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In recent times RZA has extended the Wu Tang work ethic into the world of film. Apart from providing the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s Ghostdog he appears in person, along with GZA and Bill Murray, in Jarmusch’s Cigarettes & Coffee. Joining forces with Quentin Tarantino to construct the soundtracks for Kill Bill Vol I & II undoubtedly propelled RZA to a next level and he further intends to bridge the gap between hip hop and Hollywood, by penning an original kung-fu screenplay, which he hopes to direct and film next year. Also, following the tasters on the web, there’s a serious buzz about RZA’s soundtrack for the forthcoming, Afro Samurai anime, featuring the voice of Samuel L. Jackson.
RZA maintains a hectic coast to coast schedule and it took a tenacious CK Smart to track the man down. RZA was fresh from the studio with Method Man – our man on the West Coast sits up for a download.
How did you meet Jim Jarmusch?
A friend of mine introduced me to him. I think he met Jim at the herbalist spot. That was maybe in 1997. So my friend says, ‘I have this guy I want you to meet. He’s a movie director and he wants you to score one of his movies.’
So we met first and he gave me some of his films. And I hadn’t heard of him. And there was one film, Dead Man with, ah, ah, Johnny Depp. And then I saw Down By Law, and I felt cool with him. Benigni is bugged out and the contracts with the black and white are nice.”
Jim Jarmusch is still a Hollywood outsider but one with a hip worldwide reputation as a film maker... what were your first impressions of the man?
Jim is a unique individual. His appearance alone is unique. You know, with the white hair all sticking out! And I kinda had my hair all nappy up too, you know, so it was like some kinda scientist look with me and Jim.
How did you approach building the soundtrack for Ghost Dog?
Jim gave me total freedom to make beats, to make hip-hop beats to match the vibe of his film. Total freedom. The process started when we met up with Forrest Whittaker and Jim and me and we just kicked it and started discussing the mood, some scenes, what the vision was. But my approach wasn’t too different than with Wu-Tang or Bobby Digital. I was able to express a few more things because hip-hop is always just two bars. So I was able to play with more bars... more tools. Jim wanted hip hop beats, but more obscure, more hollow. Not overly produced or over composed, shall we say. Some times we would stretch out the strings. I tried to bring that hollow feel to it.
Was it the first film soundtrack you’d done?
Yes, it was the first thing I’ve done. I did the soundtrack and scored the film. I enjoyed the soundtrack a lot, yo, and because the soundtrack doesn’t have a lot of Wu-Tang members on it, it shows just the different angles that I used to approach beats.
Are there rules to creating a soundtrack or did you create your own?
I kind of like added my own to soundtracks that people like Isaac Hayes or James Brown, or like Curtis Mayfield or someone like Bill Conti would make… to a degree.
Were you aware that beat headz across the globe were desperate to get the Japanese double CD of the Ghost dog soundtrack with your beatz on it?
Yeah, I’ve heard that. Some people were telling me that, but the Japanese release pressed up about 36,000, so I don’t know if it’s that rare.
I’ve also seen a vinyl of the CD with the pure beats... is it a bootleg?
Yeah, I have a copy of that. I didn’t authorise it! (Laughs hysterically) But that’s OK. There was actually a vinyl release by Sony then there was another release on JVC through the movie company and shit and that came out in Japan. So it’s pretty strange how they came up with a few different packages, but for me, it like it’s all good yo.
Was it as a result of Ghost Dog that you got to work with Quentin Tarantino?
Well, I don’t know if Quentin was a Ghost Dog fan, but he was definitely a Wu-Tang fan. We met at a kung fu movie promotion and we just hit it off talking about Kung Fu flicks and when I would come to LA, my assistant would be talking to his assistant and we would go see kung fu movies together. Quentin has a movie theatre in his crib. Yeah, for real, and we would just hang out and watch these movies together. And yo, Quentin is like my cousin man. He is very similar to me. You wouldn’t think it, but he is a real cool, fun dude, a real free spirit. And he would remind me how ODB used to be. Just be yourself.
I mean, I had seen his movies. With Quentin, I was already a fan. Oh, yeah. His movies are off the hook; they’re crazy, really super intense.
What was your first feeling when you read the script for Kill Bill?
We’ll it’s funny cause he gave me the script in L.A. and I was going on tour with Wu-Tang. It was a huge US tour and I’m reading the script in the tour bus and I had to call back and I said, ‘Yo, yo, this is off the hook.’ Cause he wrote in the sound effects, of the heads squashing like watermelons and all that. And that’s how detailed the script was. It was 203 pages.
Tell us about how you created the soundtrack for Kill Bill? For example, rhythm is the foundation of hip hop, how important is that driving a scene in a film forward? Or is it all a more abstract process?
I think it’s more abstract in film. It depends on what the director is looking for. It’s his vision. Everything else I’ve done, like Dobby Digital or Wu-Tang, the beats were all my vision, what I felt it needed. So whether you score music or source it, whether you use kinds of orchestration or low level percussion, it definitely has to move. That’s one thing about film. The music has to move. It has to have movement. I remember several times when he’d come into the editing room and say, ‘That sounds good, but the music needs more movement.’ Because that’s how his scenes drive. They drive on and up and the music helps take it there. Whereas in Ghost Dog, the music doesn’t move, at all. You’re stuck there with it and you’re sitting there thinking about what Ghost Dog is fucking thinking about. So it’s a very different process and technique.
Read the full article in the September 2006 issue of Straight No Chaser |
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Words: CK Smart
Pictures: Mitchy Bwoy |
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