Raw: My Journey into the Wu-Tang

by Lamont U-God Hawkins

Selected as a Best Book of the Year by Esquire

"Couldn't put it down." – Charlamagne Tha God
"Mesmerizing." – Raekwon da Chef
"Insightful, moving, necessary." – Shea Serrano
"Cathartic." –The New Yorker
"A classic." –The Washington Post

The explosive, never-before-told story behind the historic rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, as told by one of its founding members, Lamont "U-God" Hawkins.

“It’s time to write down not only my legacy, but the story of nine dirt-bomb street thugs who took our everyday life—scrappin’ and hustlin’ and tryin’ to survive in the urban jungle of New York City—and turned that into something bigger than we could possibly imagine, something that took us out of the projects for good, which was the only thing we all wanted in the first place.” —Lamont "U-God" Hawkins

The Wu-Tang Clan are considered hip-hop royalty. Remarkably, none of the founding members have told their story—until now. Here, for the first time, the quiet one speaks.

Lamont “U-God” Hawkins was born in Brownsville, New York, in 1970. Raised by a single mother and forced to reckon with the hostile conditions of project life, U-God learned from an early age how to survive. And surviving in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s was no easy task—especially as a young black boy living in some of the city’s most ignored and destitute districts. But, along the way, he met and befriended those who would eventually form the Clan’s core: RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, and Masta Killa. Brought up by the streets, and bonding over their love of hip-hop, they sought to pursue the impossible: music as their ticket out of the ghetto.

U-God’s unforgettable first-person account of his journey,from the streets of Brooklyn to some of the biggest stages around the world, is not only thoroughly affecting, unfiltered, and explosive but also captures, in vivid detail, the making of one of the greatest acts in American music history.

Genres: Music, Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, Hip Hop, Autobiography, Audiobook

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2018

About the author

Born Lamont Jody Hawkins, U-God is an American rapper and hip-hop artist and one of the founding members of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan. A native New Yorker, Raw is his first book.

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! And it's cool to know that most of the Wu-Tang Clan members felt similar to the way I did about the albums that came after Wu-Tang Forever.

My only real complaint is I feel like this could've been about 300 pages longer. Especially in the first half of the book, it feels like he's just blowing through stories in a paragraph that could've been expanded into whole chapters. Like at the beginning of one chapter about halfway through, he writes, "I made it through a short misadventure in Sacramento when I was seventeen, and got rushed out by the Crips and Bloods with just two thousand dollars left from my initial six-thousand dollar investment." That's it. That's all he says about it. Dude! What happened in Sacramento? Similarly, with a lot of the stuff about growing up in Staten Island, I kept wanting him to slow down and go deeper. Tell me more about that guy! What happened to that kid after that? But I guess "I wish this was longer" is a pretty good problem to have, and I enjoyed reading this.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: Changing my rating to 5/5. Since I read this book it has been on my mind. The truths from it have really stuck with me; I learned a lot and this is a hugely underrated piece of work that can directly contribute to anti-racism unlearnings.

Original review:

This book unexpectedly came into my life and I didn't have many expectations. I dont listen to Wu-Tang and I have no prior knowledge on the author. I was surprised to find it was a powerful and inspiration memoir about the journey to Black power, self-actualization and how one man pulled himself out a street lifestyle by his love of music.

U-God's story is raw, as the title suggests. He does not shy away from telling the honest truth of what living in the New York Projects was like for a kid in the 80s. This book is rife with violence, crime, drugs and heart breaking moments.

It also serves as an emotional testament to the power of will. U-God said I dont want to be a hustler and made change for himself. To read through his determination to be more, to end the cycle of poverty and change his life is incredibly inspiring.

I was also amazing at how many hard topics U-God touched on. He discussed Black mental health and the lack of resources in the 'hood. He openly discusses attending therapy.

He also discusses police violence and the systemic racism that kept poor Black people, poor. He also goes in depth into how broken the prison and justice system are, especially in regards to how he was treated as a young black man.

