by the FBI. The man in cuffs 440 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: wasn't ghost Face Killer, nor was it the Rizza or 441 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: the Jizza. It was Martin Chakrelli. Chakrelle's purp walk was 442 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: broadcast on every major network. It was headline news. The 443 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: FEDS had an avalanche of evidence against him as one 444 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: agent put In. Chakerelle was being charged with the securities 445 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: fraud trifecta, lies, deceit, and gree Martin Chacrelli's sudden fall 446 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 1: from a smug untouchable to a disgraced con man was 447 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: satisfying to watch for most not least of all Wu 448 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: Tang clan. He defrauded investors and stole millions, and now 449 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: everything was being taken away from him, including the two 450 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: million dollar album, which was sitting in a temperature controlled 451 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: room at the Department of Justice. Wu Tang meanwhile, were 452 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: cleared of any wrongdoing in the eyes of the federal government. 453 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: Drug kingpin Anthony Christian and his life lawyer tried for 454 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: a year to get the FBI's Wu Tang case reopened, 455 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: but were unsuccessful. The Christian brothers were eventually found guilty 456 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: on all charges. Harvey Christian received a fifty year sentence, 457 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: while Anthony, who was also found guilty of the murder 458 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: of Jerome Boo Boo Estrella, got life. Martin Chakrelli got 459 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: seven years for fraud. Ghost Face Killer the method Man, 460 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: got a photo with James Comy, former FBI director, backstage 461 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: at a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Copert. 462 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: Ghost posted it on his Instagram. The US government eventually 463 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: resold Once upon a Time in Shao Lynn. In order 464 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: to satisfy the balance of Martin Chakerelly's debt, it was 465 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: purchased by a group of NFT collectors called Pleaser Dow 466 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: And don't ask me to properly pronounce that or to 467 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: explain decentralized organizations or non fungible tokens. I'm not going 468 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: to do it, but I am going to tell you 469 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: that they paid twice which Chakrelli paid for it per 470 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: the terms of the original sale. Public release of the 471 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: album is forbidden until the year twenty one three. And 472 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 1: Jizza aka the Genius aka the man Rizza once called 473 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: the head of Wu Tang's Vultron Assembly, was standing at 474 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: the podium in a lecture hall at Miit. At first 475 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: it felt funny to be there, like he was a 476 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: man out of place, like maybe he should stay in 477 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: his lane, but this was his lane, thought, imagination, expression. 478 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: No matter if it was in the classroom or on 479 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: the street corner, all of it was cosmic. Everything was 480 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: connected by dust and stars. Boards themselves were electrically charged, 481 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: and electrical charges made up subatomic particles something like that. 482 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: He was still learning since he was a little kid. 483 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: He never stopped learning. But now, in addition to battling 484 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: rappers and a cipher back in the neighborhood, he was 485 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: training thoughts with marine vieiologists, an astrophysicists, and just think him. 486 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: Gary Grice, a kid from the South Bronx, from Brooklyn, 487 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: from Staten Island, a kid obsessed with hip hop, that 488 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: musical form once derided by the public and misrepresented by 489 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: the media. He was here now as an ambassador of 490 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: that music, in that culture, at the forefront of higher education, 491 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: waxing existential to college students about quantum physics, about time 492 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: and space, but mostly about rap music. How he been 493 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: there for the Big Bang back in the seventies, and 494 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: now how he was here for four decades later, still 495 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: watching the so called globalization of hip hop take over 496 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: the entire world, from New York all the way to Japan, Europe, 497 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: Africa and everywhere in between. Just like hip hop, Jessica 498 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: not and would not stop. From Mit, he went to NYU, 499 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: and then from NYU to Harvard, and from Harvard to Oxford. 500 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: He didn't want to rule the world, and there were 501 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: enough mediocre people already trying to do that. The Martin 502 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: Chacreles and the Fbis and the Christian Brothers. He was 503 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: just trying to understand it. How so many were content 504 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,320 Speaker 1: to wallow in mediocrity, but yet had so much promise 505 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: for genius. How the years were long and the challenges 506 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: were deep, and there was tragedy and there was triumph, 507 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: and there were moments that burned bright. And there were 508 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: times when, as Jesuit explained about the current status of 509 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: Wu Tang, that match burns out. But there was always 510 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: light somewhere. The cipher was never completely broken, nothing was 511 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: ever truly over. After all, the universe was expanding. I'm 512 00:33:53,800 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by 513 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 514 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 515 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,440 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com 523 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: slash membership for details, rate and review the show, and 524 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod 525 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgracelampod 526 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: Rock and ROLLA He's a bad, bad man.