before corey woods joined the wu-tang clan his rap name was sha raider. woods joined wu-tang clan, an originally nine-member hip-hop group that later added rapper cappadonna, based in the staten island and brooklyn borough of new york city, in 1992. he performed under the stage name raekwon the chef as well as the aliases shallah raekwon, shallah diamond and lex diamonds. wu-tang clan debuted one year later with "enter the wu-tang (36 chambers)". singles from the album included "protect ya neck" and "c.r.e.a.m.", the latter of which reached #8 on the "billboard" rap chart. "wu-tang forever" followed in 1997 and was certified four times platinum by the riaa, quadruple the certification given "enter the wu-tang (36 chambers)". alongside other solo albums by its members, wu-tang continued recording as a group, releasing "the w" in 2000, "iron flag" in 2001, and "8 diagrams" in 2007.