Rae was candid about grievances with Rza including creative differences and money mismanagement - where he went as far as saying that Rza was "robbing" him and other members of the Wu.
Wu-Tang Clan leader, The Rza, recently address fellow Wu-Tang member Raekwon's allegations that the group was unhappy with the sound of the new album and that the RZA took more than his share of the group's money.
Rza finally responded in an interview on Tim Westwood's BBC radio show, stating that the whole matter has since been straightened out. Yet he wanted to make one thing clear:
"I ain't never, ever take no money from nobody and I don't owe nobody no money," Rza emphatically told Westwood. "Don't ever say that. I pay all my bills. I work hard and pay all my bills."
Aside from that, it's apparently all love.
"It was a disagreement, but really everything is back [to] peace already, so it's really nothing to say no more," Rza said.
When asked how their discrepancy started, Rza said it all boiled down to their differences in opinion on the album's musical direction.
"Raekwon made a statement on Miss Info where he thought we took the music too worldly rather than keeping it right in the hood," Rza continued. "But Wu-Tang belongs to the world. We don't just belong to our neighborhood or just to the ghetto parts of life ... we belong to everybody. So when you get a 8 Diagrams album, it's approaching everybody."
"Raekwon wanted an album with just punch-you-in-your-face music," he added. "But as you grow into a man you start respecting other men's positions and your music starts reflecting that. This album is an album that reaches out to many people."
Rae told Info that he was so upset with the direction of 8 Diagrams that he threatened to come out with his own album, Wu-Tang vs. Shaolin, shortly after the group project drops. Rza said he has no problem with that.
"Raekwon's made many albums over the years. We all dropped a lot of albums without Rza and with Rza," he said. "But I'mma tell you something, I'm a master producer, homie. It's very hard to compete or just master the craft that I developed."
Echoing Rae's statements, Rza said he told the group to just "trust me" with his vision for the album.
"I don't just make a record for no quick McDonalds burger. No homie, this is nutritious right here," he said. "When you hear my music now, you're hearing renditions of Beatles songs, you're hearing sounds you never heard before, really. You gotta accept the new. Sometimes with new things it's like, you need to taste it once, taste it twice and on the third time, that's when it gets nice."
8 Diagrams hits shelves on December 11. The group moved its release date so as to not compete with member Ghostface's new solo project, The Big Doe Rehab, which drops a week earlier.
In related news, despite the group's differences the Wu will be embarking on a winter tour next month. Check the states and dates below.
12-15 Chicago, IL - Metro
12-16 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
12-20 Denver, CO - Fillmore
12-23 Hollywood, CA - House of Blues Sunset Strip
12-30 Seattle, WA - Showbox
01-03 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
01-10 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
01-12 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
01-18 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
01-25 Miami Beach, FL - Jackie Gleason Theater
01-26 St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
Wu-Tang Clan leader, The Rza, recently address fellow Wu-Tang member Raekwon's allegations that the group was unhappy with the sound of the new album and that the RZA took more than his share of the group's money.
Rza finally responded in an interview on Tim Westwood's BBC radio show, stating that the whole matter has since been straightened out. Yet he wanted to make one thing clear:
"I ain't never, ever take no money from nobody and I don't owe nobody no money," Rza emphatically told Westwood. "Don't ever say that. I pay all my bills. I work hard and pay all my bills."
Aside from that, it's apparently all love.
"It was a disagreement, but really everything is back [to] peace already, so it's really nothing to say no more," Rza said.
When asked how their discrepancy started, Rza said it all boiled down to their differences in opinion on the album's musical direction.
"Raekwon made a statement on Miss Info where he thought we took the music too worldly rather than keeping it right in the hood," Rza continued. "But Wu-Tang belongs to the world. We don't just belong to our neighborhood or just to the ghetto parts of life ... we belong to everybody. So when you get a 8 Diagrams album, it's approaching everybody."
"Raekwon wanted an album with just punch-you-in-your-face music," he added. "But as you grow into a man you start respecting other men's positions and your music starts reflecting that. This album is an album that reaches out to many people."
Rae told Info that he was so upset with the direction of 8 Diagrams that he threatened to come out with his own album, Wu-Tang vs. Shaolin, shortly after the group project drops. Rza said he has no problem with that.
"Raekwon's made many albums over the years. We all dropped a lot of albums without Rza and with Rza," he said. "But I'mma tell you something, I'm a master producer, homie. It's very hard to compete or just master the craft that I developed."
Echoing Rae's statements, Rza said he told the group to just "trust me" with his vision for the album.
"I don't just make a record for no quick McDonalds burger. No homie, this is nutritious right here," he said. "When you hear my music now, you're hearing renditions of Beatles songs, you're hearing sounds you never heard before, really. You gotta accept the new. Sometimes with new things it's like, you need to taste it once, taste it twice and on the third time, that's when it gets nice."
8 Diagrams hits shelves on December 11. The group moved its release date so as to not compete with member Ghostface's new solo project, The Big Doe Rehab, which drops a week earlier.
In related news, despite the group's differences the Wu will be embarking on a winter tour next month. Check the states and dates below.
12-15 Chicago, IL - Metro
12-16 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
12-20 Denver, CO - Fillmore
12-23 Hollywood, CA - House of Blues Sunset Strip
12-30 Seattle, WA - Showbox
01-03 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
01-10 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
01-12 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
01-18 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
01-25 Miami Beach, FL - Jackie Gleason Theater
01-26 St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
