Five Percent Nation: the doctrine that shaped the Wu-Tang Clan

The Five Percent Nation was founded in 1964, in Harlem, New York, by Clarence 13X, also known as Clarence Edward Smith or Allah the Father. He was a former member of the Nation of Islam (NOI), where he learned the theology that the black man is God and the white man is the devil—central ideas of the thought of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the NOI. However, Clarence diverged on central points: he rejected the worship of Wallace Fard Muhammad (founder of the NOI) as the Messiah and began preaching that every black man is God himself—and not just a chosen one.

The break was not just theological; it reflected a critique of the rigidity of the Nation of Islam's hierarchy and its status as an institution. Clarence created, with the Five Percent Nation, a more libertarian path, focused on the streets, aimed at young black men without prospects in the midst of systemic racism, police brutality, and social exclusion.

The basis of the NGE is the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet — systems created by Clarence 13X to translate spiritual and social principles into numbers and letters. They function as an internal code, but also as an educational method. For example: the number 1 is Knowledge (Knowledge); the number 2 is Wisdom (Wisdom), and the number 7 is God (God).

They also have their own vocabulary: men are "Gods," women are "Earths," children are "Seeds." The cosmology of the NGE is earthly and realistic, rejecting heaven or hell. Salvation is in self-knowledge and the practice of righteousness.

The name "Five Percent" comes from a symbolic division of humanity:

• 85%: the ignorant, unconscious masses, deceived by false religious and political teachings.

• 10%: the oppressors, elites who hold knowledge and use it to dominate others.

• 5%: the "Gods and Earths" — those who know the truth, live justly, and have the mission to "civilize the uncivilized."

This language is deliberately symbolic, almost encrypted, and is part of a pedagogical strategy based on racial, spiritual, and intellectual self-affirmation.

Despite having a spiritual origin, the Five Percent Nation does not define itself as a religion. They do not believe in praying to an external God, do not have churches, do not require faith, nor follow the traditional precepts of Islam. It is a culture that manifests itself in ways of living, speaking, thinking, dressing, and organizing.

For this reason, many scholars consider it a radical black cultural movement, closer to hip hop, Pan-Africanism, and libertarian pedagogy than to an institutional faith.

The Five Percent Nation had a profound and lasting impact on hip hop, especially in the 1980s and 90s scene in New York. Several MCs proclaimed themselves "Gods" and made their rhymes a way of teaching the teachings of the NGE:

• Rakim (Eric B. & Rakim): perhaps the greatest example of a "God MC." His cool flow and philosophical lyrics were imbued with Supreme Mathematics.

• Brand Nubian

• Poor Righteous Teachers

• Wu-Tang Clan (especially RZA, GZA, and Killah Priest): with many references to the Supreme Alphabet.

• Nas and Jay-Z also bring influences, albeit in a more indirect way.

The lyrics addressed black power, self-knowledge, critique of the system, and racial pride with a coded language that served as protection against the system and as elevation for those who understood.

The NGE emerged at a time of racial insurgency, post-Malcolm X, during the civil rights struggle and the rise of the Black Panthers. Although it is not explicitly partisan, its stance is deeply political. By asserting that "the black man is God," it breaks with centuries of spiritual colonialism and legitimizes a sovereignty of the black body and mind in direct opposition to Eurocentric white Christianity.

Furthermore, the community work of the "Gods" in the ghettos of New York, teaching youth on street corners, in parks, and in prisons, was an act of pedagogical resistance amid state neglect and police violence.

FIVE PERCENT NATION AND WU-TANG CLAN

The influence of the Five Percent Nation on hip hop is profound, but in no group is it as visceral and structuring as in the Wu-Tang Clan. The Staten Island collective — also known as Shaolin, in its own mythology — used the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths not only as a reference but as a philosophical, spiritual, and aesthetic foundation of their work. The group does not "quote" the Five Percent Nation; they are a sonic extension of it.

Founded in the early 90s by RZA, Wu-Tang stood out for its fusion of kung fu cinema, Afrocentric spirituality, street language, and the doctrines of the Five Percent Nation. For the group, the microphone was a tool of education and the Supreme Mathematics, a manual for survival.

RZA, GZA, and Killah Priest are some of the members most directly connected to the teachings of the "Gods and Earths." Their lyrics are filled with codes, with explicit references to the Supreme Alphabet, metaphors for building knowledge, and affirmations of the black man's divinity.

“Knowledge, wisdom, understanding / Sun, moon, and star” — this trio appears constantly. It is the central triad of the NGE: knowledge generates wisdom, which leads to understanding. The Sun represents the man (God), the Moon the woman (Earth), and the Star the child (Seed).

