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New Wu-Tang LP: RZA Says Yes, Method Man Says No

RZA promises new album at year's end, Method Man says repairing relations in the group is top priority.

Even as most of the members prep solo records and Method Man suggests some group therapy is in order, the Wu-Tang Clan will manage to crank out an album by year's end, group mastermind RZA promises.

RZA said Tuesday that the Clan will follow up last year's The W with an album of "back-to-basics, raw Wu stuff" in December.

However, Method Man recently told a far different story.

"It's not gonna happen," he said. "Right now we're going through a little internal sh--, bullsh--. ... When you have so many mouths to feed and then the sales aren't what they used to be, you know, things happen. Right now we're all working together to build a family structure back again. F--- a album. Let's be a family again.

"We gotta bring the friendship back, the unit back, before we can even attempt to go in the studio and make another album."

Columbia Records has penciled in December 4 as the album's tentative release date. Though RZA said the group will record new material over the next few months, Wu-Tang have more than an album's worth of songs left over from The W sessions, as well as material recorded with Ol' Dirty Bastard while he was on the lam last fall. ODB is currently in a New York jail awaiting sentencing on crack-cocaine charges (see [article id="1444480"]"ODB Sentencing Postponed Until July."[/article])

ODB's studio work while a fugitive from the law also enabled him to turn up on RZA's and Ghostface Killah's solo albums.

He joins Meth, GZA, Masta Killa and Goodie Mob's Big Gipp on RZA as Bobby Digital: Digital Bullet, due August 28. The LP is RZA's second album as the techno-age superhero Bobby Digital. "Show U Love" will serve as a club single, while "La Rumba" will be released to radio and have an accompanying video.

Method Man is in the midst of recording his third solo LP with Wu producer Mathematics, Dame Grease, Yogi and Quran, the latter of whom tracked Meth's "Break Ups 2 Make Ups," his Def Jam publicist said.

The effort, which Method Man at one point planned to title Tical O: The Prequel, is his first solo LP since 1998's Tical 2000: Judgement Day.

Ghostface Killah is finishing up Bulletproof Wallets in Miami, according to his A&R rep. Other than Dirty, the follow-up to last year's Supreme Clientele features guest spots from Raekwon, Meth and Carl Thomas and production by RZA, Alchemist and Ghost.

GZA is recording his third solo effort, while Raekwon is set to drop the follow-up to 1999's Immobilarity, on October 9. No details were available on either album at press time.

Cappadonna released The Yin and the Yang in April.

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