STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- Wu-Tang Clan is for the children. Even their children know that.
Sons of the legendary hip-hop group’s founding members came together to create “2nd Generation Wu,” a music group consisting of iNTeLL, the son of U-God; PXWER, son of Method Man; SUN GOD, son of Ghostface Killah and “Young Dirty Bastard,” son of the late “Old Dirty Bastard.”
“Growing up, I’ve always had the mindset of 'I am who I am, my father is who he is,” iNTeLL told SILive.com. “We’re all next in line to receive ‘Wu-Tang is forever’ but at the same time, we all have our own unique sound and we’re ready to share that together.”
The group dropped its debut single this month titled “7 O.D.” through Dock Street Records, based inside Amendment 18 in Stapleton. The opening lyric to the debut single is “God made everything around me; Forget about the money; None of it is real y’all.” (The video below has some choice language that may not be suitable for audiences of all ages. Viewers digression is advised.)
“2nd Generation Wu" dropped their single around the 26th anniversary of Wu-Tang Clan’s praised album “Enter the Wu-Tang.”
A HIP-HOP FAMILY TREE
Since the early 90′s when members of Wu-Tang Clan found themselves rapping in the streets of Shaolin, a familial connection was created and passed on to the lives of their children.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” on Hulu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
iNTeLL and PXWER are blood related through their mothers. The pair spent their lives pursuing music through Staten Island events and New York City venues. Over the course of 10 years, connections to the offspring of the other Wu-Tang Clan members began to form and the group -- 2nd Generation Wu" -- officially made their debut at a local hip-hop show on the stage of Amendment 18 in July.
“Once I was aware that we all do music, I was like ‘holy s***,'” iNTeLL said. “We aren’t really in communication like that but we all have music in our DNA. Now imagine if we all get together. How powerful that would be.”
The group wants to make one thing clear: They are not a cover band of their fathers. “2nd Generation” members honor the Wu-Tang legacy with hooks that pay homage to the group’s greatest hits but claim they’re more interested in paving their own way.
“We’re infusing the sounds of our fathers to create a new Wu-Tang dynasty,” iNTeLL said. “Even in the first single, we made sure to add pieces of our fathers music underneath our raps so we can give the fans clues as to who our fathers were.”
WU-TANG CLAN REACTS TO ‘2ND GENERATION’
Although the group is founded on cementing the Wu-Tang Clan legacy, members say they have not gotten around to telling all the members of the original hip-hop group.
“I’m not sure how he feels, I have yet to speak with him about that,” iNTeLL said when asked if U-God, his father, approves of his latest venture. “He’s supportive of everything I do but with the ‘2nd Generation Wu’ stuff because it’s only been a few days since the single drop, I’m not sure if he’s heard it yet.”
PXWER, son of Method Man played the track for his father who has been “in his corner” through this venture.
“He’s supportive and he’s just letting me do what I do," PXWER said. ““I take serious pride in being a child of Wu-Tang but we’re also trying to cement ourselves in our careers.”
“2nd Generation Wu” members say they will release a music video to their debut single by the end of 2019 and plan to drop an album in the “near future." “7 O.D,” produced by Jo-Jo Pellegrino and J.Glaze, racked up 29,000 views in three days.
“We comin’ in strong,” iNTeLL said. “This isn’t a ‘dip our toe in’ kind of thing. This plan is in full force, we here.”
