1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: Wu Tang Clan's Rayquon are insane. As a child in 3 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: New York City, he saw dead bodies hanging from street poles, 4 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: their throats slid open. His own father was reportedly stabbed 5 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: to death. As a teenager, he was addicted to the styles, sounds, 6 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: and crimes of hip hop street culture. He stole gold, 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: chains and nightclubs. He sold weed and cocaine, and later 8 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: became a successful crack dealer. He was shot four times 9 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: and nearly killed when he found himself caught in the crossfire. 10 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: And this is all before Rayquon made great music, cooking 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: up undeniably great rhymes with the legendary Wu Tang Clan. 12 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: Unlike that clip by for You at the top of 13 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: loop from my melotron called Atomic Frog MK. 15 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 2: Two. 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 17 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: rights to Never Going to Give You Up by Rick Astley, 18 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: So why would I play you that specific slice of 19 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: Rick Roland Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,199 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on March fourteenth, nineteen 21 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: eighty eight, and that was the day that the NYPD 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: launched a street level anti drug task Force. The targeted 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: low level dealers, dealers like Ray Kwon, who found life 24 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: as he knew it was suddenly about to change. On 25 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: this episode, dead Bodies, stealing gold chains, dealing crack, a 26 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: near deadly shooting, and Wu Tang clans Ray Kwon, I'm 27 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is disgrace Land Bodies. They were 28 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: packed inside the club dancing to the music. Everything the 29 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: DJ was spinning was pretty fucking incredible. Big Daddy, Kane, 30 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: Salt and Pepper, Heavy d and the Boys. The records 31 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: on the turntables made you want to dance all night. 32 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: But to maintain stamina, to keep moving, a body needed 33 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: a little something extra. Drugs were fuel the tiger in 34 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: your tank, blunts cocaine or for the efficient user, there 35 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: were woolets joints. That's blunts with cocaine. Corey Woods, the 36 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: teenage kid the world would later know is Rayquon. He 37 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: was good with drugs. The young Rayquon aka Young Corey Here. 38 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: He didn't say no when it joined his lips or 39 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: a lion ran past his nose. But that wasn't the 40 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: reason that he was here. The club was the thing, 41 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,519 Speaker 1: The music, the style, the fashion. That's what Corey was 42 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: addicted to, not the drugs, bugle boys, Tommy Hill, figure 43 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: Ocean Pacific and Converse gold chains, flat top fades, the 44 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: lower suits and Yankees caps. And that was just the guys. 45 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: The women, Jesus, the women, fine fin e sex on fuego. 46 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: Corey couldn't get enough. Barely eighteen years old and already 47 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: it felt like he discovered the meeting of life itself. 48 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: To get dressed up, to roll with your crew out 49 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: to Union Square, the nightclub on West Fourteenth on a 50 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: Saturday night, to be fresh. In the late nineteen eighties, 51 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: at night, Union Square was packed. It pulsed with electricity. 52 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: For Corey Woods, it was the most exhilarating place you 53 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: could be. And part of that exhilaration was the palpable 54 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: sense of imminent danger. Danger was its own intoxican. If 55 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: you were one of those flag gold chains around your neck, 56 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: you'd better be ready to fight for it. Someone else 57 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: was always gunning for your shit, like that jerk off 58 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: over there, nose, bloody chain long gone, hard, lesson incoming, 59 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: and the danger didn't end when the club let out, 60 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: it got worse. In Brownsville, Brooklyn, where Corey grew up, 61 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: there were more bodies, and these bodies, however, were different. 62 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: These bodies didn't book you down like they did at 63 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: Union Square. These bodies didn't move at all. They hung 64 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,679 Speaker 1: from lampposts, tongues dangling, fat and swollen from their lips, 65 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: and they were sprawled out on sidewink, their throats cut 66 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: oozing blood. These bodies were cautionary tales. Corey's own father 67 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: was one of those bodies, or so Corey was told, 68 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: just like he was told that his dad had odeed 69 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: or that he was rotting away in some jail cell. 70 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: Thousands of deadbeat dads in New York were at the 71 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: center of stories just like those. But in reality, Corey's 72 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: father caught the sharp end of a long blade. He 73 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: lived that street life long enough, and that street life 74 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: is bound to catch up with you. Corey