There aren’t many more curious bedfellows than Icelandic experimental artist Björk and New York’s own rag-tag bunch of misfits, the Wu-Tang Clan. However, the two sets of artists have got together to deliver some of Björk’s most expressive sounds, despite them never surfacing.
Bjork was reminiscing back to the time Homogenic was released over two decades ago. Explaining how she teamed up with Wu-Tang to write a couple of tracks that never surfaced: “We wrote a couple of songs together,” she said in an interview with Fact. “And I just felt… sometimes when you do things, and you don’t plan them, it’s magic,” she added.
Considering how brilliant it would be to hear those iconic songs, we can’t help but feel a little annoyed by just how much Bjo2rk believed in them. “I really think what we made was magic,” she continued. “But I think because it wasn’t part of the whole Homogenic thing and it wasn’t part of what Wu-Tang were doing at the time, it was better as an idea, if that makes any sense?”
Can anyone really imagine what a collaboration between these two artists would be like? Thankfully, during the interview, Björk gave us a little taste: “I wanted these kinda Icelandic, volcanic beats, and I was kind of struggling with it. I had done beats on my albums, but it takes me a long time to make them. And sometimes, I get impatient, and I want other people to do it, so I sit there and describe to them what I want them to do. So, I was in Spain, and Wu-Tang Clan were supposed to come to Spain. RZA was supposed to come. But then months passed. Then the album got finished, and I delivered it. Then RZA was like, ‘I’m ready! Shall I come to Spain?'”
However, the opportunity was not lost. “Instead, I went to New York. We wrote a couple of songs together. And I just felt… sometimes when you do things, and you don’t plan them, it’s magic. And I really think what we made was magic. But I think because it wasn’t part of the whole Homogenic thing and it wasn’t part of what Wu-Tang were doing at the time, it was better as an idea, if that makes any sense?”
The tracks have become mythical moments in musical history, with the Icelandic singer refusing to release the tapes thus far. She also explained how the group began to feel protective over her: “We met a few times though – my favourite moment was when I did an in-store at Tower Records. I’d never done anything like that before. I turned up – and seven of the Wu-Tang Clan turned up to, like, protect me! I was signing books for an hour, and they sent some of their team, standing there with me. That was one of my all-time favourite moments: I had been on my own, so when they turned up, I felt very protected. It was magic.”
Björk also saw the band differently from everybody else: “In my eyes, they’re punk. We are definitely [similar] – we do things in, like, a ritual way. The good thing was that I got to hang out with them. I got to see Wu-Tang’s version of New York, which was pretty cool. A very specific angle on that city that I feel very blessed to have experienced.”
We can only dream of the Björk and Wu-Tang Clan mash-up.
