RZA to Direct Film Starring Azealia Banks

BY Alex HudsonPublished May 27, 2015

In addition to leading the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA has made numerous forays into the film world, most notably directing the 2012 kung-fu flick The Man with the Iron Fists. Now he's got another film in the works, and he's roped a couple of his fellow rappers to act.

The movie is called It Doesn't Have to Rhyme and it will star Azealia Banks. Common and soul singer Jill Scott also have roles, along with actress Lorraine Toussaint (Orange Is the New Black, Selma). It was written by Nicole Asher and shooting is due to begin this week in New York.

The Hollywood Reporter describes it as an "inspirational music drama" akin to 8 Mile. It's about a rapper, played by Banks, who enrols in a college poetry class and begins to pursue slam poetry. Scott plays a professor who believes that rapping and slam poetry should be kept separate, and Common has a mentor role.

RZA's past foray into kung-fu filmmaking didn't exactly go over well with audiences, and Exclaim! called The Man with the Iron Fists a "delusional vanity project" in our review. Hopefully this rap-themed flick will be more within his wheelhouse.

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