DISGRACELAND - Masta Killa (Wu-Tang Clan Chapter 9): A Mafia Hit, an Alleged Assault, and the Student Becomes the Master

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Masta Killa grew up in a city shaped and run by organized crime. A city where the most powerful underworld boss could be gunned down on a busy street in the middle of the day. But despite his menacing stage name, Masta Killa was not a killer. He was, however, a master. A master of subtlety and of life lived discreetly. He kept his family history – and his relationship to soul legend Marvin Gaye – a secret for decades. When drug dealers and gang members flipped for the Feds and spilled dirt on Wu-Tang Clan, Masta Killa’s name was kept out of their testimony. When a music journalist accused him of assault, he denied it. And when he finally released his solo debut, more than a decade after Wu-Tang’s debut, it happened at the same time that the feds were deciding whether or not his musical group was also a group of criminals.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is exactly right. Double Elvis. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends.

Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When like young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever. My first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? Rather be disappointed in. Do that.

David O'Yellowo. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts. Dennis Leary, Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things, Tana Monsu, Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes a suspect is found guilty before a verdict is ever read in court. On the Wicked Words podcast, I talk with the writers who dig deep into the cases that changed history,

including Marsha Clark, who went from prosecuting one of the most famous murder cases to writing crime fiction. It doesn't matter that you didn't take part in the murder. If you were at the scene at all, you're guilty of murder. Every week, the real story is revealed. Join us every Monday for new episodes of Wicked Words. Listen to Wicked Words on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis.

The stories about Wu-Tang Clan's Mastakila are insane. He grew up in a city shaped and run by organized crime. A city where the most powerful underworld boss could be gunned down on a busy street in the middle of the day. But despite his menacing stage name, Master Killa was not a killer. He was, however, a master. A master of subtlety and of life lived discreetly. He kept his family history and his relationship to soul legend Marvin Gay. a secret for decades.

When drug dealers and gang members flipped for the feds and spilled dirt on Wutang Clan, Mastakila's name was kept out of their testimony. When a music journalist accused him of assault, he denied it. But no one could deny the great music that Mastakila made.

In a group full of big personalities and even bigger egos, he became unexpectedly one of the greatest. Unlike that clip I played for you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my Melotron called Sashay Downstairs MK2. I played you that clip because I can't afford the rights to burn by Usher. And why would I play you that specific slice of pool on fire cheese could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on June 1st, 2004.

And that was the day that Masked Akila released his long-awaited solo debut album, more than a decade after Wu-Tang's debut, and just one month before the FBI took their investigation of the group into an entirely new direction. On this episode, New Directions, a menacing stage name, organized crime, gang members, assault, and mutang clans, master killer. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Paul Castellano, acting boss of the Gambito family, one of the original five families in the Italian-American mafia,

aka La Cosa Nostra, lived on Staten Island in a 10,000 square foot mansion that the locals called the White House. Specifically, the White House was located on Benedict Road in a neighborhood known as Tote Hill. Tote Hill was exclusive. Tote Hill was expensive. Tote Hill was elevated, literally. At 400 feet, it was not only the highest point in all five boroughs. Tote Hill was the highest point on the entire eastern coast south of the state of Maine. This was the other Staten Island. Though it was only a 10-minute drive from the projects in Park Hill or Stapleton, Tot Hill may as well have been in another universe.

But for kids from those nearby projects, it was a universe that was theoretically attainable. You could see it with your own eyes. You could walk through it. You could touch it and smell it. You could even imagine yourself sitting in the White House. And why not? Paul Castellano wasn't all that different from you?

He was just another hustler, another disciple of the streets. Some wise-ass punk from Bensonhurst who dropped out of the eighth grade and learned the numbers racket. A kid who went to prison at age 19 for armed robbery. And now look at him up in Toad Hill. As far back as any Staten Island kids struggling with no money and no prospects can remember, they always wanted to be Paul Castellano. And I'm not even talking specifically about organized crime here.

