Iron Flag [PA]

Performer: Wu-Tang Clan
Artist: Flavor Flav; Ronald Isley
Engineer: Jose "Choco" Reynoso; Caleb Shreve
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Wu-Tang Clan: Rza, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa, U-God, Gza. Additional personnel includes: Flavor Flav, Ron Isley. Producers include: RZA, Poke & Tone, Trumaster, Nick "Fury" Loftin, Mathematics. Recorded at Sony Music Studios, 36 Chambers, and Soundtrack Studios, New York, New York. Personnel: Eric Johnson (guitar). Audio Mixers: Jason Goldstein; John Goodmanson; RZA; Caleb Shreve. Recording information: 36 Chambers, New York, NY; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; Soundtrack Studios, New York, NY. Photographer: Michael Lavine. Released in the dying days of Loud Records, IRON FLAG is a mostly overlooked record in the vast Wu-Tang legacy. However, that's not to say that the 2001 LP doesn't boast the tight, twisted rhymes coming in chaotically from all angles, the delirious motley of tones that were the trademark of the shaolin of Staten Island. The group opens on a strong, if somewhat standard, RZA beat with "In the Hood" before building to a crescendo behind a trademark Wu chant on "Rules." If anything, the record is marked by the sprawl that had overtaken the seemingly open-ended collective by the turn of the century; however, IRON FLAG proves even when it's the lesser-known original players like Masta Killa and underrated affiliate Prodical Sunn taking the mic, Wu Tang Clan ain't nothing to, well, mess with.

Rolling Stone (1/31/02, p.51) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...The Wu are not just back - they're overhauled and determined to compete....returning to the fount of underground hip-hop..." Mojo (Publisher) (2/02, p.92) - "...The supergroup play to their collective strengths....an album as confrontational and consistent as Public Enemy's APOCALYPSE '91..." NME (Magazine) (1/5/02, p.29) - 7 out of 10 - "...It's the Wu-Tang block party album....solid..."

Arriving in the early 1990s, when rap was split between gangstas and bohemian jazz-rappers, Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan promptly reinvented intelligent hardcore hip-hop. A unique contract deal, allowing the group's individual members--including Ol' Dirty Bastard, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, and chief sonic architect RZA--to pursue solo careers on the side, made them the most prolific rap crew of the late-'90s and beyond. In addition to their various individual projects, Wu-Tang's love of Asian martial arts cinema led to them presenting various Hong Kong classics and to RZA's collaborations with filmmakers Jim Jarmusch (GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI) and Quentin Tarantino (KILL BILL).

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