People who kept an eye on Ghost his track record are likely to be aware of his fascination for money. He always wants to get paid first. And that was one of the main problem with the clan coming bakc together. Ghst was heavily touring also. Yes, he had to bring food to the table. But now again he has brought it out in the open. Like U-God and cappa before him. Is it coincidence an album is being released? Big clash coming up. Ghost, the Clan, Shyheim(if he is still dropping on the 4th), Styles P, Saigon & Busta Rhymes all dropping on the same day.
It’s no secret that I am a die-hard Wu Tang Clan fan. I’ve championed Ghost and Rza and Rae and Genius and Meth for not just their music but also, the fact that they bring character to the game that’s rare-to-non-existent nowadays. So nobody cling more to the possibility of a true Wu reunion or a purple tape 2 like me.
That said…
Last week Ghostface reached out. There will be some shocking statements on the state of the Wu this week. Make sure you check my boys over at MTV News tomorrow for their legendary Mixtape Monday Report. Ghostface makes a serious allegation about some Wu finances. (click here on Monday to read Shaheem, Rahman and Jayson’s scoop.)
And in a related dispute, if the Dec. 4th release date for both the new Wu-Tang album, “8 Diagrams,†and the new Ghost album, “Big Dough Rehab,†seemed a bit strange, your gut instinct was right. Ghost calls it “sabotage†and charges “Wu Tang the brand.†When I asked him specifically, what constitutes “the brand†he wanted to make sure I understood that he didn’t mean the other group members. He named only Rza, Divine, and Loud.
sigh.
I will bring you more of Ghost and Rae’s very heartfelt words. But I also want to reach out to Rza for a reaction. I know lots of fans hope for the best, but each man is entitled to his say.
UPDATE: here is an excerpt from the Mixtape Monday item by Jayson R.
“I had December 4 for the longest,†he explained. “But the Wu album, brothers was kinda late on doing whatever they were doing and pushed it back … on my date. You can put this in there, I’m not [mad at] all the members. It’s not based on the members, but the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan is on some bullsh–. They trying to f— around and make me push my album back and doing all this. But n—as ain’t f—ing around or give us money when we did them Wu-Tang tours. The first one, they paid us after a while, but this last one, n—as is holding onto a lot of money. And [they’re] upset based on that. It’s a battle right now…
As far as Ghost’s participation on The 8 Diagrams, though, so far he’s only jumped on a handful of tracks.
“I got on some of them,†he said. “A few of them. … N—as better pay my f—ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money — just get me out of their life right now.“
Complete Mixtape Monday:
You’d think all would be well in the land of the Wu-Tang Clan right now. The Shaolin set finally settled on a date for their long-delayed The 8 Diagrams comeback. But if you ask Ghostface Killah, things actually aren’t that sweet with the Wu. Ghost is fuming that the group’s album is set to drop on the same date as his next solo album, The Big Dough Rehab. According to him, he had that date already secured, but setbacks with the Wu project planted The 8 Diagrams on the same day. And now he’s not budging, he said. At all.
“I had December 4 for the longest,” he explained. “But the Wu album, brothers was kinda late on doing whatever they were doing and pushed it back … on my date. You can put this in there, I’m not [mad at] all the members. It’s not based on the members, but the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan is on some bullsh–. They trying to f— around and make me push my album back and doing all this. But n—as ain’t f—ing around or give us money when we did them Wu-Tang tours. The first one, they paid us after a while, but this last one, n—as is holding onto a lot of money. And [they’re] upset based on that. It’s a battle right now.” Ghost did not specify exactly which Wu members are the “hierarchy.”
“The Big Dough Rehab is my album,” he continued. “8 Diagrams is their album. But it ain’t got nothing to do with the regular members. ‘Cause I love Raekwon, Masta Killa, U-God, Genius, all them. But it’s on right now.”
Ghost said he’s frustrated because his album would have been finished by now had he not chosen to be loyal and go on tour with the Clan over the summer as part of the Rock the Bells ticket with Rage Against the Machine. He even claimed Steve Rifkin, who signed the group to Loud and is releasing their latest album, put calls in to execs in hopes of stopping Ghost’s album from seeing the light of day. (Inquiries made to Rifkin’s office had not been returned as of press time.) In the meantime, Ghost is moving ahead with his album. The first single, “Celebrate” — featuring Kid Capri and produced by Sean C. — should be leaking soon, he said. Others set to contribute to The Big Dough Rehab are Scram Jones, Raekwon and Method Man.
Ghost is also set to drop a book, “The World According to Pretty Toney,” on December 4. The book — based on skits from MTV2 — will feature Ghost dishing out his particular brand of advice on a number of topics, from gambling to education. As far as Ghost’s participation on The 8 Diagrams, though, so far he’s only jumped on a handful of tracks.
“I got on some of them,” he said. “A few of them. … N—as better pay my f—ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money — just get me out of their life right now. They can keep that money, it’s all good now. I don’t even wanna talk about it no more.” …
Where does this leave us? In between our heroes fighting over money… These bitches should just stop fighting and make classic LP’s together again. Supreme Clientele. Ghost should have realised by now that he can’t get into that pop market like Dirty did with Get Your Money. And RZA should stop being such an ass and talk more regular with his folks instead of all these scattered projects. We are still waiting for the bobby digital movie and digi electronics.
We are not chanting Ghost nor RZA, we chant: WU-TANG, WU-TANG, WU-TANG, WU-TANG, WU-TANG, WU-TANG.
Meth, ODB, & Ad Visser know!
Source: “heart gently weeps…” (MissInfo.tv)
Mixtape Monday: Ghostface Mad Over Owed Money, Drop-Date Duel With Wu-Tang; Jay-Z Talks ‘Dead Presidents 3’ Leak (MTVnews.com)