Credit: Alamy

Wu-Tang Clan was a staple of hip-hop in the 1990s and one of many mega-crews that emerged in the culture during that period. Thanks to RZA’s ingenuity, the sound of the Staten Island collective was gritty, raw, and unpolished.

RZA presided over iconic projects such as Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), GZA’s Liquid Swords and Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… the beatmaker was the mastermind behind several platinum-selling albums.

With pure ingenuity, RZA brought a lo-fi production style that he skillfully fused with a grimy and abrasive edge. This sonic would become the Clan’s calling card. The slightly underproduced grit and imperfection it provided, sonically, reflected the streets in a way the professionally cleaned-up and polished rap albums didn’t.

From the reasonably desolate New York City borough of Staten Island and operating from the basement of his mother’s house to the top of the charts, RZA’s instrumentals became seminal hits. Whether it’s ‘C.R.E.A.M’ or ‘Protect Ya Neck’, his production was lauded for his creative use of samples.

Sometimes, when producers sample, it’s extremely obvious which song has been used. Within hip-hop, there has been a propensity to use a copy-and-paste formula. Not only is it an uninspired way to make music, but it also leaves the listener feeling like they are listening to a mere remix of the original.

Some beatmakers are unbelievably shrewd in how they can hide and blend the samples they use. Sometimes, the songs are hidden with the instrumental so well listeners aren’t even aware one is there.

That said, RZA was among one of the best sample selecters in hip-hop. The crew’s most famous single ‘C.R.E.A.M’ sampled the intro of the 1967 song ‘As Long as I’ve Got You’ by The Charmels, a Memphis female quartet. The piano melody has since become synonymous with the Clan.

The crew’s other breakout hit ‘Protect Ya Neck’ sampled not just one but four different songs. Including the legendary 1970 funk piece, ‘The Grunt’ by The JB’s, ‘Cowboys To Girls’ by The Intruders, a repurposed portion of GZA’s ‘Words of A Genius’ and even LL Cool J’s 1985 smash ‘Rock The Bells’.

The sheer number of samples in ‘Protect Ya Neck’ should have made creating a coherent beat impossible. However, RZA managed to arrange the instrumental in a way that made perfect sense and iconic to listeners. From funk to Motown and, in true Wu-Tang Fashion, samples of Kung-Fu movies, anything that could be used to create music, the collective utilised it and made magic in the process.

The success of RZA’s production made other East Coast beatmakers unafraid to start using more detuned, less harmonic samples to restore the sound of what was initially a street-born, heavy-hitting, rebellious and sonically creative culture.

Below, you can see all the tracks that perked RZA’s ears up while he was digging through the crates in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Furthermore, you can see how he adapted them to create masterpieces, which are still listened to today.