I'm talking about the ability to visualize a future for your, yourself that isn't one that has been assigned to you by the rigid confines of society. I'm talking about subverting expectations, about changing your reality, about becoming somebody new. Paul Castellano was not just the boss, he was a boss, and his story was an inspiration to many growing up in the so-called forgotten borough. But not everyone shared a romanticized view of Paul Castellano. Some within the Gambino family didn't think he deserved to be at the head of the table. Anilio Neil Delacroach, for one, was offended when Castellano was appointed boss following the death of longtime patriarch Carlo Gambino some nine years prior in 1976. It split the family right down the

middle, and so did the trial that was currently taking place in federal district court. Castellano and nine others were accused of conspiring to commit murders in order to cover up a car theft ring. The riff got wider when Delacroach died in 85. Castellano didn't even show up to pay his respects at the guy's wake. And then Castellano had the balls to appoint his own bodyguard, Thomas Bellotti, as underboss. That was enough for those on Delacroach's side

to finally take matters into their own hands, including a young Capo named John Gotti. December 16th, 18, 1985, Midtown Manhattan, 526 p.m. Foot traffic on East 46th was dense. New York City was in the holiday spirit, which is to say it was chaos. Nine to fiveers scrambled to catch the train.

Their speedy efforts were thwarted by hordered by hordes of tourists walking at a frustratingly slow pace, shopping bags dangling from their hands and Christmas lights reflecting in their eyes. In the midst of this commotion, A black Lincoln limousine pulled up in front of Spark Steakhouse and parked. Paul Castellano, 70 years old and free on $2 million bail, stepped out of the passenger side in a sharp blue suit.

His bodyguard turned underboss Thomas Bellotti's step from the driver's side. Out of the bustling crowd, three men emerged. They wore trench coats, and they walked with purpose in Castellano's direction. The street noise muffled their footsteps in the cover of darkness cloaked. intent. As they approached, their stride quickly turned into a sprint. Castellano and Bellotti saw them and knew what was coming. They were wise guys, not wise men. They weren't carrying gold, frankincense, and they pulled out semi-automatic pistols from deep inside their coats. And there was no time for Castellano to get back in the car or take cover. He braced for the worse and the three men

opened fire. Shots rang out. The pedestrians screamed. and ducked for cover. Blatty was hit six times. He fell to the pavement on his back, bleeding from a head wound, dead. And the car keys were just inches from his outstretched and lifeless hand. Castellano, meanwhile, took a spray of bullets to the head and upper body. He fell backwards into the Lincoln through the open door. And one of the assassins pointed at his pistol point-blank at Castellano and fired again,

killing him. Castellano's head falling onto the limo's seat as his legs and feet went limp. on the ground. Then, the three men ran down East 46th to 2nd Avenue, past dozens of strangers, all trying to look and not look at the same time, where a car was idling, waiting for them. They jumped inside it, and within seconds, they were gone. John Gotti was no one's disciple. He was a wild card, a loose cannon. He took control of the Gambino family, the old-fashioned way, by assassinating the boss. And the whole thing was operatic.

And it had operatic themes like power, loyalty, brotherhood, and betrayal. The same themes that can be found in the Kung Fu movies that were near and dear to the Riz's heart and served as building blocks for his hip-hop collective Wu-Tang clan. And just like Kung Fu Cinema, the trials and tribulations of the New York Mafia were a constant in Wu-Tang's world. It was unavoidable, the violence, the corruption. It ran through New York City streets. like blood through an artery, and it burrowed deep into their imaginations. Years later, when Wu-Tang wanted to get into that mafioso frame of mind like they did on a

track called Wu Gambinos from Rayquan's only built for Cuban Link's album, they did it not literally, but with their imagination. They did it with a new layer of alter egos. Ghostface Killa became Tony Stark's. Rayquan was Lex Diamond, aka Lou Diamond. Inpected deck was Raleigh-Fing And the Rizza was Bobby Seals. U-God became Golden Arms. And Elgin Turner, aka Jamila Rief, the man the world knew as Master Killa, was called Noodles. Noodles being the name of Robert De Niro's character

in Sergio Leone's gangster epic once upon a time in America, which just so happened to be a Wu-Tang certified cult classic. But young Mastakila, a.k.a. Young Elgin here was no gangster. Unlike John Gotti, Mastakila wasn't an actual killer. Also, unlike John Gotti, Master Killa was a disciple. He was the last to join the clan. He wasn't even an MC, but he wanted to be one. He wanted to be an assassin on the mic. More than that. He wanted to live in the elevated world, the one he could see, hear, taste, an elevated world

of body, mind, and spirit. Master killer sat at the feet of Wutang Clan, a disciple, ready to be molded, and asked them, make me invincible. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either.

