Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ On Hulu, A Fictionalized Retelling Of The Legendary Rap Group’s Beginnings

The Wu-Tang Clan was one of the most influential hip-hop groups of the ’90s. And they were also unique, in that they not only incorporated eastern philosophies in their songs, but the group consisted of about a dozen artists, some of whom rhymed, others of whom were DJs. One of the catalysts in bringing the group together was Bobby Diggs, aka the RZA. He’s the co-creator of a fictionalized account of the group’s rough beginnings.

WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In the basement of his family’s house, a guy stands behind a drum machine working out some beats.

The Gist: In Staten Island in the early ’90s, dealing crack and performing hip-hop were the two biggest hustles; the first was a way to make money and get ahead in the projects, the other was a dream that would help the most talented rappers get out of the neighborhood. Bobby Diggs (Ashton Sanders) spends most of his time behind turntables and drum machines, laying down beats and samples, inviting in his buddies to freestyle and record demos.

Bobby has been given a glimpse of life outside Staten Island; when he was a kid, he was sent away to North Carolina to get him away from an abusive father. His Uncle Hollis (Stephen McKinley Henderson) taught him to be respectful and showed him that even when it’s dark, everything around him is still there. And even though Hollis’ sister Goldie (Natalie Carter) would whip him for leaving his light on at night, the situation there was far more stable than anything he experienced in New York.

Back in SI, though, he has to follow the family hustle, run locally by his brother Divine (Julian Elijah Martinez). Divine has no patience for Bobby’s desire to record demos and his requests for advances so he can buy a new drum machine. He’s trying to keep a roof over the family’s head, so he thinks Bobby should keep doing his bidding, which includes going with buddies Ason (TJ Atoms) and Dennis (Siddiq Saunderson) to shake down a guy working at a Statue of Liberty gift shop who helps them sell in lower Manhattan. When they try to do that, they run afoul of the shop’s assistant manager, Shotgun (Dave East), who Bobby knows is a talented rapper who wants no part in the hustle.

One of the other problems going on is that there’s a turf war between the drug gangs in different projects. Divine doesn’t want to get involved, and Bobby tries to stay away because he knows people from both projects. Dennis is one of those; his apartment gets shot up by the rival gang and it almost kills his mother and disabled brothers, the dude who fired the shots, though, hid the gun with Bobby. But when Divine gets caught by the cops doing a job he wanted Bobby to do, Dennis feels it’s time for payback, and he finds the gun that shot up his apartment, not knowing why Bobby has it.

Our Take: Wu-Tang: An American Saga is a fictionalization of the origins of the Wu-Tang Clan, as told from the perspective of the RZA, who is one of the executive producers; he co-created the series with Alex Tse (Method Man is another EP; four other Wu-Tang members are consulting producers). In the first episode, we see how Bobby/RZA never bought into the drug culture of the Staten Island projects, despite the fact that he participated in the hustle, if only because he felt he had to. As the ten episodes of this series wear on, we’ll likely see him gathering friends and family who want to rap instead of deal and get them to record some demos.

What RZA and Tse are trying to convey is that Wu-Tang, which was seen more as a loose collective of hip-hop artists than a cohesive group, took the most talented artists from Staten Island away from the drug trade so they could meet their potential. One problem we see, though, is that, aside from Bobby, none of the rest of the characters are distinctive enough for us to latch onto. For instance, we have an idea that Ason is Old Dirty Bastard, given his hair and is somewhat unhinged personality, but his is the only personality besides Bobby’s that defined in any way.

We’re not sure if the RZA was actually the person that brought Wu-Tang together, though the history of the group indicates he was one of the major players. But as far as this series is concerned, he was the catalyst, which sets him up at the beginning as being the only one who seems to have a desire to rise above the fate so many others in his neighborhood meet, and he tries to pull people up with him. That makes the action a bit melodramatic in the first episode, setting up Bobby as the hero and people like Divine as the villains, when things were likely a whole lot grayer back then.

We do get some hints at some of RZA’s influences, as we see him watching kung fu movies as he’s recording some tracks, but for right now, this is just yet another show about drugs and turf wars, and not about the people who created such a massively influential hip-hop group.

Sex and Skin: Dennis has sex with Bobby’s sister Shurrie (Zolee Griggs), knocking one of her little brother Randy’s (Justus Davis-Graham) action figures off the wall.

Parting Shot: Bobby sees Dennis pick up the semi-automatic gun that he agreed to hide for his buddy and regrets getting in the middle of this turf war.

Sleeper Star: We always enjoy watching Erika Alexander; here she plays Bobby’s mother Linda, who busts her ass at a diner owned by the gruff but fair Larry (Vincent Pastore).

Most Pilot-y Line: Dennis to Shurrie: “Let me hit it again; you’re bonbons still hard.” We’ll just let that line sit there.

Our Call: STREAM IT, though it does feel like Wu-Tang: An American Saga will need to quickly define its supporting characters to hold our interest.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch Wu-Tang: An American Saga On Hulu