| September, 18, 2019 | Michael Foster-Sanders | multimedia editor |
|---|
Photo Courtesy Imagine Television
Straight from the slums of Staten Island aka Shaolin, 10 emcees formed to become one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time, The Wu-Tang Clan. Sounds simple enough right? But the Hulu series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” shows the pain, poverty, gunshots, music and love it took to build a hip-hop dynasty.
Enter episode 1: “Can It Be All So Simple.”
The series starts on a rainy night when drug dealers Sha and Power decided to retaliate against a rival drug dealer’s family’s apartment by doing a drive-by shooting. Dennis, the rival who the shooting was intended for, is in the home caring for his two disabled brothers due to his mother being an alcoholic. He has an idea who’s behind the shooting and goes to get approval for revenge from his friend and leader of his drug crew, Divine, former friend of Power.
To avoid being caught with the Tec-9 pistol used in the drive by, Sha then goes to his friend Bobby’s house to stash the weapon. Bobby is a budding music producer and agrees to hide the weapon for his longtime friend. No harm in that, but the conflict of interest arises due to Bobby not knowing the gun was used in the before mentioned shooting of his friend Dennis’ home. Also, Divine is Bobby’s older brother.
Six degrees of separation weaves the web for this epic tale of brotherhood similar to a kung fu movie.
None of the group members monikers are used, thus forcing the viewer who doesn’t know about the Wu’s history learn about what gives each member his unique flavor. Members of the group were also consulted to make sure they were portrayed accurately.
None of this could be achieved without the actors nailing down the members they’re portraying for the series. Acclaimed actor Ashton Sanders from movies “Moonlight” and the “Equalizer II” embodies Bobby on his journey to become the leader of the clan known as RZA. While Shamik Moore performance as Sha aka Raekwon knocks it out of the park. The standout role is T.J. Atoms as the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He plays the Grammy Awards crashing rapper eerily to a tee.
The only issue with the series that to the ignorant it will come off as a crime drama similar to shows such as “The Wire” due to the dramatization of the story. But with time invested, the show will surprise viewers, and show why Wu-Tang is forever.
