He has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital, along with executive producing credits for side projects.

After forming the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA was a founding member of the horrorcore group Gravediggaz, since 1992, where he went by the name the RZArector.

He is especially known for his music production, with a style that includes the use of soul samples and sparse beats that has proved highly influential.

He spent weekends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father ran a convenience store in the city's Hill District.

[11] Diggs first became interested in making his own hip-hop music in 1979 when a friend of his introduced him to Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang and in 1984, Diggs formed a rap group with his cousins Russell Jones, then known as The Specialist, and Gary Grice, then known as Allah Justice, called "Force of the Imperial Master", which they soon after renamed as "All in Together Now" in 1985.

Around this time Diggs formed the DMD Posse which consisted of RZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, 4th Disciple and Method Man.

[14] RZA operated as Wu-Tang Clan's de facto leader, producing the group's songs and deciding who would get placed on which tracks.

As each of the group's members embarked on solo careers, RZA continued to produce nearly everything Wu-Tang released during the period 1994–1996, which included both composing and arranging the instrumental tracks as well as overseeing and directing the creative process.

The album for the first time featured RZA delegating a small number of beat-making duties to other producers in the Wu-Tang camp, such as his protégés Mathematics, True Master and 4th Disciple who are known as the original Wu-Elements, and Clan member Inspectah Deck.

The experience was positive and, as he noted during an interview on National Public Radio's Fresh Air, the work with traditional musicians gave him the desire to learn how to read and write music.

In 2007 he released the little-publicized instrumental album The RZA-Instrumental Experience, and worked with Raekwon on his highly anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.

From 2005 to 2008 he collaborated with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian on the project Achozen[21] The group released two singles, one of which, "Deuces", was included in the 2009 film Babylon A.D.

Hip-hop is alive in Wu Music, and with The Orchard, we've got a solid partner that understands our audience and is committed to doing all they can to help us reach the fans.

[26][27] Guest appearances include Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Masta Killa.

[27] RZA collaborated with Ramin Djawadi, with whom he co-scored Blade Trinity and Blake Perlman for the song "Drift" for the Guillermo del Toro film "Pacific Rim".

[30] In a 2020 interview, RZA discussed how being stuck at home during the COVID global crisis resulted in him resuming work on his long-unreleased The Cure album.

RZA's production technique, specifically the manner of chopping up and/or speeding or slowing soul samples to fit his beats, has been imitated by hip hop producers including Kanye West and Just Blaze.

West's own take on RZA's style[33] briefly flooded the rap market with what was dubbed "chipmunk soul," the speeding of a vocal sample to where it sounded as though the singer had inhaled helium.

"[36]After hearing Kanye's work on The Blueprint, RZA claimed that a torch-passing had occurred between him and West, saying, "The shoes gotta be filled.

[42] In 2014, RZA took on the role of Tremaine Alexander in the film Brick Mansions opposite Paul Walker and David Belle, a remake of District 13.

[43] RZA played the supporting role of Shotgun Steve in the romantic action comedy movie Mr.

[45] RZA narrates a character, known as Wesley, on the 2019 Netflix original series Day Break in Season 1, episode 5 named "Homecoming Redux or My So Called Stunt Double Life".

[46] RZA portrayed Harry Mansell, brother of the protagonist, in the 2021 action comedy film Nobody with Bob Odenkirk and Connie Nielsen.

[47]In the late 1990s, RZA began production of a feature-length film based on "Bobby Digital", an alias he used on various albums.

RZA directed his first feature film, The Man with the Iron Fists, in 2011, from a script he wrote the previous year.

Directors Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth were involved in production, writing, and casting according to several movie websites.

He has also embraced various aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity, as he describes in his two books, The Wu-Tang Manual and The Tao of Wu.

RZA provided the afterword to See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture.

[50] RZA met and befriended Shaolin Monk Shi Yan Ming after being introduced by Ol' Dirty Bastard's manager Sophia Chang.

[52][53] His favorite movies include Five Deadly Venoms,[54] The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,[54] Ninja Scroll [55] and Fist of the North Star.