Killah Priest

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Priest


Img_capt = Performing in Chicago, July 2007
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Walter Reed
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Origin = New York City, New York, United States
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Genre = Hip hop
Occupation = Rapper, producer, actor
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Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest or simply Priest (as "Killah" was officially dropped from his nickname) [http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1150] , is an American rapper and affiliate of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious references. He is also connected to the Black Hebrew Israelites (specifically the Israeli Church of Universal Practical Knowledge) and the Nation of Gods and Earths (Five Percenters) through his rhymes, and is known for controversial, highly Afrocentric subject matter. He is also apart of supergroup The HRSMN along with: Canibus, Ras Kass, and Kurupt.

Biography

1990s

Priest first made himself known to the hip hop world rapping on two songs on the Gravediggaz album 6 Feet Deep in 1994 (1994), and followed this with appearances on two Wu-Tang Clan solo albums, Ol' Dirty Bastard's "" and GZA's "Liquid Swords", both from 1995 (see 1995 in music). "Liquid Swords" in fact included a Killah Priest solo track titled "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)". Also in 1995, Priest formed the group Sunz Of Man with rappers Hell Razah, 60 Second Assassin, Prodigal Sunn. Initially Sunz Of Man included Shabazz the Disciple, who had previously been in a duo with Priest called The Disciples, but Shabazz left the group amicably a year after its formation.

Killah Priest's first solo album was "Heavy Mental", released on Geffen Records in May 1998. It mostly expanded on the themes of "B.I.B.L.E.", featuring religious references and allegory woven into commentary on African American society and history. The album was mostly produced by the Wu-Elements producers, a group of in-house Wu-Tang producers mentored by Wu leader RZA. Sunz Of Man released their debut album "The Last Shall Be First" later in 1998, but by that time Priest's ties to the Wu were beginning to weaken, as he and long-time friend Shabazz clashed with RZA (their business ties with the Wu also began to weaken after the GZA Entertainment management agency, which they were both signed to, dissolved in 1996). After unsuccessful attempts by the pair to create new post-Wu Tang crews (Priest proposed a crew called the Maccabeez which would include himself, Shabazz and Timbo King among others, while Shabazz proposed a group including himself and Priest called the Sunz Of Thunder) they both effectively went their separate ways and cut their respective Wu-Tang ties.

2000s

After leaving the Wu stable, and consequently also effectively leaving Sunz Of Man, Priest helped form the hip hop supergroup The HRSMN with Ras Kass, Canibus and Kurupt. In October 2003, Killah Priest and Dreddy Kruger released a nine track album entitled The Horsemen Project. It was released independently through "Think Differently Music"/"Proverbs Music Inc." and was only available to purchase off the internet. [http://www.thaformula.com/killah_priest_black_market_militia.htm] Each track featured at least two members of the group as well as an appearance by Pak Man. It is currently unknown who handled the majority of the production on the album, although it is known that Mark Sparks was responsible for two songs. On Killah Priest's HipHopGame.com journal, he mentions the Horsemen a few times. The talks about a new album were mentioned on the May 1 2006 entry. He said "The Horsemen project is definitely going to come. Right now we just have to get Kurupt. He's been doing the Dogg Pound thing, but it's definitely going to come. We have songs recorded and we have more in store." [ [http://www.hiphopgame.com/index2.php3?page=kpjournal Exclusive Hip Hop News, Audio, Lyrics, Videos, Honeys, Wear, Sneakers, Download Mixtapes ] ]

Ras Kass and Canibus were featured on Priest's second album, "View From Masada", which featured no Wu-Tang input whatsoever (though the album's liner notes included the note "PEACE TO WU-TANG CLAN"). The album had a decidedly more commercially minded style than "Heavy Mental", and introduced his new Maccabeez crew, featuring a crew of then-unknown rappers. The album was also an important early stepping stone to stardom for producer Just Blaze, who would later go on to produce countless mainstream hip hop hits for the likes of Cam'ron, Erick Sermon, Fabolous and Jay-Z. However, "View From Masada" received mixed reviews.

Priest had to leave the major labels behind after "View From Masada" sold poorly. His first independent release "Priesthood" (2001), released on Proverbs Music, his own record label, was critically acclaimed though it suffered from very limited distribution. "Black August" followed in 2003 on Recon Records, and was also well-received. Priest also released an album on the Internet titled "Black August Revisited" a few months after the release of "Black August" which shared few similarities with the original, save its title. "Black August Revisited" also saw Priest rediscover his Wu-Tang ties, including collaborations with Hell Razah and Ol' Dirty Bastard. He also appeared in the music video for the single Made You Look by fellow New York rapper Nas.

In 2004, Priest performed numerous times with other Wu-Tang affiliates and also appeared on Masta Killa's album "No Said Date". November 2005 saw the re-release of "Priesthood" on Mic Club Music, a label owned by Louis Lombard III (aka Luminati), who produced "Priesthood" as well as recent albums by Canibus. March 2007 saw the release of Killah Priest's mixtape album "End of the World".

On August 21 2007 Killah Priest released The Offering, featured appearances from Nas, Immortal Technique, his fellow HRSMN, & 4th Disciple as well as Hell Razah, who appears on the advance single title track that was released in October 2005.

