NEWS
EVENTS
Wu-Tang Clan Interview
RnB/Hip Hop | Friday 26th July 2013 |
Wu-Tang Clan return to the UK to mark the 20th anniversary of their landmark debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Ahead of their gig yesterday at O2 Apollo, Manchester and tonight at O2 Academy, Brixton, we caught up with some of the founding and iconic members of the clan RZA, Raekwon and Cappadonna.
What’s up it is Guestlist and we are here with legendary hip hop group Wu- Tang Clan. Here in the UK for their show on Thursday 25th July at O2 Apollo, Manchester and Friday 26th July at the O2 Brixton Academy we have been lucky enough to catch an interview with them. So how has the tour been so far guys?
Cappadonna: What up Brixton! The tour is off the chiizzzaiiinnss!...Crazy, we have been hitting states. We hit Germany twice already, London, Italy, Hungary and just been doing them crazy right now! Mosh pits on the regular, crazy lyrics. Some of the shows have been ending late at night so we be giving them that night time shine. Just crazy different songs, different strategies we got a little choreographer going on with Meth! It’s pandemonium right now! Word up!
Raekwon: This is the Chef right here he told you everything you needed to know. It’s massive out here this side of the world.
First I want to say congratulations on twenty years! Most hip hop acts don’t even make it that long so for you guys to do it as a group is a big achievement. How has it been after all these years and do you still have the same hunger you had when you first came into the game?
Cappadonna: Yeah we still got that same hunger from the time we came in to now, I mean hip hop has evolved at least three times to me, three or four times, and you know there has been a lot of new generation MCs coming up. But we respect and honour them but for us, it’s like yeah we kept in the ball game for all of this time for twenty years that is what makes us legendary. Even when we didn’t have an album out in seven or ten years whatever the case was, it is like we still managed to be relevant in the hip hop genre today. This is lack of radio play and lack of video as well. But we’ve been out here and we’ve been putting it on them, and it’s like we still here right now after twenty years it’s like our twentieth year anniversary on full attack, right now, all over Europe for two months. Put your dollars on us!
RZA: I could say after being here for twenty years of course it’s a blessing but it’s also a testament to our strength, our talent, what we mean to hip hop and hip hop around the world. Wu Tang could be measured as a landmark for hip hop. We entered with the first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and we kind of shifted and improved the direction of hip hop and attracted a new audience that was unfamiliar with it and that audience grew as we grew. And now we are twenty years later and we are celebrating that movement but at the same time, potentially pushing it even further. A lot of people know that rock n roll or during the Motown soul era some bands and groups were able to make it through the 60s, 70s, 80s you’ve got Rolling Stones and they still on tour! Mick Jagger 70 years old still rocking out. People didn’t think that hip hop had that potential because they thought it was a passing phase but we changed the testament, we had the will and I’ve got a feeling that the only way we would ever stop is when we feel like stopping, because our talent level is ridiculous. You’re not going to find a group with this much talent in the one circle, you’re looking at Wu-Tang, platinum artists, gold artists, movie stars and writers. All this energy under one foundation and that is a testament to our talent, strength and we are really happy to be here twenty years yo!
Well said! Cappadonna said something about respecting some of the new guys in the game, as OGs and veterans of the game who do you like that is new and up-and-coming, like the Kendrick Lamars, Drakes etc?
Cappadonna: All of them, haha! I just love music man, I just love hip hop, I like the way its swift and changeable because when we came in the game we were swift and changeable that’s why I guess RZA just put that coat on us that witty unpredictable talent and natural gain! See some people thought that is was gain but is was a natural gain because we gained access, Because slang was supposed to represent ignorance. But it’s like with the same slang that represents ignorance we got access to the intelligence in the message in the music of hip hop so its like I can see the same message in ME in Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill, so it’s like I honour that, like RZA said a lot of these people came up admiring us. So I can hear it in them, even if they don’t want to admit it, I can still hear secrets about our posture in them.