These hard-hitting moments and big topics surprised me, I anticipated this would solely be a book about music. How rhymes were written and what went down on tour, etc. While this book certainly contains a lot about Wu if that's what you're looking for, but it's so much more than an inside glance at a legendary music group.

[Niklas Pivic · Rating 3 out of 5]

What distinguishes this book from a lot of other fairly bad memoirs—e.g. RZA's "The Wu-Tang Manual" and Wiley's "Eskiboy"—is how "U-God" Watkins doesn't brag that much. For example, this is from the start of the book:

My mother’s from Brownsville, Brooklyn. She was raised in the same project building as Raekwon’s mother, at 1543 East New York Avenue, in Howard Houses. The Brownsville projects were the wildest, period. Ask anybody from New York City what part of Brooklyn is the roughest, they’re gonna say Brownsville. Some projects you could walk through. Some you couldn’t. At its worst, you couldn’t walk through Brownsville. You couldn’t walk through Fort Greene or Pink Houses either. The tension and violence was always in the air in those places. Guaranteed there was gonna be fights topped off with a few people getting cut or stabbed, and even back then there might have been a shooting or two. Someone would probably end up dead by the end of the ruckus. That’s why I don’t like going back to my old projects nowadays; I feel like the spirits of my old comrades are calling to me. They’re still haunting the projects they hustled at and got killed in.

That's a spiritual thing. It's also a simple description. It's not a oh, I'm so cool, I can beat down anybody, yada yada.

This is also another revelation:

I don’t know who my father is or where he comes from; I wish I could find out more about him. A big part of why I don’t know much about him is because of how I was conceived. My mother probably wouldn’t want me to bring this up, because she hates me talking about it, but I was a product of rape. I was a rape baby. She told me my father had tricked her into believing he was a photographer and wanted her to model for him. He told her she was a natural beauty and all this other fly shit. He lured her to a spot and took advantage of her. She never pressed charges and never even reported it.

I always like memoirs where people are able to take the piss out of themselves, and U-God does that. Here's another example from his growing up:

Fighting—the art of hand-to-hand combat—was a big thing growing up. You had to know how to use your hands. Guns weren’t the weapon of choice until later—you used your fists or a knife. That’s one thing about Island dudes; they know how to throw their joints. I didn’t have older brothers to hold me down, so I had to fight my own battles against kids my age and pretty much anybody else who tried me. To this day, fists aren’t my last resort, they’re my first. That’s why I sometimes have trouble relating to people who have never fought or who have never been punched in the face. How much can you know about yourself until you’re in a physical altercation? There are people today who have never been punched in the face. That’s why they’ll knock right into you as they walk by in the street and not even excuse themselves. They have no basic respect for anyone around them. Not enough people living in New York today have been punched in the face. They could use that lesson, though. I feel that confrontation brings respect. People who keep doing sneaky shit keep getting away with it, often because no one’s willing to call them on it. Whether in humility or self-confidence, they need that lesson. Getting tested lets you find out who you are deep down. And I found out that deep down I’m a scrapper. I’m also respectful, though. If I bump into someone, I excuse myself. I’m a humble warrior. You can’t go around looking for trouble, but you have to be ready when it comes. You can’t walk around trying to be the toughest, because there’s always someone tougher.

Sadly, U-God and a few other Wu-Tang members subscribe to the bizarre "5 percent" theory, something built by the racistic Nation of Islam organisation, but apart from that, this book contains a lot of interesting and revealing stuff.

He writes a lot about becoming and staying friends with Method Man, which is quite lovely. Also, it reveals a lot of how much members of Wu-Tang actually contributed to the whole thing, not just RZA:

We were both writin’ at that time, kicking around ideas together when we weren’t mopping the floors and hauling garbage and doing all this crazy shit for Mr. Hill, our boss. We used to write rhymes on the back of coasters, just sitting in the back of the shit on garbage detail and writin’. We’d pick up these little paper coasters to write on, and one day Meth said, “Yeah, C.R.E.A.M.: Cash Rules Everything Around Me.” He started tagging everything with that acronym—the project walls, Dumpsters, train cars, whatever he could find. I remember when I said that should be a fucking hook; we made that fucking shit up way back then. True fact: The title of Wu-Tang’s first hit single started with Meth and me sitting at the Liberty Island garbage detail.

