Really Dope U-God Interview...GREAT read:
Legendary Wu-Tang Clan swordsman U-God has seen it all during his crew’s twenty year run in the rap game. They’ve been around the world and back, shackling the masses with drastic rap tactics. And he’s played an integral role in their success, spitting vicious darts on countless classics while throwing up the W and representing Shaolin from country to country.
As he preps the release of his new solo LP The Keynote Speaker (due out July 23rd on Soul Temple Records), and also readies himself for a summer filled with festival performances and tour dates alongside his Wu brethren celebrating the 20th anniversary of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), we caught up with Golden Arms to talk about life on the road with rap’s sharpest crew, past and present. From backstage to the telly to the tour bus, this is The Green Room with Wu-Tang’s witty wordsmith, U-God.
First Wu-Tang Clan Tour
U-God: “The first [Wu-Tang Clan] show, probably about ten people [were] in there. And the microphone was hooked up to a stereo. [Laughs.] This was down South, in North Carolina, when we started doing a promo tour [for the first album.] We had to perform in front of ten people like they were 10,000 people.
“We didn’t want to do it at first. When you’re first starting out, you feel like, ‘Nah, we should be in front of [more people].’ But we did what he had to do, and then we went to the next spot. We did ‘Method Man,’ ‘Protect Ya Neck,’ and ‘Chessboxin’.’
“The first traveling days [were] crazy. All I had was a duffle bag, and one pair of drawers. [Laughs.] And that was that. You had two pairs of socks, and you [were] out there. I used to have to wash one pair of drawers, then I after I washed them, I’d dry them on the blower, then I’d put the other ones on. One come off, one come on.
“There [were] eight of us in the back of a van, sharing hotel rooms, going all up and down the East Coast. We had eight people in three hotel rooms. Now we all got our own room. [Laughs.] But in the beginning, it wasn’t like that. We had to work our way there.
“We’d get our little per diems, and we were just promoting. We must’ve went to every college on the East Coast. At first, it was [fun]. The first time out is an adventure. I’m on my hundred and twentieth time, and it’s not fun [anymore].
“Back then, we were young. We still drinky-drink, but we ain’t as wild as we once was. We ain’t running out trying to chase girls like we used to. Dudes is laid-back. Some dudes is married. Some dudes got girlfriends, and they’re loyal to their girls and shyt. But back then, we [were] wild. Trying to get everything moving. When you’re young, you don’t care. But as you get older, you’re like, ‘You know what? I’m wasting a lot of energy on some bullshyt.’
“At one point, Meth was real shy. Then he came into his own. I was always outgoing. I traveled before I was with Wu-Tang, to Sacramento, and Jacksonville, so I already knew how to live off the land. But probably me, Rae, Meth, and Dirty, we were probably the wildest, most outgoing nikkas in the group. We were trying to bag what we could bag. Stickin’ and movin’. There were no rules. Like, if you leave your bytch with Dirty, you were not coming back to nothing. He was not letting go. [Laughs.] Those were the good times.”
Japan Tour Filmed During The Show
“Russell Simmons came at us, and got all the rap groups that were successful at the time, and put them in one [movie]. And that shyt was hot. That was my first time in Japan. It was another world. We’d come to the shows, and we had silk Samurai robes on. We’re rocking the shows, and we had all types of Japanese broads. These bytches [were] bad. We had an awesome fukking time out there. We shut that shyt down. We went all over Japan, and tore down Tokyo. The experience was crazy.
“We were just coming out of the hood, and just becoming successful. Meth was about to drop his album on Def Jam, and he was hogging up all the press, and not letting anyone else get any shine. That’s the only reason I [confronted him in the scene from the movie]. They made it seem like [it was beef, but it wasn’t like that]. He was on his A-game. I can’t get mad at the nikka now, because I’m on my A-game now, and I’m the man.”
Traveling the World
“Anytime you go somewhere for the first time, it’s awesome. Like when I went to Italy for the first time, it blew my fukking mind. That’s my favorite spot. I’m getting ready to go back. Italy, L.A., Arizona, Canada, Amsterdam, and Australia. Those are the nicest spots in the world.
“We were in Ireland, and [there were] a bunch of Lucky Charms motherfukkers, talking like Lucky Charms nikkas. You know how the Lucky Charms commercial pop off, right? And they’re black! These nikkas [were] black talking like Lucky Charms dudes. And I’m talking to them like, ‘Wow, this shyt is crazy.’ We [were] all the way up in Ireland, and these motherfukkers [were] singing our record. It was weird to me.
“You know where I like to go, though? Sweden. Sweden is poppin’. They got some beautiful women, and they’re friendly. I like to go to spots where the women are beautiful, and friendly. You never forget that. Not just the women, the people [in general] are friendly. Giving you cheeba, giving you drinks, and you’re just doing your thug thizill. It ain’t like New York, where a bytch got an attitude. Everybody over there is riding bikes, they’re all chipper. They say hello, and start conversations with you. It’s a different mentality.”
