The RZA Steps Fully Into His Role As Creative Sage And Wisdom Holder

There are moments you imagine for yourself as a teenager. Wild visions of success and wealth and coolness. Being smack in the middle some ultra-vivid “scene.” The sort of experiences that famous people seem to always have and the rest of us almost never do.

Moments like hanging out in the basement of a Staten Island mansion, watching The RZA, founder and architect of the Wu-Tang Clan, walk into the room with his crew. Seeing him dressed in a black leather jacket and boots, black jeans, and a black cap — no jewelry, no splashes of color. One part rockstar; one part austere Daoist.

Having him come over, dap you up with a “bong bong,” and ask how your vegan pizza tastes before drifting over to an Alesis Sample Pad in the corner. Bobbing your head as The Scientist starts tapping out a beat — something he can charge a whole hell of a lot of money for but is doing right now just for fun. Reminding yourself to stay in the moment and not text your fellow ’90s hip-hop nerds ’til later.

That all sounds equal parts incredible and unlikely, right? Hanging with The Abbot himself in the underbelly of a partially-restored mansion — once owned by a sea captain, now occupied by a collective of performing artists — discussing cashew cheese with Young Dirty Bastard (ODB’s son). But that’s precisely the situation I found myself in two weeks before the quarantine started.

And the most surreal part was still just percolating.

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