RZA, the co-founder of the Wu Tang Clan, was at Barnes & Noble Union Square to promote what is destined to be a must-read for any hip-hop aficionado, The Tao of Wu. The Wu Tang is cited by MTV as the fifth greatest Hip-hop group of all time.
Something that stuck out was RZA talking about his troubled history. He told the audience that even though his music seems to glorify violence and drugs, in reality he is embarrassed by some of the things he has done. Hurting people, he said, is not something he is proud about. The words were infused with a sense that, looking back, he probably made the choices he thought would most help his game even though he wishes he had had other options available to him. It was a touching moment of honesty. From Wikipedia:
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA (pronounced ‘Rizza’; born July 5, 1969), is an American Grammy winning music producer, author, rapper, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in hip hop music, he is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost all of Wu-Tang Clan’s albums as well as many Wu-Tang solo and affiliate projects. He subsequently gained attention for his work scoring and acting in films.
Fox News reported that in mid-2007 RZA attended one of Hillary Clinton’s parties and donated money to her 2008 campaign. Fox News criticized the fact that Clinton took money from The RZA, claiming it was contradictory due to RZA’s felony record, FBI investigation, ties to the Gambino family and his music lyrics. RZA referred to the investigation in one of his lyrics, “Plus, feds had one ad saying I gun traff’ / I sold 20 million records bitch, some laugh.”
Fox News is such a joke.
Below are Creative Commons photographs I released under the 3.0 attribution license that I took of RZA. They are now available on Wikipedia and my Flickr Creative Commons stream.
Joan Rivers – a Musto-inspired photographic Creative Commons essay
I’m living with a ghost in New Jersey
A man has lived in a van outside my home for 8 years
Making out in public – good or bad?
Obama Condoms in Union Square
New York City water shots
RNC characterizes Republican base as ‘Reactionary’ and ‘Ego-Driven’
Celebrities and downtown denizens salute 25 years of Michael Musto
Hello,
I write to you from Regal Literary, the agency that represents RZA’s books. To celebrate the publication of RZA’s latest book, The Tao of Wu, we have a special offer for fans to win signed books and a very special once-in-a-lifetime offer for one lucky RZA fan.
As a way of recognizing that you have covered The Tao of Wu, we want to give you the first opportunity to spread the word about this contest.
If you would be interested in doing a post about it on your blog or covering it on your website, please e-mail rza@regal-literary.com for more details on the special offer.
Thank you very much for your coverage of The Tao of Wu.
rza@regal-literary.com
I think RZA has changed a lot from the very grimmy siniester character from 36 Chambers and GraveDiggaz and one of the masters of horrorcore. To the 5%er islamic asiatic influenced Abbot to what Raekwon described as a hiphop hippie.
I would like to hear ur opinion on this, and how he has “soften” his image by showing up on movies like Funny People, Commedy Central and Coffee and Cigarettes.
“Aren’t you Bill Murray”
Twitter: davidshankbone
says:
I think he’s circumspect. I don’t think he has any apologies, but he has regrets. I think he regrets that he had to make the choices he had to make in order to get where he is today. He now has better opportunities, but that’s still where he comes from and he understand that life. A lot of times our least finest moments just are what they are, and best left in the past without the judgment of the present.