As a rapper, producer, director, author and actor, the RZA is one of hip-hop’s Renaissance men. While he wears many hats, the 52-year-old is best known as the de facto leader of the seminal New York hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, which formed on Staten Island in 1992. Earlier this month, RZA was at SXSW in Austin, Texas to promote the final season of Hulu’s dramatic series Wu-Tang: An American Saga, which he co-created, as well as the world premiere of Problemista, a feature film he starred in.
On March 14, RZA chatted with writer Evan Narcisse in the featured session “36 Chambers of The RZA,” a play on the title of the Wu’s classic debut LP. RZA also chopped it up with Wajahat Ali, host of SXSW Studio. We’ve compiled 10 of RZA’s most thoughtful quotes from those two interviews. RZA discussed what inspires him, the importance of emotions and vulnerability, a lesson he learned from director Quentin Tarantino, and more.
On the film Problemista…
RZA: The studio A24 has been able to tell unique stories. Problemista fits right into that category. Tilda Swinton gives an incredible performance. Julio Torres is so funny. If I could categorize it, it’s like what would happen if you mix Woody Allen and Spike Jonze, and throw in some RZA. It’s a very interesting film. I play an actual painter in the film, a pretty crazy role for me. It’s fun, and it’s deep.
On film as an art form…
Film is the best medium, I think, for art. In film, you actually get to include every point of art. You get fashion. You get production design. You get painting. You get sound, light, even the carpentry for set design. All these different things are all forms of art that come together to capture these frames. So, for me, it was an expansion of sound and an expansion of creativity.
On a lesson in collaboration…
When I was working on Kill Bill with Quentin Tarantino, I was at his service. I never really had a boss for most of my life. I remember giving him a piece of music and he was like, “That’s not it.” I was like, “What?” It was days of that, and I almost gave up. I was in the editing room and I kept messing around and then when I had this one piece of music that felt good, but I wasn’t sure, he came in the room and was like, “That’s it!” Then I learned I’m here to serve the purpose of not only the director but, more importantly, the film.
On childhood inspirations…
The art in hip-hop actually comes from our childhood of what we saw. We’re a generation that had all the soul records, the James Brown, the Funkadelic. We watched all the animation, Voltron, Battle of the Planets, and the Saturday afternoon kung fu and comic books. We’re a generation who consumed all that in our hands, not in our phones. I think all those things we consumed we digested back out.
On recent inspirations…
Right now, I’m really deep into Brahms, Franz List, Beethoven. I’m finding a new way of language and expression by studying the classical musicians. The classical musicians and their stories is fascinating me now.
On vulnerability…
Men, women, and children on this planet, no matter what ethnic or creed, we all experience this life. And in life, you have sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy [laughs]. All these different things you experience. If you look back at pictures, you won’t find me smiling. And that’s because of this hard shell we were conditioned to put on. Meekness was considered weakness. But as you grow older and you mature, you say blessed be the meek. The meek shall inherit the Earth.
On emotions…
There are so many great men in history who dealt with all emotions. King Solomon cried, King David wept, Prophet Muhammad and Buddha as well. And they were warriors. Don’t get it twisted, King David chopped a lot of heads off. My motto is we should always come in peace but be prepared for war because there are some things in the world that are always trying to get inside your system like pathogens, and you gotta have a defense for that.
On animation and video games…
Animation and video games has always been inspiring. You think of an old Atari game like Megamania or even Pitfall. The beauty of an old Atari cartridge is you’ll look at the art on the cover, and it’ll be looking crazy, and then there was the game graphics [laughs]. But inspirational because it made you believe you were going into that place. Animation and anime are one of the greatest forms of expressing art. I would say they are the modern kung fu movies.
On his musical growth…
The funny thing about me is I started musically looking to find samples. I didn’t know what a C chord was. I just knew the sound I wanted. And now I’m composing scores for movies and writing ballets. I think I evolved, and I think I matured.
On artistry…
To me, the cameraman is an artist. The gaffer is an artist. Everybody has an artistic nature. You just have to find a way to express it. I’m constantly finding ways to tell the story, re-tell the story, and advance the story. Music is my first love, but I fell in love with film.
To watch the full interviews, click the videos below:
36 Chambers of the RZA
RZA in the 2023 SXSW Studio
