Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers): The Samples

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is the debut album of the East Coast hip hop collective the Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993. Many critics consider Enter The Wu-Tang one of the most significant albums of the 1990s and one of the greatest hip hop albums recorded. The distinctive sound of Enter the Wu-Tang created a blueprint for hardcore rap in the mid-1990s and helped return New York City hip hop to national prominence. The album itself is named for the 1978 martial arts film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

RZA produced Enter the Wu-Tang by creating sonic collages from classic soul samples and clips from martial arts movies such as Shaolin and Wu Tang. He complimented the rappers’ performances with “lean, menacing beats that evoked their gritty, urban surroundings more effectively than their words”, according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide. The use of soul samples and various esoteric clips, and the technique by which RZA employed them in his beats, was unique and largely unprecedented in hip hop.

The gritty sound of Enter the Wu-Tang is due, at least in part, to the use of cheap equipment to produce the album. Many critics argue that this plays directly into the appealing “street” quality that makes the album a classic. Critics and admirers universally credit RZA with developing a “dusty yet digital production style that helped legitimize the use of more diverse sample sources to the hardcore New York rap massive, breaking away from James Brown based beats.”


“Synthetic Substitution” by Melvin Bliss
Sampled for “Bring da Ruckus”, “Clan In Da Front”, and “Method Man”
Produced by RZA
“Different Strokes” by Syl Johnson
Sampled for “Shame on a N*gga”
Produced by RZA
“Black And Tan Fantasy” by Thelonious Monk
Sampled for “Shame on a N*gga”
Produced by RZA
“Honey Bee” by New Birth
Sampled for “Clan In Da Front”
Produced by RZA
“Spinning Wheel” by Lonnie Liston Smith
Sampled for “Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber”
Produced by RZA
“The Way We Were” by Gladys Knight & The Pips
Sampled for “Can It Be All So Simple”
Produced by RZA
“Got The (Blues)” by Labi Siffre
Sampled for “Can It Be All So Simple”
Produced by RZA
“Impreach The President” by The Honey Drippers
Sampled for “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit”
Produced by RZA, co-produced by Method Man
“Hihache” by Lafayette Afro Rock Band
Sampled for “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit”
Produced by RZA, co-produced by Method Man
“I’ll Never Grow Old” by The Charmels
Sampled for “C.R.E.A.M.”
Produced by RZA
“Sport” by Lightin’ Rod
Sampled for “Method Man”
Produced by RZA
“More Bounce To The Ounce” by Zapp
Sampled for “Method Man”
Produced by RZA
“Method Of Modern Love” by Hall & Oates
Sampled for “Method Man”
Produced by RZA
“Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot
Sampled for “Method Man”
Produced by RZA
“Tramp” by Lowell Fulsom
Sampled for “Protect Ya Neck”
Produced by RZA
“The Grunt” by The J.B.’s
Sampled for “Protect Ya Neck”
Produced by RZA
“Sing A Simple Song” by Sly & The Family Stone
Sampled for “Protect Ya Neck”
Produced by RZA
“Cold Feet” by Albert King
Sampled for “Protect Ya Neck”
Produced by RZA
“After Laughter (Comes Tears)” by Wendy Rene
Sampled for “Tearz”
Produced by RZA