What Is GZA's Net Worth?
GZA is an American rapper, songwriter, producer, and director who has a net worth of $20 million. GZA, also known as The Genius, is best known for being a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan and was known within the group as the 'spiritual head'—being the oldest and the first one within the group to land a record deal.
With Wu-Tang Clan, GZA has released the albums "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" (1993), "Wu-Tang Forever" (1997), "The W" (2000), "Iron Flag" (2001), "8 Diagrams" (2007), "A Better Tomorrow" (2014), and "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" (2015). He has also released the solo albums "Words from the Genius" (1991), "Liquid Swords" (1995), "Beneath the Surface" (1999), "Legend of the Liquid Sword" (2002), and "Pro Tools" (2008), and he collaborated with DJ Muggs on the 2005 album "GrandMasters." Steve Huey of AllMusic called GZA "one of the best lyricists of the '90s," and in 2012, "The Source" magazine included the rapper on its "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time" list.
GZA is involved with a partnership called Teachers College that is focused on improving science education in New York City by engaging youth through rap music and rap competitions. He has also directed music videos for a few of his songs as well as songs by Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface Killah, and he helmed the 2007 documentary "Wu Tang: Revealed." GZA executive produced "Wu Tang: Revealed" as well, and in 2019, he served as a producer on the miniseries "Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men" and as a consulting producer on the series "Wu-Tang: An American Saga."
Early Life
GZA was born Gary Eldridge Grice on August 22, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York City. He became interested in hip-hop as a child while going to block parties in the early '70s. GZA got involved with DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti, and he developed an interest in writing at an early age.
During his youth, he enjoyed listening to the Commodores, The Isley Brothers, and the O'Jays as well as The Last Poets, "several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism." Later, GZA started listening to R&B and hip-hop such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Secret Weapon.
GZA dropped out of high school during his sophomore year. He formed the group Force of the Imperial Master (aka the All in Together Now Crew) with his cousins Russell Jones (Ol' Dirty Bastard) and Robert Diggs (RZA) in the late '80s, and they performed locally and took part in rap battles.
GZA eventually signed a contract with Cold Chillin' Records as a solo artist, using the name The Genius, and his debut album, "Words from the Genius," was released in 1991.The label did not promote the album, so it wasn't commercially successful, and GZA asked to be released from his contract.
Wu-Tang Clan
In 1992, RZA formed Wu-Tang Clan and invited GZA to join. The group released the 3× Platinum album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" in November 1993, and it reached #8 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Their follow-up, 1997's "Wu-Tang Forever," was certified 4× Platinum and reached #1 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as well as the UK Albums chart and Canadian Albums chart. The single "Triumph" went Platinum and peaked at #6 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. Next, Wu-Tang Clan released the Platinum album "The W" (2000) and the Gold album "Iron Flag" (2001), followed by "8 Diagrams" (2007), "A Better Tomorrow" (2014), and "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" (2015). "The W" reached #1 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and featured the Gold single "Gravel Pit."
During his time with Wu-Tang Clan, GZA has released the solo albums "Liquid Swords" (1995), "Beneath the Surface" (1999), "Legend of the Liquid Sword" (2002), and Pro Tools (2008) and collaborated on the album "GrandMasters" (2005) with DJ Muggs. "Liquid Swords" was certified Platinum in the U.S. and Silver in the U.K. and reached #9 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The title track reached #3 on the "Billboard" Hot Rap Songs chart, and the singles "Cold World" (featuring Inspectah Deck) and "Shadowboxin'" (featuring Method Man) were top 10 hits on that chart. "Beneath the Surface" went Gold in the U.S. and reached #9 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. GZA has also performed on tracks by several other artists, such as DJ Muggs and RZA's "Third World," Pete Rock's "Head Rush," Jus Allah's "Pool of Blood," and Czarface's "When Gods Go Mad." In 2020, GZA voiced Bad Billions on the Netflix series "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts" and contributed the song "Newton Wolves Rap" to the soundtrack.
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Personal Life
GZA is an avid chess player, and his 2005 album "Grandmasters" was chess-themed. In 2021, he starred in the Vans Channel 66 series "Chessboxing with GZA," which featured the rapper playing chess with celebrities. According to a 2014 "Vice" article, "GZA is an intellectual powerhouse. In his free time, he chills with physicists from MIT, gives lectures on the universe at McGill, and promotes Science Genius, a partnership with (Rap) Genius to teach kids science."
Award Nominations
In 2019, GZA earned an International Documentary Association Award nomination for Best Music Documentary for "Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men." Wu-Tang Clan received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album for "Wu-Tang Forever" in 1998, and they earned American Music Award nominations for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist (1998) and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group (2008).
