Pyro Radio recently reported a new interview between the RZA & SK Vibemakers. The entire thing can be downloaded in mp3 format here, though the file is huge. As usual I will excerpt the pertinent pieces of information below.
S: So why now with this album because many of us thought that there would never be another Wu Tang album?
R: First of all it was on me really I felt like it should be done, I felt like I needed to come back and do something about the situation, I`m doing well with things, with films, scores and life is looking better for me I ain’t gonna front but I walked away from Hip Hop but I walked away without closing the book and with Wu Tang it was the same, even if guys put there solo albums out every year, life Ghostface puts an album out, Method Man but you still don`t get that collaborative spirit and I knew I had to come back and do it one more time for the people because we ain’t making a lot of money from this, there`s money there don`t get me twisted but it`s not like the sort of money with what I`m doing already but this a sacrifice, a worthwhile sacrifice because I`m doing it for my crew and for the fans that want another dose of this
S: A couple weeks back we spoke to Steve Rifkind and obviously your first 4 albums were released through Loud Records and Loud was shut in 2001, but now your back with him again opening up Loud records for just one record, what`s it like being back with Steve Rifkind?
R: I think Steve Rifkind is the only Record Executive that would be able to put out a Wu Tang Album, because most executives are just putting the what I call cookie cutter type of hip hop, just throwing it out there and not even caring about the purity of the sound or the purity of the people, I`m not saying the 8 Diagrams album is the same as the 36 Chambers, but the purity of us makes like it regardless so even with `My Heart Gently Weeps` which is well produced you got John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Dhani Harrsion the son of George Harrsion playing acoustic guitar, you got Erykah Badu singing the hook this sounds like a BIG song but once Ghostface and Raekwon start rapping the pop of it leaves, it`s not only the spirit of the music, it`s the spirit of the mc`s there voices. But with Steve Rifkind I think that he is the only executive that can deliver with his job, the reason I say that is that most executives want to tell you what to do, he`s the type of executive that trusts his artists, he came to me like yo I want to do it how we done it in 93, in 1993 you asked me what you wanted and I said yes and that`s how we gonna do it tell me what you want from this campaign
S: My Heart Gently Weeps is that the first single
R: Yeah that`s the first official single, you know Wu Tang always got an underground single then we got an official single, the underground single was at first `Watch Your Mouth` but we had a little sample problem with that and if you got that song already you got lucky (laughs) you know Sk Vibemakers got it though, but the rough single now is `Take It Back` for any that wants to hear us air it out with no remorse and `My Guitar Gently Weeps` is a Song that you can hear us air it out but in a song format, the videos are being filmed in a weeks time I`m co directing it with Malik Sayeed.
S: Are there any external features on the 8 Diagram album?
R: Not really any mc`s, Streetlife is the only other mc on there that`s not signed on as a legal member and for the fans that ever wondered if Cappadonna is an official member, he is now officially and legally signed on as a member of Wu Tang we sorted that out this year, George Clinton’s on there, most people think he`s from the west coast but he`s from the East Coast his house is actually only a few miles from my house and George Clinton and ODB were really tight, they spent a lot of personal time together and cos ODB`s spirit is not here physically on this record you remember on Iron Flag when I had Flava Flav who`s just as wild, but to me George Clinton gave me some of that ODB flavour that you wouldn’t be able to get.
S: Are there any ODB vocals on the album?
R: I think there’s one or two vocals on there’s, there’s one which is a performance ODB did back in 1992, before any of the albums, it was a demo we had in my crib, the 16th chamber and that`s the bonus track.
S: I`m hearing about all the internal conflicts with Wu Tang, after all the delays the album is meant to come 4th of December and Ghostface was gonna bring out his album the same day, and then were hearing that he was upset that there both coming out on the same day and he tried to get it pushed back, what`s the story with that?
R: That’s a true story, what happened was that the Wu Tang album was scheduled to be released in September, but we went on tour so it took longer to finish the record, then we thought October but there was more touring (laughs), the time I put aside for the record wasn`t enough time for everyone to do what they gotta do, so the record kept getting pushed, then the record was meant to get pushed and was meant to be released November, but there were sample issues, making a record is different from the old days, nowadays they got the producer to sign 50 pieces of paper, which I don`t even understand yo, but you gotta go through with this but then we finally got to December the 4th nobody was aware, well I wasn’t aware, Steve Rifkind wasn`t aware I think half of the Wu Tang Clan were aware that Ghostface was doing a new album, he just put out an album .
