words Jiro Kohl
photos by Isabella Rozendaal
“It’s Wu motherfuckers, Wu-Tang, motherfuckers.” As the menacing strings of “Reunited” fade, silence falls over the crowd as a man known as Meth Tical paces slowly across the stage. Cloaked in a gold jacket, black jeans, dark shades and a swinging gold chain, Meth is somber. “There is too much trouble here on the streets,” he exclaims, throwing up his hands. The crowd responds with cheers of agreement. “The drugs are flowing on the streets, even here in Rotterdam,” he continues, addressing the packed crowd of Dutch Wu-Tang fans. “We’re keeping the grave diggers busy!” he yells. With that, the rest of his crew join him at the front of the stage, Ghost rocking a stocking over his face, while a familiar piano riff begins, paying tribute to the fallen Ol’ Dirty Bastard by performing his classic song, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” as the audience throw their peace signs in the air.
This isn’t the Method Man from the Killa Hills, also known as Clifford Smith or Cheese Wagstaff, but rather Styrmir Örn Gu ðmundsson, a member of The Netherlands-based Wu-Tang Clan tribute group simply known as The Wu-Tang Brothers. As the definitive hip hop supergroup, the Wu-Tang Clan captivated audiences both domestically and internationally, gaining fans through dingy beats, raw lyricism, expert marketing, video games and clothing lines. However, their most recent album, 8 Diagrams [Loud/SRC/Universal] was released amidst internal squabbling and met with criticisms of lack of cohesion and ultimately sold 69,000 copies in their first week, a meager showing for a group of their stature. But, for the European contingency of die-hard Wu fans, it couldn’t matter less. For them, the 9-3 continues, RZA’s blades are as sharp as ever, and the Wu-Tang Brothers make sure nobody forgets that.
After the cover group formed in the Fall of 2007, they have been putting on shows throughout Holland, drawing crowds of up to 300 eager Dutchmen. These seven swordsmen aren’t trying to imitate the Wu, or trying to adopt the Staten Island persona that the group embodies. Instead, they channel the Wu through their Nordic roots, and strike a match to the underground with their European sensibilities. They don’t claim to be like the real members, but they are dedicated to celebrating the Wu’s catalogue and putting on a show that no one will soon forget. All in their 20s, the oldest at 29, The Brothers are comprised of Arnar Ásgeirsson (Inspectah Deck), Lars Holdhus (Ghostface Killah), Henrik Linnet (RZA), Örn Alexander Ámundason (ODB), Styrmir Örn Gu ðmundsson (Method Man), Matthiijs Diederiks (Raekwon) and Gover Meit (U-God). They are a product of Wu-Tang’s influence overseas as well as their admiration for Wu-Tang. Although the Wu’s impact on the ringtone generation is questionable, for cats across the Atlantic, the Clan stays in the front.
The Brothers met at various points while they were all living in Amsterdam. “Amsterdam is a really small city, [so] you keep seeing the same people all the time,” explains Matthiijs. Through repeat run-ins and friends-in-common, The Brothers all became friends and quickly found out they shared a bond. Aside from Matthiijs and Gover, who are both from Holland, everyone is from Iceland or Norway, nations where there are only a few hours of daylight during the winter. “All the Scandinavian guys have one thing in common; they went to Holland to escape the isolated environment,” explains Styrmir, 24. And if you’re going to escape from somewhere, why not settle in a land full of legal purple and window dwelling prostitutes?
“The starting point was when me and ODB were in a party, and we were just listening to The Wu-Tang and like, ‘Yeah, how would it be to have a cover band of the Wu-Tang Clan? Have you ever heard of that?’” recalls Styrmir. “It was really this funny thing to imagine. That thought was left for some months, and when we were all together, we just brought it up again.” There was no convincing needed, as the five others were down from the start, Henrik even “thought it was destiny.” All members quickly chose their respective favorite MCs for their alter-egos. Although both Lars and Arnar wanted the coveted spot of Ghostface, Arnar saw Deck’s habit of destroying opening verses and seceded the role of Ghostface to Lars. “And from there on, things moved really quickly, everybody got super enthusiastic,” remembers Styrmir. A month and a half later, they had booked their first gig.
Although The Brothers were formed in 2007, the story of The Wu in Europe dates back to 1986, when a Dutch TV channel showed Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver’s seminal 1983 graffiti doc. “After Style Wars, basically graffiti started and also the hip hop scene started,” Mathiijs explains about the fledgling scene in Amsterdam. His relationship with hip hop came from growing up in the southeastern part of Amsterdam, which has a a large Surinamese population. The music of African-Americans resonated with the African diaspora in Europe, and during the mid-’90s, Mathiijs recalls how tapes by artists like Dr. Dre and N.W.A circulated through his school and started his involvement with the music when he was just 10 years old. “I was always around black guys and [Moroccan] guys, and that lead to a big love for hip hop in the whole class. When one guy got an album, it got taped for everybody, so the whole class had the album.” Like a pre-internet Napster, cassette tapes provided kids with free exposure to the creme-de-la-creme of the East Coast’s biggest export, next to industrial employment.
