Ny RZA intervju (intressant)
‘The Cure,’ (RZA’s long awaited solo album) where is it?“
(laughs) It’s still in the book.”
In my head, it sounds like ’12 Jewels’- from the Gravediggaz album, am I close?“Yeah, you’re definitely close. It’s mostly songs like those. Mostly songs that you can listen to, you can write them down, you can cross-reference them. But it’s packed with wisdom.”
‘8 Diagrams”- was it the last Wu-Tang album?“
I don’t know. All I know is after doing that particular project with Wu-Tang- I’m always down to do anything, as far as MCing with them and rhyming with them and making beats or whatever. But that particular project stopped me from doing business with them. Because you can’t have people like Steve Rifkin at Universal (Records) put up a million dollars and my European partner put up millions of dollars for you and to have a group not support their own product for whatever reasons- for any reason, man. Once you’re in the ring, you’ve got to fight. So on a business level, I ain’t with it. But as far as musically, whatever. They want me to do something. They want me to rhyme on their s—-. They jump on my s—-, they want a beat. It’s all good.”
But individually, is it cleared up with them? Or is it still kind of wait and see?
“It’s cleared up in one way. It’s not an ongoing, tit-for-tat beef. Sometimes some of the members do certain things that I don’t participate with, based on the level of what they’re doing: it’s like, I don’t want to be in that particular room. I don’t want to be in that particular circle. And so, therefore I might recline from doing it. But Wu-Tang did a few shows a couple months ago I didn’t even know about. I was in New York doing an event with Mick Jagger’s daughter for Belvedere (Vodka). And Wu-Tang had a show that same night. They were advertising ‘Wu-Tang Clan at Webster Hall.’ I was like, ‘How the f—- is that?’ Meanwhile, Method (Man) is somewhere gone around the world. Ghost (Ghostface Killah) wasn’t there. And one of my friends called me and said, ‘You got to get down here. You got to get down here.’ I said, ‘Well, I got a gig that’s paying me a lot of money.’ I was getting paid more that night than the whole band was getting paid, which is something that disturbed me as well. But my friend said, ‘I think they need you over here.’ So I came. And I got onstage and I performed with them. And everybody was like ‘The Abbot!’ and everybody got happy and I was happy…The point being made is that, there is no quarrel like that, there’s just a business problem that we have a misunderstanding. And that comes from, I think it comes from two different things: one from us being from the streets. So when you’re from the street, you got to think like a street person, especially with us having the chance at being in the millionaire club. I’m still trying to think of that millionaire club, because I still got a plan that I ain’t trying to reveal to the world, but I want to live it out. I think I was on a good plan before. I think we messed the plan up a little bit. Personally, I think we’re all messed up in it as well. I ain’t going to blame nothing on the group- I kind of walked away from it, actually, at a certain time in my life. But I’m back on course. And that’s why I did the ‘8 Diagrams,’ because I was back on course. I wasn’t doing it for myself. I didn’t need to do that. It was something I did to get back on course.”
So you got a new life plan. Does that correlate to something you said about April 22 was the day you became a positive person?
“Yeah, it definitely has something to do with that. I did a whole album with a brother who was born on April 22, Shavo (Odadjian) from System of a Down. We did a whole album (as Achozen) based on that number. We got a song out now right now, called ‘Deuces,’ that’s only available through the Internet through ursession.com based on that and we got a whole message. A whole message that, I don’t know if you’ll get it this year or not, but it’s the closest thing to ‘The Cure.’ I’ll tell you that.”
I saw you as a positive person before that though.
“Well, respect. I mean, I strive to be positive in a lot of parts of my life, but I had a lot of negative things I had to go through first. I don’t talk about them too much. I don’t glorify them at all, but as the character ‘Bobby Digital,’ I can flashback to it…I got a long arrest sheet from being a kid. Being a knucklehead like everybody else in my neighborhood. And so, that’s the negative side. And I was able to escape it. And I haven’t gone back to it, but I can reflect on it. And I use my character Bobby Digital, or even Bobby Steeles- that’s some Wu Gambino shit. That’s when I’m strictly talking about some violence. But I learned how to put it into characters and not act it out myself.”
Was that April 22 this year you were referencing?
“No, no, no. That wasn’t April 22 this year I was referencing. That was April 22- that was before I started Wu-Tang. That’s what led to me starting Wu-Tang.”
So, what, early ‘90s?
“Yeah, that was 1992.”
When you’re making beats now, is it any different than you were doing, maybe back in ’92? Is it different?
“It is different because I make it different. I could still make the same kind of beats as those, but then as my music knowledge has grown, I tend to lean towards my knowledge. It’s like, I ate beef back then. I don’t eat that s—- no more. F——— McDonalds burgers, White Castle- I don’t eat that s—- no more. But I ate it back then.”
Why bring back Bobby Digital? Did you have that hunger again?
“I wouldn’t say it’s a hunger thing. The first album was 10 years ago. The second one was maybe only six years ago. And what happened was, the second album was on Koch Records. And with Koch Records was one of their first endeavors into hip-hop actually and was very successful for them. I think to date it was one of their best selling records. And the owner called me and asked me, ‘Hey Bobby, can I get another record from you? I’d love to have another record from you.’ And I said, ‘Naw, I’m not really into it. I’m doing all these other things.’ And he said, ‘Well look, there’s an open door for you.’ So I decided to do the ‘8 Diagrams.’ And when I did that and things started going sour with it, I kind of got the hip-hop vengeance in me. So I called and said, ‘Yo, you still want the Bobby record.’ And he said, ‘Bobby, I’d love to have a record.’ I said, ‘You know what? I got one for you. I’m going to make one.’ And I basically went and made one for him.’”
So you channeled that energy from the soured Wu-Tang deal into this new Bobby Digital?
“Yeah, I had to get it out somewhere man. That’s why on the first song you hear me, ‘No matter how hard you try, you can’t stop me now.’ I can’t be stopped because- nothing can stop me because I don’t want to be stopped. And I’m not saying I’m going to be rapping for the next forty years. I’m just saying, I’m here to do whatever my creative mind brings me to. And I’m going to do it and I’m not going to let nobody stop me from doing it. And don’t let nobody say that I don’t do what I do well, because I know I do it well.”
Who would be trying to stop you?
I don’t know who it is. I ain’t calling for it. But at one point, I felt my own crew was stopping me when that interview came out. I just felt like that wasn’t a good interview for what we stand for and what we represent. That wounded me. That wounded me. I remember talking about it with the gods, I was like, ‘Yo, I haven’t felt like this since (Ol’ Dirty Bastard) passed…’ We can make jokes I guess. I guess we can make jokes, but make the joke to my face. You could have just said all that s—- to me.”
Yeah, that was the first time I saw anything like that, talking outside the group.
“Yeah, if they had have said that s—- to me, I would have tried to figure it out. So that got me good. And that made me just…do more pushups.”
What’s a live performance like from Bobby Digital?
“I don’t want to ruin the show, it’s like a movie. But it’s definitely going to be an exciting show. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen me perform by myself?”
Not yet.
“Okay, well, most writers have said I bring a unique energy when I’m on stage, with the group and without the group. I think you’re going to see that energy. And I think ya’ll in Arizona are going to appreciate it because we coming with a good spirit. And I’m going to strive to perform six or seven songs off the new album. And I think people are going to appreciate it because we’ve been rehearsing it and I think we got some good s—- for them.”
One last question: what’s RZA’s secret to life?
“I don’t have a secret to life, but I’ll say this to you: the science of life is love, peace, and happiness, man.”