August 26, 2024
RZA Pens Ballet Album From Rediscovered Lyrics He Wrote As A Teenager To Show His ‘Natural Creative Evolution’
Rza is pushing his passion for music beyond hip-hop into the classical music genre.
RZA is expressing his “natural creative evolution” as an artist through a new symphonic ballet score he produced using lyrics he wrote as a teenager.
The renowned Wu-Tang founding member, rapper, and producer has pushed his passion for music even further by creating his first ballet score, “A Ballet Through Mud.” Formed from the lyrics in years-old notebooks he wrote from age 14 to 18, the album tells RZA’s coming-of-age story in his hometown of Staten Island, New York.
“I started reading through these lyrics, and I’m recalling all the young love and the young exploration. The first time you had a drink or smoke,” he tells Sky News. “All this is written in my lyrics, like a lyrical diary… at first, I thought I should rap it, right? Because I’m known as a rapper. But then I said, no, I should write music to it.”
While sitting at his piano, RZA, real name Robert Diggs, started crafting his classical debut. He took the finished product and first performed the music in 2023 with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and dancers from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre School. What resulted was a standing ovation, and now Rza has released his first full-length classical album.
“I think I’ve definitely been a guy that’s pushing the boundaries and trying to surprise people,” RZA says. “Definitely, you know, people would call it leftfield for me. But it’s not, it’s right in my alley.”
He hopes his transition to classical music will inspire young children to learn instruments and feel “it’s cool to grab that violin or oboe.”
“It’s a certain type of brain stimulation that comes from this type of music creation. Hip-hop and rock music, or, say, today’s music, has been able to be created on a computer, and that’s great. That’s the power of an orchestra in your hand,” Rza says, crediting instrument playing for being “more elaborate, more communicative — not cookie-cutter.”
As for his plans within the classical music genre, Rza says it’s only the beginning.
“I’m not going to stop here. I’ve already started writing something for the future that I’m also fascinated with,” he revealed.