This was quite weird to read, apropos nothing:

Let me tell you one thing about me; I love money more than I love anything in this goddamned world, except for my family and my babies. I love money more than I love drugs, women, all of that. I’m addicted to money. I like to have it. I like to spoil the people I love. I will never touch no cocaine or none of that shit ever again. I am straight weed, alcohol, and that is it. Money, weed, that’s it. I’ve stuck by that shit for the rest of my life.

There's also a lot of funny stuff in the book:

There was some funny shit that would go down in the midst of all that carnage. Like this one time, this fiend approached me and Meth while we were selling. He didn’t have any cash, but he wanted two dimes of crillz (crack) in exchange for a sheet of acid with a picture of a skull and crossbones. Meth figured it was a good trade, so he did it. I said, “Man, you are fuckin’ crazy!” He took a few tabs and offered me one. I declined the offer, saying, “I ain’t trying nothing with a poison sign on it!” and continued serving fiends.

Pretty soon Meth starts feeling the acid, he starts tripping and crawls into some bushes. Meanwhile, the stash was getting low, so I decided to head uptown to get some more. I went all the way uptown to Harlem, which takes about three hours round trip. I saw the connect, got what I needed, and came all the way back to Staten Island. When I got back, Meth was still in the bushes. A three-hour mission, and upon my return he was still in the bushes. I was like, “What the fuck? This dude’s out of his goddamn mind.” I went over to him and asked, “You all right?” He looked up at me. “Nah … I ain’t all right …” Whatever effect that drug had on him, it had him stuck in the bushes. I grabbed him to pull him out of there, but then he took off like a shot down the block. I had to literally chase this motherfucker down, laughing the whole time. We got around the corner, got some water into him, tried to flush that shit out of his system. I told him, “Yo, man, don’t ever take that shit while you’re hustlin’!” Just another day in the projects.

U-God also sets the record straight with RZA, and remember, U-God hit him and others with a 2.5 million USD lawsuit. U-God writes about that, too, but optimistically looks towards the future.

All in all, this book was interesting, well written, fun, and mainly it gave a lot of heft to U-God's story.

[Justin Walshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent enough introduction to the economics of the crack game, if you were interested in pursuing a new career.

[Cav · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We’re all just some street-hustlin’ dudes who put in that work, and we made it..."

Growing up I was a huge fan of The Wu-Tang Clan, so naturally I put Raw on my list when I came across it. I wasn't sure what to expect from the writing here. Fortunately, the book was really good. The author did a great job with this one. More below.

Author Lamont Jody Hawkins, better known by his stage name "U-God," meaning Universal-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for his deep voice and rhythmic flow that can alternate between gruff and smooth.

Lamont "U-God" Hawkins:



The book gets off to a bit of a slow start, as Hawkins (from here on - "U-God") talks a lot about his early life living in Staten Island. He writes with a decent style that's both gritty and authentic. The book is full of real-life hardcore stories; many of which will likely shock the reader unfamiliar with this lifestyle.

Despite its somewhat slow start, the book became a real page-turner. It turned out to be a very well-written, produced, and delivered book that is one of the better musical biographies I've read. If you are a fan of Wu-Tang, you'll likely really enjoy this one.

The author also narrated the audiobook version I have, and he did a great job. The book is formatted in a chronological fashion, beginning with his early life, following his time in Park Hill, his time in prison, and joining the now famous hip-hop group. In a nice touch, some chapter titles were taken from their famous C.R.E.A.M. song, and other chapter titles were also nods to their songs.

