RZA – Releases “Bobby Digital” On This Date in 1998

RZA - Releases "Bobby Digital" in 1998

Bobby Digital in Stereo is the solo debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist and record producer RZA, of East Coast hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. It was released on November 24, 1998, and was certified Gold on February 5, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was a well-received experimental album that was based on a story featuring him rhyming as a hedonistic, fun-loving alter-ego named Bobby Digital and showcasing a unique keyboard-driven sound (rather than samples) that the RZA called digital orchestra, receiving mostly positive, though somewhat mixed, reviews. He explained the origins of Bobby Digital, saying:

It came from a really good bag of weed one day, right? I was in my studio. My birth name is Bobby Diggs. So at the time, creatively, I felt like I was in a digital frame. I felt like I was in high-speed, where everything was digital, in numbers, mathematics. I said to myself at the same time that as Bobby Digital, I could use a character to describe some of the earlier days of my own life. Partying, bullshitting, going crazy, chasing women, taking drugs. At the same time, I would mix in my love for comic books. It was a mixture of fiction and reality together to make a character I thought would be entertaining, and I could utilize that character to get fans into me as an MC, as a lyricist, and also following the path of my life. It’s like pre-RZA. It’s what The RZA struggles not to be, in a way, you know what I mean?

Track Listing

1. “Intro”
2. “B.O.B.B.Y.”
3. “Unspoken Word”
4. “Slow-Grind African”
5. “Airwaves”
6. “Love Jones” (featuring Angel Cake)
7. “N.Y.C. Everything” (featuring Method Man)
8. “Mantis” (featuring Masta Killa & Tekitha)
9. “Slow-Grind French”
10. “Holocaust (Silkworm)” (featuring Holocaust, Doc Doom, Ghostface Killah & Ms. Roxy)
11. “Terrorist” (featuring Dom Pachino, P.R. Terrorist, Doc Doom & Killa Sin)
12. “Bobby Did It (Spanish Fly)” (featuring Islord, Timbo King, Ghostface Killah & Jamie Sommers)
13. “Handwriting on the Wall” (featuring Ras Kass)
14. “Kiss of a Black Widow” (featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard)
15. “Slow-Grind Italian”
16. “My Lovin’ Is Digi” (featuring The Force M.D.s & Ms. Roxy)
17. “Domestic Violence” (featuring Jamie Sommers & U-God)
18. “Project Talk” (featuring Kinetic 9)
19. “Lab Drunk”
20. “Fuck What You Think” (featuring Islord & 9th Prince)
21. “Daily Routine” (featuring Kinetic 9)

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