Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and GZA/Genius

As well as being a solo artist, Ghostface is a key member of the hip hop collective, the Wu-Tang Clan. He found his fame and started his career in the successful hip hop group, which consisted of seven members. The members all went solo following the success of the group, although Ghostface continued to collaborate with a lot of his former group. Ghostface’s first solo EP did not come about until 1996, four years after he found fame in the Wu-Tang clan. The EP was entitled ‘Ironman’ and debuted at the number two spot on the Billboard 200 chart, a brilliant achievement. The album possessed a distinctive soul style that would continue to feature on many of Ghostface’s songs.

Ghostface Killah’s most critically acclaimed albums are his 2000 venture ‘Supreme Clientele’ and his 2006 album ‘Fishscale’. He is particularly well known for his distinctive musical style: he is praised for his loud, fast paced flow and his emotional free style rapping which often contains cryptic slang. He was honoured in 2006 by MTV when they placed him on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time and again by the editors of About.com when he was placed on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time.

Born Corey Woods, Raekwon joined the nascent Wu-Tang Clan in 1992, just in time to feature heavily on their ground-breaking debut album Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers. Right off the bat the album was a massive critical success, acclaimed by all who heard it for its uncompromising, almost threatening atmosphere and the sheer skill of all the M.C’s involved. Staggeringly, for an album so uncompromising, it was also a pretty serious chart success, just missing the top forty of the Billboard 200 and producing some big hit singles on rap radio like “C.R.E.A.M” and “Can It All Be So Simple”. With that, Raekwon was part of a movement, but after their debuts success, the band went their separate ways to record solo albums.

Raekwon’s effort came in 1995. He signed a record deal with Loud Records in 1994 and while his debut didn’t make him a star the way that Method Man’s “Tical” did for him, “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…” was critically revered for Raekwon’s lyricism and RZA’s production work. The record remains the most acclaimed solo record from a Wu-Tang Clan member, along with GZA’s “Liquid Swords” to this day and for very good reason. The record was still a big hit with that in mind, selling over a million copies in a year and giving him a top forty hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the form of “Ice Cream”. He followed this with a victory lap in the Wu-Tang Clan, whose second record “Wu-Tang Forever” was an enormous hit both critically and commercially, scoring the group two Grammy awards to boot.

However, this level of acclaim and success would not be repeated for a while. His next two solo projects gained mixed reactions critically and commercially, and he wouldn’t truly find his feet again until 2009. He released a sequel record to “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” and unlike most sequels, it was hailed as equally good as its predecessor and as a return to form for its creator. It also mirrored its chart success as well, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200. Since then, Raekwon has continued to make acclaimed records both with and without his Wu-Tang counterparts, and has turned his eye on a new generation of rappers with his label Ice H2O Records. He’s a true original, and for that, he comes highly recommended.

GZA was often referred to as the “spiritual head” within the Clan and is noted for his cerebral and highly literate style. His verses weren’t quite as impassioned as some of his contemporaries; however, they exerted a cool collectivity and intricate word play that could only be attributed to him.

Grice was born in Staten Island in the mid 60s and lived with various relatives throughout the greater New York area. In the early 70s he was exposed to hip-hop at block parties and harbored a passion for the genre as a child. He progressed on to learning rhymes from MCs in the Bronx and frequently shared these lyrics with his cousins Robert Diggs (RZA) and Russell Jones (Ol‘ Dirty Bastard). The three went on to form the groups All in Together Now and Force of the Imperial Master before GZA released his 1991 studio debut “Words from the Genius”. The album was not given much promotion and failed commercially. The tour for the album also did not go as plan and GZA eventually left the label.

It was not until GZA joined the Wu-Tang Clan that things started picking up for the him. He contributed some of the album’s most memorable verses and solo tracks including “Clan in da Front”. 1995 was a huge year for GZA. He made two highly publicized and critically raved about appearances on the Ol‘ Dirty Bastard album “Return to the (36 Chambers)” and on Raekwon’s “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...”. Additionally that year he put out his own solo record “Liquid Swords”. The album was a commercial and critical victory for GZA and is not only considered one of the best albums to emerge from the Wu-tang Clan, but also one of the finest records in the hip-hop cannon.

The entirety of the album featured the production work of RZA and 3 of the albums songs had been turned into music videos directed by GZA. The album’s artwork, which was handled by one of Milestone Media Denys Cowan’s top artist has also left an indelible impression on pop culture.

After the release of “Liquid Swords” GZA made an appearance on the Wu-Tang Clan’s sophomore album “Wu-Tang Forever” before issuing his highly anticipated solo-effort “Beneath the Surface”. Though the album did not live up to the standards of “Liquid Swords” it received strong critical praise and also was certified Gold.

GZA’s next solo release was not until 2002’s “Legend of the Liquid Sword”. In between releases he was featured on the Wu-Tang Clan albums “The W” and “Iron Flag” and also showed up on some of his fellow members solo albums. “Legend of the Liquid Swords” was herald with rave reviews, but commercially it did not peak from cult status.

In 2004 GZA embarked on an extensive tour as a solo artist and as part of the Wu-Tang Clan. This year he also made a cameo alongside RZA and Bill Murray in Jim Jarmusch’s movie “Coffee and Cigarettes”.

A year later GZA put out a collaborative album with DJ Muggs entitled “Grandmasters”. His next solo album “Pro Tools” came out in 2008 and included production work from Detroit based rapper/sound engineer Black Milk as well as appearances by RZA, Jay Garfield, Mathematics, and True Master.

Apart from his career as a studio musician and live performer, GZA is also an advocate for higher education, specifically the sciences. He is pursuing to better science education in New York City in conjunction with Columbia University Professor Christopher Emdin, Teachers College, and the website Rap Genius.