He drops this quote early on:

"Time is a motherfucker. Time reveals shit. It wears things down. Breaks things. Crushes things. Kills things. Reveals truth. There’s nothing greater than Father Time.
If you have patience, time will be on your side. And if you recognize how valuable time is, and if you know the right time to make your move, you’ll be a bad motherfucker.
That’s how I feel right now writing this book. The time is now for me to write all this shit down. It’s time to write down not only my legacy, but the story of nine dirt-bomb street thugs who took our everyday life— scrappin’ and hustlin’ and tryin’ to survive in the urban jungle of New York City—and turned that into something bigger than we could possibly imagine, something that took us out of the projects for good, which was the only thing we all wanted in the first place..."

U-God talks about his early life in the Park Hill projects of Staten Island. He hustled and made money selling drugs before he became famous. He drops some interesting writing about his history of dealing drugs and all the shit he saw while doing that.

Eventually, the law would catch up with him, and he ended up doing 3 years in Riker's Island. Some more great writing here.

In this quote, he talks about the above-mentioned song C.R.E.A.M:

“C.R.E.A.M.” is a true song. Everything Inspectah Deck and Raekwon said is 100 percent true. Not one line in that entire song is a lie, or even a slight exaggeration. Deck did sell base, and he did go to jail at the age of fifteen. Rae was sticking up white boys on ball courts, rocking the same damn ’Lo sweater. And of course, Meth on the hook was like butter on the popcorn. Meth knew the hard times, too, being out there smoking woolies and pumping crack, etc. That raspy shit he was kicking just echoed in everyone’s head long after the song was done playing.
The realism on “C.R.E.A.M.” is what resonates with so many people all over the world. People everywhere know that sentiment of being slaves to the dollar. Cash is king, and we are its lowly subjects. That’s pretty much the case in every nation around the world, the desperation to put your life and your freedom on the line to make a couple dollars.
Whether you’re working, stripping, hustling, or slinging, whether you’re a business owner or homeless, cash rules everything around us..."

Another thing I really liked about this presentation was how real U-God was in this book. He doesn't come across as arrogant or braggadocious. Quite the opposite, actually. He is very humble and real here. The book is a very authentic portrayal of his life; faults and all.

Arguably one of the least-well known members of The Wu-tang Clan, he addresses this directly many times in the book, and pulls no punches. It's just all very real writing. It takes a big man to expose himself the way U-God did here.

Here he talks about how he had trouble establishing credibility for his lyrical skills amongst the other members:

"...But I still kept getting kicked out of the booth. The only thing I knew was that I had to keep going. I had no other choice to get it right. No was not an option for me. That’s when I learned about the difference between being a warrior—a champion, really—and a regular person. It was the
difference between giving up and getting back up and trying again. Some people take a loss and it breaks them spiritually. A true champion is a motherfucker who can take a loss and rise back up with a full heart and keep going until he wins. I got kicked out of the booth over and over, but every time I picked myself back up and got back in there. I never, ever stopped trying."

Later on in the book, he talks about the almost inevitable clashes that result from the combination of nine different yet supposedly equal members with their respective fames and fortune. He also spends a bit of time telling the reader how RZA (the producer of The Wu-tang Clan) controlled the group. U-God says he was/is too much of a control freak, and was taking too much money from the group's members; including their popular clothing brand line: Wu-Wear. U-God launched a lawsuit to get some transparency on the group's finances, and where all their money was going.

He closes the book with this great bit of short writing:

"Our journey here was rough, no doubt. We lost our brother Dirty along the way, but the rest of us are still here, still alive, still bringing it. We’re not posted up in front of 160 anymore, ducking cops and bullets, scrambling for drug money while dreaming of stardom and getting out of the projects. We’ve done that. We’re not locked up or on parole pissing in cups. We left all that shit behind us years ago. We’ve achieved fame and success the likes of which most people can only dream about, and in the right circumstances, we’ll do it again.
Yeah, we don’t always get along, but what family does? But just give us time to come back together, and we’ll show everybody that the Wu- Tang Clan still ain’t nothin’ ta fuck wit’!"

