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Wikipedia

RZA

Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA (/ˈrɪzə/ RIZ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the de facto leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan,[4] having produced most albums for the group and its respective members. He is a cousin of two other original Wu-Tang Clan members: GZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard. He has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital, along with executive producing credits for side projects. After forming the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA was a founding member of the horrorcore group Gravediggaz, where he went by the name The RZArector.

RZA
RZA at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs

(1969-07-05) July 5, 1969 (age 53)
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • actor
  • filmmaker
  • record producer
  • record executive
Years active1984–present[1][2]
Spouses
Eboni Mills
(m. 2000; div. 2006)
[3]
Talani Rabb
(m. 2009)
[3]
Children9
Musical career
Also known as
  • Prince Rakeem
  • The Scientist
  • Bobby Steels
  • Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah
  • Prince Delight
  • (The) Abbott
  • Bobby Digital
  • Bobby Dynamite
  • RZArector
  • Bobby Boulders
  • Bob the Builder
  • Bobby Wasabi
GenresHip hop
Labels
Member ofWu-Tang Clan
Formerly ofAchozen, Banks & Steelz, Gravediggaz

RZA has been heavily involved in filmmaking since the late 90s. He has scored a number of films, most notably Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004). He has written and directed in film and television, starting with his directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists, in 2012. He has also acted in numerous films and TV series, including the films American Gangster and Brick Mansions, and the TV series Gang Related and Californication.

He is especially known for his music production, with a style that includes the use of soul samples and sparse beats that has proved highly influential. The magazine The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazine's twenty-year history.[5] Vibe listed him among the top 8 greatest hip-hop producers of all time,[6] and NME placed him on their list of the 50 Greatest Producers Ever.[7]

Early life

Diggs was born on July 5, 1969 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was named after the Kennedy brothers Robert and John Fitzgerald, both of whom his mother greatly admired.[8] Diggs has called his given name an "honorable" name, given the legacy of both Robert and John. Diggs has a younger brother, Terrance Hamlin, better known as the rapper 9th Prince, and an older brother named Mitchell “Divine” Diggs.

From ages three to seven, Diggs spent summers in North Carolina with his uncle, who encouraged him to read and study.[9] Diggs was introduced to hip hop music at the age of nine, and by eleven, was competing in rap battles. He relocated to Steubenville, Ohio in 1990, to live with his mother. He spent weekends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father ran a convenience store in the city's Hill District.[10]

Diggs got involved with petty crime and drug-dealing, and was charged with attempted murder while in Steubenville. He was acquitted of the charge, giving him what he has called a "second chance".[11]

Music career

Before the Wu-Tang Clan

In 1984, Diggs formed a rap group with his cousins Russell Jones, then known as The Specialist, and Gary Grice, then known as Allah Justice, called "Force of the Imperial Master", which they soon after renamed as "All in Together Now" in 1985. Around this time Diggs formed the DMD Posse which consisted of RZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, 4th Disciple and Method Man.[1] Diggs and Grice then signed with Jamaica Records for management purposes and Jamaica convinced Tommy Boy Records to sign Diggs as a solo artist in 1989 under the name Prince Rakeem.[1] He released the original Ooh I Love You Rakeem promotion version of the EP, but was forced to remix and rerelease the single when Tommy Boy failed to acquire the rights to the original sample. The rereleased version underperformed commercially, and Diggs was subsequently dropped by Tommy Boy.[1]

1992–1993: Forming the Wu-Tang Clan

After a shoot-out in Ohio in 1992, he faced eight years in jail. "When they said 'not guilty', my face stuck in a smile for three days," he recalled. "I was just walking around town, thinking about my daughter and my wife. Right then I said goodbye to anything that would put me in that situation again. I was up on trial on an attempted murder charge. I was a motherfucking fool, with all that knowledge in my head and ending up there."[12] In 1992, Diggs formed a new group with his two cousins and five other childhood friends. They named the group Wu-Tang Clan, after the 1983 kung fu film Shaolin and Wu Tang. As part of the group's formation, each member chose a new nickname for themselves. Diggs chose "RZA", based on a nickname he had been given by fans of his music, "Rza Rza Rakeem", which in turn was based on a song by All in Together Now, "Pza Pza Pumpin", as well as Diggs' graffiti tag, "Razor". He created a backronym for "RZA", stating that the name stood for "Ruler, Zig-Zag-Zig, Allah" which further translated into "Ruler, Knowledge-Wisdom-Understanding, Allah" when using the Supreme Alphabet.[13]

Wu-Tang Clan released its first single, "Protect Ya Neck", in December 1992. Masta Killa then joined the group in 1993, becoming its ninth member. They released their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in November 1993.[14] RZA operated as Wu-Tang Clan's de facto leader, producing the group's songs and deciding who would get placed on which tracks.

1994–1996: Gravediggaz and Wu-Tang solo projects: Round one

As each of the group's members embarked on solo careers, RZA continued to produce nearly everything Wu-Tang released during the period 1994–1996, which included both composing and arranging the instrumental tracks as well as overseeing and directing the creative process. RZA's rule over the Clan at this time is described in 2004's Wu-Tang Manual book as "a dictatorship". He also released a hit single of his own, in the form of "Wu-Wear: The Garment Renaissance". The song was featured on the High School High soundtrack, and was released to promote the Wu-Tang clothing brand, also called "Wu-Wear". It peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #6 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.[15]

When it came time for the Gravediggaz, Prince Paul was thinking about putting a group together. He wanted to get some good MCs. Poetic was another dope MC who was underrated out on Long Island. He had one single out on Tommy Boy that didn't take off, but he was a dope MC. As the Grym Reaper, you know how many dope lyrics he dropped. Frukwan, one of the top lyricists out of Stetsasonic. He and Paul were friends already. He told him about me. He said, "I know this one guy who is super-dope." At the same time, I was also trying to do Wu-Tang. I was trying to start my own company and stuff, so when Paul called me up and invited me to his crib on Long Island and told me his idea for forming this group, I thought it would be an honor to be in a group with him. But I told him, "I'm also producing a group, and I'm also part of a family that I'm building." He said, "Yo, that's crazy." We would talk a lot of times. [Ol' Dirty Bastard] came to his house a lot of times with me. [Method Man], too. We all would just go there and try to find ways to get out of the streets. Me, I was trying to get out of the ghetto. Paul had a lot of respect for me, so he helped me break out of it. I think he liked that I was so dark, but I didn't know I was dark.[16]

1997: Wu-Tang Forever

1997 saw the release of Wu-Tang Forever, the Wu-Tang Clan's highly anticipated second album. The album for the first time featured RZA delegating a small number of beat-making duties to other producers in the Wu-Tang camp, such as his protégés Mathematics, True Master and 4th Disciple who are known as the original Wu-Elements, and Clan member Inspectah Deck.[17]

1998–1999: Gravediggaz and Wu-Tang solo projects: Round two

During the 1998–2000 period RZA ceased to produce every Wu-Tang solo album as he had done previously, but continued to contribute usually one or two songs on average to each record as well as receiving an Executive Producer credit.