never knew 75 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: his dad, but he knew he didn't want to become 76 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: his dad, just another body on the street, and that 77 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: was easier said than done. Even on Staten Island, where 78 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: Corey's mom eventually moved their family, he had the crack 79 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: game led by a Jamaican crew from Brooklyn that had 80 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: recently muscled their way into the neighborhood. And you had 81 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: mom's latest boyfriend, some asshole who left her bruised and 82 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: bloodied after another one of their explosive arguments. But while 83 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: temptation and corruption lurked around every corner, there were some 84 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: positive things to focus on. Not a boring part time 85 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: job at the amp. I'm talking run DMC beat street 86 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: crush groove. I'm talking hip hop, listening to it, watching it, 87 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: making it, beatboxing and freestyling to pass the time, and 88 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: then on to writing his own rhymes. What it felt 89 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: like Corey had something unique to say, and when he 90 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: wasn't saying it, he was spraying cans of paint shaken 91 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: up to a bee Boy rhythm, graffiti tagging that broke 92 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: down canvas of the streets. Mostly, though, Corey was occupied 93 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: by his pursuit of style. He had flavor for days, 94 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: but flavor style and peckable taste. It ain't cheap A 95 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: dope pair of pants and a nice pair of shoes. 96 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: That shit's going to cost you more than the kind 97 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: of money and minimum wage job back in groceries that 98 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: the amp is going to provide. So if you wanted 99 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: a chain like the ones he saw dudes wearing in 100 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: the club, Corey was gonna have to take that chain. 101 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: And the easiest way to do that was to find 102 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: an easy mark. Some dummy out on the dance floor 103 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: thought he was hot shit because he was wearing hot shit. 104 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: But and this is the important part, the dummy out 105 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: of the dance floor could not be rolling with a 106 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: crew that had his back. You and your boys dance 107 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: over in his general direction. You get close, you make 108 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: like you don't even notice a dude, and then bam, 109 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: you rip the gold dangling from his neck. When he 110 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: goes on the defensive, when he puffs his chest out, 111 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: it's like, what the fuck, give me back my shit. 112 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: That's the other dudes in your crew, The biggest dudes 113 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: close in on him and convince him to get lost 114 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: or else. Sometimes it wasn't even that complicated. Sometimes it 115 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: was straight up cold blooded, like, yo, you take off 116 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: your fucking shoes? Take them off? What'd you say? How 117 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: are you supposed to get home with no shoes? That 118 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: sounds like a U problem. Now give me your fucking kicks. 119 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: Problems were everywhere, just like the bodies. Problems were around 120 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: every corner. Growing up in the projects, Corey was surrounded 121 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: by dealers and users, guys who kept the peace under 122 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: their shirts, Guys who did real time. Taking the next 123 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: evolutionary step in crime from robbing people to selling them 124 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: dope seemed not only like a smart move business wise 125 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: for Corey, but for a kid like him from the 126 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: Staten Island projects, it seemed like the only move small time. 127 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: At first, buy an eight ball of cocaine or an 128 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: ounce of weed and break it down into smaller portions 129 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: and sell the little baggies at a profit, and just 130 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 1: be careful where you sell it. On Staten Island, the 131 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: Jamaicans corner the market on crack and everything else. To 132 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: challenge a crew that powerful then that feared, would be 133 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: like walking up to the biggest dude in the club 134 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: all by yourself and demanding he'd give up that gold 135 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: chain right off of his neck. And that was most 136 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: definitely not wise. That was how you ended up just 137 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: another body the street. His ears were ringing a blinding, 138 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: high pitched hum and cut through his skull. He pulled 139 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: himself from the floor and clung to the railing on 140 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: the stairs. He started to climb each step harder than 141 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: the last. Jesus his legs. His legs hurt, His legs 142 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: felt like they were on fire. He could hardly breathe. 143 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: He stopped. Chill man, chill out, catch your breath. He 144 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: pulled up his left hand leg and looked down. Two holes. 