It’s no secret that I am a die-hard Wu Tang Clan fan. I’ve championed Ghost and Rza and Rae and Genius and Meth for not just their music but also, the fact that they bring character to the game that’s rare-to-non-existent nowadays. So nobody cling more to the possibility of a true Wu reunion or a purple tape 2 like me.

That said…

Last week Ghostface reached out. There will be some shocking statements on the state of the Wu this week. Make sure you check my boys over at MTV News tomorrow for their legendary Mixtape Monday Report. Ghostface makes a serious allegation about some Wu finances. (click here on Monday to read Shaheem, Rahman and Jayson’s scoop.)

And in a related dispute, if the Dec. 4th release date for both the new Wu-Tang album, “8 Diagrams,” and the new Ghost album, “Big Dough Rehab,” seemed a bit strange, your gut instinct was right. Ghost calls it “sabotage” and charges “Wu Tang the brand.” When I asked him specifically, what constitutes “the brand” he wanted to make sure I understood that he didn’t mean the other group members. He named only Rza, Divine, and Loud.

sigh.

I will bring you more of Ghost and Rae’s very heartfelt words. But I also want to reach out to Rza for a reaction. I know lots of fans hope for the best, but each man is entitled to his say.

UPDATE: here is an excerpt from the Mixtape Monday item by Jayson R.

“I had December 4 for the longest,” he explained. “But the Wu album, brothers was kinda late on doing whatever they were doing and pushed it back … on my date. You can put this in there, I’m not [mad at] all the members. It’s not based on the members, but the hierarchy at Wu-Tang Clan is on some bullsh–. They trying to f— around and make me push my album back and doing all this. But n—as ain’t f—ing around or give us money when we did them Wu-Tang tours. The first one, they paid us after a while, but this last one, n—as is holding onto a lot of money. And [they're] upset based on that. It’s a battle right now…

As far as Ghost’s participation on The 8 Diagrams, though, so far he’s only jumped on a handful of tracks.

“I got on some of them,” he said. “A few of them. … N—as better pay my f—ing money. Matter of fact, they can keep the money — just get me out of their life right now.“

(Ghost and Rza at the Highline Ballroom in May 2007, as spotted on AngryCitizen.)