Raekwon tore into RZA during a recent interview with Rolling Stone, noting that he is "on strike" from the Wu-Tang Clan and will likely be absent from the A Better Tomorrow LP - the forthcoming album billed as the final group project from the Staten Island crew. The candid commentary follows RZA's criticisms of The Chef during a recent interview with Vlad TV. The tension between Raekwon and RZA has been a dark cloud hanging over the group. Their beef has threatened to affect the final outcome of the highly-anticipated album. Based upon the details of his scathing commentary, it seems possible that Raekwon is officially stepping away from the project:
It almost sounds like you’re on strike.It’s the same as being an athlete. I don’t give a fuck if it’s Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant. They will not touch the floor if their managers or lawyers are saying, "Listen, shit ain’t right." So therefore, I’m in a limbo situation. 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 fuck they think is hot.
As far as the RZA, I respect him, I love him – the love ain’t gonna go anywhere – but you’re not in the music world no more. So to me, you need to take a backseat and respect the n---as that is playing the game. I’m always out in the field and finding out what’s going on with the new. Period.
Where specifically do you feel slighted, businesswise?
In order for Chef to work, the Chef contract has to be correct. It has to be a situation where I can say, "You know what? This is the best situation for me and my family." That’s who I work for. I work for my family.
Do you think part of it is the expectations put upon the group after 20 years?
We created something that wound up being so big, it has to sit on a certain kind of podium. It has to be sitting up there shining. It can’t be sitting up there with bullet holes and all this bullshit on it. I love my fans. I would never give them something that I feel is not a hit or a win. We made decisions together when it came to making great music. Today, I don’t know where RZA’s mind is at. I don’t know if he looks at himself as being a top producer. But you’re not the top producer no more. You’re definitely one of the best, but you’re not one of the best today.
We said with this album right here, let’s go use some of the relationships with the producers and artists that we know and let’s make something that the fans can be like, "Goddamn." You don’t go out there and put somebody on the fucking record that nobody never heard of. That’s an insult to us. I’m just sitting back in the bleachers just watching shit. There’s no animosity with me and my brothers. My issue is with fuckin’ management. And whoever sits in that chair, RZA and Devine, that’s they shit that they have to deal with. You’re not going to bury my career with your dumb moves.
On a scale of 0-10, what are the odds that you end up on A Better Tomorrow?
We at a two right now. It’s like climbing up a fuckin' mountain if you got on slippers.
It’s sad. It hurts. It’s all about the fans. It’s all about them saying, "This is my favorite fuckin' hip-hop group in the world." I have a job to do for them. And I would never let my fans down and make something I feel is mediocre just to say I made it. That’s not Raekwon.
The latest developments will undoubtedly leave some fans wondering whether a Wu-Tang Clan album without all of the Killer Bees on deck is truly worth it. The idea of Raekwon's absence is especially bittersweet when you consider the winning streak he has been on as of late, continuing to drop crazy solo tracks and remixes at a steady pace.