In “Liquid Swords,” GZA rhymes:

“I’m mentally strong, the mathematics I mastered”

— here he refers to the Supreme Mathematics as a tool of strength and mental sovereignty.

In RZA's verse in “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”:

“I’m God Cipher Divine, cipher born build destroy”

— this line is literally formed by terms from the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet. “God Cipher Divine” is G+C+D: initials that form the foundations of the man's divinity. "Build/destroy" is the number 8 of the Supreme Mathematics: the power to build or dismantle reality.

Wu created its own vocabulary, inspired directly by the Five Percent Nation. Words like “cipher,” “build,” “equality,” “degree,” “civilized,” and even “mathematics” appear with specific meanings, encrypted for those who know the doctrine. This served two purposes: protection against the system (authorities, media, police) and exalting black culture.

In addition to the lyrics, Wu incorporated the ethos of the NGE into the aesthetic: clothing with symbols of the Five Percent Nation (like the 7 with the star and crescent), interviews where they refer to themselves as “Gods,” and speeches elevating black consciousness and spiritual reeducation.

RZA, as the group's architect, often talks about how the teachings of the NGE saved him from the streets and gave him a structure to lead, both in music and in life. He has even stated that Wu-Tang's music is a way to “civilize the 85%” — a direct phrase from the Five Percent.

In the 1990s, Wu-Tang's success led many young people to interest in the Five Percent Nation. Their songs functioned as invitations to initiation, especially in places like New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and even abroad. RZA went on to establish his own philosophical branch, called “The Wu-Tang Manual,” blending Buddhism, Black Islam, and Five Percent.

THE WU-TANG MANUAL

Published in 2005 and written by RZA (Robert Diggs), spiritual and creative leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, the book is a cultural initiation work. It presents the philosophical principles, codes, influences, and stories that shaped Wu-Tang, functioning both as a collective autobiography and as a spiritual guide. It is the printed translation of Wu mythology, blending street wisdom, kung fu, Black Islam, and the Five Percent Nation.

The book is divided into 36 chapters, in allusion to the “36 Chambers” — a central reference of Wu-Tang, inspired by the film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its debut album (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), from 1993).

Each chapter is a “chamber” that reveals distinct aspects of Wu culture, addressing the history of the group members, explained lyrics, concepts of Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet, kung fu films and their philosophical impact, spirituality, and strategies for survival and growth mindset.

One of the major focuses of the Manual is the direct influence of the Nation of Gods and Earths on the construction of Wu-Tang. RZA dedicates entire chapters to explaining the foundations of the Supreme Mathematics, the 5% language codes, and how these teachings helped him escape crime, find discipline, and see himself as God in action, a key concept of the NGE.

“To know yourself as God is to see the universe through your own eyes. That’s the power the Five Percent gave me.”

He explains terms like “Cipher,” “Build/Destroy,” “Born,” and “God,” relating them to songs and life decisions — such as stopping drug dealing and focusing on uplifting the entire neighborhood through art and knowledge.

RZA shows how Wu-Tang used icons of kung fu cinema, comics, chess, wordplay, and urban aesthetics as bridges to deeper philosophies. Instead of directly indoctrinating, the group created layers of meaning, where those who wanted could dive deeper, and the book is the map of that depth.

He talks about films like Five Deadly Venoms, cites Chinese philosophers, and also masters of the NGE, creating a hybrid system of references that mixes Confucius, Sun Tzu, Elijah Muhammad, the Avengers, and Bruce Lee.

The book presents a central idea: the urban black artist as creator and savior, someone who not only liberates himself but transforms his community. For RZA, making beats is alchemy, writing lyrics is deciphering the world, and each show is a way of passing on the knowledge of the "Gods."

“When I make a beat, I’m building. I’m constructing a world. That’s what Gods do.”

More than telling the story of Wu-Tang, the book serves as a code of conduct for young black people, teaching self-knowledge, discipline, self-defense (mental and physical), and strategies for autonomy.

It is a response to school exclusion, state violence, and the absence of role models. The book offers encoded wisdom, to be learned "from mouth to ear," as in the oral tradition of the Five Percenters.

The Wu-Tang Manual has become a cult object, especially among fans of conscious hip hop, students of black culture, and readers interested in alternative spiritualities. It paved the way for RZA's second book, The Tao of Wu (2009), which delves deeper into the group's philosophy with even more emphasis on spirituality.

While other rappers cited the NGE point by point, Wu embodied it. Wu is the soundtrack of 90s Harlem and Staten Island, and in this spiritual geography, the teachings of the Five Percent Nation are the base of the map.