RZA has claimed the Wu-Tang Clan “pioneered” Hip Hop TV shows thanks to the success of Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
Bobby Digital made the comments in an interview with Consequence on Wednesday (April 5), and said that while N.W.A. innovated the Hip Hop biopic with Straight Outta Compton in 2015, the Wu pushed Hip Hop TV shows into the mainstream.
“[Wu Tang: An American Saga] is what Wu-Tang really represents, which is always moving something forward. This is why you see 30 hours of TV from us, instead of two hours of a movie,” RZA said.
“We got a great movie from N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton. That was a beautiful movie. They pioneered the hip-hop biopic, and we got to thank them for that, but we pioneered the Hip Hop series, a new chapter — the same way, when Wu-Tang came in 1993 into the industry, we pioneered a new wave, a new sound, and a new part of the culture that was unseen.”
Elsewhere in the interview, RZA spoke about the trials and tribulations that came with getting the entire Wu-Tang Clan on board with his instrumental-based production, which was covered in the season finale of the Hulu series.
“It’s kind of like seeing is believing,” RZA said. “When there’s something you don’t know or something you haven’t experienced, sometimes you’re scared to dive in. Sometimes you need somebody else to dive in first. That’s how Columbus was able to get to America.”
He continued: “People thought he was gonna fall off the world, it was flat. He’s going to fall off, but somebody had to keep pushing through. Then once he pushed through, then you could get Henry Hudson and the rest of the boys to come hang out.”
The show’s final episode, “Triumph,” premieres on Hulu on Wednesday (April 5). In an exclusive clip obtained by HipHopDX, the friction between RZA and Raekwon can be seen coming to a boiling point.
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“Where’s the Hip Hop? Come on, son. Why you changing our shit up, man?” Rae (played by Shameik Moore) asks RZA (Ashton Sanders) while on their biggest tour to date at the time. “How is this gonna get us the No. 1?
“We should stick to our brand and make it even bigger, even grittier, you know what I mean? Like some real movie shit. You went to L.A. and came back on this Hollywood shit.”
The Abbott replies: “I hear you. Let me ask you, though: what does the Wu in Wu-Tang stand for? Witty, Unpredictable. I’m always moving forward… An evolution. We do this right and this tree planted will stand for 100 years.”
Wu-Tang: An American Saga debuted in September 2019, followed by Season 2 in September 2021. The acclaimed series has won a pair of Golden Reel Awards, while RZA notched a nomination for a Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music category.