145 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: Flesh ripped apart, blood everywhere. Bullets went in, bullets went out. Now, 146 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: he pulled up the pant leg. Deja vu. Two more 147 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: bullet holes in and out. He made it to the 148 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: second floor, dragged himself to the apartment door, banged hard 149 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: with his fist, and his little sister answered. She looked 150 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: at her brother, bleeding and limping, thought about the noises 151 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: she'd just heard, and put two and two together. His 152 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: mother didn't say anything, just gave him that look. He 153 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: knew that look. He hated that look. She maintained that 154 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: look and dialed nine one one. Corey Woods didn't live 155 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: here anymore. His lifestyle didn't suit his mom's strict rules. 156 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: She told him that even though he was eighteen, he 157 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: could live with her as long as he liked. He 158 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: just had to be home by nine thirty every night, 159 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: and that was a deal breaker, especially for a guy in. 160 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 2: His line of work. 161 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: Cream cash dollar dollar bills. Y'alled he made a lot 162 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: of that money well beyond nine thirty every night. At 163 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: this time in the late eighties, Corey and his crew 164 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: were selling seven hundred dollars of crack at night out 165 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: of an apartment club on Staten Island. Seven hundred dollars 166 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: on a decent night. On Friday nights, when the clientele 167 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: had paychecks burning holes in their pockets, they made even 168 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: more because that's who was buying, not strung out junkies, 169 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: people with steady jobs and steady incomes who just so 170 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: happened to smoke some crack on the side. Corey called 171 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: the clubhouse a quote crack country club unquote. Just like 172 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: he had great taste in clothes and style, Corey had 173 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: great taste in drunks. And the shit wasn't synthetic like 174 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: some of the cheaper rock you find from other dealers 175 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: in the city. This was Peruvian white, bought by the 176 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: quarter kilo and cooked up in the kitchen. You could 177 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: even call Corey a chef word get around. The clubhouse 178 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: filled up on evenings, not unlike the Union Square nightclub bodies, 179 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 1: handing over cash and then hanging around like it was 180 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: a VFW hall, but instead of playing bingo, they were 181 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 1: smoking crack and getting high. But when it got that 182 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: packed inside, Corey wore a gas mask, all the smoke 183 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: out of his lungs, because if you're the guy holding 184 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: all the money and all the product, can't risk getting 185 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: high in a room full of crackheads. Even these crackheads 186 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: a fiends of fiends, a fiend, give them an inch 187 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: and they take a mile. Every time Corey was on alert, 188 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: he was careful. He read the room, read the hallway, 189 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: read the whole building, not just the users. There was 190 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: another dealer living in this place, a dealer connected to 191 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: the Jamaican crew, the crew you didn't mess with. Technically, 192 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,440 Speaker 1: Corey wasn't selling on this guy's turf. It was the 193 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: other way around. This dealer wanted in on Corey's action. 194 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: The dealer had a kid run interference in the vestibule 195 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: in the hallway and plucked buyers before they reached the 196 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: clubhouse where Corey was dealing. The Now, Corey carried a piece. 197 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: Most dudes running drugs they did. They carried guns and 198 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: was part of the gig. But most dudes weren't like Corey. 199 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: Most dudes couldn't wait for an excuse to pull a 200 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: clock from their and start shooting. Corey wasn't that stupid, 201 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: especially when it came to other dealers sweating his crew, 202 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: and definitely when those dealers were connected to bigger and 203 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: batter operations. What was he going to do about this 204 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: other dude selling in this building? Go all sunny, Cory 205 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: leone on the competition. He knew how that movie ended. 206 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: Corey was smarter than that. Unlike one of his guys 207 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: who did put some bullets into that kid's car, the 208 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: kid who was running interference for the dealer connected to 209 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: the Jamaicans. One of Corey's guys shot up the car 210 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: while the kid was in it, and not just the kid, 211 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 1: but also the kid's girl and their baby. Said it 212 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: was a warning, stop stepping on their business. You want 213 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: to bed if that warning had passed along, it didn't think. 