Gary Grice (born 22 August 1966), better known by his stage name GZA () and The Genius , is an American hip hop artist best known as a founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan and for his inclusion on their group albums, his groupmates' solo releases and a successful solo career.

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Biography

Grice developed an interest in hip-hop by attending block parties as a child in the late '70s. He formed a three-man group with his cousins, who would later be known as RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard. The group, All in Together Now, saw the three rapping and DJing, switching off names and performing local shows; since they lived in different boroughs, RZA and Dirty would travel out to Staten Island to meet up with their cousin, after which the three would travel across NYC and challenge other MCs to battles. After some years of this, GZA was signed to Cold Chillin' Records as a solo artist under the name The Genius . He put together an album called Words from the Genius , produced mostly by Easy Mo Bee, but after it failed to sell—and his rocky experience on tour—Grice became fed up and asked for release from the label ^[1].

After joining the Wu-Tang Clan, a group of nine which included himself, RZA and ODB, GZA boasted some high-profile appearances on the group's debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers , including a solo track, "Clan in da Front." This, combined with appearances on other Clan albums such as Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version brought him much recognition and respect (more than he achieved solo as "The Genius"). These guest appearances were followed up in 1995 with GZA's sophomore solo effort, Liquid Swords , produced entirely by RZA; the album was met with critical and commercial acclaim, and is still considered one of the best albums to come out of the Wu-Tang camp ^[2]; in 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums of all time.

After appearing on the Wu-Tang Clan's second album, Wu-Tang Forever , GZA released Beneath the Surface in 1999. Reviews were mostly positive and the album did well (going Gold), though it failed to live up to ''Liquid Swords acclaim or commercial success. Like the sophomore projects of many Clan members, critics decried the album's lack of RZA production, claiming the underground producers and Wu-Elements used did not live up to the producer's skill level. Grice put in appearances on The W, Iron Flag and some of his group members' solo projects, but did not release another of his own until 2002 with Legend of the Liquid Sword. The album was received well by critics, but did not achieve commercial success, failing to go gold as his previous release had. GZA spent 2004 touring, both solo and with the Clan, and made an appearance with RZA in Jim Jarmusch's film Coffee & Cigarettes'', opposite Bill Murray.

In 2005, GZA and DJ Muggs (the producer for Cypress Hill) released the LP Grandmasters . Muggs provided all the beats for the album, which saw GZA using chess as a metaphor for the rap game, ^[3]. The album received very positive reviews ^[4] and modest commercial success. He then partook in the recording of groupmate Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II , originally stating that he was heavily featured along with Inspectah Deck, though he was later unsure about his status on the project ^[5].

2007 saw GZA teaming up with his Wu-Tang Clan to record the group album 8 Diagrams , and in the ensuing controversy, defended both Raekwon and Ghostface Killah's rights to speak their mind, and RZA's production job on the album. ^[6] In the summer of 2008, he released the album Pro Tools which featured production from Black Milk and past collaborators Jay "Waxxx" Garfield, RZA, Mathematics and True Master. After the release GZA toured various parts of Europe on a "Liquid Swords Tour" where he performed songs from Liquid Swords as well as Pro Tools. He later toured parts of the USA. GZA also stated his wish to record another full album with RZA ^[7].

In 2009, the GZA made appearances on 2 more Wu-Tang albums. The first being on a song entitled "Stomp Da Roach" on the album Dopium, by fellow clan member U-God. The second appearance is on the highly anticipated, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.

Discography

Year	Title	Chart positions [8] [9]			RIAA certifications [10]
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	Top Rap Albums
1991	Words from the Genius Released: February 19 1991 Label: Cold Chillin'/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records	-	-	-
1995	Liquid Swords Released: November 7 1995 Label: Geffen/MCA Records	9	2	-	Platinum
1999	Beneath the Surface Released: June 29 1999 Label: MCA Records	9	1	1	Gold
2002	Legend of the Liquid Sword Released: December 10 2002 Label: MCA Records	-	-	-
2005	GrandMasters (with DJ Muggs) Released: October 25 2005 Label: Angeles Records	-	69	-
2007	GrandMasters Remix Album (with DJ Muggs) Released: 2007 Label: Angeles Records	-	-	-
2008	Pro Tools Released: August 19, 2008 Label: Think Differently Music/Babygrande Records	52	13		28,500+ [11]

References

1. [1]
2. [1]
3. [1]
4. [1]
5. [1]
6. [1]
7. [1]
8. Billboard chartings. Accessed October 29 2007.
9. UK Album chartings. Accessed November 10 2007.
10. Searchable Database. RIAA. Accessed November 27 2008.
11. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Top 200 Soundscan (01/15/2009)