8 Things We Learned From The HOT 97 RZA Interview [PHOTOS]

As much as the Hip-Hop community is pulling for Shaolin’s finest, the Wu-Tang Clan seems to be in a deep disarray. Raekwon claims he is on strike and most recently not so affiliate member Christ Bearer allegedly attempted suicide. The RZA visited the HOT 97 morning show to give the world a much needed update.

Not only is he a prolific producer, but The Abbott is great interview. His approach to the question and answer format is a very open one, giving listeners a look into his overall thought process with each response. In the 40 minute long discussion, Peter Rosenberg and program director turned on air personality Ebro left no stone unturned with their inquiries.

Topics included RZA’s new film Brick Mansions, Raekwon’s recent accusations of lying and the dialogue that needs to take place for the group to come together like Voltron once again.

So we present the top 8 things we learned from the HOT 97 RZA interview. Let us know what surprised you the most in the comments section. Hearing RZA ranking the Wu members was a first for us.

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Photo: HOT97 / Youtube

The Truth

Raekwon called RZA a bold face liar in an interview with Rolling Stone after this VladTV interview surfaced where RZA stated he had not spoken to Rae. The truth is this interview was filmed before the two spoke therefore the misunderstanding.

Method Man

With all the talk about monies, RZA states that Method Man has done nine songs for A Better Tomorrow without being paid a dime.

Production

While the talk is some of the Wu members want outside production for the new album, RZA feels that it might take away from that true Shaolin sound that fans are expecting.We tend to agree.

Photo: WENN

Contracts

Originally all the Wu members were signed to Wu-Tang Productions. After the immense success of Enter The 36 Chambers, each MC asked to be let go of their contracts. In the spirit of brotherhood, RZA let them all go with no penalties or publishing ties. He is asking for that spirit of brotherhood to shown in order to complete A Better Tomorrow.

Summer Jam

HOT 97’s 2013 edition of Summer Jam was supposed to be a monumental 20th celebration of Wu-Tang Clan. The initial rollout was supposed to include a documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, a collaboration with the BBC and much more but the new music wasn’t there. While HOT 97 gets a lot of criticism for being commercial, surprisingly this was all the brain child of Ebro.

Deck

RZA admits that when Inspectah Deck was supposed to be up next for a solo album release, Cappadonna was already hot from his appearances on Only Built For Cuban Linx… so he got to release The Pillage before INS.

Paul Walker

While filming Brick Mansions RZA and Paul Walker struck up a great relationship. They discussed making a martial arts movie together as Walker was also into martial arts.

Dusty

RZA also admits that he based his character Brick Mansions character Tremaine Alexander on a Staten Island drug kingpin called “Dusty”. Apparently not only did Dusty control the majority of the drug trade on Shaolin, he also was one of the first to promote Rap shows on Staten Island by booking acts like KRS-ONE, Rakim and EPMD to perform in the 1980’s.