Released: November 9, 1993

Songwriter: Ghostface Killah RZA

Producer: RZA

[Chorus]
After laughter comes tears

[Verse 1: RZA]
Check the script, me and the gods gettin' ripped
Blunts in the dip, forty dogs in my lip
Had a box, 'boom boom' the bass would blast
We was laughin' at all the girls that passed
Conversation, brothers had began to discuss
(Hey yo, Rob, remember that kid you bust?)
Aw yeah, he ran, but he didn't get far
'Cause I dropped him, heh heh heh heh heh ha
Not knowin' exactly what lied ahead
My little brother, my mother sent him out for bread
Get the Wonder, it's a hot day in the summer
Didn't expect to come across a crazy gunner
"Hey, Shorty, check it, run the bag and the dough!"
But he was brave, looked him in the eye, and said "No!"
Money splattered him, BOW! Then he snatched the bag
Hit his pockets, then he jetted up the Ave
Girls screamin', the noise up and down the block
(Hey, Rakeem!) What? (Your little brother got shot!)
I ran frantically, then I dropped down to his feet
I saw the blood all over the hot concrete
I picked him up, then I held him by his head
His eyes shut, that's when I knew he was…
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, of us laughin' all the time
I taught him all about the bees and birds
But I wish I had a chance to sing these three words

[Chorus]
After laughter comes tears

[Verse 2: Ghostface Killah]
Me and my man, my ace Big Moe from the shelter
'Bout to hit the skins from this girl named Thelma
Now, Thelma had a rep that was higher than her neck
Every girl from Shaolin dissed her respect
We was stimmy, you know how it is when you're blitzed
Three o'clock in the mornin', somethin' got to give
Moe said he'll go first, I said I'll take next
Here, take this raincoat and practice safe sex!
He seemed to ignore, I said, "Be for real!
She's not even worth it to go raw deal."
A man's gonna do what a man's gonna do
He got butt-naked and stuck the power U
Twenty minutes went by, Moe, I'm out without a doubt
I'm not pumpin' up, I am airin' out
Hey yo, he came out laughin' with glory
I'm surprised he's still livin' to tell his story
But he carried on with the same old stuff
With Stephanie, like a Whammy, he pressed his luck
Moe tried to be down with O.P.P
Ain't nothin' 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

[Chorus]
After laughter comes tears

Wu-Tang Clan

Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Dre’s G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, NY-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-’90s – and only partially because of their music.

Turning the standard concept of a hip-hop crew inside out, the Wu-Tang Clan were assembled as a loose congregation of nine MCs, almost as a support group. Instead of releasing one album after another, the Clan was designed to overtake the record industry in as profitable a fashion as possible – the idea was to establish the Wu-Tang as a force with their debut album and then spin off into as many side projects as possible.

In the process, the members would all become individual stars as well as receive individual royalty checks. Wu-Tang Clan has several lyrical Einsteins aboard. As far as large vocabularies, GZA (not called Genius without reason) places in the top 2! RZA, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Method Man are also all within the top 25. Wu-Tang Clan does not disappoint.