The GZA is one Wu-Tang member who has chosen to stay out of all the Hollywood roles, high-profile court battles and newspaper headlines; his focus has always been on the music.  At the video shoot for his new single ‘Knock, Knock,’ there were more Wu-Tang members present than there have been at many of the group’s live performances. GZA rushed around during his directorial debut, giving instructions to assistants and other video staff. The RZA strolled around with a handle of liquor swaying from his hand, stopping to inspect a video prop – a silver tray topped with a mound of Dutch Masters.  He expressed his disappointment that they weren’t already stuffed with green: “Too bad these aren’t filled,” he said, “we’d all be like cousins up in here.” By the time that Ghostface, Masta Killa, and a red-eyed Method Man showed up, the place was a zoo of press and video . The Wu members just nudged their way through the swarm of shouting press agents, exhausted dancers, and cameramen to find each other.  Amidst all of the mayhem, GZA took a few moments aside to sit down with Mugshot.

Dan Redding:You were talking earlier about taking an element from a song and bringing that into the video.  How do you look at taking that element into the directing process?

GZA: Well, its basically a party song, as far as the vibe of it.  Lyrically, it’s just, uh, lyrically sharp.  There’s not really a overall concept, or story about this, we just having fun, but there’s some little things in there that’s interesting with the way we shoot the video and put it together.  I can’t really explain that… you’ll just have to see it.

DR: We were talking earlier about when you were coming into the game and being hungry to rhyme and hungry to get yourself heard.  Now that things have changed so much, do you think differently when you go to formulate a verse?

GZA:  I’m not as hungry now, but I still need to eat.  Like I said, back then, I would write all the time, I would write everyday.  Now, I usually work when I’m under pressure.  Which is always not a good thing, so, you know, if there’s artists out there who want advice, they can take that advice: just work hard. 

DR:  You’ve said before that people don’t listen to lyrics anymore, they listen to beats.  Do you see anything coming to change that?

GZA:  It can be different things, people that’s trying to be more conscious about things, more focused.  It can be Congress or something trying to pass a bill, or some law.  Like back in the nineties when Dolores C. Tucker and all these people were going after rap.  It kinda changed, its different now.  All the hard thug gangsta stuff is really still underground, its not really gettin’ on.  But it was out there, it was mainstream at one time, you know, with N.W.A and certain groups like that.  Now, its not even out there, it changed, but I think that had a lot to do with C. Tucker and certain people comin’ after artists about their lyrics.  Labels start getting’ scared and nervous and don’t wanna sign certain acts… even without really understanding the nature of the music, or just the vibe of it.  Cuz hip hop sounds rough, you know?  I don’t really have profanity on any of my albums but they still sound hard, and rough, like there’s profanity all over it, because of the aura of it.  Sometimes people don’t understand and they just, you know, wanna judge certain books by the cover, you know, not what’s in it.  So that might be one thing that’s changed it back around, in a good way, as far as bein’ lyrical again.

DR:  What’s the biggest difference in your life from now as compared to fifteen years ago?

GZA:  There’s not that much of a difference at all.  I’m still the same person, you know?  Fifteen years ago, I was…damn, fifteen years ago… I was still under my mom’s roof, you know?  Well, not quite, I don’t wanna reveal my age(laughter).  But, I’m still pretty much the same.  The only difference is hip hop itself, from where it was then, to where it is now.  You know, as far as movies, and media, and the money that’s involved, and soundtracks, motion pictures, artists own all these big clothing companies.  All of that is a big difference.  As far as myself, I’m still the same.  I’m just older.

Amber Fosse:  You were using N.W.A. as an example of people that had a political message in their music, which was definitely prevalent in the early nineties.  Why do you think it is now that there’s so much going on in the world - we’re about to enter a war - and yet music doesn’t seem to be reverting to having a political message like it typically has in the past?

GZA:  Let me put it like this.  Its just as political today as it was then, when Public Enemy was doin’ they thing, but for most people it was like a phase that they was going through.  Not them in general, cuz you know, they was deliverin’ the message, but… sometimes you can be too cultural.  Sometimes you can be too preachy.  Music is entertaining, also.  Its always meant to teach and educate, but when you try to be too, too strict, its not fun anymore.  But at that time, it was a stage that people were going through in hip hop and that’s why it seem like, you know, everyone was conscious, and everyone was aware and all that.  Nah, its just that that was a group who was poppin’ it off-

AF:  Yeah, but you had Public Enemy, I mean, Chuck D still to this day is political…

GZA:  I’m political, but I don’t come off like him.  But I say just as much meaningful stuff.  It may not be direct, but…if you read in between the lines, you still getting’ the same message.  You still getting the same message from RZA that Chuck D delivers so its really not different.  Its just that we not out there with the red, black and green, we not out there like that…look at Rakim for instance.  He said so much deep stuff.  Maybe a whole lot deeper than Public Enemy even laid down.  You know?  But, too many people couldn’t catch it…  The message is still out there, its just bein’ delivered in different ways.  The same amount of people that were lost then are still lost now.  Depending on how you make that song, and it attracts people, it blows up.  But maybe if (Public Enemy) was an underground group that didn’t have the push they had then no one probably would’ve heard it, but it still woulda been that same strong message.  But they were on Def Jam and they got all that exposure, so, they probably had a million fans that didn’t know nothing about what they was talking about and just liked (Chuck D’s) deep voice, or his vibe, you know?

DR:  Yeah.  A lot of what you’re saying goes back to not having to use the curse word in order to get the point across.  It’s not the same time and place as when Rakim was out, as when he did make impact.  Now when he drops an album, people look to him as one of the greats, but that album is not going to have the same ripple effect on the culture.

GZA: Right.  Because at that time, people were listening more to lyrics.  Even in the sense of Chuck D and them, people did listen to lyrics more, it was more about the lyrics at the time.  When Rakim and G Rap were out, it was strictly about the lyrics and the beats were more simple.  Now, its all about the beat, so, more than likely if you drop a album, its gonna take awhile for people to get into it.  That’s why it has to be delivered in a certain way, and a unique way.  Its like, you might not like vegetables because they taste nasty, so you gotta know how to hook it up so people can eat ‘em.

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