The world (ourselves included) undoubtedly spent last week completely enraptured in Frank Ocean’s new music, but a whole lot more great albums dropped too, and it’s important not to forget them. Upon them was Anything But Words, the highly anticipated record from one of music’s most intriguing collaborations, Wu-Tang Clan‘s legendary ringleader RZA and Interpol‘s Paul Banks.
It’s been a long journey for the pair, who first worked together in 2011 and have been reportedly writing Anything But Words since 2013, but the day is finally here, and the album is now available to enjoy.
Anything But Words is dense and diverse, with guest vocalists including Florence Welch, Method Mad, Ghostface Killah and Kool Keith.
The collaboration of one of hip-hop’s most important emcees and an indie guitar legend is unusual indeed. When Howl & Echoes spoke to RZA about the collaboration, he talked about how they discovered the “energy and chemistry” between them. “There’s something about the work ethic that was displayed to me that really kind of triggered me feeling very comfortable with what me and Paul was doing,” he said. “Part of that is that you’re looking at two very capable men who are capable of holding down their own square but have decided to combine squares. I think there’s something very cool about that.” To see it from a metaphorical perspective, he said, “You look at it like those classic buddy movies… I’mma go to the 80s films and a movie called The Killer starring Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee together where one’s a cop and one’s a hitman but together they could take over the world. So it felt like that kind of energy.”
Stream the album below.
You may not have heard of Banks & Steelz just yet, but you’ve certainly heard of the two men behind it. One is Paul Banks, frontman of one of the best rock bands New York City has ever produced in Interpol. The other, and the man we got the privilege of talking to today, was none other than a founding member of the immortal Wu-Tang Clan, the rapper, producer, actor and director, The Abbot, Robert Diggs but the man you know as the RZA.
Joining forces as Banks & Steelz in 2013, this unlikely duo have been steadily working on their debut album as partners and finding a natural chemistry in the studio. With that record, Anything But Words, due at the end of August, we had more than a few questions to ask RZA ahead of its release.
Hey RZA, how are you doing?
Hey James I’m all good!
Can I start off with the biggest news for you right now which is the release of Anything But Words in a couple of weeks time, that of course is your collaborative record as Banks & Steelz with Paul Banks of Interpol. How are you feeling leading up to that?
I’m feeling good man. I’m feeling great. We put a few songs out there already into the world you know Giant and Love And War and Speedway Sonora and there’s been a nice response from the fans out there. They’ve realised that there’s something very special about this collaboration and I think there’s something very interesting about it and so I’m just having fun.
We got some gigs coming up we gotta play. I think starting August 22nd we’re gonna hit the road and I’m excited yo.
Definitely. I have to admit, when I first heard that you and Paul Banks were collaborating I had no idea what to expect or what it would sound like. You guys have been working together as far back as 2013, was there a point in time where you realised that this was going to be a partnership that would work as well as it is?
I could say that. I could say that there was a point in time when I realised. We did a few jam sessions together at first and after doing the jam sessions we realised there was a certain energy and chemistry between us. I think after we got our record deal and we started going to the studio together, there’s something about the work ethic that was displayed to me that really kind of triggered me feeling very comfortable with what me and Paul was doing and part of that is that you’re looking at two very capable men who are capable of holding down their own square but have decided to combine squares. I think there’s something very cool about that.
You look at it like those classic buddy movies right, where you may see like… I’mma go to the 80s films and a movie called The Killer starring Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee together where one’s a cop and one’s a hitman but together they could take over the world. So it felt like that kind of energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhxMQqI0jWA
So which one of you is the cop and which is the hitman?
*Laughs* I think that if either one of us was a hitman we’d be a hitman with a sense of justice and if either one of us was a cop we’d be a cop that goes and break the barriers of what a cop can do *laughs*. We wouldn’t be clean cops and we wouldn’t be clean hitmen, know what I mean?
Sounds like a movie we’d all love to see. So what goals did you set yourselves, if any, when you decided to record this album?
Well to be honest with you James, it wasn’t really like we set a goal. We didn’t say ‘we gotta do this, we gotta do that’, our approach was just we two cool dudes who are going to come together and produce some songs yo. I had a real interest in rock music, indie rock music and Paul’s a big hip-hop fan as well and I think just the musicality of each other it was like ‘yo let’s get together and write songs’.
Personally I was in the songwriting mode, not just write a rap verse and then dig through my crates for a hook. The music has grown me to where I’m composing and trying to actualise full ideas that are beyond hip-hop production and beyond pop production may I add. Yet hip-hop production will exist on it and you’ll hear that in a song like Sword In The Stone and you’ll hear pop production exist when you hear us collaborate with Andrew Wyatt on Giant or with Kid Harpoon on Wild Season.
