'Trust Me One More Time''
RZA has been all over the press promoting the kung-fu feature film he directed, The Man With The Iron Fists, starring Lucy Lie and Russell Crowe. A topic that inevitable comes up is the state of the Wu-Tang Clan. In an interview with the New York Times, along with discussing some of his failed film attempts, Bobby Digital revealed that he is totally down for a Wu reunion, just under a certain condition.
Before The Man With With Iron Fists came to fruition, RZA had a couple of movies (Wu-Tang vs. the Golden Phoenix and film tied to his Bobby Digital In Stereo album) that have never been released due to his past arrogance.
“I thought I was the greatest thing on earth,” RZA said. “And you couldn't say that I wasn't. I wouldn't take no for an answer.”
Among the projects from that period that he says he couldn't resist was a film that he directed, starred in and paid for ($400,000) based on his superhero alter ego, Bobby Digital.
RZA said that one studio offered him about $250,000 to distribute the movie, and another $500,000, but he had his heart set on $1 million.
“At this time, I think I was more conceited,” he said as he sampled from plates of red velvet waffles, onion rings and a vegetarian Reuben sandwich. “I'm not going to take no 250, 500 grand from nobody, during this bloom of my life. I played hardball and the deal walked away.”
A second feature he directed and financed, a martial-arts movie called “Wu-Tang vs. the Golden Phoenix,” similarly languished, and both films remain unreleased.
As for a new Wu-Tang Clan album, RZA is trying to convince the other members to let him exercise total creative control over the project one more time. "I've been talking to some of the guys, like, ‘Yo, look, I would suggest that you put down everything you know, and trust me one more time'," RZA told the New York Times.
That will be tough considering members like Ghostface and Raekwon have relatively busy solo careers of their own. Keeping in mind that the last time RZA ruled like a dictator when it came to Wu-Tang music, the world was blessed with albums like WTC's Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., GZA's Liquid Swords, and more classic albums, it's at least worth considering.
The Man With The Iron Fists is in theaters November 2nd.