Sixshot: Genius, we wanted to ask you about your reputation in Europe: Here, you’re mostly known as a Wu-Tang member that brought out two solo-efforts. But your first “real” record called “Words From the Genius” was released before even anybody knew anything about Wu-Tang. So tell us your story…

Genius/Gza/Maximillion/The Head: Well, I came into the game long, long time ago. Back in ’89 I had a deal, I got signed, we been rockin’ forever, emceein’, you know, myself, RZA and Dirty. We had groups, we was always part of a group with each other since we were teenagers. And, you know, we started to go into the studio, in the eighties, in the mid-eighties, you know, and from there we was tryin’ to get a deal, ‘cause by that time, you know, LL and people were startin’ to come through and hip hop was getting more and more recognized. Then I got signed, I caught a deal with Cold Chillin’-records. I did some demos first, and I did about fourteen songs, and they liked me and then they signed me. I went to the studio and recorded the songs and dropped the album. But I, you know, I did a R’n’B-song as a single. You know, it was R’n’B-influenced, you know what I’m sayin’, so I got a lot of videoplay, I got a lot of popularity, but, you know, I was kinda known as a R’n’B-hip hopper like for example Big Daddy Kane, that type of style at that time. But my other songs… To make the long story short: things didn’t happen then. So I stepped off.

But the album was respected as a good album?

Lyrical ly, it was a great album, it was respected. A lot of MCs respected the album lyrically, you know, and the tracks was alright too, by that time, so, unfortunately, it was a slept-on album: not too many people heard it, those who heard it, they learned from it, and, you know, they took it and they use it whenever they can, they still remember that, because they still come along talking about that album. But that was then…

And then the Wu…

And then we came with the Wu-Tang. You know, some of us in the clan are cousins, and mostly all of us grew up from childhood knowin’ each other, you know, way off a twenty years or better. I’m from Staten Island, I also lived out there. You know, at a certain time I moved to Brooklyn. When I moved there, Dirty was already in Brooklyn. RZA was still in Staten Island. At this time, while he still in Staten, you know, Raekwon, Meth, Deck, they also lived out there, you know, and RZA started to hook up with all of them, you know, RZA was more like the centrepiece who brought everything together. He produced the songs and the tracks and he mixed everything, worked it together. He thought to form a clique, because at that time he was at Tommy Boy. When I had my deal, he had his deal on Tommy Boy, [but] they was frontin’ on him, because the thing was, he wanted to come through with Wu-Tang on Tommy Boy as his group.
Things didn’t work out, so we went solo. We pressed these tapes, we went to the studio, we did “Protect Ya Neck”, we travelled around, and then, we got a strong buzz and people started to talk about these eight MCs, you know, [they wanted to know] where they’re from, what they’re about, you know, the buzz started to grow and grow , and we hit the industry and caught a deal and we put out the Wu-Tang album, we got solo-deals, we put out solo-albums… And we’re still here!!!

Between this “Words From The Genius”-thing and the first Wu-Tang record, there has been this group called “All In Together Now”, the group you founded together with RZA and Dirty. Have you ever released an album as “All In Together Now”?

No, we haven’t. Actually, we had an “All In Together Now” crew, which was Dirty, RZA and myself. There was a song that we have done years ago, me and Dirty, it was like with a human beat box MC, the Doug E. Fresh, and it was called “All In Together”. You know that song was kind of well-known in the neighbourhood, people was hearin’ it. Like, years later when I got signed, I met Biz Markie, he said: ”Yo Genius, don’t you want a deal with “All In Together”?” you know, he was hearin’ this tape, and, as years came and passed on, we were the “All In Together Now” crew and, we changed out names, different types, staying MCs, they do that, you know, years ago we had different titles, different names, we were the “All In Together Now” crew. You hear, Dirty mentioned it a lot in his rhymes… That was us.

