Wu-Tang Clan’s next record is coming out on a portable speaker—in part, at least. In a recent interview with Billboard, RZA said that the long-ballyhooed A Better Tomorrow should be out as a CD, LP, and download by Black Friday, November 28, but that 3000 “lucky” Zumiez customers will have the chance to hear eight of the album’s tracks a few weeks early by purchasing the “Wu-edition Boombot Rex,” a Bluetooth device the group is making in tandem with Boombotix. The Boombot will also contain unavailable-on-album instrumentals and an exclusive song, “Big Horn B.” RZA said that issuing the record on a speaker gives “a layer of protection” to the album, as it’s then unable to be downloaded or shared online.
As for the album’s content, RZA says it’s a concept piece:
“Musically, it travels from a guy who is going through difficulties, tries to find himself, gets involved with some violence, some troubles, but then realizes that it’s best sometimes to walk away from the past and all the bad times and maybe work on making his life better, and making a better tomorrow.”
Wu-Tang’s other 2014 release, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, also exists in a ridiculous format of a single copy, encased in a silver-and-nickel box, and available for supervised listening only at select art galleries. The group also hopes to sell the physical copy of the record for millions of dollars, and claims that offers have already started rolling in.