Episode #149 | 10.19.23
GZA (Wu-Tang Chapter 10): Quantum Physics, Cop Killers, and a Stock-Trading Scumbag
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In this episode
GZA may be the only rapper who lectures about quantum physics at ivy league institutions including Harvard and MIT. That honor stems from his acknowledged role as “the Genius” – the so-called “Voltron head” of hip-hop’s most notorious group. A group that was targeted by the most hated man in America after that same man bought their one-of-a-kind album at auction for two million dollars. A group that nearly crumbled under the weight of resentment, acrimony, and lawsuits. A group whose past continued to come back to haunt them, particularly when Staten Island’s undisputed drug kingpins went on trial after a nearly 20-year reign of fear and violence.
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)
GZA at TEDxTeen 2014 (YouTube)
GZA Speaks: The Lost Art of Lyricism (Medium)
Jury seals doom of Ronell Wilson, who killed 2 detectives on Staten Island (silive.com)
Exclusive: FBI probed Wu-Tang Clan link to 2 Staten Island murders, new documents show (silive.com)
Ronell Wilson, Killer of 2 Detectives, Will Not Face Death Penalty (NY Times)
The Group Run-D.M.C. Defends Rap Music (NY Times)
One Is Killed and 12 Are Injured As L.I. Rap Concert Turns Violent (NY Times)
Wu-Tang Clan's GZA To Host Physics Lecture At MIT (WBUR)
Drug C.E.O. Martin Shkreli Arrested on Fraud Charges (NY Times)
GZA Talks Lectures, Science and ‘Dark Matter’ (Rolling Stone)
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