?? Music & Management Musings #15 - Wu-Tang Clan ??

This week's edition of Music & Management Musings -- where I write about a band/artist/genre/song and share some business-related, usually leadership-focused, musings -- is on the legendary hip-hop group, Wu-Tang Clan.

Wu-Tang Clan was just here in the twin cities, along with Nas and De La Soul, for a stop on their NY State of Mind tour. Not only that, but it's now been 30 years since Wu-Tang Clan dropped their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), so it only seems fitting to bring them in for this round of Music & Business Musings.

Wu-Tang broke onto the scene in the early 90s with a force and style to be reckoned with. Their beats were gritty, their lines were raw and they were very clearly doing something new, both with their sound and with how they approached 'the scene'.

Rather than all trying to go it alone and become breakout solo artists, the clan had a vision to come in as a collective that couldn't be ignored. But they didn't want to only be a group. The goal was that the Wu-Tang Clan would come out as a group and then, after that, that each individual could launch their solo career (while intending to continue to record as a group as well).

The standard at the time would have been that the group would have gotten a deal with a record label that locked in both the group and all individual artists on that label exclusively. But the Clan was adamant that each individual should be allowed to sign as a solo artist with any record label they desired to sign with (whoever matched their personality or style the best, whoever they thought would showcase them the best, etc). It took some time, but Loud Records signed the group with a contract that allowed each artist to pursue their own solo career either within Loud or with any other label.

The Wu-Tang Clan is a melting pot of personalities and lyrical styles. Each artist brings something to the table and they excel when they feed off of each other &/or compete with each other through their lyrical 'swordsmanship'. Over their years they've had a handful of gold and platinum albums (as a group, four, including the triple-platinum '36 Chambers' and the quadruple-platinum Wu-Tang Forever; several individuals also received platinum status on their albums, including: ODB, Method Man, GZA, Ghostface Killah, & Raekwon). The group also has released 100+ albums (when combining group + solo projects...and this isn't counting mixtapes). To say that the group has been prolific and influential is a bit of an understatement.

Much more could be said, but let's use these facts as a jumping-off point for some leadership-related musings.

What are some takeaways for leadership?

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Wu-Tang Clan is a great example of this axiom. There are some incredible individual artists in their group, but the result of all 10 (!) members coming together is more than could be imagined if you were to simply combine the talents of each. There's a reason that Wu-Tang Clan is considered by many to be the greatest hip-hop group of all time, and it's not because of Method Man, RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, ODB or any others as individuals. It's because, when they come together, they are truly something else.

As a leader of a team, this is an important concept. Leadership isn't about finding the best individuals on the planet (though, believe me, we want the best people on our teams), it's about creating a team that is greater together than any individual team member could be as a group of individuals acting on their own. This requires thoughtfulness in hiring, in how you pair up team members on projects, in mentorship/mentee or trainer/trainee pairings, and in the positions you place your team members to shine, be challenged and grow both individually, and collectively. We lead individuals and teams and the team needs to be 'greater than the sum of its parts'.

Iron Sharpens Iron

Connected to the above, part of what made the Wu-Tang Clan so excellent is that they brought out the best in each other. I read a great biography on The Wu-Tang Clan last year and a theme that stood out was that each individual highlighted that they crafted their best lines/bars in a spirit of competition, after hearing what the others were doing. Arguably the greatest hip-hop song of all time, C.R.E.A.M. (at least given the title as the greatest East Cost hip-hop song of all time, by Rolling Stone), is a great example of this taking place: Raekwon laid down his verse initially and then after hearing the second verse that Inspectah Deck recorded, he knew he had to up his game. So he scrapped what he had originally recorded, wrote something entirely new and recorded that - this is the verse we hear on the version today (story summarized from a reading of Raekwon's biography, From Staircase to Stage)

In technology leadership, it's not about having the best coder on the planet if that person can't also elevate the others on the team (and if they can't also be elevated by others on the team). It's important to allow and encourage team members to share with and invest in the others on the team. It's also important for nobody to be working in a vacuum - others should be able to see and experience the work they're doing (code reviews, demos, etc are great for giving tangible updates on work being done but are also great for team members to share with others what they've been doing). This should lead to mutual growth, encouragement, feedback and recognition...and if a little friendly competition is present, that's not a bad thing (though I'm a competitive person, so maybe I'm biased).

The Value in Not 'Settling'

Wu-Tang Clan didn't settle on a record deal until they found what they were looking for. How prolific they were and are in hip-hop is a direct result of this. As a hiring manager, I think about 'not settling' when hiring team members. When you've got a position to fill it can feel like the best thing you can do is to fill that position as quickly as possible. And while this is nice, the best thing you can actually do is to fill that position with the best team member possible, regardless of how long it might take.

This means thinking about the needs of the team and how the new individual will fill those needs. It means thinking about what experience, skills or perspectives your team may be missing and looking for those so that you can have the most well-rounded team. Maybe you need someone who can be a leader. Maybe you have enough leaders and you need a strong, steady contributor. Each time there's a role to fill, it's an opportunity to think about how you can best advance your team with the hire you're hoping to make. It's an exciting venture and it can also require patience to find the right person for the needs of the team today and 'tomorrow'.

Back to the Music

OK, I could keep sharing about Wu-Tang and extrapolating takeaways for business leaders or teams, but let's get to this week's song, the group's breakout hit, Protect Ya Neck. This is a heavy-hitting 5-minute track with 8 verses ... and 0 hooks or choruses. It was intentionally designed to showcase each individual's talents and each brought their A-game.

Some Links/For Additional Reading:

• For 'data nerds', there's some awesome graphics and visualizations for many things Wu-Tang here: https://towardsdatascience.com/visualising-the-albums-of-wu-tang-clan-246ea75efdac
• For a great read on Wu-Tang's '20 year plan', check out this NPR article: https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2013/04/08/176519640/the-wu-tang-clans-20-year-plan

#musicbusinessmusings #hiringthoughts #buildingteams #healthycompetition