producer, rapper,
most known for creating the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.
Give it up for the one, the only RZA!
What up?
- Yeah, yeah, what it be like?
Bong Bong in the building. [both laugh]
- Thank you so much for taking the time.
- Oh, man, my pleasure, y'all, you know what I mean?
It's a great opportunity to talk to you.
- Aw, thank you. Appreciate that.
- [indistinct] get to holler at you.
- Okay, I'm gonna put all my cards on the table
right now before this interview.
You know I had to. I had to do it.
I put my name through the Wu-Tang name generator,
as I had to, obviously.
I'ma tell you what my official name is, cool?
We having some internet-- - Oh, there--oh.
- [bleep].
The internet like to do stupid [bleep]
right when you need it, right?
[laughter]
- We're gonna keep that part in, for sure.
Cool. - [inaudible] 1, 2, mic check.
I'm in the building? - Yeah, you're good.
- Okay. - So I'm gonna tell you
what my official name is and you tell me your thoughts.
You ready? [clears throat]
Let me introduce you to Tuff Commander.
- Tuff Commander.
Tuff Commander.
I like that. - You like it?
Especially in my colorful tie-dye sweatsuit?
- Yeah, well, yeah--
I can hook up--I can give you a different shirt
later for that. [laughter]
No, no, I'm just saying, that shirt
is like--that's like when you finish being tough.
- True, true.
- It's a beautiful shirt,
but on Tuff Commander, you might wanna
have one--you know, maybe go a little darker on the colors
then come back. - Okay, understood.
I'll take those notes back to wardrobe!
Y'all hear that? I'm Tuff Commander now.
Act accordingly. Back there.
So, RZA, obviously I'm so familiar with you,
but for anyone in my audience that may be watching at home
that's not as familiar with Wu-Tang,
let them know who you are, what Wu-Tang's all about.
- Well, for those who don't know me,
my name is the RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.
They call me the Abbot.
Wu-Tang Clan is a group of nine MCs
from Staten Island.
We actually mix hip hop,
Asian culture,
martial arts, comic books,
graffiti, breakdancing,
and deejaying all together to tell our story.
And that was some years ago,
but it resonated with our audience.
It resonated all around the world.
And I am the RZA-rector inside y'all sector, a'ight?
- Dang! Boom, there it is.
We're gonna have a great time.
I can already tell, with the way you're so concise,
laying it down, dropping the mic.
I've read that you've also said that hip hop
is kung fu.
Explain that to me, because at first glance,
I don't see how they're similar,
but I'm sure you're gonna break it down
as to exactly how they're similar.
- Hip hop is a sport, first of all, right?
It's competitive.
It's a lyrical sport,
and you gotta train to be dope.
It takes--it might take ten years
to be really dope on that microphone.
- Mm-hmm. - You wanna make your lyrics
potent, as potent as a one-inch punch.
I mean, you want your flow to be like a sword
of a samurai, you know what I mean?
So it takes discipline.
Your form and your performance gotta be fluid.
And, yo, you gotta have control of your breath.
KRS-One had a song called "Breath Control."
A lot of rappers used to get on stage and...
[imitates breathing heavily] by the third song,
they out of breath. - Mm-hmm.
- And in martial arts,
you need the same elements
to become a martial arts master.
So to me, hip hop is lyrical kung fu.
- Dang! That's a really good answer.
So you are obviously master of hip hop.
Are you trained in kung fu as well?
- Yeah, I've trained kung fu. I trained Shaolin.
I've gotten blessed to do a little bit of Hung Ga,
which is a type of Kuen form.
- Ooh.
- And then I--mostly I keep practicing
what is called Qigong, which is really
basic stances and stretches
to make sure that my blood
is circulating, my tendons is being stretched,
and, you know, my chi is rejuvenated.
- Wow. So when you started Wu-Tang Clan,
it combined elements of, like you're saying,
of kung fu, hip hop, graffiti,
but take me back to the beginning.
When you were first, you know, creating this clan,
was it difficult to get people on board?
Were people about it?
- Well, yeah, I mean,
look, in the hood,
people was like, you know what I mean,
I'm into Black culture, not Asian culture, right?
- Mm. - In the sense of
taking it on as an expression of self.
And the record companies,
they was like, "No, this is not gonna work"
because they didn't have a precedent for it.
I knew that, you know, the melding of culture,
right, is what makes places expand and grow.
But also, I was conscious of,
even though the record labels didn't have a precedent
for what we was trying to do,
it's usually when you break precedence
that companies become great. - Right.
- Apple is a example of people breaking the precedent,
you know what I mean?
- So I love that you said that, I love that
you said that you think the greatest things
come about when cultures meld together.
Did people give you a hard time about this, though?
Like, and do people give you a hard time about this today?
Because I know this is a little bit of a sticky subject today,
in terms of what cultures can do, what--
are you still a believer today that cultures meld--
'cause I agree. I think--
I love when cultures come together.
- I 200% agree.
Sometimes when we have a problem
with melding cultures it's because we don't know
the history of neither culture.
- Mm. - Right?
So let's just use Shaolin kung fu,
which is, you know,
my foundation into martial arts,
but Shaolin kung fu
had its flourishing
when an Indian monk named Bodhidharma
came from India
and brought it to China.
- Mm. - And when he brought it,
that's a different culture. In fact, Bodhidharma was
looked down upon because he was tall and dark,
but his philosophy, his teachings,
caused their temple and their martial arts
to flourish, and then eventually
that moved over to Japan.
- Right.
- Culture is almost like water,
and it flows like rivers to get to where it has to get to.
And at one point you're not gonna know
where the river begins or where it ends.
- I love that so much.