It was the tail end of the Afro-Centric era: the Daisy Age, bright colors, blowsy silk shirts, and high-rise haircuts [what’s a “paisley rhyme?”]. But while Arrested Development swept the Grammys, a young Staten Island man named Robert Diggs plotted his comeback. After the failure of his debut single under the moniker Prince Rakeem, “Ooh, We Love You, Rakeem,” Diggs needed to scrounge up money, fast. They were slanging crack and weed, combination making their eyes bleed. The life of a young buck selling drugs and such got Diggs bagged up. Luckily, he was acquitted, and vowed to manifest the tremors of the streets. He amassed jewels, he become the soul controller. He became The RZA.

From "Cash Rules Everything Around Wu: A Business History of the Wu-Tang Clan" (POTW).

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE