Will the RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan produce the next Black Keys album?

After I wrote my post about bands The Black Keys have produced, I started thinking more closely about what the band’s next record might sound like and some of the Black Keys early and ongoing influences.

Whilst investigating, I was surprised to come across more than a few references to the RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan in interviews. Importantly, some were very recent.

Considering the amount of discussion in reviews about the band working with hip hop producer Danger Mouse on the Attack and Release record, it seems this long held admiration for the RZA/Wu-Tang Clan and hip hop has been overlooked by many. For mind, it has many implications for their future direction and collaborations.

I was interested to read that right from the time of The Big Come Up release, the band had name-checked the RZA. As Dan commented in this November 2003 interview and article:

“When we started playing…we wanted everything to sound like RZA produced it, like Wu Tang,” Auerbach says. RZA, the Clan’s producer, is given a great deal of credit for the group’s unique flavor, a noteworthy point since Carney serves not only as the Keys’ drummer, but also as the producer.

The Wu-Tang Clan can even be credited for partly-defining the band’s distictive sound. As Dan explained in this 2005 interview:

“We never intended to sound the way we do,” he said -meaning they never intended to have a sloppy stomp as their signature beat. “When we were 16 and 17 we loved hip-hop and the Wu Tang Clan and those big thumps were all we knew how to play. I tried to take guitar lessons but I hated it and I realized I didn’t want to start some guitar band.”

Pat is a big fan of hip hop and RZA’s work (“Pat hates the blues,” Auerbach says) and notably first asked Danger Mouse to produce the latest record.

Fast forward to 2008, while discussing the Danger Mouse collaboration, Dan explained the sound of their early work and the hip hop connection again:

“Back then, we wanted to sound like RZA. The first demo we sent out, when we were trying to get a record deal, had samples on it and stuff like that, intros and outros, so we always liked that kind of music.”

Now, more tellingly for understanding where Pat and Dan’s heads are at in 2008 (if this is possible), in this recent September 24, 2008, interview Dan commented:

“We would love to work with RZA,” he said. “I don’t know if that would ever happen or if it’s even possible.”
“Listening to those records, we really wanted to make records that sounded like that,” he said.

Interestingly, Dan also commented in this September 25, 2008, interview about the sound of the next record:

“Right now, it’s like there are no rules or boundaries out there for us,” Auerbach says. “We can kind of do whatever we want. And I think that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

So, will the Black Keys be the next big thing in hip hop? Will the RZA produce the next album? Well, I’ve seen it before when artists drop the names of people they wish to work with in the press and collaborations eventuate. The band obviously have a desire to fully imagine their hip hop sensibilities in recorded music.  Clearly the Attack and Release has been their most popular release and their evolved sound has moved them to headline status. I for one won’t be surprised if on the next record I see a notable production credit on at least one track from the RZA. Got to think it’ll be something that’s been a long time coming and nobody should be surprised. No doubt it will be worth the wait.

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