RZA Brushes Off U-God’s Criticism: ‘I Could Never Be a Control Freak’
For the past couple of weeks, U-God has been making the rounds promoting his new memoir, RAW: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang, and album, Venom.
Of course, his comments made about RZA in his memoir have come up during interviews, as U-God accuses RZA of being a "control freak" and mismanaging Wu-Tang's money. In 2016 U-God sued Wu-Tang Clan for $2.5 million, claiming he hadn't received a royalty payment since 2010.
"Right now, it just looks like the Wu brothers are not on the same page, going at each other’s throats, missing shows, and all that," U-God writes in the memoir. "But, to me, it’s really years of BS catching up to RZA. See, he put his family in charge of shit, and for years, we would go on the road but the money came up short."
Now, RZA has responded to the accusations in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying he believes he has managed Wu-Tang responsibly. RZA also said that he's not sure if U-God's memoir should really be considered nonfiction.
"Look, every man has a right to write a book," he said. "Some books are fiction and some books are nonfiction. Some are myths, some are fantasy, some are sci-fi – I don't know if this book falls totally in nonfiction."
He went on to challenge the idea that he's a control freak.
"I could never be a control freak," RZA said. "If Wu-Tang is a dictatorship, how does every Wu-Tang member have their own contract, their own career and have put out more albums without me than they've done with me? Secondly, if I'm the problem for anybody's growth and development in music, then why [is it that] after 18 years after everybody got released from the Wu-Tang Productions contract in 2000, your growth has not shown through your own talent then if that's the problem?"
But for the most part, RZA's response was pretty zen. He says he's glad to see that U-God is looking happy and healthy and that he still has love for him.
"More than anything, I'm happy because I've watched a couple of U-God's interviews and he seems engaged and happy and satisfied, and that's what an artist needs," he said. "He's always been a good artist. In his book, he writes that he was looked down upon. I think he don't really realize how much people love him and I think this particular book tour and promotion, he's realizing, 'Wait a minute, motherfuckers know me and love me.' I think he's learning something we all know. He's an important piece to this Wu puzzle, and I've got nothing but love for him, personally."
The 25 Greatest Rap Albums of 1991