RZA says Hot 97 banning Wu-Tang Clan hurt hip-hop culture

Longtime fans of the Wu-Tang Clan may find this news bitter-sweet: The group will be going on tour with all of its original surviving members in June. But it'll be Wu-Tang's last tour as a complete unit.

The name of the tour is The Final Chamber, and Wu's leader RZA talked about it with The New York Times' music podcast, Popcast. He also spoke about the legendary group being banned from New York radio station Hot 97 back in the day. It happened in 1997 when the group was supposed to play the station's Summer Jam concert. But since they were out of town, the station made them pay for their flight back to the East Coast.

Ghostface Killah decided to diss Hot 97 from the Summer Jam stage as a result and Wu, as well as their music, was banned from the station. RZA said being blackballed not only hurt the group but all of hip-hop. The legendary producer also stated that Wu's sophomore album, Wu-Tang Forever, should've sold way more than it did.

"Between that and the sister stations and even a few other stations that followed their trend, it’s almost like Wu-Tang Forever could have been diamond," RZA explained. "Finally, someone apologized to me, like, two years ago. Funk Flex sat down with me and apologized. That was a kick in the n--s and in hindsight, it was a kick in the n--s to the culture."

RZA was referring to the longtime Hot 97 personality expressing regret over the ban. "I wanna take this time to apologize to RZA and the entire Wu-Tang Clan," wrote Flex on Instagram. "Almost 25 yrs ago the group, me and Hot 97 had a disagreement that to me never got put to bed and I apologize."