"I had to put out Bobby Digital instead of The Cure because if I didn't do that I would've suffered two things. First, I would have revealed where I was musically too soon. Wu-Tang is the perfect medium to expose anything new because I got the most people coming together to buy it. For me to expose it for my own self, I don't think that would've been a wise thing for me to do. I might've caught more people than Bobby Digital caught, but I still wouldn't catch the magnitude of what the Wu-Tang could catch. Maybe this year or next year the game may be different. The Cure is so intimate in writing that you gotta live that Cure shit. I was living like Bobby Digital in '98, '99 na'mean? So if I put "The Cure" out, then I wouldn't even be able to get on stage and perform it for ya'll cause I'd be lying."

2001–2004: Post The W solo projects

In 1999 the RZA moved into composing film scores. His first work, Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), earned praise; he also had a brief cameo in the film itself, as a fellow samurai wearing camouflage. The experience was positive and, as he noted during an interview on National Public Radio's Fresh Air, the work with traditional musicians gave him the desire to learn how to read and write music.[18] In 2004, he co-scored David S. Goyer's "Blade: Trinity" with composer Ramin Djawadi.

 
RZA in the Studio with U-God and Prodigal Sunn (2002)

This is one of my biggest adventures, and one of my [best] feelings. We watched Kill Bill in Manhattan. At the premiere, that happened, but you know, that's Hollywood. But in Manhattan, a theater, just a bunch of kids coming from wherever New York, inside a movie theater and the movie's coming on. They don't even know that I'm the man with the music, and when it said, "Original Music by The RZA", we hear the audience clapping. And they didn't clap for nothing else, because the movie's just coming on. I was like, 'Wow, what the fuck is that about?' That's different. It actually might be something special. You never care who did that... Once you see who stars in the shit, you don't read "edited", you don't read all that. You be eating your popcorn and it go right by you. But, for somebody to see that and then clap, that's a different thing right there. That felt pretty pleasing.

2005–present: Solo projects: Round three

 
RZA at the 2007 Eurockéennes

He has also stated that the long-delayed The Cure album will be his final solo album, so that he can devote more time to his movie directing career.[19]

Before signing with SRC Records in 2007, RZA was flooded with offers from Bad Boy Records, Aftermath Records, Interscope and Def Jam among others for the Wu-Tang Clan super-group.[20]

In 2007, he produced the score of the Japanese anime Afro Samurai starring Samuel L. Jackson. In 2007 he released the little-publicized instrumental album The RZA-Instrumental Experience, and worked with Raekwon on his highly anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. From 2005 to 2008 he collaborated with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian on the project Achozen[21] The group released two singles, one of which, "Deuces", was included in the 2009 film Babylon A.D. The group also recorded an album that has remained unreleased, although eight of the songs were released in 2015.

 
RZA performing with Wu-Tang at the Virgin Music Festival

"The time is right to bring some older material to the masses digitally. Our fans have been dedicated and patient, and they're hungry to hear the music that has set us apart from so many others. Hip-hop is alive in Wu Music, and with The Orchard, we've got a solid partner that understands our audience and is committed to doing all they can to help us reach the fans. I'm definitely looking forward to working with them to see what else we all come up with. There's much more to come."[22]

In 2010 he worked on what was intended as a solo album for GZA, Liquid Swords II,[23] but the album remains unreleased. RZA also worked with Kanye West on the latter's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,[24] as well as Watch the Throne by Kanye and Jay-Z.

In a 2011 interview, RZA revealed that he had recently decided to clean out his beat machines of instrumentals he made for the Wu-Tang Clan that were never used; as a result, he gave away ten beats each to Nas, Busta Rhymes and Talib Kweli, as well as 20 beats for Kanye West, including two that were used on West's previous two albums.[25] RZA produced UK artist Josh Osho's 2012 debut album L.I.F.E.

RZA also contributed vocals to three songs on John Frusciante's 2012 EP Letur-Lefr and in 2013 he contributed vocals to one song on Kid Cudi's 2013 album Indicud. In August 2012 RZA founded a new record label, Soul Temple Records, with a distribution deal from RED Distribution. On September 28, 2012 he hosted one episode of the web series Equals Three, substituting for regular host Ray William Johnson. He appeared on Earl Sweatshirt's album Doris, contributing a verse on the track "Molasses". Despite artistic disagreements with Raekwon, RZA and The Wu-Tang Clan released their sixth album A Better Tomorrow in 2014.

In 2013, RZA and Paul Banks began to collaborate as Banks & Steelz for what became the 2016 album Anything But Words.[26][27] Guest appearances include Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Masta Killa.[27] Two singles were released from the album, "Love + War" and "Giant".[27] RZA collaborated with Ramin Djawadi, with whom he co-scored Blade Trinity and Blake Perlman for the song "Drift" for the Guillermo del Toro film "Pacific Rim".

In June 2020, ice cream company Good Humor approached RZA to create a new jingle for ice cream trucks to play,[28] to replace the tune "Turkey in the Straw", long associated with minstrel shows that often featured racist lyrics. (Good Humor does not directly operate any trucks, but the company wanted to encourage ice cream truck drivers to not play the song.)[29] RZA's resulting composition was released in August 2020.[30]

In a recent 2020 interview, RZA discussed how the being stuck at home during the COVID global crisis resulted in him resuming work on his long-unreleased The Cure album.[31]

Wu-Recording labels

Since the early 1990s, various Wu Tang Clan-affiliated recording labels were established. The earlier labels are believed to be dissolved. The connection that RZA had to these labels is unknown.

Other record labels were later founded in the early 2000s, and are still active in the present. Very little is known about these labels, other than the fact that RZA produces music on them. It is unknown if RZA is CEO, or has high position within these labels, considering that he was never known to have a CEO position of any recording label.

Artistry

RZA's production technique, specifically the manner of chopping up and/or speeding or slowing soul samples to fit his beats, has been imitated by hip hop producers including Kanye West and Just Blaze. West's own take on RZA's style[32] briefly flooded the rap market with what was dubbed "chipmunk soul," the speeding of a vocal sample to where it sounded as though the singer had inhaled helium. Several producers at the time copied the style, creating other offshoots. West has admitted that his style was distinctly influenced by the RZA's production,[33]

Said by Kanye West:

"Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that."[34]

In response, RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons:

"All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."[35]

After hearing Kanye's work on The Blueprint, RZA claimed that a torch-passing had occurred between him and West, saying,

"The shoes gotta be filled. If you ain't gonna do it, somebody else is gonna do it. That's how I feel about rap today."[35]

His Bobby Digital albums introduced tweaked-out new age elements to his sound; these have incorporated themselves more fully into his beats on newer albums such as Method Man's 4:21... The Day After.