214 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: Corey was furious. This was the worst part about working 215 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: with other people, having to take the heat for someone 216 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: else's bullshit. Now Corey had to live every minute of 217 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: every day fearing retaliation, fearing that the Jamaicans would not 218 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: hesitate to put a bullet in his head. And that 219 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,319 Speaker 1: kind of fear doesn't go away. If becomes part of you. 220 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: You live with it, just like you live with a 221 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,959 Speaker 1: nose that breeze air or a dick that swings between 222 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: your legs. You try to be relaxed in any given situation, 223 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: but you can't. Being relaxed never comes naturally again, even 224 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: just chilling with some friends on the corner. Shooting the 225 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: shit mining your own business is an exercise and being prepared. 226 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: Corey and his friends stopped talking to watch that the 227 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: guy step out of his car. Corey knew what was 228 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: about to happen, he could feel it. Dude was seconds 229 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: away from flashing his piece. Then this guy was no stranger. 230 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: He had beef with one of Corey's friends, a friend 231 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: who is standing next to Corey on the street corner. 232 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: And this wasn't Corey's beef didn't matter. Beef didn't discriminate, 233 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: Beef didn't adjust its intensity or trajectory in order to 234 00:14:54,360 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: minimize collateral damage. Catching bullets is all about proximity. Corey 235 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: had to get lost and he leaped to his feet. 236 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: He ran fast. He heard gunshots are up behind him 237 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: like firecrackers. He fled into the lobby of a nearby 238 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: apartment building, which just so happened to be his mother's 239 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: apartment building. And though it was no longer his home, 240 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: he thought he was safe here. He was wrong. His 241 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: friend was the first one to follow him. Inside. Dude's 242 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: gun was jammed. He struggled to unjam it. Corey panicked, 243 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: and the other guy came in fast through the front door, 244 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 1: glock in his hand, twenty two shot clip. He started shooting, 245 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: shot after shot after shot. Corey hit the floor. The 246 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: sound of bullets pinged around the lobby. They whizzed over 247 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: his head as he crawled towards the stairs, stairs that 248 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: were so close. But when he grew caught in the 249 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: middle of a gunfight, and time slows to a crawl, 250 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: the same crawl you are physically making across a dirty 251 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: lobby floor. The stairs are also so far away. The 252 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: lobby filled with smoke, and that ringing, that blinding, high 253 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: pitch hum, and it began to rattle in Corey's skull. 254 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: Then there were other things rattling around in there too, memories, 255 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: bodies hanging from poles, his father bleeding out from a knife, 256 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: woon somewhere Jamaican drug dealers looking to even the score. 257 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: And then it was all over. The shooting stopped, the 258 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: guy with the glock was gone, and the smoke began 259 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: to clear. And that's when Corey felt it. Pain, first 260 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: in one leg and then in the other, like someone 261 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: was holding a torch to his skin, searing sick to 262 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: your stomach pain. Corey had been shot twice in his 263 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: right thigh. Both of those bullets missed bones and major arteries, 264 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: and of the two bullets that hit his left leg, 265 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: one shattered a big chunk of bone just beneath his kneecap. 266 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: Surgeons had to cut through a lot of cartilage to 267 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: repair the damage, and they told him he'd never walked 268 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: the same again. But still, despite the fact that Corey 269 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: had been shot twice in each leg, despite the permanent 270 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: damage his injuries would leave behind, despite a year long 271 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: recovery period that found him laid up in the one 272 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: place he never thought he'd returned, to his mom's apartment. 273 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: Corey was lucky, but he was also reflective. He had 274 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: a lot of time to think about his legs, about 275 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: his girlfriend, who saw the shooting as a wake up 276 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 1: call and left him about how all of it, the drugs, 277 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: the hustling, the drama, all of it depressed the hell 278 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: out of them. All this reflection made him crave something else, 279 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: some meaning, some purpose. He found meeting from the guys 280 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: who had it worse than him, Guys in the neighborhood 281 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: who had done hard time were trying to sort out 282 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: the rest of their lives. Those older guys let the 283 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: teachings of the five percent Nation do the sorting. One 284 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: of the ways in which the five percent Nation helped 285 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: you find your way was to give you a new identity. 