Hi, I like to say thanks first and foremost for taking the time to answer these questions, and will also point out that nothing will be altered, edited or changed when this is published online 

Wu-International: Peace Bronze, What’s good? you are a hard man to catch as I have been sending you messages for an interview for ages, so I really appreciate you taking the time out to answer these questions, sorry it is quite lengthy but I have been meaning to ask you more than this for a long time, so to kick off, I'd say peace and how are you?
Bronze: I’m good man thanks for reaching out.

Wu-International: I have read about you online but still going to ask some quick questions just to introduce you to everyone, Please tell us where you are from and currently located?
Bronze: I’m from Grand Rapids, MI/Detroit, MI. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, been in Detroit for some years now.

Wu-International: How long have you been making beats?
Bronze: Since about '94

Wu-International: What type of producer are you? How would you describe your style?
Bronze: I would say my style is like feelings...all my joints have a lot of emotion, whether it’s grimy or something beautifully sad, or some feel good shit, a lot of feeling.

Wu-International: There has been criticism in the past of your productions  being too samey and formulaic, although I think for many that is the  beauty and appeal in knowing instantly that you’re the producer behind  the track. And it certainly hasn’t stopped the legions of rappers desperate to add some underground kudos to their albums calling you up. What would be your response to this assessment of your style?
Bronze: My response is that there's not a whole lot of my music out there yet, and truthfully if you were to sit and listen to a disc of my beats, you'd hear a more diverse collection than it appears to the public this far.

Wu-International: How would you define the role of a producer?
Bronze: A producer has many roles, not just beat making, a producer has to be able to put the correct elements into the right places of a song.

Wu-International: How long does it take to make a track?
Bronze: it can be ten minutes, or it can be days. Depending on what you're working with.

Wu-International: Do you remember your first beat?
Bronze: Yeah I still have it, It wasn't that bad, just real basic.

Wu-International: What's your objective when creating tracks?
Bronze: Simply to make good music.

Wu-International: What kind of equipment did you select for your studio and why?
Bronze: With beats I started with an ASR-10 and also mess with some computer joints like Reason, Audition and of course pro tools when recording/mixing.

Wu-International: Have you ever made a track for someone and they turned it  down, only to have another emcee scoop it up?
Bronze: yeah it happens, artists can surprise you by the joints that they choose. It’s never what you expect.

Wu-International: Apart for being credited as the one bringing back that old classic Wu-Tang sound, what would you say sets you  apart from other  hip hop producers?
Bronze: only thing I do is make music from my heart that I feel, I'm not trying to outshine anyone, I’m not worrying about who's doing what style, or what’s hot at the moment, I’m just being genuine, and making music I feel.

Wu-International: Hats off on the great work you did on “Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture” your contribution in addition to the gifted talents on there has made that album a classic, do you approach a track differently if its for a Wu or a non Wu members or does it not matter?
Bronze: Nah not really I don’t make tracks specifically for people, I just make the music, I might have something I’ll set aside for someone though. If I have a joint that sounds like Ghost I'll set it aside and try to get it to him.

Wu-International: Are there any advantages or significance of being an emcee as well as a producer?
Bronze: I think maybe you feel the connection between the beat and the rhymes more so.

Wu-International: I remember listening to The Unknown album, and thinking Wow.. Great!!, but that was just the beginning as it seems you have gotten better and better with time, How has your sound developed or progressed since you started producing?
Bronze: it's grown more complex. Always at the beginning of anything, whether its beats, rhymes, free throws, you're with the basics early on. Then while learning, over time you become more developed and complex. So at this point I feel I have more dimensions than early on.

Wu-International: Everyone is influenced one way or another, who are some of your influences, and how have you adapted any of their styles into your own?
Bronze: Big Daddy Kane, Geto Boys, Rakim, Ice Cube, Rza, 4th Disciple, NWA, Gangstarr, BDP, and beyond hip-hop…Gil Scott Heron, Curtis, Donnie Hathaway, Stevie, Teddy Pendergrass, etc etc. Artists who had genuine music with feeling.

Wu-International: If you had to name 3 top producers off your head besides  yourself, who would they be? 
Bronze: Rza, 4th Disciple, Just Blaze/DJ Premier tie.

Wu-International: How did you meet The RZA and got initiated into the Wu-Elements?
Bronze: I Met Rza in 36 Chambers with the help of Cilvaringz. Rza gave me some time to show him some material, and asked me to join Wu Elements and from there it was on.

