Rapper RZA back as hard-partying Bobby Digital Wu-Tanger near end of tour with stop at Portland venue

The Wu-Tang Clan might be rap’s super group, but the Wu-Tangers – all 10 of them – are just as known for their solo side projects, many of which bear the touch of Wu producer and writer RZA.

Even the brains behind the Wu needs a little something on the side. RZA has spent his summer vacation on tour reprising his Bobby Digital, a computer alter ego who is a lot less contemplative and mystical than the Wu-Tang and a lot more interested in women and partying. He hits Portland’s State Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Portland show is one of the final concerts of the tour. He’ll head to Boston and then on to Burlington, Vt., July 1 to wrap up.

RZA … uh, Bobby Digital … is joined by Wu-connected groups Wu Tang Killa Bees, Killarmy, Black Knights and Shaheim the Man Child.

The tour is hooked into the release of “RZA as Bobby Digital – Digital Bullet,” scheduled for an Aug. 14 release. Naturally, a few Wu-Tangers are scheduled to appear on the album (Method Man and Masta Killa are two of the guests this time around).

RZA debuted the Bobby Digital character in 1998 and the whole concept seems very anti-Wu-Tang. Where the Clan is known for imparting Eastern philosophy and Asian-influenced lyrics, Mr. Digital is all about women.

The story of Bobby Digital, according to a RZA Web site, is as follows:

While conducting experiments at a laboratory on Wu Mountain (seems like an odd thing for a rap producer to be doing on his day off, but anyway), RZA finds a formula for self-transformation. He dips a joint in the secret sauce and takes a puff.

RZA begins to hallucinate and passes out. When he wakes up, his alter ego is standing in front of him.

Bobby Digital, a “self-indulgent creature of the flesh,” as the Web site describes him, would rather party, chase women, be fashionable and spend money. He wears a mask over his eyes (and this qualifies as fashion?) to hide a computer linked to his brain. Oh, he also has supernatural powers.

Even if the whole Bobby Digital thing isn’t off-putting, RZA himself in concert may be at least worth a look. The Wu-Tang Clan has had a successful run lately, with the release of its third collective album, “The W”, in November 2000 and solo projects from almost all the Wu-Tangers in the works.

Tickets are $20.50 (includes 50-cent venue restoration fee). For tickets, call Ticketmaster at 775-3331. Tickets are also available at the State Theatre box office (noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday), 609 Congress St., Portland, online at www.sfx.com or at all Ticketmaster outlets.