286 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: All five percenters changed their names. Corey chose Young God 287 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: Allah Young God for short. He looked to the supreme 288 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: numbers for clarity, for knowledge and wisdom. Act upon what 289 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: you know. Knew that he couldn't find himself from this 290 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: situation again, caught in the crossfire. So what was he 291 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: going to do about it? How is he going to 292 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: act now? And that's where purpose came in. He began 293 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: to write more rhymes. Spiral notebook perched on his lap. 294 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: He had inspiration from his mom's old records. Cool in 295 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:23,120 Speaker 1: the Game Diana Ross, the Jackson five in the Rhymes 296 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: of Contemporary Masters, like Slick Rick and rock Him. He 297 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: wrote non stop in the words poured out of them. 298 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,679 Speaker 1: But even though he was creatively and spiritually invigorated, Corey 299 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,199 Speaker 1: was a realist. Whether he was calling himself Corey or 300 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,360 Speaker 1: a young God, he knew that once he was fully healed, 301 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,439 Speaker 1: it wasn't like he could just walk down the street 302 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: and score a record deal. In all likelihood, he'd have 303 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,199 Speaker 1: to go back to dealing, at least for now. It 304 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: was all he had. But he'd do it with this 305 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: newfound wisdom, wisdom that didn't let him forget that his 306 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: time on the street was going. 307 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 2: To run out. 308 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. 309 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 2: We're We're where. 310 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: The van kept its distance, white paint, tinted windows, rust 311 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: creeping its way from the bottom up, expired registration sticker 312 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: on the plate. The van was unexceptional, just another beater 313 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: parked in the block, and the chaos of the park 314 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: Hill neighborhood paid it in no mind. Inside the van, 315 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: a real to reel spun. Garbled voices crackled from a 316 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: set of headphones perched on a man's head, binoculars hung 317 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: from his neck, Smoke trailed from the cigarette dangling from 318 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: his mouth, he listened, he watched, and he waited, waiting 319 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: for a signal, And when that signal came, all hell 320 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: broke loose. In the spring of nineteen eighty eight, the 321 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: New York Police Department began to crack down on the sale, distribution, 322 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: and the use of illegal drugs throughout the city. They 323 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: did this by creating a task force called the Tactical 324 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: Narcotics Team TNT for short. Undercover officers hit the streets 325 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: to carry out buy and bust operations that went like this. 326 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: One cop buys drugs, Another cop watches the deal go 327 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: down from a safe distance, and then calls him backup 328 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: to make the arrest. Their efforts were aimed at a 329 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: very specific target, low level dealers. You bust see small 330 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: frye neighborhood types. You grill them, and then you pass 331 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 1: along whatever intel you got to the Feds, who were 332 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: busy chasing down the real targets, kingpins, cartels, even hip 333 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: hop groups. The FBI's shortlist of so called major criminal 334 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:50,719 Speaker 1: organizations would soon include, alongside names like the Gambino crime family, 335 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: none other than Wu Tang Clan. But before that happened 336 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: back in nineteen eighty eight, on its first day pounding 337 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,680 Speaker 1: the pavement. Then he task force arrested over twenty dealers 338 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: in Queens. When operations expanded into Manhattan, eighty two vials 339 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: of crack were seized in ninety minutes. But by the 340 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: time TNT hit the streets on Staten Island, where Corey 341 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: Woods excuse me, Young god Allah had resumed dealing, the 342 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: ground level drug trade had gotten wise. Dealers were paying 343 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: people in the neighborhood upwards of one hundred bucks a 344 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,640 Speaker 1: day to act as lookouts. They perched on fire escapes, 345 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: they hung out of windows, They sat in folding chairs 346 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk. Then they disrupted. The CoP's own disruption came. Still, 347 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: TNT wasn't going to be stopped by a bunch of 348 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: lookout kids. The NYPD was pumping a ton of cash 349 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: into this operation, and even if the dealers continued to 350 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: find ways to be subversive, moving drugs had become overly complicated. 351 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: Slinging dope on a stoop or out of an apartment 352 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: clubhouse would never be simple again. Corey felt the squeeze 353 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: since he returned to dealing drugs after recovering from his 354 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 1: gunshot wounds. He'd been harassed by cops who caught him 355 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: with a suspiciously large amount of cash during an early 356 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: morning raid on the projects. The cops weren't wearing cop clothes. 