Bobby Digital

Background:

Influential hip hop producer, rapper and actor The RZA (born Robert Diggs) first surfaced in the industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a member of the rap group ''All in Together Now'' before launching his own name as the leader of the New York based rap group ''Wu-Tang Clan'' and a member of the hardcore rap group ''Gravediggaz.''

RZA also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital, "Bobby Digital in Stereo" (1998), "Digital Bullet" (2001), "The World According to RZA" (2003) and "Birth of a Prince" (2003). He is currently working on a new Bobby Digital Album, tentatively titled "DigiSnacks," and the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan's fifth studio album, "8 Diagrams," which is scheduled for release through Street Records Corporation on December 11, 2007. He is also working on the highly-anticipated ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II,'' and has confirmed he co-produced a track on the Dr. Dre album ''Detox.''

The 6' 2" hip hop artist, who has produced almost all of Wu-Tang Clan's albums, has also composed a string of original film scores, most notably for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films. He has impacted Hollywood on-screen as well and began his acting career in the mid 2000's in Jim Jarmusch's indie film ''Coffee and Cigarettes.'' He made several appearances on the ''Chappelle's Show'' too.

The RZA played a significant role in the hit 2005 dramatic thriller film ''Derailed' and recently played detective Moses Jones in Ridley Scott's crime film "American Gangster" (2007), opposite Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. He will next be seen in the upcoming drama films "Gospel Hill" and "Life Is Hot in Cracktown."

''It’s one thing to get onstage and jump into a crowd. These are your fans. But when you got to sit in front of a camera and a crew of 100 who don’t know you, it’s a different world. You gotta take it serious if you’re from the hip-hop world. I know for myself I take it very serious.'' The RZA

Robert Diggs

Childhood and Family:

In Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, Robert Diggs, who would later be famous as The RZA (derived from the word "Razor," his graffiti tag), was born on July 5, 1969, to an impoverished family of 11 children. The Daily News recently reported that his family is allegedly the largest extended family living in New York City.

RZA's cousins are the late Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Jones) and Genius/GZA (Gary Grice), with whom he co-founded the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He is also a distant cousin of Flavor Flav.

Prince Rakeem

Career:

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, The RZA first appeared in the hip hop music scene as part of the rap unit ''All in Together Now,'' a group that also featured fellow Wu-Tang members and cousins the Genius (aka GZA) and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Following the disbandment of the acclaimed local group, RZA tried to go solo and signed with Tommy Boy under the name Prince Rakeem. Unfortunately, his stint with the successful label was short lived because he went to jail soon after the release of his only EP at the label, "Ooh I Love You Rakeem" (1991). He was charged with attempted murder in late 1992 for allegedly shooting a man and faced 8 years in prison. He claimed self-defense and was found not guilty.

Meanwhile, GZA's solo album under Cold Chillin Records flopped and the two cousins became determined to conquer the rap business on their own terms, which resulted in Wu-Tang Clan. Prince Rakeem formed it alongside GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck/Rebel INS, Raekwon the Chef, Method Man, Masta Killa, Golden Arms/U-God and Ghostface Killah. It was during this time that Prince Rakeem began to go by the name RZA. On November 9, 1993, the newly-formed group released their debut album, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," under Loud Records and RCA. The album, which only cost $30K to produce, received general positive reviews and was considered one of the most significant albums of the decade and one of the greatest hip hop albums recorded and was heralded by hip-hop fans as a classic. It spawned such singles as "Protect Ya Neck" and "C.R.E.A.M." and eventually went platinum.

During 1994-1996, RZA continued to produce almost every Wu-Tang related project and later joined the Gravediggaz, an off-and-on rap group that including Frukwan of Stetsasonic, Poetic of The Brothers Grym, and Prince Paul. He also produced their critically acclaimed debut album, ''6 Feet Deep'' (1994), which is considered a classic.

The Wu-Tang Clan's long-awaited follow-up album, "Wu-Tang Forever," hit the music stores on June 3, 1997. It debuted at #1 in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada despite limited radio and TV airplay. The album, which spun off the singles "Triumph," "It's Yourz" and "Reunited - The Remixes," was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards, but lost to Puff Daddy's "No Way Out."

Meanwhile, RZA reunited with the Gravediggaz for the album "The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel" (1997), which had a more socially-conscious sound to it and was considerably calmer than their predecessor. On November 24, 1998, RZA released his debut solo album, "Bobby Digital in Stereo," which was certified Gold by the RIAA. The following year, he produced "The RZA Hits.” During this time, his soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch's 1999 film, ''Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,'' was also released (RZA also had a brief cameo in the film).

The new millennium saw the release of Wu-Tang Clan's third album, "The W," for which RZA received praise for his production work. Spawning such singles as "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)," "Gravel Pit," "I Can't GoTo Sleep," and the banned-from-TV "Careful (Click, Click)," the album was certified Platinum in the U.S. and Canada.