******************

Raw was an excellent look into the life of Lamont "U-God" Hawkins, as well as The Wu-Tang Clan.
I really enjoyed this one. I'd recommend it to anyone interested.
5 stars.

[Karlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

almost skipped this book. It was on the New Releases shelf of my local library and I picked it up when I saw Wu Tang on the cover, and almost put it down when I saw it was written by one of the least known members of the group. But I ultimately checked it out because I’m a huge Wu fan and their music was a huge backdrop to my adolescence and young adulthood in NYC. The book itself was fascinating. The strongest section for me were the chapters focusing on his late teens hustling in the projects. Very vividly told. He also details some of the lessons learned over time about the music industry. While it’s not news that record company people are shady, it was fascinating to learn his thoughts on RZA and how the group might have been affected by his management.
There were some flaws in the narrative. I found him to give very short shrift to the women in his life who are the mothers to his children. There is a coldness there. He wrote about his love for Method with far more affection than he did for any women. There was one passage in particular that was stunning in its description about how he held Meth down by hustling so that Meth could stay off the streets and work on his craft. It was quite fascinating. I also think there were many things he hinted at in the book but didn’t outright say, especially when mentioning certain celebrities.
I definitely enjoyed the book. Brought back a lot of memories. It was cool to see U-God’s journey and how his eyes were opened to the larger world over time. I’d definitely recommend.

[Rebecca Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been checking in on Goodreads reviews both before and after reading books for years but I finally signed up to review this bonkers book. U-God might be a genuine psychopath - in every single anecdote, everything that went wrong for him is someone else's fault, and every time things went right it is because he's smarter than everyone else or God was looking out for him. He blames RZA (and anyone else he can think of) for the failure of everything from his solo career to his difficult grieving period after his son's death. I get that people are into this book for an insight into Wu-Tang's early days, especially with a lack of autobiographies from other members, that's why I picked it up. But every single sentence reminds you that you're definitely hearing one side of the story (a side seriously warped by hindsight and a giant ego). The people around me got sick of me constantly shouting things like 'F**k you!' and 'Pffft!' as made I made my way torturously through its self indulgent 292 pages. I can't believe the Wu still tour with this snake.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a scattershot set of anecdotes without a clear timeline and considerable grievances aired. That's completely OK, and it's nice to see a memoir like this without all the rough edges sanded off by a ghostwriter. I had to power through the earlier parts, but my engagement levels picked up once the band took off.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love the writing style, but it was an interesting slice of a life that is about as different from mine as possible. The last couple of chapters left me feeling like the agenda for this book was positive publicity for U-god in the face of his suit against RZA. So ultimately a worthwhile read, but I spent a lot of time playing "spot the agenda"

[Karol Gajda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raw is 40 years of anecdotes cobbled together in a semi-coherent tome.

This book was so disjointed and repetitive I don't think anybody but a Wu-Tang fan could finish it. And even then with difficulty.

[Jeff Jaskolka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an amazing read front to back. I loved how U-God himself narrated the story it gave it much more authenticity. I don't want to really give any spoilers but this story is very raw and rugged. Another epic tale of coming up in urban America and coming our of poverty in a major way. A lot of his stories coming up in NYC had me laughing so hard. I was always a Wu-Tang fan they are very multi-talented. A must read!

[Amar Pai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad given that U-God isn’t exactly A-List Wu

[Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good, I mean, given that it's a U-God. It reads like the product of a lengthy series of interviews, unlike some of these rapper-memoirs, which read like someone spoke with the artist for all of about a half an hour. It goes in depth into U-God's pre-rap career slanging these rocks, but there's also quite a bit about the early days of Wu-Tang that most people probably don't know, even if, like me, they've already read a million and one magazine articles and what have you on the group.

[Jason Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and so would fans of hip hop and certainly fans of Wu-Tang. One critique is that in certain parts/stories felt like they were rushed, and could have been longer or more detailed.
Overall, I would recommend this book, and would love to see a full out Wu reunion!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page turner.