We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield and in this new season of the Girlfriends Oh my God, this is the same man A group of women discover They've all dated the same prolific con artist I felt like I got hit by a truck I thought how could this happen to me?

The cops didn't seem to care So they take matters into their own hands I said, oh hell no I vowed I will be his last target He's gonna get what he deserves Listen to the Girlfriends Trust me babe On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When, like, young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever. My first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? Rather be disappointed in. Do that. Dennis Leary. I wake up and I'm hitting him in the head with a water bomb.

And Bruce Jenner is on the aisle in a karate stance, like he's about to attack me, like, making karate noises. And his entire the Kardashian family over there, everybody's going, and the air marshal is trying to grab my arms and screaming. And I immediately know that I've been a sleepwalk. David O'Yello. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts.

Guy Branham. So anyway, Nicole Kimman broke up with Keith Thurban. Being half of a country couple was always a hat she was going to wear, not like a life she was going to lead. Oh, interesting. I like that. Did you practice that on your way over? Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things. Tena Monsu.

Camilla Marone, Carrie Kenny Silver. And more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a host of the Wicked Words podcast. Each week I sit down with the true crime writers behind some of the most compelling true crime stories and discuss their years spent investigating and why it still matters. He sees his father coming out of the woods with his hands over his face, and he knows something happened.

His father just grabs him and says she's gone. She's gone. These are the cases that leave survivors, families, and the journalists who cover them, changed forever. Working in national television, it'll push you to your limits, and you'll end up doing things you never thought you'd do.

You know, you look back at it and you're like, I can't believe that really happened. Join me and step inside the investigation. New episodes drop every Monday on the Exactly Right Network. Listen to Wicked Words on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The name Master Killa comes from the 19-70s, Kung Fu film, the 36th Chamber of Shaolin, also known as the master killer or Shaolin master killer. In that film, legendary martial arts actor Gordon Liu plays a student who seeks revenge against an oppressive government that squashed an uprising at his school and murdered his friends and family. But before he gets his revenge, he must train. So the student goes to the Shaolin Temple to learn Kung Fu. And in doing

works his way through all 35 of the temple's chambers. Each chamber focuses on a different strength. Arms, wrists, broad sword techniques, balance, eyesight, and so on. Spoiler alert, the student aces all 35 chambers and then proclaims that he wants to create a 36th chamber. A chamber where ordinary people, just like him, can learn Kung Fu in order to defend themselves against their evil oppressors. And by giving the people the skills and the power they need to,

stand up for themselves, the student's vengeance pays dividends. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is one of many Kung Fu films to inform Wu-Tang clan's identity, style, and philosophy. It's also one of the most important. The film's title gave them part of their debut album's title, Enter the Wu-Tang, 36 Chambers, as well as the concept of Shao Lin as a half-physical, half-spiritual world in which Wu-Tang exists. The film's plot was also Wu-Tang's plot, at least at the outset, an underdog rises from nothing to something masters his craft and defies the powers that be. But in order to do that, the underdog has to learn a lot. To become the master killer, the underdog has to start over, which is what Wu-Tang's

master-killer did in 1992. Elgin, then in his early 20s, already had wisdom. He got that from talking about supreme mathematics and playing chess with his friend Gary Grice, aka the Jizzah. Elgin and Jizzah were serious about the 5% and even more serious about chess. They played time matches. You had to think hard and think fast, and if your time ran out, the game was over. Life was like chess. Every minute of every day, make your move and punch the clock. Listen twice before you speak once. Born in Brooklyn in 1969, Elgin spoke only when necessary. He didn't tell the other kids in the neighborhood about the places he went to, the planes he boarded, the miles he clocked.

He was raised as an only child by a single mother who worked hard, and that hard work paid off and paid for the trips the two of them were able to take together. No one knew anything about this part of Elgin's life, just like no one knew that he was related to both Nat Turner. and Marvin Gay. A fact that it seemed nobody knew about until it was revealed in the 2019 Wutang documentary, but I digress. This was the way he liked it. Incognito.

He blended in. He wasn't better than anyone else. He did what others were doing, like drop out of school. And he soon realized that that was the wrong move. That was like moving the pond that guards a castle king. So in an effort to get his life back on track as a young adult, Elgin enrolled in a program to get both his high school diploma and his bachelor's degree all in one shot.

