Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA is set to release “A Ballet Through Mud,” an orchestral album inspired by his teenage writings, on August 30 through the Platoon label.

The album, a recorded version of a ballet RZA composed and produced, was performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in 2023. It marks a departure from his hip-hop roots, exploring themes of love, exploration, and adventure.

RZA, born Robert Diggs, discovered the project’s inspiration during the pandemic when he revisited lyrical songbooks from his youth in Staten Island, which he affectionately calls “Shaolin.”

“I have been composing my whole life, although I didn’t know initially that was what I was doing,” RZA said in a statement. “The inspiration for ‘A Ballet Through Mud’ comes from my earliest creative output as a teenager, but its themes are universal.”

The album follows RZA’s 2023 orchestral concerts featuring Wu-Tang Clan’s seminal “36 Chambers” album. It also builds on his extensive experience scoring films, which includes soundtracks for “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” (1999), “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” (2003), and “The Man with the Iron Fists” (2012), which he also directed.

RZA hopes listeners will use the album “to score their own lives, to transform a drive to the grocery store or sharing a meal with loved ones into something magical.”

This orchestral venture represents RZA’s continued evolution as an artist, blending his hip-hop background with classical elements and showcasing his growth as a composer beyond the realm of rap music.