But recently I've just been really impressed with the way I did “Bring Da Ruckus.” I used a CD skipping as my horn. We touched on “C.R.E.A.M.” but does RZA have a favorite Wu-Tang song? I was like, “Yo, I need a hook for this” and he was casual about everything and came back with “C.R.E.A.M. He was a melodic member of the crew and was always very witty with his hooks. And so at the time, the best person to do hooks was Method Man. But as we was doing it, it just seemed like something else had to happen. I knew that the vibe between Raekwon’s voice and Deck’s voice was the best. When we got the deal to make, I wanted to use it because I knew that the beat was special. That one was called “Lifestyles Of The Mega Rich” and it was 12 minutes long. Then, later there was a version with just Raekwon and Deck. At one time it was called “I’m On Some St.” And later on, there was a version with just me and Ghostface. “C.R.E.A.M.” was a song that actually took three four different evolutions before it became final. What comes to mind when you think of it today? I want to start at the beginning and move forward: While “Protect Ya Neck” was the first single, “C.R.E.A.M.” likely introduced Wu-Tang to many and still resonates. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. “It was fun trying to match my words to the vibe of the beats and just using all kinds of different cadences again.”įrom his pre-Wu days, to the making of “C.R.E.A.M.”, to his production epoch, and his celebrated film work, demystifies and unpacks the many histories that orbit one Robert Diggs. “It was freeing just rapping and spitting verses all over,” he says. Reprising the Digital the character gave RZA a sense of liberation. GRAMMY-nominated producer DJ Scratch nails the sample palette, creating an epic undertone of kung fu dialogue and sound effects. Bobby Digital’s return pays homage to the Shaw Brothers - Hong Kong’s largest film company, operating for an astounding 86 years, with almost every notable kung fu ever made film under their banner - while evolving the album’s namesake character. Hearsay tells us that a Bobby Digital film was even in the works, though it never materialized and remained the final word regarding the Digital persona - until recently.Īfter 20 years, RZA has boomeranged to Bobby Digital with Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater, out March 4. In 1998 he once again emerged solo, this time as Bobby Digital - a character and concept album woven with fantastical tales over fewer sampled beats, creating an atmosphere that was equal parts Blaxploitation and futuristic street narrative. “I felt like I could run a small country after that.” It took me many years but I really felt like I evolved into the artist I am today after that project.” His voice now a bit dustier, but RZA’s energy and enunciation rings familiar. “My evolution to manhood began with that film,” he tells. Yet it wasn’t until 2012’s The Man With The Iron Fists - a film produced by Quentin Tarantino starring Russell Crowe which RZA co-wrote and directed - that he felt he’d finally arrived. RZA then transcended Shaolin, landing in Hollywood to oohs and ahs in the late ‘90s, where he scored Jim Jarmusch’s meditative film Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai. As Wu-Tang’s visionary, RZA famously masterminded their record deals and single-handedly produced all the vaunted material his group mentality aiding everyone’s collective ascension. RZA’s supreme mathematics with the Wu-Tang Clan were well known by 1994, when Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) forever changed rap with uncanny ballistics not seen before or since. the RZArector (among his many monikers through the decades) - career began through homespun demos with cousins and neighborhood friends in Staten Island. After founding a record label and clothing brand, creating comic books and soundtracking Hollywood hits, today he admits: “Now, I can get back to my foundational love that started it all, which is and will always be, hip-hop.”ĭiggs’ - a.k.a. Robert Diggs - known as the RZA - is having one of those full-circle moments. Artists who’ve stretched their careers past the unimaginable often come full circle at no point do they ever really lose the foundations that moved them to begin with.
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