Hell Razah

Brooklyn MC Hell Razah, born Chron Smith, addresses spiritual and political subjects with pressing urgency. In the mid- to late 1990s he first gained notice as part of Sunz of Man, an act tied to the Wu-Tang Clan’s extended circle. That group scored moderate hits with the 1995 single “Soldiers of Darkness” and the 1998 track “Shining Star,” which featured Earth, Wind & Fire and appeared on their Top 20 debut album The Last Shall Be the First. After that release, Razah’s contributions to other Wu-Tang projects remained sparse, limited to a handful of appearances including Ghostface Killah’s 2000 album Supreme Clientele, before he shifted focus to solo work. His first album, When All Hell Breaks Loose, surfaced in 2001 through Echo International yet reached listeners with restricted distribution. In 2004 he partnered with Wu-Tang producer 4th Disciple on the follow-up Freedom of Speech. Razah next joined Killah Priest, Tragedy Khadafi, Timbo King, and William Cooper to create the stark, hardcore collective Black Market Militia; Nature Sounds issued the ensemble’s self-titled album in 2005. The label subsequently granted Razah his initial substantial recording contract and recruited underground figures such as MF Doom, Talib Kweli, and Ras Kass for his 2007 LP The Renaissance Child. Later that year Babygrande released Razah’s Ladder, a joint project with production duo Blue Sky Black Death.