The Wu-Tang Clan's chief producer,
the RZA (aka the Abbott,
Prince Rakeem, the Rzarector, Bobby Steels, and
Bobby Digital) was born Robert Diggs. He first surfaced in the early '90s as a member of the rap unit All in Together Now, a group that also featured fellow
Wu-Tang members
the Genius (aka
GZA) and
Ol' Dirty Bastard. Following All in Together Now's dissolution, he signed to Tommy Boy under the name
Prince Rakeem, issuing the 1991 EP
Ooh I Love You Rakeem before joining
the Wu-Tang; the group's 1993 debut,
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was one of the most influential hip-hop records of the era, with
RZA's lean, menacing production work much imitated throughout the rap community in the years to follow. In addition to remaining a member of the loose-knit
Wu-Tang family and producing many of the group members' solo efforts,
RZA also joined
the Gravediggaz, helming their 1995 debut
6 Feet Deep; his first full-length solo LP,
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo, followed in 1998. In 1999,
RZA Hits, a compilation of some of the
Wu-Tang family's best-known tracks, from both group and solo projects, was released under
RZA's name.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, his soundtrack for the
Jim Jarmusch film -- in which he made a cameo, beginning a series of small acting roles -- was released in 2000. One year later, he released his second
Bobby Digital record,
Digital Bullet. A mix album,
The World According to RZA, followed in 2003, as did his third official solo album,
The Birth of a Prince. He continued to field soundtrack work, including
Quentin Tarantino's two-volume Kill Bill films and the Japanese animation series Afro Samurai, as documented on 2007's
Afro Samurai and 2009's
Afro Samurai: The Resurrection.
Tarantino then persuaded the producer to finish a full-length movie script he had been working on. With
Eli Roth as his co-writer, shooting began in 2011 on the
RZA-written and directed film
The Man with the Iron Fists. Both the film and its soundtrack landed in 2012 featuring music from the
RZA and his
Wu-Tang associates
Ghostface Killah and
Method Man, along with tracks from
Kanye West and
the Black Keys.