A Day in the Life On Tour in Hawaii (1997)
“When we did the ‘It’s Yourz’ video, that was the wildest fukking time. We had so much fun [on tour] in Hawaii. It was insanity. I would get up. Chop a coconut, get the coconut juice. Boom. Have breakfast, like a fruit salad or some crazy shyt, with egg whites, whatever whatever whatever. Then I’d go out, hit the jet ski for about two hours. Come back in. Take a shower. Get on the moped. Ride around the whole fukkin’ island. Errrrrrrrrrrr. Go crazy on that. Come back. Get some more drinky-drinks in the system. Go out and do the show. Rock the motherfukkin’ show. Grab up a nice little thing-thing. Bring her back to the spot. Di-da-di-da-di-da-di-da. Hop back on the moped. Errrrrrrrrrr. You got the hotel suite, with the motherfukkin’ jacuzzi in it. Laid up with candles, and little fly shyt going, with incense in the air. Blowin’ green. The wine, the women. Everything was flowing like water.”
Memories of Touring with Ol’ Dirty b*stard
“One night, [Dirty] got this girl, and he comes knockin’ on my door. He’s like, ‘Yo U-God, I need a condom.’ I said, ‘nikka, I ain’t got no motherfukkin’ condom. But what I got for you is some motherfukkin’ plastic wrap. How about you use that fly shyt?’ He takes the plastic, and comes back, like, ‘Yo, that’s some new shyt. I put that shyt on my dikk, and still fukked the bytch.’ [Laughs.] He’s kind of the inventor of plastic wrap on your cock when you can’t find a condom and shyt.”
Award Shows
“The American Music Awards [back in the day] was awesome. We [were] backstage, and I got to shake a lot of people’s hands. Garth Brooks, Celine Dion, Britney Spears. I saw Left Eye. [Our big hit was] ‘Triumph’ at the time, and that’s when we were around Aaliyah. And she was with Quincy Jones, and his daughter Rashida, and the whole family. It was good times. I like to meet new people, and get to know them, and stuff like that. It’s always love.
“I’ve met so many people. I can’t remember the particular time, but I met Isaac Hayes, Barry White, all these motherfukkers. I even met Little Richard. We’ve been in the game for twenty years. We’ve been to ceremonies, been nominated for Grammys. We’ve won Grammys. There’s been too many good times.”
Bus Life
“My team, we’re on the bus at six in the morning. nikkas be out, twenty-four hours on the bus. nikkas be on the bus, gambling, drinking, rhyming, talking, playing all the oldies and the classics. I be in my little cube or whatever you wanna call it, watching movies, or on the satellite dish trying to call somebody on the motherfukkin’ jack. You know, Skyping with your girlfriend, she naked on the other line. She naked, Skyping and shyt.
“The kung fu flicks, that ain’t my thing. Whoever got the hotness, I’ll watch. But the kung fu flicks are kind of played out. I watch everything. Anything that got flyness to it, I’ll watch it. But I’m a wordsmith. I like to listen to people talk. When you talk, I listen. We talk about issues, worldly events. We talk about taxes, money, babies. We used to talk about a lot of Illuminati shyt, but now, that shyt has already happened. It’s taken place already. You gotta get in where you fit in.”
Writing On The Road
“I get in my zone, and write on the road sometimes. But I write my best rhymes when I’m at home. I don’t really like writing on the road, because so much shyt happens. But I get my little notes here and there. When I’m home, I do my [writing]. But when I’m out in the world, I’m in sponge mode, soaking up everything. I’m basically in a soaking mode.”
Food/Health
“We are grown ass men. I [never ask] anyone to get food for me. I go see what’s on the menu [myself]. If they got croissants, I’m eating motherfukkin’ croissants. If they got lobster and shrimp raviolis, and that fly, exotic shyt, lambs and whatever they’re making, I’m eating that. Sometimes I eat the most expensive meals, and sometimes I eat the most rinky dinky shyt. It depends how I’m feeling. My mood changes like my gear and my clothes.
“Sometimes when I’m on the road, I don’t even eat. I might just eat a lot of fruit, and try to slim down. You want to come home slim, you don’t want to come home fat. You want to be nice and trim, with your stomach gone, and your muscles a little tighter because you went to the gym every night in the hotel. Your skin is moist, because you went and got a facial. Or you got your feet done. Your feet are like your pride and joy though. If you don’t take care of your feet on the road, you’re gonna be fukked up. Standing on them shyts, working on them.
“Me and Ghost, we like to eat exotic fly dishes, on some new shyt. But a lot of people in my crew are vegans, so they can’t really eat the stuff that I eat. Like RZA, Masta Killa, and GZA, them nikkas is hardcore vegan. I gotta tell them, ‘Go out to the backyard and eat some leaves from the goddamn backyard, nikka.’ [Laughs.]
“But nah, we know how to rock on the road. If we know we’re gonna be on the road hardcore, we get the pots out for the stove, and start throwing down. My spaghetti and fried chicken is world renowned. I gets it in, right on the damn bus. Hot pots, hot pans. I’ll pop a tent up in the middle of your crib, nikka! [Laughs.] The tent gonna go up. We gonna eat. If I gotta go out in the water to kill fish, we gonna eat. Trust me.”