Album: Enter the Marshland
Single: "Protect ya Son of Heaven"
Heavenly King Records
Mid-13th Century
Say what you will about how the Song Dynasty rap industry is dominated by Shaolin, Tibetan Lama, Upanishadic, and any of those other West Coast groups - pure, hardcore Far Eastern rap is on the rise again, and no group better represents this than the 108 members of the Liang Shan Clan.
Since the mid-Tang dynasty, rap has been dominated by Buddhist themes and styles focusing on the impermanence of existence and incorporating foreign Sanskrit slang, known on the streets as "Dharma Rap" and "OM Steez" due to the prevalence of the popular Indian word.
With roots going all the way back to the Three Kingdom stylings of Guan Yu and Cao Cao, Liang Shan represents a resurgence in the hardcore eastern banditry style of rapping. Their lyrics are sharp as the various traditional Chinese weapons they wield - Tiger fork, Guan Dao, Horsecutter - but when it comes to throwin down with the mic, Liang Shan cut through diamonds.
"We got 72 Earthly Fiends and 36 Heaven Spirits, making up 108 members of the Clan" says the more estoric Wu Yong AKA WZA, whose mythology for the clan stems from various eclectic gang and prison religions (I Ching, White Lotus, Yellow Turbans etc). Although the clan certainly incorporates Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist themes - one of its most popular members is Lu Zhishen the drunken monk - the core of the lyrics focus on the street-style martial arts upbringing of the clan members.
"These guys came from nothing. Criminals, gang members, southern Chinese Taoists - the Liang guys came from nowhere. Now they puttin' the Marsh on the map, see?"
The clan's dark, dirty street inspired production come from DJ Song Jiang AKA Timley Rain aka the TZA, who formed the clan with now deceased member Chao Gai. The sampling and production on their first album, "Enter the Marshland", is unprecedented for the cheapness of the gongs, drums, erhu and flutes used in recording sessions - most of which took place in Song Jiang's basement tea-room.
"Their music always sounds so raw - like you drinkin in a nasty old inn at the side of the road and the crickets be chirpin and the timber be fallin off the roof and shit... Starts rainin, two merchants playin go, wiv some old dude playin on some out o' tune guqin - some rugged ass provincial shit, y'know?"
The Clan origins, according to Song Jiang, are shrouded in the warrior past of all the members: "we had all these bandits and warrior types, and they was fightin and killin and trying to make it big with they lyrics. And they all started running from the Imperial Guard and shit, and gathering down at my place in this shitty swampy ass area, a place called Mount Liang. And I thought, we need a clan, you know, a real deep clique...They done shit like that up in Shaolin, it's working for the Buddhists, why not us?"
The Clan's violent style is rooted in the traditional Confucian doctrine of saving the Emperor (whom the clan totally respect) from the corrupt advisors around him. But the Clan is all about hip-hop innovation. Previous to the Liang, rap shows typically consisted of only one or two MC's on stage plus DJ. Liang Shan Clan broke new ground by having all 108 members on stage - and the audiences loved it.
"You couldn't beat the energy of those guys" says local tea-shop owner Big Belly Wong. "You just had these chiggas, a hundred or so of em, and they was all just givin' and givin', ya know? You'd have Wu-Song just killing it with a tiger-slaying verse, right, like:
Three bowls don't cross bridge but I throw em back huh
Drunk as fuck tiger style tiger bitch on my back huh
Ain't no tiger it's a pussy im'a crack huh
Pass the bowl, pass the bowl or i'ma attack bruh
And while he doin that right, you got all the other members throwin' up and yelling "LIANG SHAN CLAN! LIANG SHAN CLAN!" and of course you got Black Whirlwind drunk and high as fuck strippin down naked to his chigga ass and just throwin hisself and his two axes all over the fucking place. And then you know you got Song Jiang on the beats, he razor sharp, but then it all cuts out see, and we all hold up our torches and fireworks and shit and pour out a pot of rice wine for CHAO GAI.
RIP CHAO GAI! LIANG SHAN CLAN FOREVER MOTHERFUCKERS!"
The Clan obviously inspires devotion among its fanbase, who insist on purchasing Liang Shan Brand clothes, tea sets, wine gourds, weapons, go boards, even Chinese head rags. And of course, the tattoo designs found on the sleeves and body of "Nine Dragons Shi Jin" are inspiring tons of copycats. Before Shi Jin, tattoos were considered a sign of a criminal or gang-related past - now it's a pure Hip-Hop fashion statement.
"Don't know what all the fuss be," says Nine Dragons, "I jus' wanted some dragons and shit on ma body. Dragons be mean as fuck. Ain't nobody fuckin wit dem mothafuckers, ya know?"
But perhaps the most inspiring part of the Clan's story are the solo careers. Song Jiang, who conceived of the clan as an act in itself, also planned for the individual members to sign-off on different labels for totally solo adventures. As such, the Clan plans to completely infiltrate the hip hop industry of the Middle Kingdom.
Key members of the Liangshan Clan with big solo albums include:
- Wu Song AKA Tiger Killah, whose album "Tiga Style" is rugged and raw
- Panther Headed Lin Chong, solo album "Only Built for Three-Sectional Staff"
- Lu Da AKA Sagacious Lu the Tattooed Monk, solo album "Iron Enlightened Man"
- Li Kui AKA The Black Whirlwind, solo album "Enter the Marshland Dirty Version: Return to Mount Liang"
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