Few groups have influenced the shape and evolution of hip-hop than Wu-Tang Clan, a Staten Island supergroup that defined the sound of New York rap in the 1990s and helped transform the industry.
Still, seeing Wu-Tang Clan performs a full-length concert in his physical body, it's not something that many have experienced with all the members who are with them. Even in the Golden Age, the Utan clan was not a reliable tour unit. That little show is often out of hand, not to mention limited opportunities for the 1990s and rough rap stars to be available by the time the group graduates to a larger stage. The 2000s.
“There are so many places we haven't actually been,” RZA, the lead architect of the Wu-Tang clan, said in an interview with Popcast, a music podcast for the New York Times. “You made the tour a success, right? But it's not on the level of what the brand is.”
He aims to fix it Wu-Tang forever. This is the final room billed as the group's final tour and the biggest roadshow held as a headline law that begins in June. All of the surviving members of RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa will be participating. His father, ol'Dirty Bastard, passed away in 2004.
The tour tells Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, and is a culmination of more than five years of planning to build a Clan legacy, including a multipart documentary series, dramatized miniseries, several individual biographies, and a Las Vegas residency. is. , the first act of hip hop law.
In the pop cast, RZA talked about what it takes to get the entire clan on the same page. A chance to slide your fingers over the years. He then invented the pathways of hip-hop, which later became the norm. “Jay Z was like getting a blueprint from you,” recalls RZA.
These are excerpts from the conversation.
Joe Coscarelli always creates and makes new things, but for the past five or six years he really spent time on the legacy of what he built with Wu-Tang and made sure it was reflected correctly in public records . When was the time to look at your bag?
It was when RZA and other outlets began showing hip hop and began looking back. There was a TV show called “Hip-Hop Evolution” on Netflix. I was like they were skipping a bit (exp ) do you know what I mean? If you miss a layer or a pillar of something, the foundation will fall. When I realized that some of the things that were being skipped were our stories – I was in charge of the story and the story that helped bring about the Utan story and the hip-hop culture and pop culture. It was important to communicate and tell me how I thought it was the best.
When Coscarelli began moving chess fragments of this nostalgic moment into Wutan, did you already imagine the next step, Vegas residency and now this tour? ?
RZA It was all part of the plan. Initially there was a five-year plan. This time there were two five-year plans. The first plan to reach the series, the documentary must be launched. And it will stack up in New York State's Mind State, along with the NAS. It builds up to a residency, which is initially a test run, leading to the final tour.
And once you complete it, if you succeed in all those steps, you can potentially sit still in the residency and get over it. We are of course blessed.
Coscarelli sees regular checks here and starts to be more successful as they get bigger checks from music recordings and touring solos than they are now? Is it driven by money or the fact that you were creatively clicking?
I think it's both RZA. It's business so you have to be able to have cheese on it. But I also think that for Utan, the mind is right. If your spirit is incorrect, you cannot pay GZA. You cannot pay to show up to me. And I think our mind is right.
Will John Karamanica all become every day?
Everyone agreed.
Karamanica is nothing. (lol)
RZA No, seriously. Everyone agreed to do this. Everyone agreed to the name. So we may come to your city, you will see us all together, and it may be the last time you will see us all together physically. You may see us on TV, but we are not coming to your city again. We want you to come and break the bread with us.
Coscarelli So, what was the hurdle? Was there a holdout?
RZA you don't know who – that's the point. You'll be like that, I got everything… – Ah, (expletive) – this guy! (lol)
But what you can do is ask what they want, what they need, how it works for you, time, dollars, and comfort . Maybe someone doesn't want more than two people in the dressing room with me. Ok, we can solve it.
I'll take this to myself. I'm extremely capable – I'm a film director and showrunner…
Karamanica You are used to having your own way.
RZA It's a character you have to humble.
Coscarelli Control Freak, some might call it.
Some RZA might call it! I know everything. That's sometimes a problem. The Method Man had just heard that one day, “You always talk to me.” I always ask my wife. She's the kind of thing you can do. So I let him ask what he wanted. The last sibling I had to call was my teacher: GZA. He can do almost anything he wants and I can't say anything.
Karamanica Have you prepared for no?
rza is fine. I called him directly, the manager had no manager. He didn't do a Vegas show. There is no need for an explanation from him. He is my teacher. I respect him and say it very frankly. But I said, here's the time, here's the flow, here's the business possibility. Are you there? And he said, yeah, I'm ready. It's a blessing.