"The way I produce now is I produce more like a musician", RZA said. "In the old days, I produced more like a DJ. I didn't understand music theory at all. Now that I do understand music theory, I make my music more playable, meaning not only could you listen to it, you could get someone else to play it. Before, you couldn't even write down Wu-Tang music. I think almost 80 percent of this record can be duplicated by a band, which is important for music, because that means 10 years from now, somebody can make a whole song out of it and cover it like how I'm covering The Beatles song."[36]

In a 2010 radio interview with UK hip hop station Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, RZA spoke in great detail about the homemade, candid ethos of much of his classic work, including the organic creation process behind ODB's debut album.[37]

Alter egos

RZA is known for having multiple aliases, for different lyrical styles and personalities: Prince Rakeem, The Abbot, Bobby Digital, Bobby Steels, the Scientist, Prince Delight, Prince Dynamite, Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah.[38] During his time with the Gravediggaz, he went by the name the RZArector, which is for waking up the mentally dead.[39] RZA can be rendered phonetically in the Japanese kanji: 令座 (furigana れいざ and rōmaji reiza). The kanji 令 "rei" means "command". And its counterpart "座" means "seat". The combination means ryō-za or "order", but it can be thought of as "seat of command" in the appellative sense. In Chinese it would be pronounced lìng zuò.

Film career

Acting

RZA has had cameo appearances in films including Funny People, Due Date, Gospel Hill, Ghost Dog, Life Is Hot in Cracktown and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

RZA appeared in Derailed, Coffee and Cigarettes, and American Gangster. He appeared in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, as the character Blind Master.[40] In 2010, RZA appeared in the science fiction action film Repo Men.[41] In 2014, RZA took on the role of Tremaine Alexander in the film Brick Mansions opposite Paul Walker and David Belle, a remake of District 13. He played "Mr. L.C.", the main antagonist, in the Thai martial arts film Tom Yum Goong 2.

RZA directed and starred in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012).

In 2013, RZA provided guest voices in the sixth season episode of Robot Chicken. "Botched Jewel Heist", in three sketches. His first role is an anthropomorphic strawberry who is shot dead in a mob hit, causing his jelly blood to splatter onto a large slice of bread below (which was covered in the peanut-butter blood of Mr. Peanut, who was killed the same way moments before). In his second role, he plays himself, and raps about being a pescetarian, although RZA had shifted from a pescetarian diet to a vegan diet in 1997. His third role was as the Halloween Road Warrior in a sketch where in a post-apocalyptic world, a family is pursued by road warriors representing forgotten holidays, who aim to kidnap their two children.

RZA played the role of Samurai Apocalypse in the television series Californication in 9 episodes.[42]

RZA played the supporting role of Shotgun Steve in the romantic action comedy movie Mr. Right with Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.[43]

RZA portrayed Dean in 2019 film The Dead Don't Die.[44]

RZA narrates a character, known as Wesley, on the 2019 Netflix original series Day Break in Season 1, episode 5 named "Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life". [45]

RZA portrayed Harry Mansell, brother of the protagonist, in the 2021 action comedy film Nobody with Bob Odenkirk and Connie Nielsen.

Filmmaking

 

I made my albums like movies, you know what I mean? I wanted people to be able to listen to a movie in their car while they was driving. "I want to start off making movies where people will know they're at a movie. Like my man Tarantino, he did that movie Pulp Fiction – classic movie, man. Every time it comes on TV or cable, I have to stop and watch it. And it's based on nothing, really. There's only a few people out there that are able to do that, where it comes from nothing but the vision and imagination of the artist.[46]

In the late '90s, RZA began production of a feature-length film based on "Bobby Digital", an alias he used on various albums. Though the film was never completed, he continued shooting music videos for his side projects and solo tracks.

RZA directed his first feature film, The Man with the Iron Fists, in 2011, from a script he wrote the previous year. Directors Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth were involved in production, writing, and casting according to several movie websites.[47][48][49] The film was released in fall 2012.

Personal life

RZA is a Five Percenter and is usually seen wearing the 5% Nation's flag necklace around his neck. He actively extols the 5% culture (which include the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet). He has also embraced various aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity, as he describes in his two books, The Wu-Tang Manual and The Tao of Wu. He has described the Quran, The Bible, and the Lotus Sutra as three of his favorite books, stating that each contains enlightenment.

His hobbies include watching martial arts films, and he is considered an "encyclopedia of martial arts films" due to his knowledge of the genre.[49] RZA met and befriended Shaolin Monk Shi Yan Ming after being introduced by Ol' Dirty Bastard's manager Sophia Chang.[50][51] His favorite movies include Five Deadly Venoms,[52] The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,[52] Ninja Scroll [53] and Fist of the North Star.[53] His second well-known hobby is chess. He is a Director of Development and champion of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation.[54][55][56][57]

RZA is vegan[58] and has promoted the vegan lifestyle and compassion for animals on behalf of PETA.[59][60] Until 1997, he was a pescetarian; "I tell you one thing I did use to like: the fish and chips," he stated. "But I stopped eating fish this year. One day I just felt the death in it."[61]

RZA is a resident of Millstone Township, New Jersey.[62]

Discography

Studio albums

Collaboration albums

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Rhyme & Reason Himself
1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Samurai in Camouflage
2003 Coffee and Cigarettes RZA
2005 Derailed Winston Boyko
2006 Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops Himself[64]
The Lather Effect Danny's Friend
Rock the Bells Himself
2007 American Gangster Moses Jones
The Box Duece
2008 Gospel Hill Lonnie
2009 Funny People Chuck
Life Is Hot in Cracktown Samy
2010 Repo Men T-Bone
Due Date Airline Screening Marshall
The Next Three Days Mouss
2011 A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Lamar
2012 The Man with the Iron Fists Blacksmith Lead actor, director, and co-writer
2013 G.I. Joe: Retaliation Blind Master
Tom Yum Goong 2 Mr. LC The Protector 2
2014 Brick Mansions Tremaine Alexander
2015 The Man with the Iron Fists 2 Blacksmith Lead actor and co-writer
Mr. Right Steven
AWOL-72 Det.Adams
2016 Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Himself
2017 Love Beats Rhymes Director
2018 Thriller Principal Hurd Lead actor, executive producer and composer
Mutafukaz Shakespeare Voice actor
2019 The Dead Don't Die Dean
2020 Cut Throat City Director
Life in a Year Ron
Hard Luck Love Song Louis
2021 Nobody Harry Mansell Jr.
Clean Pawn Shop Kurtis
King of Cool Himself
2022 Minions: The Rise of Gru Biker Voice actor
Poker Face
TBA Blood Brothers Director and writer
Not an Artist
Julio Torres
Me and My Girlfriend Marceo
The Prophet Sees

