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The official 'big ass' update! - 2003-06-28 16:30:37

© The Wu-Tang Corp. - 2003-06-28

Cappadonna is preparing to release his album The Struggle in September this year. Below you can find the tentative track listing.

01 : Roll Of A Lifetime ft. Solomon Childs
02 : Blood Brothers ft. Lounge Mode
03 : Mama
04 : I Don't Even Know You
05 : Get Up ft. Lounge Mode
06 : Clap ft. Twiz & Solomon Childs
07 : Do It
08 : Struggle With This ft. King Just
09 : Get Away From The Door ft. Inspectah Deck
10 : My Kind Of Bitch
11 : I Was Lovin' You
12 : Can't Stop The Pain
13 : Now You ft. Lounge Mode & Crunch Lo
14 : Life Of A Lesbo
15 : Season Of Da Vick ft. Lounge Mode
16 : I'm Not The One ft. Sweetleaf
17 : Trying To Get� ft. Inspectah Deck
18 : First Time I Saw You
19 : Pain Is Love ft. Lounge Mode
20 : C-A-P-P-A-D-E-E
21 : Don't Give Up On Me
22 : Cap Is Back ft. Lounge Mode
23 : We Got This ft. Polite, Lounge Mode & Remedy

The tracks on the sampler are (in order): Clap, Life Of A Lesbo, Do It, Don't Give Up On Me, Trying To Get�, Pain Is Love.

The 36 Chambers Studios have been opened for artists outside the Wu-Tang family. As reported earlier, KRS-One recorded his KRStyle album there but more people will spend some time in the studio for their albums. 50 Cent might even record some of his album in July.

Speaking of KRS-One, the album in stores right now named KRStyles is not the product he wanted to release. His label Koch removed some tracks like a Jam Master Jay tribute and renamed the album from KRStyle to KRStyles. KRS isn't happy about it and tells everybody not to buy the album in stores but to download it. The improved version of KRStyle has a few new tracks featuring appearances by Ol' Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa and other Wu members might jump on a few tracks too.

RZA appeared on the UK based radio station Radio 1 to promote his World According To RZA album. We already know all about it but he had some other interesting things to say too. Tim Westwood played some joints of the European album but between the songs he had a nice little interview going on. Here are some of the highlights.

TW: Of all the groups and out of all the MC's, I really feel that Wu has most strongly influenced UK talent more than anyone. Like the way groups organize them in this country, how a clique of hot MC's are coming together as a unit and breaking off on the individual projects as well. The concept of what Wu brought to the table is what influenced them, I'm not talking about rhyming styles but how people organize themselves

RZA: Respect. Yeah that's right. They definitely got their own style of MC-ing out here but it's always good sometime to get a blueprint on how to do things. I was in New York when Jay-Z had dropped the Blueprint 2. I called up the (radio station) Hot 97 to congratulate him, because I think he did a great job on his music. He came back and said "Yo, I want to give a shout out to the RZA, because he's the first one who made the real blueprint." He said that on the air to all the fans out there. That was a real big statement right there and I appreciate that artist can realize that, you know, there's always a great mind of our time that has influenced things. You always got to give respect to that.

(Playing 4th Chamber Instrumental)

TW: These joints feel sow powerful. That's the golden year. The heat Wu had, that was the Blueprint. That was before joint ventures revolutionized the game.

RZA: Yeah. Speaking of Wu, my boy ODB just got home from his iron vacation. He's back in New York. He's back in the streets of New York. We just did like six songs together.

TW: How is his state of mind at the moment?

RZA: To be honest with you, this kid is focused. He comes in, when I say be at the studio at one o'clock, he's there at one o' clock. I'm later than him. I'll come in at two o' clock and he'll say "Yo! I've been here for an hour!" That's what I'm talking about, that's what it takes to make it right now. He's back focused. He's going to have an album done in 60 days he said.

