FIVE ELEMENTS: THE RZA’S IRON FIST

After Wu Tang, the RZA turned to film, but his first feature is bringing the crew back together and reigniting the ruckus.

A Chinese restaurant is the perfect setting for all types of ill shit and shenanigans—Christmas cuisine for Jews and the iconic episode of Seinfeld come to mind. For the RZA and the Black Keys, it’s the perfect backdrop for deal-gone-wrong kung fu swag, giving them the opportunity to slap someone in the face with a fish. Needless to say, the video for “The Baddest Man Alive” doesn’t disappoint.

After masterminding Wu Tang and making his way to Hollywood, the RZA’s next move is to take a seat in the director’s chair. His first feature, The Man with the Iron Fists, is out November 2 with Tarantino as a co-signer.

The RZA scored the Kill Bill series, so it’s only natural that he would hop behind the boards on his own movie.

Last week, he pre-leased the soundtrack, featuring artists as diverse as Kanye, John Frusciante, Freddie Gibbs, the Black Keys and more. And of course members of the Wu drop by. In a New York Times article recently, the RZA teased getting the crew back together, with him at the helm. If this record’s consistency and creative freshness is a taste of things come, that’s definitely good news.

The visionary has a new vision.

And he’s taking it to the telly. On Tuesday night, the Wu stampeded the stage of Jimmy Fallon rocking “Six Directions of Boxing,” a new joint from the Iron Fist soundtrack. It was the first time in 10 years that they performed live on national TV. With the Roots as the backing band, an appearance turned into an event, even if Method Man, Raekwon, and GZA were MIA.

Ghostface is too raw for NBC, so he did his “Verbal Intercourse” verse. To be fair, on “Six Directions” he starts his verse: “Eight balls of coke, blunts of the greenery/pounds in the trunk get you a concrete scenery.” Not exactly major network friendly.

While he recycled some 15-year-old lines, Ghost redeemed himself by playing “bubble soccer” with Jimmy, RZA, and Gerard Butler. I won’t elaborate, just watch.

Here’s to a rematch and more bangers from Shaolin’s finest.