The Wu-Tang Clan has provided the blueprint for hip-hop groups for two decades now, but leading the way in anything will come with its share of trial periods and experimental ideas. The Wu might not be the first to try out a pay scale system, but they are definitely the most publicly high-profile.

HipHopDX interviewed brand new Wu-Tang member Cappadonna—who after years of affiliation was finally formally inducted into the Clan by The RZA ahead of their new album A Better Tomorrow—who shed light on the Wu's business setup.

"There’s an upper tier now,” Cappa told DX. “The upper tier consists of Raekwon The Chef, Method Man, GZA, The RZA and Ghostface. That’s the upper tier. They started this on the European tour."

The tier system divides the Clan into that upper tier and then a lower level made up of U-God, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa and Cappadonna. But Cap didn't seem to mind the division, pointing to Raekwon's frequent collaborations, Ghost's TV work, Meth's acting career, GZA's "delivery and sales" and RZA's status as the leader of the crew as reasons for the Clan members' separations. That, he said, is part of what made A Better Tomorrow such a difficult project to pull together.

"That’s why it’s so strong it can be considered, if not the best, one of the best [albums] because of the sweat that was put into it, the essence of our nature, the hardship, the tough love, and consistency," Cap said. "It was like a bunch of chaos and confusion that we came through. We came through obstacles. It wasn’t an easy album."

The RZA, for his part, separated himself from the pay scale system, saying that he felt like it didn't make much sense for Wu-Tang. Check out Cappadonna and RZA's full quotes right here.

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