I had to fill in the space, if the space wasn’t being filled. And I had to make up for those that weren’t on it. Whether it was “4th Chamber” where it was whoever could get on it, get on it. Meth may start off “Shadowboxin'” and I’ll jump on it and he’ll follow it. He’ll have a beat playing and I’ll jump on it. RZA would just have a beat, and whoever is around, they try to get on it. There were a couple of tracks featuring a few members of the Wu. I was just striving to make those songs as visual as possible without it being a typical urban street tale. The only thing I would say, as far as being different, “Cold World” and songs like “Gold” were urban street tales. My goal was to make great songs, and tell great stories and use metaphors as ways of explaining what I was doing. I didn’t have to try to do anything different. It has been pretty much the same for me - my style and approach to a project - but our styles differ. The approach is different, as far as writing. I didn’t have to try to do anything different because our styles differ in many different ways. When you were creating Liquid Swords, what were you trying to do differently? ODB, Rae and Meth all dropped solo projects. Different metaphors and philosophies and all kind of stuff that was combined in our music that it was something fresh and the timing was right. something fresh that was out, something new to the listeners. was really big and a couple of solo members got album deals. How would you describe the buzz of Wu? I know C.R.E.A.M. When I got signed to Geffen, it was like, “Mm, strike back.” You know? I’m excited, I got a deal. I didn’t really stand a chance on being on that label. That deal didn’t quite work out for me due to the lack of promotion and support from Cold Chillin’ because they were into other acts on the label that were quite bigger acts as far as popularity and record sales. I mean, I was signed to Cold Chillin’ before and it was distributed through a major, which was Warner Bros. I was signed to a major label for the first time. Just a great, fun moment for me at the time. What can you remember about those early days before the album was released?Ī lot of excitement, a lot of fun, a lot of anticipation. We also asked him about his lyrical role models, as well as his thoughts on the state of rap in 2015. On its 20th anniversary, Billboard spoke with GZA on the recording process and impact of Liquid Swords, working with RZA in his basement and more. It just goes to show that the universal support really is forever. The album made another stride this year when it became certified Platinum in September. From the dialogue samples of Shogun Assassin to GZA making his mark as a lyrical force, Liquid Swords has become a large part of pop culture. Twenty years later, Liquid Swords is still one of the most influential albums from the Wu-Tang catalog today. Those numbers weren’t surprising considering how much love the Wu were getting from underground heads and casual listeners. It was cerebral - full of violence, but nothing too unsettling. Marvel Debuts GZA, MF Doom & GZA Inspired Album CoversĪlthough Liquid Swords lacked any radio-friendly singles, songs like “Cold World,” “Investigative Reports” and “Liquid Swords” established his reputation as an MC who could guide the listener to feel the moments he’s describing through poignant narratives.
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