July 14, 2025
Shamus Clancy/PhillyVoice
Wu-Tang Clan will play its final concert at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday. Local record store owners say the band's debut album, 'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),' above, remains a popular vinyl album.
Wu-Tang Clan will bring the ruckus for the last time when the group takes the stage at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday, ending a three-decades run as a groundbreaking hip-hop act.
Since the group released its iconic debut album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" in 1993, Wu-Tang Clan has had an iconoclastic influence on popular culture, from the ubiquitous presence of its winged bat logo on T-shirts and dorm room posters to the way the group expanded its reached through a slew of legendary solo efforts.
MORE: Rapper Mega Ran broke into children's music to connect with his adopted son
Arik Victor, the owner of Creed Records in Northern Liberties, has watched the journey music lovers often take before arriving at Wu-Tang Clan. When people begin getting into hip-hop, Victor said, they begin with modern stars like Future or Pusha T. Then, however, comes Staten Island's finest.
"If you're into hip-hop and you're into that culture, the second step of that is Wu-Tang," Victor said.
Victor recalled being at house parties in the 1990s, when "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" was thrown. The innovative musical production of de facto group leader RZA drew immediate reactions.
"Everyone got obsessed with that record and then the solo projects started dropping," Victor said. In 1995 GZA released "Liquid Swords," Raekwon dropped "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." and Ol' Dirty Bastard put out "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version." These records only added to Wu-Tang Clan's reach and acclaim.
"Banger after banger," Victor said.
'Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)' put Wu-Tang Clan on the map, but solo records from the group's members, like GZA's 'Liquid Swords,' only added to their hip-hop footprint. Above, copies of the two albums at Records Forever in Fairmount.
"It was a brand. On South Street, there was a Wu-Tang store!" he said, recalling Wu-Tang Clan's expanding empire.
Beyond the initial shock waves the group sent the hip-hop scene, Wu-Tang Clan remains an omnipresent act for music lovers new and old. Discovering "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" is a rite of passage when taking a generational approach to appreciating music.
"We sell that vinyl every week. It's probably our No. 1 seller consistently," said Gabriel Coan, owner of Records Forever in Fairmount. "The same we sell Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors' nonstop, Amy Winehouse, 'Back to Black,' these are records that people come in and it's a sure thing. It's something they can buy right now and know it's a killer record."
Coan said the album is transcendent regardless of a given listener's genre of choice.
"It is the quintessential, original masterpiece of art the way that pieces are hanging in museums," Coan said of the first Wu-Tang album.
Coan said the team element of the group, which included nine members at its onset, lended itself to Wu-Tang Clan's appeal. It combined the collective's joint albums as well as their solo records, creating a crossover that wouldn't be out of place in a '90s comic book series.
"They were just so lovable, maybe in the way you love your favorite superhero, you love your favorite athlete, you love your favorite sports team," Conn said. "The love for Wu-Tang is not unlike the love for the Eagles in Philly, but around the world."
'Protect Ya Neck' was Wu-Tang Clan's debut single in 1992. Above, Gabriel Coan, owner of Records Forever, holds up his copy of the single on vinyl.
Shamus Clancy/PhillyVoice
Whether you're a Day 1 devotee to Wu-Tang's transformative presence or someone simply strolling into a record store and grabbing an album that has an easily recognizable cover, the legacy of Wu-Tang Clan will live on long after the curtains fall Friday night.
Follow Shamus on X: @shamus_clancy
Follow Shamus on Bluesky: @shamus