Wu-International: You blessed “Birth of a Prince” album by RZA with a number of solid tracks, what was it like working with The Abbott (RZA)?
Bronze: It was real laid back. I enjoyed seeing the Abbot at work. I’m a studio rat myself so all I did was sit in the studio and it was great to observe an icon.

Wu-International: You have produced for numerous artists, within the Wu and outside, Are they any artists you have not worked with Wu-tang or not that you would like to work with?

Bronze: yeah I’m still waiting to get joints wit a lot of Wu like Ghostface, Deck, Rae, U God, Meth. I want to do a joint with as many fam as I can. As far as outside Wu? I like cats like G. Rap, Saigon, Ras, Nas, Jay, Mos Def, etc etc. but I'd like to do some out the box type shit. For example I'd love do a whole album with Ice Cube and take it back to his street/political, Death Certificate sound. Or I'd like to do something like a whole album for Mos Def, or a Soul album with Tweet or something over crazy beats. I just know I could make something crazy brilliant.

Wu-International: Have you ever produced for a non hip-hop act?
Bronze: Yeah I've done a few R&B joints, some Reggae. Nobody you'd be familiar with though.

Wu-International: I have to admit I was not so sure of your mic skills initially, as I paid more attention to your beats, but you are also very sharp with the lyrics, I gave “Black Dawn” 5/5 when I heard it, and it has since been spinning on my ipod non stop, how do you approach writing a track? 
Bronze: Thanks! I really just do what the beat tells me, I like to have order though, like if it’s a group joint I like to be on the same subject throughout. But other than that it’s just freehand thoughts. I try to make each line mean something. There’s a lot of thought about what goes on the beat, I hate when I feel like a song could have been  better lyrically. Lyrics are the final instrument.

Wu-International: As well as a solo artist you are also a member of The Unknown with your brother Kevlaar as well as a member of the 7 Wisemen, please can you break down the members of the 7 Wisemen and history of the group?
Bronze: The Wisemen is a group consisting of myself, Kevlaar 7, Phillie from West Detroit, Salute from Detroit, Illa Dayz from Detroit, Break Bread from Detroit, Wild Child from Grand Rapids. It was seven of us before but it’s growing and will most likely end up being a revolving cast with me, Kevlaar, Phillie and Salute as the main members.

Wu-International: Thanks, will they ever be a Wisemen album?
Bronze: Yeah we actually have several songs done, and are close to finishing recording the album. Production duties are shared by Myself, and Kevlaar, and maybe 1 or 2 more. The album should be in stores soon.

Wu-International: Are they any other groups you are affiliated with we do not know of?
Bronze: Nah.

Wu-International: So your new album “The Great Migration” is coming out 23rd of May, how are you feeling about it?  
Bronze: I’m feeling good, It was a learning experience to do my first official album. I think people are going to notice the lyrics. A lot of my lyrics have double meaning and I always try to give you something visual so pay attention to the lyrics. I have a joint called Poem Burial Ground, and I strung so many words together the flow is crazy but at the same time I’m saying crazy shit. Like “My sinister stings/glimmer like minister’s rings/echo like singers who sing/ near hills and valleys of Kings/” So you get an ill rhyme pattern and some substance. And its not the same flow on every song, it’s diverse.

Wu-International: Just like to say the art cover is ill, I assume Nubian Images did it? Why have you titled it The Great Migration?

Bronze: Yeah that’s a Nubian work. But I gave it this title because it has been a long road up to this point. I traced my roots back to Slavery, so I’m an extension of the true Great Migration, where freed slaves moved from the South to the North to find work. This was the road they traveled to live, and my album is a reflection of my growth and the road I traveled.

Wu-International: What types of concepts, issues or topics are covered on your new album?
Bronze: Life, Reparations, Skills, questions, answers, deep thought, description. It’s a vivid picture. A personal journey.

Wu-International: I am assuming you will be handling most if not all the production duties on the album? Any other producers on the album?
Bronze: Nah just me, we were going to fit a Kevlaar beat on their but didn’t make it in time.

Wu-International: Being a Wu-Tang fan myself, I was pleased to see that some of the guest spots included acts within the FAM, I am definitely feeling the songs I have heard so far, especially the track with Timbo King “More Than Gold”, the combo of you and Bo king was excellent, do you have any favorite track(s) on the album?
Bronze: Yeah my favorite is either “The Pain” or “Black Royalty”. The verse on Black royalty is deep.

Wu-International: I heard about you releasing the great migration album about 3 or so years ago, seems the album has been in works for a long time now, why has it taken you so long to get that out?
Bronze: Just growing into the business a little more, waiting for the right opportunity to get it out there.