Night school was a grind. Sometimes he couldn't muster the energy to go. He quickly racked up two absences and was warned that a third would mean his expulsion. He thought about this on the night that the Jizzah invited him to the studio. Jizza and Rizza had this new thing called Wutang and they were about to cook up a new track. Elgin should come hang. And the temptation was strong. But Elgin thought about his need to get back on track,

about the consequence of a third absence. And he thought about chess, the right moves, and the wrong moves. He told Jizza he couldn't make it. And he got himself to class. The next day during their regular chess game, Jizza played Elgin the track they had recorded the night before. Check this out, Jiza said. It's called Protect Your Neck.

Elgin's jaw hit the floor, the energy, the beat, The onslaught of wide-ranging rhyming styles from Inspector Deck, Rayquan, Methodman, U-God, OBD, Ghostface, the Rizza, the Jizzah. It was new, fresh, raw. It was something that hadn't existed in hip-hop until that moment. Elgin knew it was going to be huge from the moment the track ended. He also knew that he wanted to be a part of it, but he'd never written a rhyme in his life. And nevertheless, he was inspired. He put pen to paper.

and the words in his head tumbled into his fingers were absorbed by the ink and then spilled out onto the page. He read what he had and then he rewrote it. Again and again, he refined it, again. And then he shared what he had written with Jizzah. Jizza was impressed. Elgin had something here. A perfect verse.

A verse so perfect that it became Elgin's first contribution to Wu-Tang as Master Killa. It became his verse on the track The Mystery of Chessper. boxing from Wu-Tang's debut album. Hold on. Just imagine the team you're about to go play for is already stacked with All-Stars. Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Reggie Williams, and you come along, and you got no rep, you got no history in the game, you've never even taken a swing before. All you got is this one verse. Imagine how nerve-wracking that would be. That was the situation Mastakila found himself in. His first verse was his first chamber in Shaolinland. And true to his name, he killed it. He learned fast. He wanted to learn more. He was ready to be a full-time

student, but not at night school. Algin Turner, soon to be better known as Master Kila, decided then and there to become a student of hip-hop and a disciple of Wu-Tang. And he was never going back to school again. Yo man, you Cheo? Chio Cocher was barely able to respond before the fist hit his face. Right cross to his left. die. Cheo wobbled backwards, his eyes stung like hell, and the guy who hit him followed up the punch with a few choice words. That's just to let you know, Wutang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with. We come real with our shit. We're not cartoon characters. Then he took the tape recorder out of Cheo's hand and walked off. In May, 1994, music journalist Cheo Kocher alleged that he was assaulted

out of the blue by Wu Tang Clan's mass to killa. Cheo had done. just written a profile on the group for Rap Page's magazine, and Wu-Tang never showed up for the accompanying photo shoot, and the magazine couldn't run the story without art. So Rap Pages was forced to make a decision, either kill the article or hire an artist to draw members of Wu-Tang, and they chose the latter. The artist's caricatures were whack. Jizzah was rendered as a valedictorian nerd, and Rayquan the chef was pictured as a literal chef at a barbecue grill. ODB was holding a blow-up doll. And maybe someone with a better sense of humor about themselves would have let it fly,

but Wu-Tang, at this point, ruling the hip-hop world, were dead serious about what they did. They wanted everyone else to take them seriously, too. And this shit just made them look corny. Even Cheo thought the cartoons were corny. But Cheo didn't draw the cartoons. They weren't even his idea. He was just a freelance writer who provided the copy. Wu-Tang didn't know that.

But if they did know, they didn't care. Cheo was guilty by association. But here's the thing. Master Killa denies ever-punching Cheo Coker. Says it wasn't him. And given his reserved, listened twice, and speak once kind of demeanor, it does seem a little out of character. Cheo, on the other hand, said he had receipts.

In an editorial he later wrote for The Source magazine, Cheo showed a $60 check he received from Wu-Tang production shortly after the incident, which he never cast. written on the memo line was, quote, for repayment of radio and tape, unquote. In that same editorial, he revealed that two weeks after the assault, Mastakila personally called him to apologize.

Mastakila has maintained that this is all bullshit and that he's never had any conversations of the sort with Cheo. And perhaps he's telling the truth. Perhaps he didn't punch a journalist. Or maybe Mastakila, ever the student, ever Wu-Tang's disciple, was putting to good use in an important lesson, lesson he learned in one of the many proverbial chambers at which he trained.

