 06/12/2007 “Ay yo the Wu is back, making niggaz go BO! BO!, like on Super Cat!” – Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin Ta Fuck Wit
Wu-Tang Clan bring the multi-task myth crashing down like a large oak to a lumberjack’s axe. As well as being Mafioso hip-hop extraordinaires, members have had a tipple in fashion design, acting and writing screenplays. Ha-hey, blokes can do two things at once after all. The New York rappers have now finished work on their highly anticipated fifth album ‘8 Diagrams’, the title stemming from the lads love of 1983 Kung-fu hit Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter. The album features all the surviving members, as well as unreleased material from the late ‘Ol Dirty Bastard, and collaborations with other dust-funk luminaries such as P-Funk legend George Clinton and Q-Tip.
On the subject of Kung-Fu, and with 8 Diagrams due out on December 10th, we caught up with Wu-Tang member RZA to discuss Afro Samurai, the Japanese anime project the rapper and producer worked on. With enough claret to fill Beth Ditto’s belly-button, mountains of action, and a musical score from the Wu-Tang legend, this is one bad-ass mo-fo of an anime film. Having produced the musical score for Kill Bill Volume’s 1 and 2, RZA is no stranger to writing film scores. The hip hop legend took time out to discuss his experience of mixing music with a love for anime.
So RZA, what made you want to get involved with this film?
I’ve always enjoyed animation, and always wanted to put my own stamp of music into a project like this; helping to bring the viewer through the story with the music I’d created.
 How did your approach differ in the studio, making music for a film rather than music to support itself?
There is no real difference in the approach, only that one is going to vinyl and the other is going to film. The music still needed to be able to support itself without the visuals.
Did you write the soundtrack in tandem with the film or after the film was completed?
The music was created in tandem to the film. As they created Afro Samurai, I created, so that there was a harmony between both the music and the film.
Would you or have you ever gone to the cinema alone?
Yes, I enjoy movies and going to the cinema. Going to the cinema is my break from everything else, it’s a great escape.
What’s your favourite film?
That’s a hard one to answer; because there are so many films that I love. I can’t really say I have a favourite, there’s just too many that I like.
Should all music be cinematic in the sense of generating imagery, or is it important for you to separate the audio and the visual?
Music has always generated imagery, and that is before film, because music is story telling. And when it is created on a cinematic level the audio becomes important, meaning that people will pay attention more because the audio fits with the scene. When the scene is no longer there for them to view and they hear it again, they get it without the visuals, so there is a separation from audio and visual.
If there was to be a film about the Wu Tang Clan, what genre would it be? 
That’s easy, an action drama film, with me playing myself.
Afro Samurai, film of the hit American TV series, is now available as a two disc Director’s Cut DVD, containing extensive extras including commentary on the voice recordings, the characters and creation of the original sound track. Afro Samurai, the story of a man’s quest to avenge the death of his father, stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Kelly-Hu. Afro Samurai is priced at £19.99. 8 Diagrams, Wu-Tang Clan’s fifth studio album, is released on December 11th.
Words: Dave Dryden
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