Lamont Jody Hawkins (born November 10, 1970),[1][2] better known by his stage name U-God, meaning Universal-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.

His incarceration prevented him from attending the group's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) recording sessions for the most part, his input on the seminal LP consisting of only a short bridge on the group's debut single "Protect Ya Neck" as well as the fan-favorite opening verse of "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'".

Nevertheless, after his release, he quickly became known to fans for his rugged flow and bass-like voice on Wu tracks such as "Winter Warz", "Knuckleheadz", "Investigative Reports", and "Black Jesus".

[6] On September 25, 2017, he added a tweet in which he announced that he had finished his autobiography entitled Raw: My Journey Into The Wu-Tang and it would be released along with his new album in March 2018.

[10] Around the time of Wu Tang Forever, his two-year-old son Dontae (now a hip-hop artist as iNTeLL) was struck by a stray bullet while on his way to a birthday party, suffering permanent damage to his kidneys and hands,[11][12] an ordeal U-God documented on the Wu-Tang Clan track "A Better Tomorrow".