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While Wu-Tang Clan has been working towards the release of ‘A Better Tomorrow,’ the group’s first album since 2007′s ’8 Diagrams,’ Raekwon has strong reservations regarding its release and being a member of the rap collective as a whole.
It’s no secret that there has been some issues between Raekwon and fellow Wu-Tang member RZA. Last year, he claimed that Raekwon wasn’t necessarily pulling his weight during the recording process of the new LP. RZA also called him out for focusing more on the business side of things instead of the music.
Now Raekwon has finally spoken out about the rift between himself and his Wu-Tang brother.
“…We are at creative differences because at the end of the day, I want to win,” Raekwon tells Rolling Stone. “I’m used to being a winner. Being that I feel the team is being compromised by his so-called ‘logic’ of making music, I have a problem with that because I love my fans. I would never want to give my fans anything other than the best. So when we’re sitting there discussing the creative process of making a great album for the fans, I’m not going to never settle for less. I’m not the only one [in the group] that feels this way too.”
“This s— is not right,” he continues. “It’s not making us give the fans the best that we can give them. So of course we have a problem with that. It’s like coming out with some music that you’re not feeling.”
And unlike RZA, who’s been focused on other ventures like acting and his chess tournament, Raekwon has sights set on his solo career. His new album, ‘Fly International Luxurious Art,’ is set to release next month. Based off that LP title alone, it’s understable why the Chef has such strong criticisms toward the new Wu-Tang track, ‘Keep Watch.’
“I hate it. I hate it. I don’t hate s—, but I hate that f—in’ record,” he admits. “It ain’t the gunpowder that my brother is spitting; it’s the production. And I ain’t s—-ing on the producer because he’s one of our soldiers. But if it ain’t where it need to be… It’s 20 years later. We talkin ’bout a whole new generation is sitting here representin’ and making fiery s— and you telling me that we comin’ out with some mediocre s—? That ain’t part of our plan.”
As candid as Raekwon is in the Rolling Stone interview, he makes sure to say that he doesn’t hate RZA — they’re just on different pages — and he’s solely speaking for himself, not the rest of the group. However, until these issues are resolved, Raekwon is on a bit of a strike.
“…I’m in a limbo situation,” he shares. “So yeah, you’re right. I am on strike. It ain’t the fact that I don’t want to be there. Because of course I want to be there. But if we’re there, we gotta do the best everything. We gotta work 10 times harder, because that’s what I’m signing in for. I’m not about listening to somebody that’s not an artist telling me what the f— they think is hot.”
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