RZA

RZA, born Robert Diggs in Brooklyn, New York, released singles as Prince Rakeem in 1991 and in 1992 formed Wu-Tang Clan with his cousins Russell Jones (Ol’ Dirty Bastard) and Gary Grice (GZA) and six others.⁠[1]

The group first released the single “Protect Ya Neck” independently, then signed with Loud/RCA under a contract that let each member negotiate his own solo deal.⁠[2]

In 1993 Wu-Tang Clan released its debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), produced entirely by RZA, who drew heavily on samples from labels such as Stax and on soundbites from kung fu films to create a trademark dusty sound.⁠[2]

He was also a member of the hip-hop group Gravediggaz, formed in 1992 with Prince Paul, Frukwan and Poetic, which released its debut 6 Feet Deep on Gee Street Records in 1994 and The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel in 1997.⁠[3]

On June 3, 1997, Wu-Tang Clan released the double album Wu-Tang Forever, which sold 612,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA that year and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.⁠[4]

He released the solo album RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998), produced soundtracks for Ghost Dog and Kill Bill, and wrote The Wu-Tang Manual (2005) with Chris Norris.⁠[1]

Director Jim Jarmusch described Ghost Dog as a three-way collaboration between himself, lead actor Forest Whitaker and RZA, and wanted the music to keep the slightly damaged sound of early Wu-Tang.⁠[5]

He contributed four tracks to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 and produced the soundtrack for the Spike TV animated series Afro Samurai, featuring Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane and GZA.⁠[6]

In June 2008 the chess social networking site WuChess, which he backed, launched as a collaboration with the nonprofit Hip-Hop Chess Federation and the game company Chesspark. He said: “Music is mathematical. Chess is mathematical.”⁠[7]

In 2009 Riverhead published his 208-page The Tao of Wu, a mix of memoir, spiritual advice and poetry that recounts his early days on Staten Island and his marathon home production sessions.⁠[8]

The book distills his wisdom into seven “pillars,” each based on a formative event in his life, from first hearing the call of hip-hop to the death of his cousin Ol’ Dirty Bastard.⁠[9]

In 2012 he directed The Man with the Iron Fists, a martial arts homage and his directorial debut.⁠[10]

On February 16, 2014, he retained his title at the Chess Kings Invitational celebrity tournament; then director of outreach for the Hip-Hop Chess Federation, he and the organization raised $5,000 for an after-school chess program at Santee High School in South Central Los Angeles.⁠[11]

Wu-Tang Clan made a single copy of its 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and sold it to the highest bidder, Martin Shkreli. RZA said what they had done was historic, adding: “He bought it, he can do what he wants.”⁠[12]

His second feature as director, Love Beats Rhymes, stars Azealia Banks as a Staten Island rapper whose views of language and love are challenged in a poetry class.⁠[13]

After a unanimous New York City Council vote, the Park Hill neighborhood of Staten Island was named the Wu-Tang Clan District in May 2019, with the sign at the corner of Targee Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, where the group’s video for “Can It All Be So Simple” was filmed.⁠[14]

Wu-Tang: An American Saga, a 10-episode series he created with screenwriter Alex Tse, premiered on HuluHuluHulu is a U.S. subscription streaming service offering series, films and original programming from the major television networks and studios, along with Hulu + Live TV, which includes live channels. It was founded in 2007 as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and News Corporation and opened to the public in March 2008; after a series of ownership changes, The Walt Disney Company took operational control in 2019 and full ownership in 2025, and is integrating Hulu into Disney+ as Disney’s global general entertainment brand.Open the full entry on September 4, 2019, drawing on his books The Wu-Tang Manual and The Tao of Wu, with Ashton Sanders playing RZA. He said the group’s story was too vast to fit into a two- or three-hour film.⁠[15]

His third feature, Cut Throat City, set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, follows a group of jobless young men who turn to robbing a casino, with a cast including Shameik Moore, Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard and Ethan Hawke.⁠[10]

In 2021 Wu-Tang Clan performed with the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks Amphitheatre while the kung fu film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin played in the background, beginning Wu-Tang Clan’s partnership with the orchestra.⁠[16]

On July 27, 2021, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced the sale of the album’s sole copy, which had been forfeited as a substitute asset by convicted former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli; the price and buyer were kept confidential under the contract.⁠[17]

He appeared on episode 228 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing life and death, Quincy Jones, Quentin Tarantino, kung fu, Wu-Tang Clan, Bruce Lee, veganism, AI, chess, the film American Gangster and creativity.⁠[18]

In 2023 conductor Christopher Dragon and the Colorado Symphony gave the world premiere of his ballet score A Ballet Through Mud. The work grew out of his teenage lyric notebooks.⁠[16]

PleasrDAO, which bought the album for $4 million in July 2021, lent it to the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, where a 30-minute mix was played twice daily from June 15 to 24, 2024, in the exhibition Namedropping; under Wu-Tang Clan’s contract, the album is to be released on October 8, 2103.⁠[19]

In August 2024 A Ballet Through Mud was released as an album. He said the ballet tells the story of six youths who find themselves and are “transposed to their higher selves,” with each character named after a musical mode.⁠[20]

On February 24, 2025, Wu-Tang Clan announced the first 27 dates of their final tour, Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber, starting June 6 in North America with Run The Jewels opening. RZA said in a statement that he and the production team had designed a Wu-Tang show unlike anything seen before.⁠[21]

In April 2025 it was announced that One Spoon of Chocolate, his fourth feature, which he wrote and directed, would have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8; shot in Atlanta, Georgia, it follows a former military convict who moves to a small Southern town, starring Shameik Moore and Paris Jackson among others.⁠[22]

X: Public account: https://x.com/RZA (opens in a new window)⁠[18]

Wu-Tang Clan: Official website: https://wutangclan.net (opens in a new window)⁠[18]