The spirit of collaboration is one of Hip-Hop's greatest strengths. Because there was less of it in before the late 1990s, there are a host of legendary acts who've never formally worked together. But now, we're seeing some of Hip-Hop's biggest icons team up to deliver inspired work. The Wu-Tang Clan guru RZA has worked with lots of huge names across the industry; and DJ Scratch emerged from his turntable work with EPMD to become a hitmaker for Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent and more—one of Hip-Hop's most in-demand producers.

Scratch and RZA have teamed up for their new album Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater, and for RZA, it's been a joy to work with a kindred spirit in Scratch—and someone with Scratch's resume.

"It’s a pleasure for me and DJ Scratch to come together and do it," says RZA. "Scratch produced the entire album. The sonics are incredible."

RZA suddenly remembers: "This is Rock The Bells! You know DJ Scratch produced LL COOL J joints!"

Having Scratch behind the boards gave RZA room to stretch out as an emcee. It was cathartic for the Wu legend, and evidence of Scratch's ability to find the best approach for whomever he's working with at any given time.

"My approach to collaborations is based on the artist," Scratch says. "Every artist is different, so the approach is different. Some artists have ego, some don't. Some like to work fast. Some like to work in a more meticulous manner. With RZA, the approach was different. He's a superproducer himself. One of the beats that I gave him, he recognized the sample as soon as he heard the beat. When you're dealing with artists and doing songs with artists, they don't recognize samples or anything like that. So the collaboration was easier because you're actually dealing with a producer. He understands what I'm doing and I totally understand what he's doing."

And it's a mutual admiration society.

"[Scratch] produced this entire album for the RZA," the Shaolin swordsman states reverentially.

It was struggling through the harrowing spring of 2020 that led to these two already-iconic creatives to team up. For RZA, it was a silver lining in a grey cloud of COVID.

"The crazy thing is that you never know," he says. "We all got stories about what COVID did to us. And for me, it made me sit down in my crib and start playing with my toys and going through my hard drives. And I came across a track that DJ Scratch had submitted for the [Wu-Tang Clan] 8 Diagrams album. It was a dope track but the Wu brothers never spit on it. There was another one that he played for me a few years ago and I just never forgot about it."

"He was like 'yo, I got a whole buncha joints that were made just for Wu, actually.'"

The early days of the 2020 pandemic, with endless quarantines and death seemingly round-the-clock on 24 hour news, was a heavy burden on so many peoples' psyches. RZA's inital calls to Scratch where to check on the mental health of his friend as New York City was in the throughs of the coronavirus. But once their conversations turned musical, it was obvious what should happen.

"The world went crazy at that time," Scratch says of quarantining, but the prospect of him and RZA doing a project was a no-brainer. "It wasn't a 'why,' it was a 'when.'"

Two music videos from the album have already been released: the title track and "Fate Of the World." The videos are cinematic in scope; featuring RZA as Bobby Digital and the Wu master teaching the ways of the Wu-Tang in a lavish temple. Initially, Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater was to be called RZA vs Bobby Digital and was expected last August. But as their collaboration went on, RZA wanted to tap into something from his youth; something that impacted him deeply.

"I grew up in a time where we had Saturday afternoon kung fu theater," RZA explains. "I don’t care if you was a hustler, a breakdancer, a guy playing basketball, a straight up stickup thug—at 3 o’clock, everybody left the project streets and went in the crib to watch these movies. It actually made the streets quiet! Afterwards, we’d all come out and try to emulate the moves we saw in the movies. That memory was such a joyful time: to see how communities could be affected by cinema and art. This album is a throwback to that."

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with RZA's persona and discography should know the impact that kung fu movies had on the young Robert Diggs. His group's name and iconography; his music videos like "Tragedy" and his film projects like Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai. It's a part of who he is and it's what the fans have come to know him for. But it's also still a tremendous source for inspiration. Of course, RZA's scope isn't just a long-standing kung fu fetish (he's currently listening to a lot of Nat King Cole); but it's continuously been a north star for his most potent and profound ideation.

As RZA's memories float back to martial art flicks on weekend TV, Scratch recalls just how resourceful he had to be as a youngster to realize his deejaying dreams.

"I made a speaker out of a pamper box," Scratch says. "Back then, I didn't have money for equipment. Y'know, I grew up poor—the same cliche story. I grew up in Albany Projects, five outta six. I'm number five outta six boys. I didn't have money for equipment back then—I was like 11, 12 years old. So I noticed that Pamper boxes, the cardboard is strong as hell. I would make my own equipment, basically. So when somebody throws out a stereo; somebody would throw out a TV, I'd open it up and take the speakers out. I didn't have any speakers, so I took a Pamper box somebody threw out. I took the tweeter from the TV and the bass speaker from the stereo, cut a whole in the Pamper box and screwed it in. People would always hear me DJing and practicing in the hood because my Mom would be like 'turn that shit down.'"

He chuckles to himself.

"I need a deal from Pampers for that, man."

Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater is a chance for masters of this Hip-Hop thing to explore ideas via each other's creativity. It's clear that RZA is freed up by Scratch's know-how and Scratch is just as liberated by the fact that he and RZA speak the same musical language. At this point, neither man needs to prove anything to anyone. Their legacies are cemented. They do what they do now for the art of it.

"August 14 is officially DJ Scratch Day in Brooklyn, NY.," says Scratch, reflecting on his career and life's journey. "Our new mayor, Eric Adams, he was the Brooklyn Borough President at the time, and he gave me the key to the city. It's an honor. I never thought I'd have my own day, let alone all the other success I've had for decades. This wasn't a part of my dream, but it's a reward for my dreams."

As for RZA, people may wonder why he even bothers with recording. He's starred in films like American Gangster and Funny People; he's directed projects like 2012s The Man With The Iron Fists and 2020s Cut Throat City. On the outside looking in, it's tempting to suggest that music is now an afterthought for the former Zig Zag Ziglar.

"I’ve been doing Hip-Hop for decades now," RZA reflects. "I do it at this phase of my life as an expression of joy. Before I came in attacking emcees and was fighting to be No. 1. My crew made it to number one. But after making movies and everything, people say ‘why would you wanna make another hip-hop album now?’ Because I love it, yo."