Raekwon: I mean you know, like he said, we are always gonna give it up to the new generation because we were a new generation at one point you know and its all about passing the torch. We were still able to be relevant because hip hop is not only something we make money off but we live it. You know, so you got the new cats that follow the same book that we read and their doing their thing, so it’s only right to give it back! I mean I don’t agree a lot of time with the music that they make but I respect it because everybody is just going to make what they see and do what they do. Just like the same way we came in, we were representing our kinda hip hop, everybody had an opportunity to learn from their peers and other dudes that did it before them and it’s the same thing. You know, now they look up to us from our longevity that we had in the game so like I tell these new cats “Yeah you’re doing your thing, lets see how long it lasts!” I think that’s what we look at, longevity. It’s one thing to be right now, to represent but there is another thing to be here twenty years later and still represent! That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I want to see! But other than that, yo we respect it! Pass the torch. Its all about passing the torch.
RZA: I am also gonna echo my brothers right there, and I'll also add on that I respect the young generation because with hip hop most importantly to me, it has saved a lot of families. It was a way that fed the communities, at one point it was feeding the East Coast, the West Coast, down the South, the midwest and now people around the world can benefit from this music you know what I mean. It started off in small parts of New York and the police used to stop it, so to see it grow like that and to see the young brothers feed their families and get them out the hood, that’s the blessing of hip hop. I look at guys like ASAP Rocky who also came in with a big crew or Big Sean and Kanye I admire to see that what they have done, can still be done! The system hasn’t figured out how to stop it yet, that’s a blessing. Listening to ASAP and Big Sean referring to Wu Tang they are using us as a point of reference to how they feel, so that’s real righteous right there and I respect that.
Now coinciding with the 20th Anniversary you’ve got the new Wu- Tang album ‘Better Tomorrow’. We haven’t heard too much about it, so do you want to just fill us in on what we can expect from that album. Is it going to have that classic Wu sound that you are known for?
Cappadonna: I mean you know what we do, but at the same time its 36 chambers so you can’t know all the secrets now! Ha but yeah it’s something brewing! I ain’t really got a lot of knowledge on it personally but you know some things took place and we are still here, that’s all I’m going to say!
RZA: We are thinking about a new Wu album which has the working title ‘A Better Tomorrow’, its a working progress! We here right now on our tour celebrating 20 years and it would be only right to commemorate that with a new LP that could inspire and could keep our name inside your playlist for another 20 years. There has been many ideas for the album, me as a producer I have some ideas. But what we’re doing though on this particular round is that we are striving to make sure that each and every one of us has the input creatively and also in the direction of where we should go. That’s why ‘A Better Tomorrow’ is a working title. I chose that title personally because to me, if you have a good today, why not have a better tomorrow? If you have a bad today, you definitely want a better tomorrow! And at the same time for us, between our ups and downs, and hip hop ups and downs, we’re gonna see a better tomorrow and we want the world to have a better tomorrow. We have got a lot of history in the past. Revolutions are going on all around the world, people struggling, uprisings, from Egypt all the way to America with Zimmerman and Trayvon, we want a better tomorrow. We don’t want this same old crap going on and on, and our W also represents wisdom! So that is the basic principle of coming with the title ‘A Better Tomorrow’ because that is what we want, for ourselves, our families, for the world and we are gonna keep pushing. If we carry our talent, our ideas, our brotherhood we will have that record ready for y'all in October. But there is a lot of things going on. It’s group of busy men, platinum artists, you’re looking at movie stars, movie writers and all these different things but there are a lot of different things going on but we are aiming to focus our energy to one focal point and give y’all our new album, so we’ll see what time brings.
Cappadonna: Speaking on that with good and better, I have a slogan that goes “It’s good in the hood but it’s better with cheddar.”
This is a question for RZA you stay busy, we know you’ve got the new headphones out and you’re also a movie director you released ‘The Man with the Iron Fists.’ Tell me what it was like directing that and the response you got?