357 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: They blended him. They looked just like another weekend crack 358 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: warrior for a fix. Corey had no idea how long 359 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: they've been watching him, but what kind of intel they had. 360 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: They were probably others too, hidden away in vans, reel 361 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: to reels, rolling microphones hot If they had something on him, 362 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: they didn't say. They hadn't witnessed him making a sale, 363 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: but they knew where that money came from. And now 364 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: they had not just his face, but his name, a 365 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: name that would soon become part of a larger file. 366 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: Corey had other pressing concerns beyond the NYPD. He was 367 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: shot again, this time while driving his uncle's Buick through 368 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: a neighborhood he wasn't supposed to be in. Two dozen 369 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: bullets pierced the car in rapid succession. Miraculously, Corey sped 370 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: away unscathed, and the rivalry between the park Hill and 371 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: Stapleton projects on Stuftn Island was increasing. Park Hill and 372 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 1: Stapleton were oil and water. Park Hill dudes did coke 373 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: and weed. Stapleton dudes, on the other hand, smoked wet 374 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: or weed dipped in a mixture of angel dust and 375 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: embalming fluid crews riding two distinctly different highs had a 376 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: real hard time riding together. So there were disputes. We're 377 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: better than you wore street brawls, knives, sliced open skin, 378 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: baseball bats, but open heads. Some days you felt like 379 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: you were drowning in it all. But no matter how 380 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: hard you tread water, no matter how many rhymes you rode, 381 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,159 Speaker 1: or how dedicated you could be to the craft, to 382 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: the thing you truly loved most of all, to hip hop, 383 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: that it was all useless, that the undertoe of the 384 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: streets would eventually pull you to the bottom. Then, Lucky 385 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,520 Speaker 1: for Corey, though he knew a guy, a guy with 386 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: a blueprint for a way out. Corey Woods had known 387 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: Bobby Digs since they were little kids. Bobby was always 388 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,719 Speaker 1: a good dude, the kind of dude who would give 389 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: you the shard off his back, even though he shared 390 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: that shirt with his brother, even though he had next 391 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 1: to nothing. And that was then, and this was now 392 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: September nineteen ninety two. Corey was no longer Corey, nor 393 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: was he young god Allah anymore. That name made him 394 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: sound like a kid. He was now going by Raikwan, 395 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: a name is fresh and flavorful. As a style of clothes, 396 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: he wore a name inspired by some of the names 397 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: of his older five percenters who served as his mentors. 398 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: And Bobby was no longer Bobby. He was, now, of course, 399 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: the Rizza aka the Resurrecta aka the guy who beat 400 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: an intempted murder charge. Was born anew with purpose and 401 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: meaning and was ready to use his wisdom that's Supreme 402 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: number two to pull himself and eight other dudes out 403 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: of a life of poverty and crime. Yes, I'm aware 404 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: that eventually a tenth member, Capadonna, was added to the mix, 405 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: but we'll get to him later. So he assembled the 406 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: team at his house that two thirty four morning Star 407 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,360 Speaker 1: Road on Staten Island, where he made his pitch. Give 408 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: him five years and he'd take all nine of them 409 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: to number one. But as Rayquon stood in the Rizza's 410 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: living room surrounded by these eight other guys, he wasn't 411 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: feeling all kumbay ah, my lord. He was surprised to 412 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: see Dennis Coles aka ghost Face Killa. Also in the room, 413 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: ghost Face was a Stapleton Dude. Two other park Killed 414 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: denizens that were present, not just Rayquon, but Lamont Hawkins 415 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: aka You God, Jason Hunter aka Inspected Deck, and Clifford 416 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: Smith aka methan Man. Ghost Face was the competition a 417 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: sworn enemy. In fact, someone from Rayqwon's crew had recently 418 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: shot out the windows of ghost face mother's house in 419 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: retaliation for something that ghost Face had done. They should 420 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: have been at each other's throats and there should have 421 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: been gunshots in blood, but the Rizza wanted peace. No 422 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: more beefs. Beefs led to bodies, so did egos. The 423 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: only way to get that cream was by putting that 424 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: other shit aside, and cream Cash was king. 425 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 2: It ruled everything. 