Wu-Tang Clan album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) has been archived in the U.S. Library of Congress.
The record joins Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest and Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys in entering the National Recording Registry this week.
“Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) would shape the sound of hardcore rap and reasserted the creative capacity of the East Coast rap scene,” a spokesperson commented. “The group’s individual artists would go on to produce affiliated projects that deepened the group’s influence for decades in hip-hop.”
Other full-length musical projects added include Ellington at Newport (Duke Ellington), We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite (Max Roach), Tonight’s the Night (The Shirelles), In C (Terry Riley), Nick of Time (Bonnie Raitt), and Buena Vista Social Club (produced by Ry Cooder).
Individual songs joining the archive include Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, The Four Tops’ Reach Out I’ll Be There, Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, and Ricky Martin’s Livin’ la Vida Loca.
Reflecting on the honour, Alicia noted that she remains how 2001’s Songs in A Minor continues to resonate with fans.
“I just think it was so pure… People hadn’t quite seen a woman in Timberlands and cornrows and really straight 100 per cent off of the streets of New York performing classical music and mixing it with soul music and R&B… And people could find themselves in it. And I love that,” she smiled.