Wu-International: On the completed but unreleased album section  of our website, we had a listing of some of the songs for the great migration album some years back that were supposed to be released such as Through The Eyes (ft. LA The Darkman), Four Strokes of Bronze Fist (ft. Cilvaringz, Beretta 9 & Killa Sin), Entity's Theme (ft. 4th Disciple) etc, Did some of those tracks you recorded make the album or did you do entirely new songs?
Bronze: Nah those were songs that were in the plans but never materialized. I do have a track with 4^th rhyming on it, but I’m saving it for him.

Wu-International: You were involved with a number of online internet releases some years back, If you were not currently getting your album out by babygrande records, would you have put the album out independently or continued shopping until you got a deal you were happy with?
Bronze: Nah I would have continued shopping it.

Wu-International: How did you hook up with Dreddy Kruger and got involved with Think Differently Music / Babygrande records?    
Bronze: I met Dreddy in 36 Chambers when I was trying to get my paperwork done with Rza. Me and Dreddy stayed in touch and he reached out when he got his situation.

Wu-International: What  has Dreddy’s role been in the release of this album? 
Bronze: He A&R’d the joint, arranged it, helped mix it. It’s on his label, so we put our heads together and hashed out what was needed, he made it happen on the business side too.

Wu-International: Word is LA The Darkman would be next after you on Think Differently Music, will you be contributing to Darkman II album? 
Bronze: Last I knew LA picked up 4 or 5 for on there. 

Wu-International: What ever happened to the intended internet release of trilogy of swordsmanship part 3 (Two Champions Of Shaolin) you were supposed to complete with Moongod Allah? and and are you still in touch with Moongod and was he involved in your new project?
Bronze: Nah he wasn't a part of the album simply cause we just weren’t around each other. A long time ago I had a beat from him for the album but it never happened. That’s my man though. We’ll do something in the future.

Wu-International: Of all the projects you've done, which are you most proud of? And Do you have plans for a Bronze Nazareth producer-based LP, in the vein of say Hi-Tek and Da Beatminerz?
Bronze: I’m most proud of Rza’s “A Day to God is 1,000 Years”. It was the first official joint I had in stores, and one of my favorite beats. So to have Rza on it was a blessing. I’d do a producer-based album but I’d mad picky with who I got on it cause I’d want it perfect.

Wu-International: With the common trend of producers lacing a full album for emcees these days (e.g. 9th Wonder & Murs,  4th Disciple & Hell Razah,  DJ Muggs & GZA/Genius) is there any artist out there you are feeling and would do a whole album with?
Bronze: Yeah I’d do a whole album with any one from Wu obviously. I talked to Masta Killa about it briefly. I’d do a whole joint without question. But like I said before I’d do an album with Cube, Mos Def, Beanie Sigel, AZ, Kam, RA, just too many too name that I’d feel I could make a   banger with. I’d jump at the opportunity.

Wu-International: On same topic of common trends, is the release a mix tape before or after an album. You already blessed us with Though For Food Vol. 1, will you be following that up?
Bronze: Yeah I’ma have something for part two, not sure when though.

Wu-International: Another up and coming trend is the release of instrumental albums, will you be releasing instrumentals to the Great Migration or even releasing all new instrumental album?
Bronze: Not sure at this point. We may release GM as instrumentals.

Wu-International: So what’s next after the great migration, any future side projects in the mix (e.g. movies, commercials, Tours etc)?
Bronze: We have more albums coming, a steady stream…

Wu-International: Do you have any protégés that you're grooming to be hot producers/Emcee?
Bronze: I have a few, but really it’s about if they are serious or not. Listen to the Wisemen when it drops, they will feed you what you need.

Wu-International: People say that Wu has fallen off? What is your response to that?
Bronze: They should listen deeper. Quit staying confined to what’s all on TV, there’s other music out here, just gotta find it.

Wu-International: If you weren't in the hip hop business, what would you be doing?
Bronze: Whatever I could figure out to pay the bills and feed my family, by any means necessary.
 

Wu-International: You have definitely paid your dues, what advice would you give to a young emcee or producer who wants to have a music career?? Bronze: STAY DETERMINED. Everyone wants to rhyme but can you wait out the years before you make it? You need that drive or you won’t make it. Wu-International: Thanks very much for your time, shouts out to the people at babygrande records for making this interview possible, anything else you might want to add that we missed? Any final words for the people who are reading this, Shout outs etc? Bronze: Thanks to Wu International for the lookout. GET THE ALBUM IT’S THE FIRST IN A PUZZLE OF GREATNESS THAT’S BOUT TO HIT THE EARTH. SUPPORT IT!!!!

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