[Shà · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly it was good I didn't know he was born the way he was born and you know he was raised the way he was raised but he seemed to be all right you know not so angry as he came off and his DJ Vlad interview and I kind of can resonate on why but he still here he still healthy he's still handsome I love his voice is voice just does something to me always did even when I was a kid but I really enjoyed this a lot and I suggest y'all look into it and read it to especially if you're any type of real hip hop in or any type of Wu-Tang fan some of the stuff he Viet talk about within that corporation of Wu-Tang is not something unheard-of I should sayand not surprised if either but you know you live and learn and karma is real so they will get back where they dish out in rest in peace to ODB he was one of my favorites honestly and he was just so live all the time and I hope he is finally at peace and so proud of the ones that are still holding on to that Wu-Tang legacy I'm still pushing forward and I hope his kids his name and you know I always forever remember his energy he was everything and so is the rest of them I just wish you know some people wouldn't be so greedy when it comes to their green paper but you know how that go however this was good it was no disappointment at all and I appreciate it I will be planning on purchasing very soon

[Juan Duarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light yet enlightening read.

[Matt Vargo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wu-Tang clan ain't nothing to fuck with

[Agris Fakingsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

..šis stāsts bija dzīvāks un pilnīgāks par iepriekšējo, ko klausījos no Wu-Tang džekiem. te runāja pats autors un pastāstīja arī visu grupas "aizmuguri".

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this ebook through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

I'm a fan of hip hop music going back to the 80's so was actually looking forward to this one. U-God doesn't pull any punches and is pretty raw (as the title of the book states) and honest with his recollections. He brings us through his life as a child, up through his drug dealing years in NYC to finally where he and the Wu clan stand now. It's a gritty and unfiltered look, no doubt.

The reason for the lower score is the book could have been edited a bit better. It got somewhat repetitive in the first half or two thirds. Even stating nearly the same sentences multiple times in multiple points in the book. It was actually a bit distracting.

Overall, fans of hip hop, the Wu-Tang clan and memoirs would probably enjoy the book. It gives a great inside story (from one perspective) on how the group was formed and in particular about U-God himself.

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Outta The Gate

Wow. What a journey U-God had. Is still having. His raw, uncompromising stories about growing up were interesting and put you on the streets with him. Loved it.

[Ben M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big Wu fan, so of course the book's subject matter was of great interest to me. I've heard U-God give interviews before, and I can't say he came off as the most thoughtful or well spoken guy in those interviews, so was pleasantly surprised with how well the book turned out.

The first few chapters were a little slow, where there's minimal involvement/interaction with his fellow Clansmen, and he just name drops a lot of people from his childhood. The book really picks up though when he starts dealing drugs, gets involved with the Wu, and goes to prison.

U-God is narrating his own story, but tends to jump around a little when doing it. When recalling his childhood, I often couldn't tell if he was telling a story that happened to 8 year old U-God or 15 year old U-God. Later he's telling stories about touring to promote Wu Tang Forever (which came out in '97), and then jumps back to telling stories when on tour 4-5 years earlier, so constantly jumping around with stories like that. Also seems to get some of his own details wrong, like when he talks about getting an apartment with Method Man once money for soundtracks starting coming in (specifically mentioning Fresh and High School High), but says Method Man moved out once he signed with Def Jam in '93. Yet those soundtracks came out well after Method Man already signed his solo deal. The High School High soundtrack came out in '96, Meth had already won a Grammy for his solo work by this point.

Some nice insights on how he felt as one the least popular, least successful members, as well as recording Wu-Tang Forever, but still would have loved more details on life in those prime Wu years between 36 Chambers and Forever. Also doesn't give any insight on the infamous '98 Grammy Awards or really talk much about recording his own solo albums other than to say he didn't feel much support from the Clan. Not a lot of attention given to the post Wu-Tang Forever years, other than not holding back on his opinion of RZA and his processes since then (which to me seems like a very fair opinion).

If you're a Wu-Tang fan, you'll enjoy the book, if you're a 90's hip hop fan you'll probably enjoy the book. If you're neither, can't imagine you'd find this book that enjoyable.

