
RZA was more than happy to put on his producer hat when he got a call from Good Humor to create a new ice cream truck jingle in place of “Turkey in the Straw.”
The request for the new tune came after the song’s troubled history reemerged earlier this summer as racial tensions continued to ignite following the death of George Floyd. RZA tells ABC Audio that he was proud to be a part of the production.
“It’s a blessing to be able to turn that negative thing and put a positive energy out there,” he says, before noting it was also a mission of Wu-Tang to give back to the community.
“And that’s exactly what ODB meant at the end of the day,” he continues, referring to the 1998 Grammys when rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard bumrushed the stage and said, in part, “Wu-Tang is for the children,” after the group lost for Rap Album of the Year.
“You know, in our younger age it’s one way,” he smiles. “But, in our mature age, we need to take more claim to that. And yeah, this is definitely ‘Wu-Tang is for the kids.’ That’s a great example of that… This is the total accumulation of what he was talking about.”
As far as making the catchy new track, which will be added to music boxes in standard ice cream trucks, RZA admits it took him a while to perfect, but once he did, Good Humor was “hooked.”
“It took me about eight renditions,” he reveals. “It was definitely some trial and error… And I sent it into them and they said, ‘Yeah, those are really good.’ They actually sent back a comment like, ‘We’re hooked on this.'”
“And then, I just kept building on it from there,” he adds.
By Candice Williams
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