On January 31st, 1994, The Wu-Tang Clan released one of their most beloved singles in the course of the collective’s career, “C.R.E.A.M.” from their groundbreaking debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
Setting off the tone, Raekwon‘s opening verse gave birth to one of the most renowned lines in the history of hip-hop lyrics, “I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side…,” along with Method Man‘s strikingly memorable classic raspy voice on the hook, “Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M./Get the money; dollar, dollar bill, y’all…,” together with Inspectah Deck‘s in depth lyrically inclined verse which brought forth a vintage hip-hop quotable, “Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so rough…” not to mention RZA‘s handle on production which involves intricate looping and serene transitions, “C.R.E.A.M.” became the anthem for those who were living the reality of the young black boy’s daily struggle in the core of the concrete jungle.
The time-honored visual was filmed right in the wilderness of Shaolin a.k.a. Staten Island in Stapleton projects and was primarily the first to put the notorious Staten Island neighborhood on the map, a hood that was the main stomping ground of Wu brother, Ghostface Killah.
The timeless track went certified Gold by the RIAA 15 years after its release on January 29th, 2009.
