40 Of The Best Lines On ‘Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers’

Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers is one of the most quotable hip-hop albums of all time. From the skits to the lyrics to the little bits of kung-fu films spliced into the record itself, the album creates its own world of danger, intrigue and mystery. While each member has a distinct voice and lyrical approach—GZA is the wise master, Raekwon is the tough soldier, ODB is the impulsive wild-card—they share a worldview, never more so than on their triumphant debut, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this weekend.

In honor of the anniversary, we've gone ahead and selected 40 of the best lines from the group's mind-altering debut. From the harsh threats of "Bring Da Ruckus" to the stark confessionals of "Tearz," it's an album of great complexity, violence and humor. So read ahead, but, please, don't forget to protect your neck.

RZA

"Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah jam is fatal/Quick to stick my Wu-Tang sword right through your navel" - "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
"Bam! Aw, man! I, slam, jam, now scream like Tarzan/I be tossing and flossing my style is awesome/I'm causing more Family Feuds than Richard Dawson" - "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit"
"Feeling mad hostile, wearing Aéropostale/Flowing like Christ when I speaks the gospel" - "Protect Ya Neck"
"Ten times ten men committing mad sin/Turn the other cheek and I'll break your fucking chin" - "Protect Ya Neck"
"Aw man! How do I say goodbye?/It's always the good ones that have to die/Memories in the corner of my mind/Flashbacks, I was laughing all the time" - "Tearz"

GZA

"I'm more rugged than slaveman boots/New recruits, I'm fucking up MC troops" - "Bring Da Ruckus"
"The GZA, one who just represent the Wu-Tang clique/With the game and soul of an old school flick" - "Clan In Da Front"
"No response while I bomb that ass/You ain't shit, your wack ass town had you gassed/Egos is something the Wu-Tang crush/Souped up niggas on a stage get rushed" - "Clan In Da Front"
"Be doing artists in like Cain did Abel/Now they money's getting stuck to the gum under the table" - "Protect Ya Neck"
"First of all, who's your A&R?/A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?" - "Protect Ya Neck"

Method Man

"Razor sharp, I sever/The head from the shoulders, I'm better, than my competta/You mean competitor, whatever, let's get together" - "Shame On A Nigga"
"I be that insane nigga from the psycho ward/I'm on the trigger, plus I got the Wu-Tang sword" - "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
"Like Deja, Vu! I'm rubber, niggas is like glue/Whatever you say rubs off me sticks to you" - "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit"
"Hey, you, get off my cloud/You don't know me and you don't know my style" - "Method Man"
"Peep and don't sleep the crews mad deep /Wu-Tang fadin motherfuckers like bleach/So to each and every crew/You're clear like glass I can see right through" - "Method Man"
"And set it off, get it off, let it off like a Gat/I wanna break fool, cock me back/Small change, they putting shame in the game/I take aim and blow the nigga out the frame" - "Protect Ya Neck"

Ghostface Killah

"Ghostface catch the blast of a hype verse/My Glock burst, leave in a hearse, I did worse" - "Bring Da Ruckus"
"My thoughts must be relaxed, be able to maintain/Cause times is changed and life is strange/The glorious days is gone, and everybody's doing bad/Yo, mad lives is up for grabs" - "Can It Be All So Simple"
"Though I'm tired of busting off shots, having to rock knots/Running up in spots and making shit hot" - "Can It All Be So Simple"
"Sunshine plays a major part in the daytime/Peace to mankind, Ghostface carry a black 9" "Can It All Be So Simple"
"I love Gats, if rap was a gun, you wouldn't bust back" - "Protect Ya Neck"
"Moe tried to be down with O.P.P/Ain't nothing wrong but he got caught with the H.I.V./Now no life to live, doc says two more years/So after the laughter I guess comes the tears" - "Tearz"

Raekwon

"Champion gear that I rock, you get your boots knocked/Then attack you like a pit that lock shit down" - "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
"I got beef wit commercial-ass niggas with gold teeth/Lamping in a Lexus eating beef" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"
"I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side/Staying alive was no jive/Had secondhands, Mom's bounced on old man/So then we moved to Shaolin land" - "C.R.E.A.M."
"Call me the rap assassinator/Rhymes rugged and built like Schwarzenegger" - "Protect Ya Neck"

Ol' Dirty Bastard

"Blaow! How you like me now?/Don't fuck the style, ruthless wild/Do you wanna get your teeth knocked the fuck out?/Wanna get on it like that, well then shout" - "Shame On A Nigga"
"Burn me, I get into shit, I let it out like diarrhea/Got burnt once, but that was only gonorrhea" - "Shame On A Nigga"
"Niggas be getting on my fucking nerves/Rhymes they be kicking make me wanna kick they fucking ass to the curb" - "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
"Coming raw style, hardcore/Niggas be coming to the hip-hop store/Coming to buy grocery from me/Trying to be a hip-hop MC" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"
"First things first, man, you're fucking with the worst/I'll be sticking pins in your head like a fucking nurse" - "Protect Ya Neck"

Inspectah Deck

"Charged like a bull and got pull like a trigger/So bad, stabbing up the pad with the vocab, crab/I scream on your ass like your dad" - "Bring Da Ruckus"
"Armed and geared cause I just broke out the prison/Charged by the system for murdering the rhythm" - "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber"
"So if you wanna come sweating, stressing contesting/You'll catch a sharp sword to the midsection/Don't talk the talk, if you can't walk the walk/Phony niggas are outlined in chalk" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"
"Handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us/Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough/But as the world turns I learned life is hell/Living in the world no different from a cell" - "C.R.E.A.M."
"We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks and/Stray shots, all on the block that stays hot/Leave it up to me while I be living proof/To kick the truth to the young Black youth" - "C.R.E.A.M."
"I smoke on the mic like smokin' Joe Frazier/The hell-raiser, raising hell with the flavor" - "Protect Ya Neck"

U-God

"Raw I'mma give it to ya, with no trivia/Raw like cocaine straight from Bolivia" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"
"Weak MC's approach with slang that's dead/You might as well run into the wall and bang your head" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"

Masta Killa

"This technique attacks the immune system/Disguised like a lie paralyzing the victim/You scream, as it enters your bloodstream/Erupts your brain from the pain these thoughts contain" - "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"