RZA Battles His Cyborg Alter-Ego in ‘Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater’

RZA has teamed up with legendary producer DJ Scratch for his upcoming full-length album, Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater. The long-delayed album, out March 4, takes its name from the Wu-Tang Clan producer’s streaming series, Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater with RZA, where he provided running commentary on martial arts movies.

“Lyrically the hip-hop part of me had a chance to re-emerge during quarantine,” RZA said in a release. “Giving Scratch the reins as a producer and me taking the reins as an MC, that’s what frees me up creatively and lets me play more with lyrical gags and lyrical flows because I don’t have to be focused on everything.”

Coinciding with the album announcement, the MC released a video for the LP’s title track, which he directed alongside Danny Hastings. Paying homage to the kung fu movies that have influenced him for decades, the video finds RZA in a battle of good vs. evil against his futuristic alter-ego Bobby Digital — which, according to the release, is a central theme of Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater.

“It was an honor to produce & executive produce an entire album for a legendary MC, who happens to be one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time,” DJ Scratch said. “This album is like a movie. The first track gives you the synopsis of the movie. The beats & the videos we shot will take you back to when you couldn’t wait to turn to channel 5 every Saturday at 3pm to watch Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater. I’m proud of this project & I can’t wait to perform these songs live.”

RZA first teased the album — which was then called RZA vs Bobby Digital — last June.