When Wu-Tang Clan are officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year, will former US President Barack Obama be on stage with them? If RZA has his way, maybe.
Alongside the likes of Oasis, Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Sade, and Luther Vandross, Wu-Tang Clan were recently revealed as part of the Rock Hall’s Class of 2026.
RZA, one member of the legendary hip-hop group (who just completed a rather disastrous Australian tour), discussed their induction in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
When the interviewer asked RZA who he’d want to induct Wu-Tang’s into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he had a list of names ready.
“I’m doing one that’s going to be super egotistical, but probably the only person that I’m a superfan of that I never met: Barack Obama,” he replied. “But I always remember [Quentin] Tarantino saying he was a ‘rock & roll director.’
“Tarantino is a great name. I think Leonardo DiCaprio. I’m gonna give you one more. How about LeBron James as a unique piece of culture?”
Elsewhere in the interview, RZA reflected on what Wu-Tang’s Rock Hall induction meant for hip-hop culture.
“I think hip-hop culture has its own thing, but I think the hip-hop lifestyle has become a rock & roll lifestyle,” he said. “Look at most of your hip-hop heroes: A$AP Rocky is doing punk rock right now. Jay-Z’s been onstage with a guitar. The cultures have always been so close. Run-D.M.C., King of Rock is the album. It’s the ‘roll’ of it. It ain’t just the ‘rock.’ The ‘rock’ is one thing too, because you got to rock the house, right? Rock the mic, right?”
He continued: “The ‘roll’ of it, though; the way that you roll, the way the music roll, the way things move, the way the rhythm moves. Those things, of course, at one point could be synonymous with rock & roll culture, but hip-hop culture didn’t really exist yet to say whether or not it belongs or not.
“But as that culture grew, I think it’s like, ‘Yo, hold on. There’s some of it that does belong there.’ Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ is a rock song. I think that the board and the judges who are making these choices are looking at it from that perspective.”