TW: What's happening with Raekwon man? Because to be honest, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is in my top 3 of all time classic albums.

RZA: Well Raekwon is finishing his new album also right now. Him and Masta Killa did like the last cut he wanted to do on the LP. But you know Rae, he's just street criminology. He's banging right now; he's coming with some heat. I just finished the Ghostface LP too. You know Ghost never fails anyway, but this time he took it to the next level on this other joint. He got a joint with Missy Elliot, it's just crazy. Him and Missy, they flipped it. It's a video without a question.

TW: That's not really an obvious combination when you think about it.

RZA: Nah but check out this one right here. Ghostface (pauses), Jadakiss (pauses) over a RZA beat. That's some heat right there.

TW: What would you say your all time favourite Wu joint is?

RZA: I don't know man. I can't even answer that question. I just appreciate being a part of such a powerful group of people. There are so many songs that influenced a big part of my life, I can't single them out.

TW: But what if you would have to drop a Top 5?

RZA: It would be singles like Rainy Days, Glaciers Of Ice, Liquid Swords, Shimmy Shimmy Ya. There are so many different joints I had to choose from. I had to got to the Wu-Tang Forever album and pull off Impossible with Ghostface's lyric of the year. The Source gave him the 'Lyric of the year' award for that verse right there. But I could also bring it up to date to Pinky Ring.

(Playing Wu-Tang Ain't Nuthin' Ta F' Wit Instrumental)

Ohh this one right here. This one never fails to make the crowd act crazy. Bring da ruckus right here! Tiger style!

I wan't to answer this question right here from Carlos in Bradford, he just asked me what I think about ODB signing to Rocafella. I want to give the answer like this. I gave ODB the blessing. In all reality, he couldn't sign the paper without me. So I signed that release form, gave him his rights back. With no charge, no price, no nothing. I just told him to do what you got to do to feed your family. He came back to me and said "Yo, I want you to do half the album." So right now, I'm doing half the album and Rocafella is doing half the album. For the first time in Hip-Hop history you're about to get a real collaboration. I mean, an LP consisting of production by the RZA, The Neptunes and the Rocafella camp. What's my man over there? Uhm, Just Blaze. Featuring Wu-Tang Clan MC's, featuring Beanie Sigel, featuring Jay-Z, Mariah Carey. It's going to be an All Star LP. So we combine forces like that. It's going to be released as a Wu-Tang/Rocafella release. It's not going to be just a Rocafella thing, it's a Rocafella/Wu-Tang thing. Showing the people out there, don't believe the hype. Big men do big things. We're collaborating, we're connecting our dots and we're keeping this Hip-Hop thing alive.

TW: Now tell me, what it was like rolling with such a powerful collection of individuals, all of them talented. What was that like for you? Did you deal with it as a business thing or as a street thing?

RZA: I definitely dealt with it business wise and street wise. Being with the Wu-Tang Clan is like skiing down a 1000 foot hill, with broke skis, blocked by pine trees and Billy goats. But you know what. When you get to that bottom of the hill, what a thrill! It's like that. I got super duper love for the Wu-Tang Clan, it's my family. Out of all the people I have ever been with in my live, even the women, I never loved anybody like I love them besides my own mother, my own brothers and sisters. I got a lot of cousins that don't even get that kind of love. I really love those brothers. I'm proud to be a part of that. They call me The Abbot, the one they all look up to. To be that within such a great group of men, it's like, I already felt like I got the blessings of life with that alone.

TW: There has never been a group that has such a powerful love for the crew. People are always shouting out their labels or their joint ventures but�

RZA: Yeah, we have been through mad shit though like fist fights but the next day we be sleeping on each others shoulders. It's like real family, real brothers. We all ain't blood brothers or blood cousins but it's definitely like we are like that. It's thick.

TW: Now what was one of your low points?