RZA: Well this is a Wu- Tang interview so I won’t take much time, but the most important thing I can say is that I never expected this, I never expected that all the producing I did with Wu Tang and all the trials and tribulations, good and bad that I went through over the years was actually preparation (laughs) for me to be a director. Because to me making an album is like a micro-universe maybe you got 9,12, maybe 20 people, count of musicians that come together to make this form of art. But making a movie, its like 400 people so I look at that as being now a macro and a testament of my mind power and the ‘The Man with the Iron Fists’ was accepted well. I think up to date they said over 3 million, people have viewed it at the movie theatre and another millions more have viewed it on cable and on pay per-view and they are actually talking about making a part 2 so yeah I guess it is a bong bong!
Now this question is for Raekwon. Now like RZA, said Wu- Tang is filled with platinum and gold artists, you’ve released some classic albums, such as: ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx’, ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II’ ‘Shaolin vs Wu Tang.’ You’re in the process of creating a new album now, do you ever feel pressured like ok I’ve got to make sure this is a classic to live up to some of your past work?
Raekwon: Umm I’ll just say that I’m just doing my job you what I mean? I’m a real hip hop dude first and foremost; like this is something that I live, you know I made babies in this business from listening to this music. When I get out there and I drop a project, not only am I representing myself, but I’m representing that flag which is that W. And all I try to do is just give the people what they are missing or what they want. I’m used to doing work with my crew all the time so I never even pictured myself really being a solo artist, even though that was always the plan, you know my guys have seen that more in me than I’ve seen it in myself. I just wanted to be a part of the movement but you know classic is something that I feel you put your heart into when you really want to win. I want to win all the time, I’m like Jordan, I hate to lose, so I just take my time and try to make the best product I can make and represent because that’s all to do with the longevity of my career. You’re only as good as the last thing you’ve done; It feels good to know that people look at ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II’ which wasn’t easy, it took a lot of time for me to really want to do it and for us to get that classic, that classic respect on it. It wasn’t just me alone, it was my team and my heart, I wanted to do it and I tell anybody; when you put your heart into something, you make it what you want to make it. I was just fortunate to get that kind of medal and people say “You did it again, you’re keeping the flag alive” and that’s what it’s all about for me. It’s just to do my job and never give up. I’ve never been a person that gives up, I always feel that if I want to win it’s all about the will so that’s what I’ve been doing on them records.
How has it been before performing in England and are you looking forward to performing this Friday at Brixton?
Cappadonna: Our previous work has been received very well. We’ve been having crowd capacities up to 80,000 to 100,000 maybe, and like I said it’s pandemonium. We’ve got interviews with magazines coming through. This tour right here we didn’t even bring any extras out, we have merchandise that we haven’t even sold. This is basically just us getting in tune with Europe and us getting in tune with each other, and the reception is overwhelming.
RZA: For those who see this and want to know why they should come out to the Wu- Tang show? Well first of all, every Wu- Tang member is here, no absentees on this one. Second of all, it is the pure style of hip hop. The pure hip hop energy is existing on that stage and you may not witness that again. Those who love hip hop and those who love Wu- Tang, they’ve got to take this tour seriously. You may have been hearing about Wu- Tang, maybe you’re big brother told you about it, maybe you came across us on the internet but now you get to see us in real life not 5 of us or 4 or 6 all 9 of us! And of course our old unique group can’t be here physically, the energy is going to be here because we translate that. So come on and have a good time with us and be prepared to get wet, sweaty and be jumping.
Finally I just want to say thank you for this interview. Good luck with any ventures that you’re going into. Like I said it’s great that you guys have been able to hang for 20 years so keep it going because us hip hop fans love you guys.
Get your tickets for tonights show at O2 Academy, Brixton here:
http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/1F004A8292EF228E
More information on the clan check out http://www.wutang-corp.com/
Words by Moses @the_big_mo