Remember, this was back in 94, and there were no cell phones, no nest cameras watching from the corner of the room. It was just one man's word against another's, one lowly freelance writer versus an almighty clan. They say, you're born twice in this life, first physically through the womb, and then again mentally through Allah's supreme mathematics. Mass to killa and his Wu-Tang brothers, however, were born a third time when they took on their hip-hop personas. They were born anew, but they weren't born yesterday. Wu-Tang was in charge of their own narrative, and that narrative was, Wu-Tang is not a corny joke.

Wu-Tang does not tune up writers. They were the ones who said what they were and what they weren't, but not everyone believe them. We'll be right back after this word, word, word. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that, trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a... truck. I thought how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some

fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When like young people come up to me, want to be an act or whatever. And my first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? You'd rather be disappointed in. Do that. Dennis Leary. I wake up and I'm hitting him in the head with a water bomb. And Bruce Jenner is on the aisle in a karate stance.

Like he's about to attack me. Like making karate noises. And his entire, the Kardashian family over there, everybody's going, and the air marshal is trying to grab my arms and screaming. I immediately know that I've been at sleepwalk. David O'Yellowo. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts. Guy Branham.

So anyway, Nicole Kidman broke up with Keith Durbin. Being half of a country couple was always a hat she was going to wear, not like a life she was going to lead. Oh, interesting. I like that. Did you practice that on your way over? Gaten Moderato from Stranger Things. Tena Monsu. Camilla Marone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more.

Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember when you'd walk into your local video rental place and there were always those two employees behind the counter arguing about movies? Well, that's us. I'm Millie to Cherico. And I'm Casey O'Brien.

And now we're arguing about movies on our podcast Dear Movies I Love You from the Exactly Right Network. Can I say something about the Criterion Clause? Go ahead, dude. They're letting too many people in there. Okay, that's another film, Gripe I got two. Sadly, that rental place doesn't exist anymore. It's probably a store that sells running shoes.

Or an ice cream shop with an extra P and an E at the end. So consider us your slacker movie clerks in podcast form. I would like to establish a timeline of the moment you figured out who Channing Taitan was. Every Tuesday, we dig into the movies we can't stop obsessing over, from hidden gems to big screen favorites. New episodes drop every week on the exactly right network. Listen to Dear Movies I Love You on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The FBI agent knew they were close. It wasn't a matter of if, but when the feds would finally take down Wu-Tang Clan. He could see it so clearly in his mind's eye.

Riza, Jizzah, Ghostface, Method Man, Master Killa. All nine of those dudes, plus their close associate, Capadonna, and handcuffs. Purp walking right into a jet black suburban. Cameras flashing and reporters craning their necks to get one sound bite, one quote, but only receiving a standoffish no comment through gritted teeth. Fed's one, Wutang, zero. The headline in the Times would be something like Wutang Clan convicted of running guns, ordering murders.

Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with, huh? The agent chuckled. We'll see about that. The FBI had laid bare this confidence in a 1999 internal memo, which read in part. It is believed that it sometimes carry out enforcement actions for the Wu-Tang clan, which include beatings, shootings, and murder. This belief and this confidence were due largely to a couple of aces the feds now had in their back pocket. The first of which was Paul Ford, aka Uncle's, one-time drug dealer, now singing like a canary.

Uncles told the FBI everything, like how when a member of the bloods named Jerome Estrella, aka Boo Boo Boo, first got out of the joint. He fucked up by robbing Riz's little brother. Estrella knew they were coming after him for what he'd done. And by they, uncles insisted, Estrella meant Wu-Tang. Whoever was after Estrella sent a local gang member named Brian. Humphreys to do the dirty work. On June 20th, 1999, Humphreys pulled the trigger and filled Estrella with lead. But now, Brian Humphreys was in police custody and just like his pal, uncles, was desperate

to soften the blow that he was about to receive from the strong arm of the law. So he also turned informant for the government and thus represented the Fed's second ace. Uncles and Humphreys had the details of a second murder, Corey Brooker, aka Shepard, Shank bank killed just days after Estrella. Word had it, Brooker, was the only one who had ordered the robbery of Riz's kid brother in the first place, and that he had also robbed a cousin of Rayquan, another Wutang member. And that furthermore, in retaliation, Riza put out a $30,000 contract on Brooker's head. Someone took the money and then carried out the hit.

