S. Samuel
Wu-Tang Clan member RZA recently shared his thoughts on why the crew have been able to maintain a longstanding buzz since the early 1990's and their ability to succeed with retail ventures.
In RZA’s opinion, the Wu’s business ventures into electronics reflect a general interest their fans also share.
“I think fans resonate with the artists that they are fans of, and most of us in the crew are very electronically savvy. That applies to video games and applications for iPhones or iPads. Our fans are like us, and we enjoy a lot of the same things. That’s why I think certain items resonate with them, because they enter our world and vice versa.” (Hip Hop DX)
The New York-bred emcee recently opened up about his new Chambers by RZA headphones line.
“I don’t like to compete against my own crew, meaning, hip-hop,” RZA told Billboard.com in an interview at Hollywood’s Trousdale club last week as he prepared for the line’s launch party. “Hip-hop to me is a family. But you do want to sell the most records, have the biggest song and win the Grammy.” That said, he was quick to set his line apart from the efforts of MCs. “With much respect to the other guys, [Dr.] Dre is a producer and I’m a producer,” he said. “If anyone is into sound and dealing with sound, it’s more the producer than a rapper. We get more technical.” (Billboard)
Last week, RZA hinted at plans to possibly revive their clothing brand, Wu Wear.
“Funny you ask. We’ve actually been talking about [that] – my brother Oli Grant has been talking about reviving it sometime soon, and I will leave it up to him to make that choice. I definitely used to be really involved with it, down to some of the more subtle style decisions. I was the one who introduced the drawstrings on our pants, since I personally could never find a belt to wear and wanted to create options around that. And I have some new ideas about how to dress skinny guys like myself. We’ll see where it all goes.” (Rolling Stone)
The Wu’s Raekwon recently said fans could expect a possible Wu tour next year.
“I got a lot of things coming up,” he said in an interview. “You got the 20-year Wu anniversary about to jump off. You know we scheming on some things. Going back on the road, doing something legendary again.” (Exclaim)
Check out RZA’s RZA’s World App below:
