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RZA goes Digital again on headlining tour, solo album

Wu-Tang Clan 's RZA will don his Bobby Digital persona once again for his first solo tour in several years, with a new studio album on the horizon.

The rapper/producer, who toured earlier in the year with the rest of Wu-Tang following the hip-hop collective's "8 Diagrams" CD, will launch the run June 28 in Houston, and 20 dates are lined up through early July. The complete schedule is below.

West Coast soul/funk outfit Stone Mecca--who also contributed to RZA's upcoming Bobby Digital album, according to a press release--will back up the rapper on stage during the outing.

The performer's upcoming disc, "Digi Snax," is scheduled to hit stores in July. The album continues the story of Bobby Digital, an alter-ego created by RZA in his lab on "Wu Mountain," and is described in a record company bio as a "self-indulgent creature of the flesh who loves to womanize, party, spend money and wear the latest fashions." The set will follow RZA's two previous Bobby Digital albums, 1998's "Bobby Digital in Stereo" and 2001's "Digital Bullet."

The Wu-Tang leader continues to work on his "final" solo album under his own name, the quasi-mythical "The Cure," which the rapper has told several interviewers will be his last as an MC.

"There's two things I'm doing musically right now," RZA told the Now Toronto website last month. "One, I'm finishing up the Bobby Digital album, and I think I have a real unique approach and vocal cadence. I think I'm going to have a nice surprise album out of that one. And I've been working on it for 10 years now almost, but I'm still finishing up 'The Cure.'

"I think that's going to be a satisfying moment for all Wu fans around the world," he added. "If they don't get it from nowhere, they will get it from 'The Cure,' because I think that's really going to be special."