Raekwon reflected on the Wu-Tang Clan’s enduring legacy and honored Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who foresaw the group’s global rise decades before it came to pass.
The Hip-Hop veteran helped bring Wu-Tang’s “The Final Chamber” tour to a close across the U.S. earlier this year, marking the end of a decades-long run that reshaped the rap music landscape.
The tour was more than a final bow—it was a tribute. The group honored the memory of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who died in 2004 at age 35 from an accidental drug overdose.
His son, Young Dirty Bastard, has been performing with the group in recent years, continuing his father’s legacy.
Raekwon recalled ODB’s early confidence in the group’s future during a recent People interview.
“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,” he said.
He also reflected on the uphill battle the group faced in the early days, a journey that came with sacrifices.
“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 said. “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.”
Despite the success, the pain of losing ODB still lingers. “We lost our brother to something that happens all over the world,” Raekwon said. “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.’”
At the time, Raekwon admitted, they didn’t fully believe it. “When he was saying it back then, it was funny, but we never took it for granted,” he said. “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.’”
Three decades after Wu-Tang Clan’s formation in 1992, Raekwon confirmed the group maintains the same passion that drove them from the beginning.
“I think that’s a beautiful thing,” he explained. “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.”