Wu-Tang Clan member RZA has been prepping his kung fu flick The Man With Iron Fists for some time now, but the movie is finally set to be released sometime this fall. While we knew the rapper/actor was directing the flick, as well as co-wrote the screenplay with Hostel-scribe Eli Roth, it turns out RZA also scored the film. We, uh, can't say we're too surprised, though.
Speaking with Variety, RZA revealed that he hadn't planned on making music for the film, in which he stars as a blacksmith protecting his village in feudal China, but was eventually convinced to do so by producers and his buddy Quentin Tarantino. The supposedly synth-heavy score was composed by RZA and collaborator Howard Drossin.
"I finally said, 'Okay, I guess I'll be scoring it,'" RZA said, hinting that considering how hands-on he was with the rest of the project, it only made sense to add one more task. "And so I went into musician mode and started writing different cues and different emotions for the film. I think actually it was a wise idea because really, at the end of the day, who would understand these characters more than me?"
While RZA had worked with orchestras on previous scores for Tarantino's Kill Bill series and Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, he and Drossin took a more electronic approach to The Man With Iron Fists.
"We took months and five or six different computers, about seven or eight keyboards, and we emulated an orchestra," RZA said, describing the work as "Morricone meets RZA."
"That to me is a special catch to this film: It sounds like we went and hired a big 80-piece orchestra, which we'd done in movies in the past. But we actually did this score electronically. We talked about this with the producers, [and said] 'This may change the game a little bit.' Because without a doubt the electronics reached the level of orchestra."
No music has been leaked just yet, but a trailer is rumoured to pop up by week's end.
UPDATE: You can watch the newly revealed trailer below via IGN. According to the trailer, we can also expect music from Kanye West, the Black Keys, Wu-Tang Clan and Wiz Khalifa to appear in the film, along with RZA's original score. It's unclear at this point, however, if any of the other artists will contribute new material.
Speaking with Variety, RZA revealed that he hadn't planned on making music for the film, in which he stars as a blacksmith protecting his village in feudal China, but was eventually convinced to do so by producers and his buddy Quentin Tarantino. The supposedly synth-heavy score was composed by RZA and collaborator Howard Drossin.
"I finally said, 'Okay, I guess I'll be scoring it,'" RZA said, hinting that considering how hands-on he was with the rest of the project, it only made sense to add one more task. "And so I went into musician mode and started writing different cues and different emotions for the film. I think actually it was a wise idea because really, at the end of the day, who would understand these characters more than me?"
While RZA had worked with orchestras on previous scores for Tarantino's Kill Bill series and Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, he and Drossin took a more electronic approach to The Man With Iron Fists.
"We took months and five or six different computers, about seven or eight keyboards, and we emulated an orchestra," RZA said, describing the work as "Morricone meets RZA."
"That to me is a special catch to this film: It sounds like we went and hired a big 80-piece orchestra, which we'd done in movies in the past. But we actually did this score electronically. We talked about this with the producers, [and said] 'This may change the game a little bit.' Because without a doubt the electronics reached the level of orchestra."
No music has been leaked just yet, but a trailer is rumoured to pop up by week's end.
UPDATE: You can watch the newly revealed trailer below via IGN. According to the trailer, we can also expect music from Kanye West, the Black Keys, Wu-Tang Clan and Wiz Khalifa to appear in the film, along with RZA's original score. It's unclear at this point, however, if any of the other artists will contribute new material.