Studio Album · No. 4
Iron Flag Songwriting Credits by Wu-Tang Clan
Holds writing credit on 12 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 12 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Wu-Tang Clan carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Iron Flag is built on the Wu-Tang model where each member writes and performs his own verses while RZA anchors the production, sharing beat duties here with Mathematics, Trackmasters and others. The album was recorded without Ol' Dirty Bastard, who was incarcerated during sessions, and pulls back from the dense kung-fu mythology toward a sharper, more commercial sound on tracks like 'Uzi (Pinky Ring)' and 'Rules.' RZA mixed much of the record alongside John Goodmanson and Steve Thompson, with Jose Reynoso engineering.
The fourth Wu-Tang Clan album, released December 18, 2001 on Wu-Tang Records and Columbia with Ol' Dirty Bastard missing from it entirely and Cappadonna reduced to an uncredited bridge on the hidden track 'Da Glock,' having fallen out with the group. Writing credits here name individual members rather than the group as a whole, so the split is visible track by track; Raekwon and RZA appear most often. RZA produced eight of the twelve tracks and gave the rest to Mathematics, Nick Fury, True Master and Trackmasters. Flavor Flav sings the chorus on 'Soul Power (Black Jungle)' and Ronald Isley takes 'Back in the Game.' Loud Records was close to folding when it came out, and it opened at number 32 on the Billboard 200 with 153,000 copies.