RZA

罗伯特·费兹杰罗·迪格（英语：Robert Fitzgerald Diggs，1969年7月5日—）或称艺名RZA（/ˈrɪzə/ RIZ-ə），是美国说唱男歌手、音乐制作人、音乐家、演员、导演、编剧、监制和作家。身为嘻哈界知名人物的他同时也是武当帮的领导者，并制作了大多数的武当帮专辑及多支单曲。RZA是武当帮其中两名成员GZA与肮脏坏家伙的堂兄弟。在成立武当帮前，他是恐怖核团体Gravediggaz的创始成员，在当时他以The RZArector作为艺名。

自1990年代末以来，RZA也持续参与影视圈的制作。较著名的作品如电影《杀死比尔》（2003年）、《杀死比尔2》（2004年）、《美国黑帮》（2007年）、《暴力街区》（2014年）和《小人物》（2021年），以及电视剧《加州靡情》（2012年）和《黑白道》（2014年）。2012年，RZA推出了身兼编剧、导演和演员的电影《铁拳无敌》。

RZA以制作灵魂乐及稀疏节拍风格的音乐而闻名，并已被证明有着崇高的影响力。《The Source》将他列入该杂志二十年来史上最伟大音乐制作人名单中的第20名。《Vibe》将他列为史上最佳的八大嘻哈制作人之一。《新音乐快递》则将他列入史上最伟大的50位制片人名单之中。

Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( RIZ-ə) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the de facto leader of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most of the group's albums and those of its members. Known for his signature use of soul samples, sparse beats, and cinematic elements, his production style has been widely influential in hip-hop. The Source and Vibe both ranked him among the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, while NME included him on its list of the 50 Greatest Producers Ever, spanning all genres.

RZA has released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital; he was also a founding member of the horrorcore group Gravediggaz, performing as the RZArector. He has also worked extensively in film and television, composing scores for major films such as Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004). He made his directorial debut with The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) and later directed Love Beats Rhymes (2017). He served as an executive producer on Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019–2023), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.

As an actor, he has appeared in American Gangster (2007), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), as well as the TV series Californication. He has also done voiceover work, including roles in The Simpsons and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022).

Early life

Diggs was born on July 5, 1969, in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was named after the Kennedy brothers, Robert and John Fitzgerald, both of whom his mother greatly admired. Diggs has called his given name an "honorable" name, given the legacy of both Robert and John. Diggs has a younger brother, Terrance Hamlin, better known as the rapper 9th Prince, and an older brother named Mitchell "Divine" Diggs.

From ages three to seven, Diggs spent summers in North Carolina with his uncle, who encouraged him to read and study. Diggs was introduced to hip-hop music at the age of nine; by eleven, he was competing in rap battles. He relocated to Steubenville, Ohio, in 1990, to live with his mother. Diggs spent weekends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father ran a convenience store in the city's Hill District.

Diggs got involved with petty crime and drug-dealing, and was charged with attempted murder while in Steubenville. He was acquitted of the charge, giving him what he has called a "second chance".

Music career

Before the Wu-Tang Clan

Diggs first became interested in making his own hip-hop music in 1979 when a friend of his introduced him to Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. In 1981, Diggs formed a rap group with his cousins Russell Jones, then known as The Specialist, and Gary Grice, then known as Allah Justice, called "Force of the Imperial Master", which they soon after renamed as "All in Together Now" in 1984. Around this time Diggs formed the DMD Posse which consisted of RZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, 4th Disciple and Method Man. Diggs and Grice then signed with Jamaica Records for management purposes and Jamaica convinced Tommy Boy Records to sign Diggs as a solo artist in 1989 under the name Prince Rakeem. He released the original Ooh I Love You Rakeem promotion version of the EP, but was forced to remix and rerelease the single when Tommy Boy failed to acquire the rights to the original sample. The rereleased version underperformed commercially, and Diggs was subsequently dropped by Tommy Boy.

1992–1993: Forming the Wu-Tang Clan

After a shoot-out in Ohio in 1992, he faced eight years in jail. "When they said 'not guilty', my face stuck in a smile for three days," he recalled. "I was just walking around town, thinking about my daughter and my wife. Right then I said goodbye to anything that would put me in that situation again. I was up on trial on an attempted murder charge. I was a motherfucking fool, with all that knowledge in my head and ending up there."