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The Wu-Tang Clan honored friends, family, fans and late member Ol’ Dirty Bastard in their Final Chamber.
Members RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Cappadonna and Mathematics found a special way to let fans have a piece of their history.
After completing the American leg of their final tour, titled “Wu-Tang: The Final Chamber,” the group partnered with The Realest for an auction where fans could bid on memorabilia, from setlists to high-end items that speak to the rap group’s legacy after three decades of making music together.
The items, which were from their final three shows, included Raekwon’s “Chef’s Kiss” Gucci apron, which he wore on stage and was sold for over $2,000. The biggest draw, Inspectah Deck’s Tiffany & Co. signed commemorative Madison Square Garden ticket, sold for $6,000.
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Speaking with PEOPLE about the tour and auction, Raekwon, 55, shares the group’s joy in bringing fans “the things they love to share about their artists.”
“Fans love to have something that says, ‘Yo, this was a legendary time right here,’ or to know, ‘I could be wherever in the world and nobody had this,'” he shares. “I think when you love music the way we love it and you get to see the greatest artists in the world perform and he throws a hat off the stage, or you got an opportunity to get this or you get that, you hold onto it for years.”
Raekwon laughs, recalling growing up with special, signed memorabilia in his grandmother’s home. “I remember my grandmother had in her house, she had an old signed Temptations poser,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh word, nanny? You were at the Temptations joint, getting autographs and all?’ ”
“To me, that’s fun. It’s something you can say, it’s yours. You were able to get your hands on it, and I think that’s what we wanted for fans at the end of the day, to leave them with something that feels legendary for them,” he adds.
For Wu-Tang fans in particular, Raekwon says, “We don’t know when we’re going to see the Clan come out together again. So we did something special, because everything was done for that night, to be fresh, to engage with a dope show. That was important for us.”
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The tour brought feelings of nostalgia for both the fans and the group. As they look back, it’s important to everyone to honor Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who died at age 35 in 2004 from an accidental drug overdose. In recent years, his son, Young Dirty Bastard, has toured with the group, continuing his father’s legacy.
“I think, when I go back to the ’90s and remember Ol’ Dirty Bastard being right here with us and kind of predicting the future of the group, I think those times is something that is always going to be important when it comes to our nostalgia,” Raekwon shares.
“When you’re dealing with a music business that has so many artists in it and you have to deal with the music business one-on-one and all that stuff, it’s an experience,” he adds. “We worked hard to get where we are today.”
“A lot of rhymes is wrote, a lot of time away from our families to go do a job. But we were able to also help our friends and put them in great positions and just see that it became a chain, where it helped everybody,” he continues. “Back then, it was really tough to come into the game, nine artists and demand this kind of group situation, and turning that into a million-dollar franchise.”
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While their success “took a lot of work,” he notes that “it also came with different perils.”
“We lost our brother to something that happens all over the world,” he says. “People get caught up in these situations. But I think he was the one that always was like, ‘Yo, we going to rock the world. We going to shock the world.’ ”
“When he was saying it back then, it was funny, but we never took it for granted,” he admits. “We was like, ‘Okay, if you see it before we see it, then that’s good that you see it, because now if you see it, then we all see it. Now we’re going to make the world see it.’ ”
Over 30 years since the group’s formation in 1992, Raekwon says they “still got the passion for it,” just as ODB had all those years ago.
“I think that’s a beautiful thing. It takes someone mighty to know your full potential and he definitely was telling us this, way before we even thought it could really happen,” he adds.
