Big news from the Wu-Tang Clan camp this week: GZA is working on Liquid Swords 2, the sequel to his classic 1995 album. Which is pretty much the opposite of what he told us.
Wu-president RZA announced both the project and his involvement in it on Tuesday, tweeting, “IT’S TRUE: ‘LIQUID SWORDS 2’ PRODUCED BY THE ABBOT RZA COMING FALL 2010. WHO’S READY FOR THE WU? BONG BONG”
On its own, this bit of news isn’t so surprising. GZA follows in the footsteps of Raekwon, who released a part-two to his own critically-acclaimed debut last year. Only Built For Cuban Linx II was a success, earning an 88 on Metacritic and becoming staple on best-of-2009 lists.
But this Liquid Swords 2 announcement becomes more fascinating, especially to us, because shortly before Raekwon dropped Cuban Linx II, we asked GZA if he’d ever make a follow-up to his own legendary release. This is what he said then:
“No. Not at all. I think artists sometimes go back to something when we never should. For many different reasons. You hear a lot of stories that make you feel good about the work and the project, sometimes you try to relive that, like, ‘I want to make a part two.’ I don’t think I should go there. I think I should move on and try to make something just as great or greater, not try to bank on that. You know, that’s a classic.”
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