Tuesday Tones

Here’s something fascinating: an entire album comprising a ballet written by a prominent rapper!

RZA is the leader of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop collective that has been around for over thirty years now. That is, I admit openly, the extent of my knowledge of RZA. Hip-hop has never been a musical genre to which I have paid much attention, though not out of dislike in any way. I’ve found, pretty consistently, that when I am exposed to hip-hop in any extended way, I find myself intrigued by it and respecting it. So why haven’t I explored it? Well…time, mainly. I just never find the time for it. 

The album featured below is not hip-hop, though. It’s a straight-up classical record: a ballet told through eleven tracks, which tells a story of six youths, each named for a diatonic scale, who “transpose” into their “higher selves”. It’s dramatic, interesting listening that feels like good film music at first blush.

RZA wrote the ballet after he apparently found some old lyrics of his, which he had written in his teenage years, and found the old ideas lodging in his mind as old ideas tend to do. I can relate to this! It’s like the old ideas show up and say, “You weren’t ready for me then, but I’m back.” I found this ballet lyrical and emotionally varied, and dramatic in the best “film music” way.

I hope the embed works, as it’s a playlist. If it doesn’t work (i.e., only the first track plays), go here to get the whole thing. I really enjoyed this work!