426 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,719 Speaker 1: In December of nineteen ninety two, just months after that 427 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: first official meeting, Wu Tang Clan self released their debut 428 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: twelve inch single Protect Your Neck Took No Prisoners. The 429 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: track was a verbal onslaught, unlike anything that was happening 430 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 1: in hip hop at the time. One after the other 431 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: members of the clan traded versus in dizzying fashion, their 432 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:57,919 Speaker 1: razor sharp tongues flaunting the Wu Tang style. That style 433 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: was cocky, defiant. It was often delivered in code code aside, 434 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: though the gist was easy to get, and the gist 435 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: was this all other rappers had better beware, and the 436 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 1: Rizzas production sounded dusty and faded, contrary to the slick 437 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: sounds coming from Doctor Dre and his cronies on the 438 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: West Coast. Protect your neck. Few samples of funk and 439 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: R and B with evocative springs from Gamble and huff 440 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: erro of Philly Soul, not to mention the sounds of 441 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: Kung Fu fight. Take it from one of the Rizzes 442 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: beloved movies executioners from Shooing the kind of the left 443 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: field touchstone that would become his calling card. The whole 444 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: thing was a labor of love, and back then samplers 445 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,919 Speaker 1: only took quarter inch plugs, so if you were sampling 446 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: an old movie from a videotape, it was a whole thing. 447 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 1: One chord out from the VCR and into a mixer, 448 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: another chord out of the mixer's headphone jacket into the sampler. 449 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: The chain of chords produced a very distorted signal which 450 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: may have phased other producers, but Rizza, using his limitations 451 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,880 Speaker 1: as strengths, made the degraded sound work to his advantage. 452 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: Then there was the manual nature of it. All missed 453 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: the part you wanted a sample and even by a 454 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: second stop, rewind the tape, do it again, and the 455 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: other Wu Tang members didn't witness this process. Rizza just 456 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: had each of them lay down their bars on the 457 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,880 Speaker 1: microphone and then he cut them up in the order 458 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,679 Speaker 1: he wanted, lay it on the samples and assembled the 459 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: track overnight, and when the rest of the group heard 460 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: it for the first time the next day, they were mesmerized. 461 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: Record labels, on the other hand, weren't so easily sold. 462 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: A nine man hip hop group was a clusterfuck? How 463 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: do you market that? Who was the star? And then 464 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 1: there was how the Rizza wanted to structure the deal. 465 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: He wanted Wu Tang as a whole to sign with 466 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: a record label, but the deal would be written in 467 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: a way that all nine guys can make solo records 468 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: with any other label they chose, And that was completely 469 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: asked backwards from the way record labels traditionally structured deals. 470 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: So what was Wu Tang gonna do? They hustled just 471 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: like Raykuon hustled Crack on the streets of Staten Island. 472 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: They showed up unannounced at eighty nine point nine WKCRFM 473 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: while the legendary Stretch and Barbido Show was on the air, 474 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: a copy of the Protect Your Neck twelve inch in 475 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: hand and demanded it be played now. They hit back 476 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: at record stores that wouldn't carry the record by pilfering 477 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: customers from those stores and selling copies out of the 478 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: trunk of their car. All this gorilla marketing and sales technique, 479 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: it built up considerable buzz and strong sales. Steve Rifkin 480 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: of Loud Records, an indie label distributed by RCA, was 481 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: impressed by how many copies the group was moving on 482 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: their own, and when he heard Protect Your Neck, he 483 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: heard something unique, something that no one else was doing. 484 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: Where others saw a complicated web of personalities, Rifkin saw 485 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: a massive opportunity. Riffkin was also a kindred soul. His 486 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: father released a single by the Fatback Band in nineteen 487 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: seventy nine, one of the contenders for the first ever 488 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: rap record. Rifkin himself held hip hop artists on the 489 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: Delicious vinyl label. Get MTV airplay. The deal that Wu 490 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: Tang eventually struck with Loud Records wasn't the biggest deal 491 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: money wise. The advance was just sixty grand, but it 492 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: gave the members the autonomy they wanted when it came 493 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: to solo releases, and also allowed the group to retain 494 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: their name merchandising and publishing. It was a landmark deal 495 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: in the history of hip hop, and Wu Tang's nineteen 496 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: ninety three debut album was a landmark hip hop release. 