Coscarelli That's a rude question, but does anyone get the phone and say, “Yeah, well, ok, how much do you make?”
RZAs that could be happening at the management level.
I'll assume that there's a Coscarelli hierarchy.
RZA, there's a hierarchy.
Coscarelli After all these years, did you accept people to have a place sitting on top of that hierarchy? Do people know where they are in the power rankings?
RZA I don't have an answer to that. What I say is that everyone can measure their equations when they go out and face the world and see their value. And if they come back to WU and its value is at least more, you can measure it. What if that value is low? Then the problem arises.
Karamanica There were many things you took for granted in hip hop, what you did first. In a way, you were too early in the biggest era of hip-hop touring, but something like that has put you in an unconventional strategy. Could you talk about going into violations in the 90s?
RZA you had your club date and university show. That's fun. And you can make some changes like that. But you are not going to reach the pinnacle of the food chain. And my idea was like Yotan, along with Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaxon (of the record loud). Let's go out into the world.
I was in Manhattan on a pay phone and heard this kid's voice on the phone. Little white child. I think he's talking to his parents. I told him, “New York is good, mom. The best I've seen is the big king's sign in Times Square.” That was his most exciting moment on his trip. And here is a Wu-Tang man five feet away from him, but he didn't know. And when it came time to go on an angry tour, it seemed there were a lot of white fans out there ready for us.
Coscalelli and it was a light bulb moment.
RZA is like a compelling moment for me. And my case to the team was to go here first in the summer. And then, on the fall home, we go back and get black people. Some people took them to it, some people didn't take them to it. We actually took a break from the tour. Many of us were not prepared or engaged in what it was. I don't think the foresight was there for some of us. And you know, it was contrary to what some of us felt.
I didn't think leaving was a great idea. Just me and Zack (de la rocha) were on stage overnight. After we dropped out, they placed their roots on the tour. I spoke with Questlove. He said that was what led to him buying his first home. It changed his life.
Coscarelli 1997 was also the year when members of the group were banned by New York radio station Hot 97 after they said “(expletive) Hot 97” at a sponsored concert. I don't think young listeners understand how much power rap radio had at the time. Talk about the forks on the path of that moment. What happens to Wu-Tang if it's not banned from Hot 97?
It seems that the RZA between it and several other stations that followed the trend could have been “Wu-Tang Forever” diamonds. Finally, like two years ago, someone apologized to me. Funkflex sat down with me and apologized. It was a nut kick, and in hindsight, it was a nut kick to culture.
Caramanica 1997 was a huge year with Biggie's second album, “Wu-Tang Forever,” “His Death.” Then there was the beginning of the true rise of the South, and all cultural power was reorganized around the record of cash money. There were no restrictions in the late 90's and there was no single group under the umbrella, but the family's energy felt very utan. Do you think that when Wu-Tang is stymed, oxygen was born for others and scenes?
The RZA first of all, because their fate belongs to them. Wu-Tang models are emulated everywhere. We have shown you can come collectively and spread your culture. But when you go back and see the Wutan Empire, the Utan clan and all the solo members may continue to have the vividness of hip-hop – it is stopped. And then another wave comes in and they come to the radio in New York. That's great because Southern culture has the opportunity to rise up and those families get the chance. But Wu was opened for others – it is also Wu's blessing.
You are Karamanica, who lives in Los Angeles, and you just had a fire – people have lost their homes, all their jobs, their collections. Madrib lost its library of music. You were very famously flooded early in Wu Thanh where many were lost.
RZA I actually had two floods. The first one was in '93 after “Enter the Wu-Tang” was already released. I make female albums, deck albums, and GZA albums. All of these albums were already reserved, so the flood washed it all out and I had to recreate it. But there was something cool about it. At the time, beats were made from floppy disks. All floppy disks were damaged by the flood. I put them in the machine – I won't read. But I still have a floppy disk. On this tour. I take these floppy disks – it's at least about 80 disks – I'll put them in a time capsule, and maybe someone in the future can understand it.
Did the Coscarelli fire remind you of all this?
RZA You know, I was there during the fire so we had to mostly evacuate. But all I grabbed was my hard drive. Our laptop and hard drive. That's a bit strange to me.
Coscarelli I'm back 30 years ago.
Brother, very frankly, I've lost a way more than I shared. That's exactly what life is like.
