Born in Brooklyn, Diggs was an early teen fan of hip hop and all that went with the scene. He was soon forming rap groups with family and friends, taking the name RZA from, amongst other things, his grafitti tag Razor. Once he’d navigated his way through some tough street situations, he formed the Wu Tang group with two of his cousins and some other associates in 1992. Their first song Protect Ya Neck was a particularly strong statement of intent and was the start of an illustrious career as a musician, rapper, producer, film maker and composer for this Wu Tang Clan leader. The release of their debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in November 1993 was a landmark moment in music, and hip hop in particular. RZA was the mastermind operator behind all Wu Tang happenings, producing the music and allocating vocal responsibilities.
In the mid 90’s as each Wu member began their solo projects, it was RZA who coordinated, composed and arranged the music at the heart of the projects and the overall creative processes. He began to create his own solo material and by the turn of the millennium had branched out further into composing film scores, including those for Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog, and then the Japanese anime Afro Sumarai starring Samuel L Jackson.
This artist has really led the very edgy production in hip-hop; utilising soul samples and sparse beats to great atmospheric effect. He has influenced so many artists in music, style and imagery, managing to set the highest cultural standards for others in the lane to follow.