Iconic producer and Wu-Tang founding member RZA joined legendary producer Rick Rubin for the latest episode of the Broken Record, an interview podcast series which has featured guest such as Tame Impala, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Tyler The Creator and Eminem.
On this new episode the two music icons discuss a wide range of topics including their current creative process and how they’ve used music to escape the isolation of quarantine, with RZA excitingly revealing he’s made more music than ever. RZA tells listeners typically he would spend a year or more to build a solid body of work, however in the past three months he’s finished almost 15 new tracks.
Further in the show RZA also discusses his relationship with drugs and how it has influenced his ability to create, telling Rubin contrary to popular opinion, his creativity energy changed after getting clean making his best work. He reveals he first experienced sober creativity while he was on trial in the early 90s for an attempted murder charge – which he was later aquitted from.
RZA also talks about how his best work came when he was free from the pressures of chasing money, stories about his experience filming in China and the history and inspirations of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) as well as what’s happening with the second season of Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
While the episode was recorded prior to this week, they also touch on relevant issues of the moment, acknowledging hip-hop’s diversity, talking about Rick Rubin’s experience being the only white man in the room and the production on LL Cool J’s 1985 hit “Rock the Bells.” They also discuss the influences of asian sonics on hip-hop and the movies which inspired the creation of Wu-Tang Clan.
Take a listen to the new episode of Rick Rubin’s Broken Record Podcast and sit back with some more episodes including Andre 3000, Black Keys and recent episodes with Jason Isbell, Nick Lowe and Tame Impala.
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Images Courtesy of RZA and Broken Record podcast