When RZA heard De La Soul’s “Get Away” single, which was released in April and sampled the Wu-Tang Clan, the rapper-producer was impressed. “I love De La,” RZA says during an interview with XXL. “Listen that goes back to…Prince Paul being one of those guys [who first supported me], and to see De La sampling one of my productions, you know what I mean, that’s cool, yo. It gets no cooler than that, actually.”
Prince Paul, who produced De La Soul’s early material, worked with RZA as part of the rap group Gravediggaz, which debuted in 1994 with its 6 Feet Deep album. De La Soul eventually moved beyond working exclusively with Prince Paul as a producer and De La Soul’s Posdnuos says that he got the idea for using the intro from Wu-Tang Clan’s Forever on “Get Away” after revisiting the group’s 1997 album. It’s also why “The Spirit Of The Wu” is credited as a guest on “Get Away.”
“I stumbled on the original sample while crate digging one day, took it straight to the lab and added drums,” Posdnuos says in an interview with Rolling Stone. “The feel is definitely gritty, hard and sounds like a Wu record, so out of inspirational respect, we included featuring ‘The Spirit of the Wu’ in the song title.”
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“Get Away” is slated to appear on De La Soul’s forthcoming You’re Welcome album, which is slated to be released later this year. De La Soul is touring with LL Cool J, Ice Cube and Public Enemy on the Kings of the Mic Tour. The trek runs until July 5, when it concludes at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
