(CNN)  -- The Wu-Tang Clan -- the New York hip-hop supergroup that spawned millions of album sales, nine solo acts and a few acting careers -- almost never was.



If RZA, left, had been jailed or Method Man killed, Wu-Tang may have never formed, RZA says.



Method Man, the group's most recognizable voice, was nearly killed before the band formed, Wu-Tang's chief producer, RZA, writes in his forthcoming memoir.



Meth was walking to buy marijuana at 160 Park Hill Avenue in Staten Island -- the house in Wu-Tang's "Protect Ya Neck" video -- when RZA saw him across the street, he writes in the book.



"Come over here, yo!" RZA beckoned, according to "The Tao of Wu" (Riverhead). "He stopped and came running over. A few seconds later -- pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! -- a guy started shooting up the front of 160. A buddy of ours, Poppy, an innocent, school-going, nice guy -- he was shot and killed right there."  Interactive: Where's the Wu been? »



It wasn't the only close call RZA said could have snuffed the band that rewrote the rule book for hip-hop acts. The year before the group formed in 1993, RZA was acquitted on an attempted murder charge that could have put him behind bars for eight years, he writes in "The Tao of Wu," out Thursday.



Expanding on the book's anecdotes in an interview with CNN, RZA explained that if he had been imprisoned or if Method Man, aka Clifford Smith, had been killed, the band never would have come to fruition.



RZA, whose real name is Robert Diggs and whose stage name is pronounced "Rizza," also talked about his role in the death of his cousin, Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. Two days before his 36th birthday in 2004, ODB died in a New York recording studio from an overdose of cocaine and painkillers.



RZA writes in the book that he once witnessed ODB force his own son to watch him do drugs. RZA tried to leave, he writes, but ODB wouldn't let him. Now, RZA told CNN, he wishes he would've been tougher with ODB about his drug problem.



Following are excerpts from the interview, which has been edited for language, flow and length:



CNN: Could your imprisonment or Method Man's death have derailed Wu-Tang's formation?



RZA: Either one of those incidents could definitely have derailed it. Of course, myself being the abbot, the one who came with the idea, if I wouldn't have made it out of that tumultuous time -- it seemed like I wasn't going to make it out of it; there was a lot of odds against me -- but we stood strong, and self-defense made sense to the jury. We beat that ...



It was the victory over that incident that made me change my whole direction. In a way, it's double-edged in that incident. One, if I would've lost that, yeah, Wu-Tang wouldn't have happened, but also it's the victory of it that inspired me and gave me the drive also to go and really get serious about Wu-Tang and the things I was dealing with.



Same thing with Meth, he always brings it up ... that that day saved his life. He actually said, if it was anybody else calling him, he wouldn't have came.



CNN: In the book, you cite lessons from Eastern religions, Christianity, Islam, [Nation of Islam offshoot] Five Percent, numerology, comic books, kung fu, chess. What would you say to someone who says it's difficult to reconcile these dogmas?



RZA: Like it says in the Bible, "In the beginning was the word, and the word became flesh" -- if we go to the root of the word,
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Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. or ODB. Two days before his 36th birthday in 2004, ODB died in a New York recording studio from an RZA Method Man's death his role in the death of his cousin, Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. Christianity, Islam, The Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang imprisonment or Method Man's death ODB Thursday.
question: who made son watch him do drugs before 2004 fatal overdose?, answer: Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. | question: When did Ol' Dirty Bastard overdose?, answer: or ODB. Two days before his 36th birthday in 2004, ODB died in a New York recording studio from an | question: who talks about the forming of Wu-Tang Clan?, answer: RZA | question: what could have derailed band?, answer: Method Man's death | question: What does RZA talk of?, answer: his role in the death of his cousin, Russell Jones, better known as Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB. | question: What religions does the book cite for their lessons?, answer: Christianity, Islam, | question: What group did the producer work with?, answer: The Wu-Tang Clan | question: RZA talks about forming what in upcoming memoir?, answer: Wu-Tang | question: What did the Wu-Tang producer say could have derailed the band?, answer: imprisonment or Method Man's death | question: RZA said who made son watch him do drugs?, answer: ODB | question: when is the memoir coming out, answer: Thursday.