Behind Tony Yayo’s weird feud with Wu-Tang Clan: “He didn’t even write that album”
Although G-Unit and the Wu-Tang Clan are both known as highly successful rap groups from New York, the two collectives are from completely different eras of hip-hop, so one would not expect their members to ever have an issue with one another, and they most likely never crossed paths. However, strangely, that is not the case.
The Wu-Tang Clan emerged in the early 1990s, and nearly all of its members managed to launch successful solo careers. On the other hand, G-Unit broke into the mainstream in the early 2000s and apart from its frontman, 50 Cent, all of the associated names faded away within years of its initial success.
That said, the two groups share little in common, and they are miles apart musically. The Wu-Tang Clan brought lo-fi, gritty, raw beats to the charts, whereas G-Unit had a more polished sonic and blinged-up aesthetic when they arrived.
In spite of these obvious and quite apparent differences in style and sound, Tony Yayo once admitted that, in his opinion, some members of the Wu are holding a grudge against him for a past disagreement they had. In fact, he is sure that some of them “hate” him.
The disagreement stems from something Yayo said in 2007, which was quite offensive to Ghostface Killah as an artist and creator. In a more recent interview with DJ Vlad for Vlad TV, the G-Unit member reiterated his love for the Wu-Tang Clan, explaining, “I love Wu-Tang, even though some of y’all hate me. But I love you guys!”
The Queens native recalled how he would hear their legendary track ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ when he was a drug dealer in the 1990s, and unveiled that he loved the song and played it all the time. Still, this overt appreciation for the collective is a far cry from the disrespect he showed the group in 2007.
During an interview with SPIN magazine 17 years ago, the ‘So Seductive’ rhymer made a bold claim about the 2000 project Supreme Clientele, one of Ghostface Killah’s proudest creations.
While speaking about the album’s background (of which he knew little), Yayo proclaimed, “He didn’t even write that album, man! He didn’t write it. That kid from Far Rockaway — Superb — he wrote that record. You know Superb from Far Rock?”
Ghostface Killah responded to Yayo shortly after in a conversation with online music blog Rhapsody, stating, “I was in Europe when I heard [Tony Yayo say] that. That’s just nonsense. I still put mad sh*t out.” According to Ghostface, Superb, the alleged writer wasn’t affiliated with him but was a part of Raekwon’s group American Dream Team. He then told Tony Yayo to “suck [his] d**k.”
In a stern attempt to explain how different the two are, the Ironman creator concluded, “Perb was Perb, Ghost was Ghost,” he said. “Perb is Rae’s man. He been in the studio a few times while we’re doing sh*t. He ain’t write sh*t. All Perb contributed was a couple of lines that you could put in the air. When we write, we all do that. Say ‘this one right here’ or ‘Put this one right here.'”
It appears that, to this day, the two rappers haven’t been able to mend their differences and, from Yayo’s perspective, it led to more than just Ghostface Killah disliking him.