GZA

In the sixteen years since XXL's inception, we have spoken with a LOT of rappers about how the sausage is made with their music. Pretty much since the mag's beginnings, we have been running a reoccurring column "Train Of Thought" where hip-hop's most esteemed lyricists touch upon the inspiration for their illest verses. Over the year...

We all know how that it’s important how you start an album or mixtape, but how you finish it is equally vital to the success of any project. The final song, or “Outro” if you will, is the conclusion. It’s the last piece to the puzzle the artist has been building from the moment you pressed play. The way you walk away ...

Rap music has a way of celebrating the opening line. It’s always the hard entry that has heads nodding and wanting to listen to the rest of the song. However, some songs start off strong and fade out into nothingness by the end. It’s a rapper’s duty to remain thorough throughout the track or enlist the help of others to enhance the cut right up to the closing. We like to ca...

Guess how old the 'Liquid Swords' maestro turns today?

Representatives for Wu-Tang Clan founding members GZA and U-God are set to battle in court over the leak of a recent track featuring the two MCs. According to the New York Daily News, GZA's record label Babygrande Records filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court this week alleging that promoters and media organizations who helped put out U-God's recent album The Keynote Speaker used a track, "H

When it was announced earlier this week that Harvard University had developed a fellowship in honor of legendary Queens MC Nas, it sent minor shockwaves through an industry that may have felt somewhat shunned by higher education in the past...

Today XXL honors the most important men in hip-hop...the fathers...

Over the past few weeks, rumors have been circulating that the almighty Wu-Tang Clan is set to make a return to hip-hop with a new album, A Better Tomorrow. While nothing has been officially confirmed—Raekwon recently told XXL that the Clan's members are still trying to sort out the business end of the process—fans have gotten to hear one new track from troupe, "Execution In Autumn." In

Rappers have a strange relationship with the cinematic arts. While a few truly talented MCs have parlayed their musical fame into successful and rewarding cinematic careers, a greater number of others have dived head-first into the world of film and royally bombed...

Earlier this week, XXL got an exclusive look at the comic book that accompany Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge's upcoming album 12 Reasons To Die. While the folks at Black Mask Studios look like they've perfect captured the spirit of Ghost and Younge's giallo horror-meets-crime narrative, the Wu-Tang emcee isn't the first to get the comic book treatment...

Just moments after releasing the new video for “If U Were Mine,” Mathematics drops off another cut from his forthcoming album, The Answer, releasing on April 16. The Wu-Tang Clan have been collaborating often lately, with the majority of the main players appearing on “Face the Problemzz." Raekwon, GZA, a...

GZA sits down with Neil deGrasse Tyson to talk about how his interest in science has influenced his music...