Wu Tang Clan's iconic sophomore effort Wu-Tang Forever is getting a vinyl revamp in honor of its 25th anniversary.
The legendary double project will be commemorated with a special vinyl pressing that includes a lyrical booklet, a silver-colored 7-inch single of “Triumph” with “Heaterz” as the B-side, and a reissue of the album’s double cassette in a slipcase.
Additionally, Wu-Tang also revealed they’ll be dropping a new video interview from 1997’s “Triumph” video shoot to further celebrate the occasion. They also announced Wu-Niverse, a series of short documentaries that focus on the some of the group’s biggest fans and examines their deep love of all things Wu-Tang.
Wu-Tang Forever dropped on June 3, 1997, and arrived after the group had dispersed to work on various solo efforts. The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) follow-up was a commercial juggernaut, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and moving 612,000 copies in its first week. It was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 40th annual Grammy Awards.
In other news, Wu-Tang will soon be linking up with Nas for the NY State Of Mind tour this fall. The 25-date trek will kick off in St. Louis, Missouri on August 30 and wraps up in Los Angeles, California on October 4. The rap legends will also stop in other cities such as Toronto, Atlanta and Houston.
Nas and Wu-Tang’s history runs deep. In a clip from Wu-Tang Clan’s 2019 Showtime documentary series Of Mics And Men the Illmatic lyricist recalled how he met them when he was just a teen, and watched them rise to the rap icons they are today.
“I had met RZA when he was a solo artist and when I was hearing about Wu-Tang, I kept hearing about these dudes, they were coming to places, tearing shit up everywhere they went,” he said. “I remember being around Wu and I’m like, ‘Damn, they just like us.’
“It was like cousins, almost. It was like, you know, project kids. We felt it, we smelt it off each other, and it just shows you that out of those housing projects come some brilliant people.”