Speaking of your collaborations on that record, it’s not just the pair of you by any means. There’s a huge list of guests on that record, talking about Kool Keith, some of your fellow Wu-Tang Clan members in Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Masta Killa, a lot of others including some of the production credits you just mentioned. What was their reaction when you first approached them about joining you on the record?
Well each person approached it differently. Kool Keith really happened because of Paul Banks. Paul Banks is a huge Kool Keith fan. Now me and Keith have always had conversations about us doing a song together but it never happened and Paul was like ‘yo, one of my favourite rappers is Kool Keith’. So we gave him a call to see if it would happen and Keith came through and iced it out.
As far as Ghostface Killah, you know he’s a fellow Wu member of course but when it came to the song Love And War, Paul had already laid down his vocal hook and I had already kind of skeletoned the track as far as what it was going to be and I thought the guy who would tell some of the best girl stories is Ghostface Killah! So I was thinking of songs he did in the past like Wildflower and I let him jump on it and do his thing and then I added my verse.
Method Man and Masta Killa well, me and Paul would have late sessions and friends would pop in. They came in, we had some weed, rolled up some blunts and went in there and did their thing. That’s what we do *laughs*
Sounds like a great environment.
Exactly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob4SOrM2dxk
I was also really intrigued by what Florence Welch has brought to the table on this. How did you get her on board?
I’ll thank Paul for that as well. We had talked about bringing in different vocalists and maybe five names came up but Florence was at the top of the list. We both had girls in mind but we talked about her a lot and Paul was actually a really big fan of her work. The story he told me was that she happened to be standing backstage at an Interpol concert and was a fan of his work. So they met each other and they talked and he mentioned Banks & Steelz to her and mentioned that we would really love her to participate and join us and she heard some of the music and joined it.
It’s cool because it was something that was talked about first and then it was actualised so that was really cool and she killed it.
I bet she did, she seems to kill it quite frequently. I read in another interview Banks & Steelz did that you wrote about 10-12 songs in just your first few days working together but that only maybe two or three of those songs actually made the final record. Was there any sort of criteria, whether formal or informal, for a particular song making the record or not.
Yeah I can say there was. Being professionals and knowing that we’re not just jamming, after a while we said to ourselves we got 22, 23 songs here that have potential and we’ve been putting a lot of time into this, let’s just focus ourselves now on what are the 12 songs that we should chase for completion. Also complete in a way that’s mixable. There’s a couple songs we did that are pretty edgy but until people get a chance to understand what we are they wouldn’t have understood what we were doing.
I think that this particular collection of songs together is a good reflection of our musicality, a good reflection of who we are as artists and a good reflection of the sound we generate together. I think we have a lot more and if the people accept it, as they say in my neighbourhood, if there’s a demand we’ll fill the supply. As we were finishing this record we went into the studio and hung out again and there were, to me, two potentially very big records with our sound and what we’ve developed here. We have a chemistry here but for this record we have to focus in and not just keep creating and jamming but focusing and making sure the songs have a certain structure that is professionally qualified for what a record label was like as well. You know, it is a music business too and we’re conscious of that.
Just touching on your sound there, I really like what you guys have brought to the album here sonically. There’s a lot of relentless energy and you can really feel it across the record and it seems to reflect that New York City sound that is a part of you both in different ways. Was it intentional to make a New York record like this or is it purely organic?
I think some of the tracks were intentionally New York sounding and there’s definitely a nice portion of this record that was recorded in New York. We used Electric Lady, the home of Jimi Hendrix in the Village and that’s the studio that Method Man popped up in. That’s the studio that Ghostface popped up in. That’s the studio where some of my actor friends would come in after and have drinks with me and party there, it was a real party spot and so you get that energy on the record.
We also recorded in Malibu and I think you’ll get that energy of driving down the Pacific Coast highway on a couple of the songs. We recorded at Record Plant in Hollywood and I think there are some elements where you’ll feel the prestige of that. So I think, as New York is definitely the bulk of what we do and where the bulk of our energy comes from, I think that we were able to catch a few other parts of the country in our vision. You’ll go like ‘wow, I feel like driving down in Malibu’ when you feel that vibe.
The whole record just feels like a unique experience, listening to it I just couldn’t really compare it to a lot of music that’s being released today. What do you think it is that sets Anything But Words apart from what anyone else is doing in pop, rock or hip-hop at the moment?