After Estrella and Brooker were killed, uncles, according to his testimony, relayed the information to a close confidant within the Wu-Tang camp. And that close confidant's response, what happened was supposed to happen. Hardly in a mission of guilt. Besides, it's not unlikely that a gang member turned stool pigeon would say whatever they had to say

in order to take some of the weight off of themselves. For all the FBI knew, uncles and Humphreys had nothing but hot gossip. But for a long time, the FBI really believed what they were being told. The agent couldn't deny that the intel fit the Bureau's narrative, or perhaps it fit what the Bureau

wanted the narrative to be, a narrative that included 16 legitimate businesses laundering dirty money. Mafia worship in Wu Gambino, waking fantasies. The Riza, capable of attempted murder, ghost-faced killer with an unlicensed weapon in a bulletproof vest,

Capadonna, getting cozy with a wannabe gangster, inspected deck and you gods slinging dope and whatever happened to be old Dirty Bastards' transgression of the week. Dirty made it a little too clean for the FBI. He had no filter. He didn't hide anything. Dirty was so compelling to law enforcement that eventually he became their primary focus. A guy like mass to killa, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

He kept his life real close to the vest. His narrative was clean. His name was out of the papers. He wasn't flashy. He listened twice and smiled. spoke once. And although he had one of the most murderous names of the entire clan, he never blurred the line between art and life like ODB. Over time, the feds didn't even look at Mastakila twice. Many Wutang fans didn't either. Master Kila wasn't using the Wutang platform to catapult

into the entertainment industry. He wasn't scoring Jim Jarmouche movies like Riza and he wasn't acting in major motion pictures like Method Man. He was, however, quiet. making his mark, like a trained assassin working under the cover of darkness. His presence loomed increasingly large over the studio album's Wu-Tang Forever, the W, an Iron Flag. He guessed it on Wu-Tang solo joints, but he took his time putting out his own solo record. After all these years, he was still a student, still learning, still making his way through those chambers, acquiring skills one by one.

and there was no rush. He wanted to wait until he was ready. And when he finally was ready, every other member of Wu-Tang had already released a solo album. Master Killa's debut, no said date, dropped on June 1, 2004. In many ways, it was a return to the old-school feel of Wu-Tang's first record. It featured most of the clan in guest spots.

It had Riz's dusty production. It caught many people by surprise, including critics who love. and despite underestimating Mastakila as one of the quote-unquote lesser M-Cs in the clan for years. No said day was Mastakila's 36th chamber. He took everything that he had learned and he put it into one package and then delivered that to the masses. And his vengeance paid dividends. If you slept on Mastakila, on guard motherfucker. His Wu-Tang sword was sharp and swift.

His style came at you like three guys in true. trench coats making a beeline towards you outside sparks as you got out of your Lincoln. People noticed. Well, not everyone. For some, Mastakila and Wu-Tang simply weren't worth the effort anymore. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Precedents, routine. 2004 to New York from New York.

Case ID number 281F-N-Y-Y-27147. Title, Wooten Klan. Synopsis to close case number 281F-NY-N-Y-27147. Details. It is requested that the above-captioned case be closed as the matter is being investigated by Squad C-30 S-A-R-C-C-Fail number 267C-NY-269-537, and all further references should be directed to the 267C case. In the summer of 2004, just one month after Masked a killer released a solo debut album,

no said date, the FBI officially closed its 281F case file on Wutang Clan. And no, 281F is not a reference to the license plate of the VW Beetle on the cover of Abbey Road that allegedly offered up a clue and to Paul McCartney's supposed a death, but I digress. In this case, 281F is a classification code used by the federal government to denote a quote-unquote major criminal organization. 281F was typically reserved for organized crime families like the aforementioned Gambinos, but since 1999 had been applied to Wu-Tang, who, the feds were convinced were using their business as a front for running guns, dealing drugs, and ordering murders.

But despite any guns purchased or people killed or evidence supplied by informants of guns purchased and people killed, there was never enough to nail anyone in Wu-Tang. As the Bureau's internal memo stated, any further investigation of Wu-Tang was now the purview of the New York FBI's squad C-30, which was tasked with violent street gangs. In retrospect, the timing of the closing of Wu-Tang's FBI file seems, if not suspicious, more than a little coincidental. Not because it happened around the same time that the group's most discreet member made his solo debut, but because it happened just months before the group's most infamous member made his exit. Old Dirty Bastard was paranoid.

