Gary Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage name GZA ([ˈdʒ… Read Full Bio ↴Gary Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage name GZA ([ˈdʒɪzʌ]), is an American hip hop artist best known as a founding member of 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.
Born in Staten Island, Grice developed an interest in hip-hop by attending block parties as a child in the late '70's. 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 was 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, 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. GZA also stated his wish to record another full album with RZA[7].
Born in Staten Island, Grice developed an interest in hip-hop by attending block parties as a child in the late '70's. 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 was 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, 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. GZA also stated his wish to record another full album with RZA[7].
Hell's Wind Staff %01 Killah Hills 10304
GZA Lyrics
(The skill of Shaolin)
Yeah, it's the good life, you know
Fuck is that, Hell's Angels?
(Ah, Mr. Bobby Steels, Tony Starks on line one for Mr. Bobby Steels)
Steels over here, Steels over here
Peace, Starks what's going on, baby?
Yeah, everything is lovely over here
Yeah, the Maximillion is sure
I'm over here with Noodles and I got Lucky Hands with me
She got soul, R&B, classics? All that shit right?
Yeah, yeah, Greco is right in front of me right now
Greco is standing right here
Yeah, he has a briefcase
Oh, okay, okay, I got you, aight, thanks
Bobby Steels
Mr. Greco, good to see you, good to see you, good to see you
A pleasure
So is everything okay, is everything working as we planned?
Everything is working out, very nicely
Do you have the cash, twenty-thousand dollars?
Do we have the cash?
We don't have to talk that, hey, hey
Get the fuck outta here with that Hell's Angels bullshit
Look, we got the cash
We know Cash Rules Everything Around this motherfucker
Fuck outta here
Um, let me ask you
Do you have the full amount?
Twenty thousand as we agreed upon?
Fucking Hells bastards
Let me ask you a question, Mr. Greco
Do you know a a Don Rodriguez?
I know no such person
Don Rodriguez from the Bronx? Don Rodriguez?
Don't know who you're talking about
I think you do know him because your fuckin' friend Don
Is down at 120 Precinct right now
Singing his fucking ass like a fucking bird
Life of a drug dealer
The fuckin' guys is coming
Do you believe him?
Killah Hills 10304
Restaurants on a stakeout, so order the food to take out
Chaos, outside a Sparks Steak House
Maintain the power, I feel the deal's gone sour
Nigga missed the wedding, late a fucking half-hour
And his man who bought land from Tony Starks
While he was contractin' bricklaying jobs in city parks
He's a loan shark, interest rates a grand to a finger
In the garment district, got it sewn like Singers
'Cause all that talk blasphemy
This kid after me for the heist in a Burlington Coat Factory
Fuck it, he turned state's on my nigga Castro
This copilot who used to drop sacks of blow
On this remote area we label Dead Man's Island
Two hundred miles South from Thailand
Right off the docks, I got luxurious custom made yachts
Burial plots, for my niggas hit with fatal shots
There's no need for us to spray up the scene
I use less men, more powerful shit for my team
Like my man Muhammad from Afghanistan, grew up in Iran
The nigga runs a neighborhood newsstand
A wild Middle Eastern bomb specialist
Initiated at eleven to be a terrorist
He set bombs in bottles of champagne
And when niggas popped the cork, niggas lost half they brains
Like this ex-worker, tried to smuggle a half a ki in his left leg
Even underwent surgery
They say his pirate limp gave him away
As the feds rushed him, coming through U.S. Customs
Now look whose on the witness stand singin'
A well known soprano, a smash hit from Sammy Gravano
Here's the plan, minimum for the hit, two hundred grand
Half-time at the game, blastin' niggas out the stands
The sharp-shooters hit the prosecutor
Judges are sent photographs of they wives taking baths
Along with briefcase filled with one point five, that's the bribe
Take it or commit suicide
First rule, anyone who schemes on the gold in Syria
I want they small intestines ripped from the interior
I got a price for those jewels, ship 'em freight cargo
Don't forget to launder the cream through Wells Fargo
Reconstruct those processing plants for the call of Costa Rica
Four hundred barrels of ether
Two hundred pounds of reefer, and fifty immigrants with fake Visas
Life of a drug dealer
Killah Hills, 10304
The saga continues
Yeah, it's the good life, you know
Fuck is that, Hell's Angels?
