As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
This was definitely the case with the Wu-Tang Clan in its heyday. The members were competitive and often competed for spots on songs and they helped to sharpen each other as writers and rappers. And that spirit helped propel the Clan into one of the most recognizable pop culture entities.
But despite being a powerhouse in hip-hop, some of the Wu members had a hard time as solo artists. At the top of that list is U-God.
He was born in Brooklyn but moved to Staten Island where he met and became Cappadonna's beat boxer. That relationship enabled him to meet the other clan members and the rest is history.
He has had his fair share of dope verses on Clan songs but he still seems to be the least loved by fans. In this video we will explore the reasons for that and just take a general look at some of the things that shaped U-God's career and relationship with the Clan.
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/hiphopcircleYT
Support this channel: https://www.patreon.com/hiphopcircle
Tarik also known as Ademo, and Nabil whose stage name is N.O.S. were born in the late 80s and grew up in a difficult neighbourhood called Les Tarterêts in Paris, France. Witnessing their father serve a jail term for bank robbery, growing up in the absence of their biological mother, and being around colleagues that sold drugs at an early age laid the ground work for a lot of the subject matter they would tackle in their music later on in life. In the years 2010 and 2013, Tarik, the older of the two also served jail time on drug trafficking charges.
As of August 2020 PNL has released four studio albums and have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of their music, with several of their music having more than a hundred million views on YouTube.
The question is how does a group of unknowns catapult itself into the musical stratosphere?
Firstly, their music is really dope. They have an ethereal, cloud rap sound that's almost dreamlike. Sonically the music is appealing even to people who don't understand the French language. Their beats are melodic; their mix of singing and rapping has mass appeal; their subject matter is captivating and risky; and their mixes sound hypnotic, almost like they're pulling you in.
They have a sound that's easily identifiable and unique to them. To be a great artist your product has to be good. After all it's what you're selling and it's what you build everything else around. Good music sounds good regardless of what language it's made in and PNL's music is a good example of this. Some of their music is easy to digest and contains subject-matter that people can relate to making it appealing to a lot of people.
PNL popularized the term Que la Famille abbreviated as QLF, which means 'Only the Family"
The term simply means that you would do anything for your family and loved ones, and you don't look for any other allies. This message is plastered throughout all their music and has a certain appeal to it because most people understand the sentiment of wanting to do anything for their family. They often make references to anime, popular children's stories such as the Jungle Book, and various topics that are easy for young people to relate to.
They also talk about the hardships of growing up in a tough environment and the struggles of feeling forced to do things that are unethical or illegal in order to feed yourself and your family. This is a universal message that most people understand.
Another reason why the group is successful is that PNL doesn't over-saturate its music. The two brothers release an album once every year or two and that's it. They don't release mixtapes, loose singles, EPs, or feature in other people's mu
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xguTtwXSyw
If you'd like to support my work and get access to extra content you can:
1) Tip Me on Ko-Fi ☕: https://ko-fi.com/hiphopcircle
2) Get My Music ?: https://kond1.bandcamp.com
3) Spotify: https://bit.ly/kond1spotify
Enquiries: hhpcircle@gmail.com
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH5VGL-6Pbg