Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name
RZA (born July 5, 1969), is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the
de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost all of Wu-Tang Clan's albums as well as many Wu-Tang solo and affiliate projects. He is widely considered one of the most influential and landmark hip-hop producers of all time. He subsequently gained attention for his work scoring and then later acting in films. His revolutionary techniques of sampling, speeding up tracks to fit the beat laced, and his cinematic skits sprinkled throughout albums have greatly inspired other producers in the industry. He produced for a slew of Wu Tang solo albums as well as group albums that dominated not only commercially, but also thematically and artistically. His production from the mid 90's to the late 90's brought about one of the greatest 'bouts' or 'runs' of inspiration the industry has seen, creating various classics.
He has also released solo albums under the alter-ego
Bobby Digital, along with executive producing credits for countless side projects. In addition to the Wu-Tang Clan and his solo releases, RZA was also a founding member of the horrorcore Hip Hop group Gravediggaz where he used the name
The Rzarector. Furthermore, he has acted in several movies, including
Coffee and Cigarettes,
American Gangster,
Gospel Hill,
Life Is Hot in Cracktown,
Ghost Dog,
Funny People,
Derailed,
Due Date and
Repo Men. He continues to build his acting and production work hand in hand.
In 2008, RZA was ranked #4 on About.com's list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers, while
The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazine's twenty-year history. He also made the "Elite 8" in the search for The Greatest Hip-Hop Producer of All Time by
Vibe.
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