All the cool rappers are doing it. From Dr. Dre to Ludacris to 50 Cent and now Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, A-list hip-hop stars are cashing in on the headphone craze. Teaming up with street-clothing brand WeSC, the Wu producer will be launching Chambers by RZA in the fall. MTV News sat down with the RZArector last week while he was out in Berlin for the Bread & Butter Supershow and discussed his latest endeavor.
The producer/rapper is known for his discerning ear, intricate beats and expert mixes, so fans should expect the headsets to be on point, sonically. "I wanted to make one that was going to be cool, dope, that's going to be fly to wear, as well sound good, as well as practical in use, and that's when we came with Chambers by RZA," he explained.
Functionality was key, so there are quite a few features that the RZA says set his headphones apart from others on the market. One unique feature, in particular, is the battery-powered noise-canceling function. "I wanted to make sure that when the noise-cancellation batteries run out, the headphones still work. I hate when the batteries run out and the headphones don't work," RZA said. "What's the use of paying a couple hundred bucks for headphones that's dependent on $5 batteries? It don't make sense. So these headphones, when the batteries run out, you still can use it as a regular headphone."
Another key feature is the headphones' ability to link to other ear buds, allowing multiple people to listen to the same device simultaneously. "We made ours as to now you can plug right in; you can connect headphone-to-headphone-to-headphone," he said. "You and your girlfriend could be chillin' on the train maybe, she can have her iPod, and guess what? You're both hearing the same song, enjoying each other's company."
The Chambers by RZA also light up while the music is playing, creating a kind of light show. And in addition to the flashing lights, the Shaolin representative wanted to make his line fashionable, even taking into account his Wu-Tang bandmates during the design process.
"I wear Timberlands, black Timberlands a lot, right? So I needed an all-black pair of headphones," he said. "Raekwon, he likes wearing Air Force 1s — him and Method Man wear Air Force 1s. Almost every Wu-Tang Show, [Rae] got on a pair of Nikes, so I thought about headphones that would match his Nikes."
Combining functionality with fashion is what RZA hopes will make his line of headphones stand out from the competition. "That's what I think it should be; it's a fashion statement," he added. "It's not only something that's useful — because they gotta be useful, of course — but to be useful and cool, you can't beat that."
The producer/rapper is known for his discerning ear, intricate beats and expert mixes, so fans should expect the headsets to be on point, sonically. "I wanted to make one that was going to be cool, dope, that's going to be fly to wear, as well sound good, as well as practical in use, and that's when we came with Chambers by RZA," he explained.
Functionality was key, so there are quite a few features that the RZA says set his headphones apart from others on the market. One unique feature, in particular, is the battery-powered noise-canceling function. "I wanted to make sure that when the noise-cancellation batteries run out, the headphones still work. I hate when the batteries run out and the headphones don't work," RZA said. "What's the use of paying a couple hundred bucks for headphones that's dependent on $5 batteries? It don't make sense. So these headphones, when the batteries run out, you still can use it as a regular headphone."
Another key feature is the headphones' ability to link to other ear buds, allowing multiple people to listen to the same device simultaneously. "We made ours as to now you can plug right in; you can connect headphone-to-headphone-to-headphone," he said. "You and your girlfriend could be chillin' on the train maybe, she can have her iPod, and guess what? You're both hearing the same song, enjoying each other's company."
The Chambers by RZA also light up while the music is playing, creating a kind of light show. And in addition to the flashing lights, the Shaolin representative wanted to make his line fashionable, even taking into account his Wu-Tang bandmates during the design process.
"I wear Timberlands, black Timberlands a lot, right? So I needed an all-black pair of headphones," he said. "Raekwon, he likes wearing Air Force 1s — him and Method Man wear Air Force 1s. Almost every Wu-Tang Show, [Rae] got on a pair of Nikes, so I thought about headphones that would match his Nikes."
Combining functionality with fashion is what RZA hopes will make his line of headphones stand out from the competition. "That's what I think it should be; it's a fashion statement," he added. "It's not only something that's useful — because they gotta be useful, of course — but to be useful and cool, you can't beat that."
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