Whilst Wu-Tang Clan were in London for their 20th anniversary celebratory tour, Laura Arowolo caught up with U-God aka Golden Arms….
With his fourth solo album newly released and doing well, we catch up with U-God to revel in his experiences on a ’97 video shoot in Hawaii, the significance of his latest solo outing The Keynote Speaker, the flack he’s getting for his comments on Yeezus and the tiring side of tour life.
LA: So, Keynote Speaker dropped yesterday, what are the key thematics on the project?
UG: I’m just talking about a whole bunch of goodness. I’m doing my lil rap, one-two-step. I can’t just put it up in one word, I can’t just sum it up in one word.
LA: How about three?
UG: This is my Illmatic. This is my joint, so I’m more or less, lyrics, rhymes, conceptual illness.
LA: It’s your fourth solo album, what’s your favourite track and why?
UG: I probably have two favourite joints on there. One is Golden Arms and Stars. I just like the lyrics. I like the rhymes, to me I’m like, “Oooooh, I said some fly shit on there.” [Laughs] Have you ever thought about the person who made up the word fly, in reference to something good looking, who the fuck thought up that crazy shit. Flies land on shit don’t they?
LA: Yeah…
UG: Exactly!
LA: You flipped The Temptations’ Ball Of Confusion to make Zilla, what drew you to this sample?
UG: I don’t know, I just liked how it sound. It grabbed me, like when I heard it I was like ‘oooooh, ooooh, ooooooh’. You know certain songs, certain beats when they come on it’s like ‘sheeeesh’, it’s like when you see a beautiful woman, it’s like, “Oh man, I gotta touch that shit.” That’s how music attracts, you know, music is like that.
LA: Creatively how do you differentiate speaking your mind for your solo efforts compared to your collaborative involvement on Wu’s upcoming A Better Tomorrow?
UG: Well when I’m with the Wu I only get 16 bars. So I gotta say what I gotta say in that 16 bars, but I’m much bigger than 16 bars. My dynamic, my mind, my brain, my creativity is way more bigger than 16 bars. So when I solo, I get a chance to flex and you get more of a sense of me as a person. More than those 16 bars, like – “Who is is this guy, fuck is this guy?”
LA: With Wu’s 20th anniversary approaching, how has touring been – what’s the atmosphere like being back on the road with your rap brothers?
UG: Let me say something, I have a disagreement going on with the 20th [anniversary]. I feel like the 20th really ain’t [yet,] because we dropped in ’93, late November, and we didn’t go platinum until December of ’94. So we didn’t really go platinum until the year after.
LA: So you feel it’s premature?
UG: Yes, I think it’s premature. Dudes get on – “ahhh it’s ’93 arghhhh, we gotta count it from the time we dropped the record.” I’m like, “Nah dawg we count it from the time we went platinum dawg, we got the official stamp in our hands saying we were platinum.”
LA: So out of the Wu guys, who agrees with you and who’s like, “No it’s the 20th anniversary”?
UG: Me and RZA had this talk.
LA: Oh…
UG: [Impersonates RZA] ‘Naaaahhh son, it’s arghhhhh…”
LA: I see. So next year will you be doing something special for the real official anniversary according to you?
UG: No, no, we gon’ get the record together. That’s just an internal little, not argument but you know, you know how men talk.
LA: Ahh kinda for the record, that’s your stance…
UG: Yeah, yeah I’m like that.
LA: Could you tell us what your favourite rap memory is?
UG: My favourite rap memory was probably when we were in Hawaii shooting the It’s Yours video. That was a wild, lovely fucking time in Hawaii, Waikiki. Awesome! Awesome freaking time, it was beautiful. Old Dirty was alive, and we were young, we were just running around, ahhhh! We just wild out – we had Lamborghini’s, we had scooters, ahhh – just we had smoke, we had this we had hotel rooms…
LA: Ladies?
UG: Ladies were everywhere! I banged my knees up – Waikiki – I scraped my shit up, bandaged myself and I still was going. That’s how much fun we were having.
LA: What year was this?
UG: I think that was ’97.
LA: You have been on tour in the run up to A Better Tomorrow, how’s that going? What’s it like being on the road with your brothers?
UG: We always on the road, living on that damn bus, hotel room, living out your bag…
LA: Not enjoying it?
UG: [Sighs] As you get older it gets rougher, it gets rough you know what I’m saying. It’s more or less… right now imma need a big vacation after this. After I’m done I’m thinking about going to Hawaii or somewhere nice.
LA: Back to Waikiki?
UG: Not even Waikiki, I might go somewhere nice. I have to get my travel agent on the phone and see what she says, cause at the time the weather’s gon’ change and the sun’s gon’ move back further from the planet so I’ve gotta find a place where I can get cooked, I’m too yellow, I’m too yellow. Yellow ass n**** over here.
LA: What are your after thoughts on your outfit in the Gravel Pit video?
UG: Well I was wearing fur in the middle of the fucking desert in 150 fucking goddamn degree weather. I had icebags under my armpits. I had tied icebags, got ice put them in a bag, tied them under my arms and put it under my fur. It was so fucking hot. Super hot.
LA: Well, style in Hip Hop hasn’t gotten super crazy. When it comes to your style what things appeal to you most how do you keep consistent to your individuality?
UG: My style is me. I can’t say it, I can’t define it, I can’t put a word on it, you just gotta tell me what it is. Like, “oh when I hear your shit it reminds me of…” There’s different reactions for different people
LA: With your recent commentary on Yeezus….
UG: Oh we’re back to Kanye, they’re not going to let me live this shit down, I should’ve just kept my mouth closed. He has music down to a science. He knows whatever he wills into the universe, that’s what people are going to believe, but sometimes, some people might look at you like, ‘dawg you cannot force feed me shit, you can’t do it’. And sometimes he might not realise that, because sometimes you be so far gone, so famous and you so rich you don’t realise. So brothers like me are here to say like ‘yo dawg’, especially when you like a n****’s music. I love his shit, all his records.
LA: So you don’t feel as though that album pinnacles all that is wrong in the current climate of Hip Hop?
UG: I know he can come back better, with a different focus and where he needs to be as an artist. I love his shit, you know when you’re a fan of something…
LA: It hits you a little harder…
UG: Yeah when Reggie Jackson was swinging that bat and he don’t swing a home run or certain dudes wasn’t swinging home runs, you get kinda mad on some, ‘Damn dawg, I want a home run!’ You know what I’m saying, you walk up to your idol like, “yo dawg, you buggin’ the fuck out!” [Laughs]. And we’re talking about a dude that came from this, to that. That’s why I respect him as an artist.
Head over to iTunes to purchase The Keynote Speaker, out now.
Interview: Laura Arowolo
Photo: Shama Anwar
