April 21, 2021 | 5:55pm ET
Wu-Tang Clan mastermind RZA has revived his Bobby Digital persona for a new album, Digital Potions. As a preview, he shared a new song titled “Pugilism”.
Details about the project are scarce, but it’s been 13 years since RZA dropped Digi Snacks, his most recent album as Bobby Digital. The 2008 LP marked his third official project under the moniker, following 1998’s Bobby Digital in Stereo and 2001’s Digital Bullet. Bobby Digital in Stereo was the most successful of the bunch, peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Gold certification. RZA also frequently referred to his alter ego on 2003’s Birth of a Prince.
RZA’s work as Bobby Digital features more hedonistic rhymes than his usual raps, typically with beats relying less on samples. The “Pugilism” production, however, actually sounds more like a Wu-Tang song, with kung fu samples spread throughout. RZA also appears to reference “Shaolin Finger Jab”, the intro to Wu-Tang’s 2000 album, The W.
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It’s on the rhymes where he really leans towards his Bobby Digital persona with bars like, “Old cold snow bunny honies with money/ Getting drunk off of dirty martinis/ And air their laundry.”
As Rolling Stone points out, the reason for this dichotomy might be that the track was originally recorded for the long-delayed album The Cure, which he planned to release as RZA. Take a listen below.
RZA also announced a new series called Saturday Afternoon Kung-Fu Theater, available on his streaming site 36 Cinema. The first installment takes place on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. ET and will be a screening of the Shaw Brothers’ 1978 film, Heroes of the East, hosted by RZA himself and film executive Dan Halsted. Tickets are available for purchase right now, and you can watch a preview trailer ahead.