After this Wu-Tang release, your second solo-record called “Liquid Swords” came out and was followed by 1999’s “Beneath The Surface”. Now, do you know about certain differences between these two albums? As you produced “Beneath The Surface”, did you want to do things otherwise than on the former one?

The only thing, probably there was a kind of difference, was the music. RZA produced the whole “Liquid Swords”. The beats were more dark, complex, gritty, the style was awkward, unorthodox, different. On “Beneath The Surface”, the beats were more colourful, bouncier, you might say clubbish, I don’t know, I don’t like the term clubbish. Beats were bouncier, lyrically, there was no difference, I spoke about different things but basically the lyrical contents are the same, the music was different, you know, the cover was different, I had different types of skits on it, more like commercial skits, like ads, more like ads.

Which record do you like best?

I don’t have no favorite. I like ‘em all, I might say I like “Beneath The Surface” or I like that song, I might say I like “Mic Trippin’”. But then again, I like “The Amplified Sample”, you know…

What do you personally think about these remarks from everywhere that Wu-Tang loses his props because the later solo-efforts couldn’t come up to fans’ expectations.

You know, sayin’ “Wu-Tang is losing his props” is like sayin’ “Martin Luther King is losing his props.” But they talk about him forever, you know what I’m sayin’, he died years ago but he’s the only to be spoken about. The Wu-Tang name is similar, it’s hip hop. We probably rhymin’ forever, we probably make records forever. We dropped “Protect Ya Neck” in 1992. It’s 2000, and we still sell records. We’re still doin’ our thing, we’re still underground, we’re still torn, people still love us. We losin’ it? When persons can still come and represent and still get the love and the respect and are still doin’ shows, doin’ interviews…

What type of style the new Wu-Tang record will be?

Whatever we feel. There’s not one type of style, there’s no set style. It’s just Wu.

What are your personal future plans? New solo-efforts, kind of unorthodox stuff? Perhaps a movie?

Yeah, I wanna do a movie, I wanna direct a film, you know, put people out, put artists out on my label, you know. We really wanna make a mark in this, you know, we will continue to be strong hip hoppers with force, because this is the thing I love, you know, I’ve been doin’ this since I was a child. And now, that I’m in it, it’s even more great, you get to travel, you get to see people, visit other countries and they love me, you know…

How do you feel about Switzerland’s scene, I mean, how do you feel about the show you’ve done here?

I liked it.

But there are fewer people than in the US…

You mean in the club? The difference is that over here, they don’t pack clubs. If the capacity is 1500, you won’t get no more than that. In New York, when the capacity is 1500, the put 3000 people in that place. So here, it’s always, you know, space, but if it’s even fifty people, even if it’s 25 people, it’s okay with me.

But doesn’t the age difference of the crowd also contribute to a certain atmosphere? I mean, in US, to get into a club, you have to be at least 18 or 21. Here in Switzerland, people in the clubs are younger.

That’s only because in the States, when you’re in a club, and they serve alcohol, you got to be at a certain age. Here in Switzerland, were they servin’ alcohol?

Yeah…

In New York, you have to be at a certain age to get into a club when they serve alcohol. Sometimes they control your ID, sometimes not, that depends on how old you look.

How do you feel about the fact that most of the spectators here don’t even understand what you’re sayin’ on stage? They can’t understand you, but nevertheless, they rock. Don’t you feel that?

Of course, of course, but, I look at them sometimes, when they’re sayin’ my lyrics, they try to sing… Of course [I know that they don’t understand], but they still feel it…
People appreciate it more over here, they love to see us, it’s special. We [US citizens] are more laid-back, we come from a very fast city, well, there’s eight or nine million people in New York City. There’s so much shit goin’ on, it can’t be, so many things happenin’, you know, that too much things don’t amaze us, you know, because everything happens in that city. Over here, people appreciate us, they appreciate our concerts and our shows, for them, it’s something special. That’s why I like this atmosphere.