Wu-Tang Clan released their sixth studio album, A Better Tomorrow, earlier this month. A political video for the title track followed, showing scenes of protests stemming from the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. RZA spoke with Gawker recently, advocating the indictment of every police officer involved in the Garner incident, which occurred in the rapper's native Staten Island.
"It wasn't just a black, white thing, it was about authority and about empowering a man who didn't have power before and who overexerted his power," RZA said. "When it comes down to the race issue, it looked to me, the whole situation reminded me of the guys in my neighborhood who would get jumped, guys who didn't belong there. You would think that Staten Island would have grown past aggression."
The rapper is irked by the fact that the whole ordeal was captured on video that shows a situation escalating quite quickly. He believes that all of the cops involved add to the a national perception of not valuing black life.
RZA went on to say that while the problem might not be a systemic issue in police departments, it's about accountability.
"I have so much respect for the police department, my first cousin works as a corrections officer, my brother-in-law is a cop, my father-in-law is a cop, my DJ worked for 17 years in the police force. Thanksgiving at my house is a cop convention. But even if it's one cop — which it's not; there are clearly more incidents of this nature — but if we don't say he was wrong, that's where the problem is."
So, is a better tomorrow possible?
"When I did this record, I did it with optimism, I wanted to inspire within the Wu and people outside the Wu. I wanted people to think differently," he added.
