Wu-Tang Forever

You might think the Fugees are the dope because they shift the units not only as a trio, but also as solo artists - but if you look further along the hip-hop spectrum, away from the poppy end and towards something a bit more real, you'll find the phenomenal Wu-Tang Clan. Not content with being the best hip-hop band in the world - and there's no probably about it - all nine members of the band have also gone multi-platinum in their myriad solo affairs. Count them in and count them out: Rza, Method Man, Raekwon, Gza, Masta Killa, U-God, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Chef Raekwon, Inspekta Deck and Ghostface Killah. Stength in depth and the squad system and all of that.

This band from New York's Staten Island first blipped on to the radar screens back in 1993 with their gazillion-selling debut, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). As urban as it wanted to be, it wasn't just the originality and the distinct lack of samples that distinguished the band from messers like Snoop Doggy Dog and Ice Cube, it was also the whole semi-ideological manner of its lyrics.

Mixing martial arts, Islamic prophecies and chess (yes, chess) imagery, this was no "drive by/dissin' my ho" type approach. Their wild verbal dynamics, often wilfully obscure but always interesting, were the perfect counterpoint to the scuzzy beats underpinning the whole effort.

And, for a change, these tales of sad street struggles weren't fabricated. Mainly from the Staten Island projects, the WuTang Clan spoke about crime, drugs, violence and hustling in a genuine and vivid way. "Most of us had dealt with the bullshit," says Rza, "and uniting under the Wu-Tang flag was a natural thing for us. Afer all, we all study Islam, play chess, live for kung-fu flicks and are true Shaolin soldiers. We came to the game with some ill new shit nobody was ready for, but everybody had to recognise." When their second album, Wu-Tang Forever, entered the British charts at number one last year, it was (remarkably) the first hip-hop album ever to do so. Away from the music, band members were making waves in other ways.

By (literally) seizing the means of production, they ploughed profits from their records back into setting up their own record labels, studios and multimedia enterprises. They also took care of their merchandising deals and have created one of the most profitable new lines of clothing with their famous Wu-Wear label, which now has stores all around the world and is an ongoing multi-million pound concern - selling everything from beanie hats to jeans to nail varnish. With a while to go yet before the next collective Wu-Tang album, attention has switched back to their solo endeavours, and particularly the dual release this month of albums by Rza and Method Man. Rza is arguably the key component in the Wu-Tang machine. He not only produces all the band's music but has been head-hunted by Bjork, Tricky, the late Notorious B.I.G., Cypress Hill and, most strangely, the terrible Scottish band Texas for his production skills.

His album, Bobby Digital In Stereo, is a concept album (in a sense) in that he adopts the persona of the fictitious Bobby Digital throughout. Digital is a the type of character that was once favoured in blaxploitation films - a smooth-talking womaniser who lives like James Bond. "He's like a modern-day superhero really," says Rza. "Everything he does is digital, whether it's digital through the elegance of it or being digital through the cyber connection of the Internet, through the computer world, through video, music, comic, all brought together in one digital aspect." Apart from the album, there will also be a film and a comic book of the same name. "The concept for the Bobby Digital film didn't just pop out of thin air; Bobby Digital was a persona that exists within Rza. We added to it and took it to the next level, hence the plan for the album/film/comic-book." Featuring guest appearances by most of the other WuTang clanners, the album is a dazzling trip through early 1970s sensibilities, but done in a very contemporary way. All the usual invention, lack of cliche and often perplexing use of lyric is all present and correct - there's even a Portishead sample in there too.

The Method Man album, Tical 2000: Judgement Day exists in a similar sort of imagined landscape, except this time it's one where plague and pestilence stalk the world and super-heroes do what they can. A lot slower in pace than Rza's album, there's a delightfully sinister feel to it, with atypical Wu-Tang instruments like acoustic guitars and harpsichords putting in an appearance. Bizarrely, there are small cameo roles for Janet Jackson and Donald Trump - two of the latest recruits to the Wu-Tang fan club, it seems.

Bobby Digital In Stereo by RZA is on the V2 label; Tical 2000 by Method Man is on the Def Jam label.