Did RZA go to prison? Wu-Tang Clan rapper faced 8 years of trial for attempted murder
After making their fans wait for two years, Hulu finally aired season two of ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ on Wednesday, September 8. Out of the three episodes dropped, the very first one set the bar real high as it showed Bobby Diggs (Ashton Sanders) going behind bars for attempted murder. The fictional character of Bobby Diggs is based on Wu-Tang Clan’s leader RZA, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.
The first episode of the Hulu original called ‘Little Ghetto Boys’ got fans on the edge of their seats after Diggs is shown facing a trial for attempted murder - an incident that also injured his close friend Dennis “D-Love” Coles, played in the show by Siddiq Saunderson. But did this happen in real life? The answer is yes. RZA did face a trial that went on for eight years after he shot a member of a rival gang in the leg.
The incident injuring his friend is also true as in real life his close pal Ghostface Killah got shot in the neck. However, the first episode of 'Wu-Tang Clan American Saga’ showing him fighting over his girlfriend might differ from the real situation.
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Did RZA really go behind bars for attempted murder?
In 1992, RZA did face a trial of eight years and he thought it was the end of everything. The Hulu drama series showed Bobby Diggs going behind the bars. RZA luckily was found not guilty. Taking lessons from the mess, the 52-year-old then decided to head back to New York from Ohio. And, that’s when the legendary Wu-Tang Clan was born as he got other members together to form the iconic collective. For the unversed, RZA was also involved in drugs and petty crime before he ultimately faced the attempted murder charges.
After giving a new direction to his life, he along with his kung-fu and hip-hop-inspired group dropped their classic debut album ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ in November 1993 via Loud Records.
‘It seemed like I wasn't going to make it out of it’
Speaking to CNN earlier, the renowned hip-hop artist shed light on his attempted murder case trial. “Either one of those incidents could definitely have derailed [Wu-Tang]. Of course, myself being the Abbot, the one who came with the idea, if I wouldn't have made it out of that tumultuous time- it seemed like I wasn't going to make it out of it; there was a lot of odds against me, but we stood strong, and self-defense made sense to the jury. We beat that ... It was the victory over that incident that made me change my whole direction."
The rapper and producer added, “In a way, it's double-edged in that incident. One, if I would've lost that, yeah, Wu-Tang wouldn't have happened, but also it's the victory of it that inspired me and gave me the drive also to go and really get serious about Wu-Tang and the things I was dealing with."
RZA touched on the same topic in his book 'The Tao of Wu'. Speaking to Pittsburgh City Paper, he said, “I had a chance to get off that path of hell. My mom’s seen it and she just told me, this is my second chance.”
He continued, “I don't really smile a lot, I don't smile in none of my pictures or whatever, but I had a smile on my face that was stuck for at least about 10 hours. The joy of walking out of that situation, and the understanding that you know what, this is a second chance — I took heed to it. I made that second chance count.”