RZA: RZA As Bobby Digital In Stereo

After overseeing two Wu-Tang Clan albums, participating in numerous side projects, midwifing countless Wu-related spin-off records, and lending moral if not always production support to his Wu brethren's solo discs, Robert Diggs (a.k.a. RZA) has weighed in with a project of his own. Sort of. RZA has packaged his solo debut, not counting his previous incarnation as Prince Rakeem, as the product of Bobby Digital. The protagonist of RZA's film of the same name—scheduled for release next year, though you shouldn't hold your breath—Bobby Digital is apparently RZA's darker, superpowered cyborg alter-ego, the result of a blunt laced with a secret formula of RZA's own invention. The degree to which RZA As Bobby Digital In Stereo follows through with its science-fiction premise is questionable. The blistering opening track "B.O.B.B.Y." repeats the name, and correct spelling, of "Bobby Digital" at length, an identity which RZA and guest stars reaffirm throughout the album by mentioning it in nearly every other line, but otherwise it's a concept as sketchily developed as anything in the Wu universe. At one point, a female voice accuses Digital of living only for "weed, money, music, and pussy," a much more accurate indication of the subjects covered. But none of that matters as much as RZA's production, which is as atmospheric and distinctive as ever, and a good deal more tightly focused than either his concept or his raps. RZA has never been the most powerful rapper in The Wu-Tang Clan, and his vocals, whether addressing his sexual prowess or the virtues of The Wu-Tang Clan, tend here to take a backseat to both the music and the guest stars. (Although it's the charismatic Method Man who delivers the album's most questionable rhyme with the line, "Can't forget Digi if I did I'd feel gyp / like my sandwich ain't a sandwich without Miracle Whip," on "N.Y.C. Everything.") Ultimately, however, the vocals work just fine for the album, which at first sounds like one endless jam but on repeat listens reveals just how consistently solid its individual songs are, from the grit and satin fusion of "Love Jones" to the abrasive "F*** What You Think." Anyone who's been waiting for RZA to deliver another indisputable masterpiece along the lines of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) might come away disappointed. But as an uncompromisingly nasty trip into the dark side of hip hop, Bobby Digital seldom disappoints.