Can It Be All So Simple

"Can It Be All So Simple"
Single by Wu-Tang Clan
from the album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
B-side"Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit"
ReleasedFebruary 22, 1994 (1994-02-22)
Recorded1993
StudioFirehouse Studio (New York City)
Genre
Length
  • 4:19 (radio edit)
  • 4:43 (album version)
  • 6:52 (album version with "Intermission")
LabelLoud
Songwriter(s)Wu-Tang Clan
Producer(s)Prince Rakeem
Wu-Tang Clan singles chronology
"C.R.E.A.M."
(1994)
"Can It Be All So Simple"
(1994)
"Triumph"
(1997)
Music video
"Can It Be All So Simple" on YouTube

"Can It Be All So Simple" is the third and final single from Wu-Tang Clan's critically acclaimed debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). It features production from RZA (credited as Prince Rakeem) that samples Gladys Knight & the Pips' cover of "The Way We Were".[1] The song reached number nine on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, number twenty four on the Hot Rap Tracks chart and number eighty two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

"Can It Be All So Simple" features rapping from Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. Its lyrics deal with a glorified mafioso lifestyle. In the song, Raekwon and Ghostface discuss the hardships of growing up in New York City during the 1980s, and how they want to live a lavish and famous lifestyle to escape the hardships of life. The music video was directed by Hype Williams,[2] with images similar to the song's content and a cameo by MC Eiht.

A remix with new lyrics can be found on Raekwon's debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.... Additionally, Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor" uses the break beat from "Can It Be All So Simple".

  1. ^ "Can It Be All So Simple by The Wu-Tang Clan". WhoSampled. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Wu-Tang Clan: Can It Be All So Simple". IMDB. Retrieved 22 February 2022.