RZA

The Wu-Tang legend on the state of rap, being honored by Rihanna and A$AP, and the possibility of a new Wu album

-  ANDRE GEE 

It's the middle of summer when RZA hops on Zoom one afternoon, but the Wu-Tang architect and Hollywood maven isn't exactly taking it easy. The Wu-Tang Clan are on tour with Nas for the overseas leg of their New York State of Mind Tour, thrilling crowds while exemplifying the possibilities for hip-hop icons entering middle age. "We have to show the young generation that this can be a lifelong career if you follow the proper path," he says.

RZA, 54, parlayed his music into a decades-long career in Hollywood, acting, producing, and scoring films such as American Gangster and The Man With the Iron Fists. He also helmed WuTang: An American Saga, a three-season-long TV series about the legendary group. These days, RZA says, he's waiting out the Writers Guild strike while touring the world and running 36 Chambers, his vegan-lifestyle company. He's still making music, too, most recently last year's Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater, a collaboration with DJ Scratch. And, it turns out, he's just heard something that makes him excited about the possibility of another WuTang album. 

We're at Hip-Hop 50. What do you think are some of the biggest things that the community needs to be asking itself heading into the next 50 years?

We're at the base of the mountain, not at the top. Somebody tweeted recently that "we are still not aligned." I think we need to align. Maybe get some of the godfathers to come together and talk about what we're going to do with this culture, and how we're going to protect it, preserve it, and advance it.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame didn't come immediately [to hip-hop]. We're happy that now they're inducting some of us. Great. Let's make the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. The BET hip-hop awards is cool. Love BET. But it's not from us - it's corporate. We need people of the culture to govern and guide the culture.