As I watch “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” I’m five episodes in and I realized why this series was named An American Saga. This show depicts the all too real story of what it was like to be African American in America during the late 80’s. This story follows the members of the Wu-Tang clan and tells the story of how they came together and became the Clan we all know.

My favorite part about this show is the familiar cast members. Harlem Native rapper Dave East plays Shogun, aka Method Man, Spider-Man into the spider-verse’s Shamiek Moore as Raekwon, and Joey Bada$$ as Inspectah Deck. This show is absolutely brilliant, you can tell after watching the first episode just how much work and effort went into telling this story.

Traditionally when we hear the phrase “an American story or an American classic” we classify that with people of the European descent. So, seeing African Americans getting representation as Americans puts this show into a special part of my heart. The show itself is beautifully put together. From the angles, the lighting, the soundtrack and even the animations added as cutscenes. The chemistry of the cast makes you feel as if you’re in the show itself.

From a creator’s stance point it, inspires me to chase my dreams as well. Witnessing the highs and lows RZA and the rest of the Wu-Tang had to endure before reaching success gave me goosebumps. My favorite quote comes from the character GZA as he’s addressing Bobby, aka RZA, he tells him “You the black man are a god, once you gain the knowledge it’s going to whip away the fear in you.” Seeing all of the rappers work on their flows and then actually unify and come together as one to create something is beautiful. Each character is as different as their flows, with their own different set of problems and adversities they must conquer.

Whether it be selling drugs to provide for their families or turning away from selling drugs to make music. Each character brings their own charisma that compliments one and other. I think the most energetic character may be old dirty bastard. One of my favorite scenes is when Bobby is rapping to himself in the bathroom with Jesus walks plays. It represented a man honing his god given talents.

In a time where hip hop was JUST getting started it is amazing to see a visual of how one of the biggest rap groups formulated. During the latest episode, we see Bobby’s journey as he goes on tour with the rest of the group. On this tour he’s faced with a constant left and right of things going wrong. Whether it be sound technicians who didn’t care about him or the fact that his single’s sample wasn’t cleared, meaning he had to stop selling the one song he had and re-record it. It’s L’s like this that really humble you as a artist and make you grind harder. If you haven’t check it out yet I STRONGLY recommend. Grade 5/5