Wu-Tang Manual: RZA as Bobby Digital

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (0)

THE RZA IS a difficult man to get a hold of.

The leader of Wu-Tang Clan, reigning champion of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation and up-and-coming Hollywood actor had just released his third Bobby Digital album on the day of our scheduled interview. But all the early-morning radio call-ins have apparently left him too wiped out for any more chats.

Bobby Digital is the alter ego RZA created 10 years ago and a name under which he frequently releases solo work. His latest Bobby Digital album, "Digi Snacks," features an impressive collection of tunes as well as guest artists: David Banner, John Frusciante and System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian all contributed to the recording.

"Digi Snacks" takes the Wu-Tang manual and turns it on its head. It is a hip-hop album, no doubt, but it's one that dabbles in different genres, instruments and melodies. Southern rap, jazz horns, insightful lyrics, trip-hop and ragtime piano all make an appearance, and the result is an engaging CD that stands in stark difference to most hip-hop, even earlier Bobby Digital records.

The day after our initial appointment, RZA — nee Robert Diggs — rose from his slumber for a chat about the similarities between Bobby Digital and Batman, why Wu-Tang is for life and how he discovered Thea, one of the guest vocalists on "Digi Snacks."

» EXPRESS: How was writing "Digi Snacks" different from writing material for Wu-Tang or another solo album?
» RZA: First of all, I like the freedom. I commit to the character; I know that the character has a reputation for doing certain things and saying certain things, so I can perform certain lyrics that I wouldn't normally perform on a Wu-Tang album. [Wu-Tang is] one style of lyrics, this is another style of lyrics. Also, musically, I don't have to compete with pleasing a lot of people — I can just go with my own vibes and experiment more. There's a song on the album called "No Regrets" [a slow, rhythmic, spoken-word piece] that you would never have heard on a Wu-Tang album because as a group we don't use that style.

» EXPRESS: Over the past 10 years, have you changed how the character approaches certain situations or how he behaves?
» RZA: Yeah, I think so. Before, the character seemed more like an alter ego of myself — a way to get out certain energies and express certain things without being held responsible for them. Now, the character has taken on an identity of himself.

» EXPRESS: I read that when Bobby Digital began, it was kind of a hedonistic character. Do you think that he still has that same approach to the vices in life?
» RZA: [laughs] No, I think it's more about balance. Songs like "Love Is Digi" is really hedonistic and on songs like "Good Night," he's being hedonistic, but doing it in a poetic way. "Don't Be Afraid to Call My Name" is kind of hedonistic — he's trying to be a superhero, but still be a little mischievous, know what I mean? [laughs] But there are a lot of songs on the album that aren't like that, that have more of an uplifting spirit. Some of it's braggadocios, it's being very confident, and the character is confident in himself as I am confident in myself. The song that's the first single, called "You Can't Stop Me Now," that's how the character feels and that's how I personally feel as an entertainer and producer. I feel like my talent is getting better and I can't be stopped. No obstacle is going to stop me right now.

» EXPRESS: So, it's a character, but you're kind of speaking for yourself, too.
» RZA: In a way; you always got to put yourself into a character. You learn that from Hollywood actors when you do a movie — you gotta find something in yourself that you can put into the character to make that character believable to the audience.

» EXPRESS: Do you see acting as another form of creative expression?
» RZA: It's definitely another form of creative release. It's actually a more challenging form at this level because I've been doing music for so long that I have a music reflex. I don't have a thespian reflex yet — that's something I'm trying and studying to get. Acting is definitely a different challenge, but it's definitely a great artistic expression, as well. There's nothing like when the director says "Action" and then you have to be somebody that ain't you. ... You gotta make those words sound believable and you've got to make that character seem like he exists. It's a different kind of expression and I enjoy it.

» EXPRESS: When you're writing a Bobby Digital album, do you feel the same need to persuade people that he is real?
» RZA: In the past I did, but now I want them to love the character as the character and not because I'm playing the character. By that I mean that in America we have different Batman movies — in one we have Michael Keaton playing Batman, and then George Clooney [RZA goes on to name numerous other Batman actors], but Batman is still Batman. You go to the movie, you want to see Batman. You don't care who the actor is. I'd like to see the Bobby Digital character set up like that. You may have you favorite guys who did it, but whatever one, it's still Batman.

» EXPRESS: So you would like other artists to have their own Bobby Digital albums?
» RZA: [laughs] I don't know. Maybe if somebody can bring that out or add on to the world. I was thinking more in a comic/live-action thing. But I wouldn't mind [an album], though, to be honest with you. I wouldn't mind somebody picked it up and went for it.

» EXPRESS: How important are samples for Bobby Digital and the album?
» RZA: They're not that important. I don't need to have samples, just a lot of good vibes. I always talk about using my digital orchestra and not sampling too much, and using the more "composer" style of production. There are samples, of course, to give you that classic Wu-Tang feeling. You gotta put that in there because I love that sound, but a lot of [the album] is not sampled.

» EXPRESS: The vocalist Thea is featured on a couple tracks and her voice is such a unique addition to the sound and feel of the album. How do you know her?
» RZA: Oh man, Thea is crazy. She's a walk-up — she was walking by my studio one day in California and one of my homeboys tried to go up and talk to her. You know, that's what guys do when they see girls [laughs]. They started talking and he found out she's a singer and he says, "Oh, my cousin makes music. He's the RZA. His studio is right down the block." I ignored her for a little while 'cause I was busy doing something, and then toward the end of the night, I was like, "OK, let's see what you got, mama." She went in there and started blowing and I said, "You sound like samples." [laughs] A couple months later, I was working on the song "Baby Boy" for the movie "Unleashed" and I asked her to sing for me and she sang it. It made the movie soundtrack and we've been working together since.

» EXPRESS: Do you find it difficult to focus on so many different projects at once, between acting and film scoring and chess and, of course, music?
» RZA: No, I don't find that too difficult because I approach things differently. I'm able to adapt to the situation and respond accordingly, so if I'm doing Bobby Digital, I'm thinking more sci-fi, but if I'm doing [TV series] "Afro Samurai," I'm thinking more realistic — my lyrics are more realistic and my music is more aggressive in a warrior way.

» EXPRESS: Given that Wu-Tang Clan is such a cultural icon, when you're doing all this other stuff — acting or movie soundtracks, for example — does being a part of Wu-Tang ever leave you, or is it something you always carry with you?
» RZA: [Pauses] I think it's something I carry with me all the time. One example is I don't believe in tattoos — you don't see me with a lot of tattoos on my body. I have one tattoo and that's a Wu-Tang tattoo and that means I'm branded with that. If you see me in a movie and I take my shirt off, you're going to see a Wu-Tang tattoo. Some people aren't going to know what that is, but it's forever.

» 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW; Tue., 7 p.m., $25; 202-265-0930. (U St.-Cardozo)

Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis