n weekend afternoons in the late 1980s, Robert Diggs and his cousin Russell Jones would catch a kung fu movie, practice their martial arts moves on the Staten Island subway, then hook up with some MCs and, as Diggs recently put it, "musically battle them like it was a kung fu fight." It was those two passions -- kung fu and rap -- that laid the groundwork for one of the most influential collectives in hip-hop history: the Wu-Tang Clan.
Diggs, who soon became known as the RZA (pronounced RIZ-a, short for Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah), was the leader of the Clan, which included Jones (Ol' Dirty Bastard), his other cousin Gary Grice (the GZA) and six more New York MCs, who together smacked L.A. gangsta rap upside the head with 1993's raw, minimalist East Coast classic Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). RZA soon proved himself equally adept as a producer, lending his lithe, serpentine beats to several successful Wu-Tang solo efforts and establishing nearly everyone in the group as a star. He occasionally stepped out from behind the soundboard for projects such as his "horrorcore"-themed outfit Gravediggaz, as well as 1998's RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo, where he cut loose under a gun-toting, sex-loving persona in a grinding suite of bass-drunk, anti-dance tracks.
Ever the Renaissance man, RZA published The Wu-Tang Manual in 2005, a book detailing the group's virtues, vices and philosophies. He also tried his hand at film scoring, starting with the 1999 Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and most notably with Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series. One of his current focuses is WuChess.com, an interactive site that launched last month. RZA is no stranger to the game: He's the current holder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation belt.
This month RZA resurrects Bobby Digital with Digi Snacks (read our review here). The 38-year-old has said he has one more solo album in him before he retires from music. As for Wu-Tang, last year's 8 Diagrams may have been its swan song. "It's hard to say," he admits when asked if the group will record again. "The book is always open, but it seems like the chapter has been completed." When Playboy.com spoke with RZA shortly before the release of Digi Snacks, he seemed at ease, sounding off on marijuana, the presidential election and more with his usual cool, collected candor.
