Word: wu
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While all this may sound good--by 1998, Wu-Tang, Inc., was grossing more than $25 million a year--RZA, Divine and Oli Grant, the band's corporate brain trust, feel the group has spread itself too thin. "A few years ago, I told my brothers [fellow Clan members] that the W is gonna be like the Mickey Mouse ears," says RZA. For brands trying to be cool, though, ubiquity can be a bad thing--just ask Gucci. The W began showing up on too many things, while the band hardly showed up at all. It got to a point...
...band has taken other steps to be more corporate--all part of a plan, says RZA, to go public within five years (if the WWF sells on the N.Y.S.E., why not Wu?). Last year it bought office space in midtown Manhattan. It also owns property in New Jersey. Next year the group plans to buy a small film studio, a tie-in with its newest venture, Wu-Tang Filmz, which aims to produce big-budget movies...
There's the larger question about whether this form of mini-media conglomerate can survive. The artist-as-mogul trend (Puff Daddy and Madonna, for example) has had a bumpy ride. Whether or not Wu-Tang winds up challenging the media giants, and whether or not the world-domination thing pans out, the band has built something it may be able to live with. "Sometimes I wake up and say, 'Man, we came from nothing and look at what we've got,'" says Diggs. "I just wish America one day can take a look and realize the prodigal children...
TIME.com ON AOL Go to time.com/sampler for TIME's complete interviews with Wu-Tang's RZA and Divine
...WU-TANG CLAN's multi-platinum 1997 venture stayed on Billboard's radar for 41 weeks...