Wu-Tang Clan announce re-release of ‘Wu-Tang Forever’, stream new EPs

Wu-Tang Clan have announced a special 25th anniversary edition of their second LP, ‘Wu-Tang Forever’, on the same day (May 4) they released a treasure trove of rare material online.

The legendary Staten Island collective will mark a quarter-century of their sprawling double album, which was released at the peak of their commercial powers in 1997, by reissuing it as a 4LP set, which will come with a bonus 7-inch of ‘Triumph’ and ‘Heaterz’, as well as a new version of the original double cassette.

Perhaps more exciting for hardcore Clan fans, though, is the surprise release today of three new EPs, ‘Reunited (The Remixes)’, ‘It’s Yourz’, and ‘Triumph’. The EPs feature a slew of remixes, new edits and instrumentals from their ‘Wu-Tang Forever’ era that have long been out of print and unavailable officially online. On top of that, they’ve delved into the archives to kick off a new series of long-unseen video interviews from around the time of the album’s release. You can see a quick-fire clip of the first, with self-described “Abbot of the Clan” RZA, below.

The announcements follow the prestigious decision last month by the US’s National Library of Congress to preserve the Clan’s seminal debut, 1993’s ‘Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers’, along with a fellow hip hop classic of the era, A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘The Low End Theory’.

The unearthing of more archive material, meanwhile, comes after 2020 saw the rave-reviewed four part documentary on the iconic nine-piece, ‘Wu-Tang: Of Mics and Men’, as well as the news last month that a documentary on the group’s only deceased founding member, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, is in the works. The singular rapper’s artistry and troubled personal life will be examined in-depth in the new film, tentatively titled ‘Biography: Wu-Tang Clan’, which is being co-produced by his widow, Icelene Jones.

The film will be co-directed by father-and-son team Sam and Jason Pollard, and is set to look at thee tragedy of ODB’s demise within the wider context of the music industry. In a statement announcing the documentary, A&E Network said it would be “a celebration of his artistry and legacy, the documentary is an unflinching look at the complexities of his life including addiction, adultery, fame, mental illness, sudden wealth, race and criminal justice, and will ask the question of just how complicit the media and music industry were in hastening his demise.”