[Zach Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very much a point-of-view memoir. Don't come here for research, unique insights on the recording process or record industry, or balanced story-telling.

Do come here for compelling story-telling. U-God lays it all out. He doesn't hold back on the details of his own life or Wu-Tang's history. He's extremely humble and up-front about the times he failed or was unable to meet the expectations he sets for himself. His picture of the Park Hill projects in the late-80s and early-90s is vivid and informing. His tour diaries are consistently entertaining, funny, and smart.

And we need books like this. Its these memoirs of the musicians and artists who are not constantly being watched that fill in the holes in the story of popular music and can confirm or dispute accepted facts. It's essentially a deep oral history.

And that may also be the one thing to not recommend this book. A fact-check would probably tear a lot apart. That's not to say U-God is lying, but memory is tricky. I recently recalled buying a record in a certain year. I was _certain_ I had bought it then, but an analysis of the details of my memory (what road I was driving on when I listened to it, what floor of the record store I bought it on) make it impossible I bought it in the year I thought I did. I guess what I mean to say is it's super unlikely U-God took a T-bar up a mountain in Colorado. And there's more substantial blind-spots.

But overall, I can absolutely recommend this to any Wu-Tang fan. Others will likely take less from it.

[Omar Cienfuegos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aww man!!! I had tickets to that Rage and Wu Tang show back in '97 and was always wondering why Wu didn't make it. Wu Tang was replaced by The Roots and it was still one of the best shows I ever seen. It's pretty disappointing to hear they didn't continue that tour over money. I always thought they got locked up or something. Smh

[Matt Pace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rambling, at times ranty, repetitive, but I still loved it for two reasons. One, all the tales of the Wu Tang Clan as kids. Two, it really puts you there in the world of selling drugs in the projects in a way I personally have only ever felt from one other place, the show The Wire.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is accurate... Raw in every sense of the word. I'd have enjoyed it quite a bit more if an editor had gone after it with a heavy hand. Rambling in the worst of ways, saved in the end by the very compelling underlying stories.

[Joey Lorenzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT STORY
end was a lot of rza shade
hopefully they can get it together

[Ashley]

No rating for this because it's a memoir ....but if I did rate it I wouldn't rate it high. This memoir was written like someone transcriped an interview he had about his life in the group. Method is his bestfriend and he was sure to remind you of it whenever he mentioned him,but kept their time spent close to his chest. U-God down talked Raekwon, Inspectah Deck ,RZA, and he dismissed GZA, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna like they weren't worth the ink. He said Deck didn't get much play from women because he didn't have game, in another part he shaded Raekwon the same way. He mentioned Masta Killa was private and didn't speak much about his upbringing and you could tell it rubbed him the wrong way. The way he talked down on RZA every chapter(then tried to clean it up)you'd think he hated him. The book came out in 2018 and he kept speaking on suing RZA multiple times and had one going at the time of the release. He shaded his babymama, her little sister(meth wife) and the mama. He basically said they were loose girls in the neighborhood , whose mama let didn't care about what her daughter's was doing and he got the oldest sister pregnant... then ranted about how they was only sleeping together for a couple of months and she said she was prenant, that only married people should be tryna have kids , and how Method got sprung on the little sister, always talking about her and wrote" You're all I need to get by"about her, and said he told him to just record the song since he always yapping about it, and he had to step up and be a daddy. Then he threw shade how the song didn't blow up with RZA mix, but Puff remix with Mary... then he said so we family like that now. He later said some other random passive stuff about the babymama so what I gathered was they were some quick neighborhood "hit it and quit it's" and Meth ruined it cause he married the little sister (It tracks with the way Meth dogged her later ).U came off really bitter about it all.

U-God told random bits of other people dirt like Uncle Luke, Janet Jackson, Ghostface, Rza, Math, Mary J, Trump , Kim Kardashian.... and so many more. He mentioned some of their drug use, sexual adventures ,private parties, run-in's with the law, so on and so forth. It wasn't a juicy tell all by any means, it was moreso a man gossiping through some unresolved bitterness and passing it off as enlightenment.

