The entire Wu-Tang Clan all nineliving members and one ceremonial Ol Dirty Bastard T-shirt appeared on The Daily ShowWednesday night toperform new song Ron ONeal and talkwith Jon Stewart about reuniting the groupfor their new album, A Better Tomorrow.
Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, GZAand an especially hype, mic-stand chucking RZA all grabbed the mic on Ron ONeal, but of course the rest of the group was on hand to keep the camaraderie alive. Along with the TV debut of Ron ONeal, the track is now available to download on iTunes.
Of course the big question surrounding the Wu-Tang reunion for A Better Tomorrow was the presence of Raekwon, who went on strike from the group after hitting a creative impasse with RZA. (Im not happy with the direction of the music and Im not happy with how dudes is treating dudes business, he told Rolling Stonein April. If it dont feel right, I cant be fake.) But the Chef himself addressed the holdout and eventual reconciliation.
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We trailblazers in the music business, we been around the world, we doing our job. I consider this a sport, Raekwon said. I think its important as an athlete of music to make sure that youve got your business together, make sure you feel happy in whatever you want todo. You just want to feel good about it and at the end of the day youve gotta have your is dotted and your ts crossed in business, because we have families. We go out there and work for our families, so if Im not gonna see my children and Im out here doing a job, I think its important for me to go out there and do what I say Im going todo, get back home to them and then hit up Disneyland.
Elsewhere, the illustrious, sometimes elusive Ghostface Killah spoke about dropping everything when the Wu-Tang call comes and even making sacrifices here and there: This is my life right here, me and Abbott [RZA], this is my brotherhood, so weve been tight since day one. Soon as he said, We coming back to do A Better Tomorrow, Im always with it. Im the one that likes for everything to be right, you know, from the stage show to the wardrobes and everything and everybody be on point. If one thing is off, it throws me off. But for the team Ill take one for the team. And Ill continue. I dont got a problem with that.
As for the new record itself, RZA spoke about what the LP means as a whole, and what it meansfor the group as an entity, saying, I think we all started for a better tomorrow. Wu-Tang, we have something in common with each other a brotherhood, a respect. And when we said a better tomorrow, were starting to make a better tomorrow for ourselves, but also to inspire a better tomorrow for the world.
Wu-Tang Clan also closedout the show with a performance of theirlegendary posse cut, Triumph,and Stewarts extended interview with the groupis also available to watch online.
A Better Tomorrow is scheduled to see releasein November, though an official date has yet to be announced. The group is also prepping a ridiculous secret album, The Wu Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a 31-track effort of which theyll only sell a single copy (RZA claims to havealready gotten offers of $5 millionfor the lone pressing). Of course, since Wu-Tang is for the children, the group will bring the album to the masses through a tour of the worlds museums, galleries and festivals. The album also features twoout-of-nowhere vocal spots from Cher.
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