RZA has responded to Rihanna and ASAP Rocky naming their first-born after him, describing it as “a great honour”.
- READ MORE: Re-Enter The Wu Tang: RZA on the past, present and future of the hip-hop icons
Speaking to CNN, The Wu-Tang rapper – whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs – said it is “a great honour to know that there’s another generation that’s not even of my own household that feels the strength and the inspiration of that name”.
He continued: “RZA is only a name, it’s a title, so it’s an honour and I salute her and A$AP and their family. All the blessings in the world from me.”
According to Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide Vol. 1, the rapper created his rap name after learning about the importance of the letter Z while diving into Islam. Within the religion, the last letter in the alphabet refers to the highest level of human consciousness.
RZA has previously explained that the name stands for “Ruler, Zi-Zag-Zig, Allah,” which translates into “Ruler, Knowledge-Wisdom-Understanding, Allah.”
Earlier this year, ASAP Rocky took to Instagram to reveal his son’s name in a slideshow of photos with the caption: ““WU TANG IZ 4 DA CHUREN’ HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO MY 1st BORN . RZA.”
Before the post, the child’s name remained a mystery until the Daily Mail claimed that it had obtained the baby boy’s birth certificate, which reportedly noted that his full name is RZA Athelston Mayers.
Rihanna and ASAP Rocky are expecting their second child together.
In other news, last month, Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri joined Wu-Tang Clan onstage during their recent performance in Scotland.
The singer joined them onstage for a rendition of ‘Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)’ — a track which she re-worked with the hip-hop group in 1998.
Wu-Tang Clan are set to kick off the rest of their ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ tour with various North American dates in September, including stops in Nashville, Hollywood and Tampa. Find tickets to the US shows here.