Episode #144 | 9.14.23
Ghostface Killah (Wu-Tang Clan Chapter 4): Angel Dust, an Unlicensed .357 Magnum, and Attempted Robbery
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In this episode
Ghostface Killah allegedly tried to steal three thousand dollars from a parking lot attendant. They said he was shot in the neck and shoulder in Steubenville, Ohio, shortly before the RZA went on trial for attempted murder. Or so the story goes. And it is true that he was busted with a .357 Magnum, hollow-point bullets, and a bulletproof vest during a routine traffic stop. It was stories and transgressions like these that led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to dig deep into Wu-Tang Clan’s past in order to build a new narrative that the music was merely a front for organized crime – a narrative that would soon go all the way to the FBI.
Sources
From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga, by S.H. Fernando Jr.
The Wu-Tang Manual, by the RZA
From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and the Wu-Tang Clan, by Raekwon with Anthony Bozza
Raw: My Journey into the Wu-Tang, by Lamont “U-God” Hawkins
Wu-Tang: Of Mics and Men (2019, mini series)
A Close Look at the FBI's File on Wu-Tang Clan (Vice)
I got Ol' Dirty Bastard's FBI files (Gun.io)
Method Man Talks About Ghostface Killah in Ohio (Desus & Mero)
XXL Article On The Making Of "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx"
Ghostface Killah: Supreme Clientele Album Review (Pitchfork)
Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah Pleads Guilty To Attempted Robbery (MTV)
Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah Arrested On Weapons Charge (MTV)
State v. Hubbard - Ohio Case Law
What Rikers Is Like, According to People Who Just Got Out (Curbed)
Dark Secrets: Voodoo in Benin (Wanderlust)
Wu-Tang Clan Reportedly Under Suspicion of Gun-Running (MTV)
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy edited by James Sullivan.
Scored and mixed by Colin Lester Fleming.
Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.
Disgraceland theme song, “Crenshaw Space Boogie” written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava, and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak