Supreme Clientele - Production

Production

In the mid-1990s, Producer RZA had a flood in his basement studio, which resulted in the loss of recording equipment and several hundred beats, many of which were un-finished. As a result, he would have to use new equipment, and start over from scratch for production contributions. In a later interview, he stated "The jewel of the whole shit is that I lost mad shit in that flood. I got it again. It took me about two years, but I got now at least 200-300 beats. I studied the music, I studied the books and I said "fuck that. Hip-hop is gonna be able to be played in Carnegie Hall. Not with a DAT, but with a 10-piece orchestra, and have a turntable in it, and Bobby Digital right there in the middle".

Although a number of producers, such as JuJu from The Beatnuts, Hassan of the U.M.C.'s, The Hitmen, and several Wu-Tang affiliates are credited for production, RZA and Ghostface Killah did the majority of the production and mixing for the album, as they "re-compiled" and "re-worked" them. In regards to this, RZA explained "Usually a producer comes in, makes a beat, mixes it, and gives the direction for it. But not with this album. That's why you get that special sound. I just needle and threaded the beats all together." This approach would later result in critical praise and recognition for its fluidity and cohesiveness.