8 Diagrams

8 Diagrams is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released December 11, 2007, on SRC/Universal Motown Records. The album was released three years after the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard, and six years after the group's previous LP Iron Flag. Upon its release, 8 Diagrams debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200, and number 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with 68,000 copies sold in the first week. It has sold 202,000 copies in the United States as of April 2014. The album received generally favorable reviews from most music critics, and earned greater praise than the group's previous album Iron Flag. Background 8 Diagrams marked the group's first full collaboration since the death of original member Ol' Dirty Bastard, who had died in 2004. The album's title is derived from the martial arts film The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. The group, which had not released an album since 2001's Iron Flag, signed a one-album deal with Steve Rifkind's SRC Records in December 2006. Wu-Tang's four previous albums were all released on Rifkind's now-defunct Loud Records. On Sunday, August 5, 2007, at the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, RZA announced that the release date for the album would be November 13, 2007, noting that this is the third anniversary of the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard. However, the date was delayed to December 11, 2007.