In terms of hip-hop ages, there’s before and after Wu-Tang Clan. While first pressings of the Staten Island crew’s self-financed first single ‘Protect Ya Neck’ were sold from the trunks of their cars in late 1992, it impacted farther afield when it hit the airwaves. A shady bolt from the blue marrying cryptic wordplay with murky pianos and muffled JBs beats seething with ill portents, A-side ‘Protect Ya Neck’ let eight highly individualistic mic stylists (all of Wu, bar Masta Killa) 12 bars to make a defining impact. For its major label re-release, Loud replaced original B-side ‘After The Laughter Comes Tears’ – the first Wu-Tang song recorded – with one of only two solo tracks from their incoming debut LP (rumour has it that all nine members duked it out for the honour). It allowed their most instantly charismatic member Method Man to excel, his eponymous B-side propelled by gravelly quotables as he playfully referenced Fat Albert, ‘Rappers Delight’, Mary Poppins and Humpty Hump over a jaunty piano lift. It was not his only reward. After the multiple bomb drop of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Meth was first out the blocks with a solo album, 1994’s Tical ending with another remix of his signature track. Within months of this single’s release east coast rap shifted to a more rugged sound, a new season of darkness.