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b. Gary Grice, 22 August 1966, Staten Island, New York, USA. The Genius (aka GZA) is one of the many talents who comprise the Wu-Tang Clan, the chess-playing, martial arts hip-hop crew whose members include Raekwon, Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and RZA, among others. The roots of the Wu-Tang Clan lay in All In Together Now, formed by Genius with his cousins RZA and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Like the majority of his compatriots he is a native of New York’s Staten Island district. In common with RZA, the Genius had already recorded as a solo artist for Cold Chillin’ Records before becoming part of the collective. However, when the Clan as a whole signed with BMG Records, provision for each member to work solo was enshrined in the contract, and the Genius used the opportunity to link with his third record company, Geffen Records. The Genius’ Liquid Swords closely mirrored the sound of the Wu-Tang Clan, built around a musical backing of stripped down beats, with samples culled from martial ar...