I can’t totally define it personally. I think that the collaboration between us as individuals is very unique. Nobody can tell me why peanut butter and jelly makes a great sandwich you know? It just works. I don’t know who was the first guy to put a slice of cheese on a burger, it’s just a cheeseburger and I don’t know who did that. These things happen and they just work you know like chocolate in peanut butter, these things just work in their own way.
There’s a lyric in my song Giant where I say on the second verse *raps* Fuck CNN, this is ghetto editorial, see me like milk and Oreos dipped inside the audio. See in America there’s this thing where you get a glass of milk and you get an Oreo and life is good.
Just dunk it straight in there
Yeah, and who was the first guy to dip this cookie into this milk? I don’t know, but it worked and I think that we have this same unique combination and that’s what makes this record sound so unique compared to some others out there right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtf5isao73E
Banks & Steelz: Musical milk and Oreos. You guys had your debut performance at the Roxy not even a month ago and you mentioned that you’ve got some more shows coming up. How has the transition from the studio to the stage been for you both?
Well Paul may have a different take on this, we definitely have different takes on things and different approaches to things, but for me it was kind of a little more nerve-wracking obvie because on the Banks & Steelz project I’m playing while I’m rapping and I don’t normally do that, I’m usually moving around the stage holding my nuts *laughs*. On here I’m actually performing, playing an instrument while performing and it was kind of nerve-wracking for me but Paul being a rock musician, that’s how he does it and he was very smart to tell me “look Bobby, we’re going to book 12 days of rehearsals and you’re going to have to carve it out in your schedule.” I said cool, I trust you so I came to rehearsal and according to the critics the first show went over well.
How I feel about it is that it can only get better. This felt cool, the time went fast and I wish we had another 10-15 minutes. Some of the songs really translated well in a live setting. Especially Anything But Words. That song and Can’t Hardly Feel along with Wild Season and Giant which we still have to polish a bit more, those songs really translated well in the live arena. They got good audience response so I think we’ll only get better and we’ve got a lot of rehearsals scheduled starting on August 16th and we’ll rehearse for six days before we go out on tour. I think the tour will only get our muscles stronger and stronger so by the time we get to festivals we’ll be a well-polished and well-oiled machine.
That’s a very encouraging sign for sure, any chance of getting Banks & Steelz down under at all?
Man, first thing I’ll say James is that I would love to and I’m definitely going to put my vote in for yes to the booking agent. It would take promoters out there to be into us, you guys have gotta invite us! But if the invitation comes out then I’m coming, send me the invitation baby!
That’s what we want to hear, we very much enjoyed seeing you out here last as part of the Wu-Tang Clan on your tour for A Better Tomorrow and it’d be great to get Banks & Steelz over. RZA I’ll let you go but it was an honour to chat to you today and all the best for the release of Anything But Words and your tour.
Thanks James, have a good one. Peace!
Anything But Words is out August 26th via Warner Bros.
Image: Pitchfork
It’s sad to think that the biggest piece of Wu-Tang Clan news in recent memory is the ridiculous shit-storm that was that whole Martin Shkreli debacle. With the lone copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in his seedy little hands, there was understandable concern among fans of the Wu that we wouldn’t be hearing much from the Clan for quite a while. Today though, we can breathe easy, with Ghostface Killah announcing that the next reunion is in his hands.
In an interview with HipHopDx, Ghostface stated “RZA put the ball in my hand. He said ‘Yo, I want you to do it’, and I been wanting to do it, and that’s a big test for me right there.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfa_IT_LUYE
In the same interview he also addressed the direction he hopes that album to take, continuing “you got to always go back to the foundation … It’s not what you do it’s how you do it. But it has to be done right. If it don’t fit then we can’t do it. It’ll just have to be done nice. That’s it. People can’t talk about it unless it’s good.”
As for features? At the moment it looks like it’ll be kept largely in the family. – “I mean when we do this, we don’t got to bring nobody in. Unless there’s somebody that’s already out with a strong name or a good voice that would be good. I learned to not be selfish. People know us. We got 10 people in the goddamn group.”
Wu-Tang’s last reunion in 2014, A Better Tomorrow, produced by RZA, got some really mixed reviews, and didn’t really feel like everything it could’ve been. While there’s no doubt RZA does amazing work, he’s leaving the next album in some of hip-hop’s most capable hands in those of Ghostface. Twelve Reasons to Die I & II, and Sour Soul, a collaborative album with BadBadNotGood, are all some of his best work to date and came in the space of two years. Ghostface has shown that even well into his 40s, he’s still one of hip hop’s best, and we can’t wait to see where he takes the Clan next.