S: We would of thought there was such a cohesion in the crew
R: Na, na it`s like everybody`s solo life, is there solo life, we all keep our solo life to our selves, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, if you asked Ghostface why most of Wu Tang never knew he wasn’t bringing out an album he wouldn`t give you a good reason cos he`d be like I thought they knew, because that`s how Ghost is, if you call him a hundred times you aint gonna get to talk to him, he even says how Ol Dirty Bastard became Ol Dirty Bastard because of his name he feels like he became Ghost, his moms can`t find him sometimes you know what I mean (laughs). But to cut a long story short the dates did collide and at one point Steve Rifkind as executive was like yo I`m moving it , Ghost has to move his date because he felt that the solo members is never as important as the group.
S: So there`s no arguments over money or anything?
R: Na let me finish I aint gonna air it out cos I`m doing a special interview with Funkmaster Flex to air it out but I`ll give you something you can work with, so when Steve Rifkind got involved it got the point were the people in the building were making it a tug of war whether to move Ghostfaces record because the Wu Tang is a bigger campaign, so Ghost really got twist off about that, I mean really twist off to the point he went out and verbally expressed himself, so once he done that I didn`t think it was a big deal we`ll come December it aint a big deal we don`t want it to be a problem, cos it`s not a problem for us, the wise thing to do is that Ghost should have held his record till next year because he put out an album last year and it didn`t really have the same kind of success it usually does so therefore you need to take a chill pill and get your stocks back up, get this Guitar Gently Weeps video which is a big big thing for you and come back like yo it`s Ghost
S: Is there any conflicts with direction of sound though?
R: Right now it`s hard to put the finger on the conflict, right now I think it`s delusion going on, have you guys got the album?
S: Na we just got it, we aint had a chance to listen to it though.
R: Go and listen to it and let me know how you feel cos like I was telling Raekwon, it really aint about how we feeling about the album we put out albums every year, like Raekwon put an album out August 28th right called `Ice Water`, it was put out on Babygrande, he put that record out with full control of the sound, full control of what he wanted to do and he put it out, have you heard it, have you heard about it, did it make a dent to this hip hop world no, there`s many records that come out from the crew, but now it`s time for us to do this, it`s time to let the Rza be the Rza too, don`t let me not be who I am, because I let you be who you are, it`s time for everyone to play there part, but I think right now everyone’s used to playing there own part, even myself I`m used to waking up everyday and not having to do interviews and come to the UK but for the cause I`m here and if you look at it from a stand point why is only Rza here, I should be the last person here cos i already put my work in, but this is how much dedication I’ve got to Wu Tang Clan and the cause, so as far as all them rumours your hearing were gonna clear that up with a live interview cos i know what`s being said i`ve seen the youtube shit and all that(laughs). I can curse?
S: Yeah you can curse man (laughs)
R: (laughs) I didn`t know that shit motherfucker, shit motherfucker, shit(laughs)
RZA goes on to discuss the forthcoming 3rd volume from Bobby Digital, called DigiSnacks, happily featuring Baretta 9 & Reverend William Burk. The interview is lengthy & typo-laden but worth the effort. It's a couple days old--it was actually released a few days before Ghost's latest round of insanity (at this point, what could it be but publicity?). But then again it's hard to get ahold of where everyone is, if things are getting resolved or not, if the video for Heart Gently Weeps will actually get done or not, given that Rae & Ghost are two of the three major participants on that track. It's a strange time to be following the Wu this closely.
There are now some YouTube links available of another interview with the RZA, this one performed by DJ Semtex. The feature is split into three parts, with the 2nd pertaining most to the 8 Diagrams. The other portions are available from YouTube. RZA directly addresses both Ghost & Rae, interestingly mentioning that Ghost initially chose 10 beats from 8 Diagrams to record on. & then given the sheer number of Raekwon performances on the album--how could the final product be a denouncable surprise to them? The saga continues...
No comments:
Post a Comment