Albums Produced by The RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan

Albums produced by Robert Diggs aka The RZA, abbot of the Wu-Tang Clan

Starting with 36 Chambers, Rza had a flood of raw and impeccable Wu-Tang solo albums he produced until an actual flood ruined a “what-might-have-been” Inspectah Deck album. In 1997, Wu-Tang released a mammoth double LP, “Wu-Tang Forever,” which featured an elevated new style of beats with live instrumentation, notably on mega cuts like “Reunited” and “Triumph.” Wu-Tang Forever marked a turning point for Wu-Tang, and Rza wouldn’t fully produce any more Wu-Tang solo albums, except for his own. He put out “Rza as Bobby Digital in Stereo” in 1998, which despite it’s strengths, had certain fans starting to scratch their heads with Rza’s production choices - things that didn’t align with the traditional Wu-Tang style of chopped and sped or slowed down soul samples.

The clan returned in 2000 with a lukewarm, “The W,” and slightly stronger “Iron Flag” a year later. The live instrumentation seemed to finally grind some gears in 2007’s “8 Diagrams,” which had clan member, Raekwon, openly expressing displeasure with the sound and wanted it to sound like Wu-Tang’s earlier, raw and grimey sound. Their last album in 2014, “A Better Tomorrow” suffered even more from these complaints.

Rza would go on to produce other projects, such as soundtracks including Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog” (not on this list), Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” (also not on list), “Afro Samurai,” and Rza’s own films that he directed, The Man with the Iron Fists I and II. He would also team up with Interpol’s Paul Banks for Banks & Steelz.