RZA: I think I took a low point myself in uhm, I think it was after the Rage Against The Machine tour. That was when I saw the opportunity for Wu-Tang just to dominate the next five years, I could see it happening. But the crew was still stuck in ghetto mode. They were still too rough for mainstream. There's nothing wrong with being too rough for mainstream, but at the same time we became mainstream without our control. I was about to focus like, we're about to be IT! They was like "I don't want to be rocking these shows!" We were rocking it for about 30.000 kids, but it wasn't the hood! They wanted to rock the hood. I was like "We are going to do that, don't worry about that. Let's just rock the world, let's rock all nationalities, everybody and then come back to the hood where we're good." We could even go back to the hood and give a free concert. There was a lot of dispute over that. Then it was like, four men showing up, five guys showing up. I don't think they really saw the power we had. That really got me kind of depressed. It was in Cleveland, Ohio. There was just me, Method Man, Streetlife and Masta Killa. Everybody else was gone and there are 30.000 kids. I'm like "Yo, what's going on? Damn!" We did the show anyway but I can't do it on the mic like that, I can't lie to the fans. So I told them "If ya'll don't rock this, I'm not rocking! I'm giving up on ya'll!" The next night I just kind of gave up on it and I disappeared for about 30 days. I just had to sit down because I don't think that they really saw what we be doing to ourselves. Nowadays we still reminisce about that like we played it wrong. Now you see people like Eminem selling around 75.000 seats easily. We had the potential to grow to that level because the love from the fans was like that. But if you don't show up and the fans can't depend on you it really caused the fan to get it from somewhere else. If I can't get it from this spot, I'll get it from the next spot. I'm the type of guy who'll never let the fans down. I always try to make every appointment. If I'm not sick or if it's not a family problem, I try to make anything. If you're sick or if it's a family problem, you got to respect that. That's life. Even when we did the cover of The Source, my mom was in the hospital. Nobody wanted to interrupt me because they know that I'm focussed and she passed away. To me it shows that I'm really dedicated to Hip-Hop, dedicated to it like my wife. I just wanted the rest of the group to feel the same way. They do them, but it took them a long time to catch on. Meth was always there, he never stopped. That's why Meth is the biggest celebrity in the crew and one of the biggest celebrities in Hip-Hop. He never stops working, he'll always show up. We talk about it and Meth is always like "I'm here for you, no matter what." He used to get mad at me because I was showing equal love also to the ones who wasn't there. He was like, you can't be huggin' the ones that ain't here. I'm bringing you everything. You can't show them love while they don't bring you anything. But love is love though.

TW: But Meth always came through�

RZA: Always. To this day. Always.

TW: I seen him on the Def Jam Vendetta tour and people always love him for the work he puts in. It's like an investment and they get that love back. I think that's one of the reasons his career has been so strong.

RZA: Guaranteed. The other guys sometimes don't understand why. I'll try to explain it to them sometimes like "Do you know how Meth got where he is? Meth works!" Every time you put in work, you'll get results. Work doesn't mean just the studio, that's only 10 percent of the work. You got to hit the radio stations, you got to do the in-stores, go to the clubs at night. If you come to New York, you'll always see me at the clubs at night.

TW: Yeah, even back in the day when you got banned from clubs.

RZA: Yeah! And I'm still coming in. I'll be outside with like 30 kids saying I'm coming in or I'm bringing the party outside. So but you know, the times change and I think the crew really matured. Now I think everybody really realizes how important they are to Hip-Hop. Sometime they don't realize that they are not only important to themselves but they're also important to the culture. When you realize you're important for the culture, then you can start sacrificing yourself for the culture. We want this legacy to move on, even after our physical days on earth.

TW: Now you're sound revolutionized the game and then there was the whole Wu era. Then Bad Boy came along and they changed it. What did you feel about that man?

