RZA and Raekwon have been publicly feuding over the direction of Wu-Tang Clan's 20th anniversary album, A Better Tomorrow, ever since it was announced. Now, it appears that the feud is in full force as Raekwon told Rolling Stone that Wu-Tang has been "compromised" by RZA's creative direction, which he calls "mediocre" and out of touch.
RZA had spoken to Vlad TV saying that he wasn't sure why Raekwon wasn't involved in the album because the two "haven't had a chance to really talk" about their creative differences. Raekwon rebutted RZA's comment saying it was a "bold-faced lie," that he had talked to RZA, and the reason he wasn't work on the album was that he didn't agree with RZA's "so-called 'logic' of making music."
"RZA's the type of dude where, in the 90s, he ruled," Raekwon told Rolling Stone. "Now it's a new day. You're not attached no more. It's like being a coach and you won rings back in the day, but now your team is in ninth place. It's time for a new fucking game plan. I sit here with integrity all the time. When it comes to my music. When it comes to my business. When it comes to the fans. I'm always going to give them the best of me. And I know the Wu-Tang Clan is built like that, but if they're sitting there listening to one man, ain't no 'I' in 'Team.'"
When asked what he thought about the album's lead single, "Keep Watch," Raekwon called it "medicore sh*t."
He said, "I hate it. I hate it. I don't hate sh*t, but I hate that f**kin' record. It ain't the gunpowder that my brother is spitting; it's the production. And I ain't sh*tting 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 sh*t and you telling me that we comin out with some mediocre sh*t? That ain't part of our plan."
Raekwon suggested that he isn't the only member of Wu-Tang that feels this way about RZA's leadership. For example, RZA chose to feature unknown singer Nathaniel on "Keep Watch," and no one knew who he was.
"I'm not taking shots at the kid -- but I don't even know who he is," Raekwon said. "That song is something that the crew didn't have knowledge of, from what I'm being told. Dudes ain't feeling good about it."
Raekwon also says he feels slighted from a business perspective as well.
"In order for Chef to work," he explained, "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."
When asked if his situation was similar to being on strike, Raekwon added, "It's the same as being an athlete. I don't give a f**k if it's Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant. They will not touch the floor if their managers or lawyers are saying, 'Listen, sh*t ain't right.' So therefore, I'm in a limbo situation. So yeah, you're right. I am on strike."
What will it take to get Raekwon back on board? "It ain't about making me happy; it's about doing business and negotiating the best terms," he explained, adding, "I'm just sitting back in the bleachers just watching sh*t. There's no animosity with me and my brothers. My issue is with f**kin' management. And whoever sits in that chair, RZA and Devine, that's they sh*t that they have to deal with. You're not going to bury my career with your dumb moves."
He says he "would never leave the group," but that the chances that he'll end up on A Better Tomorrow are two out of ten. "It's like climbing up a f**kin' mountain if you got on slippers."
Check out the full Q&A here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
