Robert Fitzgerald Diggs is a famous American rapper, music producer, screenwriter and actor. Robert started his career with the nickname RZA and remained famous for him. He started his serious musical career as a member of the band Wu-Tang Clan. This band helped him to start a serious musical career. RZA showed his talent in this band in a number of ways, he wrote lyrics for the band, produced songs and had the most part in shooting. He founded this band together with his relatives: GZA and Ol ‘Dirty Bastard.
Apart from working in the band, RZA wanted to start an independent career, so he decided to start recording albums and songs. RZA released his albums at the Bobby Digital production house, with whom he had excellent cooperation during the band’s work, so he decided to reveal all of his albums in collaboration with this house.
His greatest success in music was achieved with the band Wu-Tang, but this was not his first band. RZA was also the founder of the Gravediggaz group, but this group did not experience fame and popularity as the Wu-Tang group.
Beside music, RZA had a talent for acting. He began to develop his talent for acting in High School, but he did not have the opportunity to fully devote himself to it. He showed his acting talent in numerous videos, but soon afterwards he started a serious acting career.
Since 1990, RZA has been actively engaged in acting, he acted in a number of films, and the most famous of them are: Kill Bill 1, Kill Bill 2. In addition to movies, he has appeared in numerous TV series Gang Related and Californication.
Apart from the acting, RZA was also interested in the filmmaker’s work; the first film that he directed was filmed in 2012, and is named ‘The Man with the Iron Fists’.
His success was spotted around the world both in acting and in music. Many magazines wrote about RZA’s life and career, so The Source named him as the best music producer in the 20th century, Vibe named him the best hip hop artist, while People magazine named him the best male feature in Kill Bill.
RZA has remained famous for its huge acting and musical talent, he is a man who has broken all barriers and has proven that you can make your realize dreams with hard work and effort.
For this reason, we decided to dedicate this article to this legendary musician, actor, producer and writer.
Through the article we talk about his childhood, family, career, and private life.
Early life
Robert was born in Brownsville, where he spent most of his childhood. His mother and uncle had a great influence on his life and career. His mother and father met in New York where they lived for several years. His mother worked at the tool store, while his father was a taxi driver. After several years, his father got a job in the post and they decided to move to Brownsville, where RZA was born. Robert has an older brother Terrence Hamlin, his brother is known as a rapper with the nickname 9th Prince.
RZA spent 5 years with his parents, after that his parents divorced and he continues his life with his mother. In an interview with Source magazine, RZA said that his father was a completely different person from his mother, who was always happy, smiling and positive. They did not agree for years, and the only reason they had not divorced before were children. RZA openly talked about the divorce of his parents and said that it was the best thing his mother did. He said that marriage should not be without love and attention, if love or passion disappears, it means that people need to continue their own lives independently.
Robert began to discover his talent for music and art very early, and his mother encouraged him to develop his talent more and become the best version of himself. In elementary school, Robert was the best pupil in his generation, and he had a special talent for music and acting. When he was 10 years old, RZA’s uncle began to live with them. He had a great influence on Robert, since he was a student; he had plenty of spare time and he spent his time with Robert and his brother.
Uncle advised him to read, helped him in school, and even taught him to play guitar. He played a special role in Robert’s life, and besides his mother uncle was his greatest support.
Robert’s father did not have a special connection with his family after divorce; he rarely saw him and contacted him. After several years he moved to Europe, married and now has another family. When Robert became very successful, his father contacted him several times but never saw him.
As a teenager, RZA has had a lot of problems with drugs and alcohol. He had troubled friends, and he was involved in a lot of illegal business. He was arrested several times and spent a year in jail. Once he was arrested on suspicion of killing an ex-girlfriend, but it turned out that the indictment was incorrect and there was no evidence.
When it turned out that there was no evidence, RZA said he had got a second chance in life. After this event, the RZA had no problems with the law, but he has admitted that he is using marijuana regularly and that it helps him to feel better.
RZA started his independent life when he was 18 years old, he wanted to start serous music career, but after a few years he started to live with his mother again. During teen years, he participated in many music competitions and won several times in Rep Beats throughout America.
Career
The beginning of his career marked the establishment of the band “All in Together Now”, RZA founded this band together with his relatives Russell and Gary. This group was popular in the city, they had a lot of success and they performed quite a lot of performances, but they have never recorded songs and because of that, the band broke up.
After the breakup of the band, he started his independent career with the nickname Prince Rakeem, then he recorded his first song, ‘Ooh I Love You Rakeem’, but this song did not have great success and did not help Robert to celebrate.
The big change in his career had the establishment of the band Wu-Tang, the RZA founded a group with his friends and relatives from childhood. After that Robert used nickname RZA, this band gained fame all over the world, they had a lot of success, they held a large number of concerts, and they had two great tours. One tour was held through America and the other was through Europe. Their first album was named ‘Enter the Wu-Tang’. RZA was the leader of this group; he produced songs for the band and he wrote lyrics for songs.
After a long period, the band released their second album, which was named ‘Wu-Tang Forever’. On this album, RZA did not invest much, he composed and produced three songs, other songs were produced by artists: Mathematics, True Master and 4th Disciple. The same situation happened on their third album, RZA had participated in 2 songs that he composed and produced. In this period it was obvious that RZA is leaving music career.
RZA began to compose music for the film; the first film in which he was a participant was Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. After this film, he released his latest album ‘The Cure’, after that he announced that this is his last album and that he will dedicate himself to acting and filming from now on. This album did not make much success.
RZA recorded Japanese anime films, and the most famous of his films was Afro Samurai, this film won several awards. His acting career began in the films: Funny People, Due Date, Gospel Hill, Ghost Dog, Life Is Hot in Cracktown … RZA acted in the hit Kill Bill movie, this film helped him to achieve great success in filming industry . RZA also appeared in Repo Men, where he played with Emilio Estevez, he played in Brick Mansions, along with Paul Walker and David Bellea.
In 2012 RZA made a huge change in his life and he directed the movie: ‘The Man with the Iron Fists’, Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth helped him with directing his first movie. This film received a lot of positive reviews.
Personal life
RZA does not like to talk about her private life, but he is open about his religion and lifestyle. He is married to actress Talani Rabb, and has two daughters with her, while he has one daughter from marriage with Ebony Mills. RZA says that he is a vegetarian, and he advised people to change their lifestyle. He is a member of the popular PETA animal protection organization.
The RZA is very specific when we talk about religion and beliefs, he has repeatedly said that he believes in more energy and admitted that he has accepted the teachings of The Quran and the Bible. In addition, he said that in recent years, he paid more attention to Buddhism and that he adopted many of its aspects and beliefs.
Quick Summary
Full name: Robert Fitzgerald Diggs
Date of birth: July 5, 1969
Birthplace: Brownsville, New York, United States of America
Age: 50
Profession: Musician, Rapper, Music producer, Actor and Film Director
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 85 kg
Net Worth: $32 million