Image: XXL Magazine
It’s been a fair wait for fans hoping for new Interpol or Wu-Tang Clan music, but an even longer wait for those with their eyes on the 2013 announced Paul Banks and RZA project. If you’re one of those people who have been eagerly awaiting Banks/RZA since its reveal, then today’s your lucky day. Following up the promise made years ago, the pair, now named Banks and Steelz, will premiere their debut track with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 tomorrow.
In a twist of true ingenuity, the duo has setup installations in Los Angeles and New York shop fronts that appear to have a music video of some sort playing with a reward for Shazaming it.
There’s an ill @Rza @Interpol video, and folks are @shazam-ing the HelpWanted sign…check it at 154 Orchard St 🕵 pic.twitter.com/wXmtn6aci7
— Missinfo (@Missinfo) May 18, 2016
South of Fairfax across from Supreme @banksandsteelz pic.twitter.com/ftAHgFypqC
— Zane Lowe (@zanelowe) May 18, 2016
RZA originally revealed the collaboration in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone saying, “My manager came to me and said, ‘Who do you want to do an album with?’ I said, ‘Well, Paul just has an energy about him. I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great.” He went on to further describe the album as “very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar.”
This isn’t the first time Paul Banks has collaborated with a stream of hip-hop artists. In 2013 he released a mixtape entitled Everybody On My Dick Like They Supposed To Be, which boasted features from heavy hitters Mike G, High Prizm, Talib Kweli and Run The Jewels‘ El-P.
Who knows what Banks and Steelz is going to sound like, all I know is I’ll be tuning in to find out.
See what time Zane Lowe is on in your region here, or by checking Beats 1 on your iTunes.
Image: Twitter – Banks and Steelz
RZA, of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan, has drawn criticism online after an interview he conducted with Bloomberg aired, in which the self-appointed Wu-Tang leader makes some eyebrow raising comments regarding the current issues surrounding law enforcements dealings with African-Americans.
RZA spoke about many topics including the current political climate in America, oddly saying that Donald Trump is, ”a smart dude” and giving him props for, “keeping it real,” before managing to recover by backing Hilary Clinton for the next POTUS.
“I think somebody like Hillary Clinton as our next president—I like that. When you think about the history and trajectory of our country, from the beginning of the founding. You know, we’ve seen a black man as a president, that means a lot in this country. And then, a woman as a president: to me that’s a one-two punch…we’re not discriminating from who’s qualified to be the best person for the job.”
However, it is not RZA’s political opinions which have drawn the attention of fans and critics alike. When asked about the Black Lives Matter movement he responded with a puzzling endorsement for dietary choices.
“Of course black lives matter, all lives matter. I stopped eating meat because their lives matter to me. I don’t think it’s necessary for us to grow a cow to kill it.”
While it’s common to constantly question your morals while eating pork and slowly crying tears of regret into your sweet & sour sauce, it’s important to distinguish what the Black Lives Matter movement stands for, instead of running the same game that many BLM detractors do, suggesting that ALL lives matter- not just black ones. It’s also equally as important to point out how ridiculously misguided such a counter-point is, and how detrimental it is to shedding light onto an issue which sparked the said movement. To dismiss something which started with police brutality against African-American victims- because all lives matter, don’t ya know- is so tragically missing the point that an essay could be written on how hard it swings for the point and strikes out.
Continuing his train of thought and potentially proving that money does change people, the orchestrator of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin pointed out what everyone already knows by suggesting that not all cops are child-murdering goblins, and that it all comes down to focus.
“I love what the police do for our society; I love the idea of it, to serve and protect. Those who are upholding that idea, then they are beneficial to society. But those who lose that focus, whether they lose it through fear, through stress, or through not being properly trained—and they are allowed to go out on the streets—how can you enforce law if you don’t understand law?”
But it was the next little gem which really sealed RZA’s fate regarding people still believing that he has some kind of connection to not only his fans, but common people in general.
“When you think about some of the brothers who are being brutalized by the police, you also got to have them take a look, and us take a look, in the mirror, at the image we portray. If I’m a cop and every time I see a young black youth—whether I watch them on TV, movies, or just see them hanging out—and they’re not looking properly dressed, properly refined, you know, carrying himself, conducting himself proper hours of the day—things that a man does—you’re going to have a certain fear and stereotype of them.”