Killah Priest has a new album titled "Behind the Stained Glass", released on May 20, 2008 on the label Good Hands Records. It's reported that he's also in the midst of recording Behind the Stained Glass Part Two. [ [http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1150 Underground Report: Killah Priest | Features > HipHopDX.com ] ]

Discography

olo albums

Group albums

Guest appearances

*1994 "Diary of a Madman" and "Graveyard Chamber" (Gravediggaz album "6 Feet Deep")
*1995 "Where Ya At?" and "Where Ya At? (extended version)" (with Ice-T, Ice Cube, Chuck D, Prince Rakeem, Kam, Mobb Deep, DA Smart, Insane, Shorty, & Smooth B) and "Wicked Ways" (with Sunz Of Man) (from "One Million Strong")
*1995 "Greyhound, Pt. 2" (from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album "Experimental Remixes")
*1995 "Snakes"; "Proteck Ya Neck II The Zoo"; & "Don't U Know" (from the Ol' Dirty Bastard album "")
*1995 "4th Chamber" & "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)" (from the GZA album "Liquid Swords")
*1996 "America" (from the AIDS compilation album "America Is Dying Slowly")
*1996 "Parle (Hip-Hop Remix)" (with Kavalier album "Nikera")
*1997 "Repentance Day" (off the Gravediggaz album "The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel")
*1998 "Degree Zero" (from the DJ Spooky album "Riddim Warfare")
*1998 "Abide By" (with other HRSMN members Canibus, Ras Kass, & Kurupt from a 12" single called "White Label")
*1998 "No Superstar" (from the Bounty Killer album "Next Millennium")
*1998 "Moanin"(By Antonio Chance,Killa Sin) and "Street Opera" (from the "One Step" UK single)
*1998 "5 Boroughs" (with KRS-One, Buckshot, Cam'Ron, Redman, Run, Keith Murray, Prodigy, & Vigilante) (The Corrupter Soundtrack)
*1999 "4 Bars" (along with Canibus & Rose Cartel from Universal)
*1999 "Real N___a Livin" (with Fat Kat Kareem) (album unknown)
*1999 "Temple of the Mental" (from the Material album "Intonarumori")
*1999 "1112" & "Beneath The Surface" (from the GZA album "Beneath The Surface")
*2000 "Horsementality" (from the Canibus album "2000 B.C.")
*2000 "Im a Horseman (Promo)" (on Tim Westwood's "Radio 1 Rap Show" with HRSMN members Canibus & Ras Kass)
*2001 "Bread of Life" (from the Cappadonna album "The Yin & The Yang")
*2001 "Catechism" (with DJ Spooky off the "Wu-Chronicles Chapter II")
*2002 "Catechism Part 2" (with DJ Spooky)
*2001 "In Here" (from the Guru album "Baldhead Slick & Da Click")
*2002 "Out Tha Spot” (with Kurupt) (Released: 2002 (Unknown ))
*2002 "No Chaser" (with Raze, Hot Rod, & Fokis) (also released in 2003 by Raze on "Leavin Empty Shells" )
*2004 "Masters Degree" (with Block McCloud, Jean Grae, & Pumpkinhead on album "Uncle Howie")
*2004 "Ain't No Way" ((with the HRSMN) off the unreleased album "Catch Me If You Can")
*2004 "Never Imagined" (with Main Flow & Master Foul, off the album "Hip-Hopulation")
*2004 "Chains" (with Masta Killa) (from R.A. The Rugged Man album "Die, Rugged Man, Die")
*2004 "Secret Rivals" (from the Masta Killa album "No Said Date")
*2004 "Saviorself" (from the Jedi Mind Tricks album "Legacy of Blood")
*2005 "Champions" (with Soulstice) and "Wannabattle Tactics" (with Buckshot & Donte) (from Main Flow album "Notebook Assassins")
*2005 "Horsemen" (by Pak-Man and the HRSMN off the Pak-Man album "Chow Time")
*2005 "The Saints" (with Nas) (From the Dirty Harry mixtape "The Warriors")
*2005 "The 10 Plagues" (by Socalled off the Socalled album "The Socalled Seder")
* 2005 "Testimony" (with SHI 360 and Remedy)
*2006 "Beastin" (from the Chino XL album "Poison Pen")
*2006 "Constant Dreams" (from The UNDC album "Closed captioned")
*2006 "Pagan Helmets" (from Neurologists album "As The Dark Settles")
*2007 "Awaiting The Hour" (From The Ill Bill mixtape Black metal)
*2007 "Divine Sacred" (from Lightborn album "The Psychology of Fire")
*2007 "Shall I Continue" (from Gumz album "From Fetus to Genius...")
*2007 "In The Name Of Allah" (from the Cilvaringz album "I")
*2007 "Liquid Wordz" (from the Canibus album "For Whom the Beat Tolls")
*2007 "Taarruz Basladi" (from the "Ako-Akonomi" album)
*2007 "Build" (from the Contribution X album "Cobra Of The North")
*2008 "Galaxies" (from the Praxis album Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness))
*2008 "Eat Ya Food" (from the Brooklyn Zu album "Chamber #9, Verse 32")

References

External links

* [http://www.killahpriest.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.hrsmn-central.com/ HRSMN official website]
*myspace|killahpriest|Killah Priest
*imdb name|id=0697334
* [http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/killahpriest/ Killah Priest Interview By Jonathan Hay on DUBCNN]