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" Most people associate Wu Tang with Staten Island or Shaolin, but actually, I'm a native of Brooklyn. I was born in Crown Heights, raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Bushwick. "

Gza

Heights

Brooklyn

Crown

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" I like broccoli. I like rice. I like carrots. I like vegetable juices. Y'know? I mean, I'm with all that. "

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" Chess is a game of stimulation. "

" Some MCs don't take the time to take a beat home or just vibe with it and just figure out, 'How do I attack this track?' "

" I usually do about five drafts per rhyme for each song. "

" A song is composed of music and lyrics: 50 percent is the producer, 50 percent is the artist. So, I'm responsible for 50 percent. All I know is that I have to do my job, and I have to do it well. And he has to do the same. "

" I probably take about a month to write a song, depending on how much time I can dedicate to it, and it depends on how many hours a day there are and how many days in a week and weeks in a month. "

" New York is the hometown I represent. "

" Learn all you can learn. Never stop learning. "

" I don't think people have ever really been in touch with science. They're drawn to it, but they don't know why they're drawn to it. For example, you may be blown away by the structure of something, like a soccer ball or a geodesic dome, with its hexagonal shapes. "

" Wu-Tang has only done, like, three rehearsals throughout our whole career. "

" When we did 'Back In The Game' on the Wu-Tang 'Iron Flag' album, I did a verse about gambling. I didn't want to be 'back in the game' or 'back on the block' - that's typical. I made it all metaphorical. "

" I think all artists want that plaque, whether it's Gold or Platinum or multi-platinum. I think we all look forward to getting a plaque and hanging it on your wall and having something to show for the music that you've created. "

" Rap has always had a braggadocios flavour to it. That goes all the way back to 'Rapper's Delight.' "

" I remember the first 45 record I bought. It was called 'A Dog a Donut'; it was a breakbeat. Actually, I think I bought two at one time, and the other one was 'Dance to the Drummer's Beat.' Those are breakbeats. I paid a dollar for it, for each one. Your average producer or DJ would know who came out with those. "

" I could write about a pencil if I wanted to. You just take it back deep enough, all the way back to the tree it came from. "

" A lot of artists think that to be current, you have to follow what's out there and do something that's so unlike what you normally do. It can work, but it doesn't if you chase it. "

Gza

You

Chase

" I used to make demo tapes with cats that rocked with Russell Simmons and people like that. The history goes so far back; I've always been really focused on writing dope rhymes. "

" I just listen to a lot of stuff. Sometimes I play music; a lot of times, it will be stuff from back in the day. Sometimes I scan through the radio. Not the average stations that play the everyday thing. "

" I had a few DJs in my neighbourhood that would play music in the streets. There was no hip-hop yet; there were just DJs that were playing disco, funk, and pop music, and we would gather round, go to the parks, and dance and enjoy ourselves. "

Gza

Play

Music

" When the Black Lips sent a track over to me, I thought it sounded like a Beastie Boys track, the way the singer was singing and flowing on it. He was right in the pocket. "

Gza

Black

Lips

" People say Wu-Tang makes you think too much. What's wrong with thinking? "

" Writing is sort of like chess for me. You have to think carefully before you move, thinking, planning. "

Gza

Writing

Think

" I would go to an aunt's house, and she would let me play music, and she had 'The Last Poets' album. At that time, albums didn't have explicit stickers on them, so some of the songs had profanity on them, and I was moved by that. I would listen to those songs, to the flow, and I'd balance it back and forth with the nursery stuff I had. "

" I don't knock material rappers, but let me hear it in a different way. How many songs do I have to hear about rims on a car? It's ridiculous. There's no substance. It's a hollow shell. "

" Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why is metal a conductor of electricity, and wood is not, but you're more likely to be struck by lightning when standing under a tree? These are questions that require science to answer. "

" I like science and mathematics. When I say mathematics, I don't mean algebra or math in that sense, but the mathematics of things. "

" To write a story is to create a world of your own. "

" I think, as an artist, the overall goal is to teach and educate no matter what the song is about. Somewhere where a listener can get something out of it, something that can give them help to move forward, help them learn something, analyze something in a different way, or think about something. "

" When I was growing up, to be an emcee meant to write the most clever, intellectual, and wittiest rap. And that's what we did. "