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Afro Samurai: Resurrection DJ Voice over
2010 Outlaw Greg Beals Episode: "Pilot"
2012 Californication Samurai Apocalypse Featured role (nine episodes)
2013 Robot Chicken Himself/Strawberry/Halloween Road Warrior Voice role (Episode: "Botched Jewel Heist")
2014 Gang Related DEA Agent Cassius Green Main cast
2017 The Simpsons Himself Voice role (Episode: "The Great Phatsby: Part 2")
Marvel's Iron Fist Director (Episode: "Immortal Emerges from Cave")
Snowfall Swim Episode: "Cracking"
2018 Fresh Off the Boat Himself Cameo (Episode: "Measure Twice, Cut Once")
2019 Daybreak Himself Voice role (Episode: "Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life")
Wu-Tang: An American Saga Executive Producer
2022 The Tiny Chef Show Himself Episode: "Lemonade"

Video games

Year FilmC Role Notes
1999 Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style Himself Voice over
2005 Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure Stake Voice over

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

References

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  3. ^ a b Elizabeth Sloan (September 3, 2019). "RZA aka Bobby Diggs: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
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  6. ^ Dr. Dre Is VIBE's Greatest Producer Of All Time, Speaks On Win. Vibe (June 1, 2010). Retrieved on April 17, 2013.
  7. ^ "50 of the Greatest Producers Ever". Nme.com. March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  8. ^ [1][dead link]
  9. ^ RZA (2009). The Tao of Wu. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-1-59448-885-6.
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  28. ^ . Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
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  30. ^ Good Humor x RZA: A New Ice Cream Truck Jingle for a New Era, YouTube, August 13, 2020
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  32. ^ . Time. August 21, 2005. Archived from the original on March 20, 2007. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
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External links