I will say that the way Groups always end up with a David Ruffin and an Otis Williams that pulls the group in different directions leaving them broken beyond repair. They all credit RZA for getting and keeping them out of poverty. Making sure nobody falls back into struggle,but also mentioned how he took the Wu mansion for himself and his family , but leaving them a welcomed hand to always come back if they needed it. He said RZA got his money up and forgot how to lead his soldiers so they didn't get it back. I really hope U-God gets some healing for real and let the hurt go. I've seen some if his recent interviews and he's still a bitter guy. They all still come off as broken men with no direction looking for validation and acceptance. I got this memoir for 50¢ yesterday so I figured I'd give it a shot.

[Dave Boorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books biggest strength? It’s written by U-God. Its biggest weakness? It’s written by U-God.
The guy is probably in the lower half of the lower half of the Wu-Tang Clan and for that reason he has the least to lose by being honest. So I believe that he is the most likely to not lie here and therefore I don’t doubt any of what is written. I also think other lower members (Deck, Masta Killa, maybe Cappa, if I’m being generous) just haven’t had as interesting a personal life as Uey.
His weakness? He doesn’t seem to have any self-awareness and doesn’t come across particularly likeable. He seems to think he’s a font of knowledge and charisma, he seems to think everyone loves him but reading between the lines it doesn’t sound like they do. Tolerate might be a better way to describe some of the relationships he talks about.
Another review here has said this could and should be 300 pages longer. I agree. This guy has lead an eventful life, being one of the founders of probably Hip-Hop’s greatest group. 36 Chambers is BY FAR my favourite album of all time, so even if some of the later efforts are spotty at best, all 9/10 members get life time passes from me. I do wish there was more 36 Chambers talk but unfortunately U-God spent a lot of the recording and touring process locked up and I’ll give him a pass for not going in depth on the subject.
There’s a perfect balance between his grimy drug-dealing days and his days as a Hip-Hop superstar. Just as I was tiring of all the crack talk, we got into the music and it was just as interesting.
It’s a shame that RZA’s creative accounting and control freak nature has basically put a spanner in the works for the clan as they could’ve been much much bigger than they ended up being. Squabbles, the death of ODB and money issues appear to have fucked up the entire operation (we’ve all known for years that money has always been a problem with the Wu, but I wasn’t quite aware to such an extent, which is sad really).
I’ll never put U-God in my top ten MCs and I think U-God is ok with that, but I do have more respect for him, even if I’m not entirely sold on his persona.
Recommended to Wu fans, Hip-Hop fans, music fans that don’t have that weird allergy to Hip-Hop and fans of drug-dealing tales.
🎤🎤🎤🎤

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting on all the other members of the clan to release their memoirs.

"Time is a motherfucker. Time reveals shit. It wears things down. Breaks things. Crushes things. Kill things. Reveals truth. There's nothing greater than Father Time."

"People pray for things, then they think things are gonna come to them. Actually, that's not the way it works. God helps those that help themselves, that's basically what it means. You can't wait for a mystery God to bring you food, clothes, and shelter. You'd be out there on the streets homeless. The act of doing, that's where the blessing takes place."

"Being rich is not necessarily making a whole lot of money. Being rich is having your bills paid off and being able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them."

"You see, knowledge is infinite. And if you're not open to obtaining new knowledge, then you're only gonna go as far as what you currently know will take you."

"We're all just bone men. We ain't nobody. We're so fragile. It's crazy how people act as tough and hard and like they're so invincible, when everything around us can kill us at any time."

"People everywhere know that sentiment of being slaves to the dollar. Cash is king, and we are its lowly subjects. That's pretty much the case in every nation around the world, the desperation to put your life and your freedom on the line to make a couple dollars."

"If you can master how not to be hurt or bothered by rejection, you'll conquer the world."

"I let it happen, I let a lot of shit slide, and because I did that, it left me in a weaker position and made somebody else stronger."