Deluxe reissues of artists' back catalogs are all the rage these days to honor special anniversaries. To celebrate 20 years of the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA and company are breaking the re-release trend and putting out an album of new material, among other special plans.
A Better Tomorrow will be the group's first release in seven years, and it will feature all living members of the Clan, RZA told Billboard recently. "It's a record to me that merges the way music was made in the classic essence, in an analog way," he said, "as well as merging what's going down the digital way. All the entire 10 Clan members are on it. All the [living] members, which is a beautiful thing. And the album has a small concept in a sense, musically it travels from a guy who is going through difficulties, tries to find himself, gets involved with some violence, some troubles, but then realizes that it's best sometimes to walk away from the past and all the bad times and maybe work on making his life better, and making a better tomorrow."
The album will be out by Black Friday, but in advance of the album, the Clan has partnered with music technology company Boombotix to make a customized speaker system that will contain some Wu-Tang tracks. Five songs from A Better Tomorrow will be embedded into the player in addition to some instrumental tracks and a bonus tune (check out the tracklist below). The speaker will also be able to play tracks from any Blutooth gadget.
RZA cites the idea of actually buying music in its physical form as the creative spark for the speaker. "But this thing here, a tangible item, like your old Walkman or your old cassette, or your old record, that's what this is bringing back," he said. "As far as this company Boombotix, there's a few people reaching out to us: "Put your Wu logo on this." But something about this company resonated. I think the ruggedness. Also, their device is more geared to portability. Put it on your bookbag, or strap it on your belt. And so, I felt so cool about that."
The Wu-edition Boombot Rex will be available through Zumiez.
Wu-edition Boombot Rex Tracklist
01. Ruckus in B Minor
02. Ron O Neal
03. Mistaken Identity
04. Keep Watch
05. Never Let Go
06. Mistaken Identity (Instrumental)
07. Never Let Go (Instrumental)
08. Big Horn (Exclusive Track)
