Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan fame recently opened up to Miss Info about his dissatisfaction with the state of the group, its forthcoming album and financial and creative differences.
“I’m not going to allow myself to drown in the water when I know that boat is about to sink,” the Chef said of the current situation.
One source of tension involves RZA trying out new sounds—to the dissatisfaction of the rest of the group.
“Rza’s trying to create too much of an orchestra, piano, you know… he’s trying to do too much of this guitar sh— and we don’t want that and the fans don’t want that,” he says before adding, “I’m not having that.”
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According to Rae, RZA is looking to go in a different direction musically, opting to leave the classic, gritty production that made the Wu-Tang Clan famous behind.
“He’s like a Hip Hop hippie.”
The long awaited reunion album, 8 Diagrams is slated to be released Dec. 11 but instead of a focus on the music, internal conflicts—mainly with Ghostface—have dominated the headlines.
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The original release date clashed with fellow the release of Ghostface‘s upcoming album. Both projects were scheduled to hit shelves Dec. 4 and Ghost says he was asked to push the release of his album back for the sake of the project (Click Here to check out HipHopDX’s interview with Ghost).
In an interview with MTV, Ghostface says finances are also a source of tension.
“They trying to f— around and make me push my album back and doing all this. But n—as ain’t give us money when we did them Wu-Tang tours… n—as is holding onto a lot of money…It’s a battle right now.”
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He also drew another line in the sand, adding to the speculation that his involvement on the 8 Diagrams album will be limited.
“The Big Dough Rehab is my album, 8 Diagrams is their album. But it ain’t got nothing to do with the regular members. ‘Cause I love Raekwon, Masta Killa, U-God, Genius, all them. But it’s on right now… N—as better pay my f—ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money — just get me out of their life right now.”
Raekwon, who along with Ghostface crafted the classic Only Built For Cuban Linx echoed his brethren’s comments about the financial state of the group.
“Don’t play with a grown man’s pockets,” he says in a lowered tone. “Don’t ever let a n—as feel like you stealing from him…because we was the n—as that would’ve did anything for you, jump in front of a bullet for you.”
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Normally, such comments would fuel rumors of a breakup, but Rae assures the fans that a break up—or at least, a total breakup—isn’t on the horizon. He also went one step further saying fans may get not one—but two Wu-Tang Clan albums in the near future. However, the entire Clan may not take part in both projects.
“Realistically, what’s gonna happen is, if this album…if it comes out, we comin out with another album.”
When pressed for a more specific answer about the “we” in Wu-Tang Clan, Rae replied, “The Clan…without RZA.”
“It ain’t to the point where the crew is breaking up, we just not f—king with The Abbott…If this album drops or we don’t come to some solution,” he says with a raised voice, “of fixing what we all need to be comfortable with and what we all feel we need to be represented with, if we don’t’ get that and it’s just about the politics then, let it be what it be…I already feel like the [Wu-Tang minus RZA] album is gonna have to come out.”
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According to Miss Info, this war of words is far from over. Stay tuned to DX for more developments on this story.