(Ah, Mr. Bobby Steels, Tony Starks on line one for Mr. Bobby Steels)
Steels over here, Steels over here
Peace, Starks what's going on, baby?
Yeah, everything is lovely over here
Yeah, the Maximillion is sure
I'm over here with Noodles and I got Lucky Hands with me
She got soul, R&B, classics? All that shit right?
Greco is standing right here
Yeah, he has a briefcase
Oh, okay, okay, I got you, aight, thanks
Bobby Steels
Mr. Greco, good to see you, good to see you, good to see you
A pleasure
So is everything okay, is everything working as we planned?
Everything is working out, very nicely
Do you have the cash, twenty-thousand dollars?
Do we have the cash?
We don't have to talk that, hey, hey
Get the fuck outta here with that Hell's Angels bullshit
Look, we got the cash
We know Cash Rules Everything Around this motherfucker
Fuck outta here
Um, let me ask you
Do you have the full amount?
Twenty thousand as we agreed upon?
Fucking Hells bastards
Let me ask you a question, Mr. Greco
Do you know a a Don Rodriguez?
I know no such person
Don Rodriguez from the Bronx? Don Rodriguez?
Don't know who you're talking about
I think you do know him because your fuckin' friend Don
Is down at 120 Precinct right now
Singing his fucking ass like a fucking bird
Life of a drug dealer
The fuckin' guys is coming
Do you believe him?
Killah Hills 10304
Restaurants on a stakeout, so order the food to take out
Chaos, outside a Sparks Steak House
Maintain the power, I feel the deal's gone sour
Nigga missed the wedding, late a fucking half-hour
And his man who bought land from Tony Starks
While he was contractin' bricklaying jobs in city parks
He's a loan shark, interest rates a grand to a finger
In the garment district, got it sewn like Singers
'Cause all that talk blasphemy
This kid after me for the heist in a Burlington Coat Factory
Fuck it, he turned state's on my nigga Castro
This copilot who used to drop sacks of blow
On this remote area we label Dead Man's Island
Two hundred miles South from Thailand
Right off the docks, I got luxurious custom made yachts
Burial plots, for my niggas hit with fatal shots
There's no need for us to spray up the scene
I use less men, more powerful shit for my team
Like my man Muhammad from Afghanistan, grew up in Iran
The nigga runs a neighborhood newsstand
A wild Middle Eastern bomb specialist
Initiated at eleven to be a terrorist
He set bombs in bottles of champagne
And when niggas popped the cork, niggas lost half they brains
Like this ex-worker, tried to smuggle a half a ki in his left leg
Even underwent surgery
They say his pirate limp gave him away
As the feds rushed him, coming through U.S. Customs
Now look whose on the witness stand singin'
A well known soprano, a smash hit from Sammy Gravano
Here's the plan, minimum for the hit, two hundred grand
Half-time at the game, blastin' niggas out the stands
The sharp-shooters hit the prosecutor
Judges are sent photographs of they wives taking baths
Along with briefcase filled with one point five, that's the bribe
Take it or commit suicide
First rule, anyone who schemes on the gold in Syria
I want they small intestines ripped from the interior
I got a price for those jewels, ship 'em freight cargo
Don't forget to launder the cream through Wells Fargo
Reconstruct those processing plants for the call of Costa Rica
Four hundred barrels of ether
Two hundred pounds of reefer, and fifty immigrants with fake Visas
Life of a drug dealer
Killah Hills, 10304
The saga continues
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Gary E. Grice, Robert F. Diggs
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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