After releasing his second Bobby Digital record, ''Digital Bullet,'' in August 2001, RZA helmed Wu-Tang Clan's fourth album "Iron Flag," which was released that same year in December. The album turned out to be the group's lowest-selling album (687,000 copies) due to the fact that their label, the now defunct Loud Records, was on the verge of shutting down.

In April 2003, he released "The World According to RZA," which featured his collaborations with international rap and R&B musicians that included the UK's Skinnyman, France's Saïan Supa Crew, Germany's Xavier Naidoo and Italy's Frankie Hi-NRG MC. The album was successful in many countries despite not being sold in the U.S. That same year in October, he issued his fourth solo album, "Birth of a Prince," which spun off the single "We Pop.''

RZA also continued to field soundtrack work, notably for Quentin Tarantino's two-volume ''Kill Bill'' films, which won him a Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA) Award for Best Score ("Kill Bill: Vol. 1") and nominated him for a BAFTA Award (Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music; ''Kill Bill: Vol. 1''), an Online Film Critics Society Award (for Best Original Score; ''Kill Bill: Vol. 1'') and a Black Reel Award (for Best Original Score; ''Kill Bill: Vol. 2''). He subsequently created and produced the original music for David S. Goyer's movie based on the Marvel Comics, "Blade: Trinity" (2004; starring Wesley Snipes), Jessy Terrero's predominantly African-American comedy movie, "Soul Plane" (2004; featuring Method Man and Snoop Dogg), and Lawrence Page's direct-to-video released movie "Blood of a Champion" (2006; starring Bokeem Woodbine and R&B star Deborah Cox). He recently produced the original hip hop musical score for the American version of the Japanese anime "Afro Samurai" (2007), starring Samuel L. Jackson.

In 2005, RZA released the book ''Wu-Tang Manual,'' an in-depth discussion of the Wu-Tang's virtues, vices and philosophies. He also executive produced and contributed to Method Man's fourth album, "4:21...The Day After" (2006). He is now working with Raekwon on his highly anticipated fourth solo album, ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II'' and has recorded with the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Rza is also scheduled to contribute to Cannibal Ox's upcoming album, along with Pete Rock and El-P, and it’s rumored he will be collaborating with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian for a side project called "Achozen."

"The acting itself is a whole ’nother world for me that I’m new at. I’m trying to get it good. Composing in Hollywood, that helped my music and my new album from the musical knowledge I’ve gained from these great composers, a lot of men that’ve been doing it for 20-30-40 years that were able to share their knowledge with me, come work beside me, that helped me out. Acting is one of the most spoiled jobs we can get. You on the set and you say, 'I need some Lays and some Red Bull,' and two PAs go and get it and bring it back. It’s really an ego stroke. In my life, I’ve been the head of Wu-Tang Clan. I’m always the one that got to do this and do that and make sure things are right but when I’m doing these films people got to wait on me and it feels very, very, very pleasurable." The RZA

Adding to his work on movie scores, RZA has acted on screen. Besides appearing in Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" (1999) and "Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003), he made several appearances on "Chappelle's Show" and played a significant role in the hit 2005 drama film ''Derailed,'' which was based on a James Siegel novel by the same name and stars Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston and Vincent Cassel. Additionally, he served as the Artist in Residence for the LA Film Festival that same year.

About his transition to Hollywood, RZA explained, ''Hip Hop gets a bum rap because many of us that have Hip Hop talent, we think that talent will automatically translate over into the next field and that’s not so true. When you get on stage and you have a crowd or audience that likes you, they’ll accept you. But when you got to stand in front of a camera and crew of 100 people that don’t know you and are there to do their job and they’re not really concerned with who you are, making sure you don’t go over budget with the daily shots, it’s a different world. We got to take it seriously as Hip Hop artists. Myself, I take it very serious. I know I do. The art of being a thespian is a serous craft. Many people go to school for this, get scholarships, dedicate their whole life to it. So I try to take it serious. I got a couple of books, couple of coaches. I try to keep myself prepared as I can to do the job to make sure I’m not one of the Hip Hop artists that adds on to the bad rap. One thing that Hip Hop artists always do that I’m really trying to overcome is we are always late.''

RZA has appeared as himself in such major motion pictures as "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" 1996), "Scary Movie 3" (2003) and "Be Cool" (2005). He recently played a detective named Jones, his biggest role to date, in Ridley Scott's crime film "American Gangster" (2007), opposite Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

RZA is currently working on his upcoming film projects, "Gospel Hill," a dramatic film directed, produced and starred in by Giancarlo Esposito, and "Life Is Hot in Cracktown," Buddy Giovinazzo's film adaptation of his own novel of the same name.

As for his music career, RZA is currently working on the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan's fifth studio album, "8 Diagrams," which is scheduled for release through Street Records Corporation on December 11, 2007. He has also announced that he was working on a new Bobby Digital Album, tentatively titled ''DigiSnacks,'' and has confirmed he has co-produced a track on the highly-anticipated Dr. Dre album, ''Detox.''

Awards:

• Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA): Best Score, "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," 2004