November 9, 1993: The rap group Wu-Tang Clan release their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), on Loud Records. It becomes a landmark in hip-hop culture, certified as Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America within 2 years.
The members of Wu-Tang Clan were New Yorkers, and some seem to have had multiple nicknames:
* Gary Eldridge Grice, born August 22, 1966, from Brooklyn: GZA and The Genius. As the oldest member and the 1st to get any kind of a record deal, he is called the group's "spiritual head."
* Russell Tyrone Jones, born November 15, 1968, from Brooklyn, this guy had more nicknames than James Brown: Ol' Dirty Bastard, ODB, Dirt Dog, Dirt McGirt, Old Dirty Chinese Restaurant, Ason Unique, Joe Bananas, The Specialist, Ossirus, Big Baby Jesus and Knifey McStab.
* Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, born July 5, 1969, from Brooklyn: RZA, Bobby Digital and The RZArector.
* Elgin Turner, who legally changed his name to Jamel Irief, born August 18, 1969 (as Woodstock was wrapping up), from Brooklyn: Masta Killa, Noodles and High Chief.
* Corey Woods, born January 12, 1970 in Brooklyn, but grew up in Staten Island: Raekwon The Chef, or Shallah Raekwon, or just Raekwon, or Lex Diamonds, probably a variation on 1920s New York gangster Legs Diamond.
* Dennis Coles, born May 9, 1970, from Staten Island: Ghostface Killah, Tony Starks and D-Love.
* Jason Richard Hunter, born July 6, 1970, from Staten Island: Inspectah Deck, Rollie Fingers (after the Baseball Hall of Fame reliever with the handlebar mustache), Fifth Brother and Rebel INS.
* Lamont Jody Hawkins, born November 10, 1970 in Brooklyn, but grew up on Staten Island: U-God, short for Universal God, or Golden Arms.
* Clifford Smith Jr., born March 2, 1971, from Hempstead, Long Island, but met some of the others while visiting his grandmother on Staten Island: Method Man, Johnny Blaze (after the Marvel Comics superhero Ghost Rider), Tical and Shakwon. He has since gone on to a successful acting career.
* Oliver Grant, born November 2, 1973 in Jamaica, but grew up in Staten Island: Power, because, while not actually a member of the group, he produced all their albums, and seriously funded 36 Chambers. He came into the group's orbit because he was friends with RZA's brother, Divine.
* Selwyn Bougard, who legally changed his name to El-Divine Amir Bey, born May 23, 1974 in Steubenville, Ohio, but raised on Staten Island: 4th Disciple.
RZA, GZA and ODB were cousins. They were also cousins of Flavor Flav of Public Enemy. RZA's brother Terrance Hamlin is a rapper, calling himself 9th Prince. Singer-songwriter SZA, a generation younger than RZA, GZA and ODB, is not related to them.
The group took their name from the 1983 martial arts film Shaolin and Wu Tang. The origin of the word "Wu-tang" derives from Wu Dang, the Taoist holy mountain located in the Central China in the Hubei Province. The album's title also came from martial arts films, Bruce Lee's 1973 epic Enter the Dragon, and the 1978 film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.
At this point, New York City was widely seen as having forfeited leadership in rap to the West Coast, particularly to Los Angeles and, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland. The Clan re-planted the Big Apple's flag, and drew blood from the ground. But they also -- intentionally -- drew some laughs. The balance of seriousness and humor helped, and helped inspire Brooklynites Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Nas, and the Queens duo Prodigy and Havoc, a.k.a. Mobb Deep.
In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Enter the Wu-Tang 27th on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, higher than any other rap album. In 2022, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
ODB, long troubled by mental illness and drug use, did not live to see either of these honors: He died of a drug overdose at RZA's recording studio in Manhattan on November 13, 2004. He was 35 years old. As of November 9, 2022, all the other members are still alive.
Wu-Tang Clan fans consider Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to be the 36 Chambers of white boy albums. Wu-Tang Clan fans are also frequently stoned out of their minds.
Still, if you type "Enter" into Wikipedia, this album comes up before Enter the Dragon. And if you type "cream" into YouTube, this song comes up before "Sunshine of Your Love." So when you can get precedence over Bruce Lee and Eric Clapton, that's an achievement.
UPDATE: Power Grant died on February 23, 2026, only 52 years old. No cause was released.
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November 9, 1993 was a Tuesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 95-86 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 86-80 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-98 at the Orlando Arena. Shaquille O'Neal scored 37 points.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 113-108 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-112 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-95 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. David Robinson led all scorers on the night with 43 points.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 102-93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 114-99 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Dan Majerle and Kevin Johnson both scored 35 points for the Suns.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 118-86 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there were 7 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Quebec Nordiques, 2-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Dallas Stars, 4-2. This game was played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, as part of the NHL's experiment with neutral-site games, to see which markets were ripe for expansion.
* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks played to a tie, 2-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).
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