other, uses, disambiguation, robert, fitzgerald, diggs, born, july, 1969, better, known, stage, name, american, rapper, actor, filmmaker, record, producer, facto, leader, group, tang, clan, having, produced, most, albums, group, respective, members, cousin, ot. For other uses see Rza disambiguation Robert Fitzgerald Diggs born July 5 1969 better known by his stage name the RZA ˈ r ɪ z e RIZ e is an American rapper actor filmmaker and record producer He is the de facto leader of the hip hop group Wu Tang Clan 4 having produced most albums for the group and its respective members He is a cousin of two other original Wu Tang Clan members GZA and Ol Dirty Bastard He has also released solo albums under the alter ego Bobby Digital along with executive producing credits for side projects After forming the Wu Tang Clan RZA was a founding member of the horrorcore group Gravediggaz where he went by the name The RZArector RZARZA at the 2018 San Diego Comic ConBornRobert Fitzgerald Diggs 1969 07 05 July 5 1969 age 53 New York City U S OccupationsRapperactorfilmmakerrecord producerrecord executiveYears active1984 present 1 2 SpousesEboni Mills m 2000 div 2006 wbr 3 Talani Rabb m 2009 wbr 3 Children9Musical careerAlso known asPrince RakeemThe ScientistBobby SteelsRuler Zig Zag Zig AllahPrince Delight The AbbottBobby DigitalBobby DynamiteRZArectorBobby BouldersBob the BuilderBobby WasabiGenresHip hopLabelsSoul TempleTommy BoyWarner Bros Razor SharpEpicSMEVirginEMIKochGee StreetV2BMGSanctuaryMember ofWu Tang ClanFormerly ofAchozen Banks amp Steelz GravediggazRZA has been heavily involved in filmmaking since the late 90s He has scored a number of films most notably Kill Bill Volume 1 2003 and Kill Bill Volume 2 2004 He has written and directed in film and television starting with his directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists in 2012 He has also acted in numerous films and TV series including the films American Gangster and Brick Mansions and the TV series Gang Related and Californication He is especially known for his music production with a style that includes the use of soul samples and sparse beats that has proved highly influential The magazine The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazine s twenty year history 5 Vibe listed him among the top 8 greatest hip hop producers of all time 6 and NME placed him on their list of the 50 Greatest Producers Ever 7 Contents 1 Early life 2 Music career 2 1 Before the Wu Tang Clan 2 2 1992 1993 Forming the Wu Tang Clan 2 3 1994 1996 Gravediggaz and Wu Tang solo projects Round one 2 4 1997 Wu Tang Forever 2 5 1998 1999 Gravediggaz and Wu Tang solo projects Round two 2 6 2001 2004 Post The W solo projects 2 7 2005 present Solo projects Round three 3 Wu Recording labels 4 Artistry 4 1 Alter egos 5 Film career 5 1 Acting 5 2 Filmmaking 6 Personal life 7 Discography 7 1 Studio albums 7 2 Collaboration albums 8 Filmography 8 1 Films 8 2 Television 8 3 Video games 9 Awards and nominations 10 Bibliography 11 References 12 External linksEarly life EditDiggs was born on July 5 1969 in Brownsville Brooklyn He was named after the Kennedy brothers Robert and John Fitzgerald both of whom his mother greatly admired 8 Diggs has called his given name an honorable name given the legacy of both Robert and John Diggs has a younger brother Terrance Hamlin better known as the rapper 9th Prince and an older brother named Mitchell Divine Diggs From ages three to seven Diggs spent summers in North Carolina with his uncle who encouraged him to read and study 9 Diggs was introduced to hip hop music at the age of nine and by eleven was competing in rap battles He relocated to Steubenville Ohio in 1990 to live with his mother He spent weekends in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where his father ran a convenience store in the city s Hill District 10 Diggs got involved with petty crime and drug dealing and was charged with attempted murder while in Steubenville He was acquitted of the charge giving him what he has called a second chance 11 Music career EditBefore the Wu Tang Clan Edit In 1984 Diggs formed a rap group with his cousins Russell Jones then known as The Specialist and Gary Grice then known as Allah Justice called Force of the Imperial Master which they soon after renamed as All in Together Now in 1985 Around this time Diggs formed the DMD Posse which consisted of RZA Raekwon Ghostface Killah U God Inspectah Deck 4th Disciple and Method Man 1 Diggs and Grice then signed with Jamaica Records for management purposes and Jamaica convinced Tommy Boy Records to sign Diggs as a solo artist in 1989 under the name Prince Rakeem 1 He released the original Ooh I Love You Rakeem promotion version of the EP but was forced to remix and rerelease the single when Tommy Boy failed to acquire the rights to the original sample The rereleased version underperformed commercially and Diggs was subsequently dropped by Tommy Boy 1 1992 1993 Forming the Wu Tang Clan Edit After a shoot out in Ohio in 1992 he faced eight years in jail When they said not guilty my face stuck in a smile for three days he recalled I was just walking around town thinking about my daughter and my wife Right then I said goodbye to anything that would put me in that situation again I was up on trial on an attempted murder charge I was a motherfucking fool with all that knowledge in my head and ending up there 12 In 1992 Diggs formed a new group with his two cousins and five other childhood friends They named the group Wu Tang Clan after the 1983 kung fu film Shaolin and Wu Tang As part of the group s formation each member chose a new nickname for themselves Diggs chose RZA based on a nickname he had been given by fans of his music Rza Rza Rakeem which in turn was based on a song by All in Together Now Pza Pza Pumpin as well as Diggs graffiti tag Razor He created a backronym for RZA stating that the name stood for Ruler Zig Zag Zig Allah which further translated into Ruler Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Allah when using the Supreme Alphabet 13 Wu Tang Clan released its first single Protect Ya Neck in December 1992 Masta Killa then joined the group in 1993 becoming its ninth member They released their debut album Enter the Wu Tang 36 Chambers in November 1993 14 RZA operated as Wu Tang Clan s de facto leader producing the group s songs and deciding who would get placed on which tracks 1994 1996 Gravediggaz and Wu Tang solo projects Round one Edit As each of the group s members embarked on solo careers RZA continued to produce nearly everything Wu Tang released during the period 1994 1996 which included both composing and arranging the instrumental tracks as well as overseeing and directing the creative process RZA s rule over the Clan at this time is described in 2004 s Wu Tang Manual book as a dictatorship He also released a hit single of his own in the form of Wu Wear The Garment Renaissance The song was featured on the High School High soundtrack and was released to promote the Wu Tang clothing brand also called Wu Wear It peaked at 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 6 on the Hot Rap Singles chart 15 When it came time for the Gravediggaz Prince Paul was thinking about putting a group together He wanted to get some good MCs Poetic was another dope MC who was underrated out on Long Island He had one single out on Tommy Boy that didn t take off but he was a dope MC As the Grym Reaper you know how many dope lyrics he dropped Frukwan one of the top lyricists out of Stetsasonic He and Paul were friends already He told him about me He said I know this one guy who is super dope At the same time I was also trying to do Wu Tang I was trying to start my own company and stuff so when Paul called me up and invited me to his crib on Long Island and told me his idea for forming this group I thought it would be an honor to be in a group with him But I told him I m also producing a group and I m also part of a family that I m building He said Yo that s crazy We would talk a lot of times Ol Dirty Bastard came to his house a lot of times with me Method Man too We all would just go there and try to find ways to get out of the streets Me I was trying to get out of the ghetto Paul had a lot of respect for me so he helped me break out of it I think he liked that I was so dark but I didn t know I was dark 16 1997 Wu Tang Forever Edit 1997 saw the release of Wu Tang Forever the Wu Tang Clan s highly anticipated second album The album for the first time featured RZA delegating a small number of beat making duties to other producers in the Wu Tang camp such as his proteges Mathematics True Master and 4th Disciple who are known as the original