“Iceland was really at a certain point when the first Wu-Tang albums were coming out,” explains Henrik. “There was a hip hop tide going through Reykjavik.” All the Icelandic members rode the tide, receiving their first Wu albums as youngins from their parents for Christmas and birthdays. Although the lyrics remained somewhat of a mystery to them, as their English wasn’t perfect yet, the beats and the personas of the nine MCs captured the kids’ imaginations. “I just remember growing up, with friends just trying to do the rhymes. Of course, we were just doing it phonetically. We were really looking up to these guys. They seemed like super-heroes.” explains Styrmir, who first entered the Wu-Tang in the mid-’90s. “When the Enter the Wu-Tang album came out, I was about 12. I remember getting that CD for Christmas, my parents gave it to me, and that was the first album I ever got. At that time, everybody was wearing Wu-Wear, listening to that album. Really, it was the first thing I listened to. And it’s always kind of special when you get a CD for the first time, you really appreciate it.”
Robert Aron Magnusson, known throughout Iceland as DJ Rampage, ran the first hip hop radio program in Scandinavia starting in 1993. At the time, the music was yet to reach the level of popularity that The Brothers describe, but “The Kronik Hip Hop Show” helped bring in and spread the culture and music to the hungry Viking masses. In the early days of the show, he would play all the popular acts of the time, Nas, Snoop, Jay, and of course, Wu-Tang. “I think it was basically the street credit that they had that people liked. They had killer beats, lyrics and later came up with their own clothing brand,” explains Rampage about the Wu’s popularity in Iceland. “People wanted something different, and that is excactly what the Wu-Tang was all about.” Now 33 years old, he continues to do shows with hip hop greats like DJ Premier, and claims that he is only “a little bit” surprised that Wu-Tang’s popularity has reached the point of European cover groups being formed in tribute, as the Wu “changed the scenery” in Iceland and the rest of Europe for good.
Although The Brothers don’t embrace kung fu flicks in the way that The Clan does, they fully support the Nordic equivalent. “The first produced movies in Iceland were about the Vikings,” says Styrmir. “That’s kind of a funny relation with kung fu, because I think the Vikings would have whooped them.” Proof that Iceland had been ready for rap, dating as far back as the 15th Century, epic poems served as an important oral tradition and way of passing down history from generation to generation. Centuries later, epic poems describing a day in Stapleton do the same. The Brothers’ pride in their European roots is obvious, and they are all quick to clear up any misconception that they are trying to replicate the Eastern ways of The Wu in their performances. “We’re never gonna’ be able to do what they do,” explains Lars. “We’re reaching a different level, you can say. We reinterpret what they do, in a way. Where we come from, where we are, where we stand right now, we have to work out of that situation. That’s what it’s about, and that’s why we founded this whole thing.”
Since they don’t plan to record anything, The Brothers channel Wu-Tang strictly through their live performances, which had been the plan from the start. Their first show, in a small café called Studio K in East Amsterdam drew a crowd of over 200, though some in attendance were not expecting what they saw on stage. “Some people probably thought they were going to see The Wu-Tang, and they were quite hostile. As soon as we started, they jumped on the stage, trying to start a beef,” recalls Henrik. “We just gave them a mic and started giving shoutouts: Amsterdam Oost. In the end, they’re dancing on stage.” Their live shows are carefully planned out, and include short skits between songs, and even theatrics on the way to their venues. Prior to their first show, The Brothers carried a thirteen foot cross through Amsterdam in remembrance of the deceased Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and performed a resurrection at the show, segueing into the the crowd rousing opening piano riff of “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
Aside from the ODB classic, The Brothers perform an array of Wu group songs, as well as solo joints. “We try to pick the most upbeat songs, the songs that are the most likely to have people dance and party,” explains Örn. But also we try to pick songs from Enter and Forever, those are the records that we like the most, well at least the records that we grew up with.” With a set list that includes classics like “Da Mystery Of Chessboxing,” “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Liquid Swords,” The Brothers may seem like a a tribute group stuck in the ways of forgotten times of hip hop, but they also realize that they are on stage to put on a show and please those in the crowd who just want to party to some familiar jams.
Just by listening to the music for long enough, the world of The Wu becomes clear. Whether it be the slang, the places described, or even the area codes being shouted out, hip hop vernacular is a language that needs no translation as long as you can speak English. The Brothers have become fluent in Wu-speak over the years, but also know where the similarities between them and The Clan end. “We think it would be completely inappropriate to use the N-word,” Styrmir points out. “We shoot in other words like ‘mutha,’ ‘bitches’ or even ‘jonge,’ which means boy in dutch. ‘Don’t talk the talk, if you can’t walk the walk / phony jonges are outlined in chalk.’”
A shocking 14 years have passed since the release of Wu-Tang’s first album. In the decade-plus since, they have undergone countless endeavors to keep their name relevant and their legacy alive. However, through groups of unlikely super-fans like The Wu-Tang Brothers and the countless pre-teens from Upper Manhattan, it is evident that The Wu would have stayed legendary and influential just off the strengths of their first few years in existence. But time stands still for no man, and definitely for no hip hop supergroup, as the Wu has been making major moves in the realms of TV, movies and music. But for most, the cause for celebration remains in their early days of gritty New York rap, which continues to serve as bridges across cultures, countries and ages. Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. And as real recognize real, The Wu-Tang Brothers will continue to stomp through their home continent paying homage to their heroes along the way.
