Gary Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA (/ˈdʒɪzə/ JIZ-ə) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group, the Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is known as the group's "spiritual head", being both the oldest and the first within the group to receive a record deal. He has appeared on his fellow Clan members' solo projects, and since the release of his critically acclaimed solo album Liquid Swords (1995), he has maintained a successful solo career.
In 2012, The Source placed him on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.
An analysis of GZA's lyrics found that he has the second largest vocabulary in hip hop music, behind Aesop Rock, in a sample of 75 rappers. The Wu-Tang Clan, as a collective, and several of its individual members were also in the top 10.
Gary Grice developed an interest in hip-hop by attending block parties as a child in the early 1970s. He formed a three-man group with his cousins, Robert Diggs and Russell Jones, who would later be known as RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard, respectively. The group, FOI: Force of the Imperial Master, saw the three rapping and DJing, switching off names and performing local shows; since they lived in different boroughs, GZA and Ol' Dirty would travel from Brooklyn out to Staten Island to meet up with their cousin RZA, after which the three would travel across New York City 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.
GZA is a hip hop artist and member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
GZA may also be one of the following:
Life Is
Life is hard, somehow
Life is cold, somehow
It can make you, it can break you
In pieces all around
There is no return
Once the seal's undone
Morning dawning with life abounding
But in time we all must fall
And it seems to be this way
Hearts change and brightness fades
And it leaves you facing the days
When your hope is blown apart
Life is hard
I walk you down that road
It's the only road we know
Nights so blinding, the world denying
That love so loved the world
What words to ease the pain
A life to live again
What can lift you up from this place
Where you hold a broken heart