NME reports that Wu-Tang Clan head honcho RZA has today spoken to TMZ, notably defending Kanye West’s meeting with President elect Donald Trump.

Despite having previously and publicly backed Hilary Clinton, RZA was realistic about how things were going to be in the future, saying to TMZ that “Trump is the President, so we’re going to have to talk to him, deal with him […] If Kanye went in to speak for our community then Bong Bong.”

When quizzed about why he’d be voting for Hilary, RZA was very open, saying that his year’s of traversing the globe had influenced his decision: “What that means for me as a world traveller is the image of our president affects us who travel around the world – it affects the worldview of us,” RZA also saw voting for Hilary to be a continuation of Obama’s good work, elaborating “So when we put in a black man as president, we kind of fulfilled what the principles of our country are: to look at us as that guiding light.”

RZA joins the growing list of musicians that have voiced their opinions on Kanye’s meeting with America’s future President. Last week, longtime friend and collaborator John Legend admitted that he was “disappointed” with Kanye’s decisions, especially following the Chicago rapper’s hospitalisation for a multitude of concerning conditions. Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen had been very vocal in their stance against Trump in the run-up to the election, and on December 14 Legend said “I think Trump has been corrosive, his message has been corrosive to the country and I think the things he’s promised to do have been very concerning for a lot of people. And for Kanye to support that message is very disappointing…. Whatever was in his mind, I disagree with him.”

Kanye himself took to Twitter to address the controversy of his meeting with Trump at New York’s Trump Tower, saying that he personally requested the meeting, in order to discuss “multicultural issues” particularly in his home city of Chicago, as seen in the tweet below. Kanye expanded his point, saying that he thought it to be important “to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want to change.” Prior to his hospitalisation, Kanye was filmed onstage saying that he hadn’t voted in the election, but that if he had, it would’ve been Trump who had got his vote.

These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016