Wu Elements and Clan member Inspectah Deck 17 1998 1999 Gravediggaz and Wu Tang solo projects Round two Edit During the 1998 2000 period RZA ceased to produce every Wu Tang solo album as he had done previously but continued to contribute usually one or two songs on average to each record as well as receiving an Executive Producer credit I had to put out Bobby Digital instead of The Cure because if I didn t do that I would ve suffered two things First I would have revealed where I was musically too soon Wu Tang is the perfect medium to expose anything new because I got the most people coming together to buy it For me to expose it for my own self I don t think that would ve been a wise thing for me to do I might ve caught more people than Bobby Digital caught but I still wouldn t catch the magnitude of what the Wu Tang could catch Maybe this year or next year the game may be different The Cure is so intimate in writing that you gotta live that Cure shit I was living like Bobby Digital in 98 99 na mean So if I put The Cure out then I wouldn t even be able to get on stage and perform it for ya ll cause I d be lying 2001 2004 Post The W solo projects Edit In 1999 the RZA moved into composing film scores His first work Jim Jarmusch s Ghost Dog The Way of the Samurai 1999 earned praise he also had a brief cameo in the film itself as a fellow samurai wearing camouflage The experience was positive and as he noted during an interview on National Public Radio s Fresh Air the work with traditional musicians gave him the desire to learn how to read and write music 18 In 2004 he co scored David S Goyer s Blade Trinity with composer Ramin Djawadi RZA in the Studio with U God and Prodigal Sunn 2002 This is one of my biggest adventures and one of my best feelings We watched Kill Bill in Manhattan At the premiere that happened but you know that s Hollywood But in Manhattan a theater just a bunch of kids coming from wherever New York inside a movie theater and the movie s coming on They don t even know that I m the man with the music and when it said Original Music by The RZA we hear the audience clapping And they didn t clap for nothing else because the movie s just coming on I was like Wow what the fuck is that about That s different It actually might be something special You never care who did that Once you see who stars in the shit you don t read edited you don t read all that You be eating your popcorn and it go right by you But for somebody to see that and then clap that s a different thing right there That felt pretty pleasing 2005 present Solo projects Round three Edit RZA at the 2007 Eurockeennes He has also stated that the long delayed The Cure album will be his final solo album so that he can devote more time to his movie directing career 19 Before signing with SRC Records in 2007 RZA was flooded with offers from Bad Boy Records Aftermath Records Interscope and Def Jam among others for the Wu Tang Clan super group 20 In 2007 he produced the score of the Japanese anime Afro Samurai starring Samuel L Jackson In 2007 he released the little publicized instrumental album The RZA Instrumental Experience and worked with Raekwon on his highly anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II From 2005 to 2008 he collaborated with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian on the project Achozen 21 The group released two singles one of which Deuces was included in the 2009 film Babylon A D The group also recorded an album that has remained unreleased although eight of the songs were released in 2015 RZA performing with Wu Tang at the Virgin Music Festival The time is right to bring some older material to the masses digitally Our fans have been dedicated and patient and they re hungry to hear the music that has set us apart from so many others Hip hop is alive in Wu Music and with The Orchard we ve got a solid partner that understands our audience and is committed to doing all they can to help us reach the fans I m definitely looking forward to working with them to see what else we all come up with There s much more to come 22 In 2010 he worked on what was intended as a solo album for GZA Liquid Swords II 23 but the album remains unreleased RZA also worked with Kanye West on the latter s fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 24 as well as Watch the Throne by Kanye and Jay Z In a 2011 interview RZA revealed that he had recently decided to clean out his beat machines of instrumentals he made for the Wu Tang Clan that were never used as a result he gave away ten beats each to Nas Busta Rhymes and Talib Kweli as well as 20 beats for Kanye West including two that were used on West s previous two albums 25 RZA produced UK artist Josh Osho s 2012 debut album L I F E RZA also contributed vocals to three songs on John Frusciante s 2012 EP Letur Lefr and in 2013 he contributed vocals to one song on Kid Cudi s 2013 album Indicud In August 2012 RZA founded a new record label Soul Temple Records with a distribution deal from RED Distribution On September 28 2012 he hosted one episode of the web series Equals Three substituting for regular host Ray William Johnson He appeared on Earl Sweatshirt s album Doris contributing a verse on the track Molasses Despite artistic disagreements with Raekwon RZA and The Wu Tang Clan released their sixth album A Better Tomorrow in 2014 In 2013 RZA and Paul Banks began to collaborate as Banks amp Steelz for what became the 2016 album Anything But Words 26 27 Guest appearances include Kool Keith Ghostface Killah Method Man and Masta Killa 27 Two singles were released from the album Love War and Giant 27 RZA collaborated with Ramin Djawadi with whom he co scored Blade Trinity and Blake Perlman for the song Drift for the Guillermo del Toro film Pacific Rim In June 2020 ice cream company Good Humor approached RZA to create a new jingle for ice cream trucks to play 28 to replace the tune Turkey in the Straw long associated with minstrel shows that often featured racist lyrics Good Humor does not directly operate any trucks but the company wanted to encourage ice cream truck drivers to not play the song 29 RZA s resulting composition was released in August 2020 30 In a recent 2020 interview RZA discussed how the being stuck at home during the COVID global crisis resulted in him resuming work on his long unreleased The Cure album 31 Wu Recording labels EditSince the early 1990s various Wu Tang Clan affiliated recording labels were established The earlier labels are believed to be dissolved The connection that RZA had to these labels is unknown Other record labels were later founded in the early 2000s and are still active in the present Very little is known about these labels other than the fact that RZA produces music on them It is unknown if RZA is CEO or has high position within these labels considering that he was never known to have a CEO position of any recording label Wu Tang Records Razor Sharp Records 36 Chambers Records and Wu Music Group Protect Ya Neck Records Wu Tang International Soul Temple RecordsArtistry EditRZA s production technique specifically the manner of chopping up and or speeding or slowing soul samples to fit his beats has been imitated by hip hop producers including Kanye West and Just Blaze West s own take on RZA s style 32 briefly flooded the rap market with what was dubbed chipmunk soul the speeding of a vocal sample to where it sounded as though the singer had inhaled helium Several producers at the time copied the style creating other offshoots West has admitted that his style was distinctly influenced by the RZA s production 33 Said by Kanye West Wu Tang Me and my friends talk about this all the time We think Wu Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement From slang to style of dress skits the samples Similar to the production style I use RZA has been doing that 34 In response RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons All good I got super respect for Kanye He came up to me about a year or two ago He gave me mad praising and blessings For people to say Wu Tang inspire Kanye Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world That goes back to what we say Wu Tang is forever Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him 35 After hearing Kanye s work on The Blueprint RZA claimed that a torch passing had occurred between him and West saying The shoes gotta be filled If you ain t gonna do it somebody else is gonna do it That s how I feel about rap today 35 His Bobby Digital albums introduced tweaked out new age elements to his sound these have incorporated themselves more fully into his beats on newer albums such as Method Man s 4 21 The Day After The way I produce