You can add classical composer to RZA’s resume!

On Friday (July 19), the Wu-Tang Clan rapper announced the release of A Ballet Through Mud, a classical music album. The project, composed and scored by RZA, originally debuted as a ballet performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Denver, Colorado, in 2023. 

According to a press release, the 11-track composition showcases the 55-year-old’s journey from Staten Island project housing to performing in concerts as an artist, “weaving in tales of love, loss, exploration, Buddhist monks, and a journey ‘through mud.’” He started working on this project during the pandemic after rediscovering notebooks full of lyrics he wrote as a teenager.

"I have been composing my whole life, although I didn't know initially that was what I was doing. The inspiration for ‘A Ballet Through Mud’ comes from my earliest creative output as a teenager, but its themes are universal—love, exploration, and adventure,” RZA said. “I hope people use it to score their own lives, to transform a drive to the grocery store or sharing a meal with loved ones into something magical, to be inspired and let their imaginations take them into a different chamber, if only for a moment."

A Ballet Through Mud will be available to stream on Friday, August 30. See the official tracklist below:

1. Aeolian Beauty

2. Clear Sky After Storm

3. Ballet Through Mud

5. Divine Intervention

6. Freedom of Movement

7. Soft Footsteps

8. Goodnight

9. The Night Dances When You Least Expect It 

10. Moving Meditation

11. The Lotus Arrives