RZA, one of Hip-Hop’s most influential producers and founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan, ventures into composing ballet
In a new project, he is composing a ballet score inspired by notebooks filled with lyrics he penned as a teenager. The project began during the pandemic when RZA stumbled upon an old Tommy Hilfiger book bag brimming with these forgotten writings.
“As I read through these lyrics, memories of young love and exploration came flooding back. It was like a lyrical diary,” he recalls. “At first, I thought I should rap it, but then I realized it needed something different. I should write music to it.”
As a young adult growing up in Brooklyn’s Brownsville housing projects and later Staten Island, RZA chronicled the trials and triumphs of adolescence—love, friendship, and the complexities of life. Now, the notebooks led to the creation of “A Ballet Through Mud,” a coming-of-age story told through music, exploring love and friendship in a way that diverges from RZA’s typical sound.
The ballet premiered to standing ovations, performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and dancers from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater School in Denver in 2023. Now, RZA is set to release the score as his first classical album.
“I’ve always been someone who pushes boundaries and likes to surprise people,” RZA says. “This may seem leftfield to some, but for me, it’s a natural creative evolution.”
“A Ballet Through Mud,” is a metaphor for RZA’s own life. He reflects on his formative years in Staten Island, which Wu-Tang Clan famously dubbed “Shaolin.” “Mud is seen as dirty, foul,” he says. “I’m from the slums of Shaolin. But out of the mud grows the lotus, a symbol of purity and beauty. I hope this work reflects that journey—through the mud, emerging as something beautiful.”
Classical music has been a part of RZA’s production pallet since Wu-Tang’s early days. For RZA, the parallels between hip-hop and classical music are clear. “If you listen to Wu-Tang production, you’ll hear strings and classical samples,” he notes, citing Nas’s use of Beethoven’s “Für Elise” in the track “I Can.”
For ballet, he hopes it will inspire young people to learn instruments and see that “it’s cool to pick up a violin or an oboe.” He believes that playing an instrument offers a unique form of brain stimulation.
“Today’s music can be created on a computer, and that’s powerful,” he says. “But knowing how to play an instrument allows you to be more expressive, more communicative—not cookie-cutter.”
And this is just the beginning. RZA promises more to come. “I’m not stopping here. I’ve already started writing something new that I’m really excited about.”