now is I produce more like a musician RZA said In the old days I produced more like a DJ I didn t understand music theory at all Now that I do understand music theory I make my music more playable meaning not only could you listen to it you could get someone else to play it Before you couldn t even write down Wu Tang music I think almost 80 percent of this record can be duplicated by a band which is important for music because that means 10 years from now somebody can make a whole song out of it and cover it like how I m covering The Beatles song 36 In a 2010 radio interview with UK hip hop station Conspiracy Worldwide Radio RZA spoke in great detail about the homemade candid ethos of much of his classic work including the organic creation process behind ODB s debut album 37 Alter egos Edit RZA is known for having multiple aliases for different lyrical styles and personalities Prince Rakeem The Abbot Bobby Digital Bobby Steels the Scientist Prince Delight Prince Dynamite Ruler Zig Zag Zig Allah 38 During his time with the Gravediggaz he went by the name the RZArector which is for waking up the mentally dead 39 RZA can be rendered phonetically in the Japanese kanji 令座 furigana れいざ and rōmaji reiza The kanji 令 rei means command And its counterpart 座 means seat The combination means ryō za or order but it can be thought of as seat of command in the appellative sense In Chinese it would be pronounced ling zuo Film career EditActing Edit RZA has had cameo appearances in films including Funny People Due Date Gospel Hill Ghost Dog Life Is Hot in Cracktown and Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping RZA appeared in Derailed Coffee and Cigarettes and American Gangster He appeared in G I Joe Retaliation as the character Blind Master 40 In 2010 RZA appeared in the science fiction action film Repo Men 41 In 2014 RZA took on the role of Tremaine Alexander in the film Brick Mansions opposite Paul Walker and David Belle a remake of District 13 He played Mr L C the main antagonist in the Thai martial arts film Tom Yum Goong 2 RZA directed and starred in The Man with the Iron Fists 2012 In 2013 RZA provided guest voices in the sixth season episode of Robot Chicken Botched Jewel Heist in three sketches His first role is an anthropomorphic strawberry who is shot dead in a mob hit causing his jelly blood to splatter onto a large slice of bread below which was covered in the peanut butter blood of Mr Peanut who was killed the same way moments before In his second role he plays himself and raps about being a pescetarian although RZA had shifted from a pescetarian diet to a vegan diet in 1997 His third role was as the Halloween Road Warrior in a sketch where in a post apocalyptic world a family is pursued by road warriors representing forgotten holidays who aim to kidnap their two children RZA played the role of Samurai Apocalypse in the television series Californication in 9 episodes 42 RZA played the supporting role of Shotgun Steve in the romantic action comedy movie Mr Right with Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick 43 RZA portrayed Dean in 2019 film The Dead Don t Die 44 RZA narrates a character known as Wesley on the 2019 Netflix original series Day Break in Season 1 episode 5 named Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life 45 RZA portrayed Harry Mansell brother of the protagonist in the 2021 action comedy film Nobody with Bob Odenkirk and Connie Nielsen Filmmaking Edit RZA at The New Yorker Festival in 2005 I made my albums like movies you know what I mean I wanted people to be able to listen to a movie in their car while they was driving I want to start off making movies where people will know they re at a movie Like my man Tarantino he did that movie Pulp Fiction classic movie man Every time it comes on TV or cable I have to stop and watch it And it s based on nothing really There s only a few people out there that are able to do that where it comes from nothing but the vision and imagination of the artist 46 In the late 90s RZA began production of a feature length film based on Bobby Digital an alias he used on various albums Though the film was never completed he continued shooting music videos for his side projects and solo tracks RZA directed his first feature film The Man with the Iron Fists in 2011 from a script he wrote the previous year Directors Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth were involved in production writing and casting according to several movie websites 47 48 49 The film was released in fall 2012 Personal life EditRZA is a Five Percenter and is usually seen wearing the 5 Nation s flag necklace around his neck He actively extols the 5 culture which include the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet He has also embraced various aspects of Buddhism Taoism Confucianism Islam and Christianity as he describes in his two books The Wu Tang Manual and The Tao of Wu He has described the Quran The Bible and the Lotus Sutra as three of his favorite books stating that each contains enlightenment His hobbies include watching martial arts films and he is considered an encyclopedia of martial arts films due to his knowledge of the genre 49 RZA met and befriended Shaolin Monk Shi Yan Ming after being introduced by Ol Dirty Bastard s manager Sophia Chang 50 51 His favorite movies include Five Deadly Venoms 52 The 36th Chamber of Shaolin 52 Ninja Scroll 53 and Fist of the North Star 53 His second well known hobby is chess He is a Director of Development and champion of the Hip Hop Chess Federation 54 55 56 57 RZA is vegan 58 and has promoted the vegan lifestyle and compassion for animals on behalf of PETA 59 60 Until 1997 he was a pescetarian I tell you one thing I did use to like the fish and chips he stated But I stopped eating fish this year One day I just felt the death in it 61 RZA is a resident of Millstone Township New Jersey 62 Discography EditMain articles Wu Tang Clan discography RZA discography and production discography Studio albums Edit Bobby Digital in Stereo 1998 Digital Bullet 2001 Birth of a Prince 2003 Digi Snacks 2008 Bobby Digital And The Pit Of Snakes 2022 63 Digital Potions 2022 Collaboration albums Edit 6 Feet Deep with Gravediggaz 1994 The Pick the Sickle and the Shovel with Gravediggaz 1997 The World According to RZA 2003 Anything But Words with Banks amp Steelz 2016 Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater with DJ Scratch 2022 Filmography EditFilms Edit Year Title Role Notes1997 Rhyme amp Reason Himself1999 Ghost Dog The Way of the Samurai Samurai in Camouflage2003 Coffee and Cigarettes RZA2005 Derailed Winston Boyko2006 Rap Sheet Hip Hop and the Cops Himself 64 The Lather Effect Danny s FriendRock the Bells Himself2007 American Gangster Moses JonesThe Box Duece2008 Gospel Hill Lonnie2009 Funny People ChuckLife Is Hot in Cracktown Samy2010 Repo Men T BoneDue Date Airline Screening MarshallThe Next Three Days Mouss2011 A Very Harold amp Kumar 3D Christmas Lamar2012 The Man with the Iron Fists Blacksmith Lead actor director and co writer2013 G I Joe Retaliation Blind MasterTom Yum Goong 2 Mr LC The Protector 22014 Brick Mansions Tremaine Alexander2015 The Man with the Iron Fists 2 Blacksmith Lead actor and co writerMr Right StevenAWOL 72 Det Adams2016 Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping Himself2017 Love Beats Rhymes Director2018 Thriller Principal Hurd Lead actor executive producer and composerMutafukaz Shakespeare Voice actor2019 The Dead Don t Die Dean2020 Cut Throat City DirectorLife in a Year RonHard Luck Love Song Louis2021 Nobody Harry Mansell Jr Clean Pawn Shop KurtisKing of Cool Himself2022 Minions The Rise of Gru Biker Voice actorPoker FaceTBA Blood Brothers Director and writerNot an ArtistJulio TorresMe and My Girlfriend MarceoThe Prophet SeesTelevision Edit Year Title Role Notes2009 Afro Samurai Resurrection DJ Voice over2010 Outlaw Greg Beals Episode Pilot 2012 Californication Samurai Apocalypse Featured role nine episodes 2013 Robot Chicken Himself Strawberry Halloween Road Warrior Voice role Episode Botched Jewel Heist 2014 Gang Related DEA Agent Cassius Green Main cast2017 The Simpsons Himself Voice role Episode The Great Phatsby Part 2 Marvel s Iron Fist Director Episode Immortal Emerges from Cave Snowfall Swim Episode Cracking 2018 Fresh Off the Boat Himself Cameo Episode Measure Twice Cut Once 2019 Daybreak Himself Voice role Episode Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life Wu Tang An American Saga Executive Producer2022 The Tiny Chef Show Himself Episode Lemonade Video games Edit Year FilmC Role Notes1999 Wu Tang Shaolin Style Himself Voice over2005 Getting Up Contents Under Pressure Stake Voice