The latest release from this group has been plagued with hiccups and internal drama. Now we might actually have a solid release date for the long-awaited A Better Tomorrow.
For a minute there it looked like fans were never going to hear Wu-Tang Clan’s latest album.
RZA recently set the matter straight. In a new interview, he claims A Better Tomorrow will hit record stores by Black Friday this year.
That’s not all fans can expect to get from the group either. Despite circulating rumors that internal fighting caused the album’s multiple delays, the group makes up for it with a special, limited-edition packaged release.
They teamed up with Boombotix to create a portable speaker tricked out with the Wu-Tang Clan logo. The speaker comes pre-loaded with songs from the new album, and even a few bonus tracks for anyone lucky enough to grab one.
The speaker goes on sale on November 28, according to RZA. If you want one, you’ll have to be quick. There are only 3,000 speakers in production, so slamming your shopping cart through a few angry Black Friday shoppers at 5 a.m. might be a necessary risk.
RZA says each speaker comes with a special manifesto from the group. The album’s concept is a bit different compared to other Wu-Tang Clan albums in the past. RZA said:
And the album has a small concept in a sense, musically it travels from a guy who is going through difficulties, tries to find himself, gets involved with some violence, some troubles, but then realizes that it’s best sometimes to walk away from the past and all the bad times and maybe work on making his life better, and making a better tomorrow.
Hopefully for fans who have been anxiously awaiting, this year will be a better tomorrow.
The fate of the new record was put into question last spring when Raekwon and RZA had a fight over the direction the group was taking. Producer RZA claimed emcee Raekwon had been skipping rehearsals. Raekwon retaliated by accusing RZA of failing to take care of certain aspects of Wu-Tang Clan business. Two members of the group, including Raekwon, told RZA they didn’t like his new producing techniques on the new record.
At the height of the verbal scuffle, RZA gave Raekwon an ultimatum. He said:
The album is slated to come out in July, if we don’t come to terms within the next 30 days, then this will have to be an album without Raekwon or an album that never sees the light of day. That’s a very strong potential.
If this latest announcement is any indication, it seems that the group has worked out their differences.
Check out the track list below to see what new songs will be included in the special-edition speakers.
A Better Tomorrow Boombotix Edition
01. Ruckus in B Minor
02. Ron O’Neal
03. Mistaken Identity
04. Keep Watch
05. Never Let Go
06. Mistaken Identity (Instrumental)
07. Never Let Go (Instrumental)
08. Big Horn (Exclusive)
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