RZA: When the came I thought they wouldn't be lasting long at first because I thought Hip-Hop was really a grimy thing. I was anti-clean. But then after seeing all these chicks pop up at the party and all that because when Wu-Tang was on top and you went to a club it was all men, all niggas up in there. The girls were scared to come in. So when Puff and them were into it the girls started to show up and after a minute I adapted to it. I started appreciating what they were doing too. It was all meant to be. You'll need the grime, that's what put Hip-Hop with the men. Then the sweet shiny things are for the girls. Nowadays you got artists that mix both styles together and take it to the moon.

TW: Yeah like 50 Cent, he got that street thing.

RZA: Exactly. He's rocking the streets but he also got the girls barking. That's how you got to do it. You got to find that balance.

TW: Did you ever think that Hip-Hop would be this big?

RZA: To me, it ain't even as big as it can get. It isn't going to stop. Watch how some of these producers and artists are going to developing themselves in a more mature way where they can really understand the whole concept of music themselves. It's going to grow more, watch.

TW: So what ventures do you got out there? Wu always had a lot going on.

RZA: Yeah, the RZA is trying to study how to do real movie scores. I'd like to do movie scores and be a movie director. Something like that because I want to put Hip-Hop on the screen. There are a lot of Hip-Hop movies out there. I was watching Brown Sugar on the way in but you know what. It's nice but it wasn't the ice! You can't just have any actor to jump in and play a Hip-Hop character. You have got to get some realness into it. I'd like to come to Hollywood. Eminem did a great job on his movie, he caught a great vibe on it. But there hasn't been a real Hip-Hop movie since Beat Street to me. I'd like to go over there and break the Hollywood scene open and give some real and raw Hip-Hop on the screen. It's a job to do, it's not an easy one but I'm on a mission. But other than that we're still doing what we have always been doing. Wu-Wear is still in effect. They are working on a new Wu-Tang game and for the fans out there. I give you to the end of the next summer, you're hearing this from my mouth, from The Abbot right here. By the end of the next summer you're going to have a new Wu-Tang Clan album featuring all members! ODB, Method Man, RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, U-God, Ghostface Killah and Masta Killa! It's going to be everybody up in the cut, blasting.

TW: Are you still in the lab as much?

RZA: You know what, I live in the lab. I love making music. That's a bad habit I don't want to lose.

TW: What was that Loud experience like?

RZA: Loud was good in the beginning. They took care of their artists But towards the end with the Sony thing it just got kind of phoney. I think when they was with BMG they had a nice and secure home but they got to big and they eventually they got consumed by the giant. When Loud was consumed by that giant, Wu-Tang was part of that label and it put a real halt to the Wu-Tang movement. They slowed us down a lot. We had just dropped the Iron Flag album. We had just sold about 600 to 700 thousand units and all of a sudden Sony pulls the plug on the whole label. I was like hold on, this was one of my best albums I put together in a minute. I loved the Iron Flag but the politics weren't right with the label and they got sucked in.

TW: Now we already know that you're going to put a Wu album together and you're going to put a tour together.

RZA: I got to do all this for the fans, I got to tour one more time worldwide for the fans out there. We are definitely going to drop a Wu-Tang album, another Wu-Tang album, a worldwide tour with EVERY member showing up on EVERY show BEING ON TIME.

TW: Yeah I only saw that once!

RZA: Yeah right, that was in the beginning right.

TW: Yeah the first time out, in the very beginning.

RZA: We got to take it back to that. The last time the whole group was together was on stage was at the Hammerstein Ballroom. ODB escaped the house he was in, he came from LA to Miami and from Miami to New York and he came on stage, nobody was expecting him and he came out. That was when The W came out. The whole crowd just went crazy. That was the first time in five years that the whole Wu-Tang Clan was on stage. Three days later they grabbed him and brought them to jail. He has been in ever since until recently.

TW: And then you were talking about a Wu film?

RZA: I don't want to blow too much up on that but we're definitely thinking about doing a Wu movie and a book also. I'm not trying to get too commercialized with it but just really trying to base it on our story.




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