The government was nothing but a bunch of thugs. Doctors were too. Doctors wanted to stick his baby's thighs with needles and shoot God knows what inside them before they could even walk. Fuck that. Dirty wasn't letting any doctors control his baby's brains. No tracking devices injected into his children. He had to stay safe. He had to stay vigilant.

Just because he hadn't been murdered at Clinton Correctional Facility and Danamora didn't mean the NYPD and the ATF and the FBI didn't want him dead. And just like he had no way of knowing what was really inside those immunization shots, he had no way of knowing what the FBI's status was in regards to the pursuit of him at Wu-Tang. No one knew. At this time in 2004, the FBI's internal memos were still very internal and still very classified. And they wouldn't be seen by the public for another eight years in 2012 when the government released a 95-page file on ODB and Wuptan clan in response to FOIA requests.

For now, Dirty had to protect number one, which meant stocking up. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of spy gear, courtesy of the Rizzo's checkbook. book. Glasses with a camera installed in them, a phone scrambler, monitoring equipment that would make James Comey cream his pants. In Dirty's mind, the feds had fucked them. They were complicit. They put him in Danamora. And that godforsaken place they called Little Siberia. Little Siberia was where he was beaten and burned. It was where his leg was broken. And that leg was still a mess. During a show in Fort Collins, Colorado, Dirty fell from the stage and landed on that same leg. It hurt.

It hurt so bad that he thought he'd broken it all over again. But he didn't cancel the show the next night in Vail. Thank you to the wheelchair, it was now carting his ass around and thinking to the cocaine that kept him numb in all the right places. The Coke did the trick. The Coke kept him in Vail in his hotel room, instead of getting him on a plane to Jersey for a show the next day at the Meadowlands with the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan. The day after that show, however, on November 13th, 2004, Dirty was back in NYC. He still felt like shit and his leg still ached. God, it was awful, excruciating so much pain.

The pain reminded him of Little Siberia, and that reminded him of the feds asking him questions and the NYPD shooting at his car and then blaming him for it. He wrapped his leg in an ace bandage, did whatever was necessary to dull the pain. And so he put an entire dime bag of cocaine in his mouth and swallowed it. He went to his studio in Manhattan to work on tracks for his new solo album, the one he was making for Rockefeller Records, and the bag of coke in his stomach worked harder than he did. His heart pounded.

He was hot and sweaty. But the pain in his leg was getting worse. So he took a tramadol, a prescription pain killer. He peeled off his shirt and drank some water, and he lay down and fell asleep. He woke up and ate some sleep. cereal. He was still sweating. His heart was still racing. As someone at the studio suggested he go to a doctor, never. That was how they got you. Dirty wasn't about to let them get him.

So he lay back down on the floor and fell asleep again. He never. The tramadol and the cocaine proved a lethal combination that stopped his heart. Old dirty bastard, aka Dirt McGirt, A.K.A. Big Baby Jesus, aka Rusty to his mother. was dead, just two days before his 36 birthday. That number, 36, the significance was not lost on anyone. There were the 36 chambers, and there was supreme mathematics, which said that 3 plus 6 is 9, and 9, of course, is the only number which, when multiplied by itself, still ends up the same number.

9 times 9 is 81, and 8 plus 1 is 9. 9 means to be born. Nine brings something into existence. But Dirty missed the cutoff for nine. So Dirty didn't see what happened next. But he could have predicted it. In fact, he probably did predict it while he was alive. Because just when Wu-Tang Clan thought that the FBI had left them alone for good,

new evidence turned up that put them right back in the government spotlight. I'm Jake Brennan. In this episode of Disgraceland, this to be continued. You know. Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is produced in partnership with double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page at disgracelandpod.com. If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to disgracelandpod.com slash membership.

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I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that, trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler,

we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When, like, young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever. My first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? You'd rather be disappointed in. Do that. David O'Yello-O. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts. Dennis Leary, Gaten Moderato from Stranger Things.

Tana Monsu. Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver. And more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the Eye Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes a suspect is found guilty before a verdict is ever read in court. On the Wicked Words podcast, I talk with the writers who dig deep into the cases that changed history, including Marsha Clark, who went from prosecuting one of the most famous murder cases to writing

crime fiction. It doesn't matter that you didn't take part in the murder. If you were at the scene at all, you're guilty of murder. Every week, the real story is revealed. Join us every Monday for new episodes of Wicked Words. Listen to Wicked Words on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.