overAwards and nominations EditYear Nominee work Award Result1996 65 Return to the 36 Chambers The Dirty Version Grammy Award for Best Rap Album Nominated1998 65 Wu Tang Forever Nominated2004 66 Kill Bill Volume 1 BAFTA Award for Best Original Music Nominated2008 67 American Gangster Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated2020 68 Wu Tang An American Saga Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music NominatedBibliography EditThe Wu Tang Manual 2005 The Tao of Wu 2009 References Edit a b c d Hip Hop Core Interview RZA English Hiphopcore net Retrieved March 26 2015 TODAY IN HIP HOP HISTORY RZA RELEASES BOBBY DIGITAL IN STEREO 17 YEARS AGO THE FIVE PERSONAS OF RZA The Source November 24 2015 Retrieved September 6 2019 a b Elizabeth Sloan September 3 2019 RZA aka Bobby Diggs 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Heavy Retrieved September 24 2021 RZA Biography at Wu Tang Corp The Official Site of the Wu Tang Clan Wutang corp com Retrieved August 28 2016 The Rap Beat Creator Make Your Own Beats The Source Magazine Picks 20 Greatest Producers Createrapbeats blogspot com August 24 2008 Retrieved on April 17 2013 Dr Dre Is VIBE s Greatest Producer Of All Time Speaks On Win Vibe June 1 2010 Retrieved on April 17 2013 50 of the Greatest Producers Ever Nme com March 14 2012 Retrieved March 26 2015 1 dead link RZA 2009 The Tao of Wu New York Riverhead Books ISBN 978 1 59448 885 6 Lolley Sarah July 13 2001 Pittsburgh s underground hip hop scene has helped produce key players like RZA and Mel Man Pittsburgh Post Gazette Retrieved on April 5 2008 Webb Rory D April 10 2013 Wu Tang s RZA found his second chance in Steubenville Pittsburgh City Paper Retrieved on April 12 2013 Wilkinson Roy July 1997 One of these men is God Select 60 Mickey Hess ed 2010 Hip Hop in America A Regional Guide Volume 1 East Coast and West Coast Greenwood Publishing Group p 125 ISBN 9780313343216 Jason Ankeny RZA Biography AllMusic AllMusic Retrieved March 26 2015 Ankeny Jason July 5 1969 RZA AllMusic Retrieved March 31 2012 Wuforever Wu Tang Community Home latest Method Man Raekwon Ghostface Rza Gza Deck U God ODB Updates and MP3s Wuforever com Retrieved August 19 2010 Home Wuforever com Retrieved December 19 2019 Rapper producer Composer The RZA Npr org March 7 2005 Retrieved March 26 2015 Feature by Dave Kerr April 8 2008 RZArecting Bobby The Skinny Retrieved March 31 2012 Cilvaringz Wu Tang Report news articles at Wu Tang Corp The Official Site of the Wu Tang Clan Wutang corp com Retrieved March 26 2015 System of a Tang Shavo Collaborates With RZA GZA MTV News Retrieved March 26 2015 HipHop News Wu Music Group Signs Global Digital Distribution Deal Rapsearch com Retrieved August 19 2010 Kuperstein Slava April 28 2010 RZA Confirms Liquid Swords 2 Get The Latest Hip Hop News Rap News amp Hip Hop Album Sales HipHopDX com Retrieved August 19 2010 Andrew Martin March 23 2010 Good Ass Job Marks Kanye West s Return to Real Hip Hop Prefixmag com Retrieved August 19 2010 Interview The RZA Talks Headphones Hollywood and Working On Watch The Throne Complex com Retrieved April 24 2012 Marc Hogan June 9 2016 RZA and Interpol s Paul Banks Announce New Album Anything But Words Featuring Florence Welch Share Giant Listen Pitchfork com Retrieved August 28 2016 a b c Lilah Rose June 9 2016 RZA and Paul Banks Team up Hotnewhiphop Retrieved June 9 2016 GOOD HUMOR joins forces with musical genius RZA Archived from the original on February 22 2022 Retrieved August 14 2020 Natalie Escobar An Ice Cream Truck Jingle s Racist History Has Caught Up To It npr org Retrieved August 14 2020 Good Humor x RZA A New Ice Cream Truck Jingle for a New Era YouTube August 13 2020 RZA Dug Up An Old Lyric Book To Work On Long Awaited Album The Cure HipHopDX com October 30 2020 Retrieved June 27 2021 Why You Can t Ignore Kanye Time August 21 2005 Archived from the original on March 20 2007 Retrieved May 23 2010 Gale Free Resources Black History Biographies Kanye West Archived from the original on June 15 2006 Retrieved June 5 2007 Kanye Run DMC Outkast Justin Sound Off on Our Top 10 Hip Hop Groups MTV News Retrieved March 26 2015 a b Dukes Rahman Reid Shaheem January 19 2009 The Clipse Hint at Kanye West Collabo Mixtape Monday Rolling Stone Retrieved January 19 2009 PodOmatic Podcast Conspiracy Worldwide Hip Hop Radio Part 2 Live Guests ASSASSINATE THE MEDIA SPECIAL w The RZA Tech N9ne Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles Dogg Pound D12 s Bizarre Homeboy Sandman Matt Maddox Cyrus Melachi world exclusives and more Conspiracy Worldwide Radio UNCUT Conspiracyworldwide podomatic com June 26 2010 Retrieved August 19 2010 PodOmatic Podcast Conspiracy Worldwide Hip Hop Radio Part 2 Live Guests ASSASSINATE THE MEDIA SPECIAL w The RZA Tech N9ne Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles Dogg Pound D12 s Bizarre Homeboy Sandman Matt Maddox Cyrus Melachi world exclusives and more Conspiracy Worldwide Radio UNCUT PodOmatic Retrieved March 26 2015 The Wu Tang Manual by The RZA with Chris Norris ISBN 1 59448 018 4 Hip Hop Core Interview RZA English Hiphopcore net Retrieved March 26 2015 Borys Kit June 27 2011 G I Joe RZA Joining Sequel Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved March 26 2015 High Cost of Body Parts Got You Down Join the Repo Men Union Dread Central February 3 2010 Retrieved March 26 2015 Californication 2007 2014 Full Cast amp Crew IMDb com Retrieved August 28 2016 Mr Right 2015 IMDb com Retrieved December 19 2019 Squires John May 30 2019 New The Dead Don t Die Character Posters Spotlight RZA Gomez Buscemi and Waits Bloody disgusting com Retrieved December 19 2019 Daybreak Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life TV Episode 2019 IMDb com October 24 2019 Retrieved December 19 2019 The Ruler Zig Zag Zig Allah Fast Forward Weekly Archived from the original on December 2 2008 Retrieved March 26 2015 Brunton Richard July 7 2008 RZA s The Man with the Iron Fist Filmstalker co uk Retrieved August 19 2010 Movies Eli Roth on RZA s The Man with the Iron Fist 411mania com Archived from the original on June 18 2013 Retrieved April 17 2013 a b Eli Roth Gives Chud The Scoop on RZA s Martial Arts Movie Chud com July 6 2008 Archived from the original on December 21 2009 Retrieved August 19 2010 Drunk Monk The New Yorker April 25 2005 Retrieved November 16 2021 Ritter Peter May 14 2006 This Monk Is a Boldface Name The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 16 2021 a b RZA s Edge The RZA s Guide to Kung Fu Films Film Society of Lincoln Center Retrieved June 29 2012 a b The RZA Laying Down Afro Samurai s Beats Newsarama com February 10 2009 Retrieved June 29 2012 McClain Dylan Loeb October 21 2007 Where Hip Hop Martial Arts and Chess Meet The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 17 2022 The 10 Best Beards in Sports BallerStatus com Retrieved March 26 2015 Where Hip Hop Martial arts and Chess Meet Hiphopchessfederation org Archived from the original on October 2 2008 Retrieved August 28 2016 RZA wins WWF Prefixmag com Retrieved March 26 2015 Wu Tang s RZA Wants To Get Real About Why He s A Vegan Huffington Post January 12 2014 Retrieved January 12 2014 Luke Morgan Britton Wu Tang Clan s RZA says he refuses to put dead animals in his live body in PETA advert NME News November 24 2014 Carl Lamarre RZA Teams Up With PETA for New PSA Promoting Animal Kindness Exclusive Billboard January 17 2018 Roy Wilkinson Select July 1997 p 60 Jordan Chris Hip hop benefit to go on minus state backing Home News Tribune May 15 2002 Accessed September 19 2014 I m here to show that whether it s being supported or funded I m still here with my own time and my own dime for these young brothers and young sisters to get a chance to know that they got to read and they got to study said RZA also known as Robert Diggs of Marlboro Township Bobby Digital and the Pit of Snakes RZA As Bobby Digital Apple Music July 22 2022 Retrieved July 22 2022 Kaufman Gil March 22 2006 Kanye Cam ron Game Suge Knight Speak Out About Hip Hop Cops In New Doc MTV Retrieved July 11 2022 a b RZA grammy com Retrieved August 24 2020 Anthony Asquith Award for Original Film Music in 2004 bafta org Retrieved August 24 2020 The 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards sagawards com Retrieved August 24 2020 The RZA emmys com Retrieved August 24 2020 External links EditRZA at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Data from Wikidata RZA at AllMusic RZA discography at Discogs RZA at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title RZA amp oldid 1128589366, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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