497 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: Just two months after entering the Wu Tang, thirty six 498 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: Chambers was released. It went gold. Lorizza's vision was working, 499 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: Ray Kwon and the members of Wu Tang Clan could 500 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: finally look in the rear view and see the struggles 501 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: of their past were seating, or so they thought. April 502 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 1: twenty ninth, nineteen ninety four, San Francisco, Raykwon, ghost Face Killa, 503 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: and method Man sat in the back of the minivan. 504 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: The West Coast promotional tour for thirty six Chambers had 505 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: been a blur so far, but right now they weren't 506 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: thinking about promotional tours, or about how they had come 507 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: out of nowhere to dominate the consciousness of hip hop culture, 508 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: or how their debut album and album They Made Their 509 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: Way had gone gold. It was still selling like crazy. 510 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: Right now, they were thinking about the cruiser that had 511 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: been following their van for miles San Francisco police and 512 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: what the hell did the cops want. They hadn't done 513 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 1: anything wrong. This wasn't Staten Island, this wasn't the past, 514 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: This was now. This was California. A Wu tang was 515 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: worldwide legit. The police cruiser hung back like a bad memory, 516 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: an old wound. Corey felt the fear bubble up, that 517 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: same fear that had been a part of him ever 518 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: since one of the guys shot up the car that 519 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: belonged to someone connected to the Jamaican drug crew. The 520 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: cruiser was mimicking their every move. The van made it right, 521 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: the cruiser made it right. The van slowed down and 522 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: the cruiser kept pace. And this went on for a 523 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: good five minutes before suddenly, and seemingly without reason, the 524 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 1: blue lights came on and then a siren. The van's 525 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: driver pulled over. Cops were approaching on foot now, shotguns 526 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: drawn and raised. Exit the van on the driver's side 527 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 1: and keep your hands where we can see them. Ray 528 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: Kuan and Method Man did as they were told. Ghost 529 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: Face Killer, however, went out the passenger side and the 530 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: cops got nervous and cocked the shotguns on the ground. 531 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: All of you now, two more on mark police cars 532 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: pulled up, more cops, more shotguns, locked and loaded. Ray 533 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,479 Speaker 1: Ghost of Meth hit the pavement face first. They all 534 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: felt boots squash onto their backs, their lips tasted gravel, 535 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: and they were handcuffed. The van was searched, and then 536 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: they were taken down town, each in a separate police 537 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: car and questioned. Forty five minutes later, they were released. 538 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: San Francisco PD didn't issue an apology. They did issue 539 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: a statement explaining that the Wu Tang clan members fit 540 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,440 Speaker 1: the description of some other black men who happened to 541 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: be riding around in a van and robbing stores. Although 542 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: we respect the fact that the police felt they had 543 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: a job to do, method Man said, after the trio 544 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: was set free, the manner in which we were treated 545 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: was totally uncalled for. Method Man and his fellow clan 546 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: members didn't know it then, but on that very same day, 547 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 1: all the way back in New York, a similar incident 548 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 1: was taking place. Only this incident involved the NYPD and 549 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,120 Speaker 1: a Staten Island resident, a man who was close to 550 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: some members of the Wu Tang clan, except this man 551 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't catch a break like Ray, Ghost and Math, and 552 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: by the end of the night, this man would be 553 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: another body on the ground, beaten, bloody, lifeless, dead. I'm 554 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,759 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this episode of Disgraceland is to be continued. 555 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 556 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 557 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 558 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 559 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 560 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 561 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash Membership. Members can listen 562 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,879 Speaker 1: to every episode of Disgraceland ad free, Plus you'll get 563 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:53,760 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, 564 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 565 00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, rate and 566 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,280 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram. TikTok, Twitter, 567 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgraceslampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com, 568 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: slash at disgracelampod, rock a roller. 569 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 2: He's a bad don man.