Wu-Tang Clan founding member Oliver ‘Power’ Grant dead at 52
Oliver “Power” Grant, a founding member of the legendary hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, has died. He was 52.
Fellow Wu-Tang member Method Man confirmed Grant’s devastating passing in a touching Instagram publish on Tuesday.
“Paradise my Brother safe Travels!!” Method Man, 54, wrote alongside a photograph of the pair.
Grant’s demise was additionally announced on Instagram by the hip-hop music website Okayplayer. He reportedly died on Feb. 23, though no explanation for demise has been introduced.
“A driving force behind one of hip-hop’s most influential movements, Power helped build a global legacy rooted in independence, ownership and culture,” Okayplayer’s publish started. “His perception in artistic management and neighborhood empowerment helped form not solely a bunch, however a dynasty that modified music eternally.
(*52*)“His impact will live on through the culture he helped elevate and the countless lives he inspired,” the positioning added.
A rep for the Wu-Tang Clan didn’t instantly reply to Page Six’s request for remark.
Born in Jamaica on Nov. 3, 1973, Grant later moved to New York City and grew up in Staten Island alongside key Wu-Tang members RZA, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Cappadonna.
The late hip-hop affiliate went on to government produce all the storied rap crew’s information, in addition to create the favored Wu Wear clothes line.
“My crew had plenty of skeptics, doubters, and non-believers,” Grant said in 2011 Regarding the Wu Wear clothes line and the way it helped solidify the Wu-Tang model.
“It wasn’t anything personal, but I’d say that everyone is an individual and they didn’t really understand what I was doing or what I was initially to get across, or where I was trying to come from,” he added at the time.
Beyond his work with Wu-Tang from the group’s formation in 1992 till his demise, Grant was also an actor who starred in “Belly” alongside Method Man in 1998 and “Black and White” the next yr.
Other Wu-Tang members to pay tribute to their late producer included RZA, GZA and Raekwon.
“We couldn’t have done it without him,” GZA, 59, wrote on Instagram Tuesday alongside 4 pictures of Grant. “Wu wouldn’t have come to fruition without Power. His passing is a profound loss to us all. My deepest condolences to the fam.”
“POWER we have been everywhere… Now you everywhere!” Raekwon, 56, added in his own post alongside a pic of Grant and Wu-Tang. “The highest is merciful. I love you.”
Grant, who was instrumental within the success of Wu-Tang’s debut album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” in 1993, opened up concerning the group’s early years in his interview with Passion of the Weiss.
“Everything that we learned was hard-knock life, you figure it out as you go along, and take cues from those that are actively doing things,” he advised the outlet in 2011. “A lot of it was trial and error.”
