Rekwon: 'Wu-Tang Clan members' solo work hurt the band'

Rapper Raekwon wishes he and his Wu-Tang ClanM bandmates had never gone solo - because he's convinced their separate careers have "hurt" the group brand.

The hip-hop star is one of the founding members of the New York band, alongside the likes of Method Man, RZA and Ghostface Killah, and they have all achieved differing levels of success in their solo work since their debut in the early 1990s.

As a result, Raekwon believes egos have hampered the Wu-Tang Clan's productivity - and therefore affected the strength of their legacy.

He tells VladTV, "I feel like in a way, us doing solo things hurt us. I never told nobody that (sic)..."When we had something so pure and so solid together, it (solo work) could've been structured more togetherly (sic). It could've been more stronger (sic)... But when we allow (sic) each other to do us (go solo), some did better than others and when some did better than others, it caused a certain kind of reaction in the whole movement.

"It wasn't like nobody (sic) was trying to out-do each other, because we all was nice (sic), it was just that some probably worked a little harder and some did more things and some was just playing his part (sic). To me, when we did that, it kinda like put us in a more competitive situation with each other instead of focusing more strongly on the brand... If we would've stayed more tighter (sic), we probably would've had about 30 albums right now."

The Wu-Tang Clan rappers are currently working on their sixth studio album, the follow up to 2007's 8 Diagrams - but Raekwon insists the vibe between the members in the studio has changed.

He says, "What I really miss is that energy from my brothers. We were young, we were child stars at that time, but I miss being around n**gas and laughing in the studio."

WENn.com