"Da Mystery of Chessboxin" is a song by American hip hop group

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

from their debut studio album ''

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' is the debut studio album by the American hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, released on November 9, 1993, by Loud Records and RCA Records. The recording sessions took place during late 1992 to early 1993 at Fire ...

''. It is the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of their single " C.R.E.A.M." Produced by

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

and co-produced by

Ol' Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan, which forme ...

, it contains a sample of "Tramp" by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Carla Thomas Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1960) ...

Background

U-God Lamont Jody Hawkins (born November 10, 1970), better known by his stage name U-God, meaning Universal-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for ...

recorded his verse before going to jail, in 15 minutes and 10 takes. RZA recorded him, saying "I want you to do that verse, and I want you to say it this way." When U-God was released, he was surprised the song had become a cult classic.

Masta Killa Jamel Irief (born Elgin Evander Turner; August 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Masta Killa, is an American rapper and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He was only featured on one track on their 1993 debut album '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chamb ...

wrote his first rhyme ever on the song. "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" is also the only song from ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' that he performs on.

Composition and lyrics

The song begins with dialogue from the films ''

Shaolin and Wu Tang ''Shaolin and Wu Tang'' is a 1983 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by and starring Gordon Liu. The film is about the rivalry between the Shaolin ( East Asian Mahayana) and Wu-Tang ( Taoist Religion) martial arts schools. It is also calle ...

'' and ''

Five Deadly Venoms ''Five Deadly Venoms'' (), also known as ''The Five Venoms'', is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts mystery film directed and co-written by Chang Cheh and produced by Runme Shaw for the Shaw Brothers Studio. It stars Chiang Shieng as Yang Tieh, a ...

'' in the intro; the sample from the former compares chess to a sword fight. The instrumental features a "creaky" mandolin sample. U-God raps in the opening verse ("Raw, I'ma give it to ya with no trivia, raw like

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

straight from

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

/ My hip-hop will rock and shock the nation like the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

), which follows up with verses in the order of

Inspectah Deck Jason Hunter (born July 6, 1970), better known by his stage name Inspectah Deck, is an American rapper and hip hop producer. He is a member of the groups Wu-Tang Clan and Czarface. He has acquired critical praise for his intricate lyricism, ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

, Ol' Dirty Bastard,

Ghostface Killah Dennis David Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang ...

and Masta Killa.

Music video

The music video was directed by Gerald Barclay. It was filmed at the salt mine on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. Barclay recalled, "There's a sequence in the place where Ghostface is in the bottom of the thing, we're looking down at him and it's literally the bottom of the building. There was water coming in because a boat went by. He had bought some new sneakers, and he was like, 'Gee, you got me down here, and my shoes are about to get dirty. Hurry up and get the shot…'"

References

{{Wu-Tang Clan 1993 singles 1993 songs Wu-Tang Clan songs Song recordings produced by RZA Songs written by Ghostface Killah Songs written by Method Man Songs written by Ol' Dirty Bastard Songs written by Raekwon Songs written by RZA Loud Records singles RCA Records singles Posse cuts