Audacy’s Greg Street in Atlanta got a chance to talk with legendary Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA in the wake of the group announcing its final world tour, set to kick off this summer featuring support from Run The Jewels.
LISTEN NOW: RZA talks final Wu-Tang Clan tour with Greg Street
“We gotta take care of these babies, man,” RZA laughed as he got into the tour news. “You know what, at the end of the day, you've been watching us for years, brother, and you know that getting all of us together, you know what I mean, it's like getting the Democratic and Republican Party to vote on the same thing.”
“It's not easy,” he adds, “but it happens. So, for this one, that's what we're bringing. Because we're taking it back to the foundation. I think the unity that Wu-Tang represents in our culture, it's important, and I think that we got to come together. Well, we are coming together, to stand together one more time and travel the globe with it. This is one more run, as I pitched it to my brothers, I was like, ‘Yo, let's run around the globe one more time together, man.’”
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The difference from the old days of pulling up in a van with their own microphones, this time he says, “We're gonna pull up with some luscious tour buses, you know what I mean? We're gonna bring it to you upscale this time.”
Giving fans an early look into the vision behind his final Wu-Tang Clan plans, RZA tells us, “One thing we're doing that's gonna be special too, is I'm building this time capsule,” with the idea of inviting some VIP fans every night to bring a piece “one Wu item” to put into the time capsule “that we wanna put somewhere for the future generations. Because at the end of the day, you may run into me again after that. You may run into Meth, may run into Ghost, Rae, whatever -- but all of us on that stage together, in your city… that's gonna be not likely, you know what I mean? So, we're coming to touch the people one more time collectively.”
“Actually, right now I'm back at the old Wu mansion right now, today,” he adds. “I'm looking at all this nostalgia here and I'm like, ‘Wow!’ I'm like looking at it like, ‘Man, this is crazy.’ I'm seeing s*** from like '96. I'm seeing s*** from, you know, ‘95, ‘97. I'm just looking at old s***, bro, you know what I mean? And it's beautiful. It's still retained, it still has what it has. But I'm gonna throw one of these things in that time capsule as well.”
Given the broad scope of each member’s personal ventures post-Wu, RZA explains, “That's what I mean by ‘Final Chamber’ too. You know, look, Meth has won his fourth NAACP Image Award. I mean, four times, winning for ‘Best Actor’ on a TV show, and he's only getting hotter. He's starting a new movie next week. Ghost is finishing up this crazy project that I can't even talk about, an NDA on it. Brothers are continuing to spread the culture of Hip Hop, the whole culture, in more than one, atmosphere, like more than music, but music is the foundation. The fans are the foundation. So, I was like, ‘Yo, let's just go around the globe one more time, touch the people one more time, and then whatever, ride off into the sunset yo,' you know what I mean?”
Wu-Tang, RZA says, “is family and it's a certain type of Chi, a certain type of energy. And I think that on this particular tour with Run The Jewels rocking with us, I think that a lot of like-minded people [are] gonna be able to come together and break bread. And at the end of the day -- this is my personal feeling -- when we bring these types of people together, we could change. Feel change in our communities, you know, change in our swag. It's just a flow that happens.”
Tickets and VIP packages for the upcoming tour dates will be available starting at 10AM local time on February 28. While there are no pre-sales for this tour, fans can join the Wu queue online opening 30 minutes prior. Take a look at the current list of scheduled dates HERE.
Don't miss Greg Street's full conversation with RZA above, and stay tuned for more with your favorite stars and artists right here on Audacy. Plus, listen to Hip Hop Made: NYC and more on the free Audacy app.