Bobby Digital in Stereo is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer RZA. It was released on November 24, 1998, and was certified Gold on February 5, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is an experimental album that is based on a story featuring him rhyming as a hedonistic, fun-loving alter-ego named Bobby Digital and showcasing a unique keyboard-driven sound (rather than samples) that RZA called digital orchestra, receiving mostly positive, though somewhat mixed, reviews.
Background
He explained the origins of Bobby Digital, saying:
It came from a really good bag of weed one day, right? I was in my studio. My birth name is Bobby Diggs. So at the time, creatively, I felt like I was in a digital frame. I felt like I was in high-speed, where everything was digital, in numbers, mathematics. I said to myself at the same time that as Bobby Digital, I could use a character to describe some of the earlier days of my own life. Partying, bullshitting, going crazy, chasing women, taking drugs. At the same time, I would mix in my love for comic books. It was a mixture of fiction and reality together to make a character I thought would be entertaining, and I could utilize that character to get fans into me as an MC, as a lyricist, and also following the path of my life. It's like pre-RZA. It's what The RZA struggles not to be, in a way, you know what I mean?[8]
Music
Lyrical content
On the pseudonym and character of Bobby Digital, which dominated the album's lyrics, RZA later stated:
I had to live in a way that I don't really live...I got to dip my weed in honey, and I had mad bitches around me. I probably fucked with 50 bitches this year...women are queens. But if they don't know that themselves, Bobby will prey on them. He'll treat them like bitches if they don't realize that they're queens. I had to get Bobby out of me, or else I'd be emotionally unbalanced. Bobby Digital is just me feeling my nuts. RZA is my heart.[9]
— RZA
Production
The sound of the album is largely keyboard-driven, but there are still samples. On the sound of Bobby Digital, RZA stated:
I learned how to play chords and progress the chords—I got together at least 16 or 17 different keyboards for this album. I always liked orchestras and strings, so I composed a digital orchestra.[10]
— RZA
Track listing
Track listing information is taken from the official liner notes.[11] Tracks 1-17 are Bobby Digital songs, while tracks 18-21 are RZA songs.
^In Stereo (booklet). RZA as Bobby Digital. Gee Street/V2/BMG Records. 1998. 32521.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^In Stereo (booklet). RZA as Bobby Digital. Gee Street/V2/BMG Records. 1998. V2CI 0018.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 241.
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