It’s presently unclear whether RZA is familiar with the concept of victim blaming, or if he is aware that his arguments sound eerily similar to those saying the outfits women chose to wear correlates to their chance of experiencing sexual assault. One this thing is definitely certain, if you’re the parent of an African-American youth and are terrified that the next time your son or daughter walk out the door they’ll become the next Trayvon Martin or Tamir Rice. Just get them a snappy tuxedo for their next birthday and you’re all set.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckuOLSmb7pg]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAhRo2OpM2E]
The home of Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA is currently being investigated by authorities, over a double stabbing that occurred at the New Jersey location this Saturday morning. At this stage, police haven’t determined whether RZA was at home during the incident. Police also haven’t confirmed the home was owned by RZA, however property records show his name is listed.
New Jersey State Police responded to a report of a stabbing at RZA’s home on Deer Trail Drive at 1:18 AM earlier in the morning, according to the media. They found two men stabbed – who were then taken to University Medical Centre in Neptune to attend to their injuries.
Williams says that the two men sustained serious injuries and were subsequently taken to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, new Jersey. The ongoing investigation is being handled by Neptune’s Major Crimes Unit.
The incident follows the recent news that the FBI investigated members of the Wu-Tang Clan in 1999 for alleged involvement in two murders.
On a more positive note, RZA has been giving back to underprivileged communities, speaking to over 400 high school students in the St Louis area last month – helping spread positivity and life strategies to youth at risk in the form of a chess program.
There are two types of rapper in regards to their attitudes towards their hometowns – the ones that rep their city by name drop and the ones that give back to their cities. Danny Brown, RZA and Kendrick Lamar are the latter, with each of the rappers hosting upcoming events for their chosen charities.
Danny Brown is throwing a Bruiser Brigade II show for Thanksgiving on November 25. Unfortunately, it is a Detroit only show, but this year Brown has decided to turn the event into an annual charity event, partnering with InsideOut Detroit’s City Wide Poets Project (CWP). Brown has set up a fundraising page for both CWP and the Detroit Public Schools system, and the pledge drive aims to help put a poet in every Detroit school. On top of the show and the fundraising page, Brown will also be hosting a poetry workshop aimed at teens and young adults in Detroit.
Having spent some time running poetry workshops with The H.U.N. Poets in The United States I can say this is truly a remarkable initiative, and there is nothing more rewarding than giving teens and young adults the tools they need to express their voices. It might seem like such a small thing to teach someone how to express their thoughts and feelings through poetry, but it sets people up with the know-how of channelling emotions into positive work and not letting them get the better of you.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/172492982″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
And now for one of those “if you don’t know, now you know” moments – the Hip Hop Chess Federation (been running 5 years and I’ve only just heard about it) has received a donation from RZA. Any Wu-Tang fan can vouch for the positive influence chess has had on RZA’s life, so it makes sense that he has now helped to fund a program to share that positivity with the next generation. The aim of the non-profit chess program is to spread “Chess and Life Strategies” to at-risk youth
RZA also spoke last month to 400 high school students from the St Louis area, including many from Ferguson, Missouri. After the talk, he spent some time playing chess and speaking with juvenile hall inmates. “Chess study, along with martial arts, along with music, is the best way to help develop your mind and body and protect you from pitfalls in life that will surely come at you,” RZA said.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE3hb__ylG4]
Let us not forget Kendrick Lamar’s scholarship fund. The ‘Be Alright’ scholarship encourages students at a New Jersey high school to submit short videos demonstrating some of the positive messages and impacts of hip hop. Read more about it here.
The way the world sees hip hop, and even more so, rappers, is starting to change. The 80s saw black power rappers, the 90s the gangster rappers, the 2000s the big money rappers – perhaps today, we will see the ‘giving back to the community’ rappers.
Yesterday, Wu-Tang Clan legend RZA was honoured by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA, at a gala celebrating the organisation’s 35th year. The multi-talented producer, rapper and film director joined a celebrity filled event to celebrate the continuing work of PETA to protect animal rights and raise awareness of animal cruelty. Hosted by Pamela Anderson and Angelica Huston the gala featured performances by Sir Paul Mcartney and Beck.
The rapper joined a slew of other honourees including Alicia Silverstone, Bill Maher, Jason Biggs, Fred Willard, Tommy Lee and more. Only a worthy cause could unite such a strange collection of celebrities, and seeing Alicia Silverstone and Jason Biggs on the same list ignites a passion for 90’s teen movies in my heart that I previously did not know existed. And I’m resisting the urge to make a People for the Ethical Treatment of Pie’s joke that surely would have been next-level terrible.
But for those that didn’t know, RZA is a vegan and has campaigned for PETA before, stating that “I don’t need a dead animal or a dead piece of flesh to go into my body.” The rapper also appeared in a video campaign for PETA in 2014:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41GnporY7gE]
While it’s easy to be cynical about celebrities campaigning for charities, it’s always nice to see the passionate human side of artists standing up for something they believe in.