Killah Priest

Brooklyn rapper Killah Priest has devoted a long and esteemed recording career to creating deeply spiritual work that fuses Gnostic religious ideas with the present-day realities of Black life. Early guest appearances on multiple Wu-Tang Clan side and solo releases, among them projects by Gravediggaz, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Genius/GZA, paved the way for his group Sunz of Man to secure a deal and for his own well-regarded first album, Heavy Mental, to arrive in 1998. Departing the major-label world, he moved to independent status with Priesthood in 2001 and took on key roles in the supergroups HRSMN (aka the Four Horsemen) and Black Market Militia. He has sustained an output of ambitious, metaphor-rich solo projects, among them The Offering in 2007 and The Psychic World of Walter Reed in 2013, while some of his most experimental and spiritually focused material surfaced on later efforts such as Rocket to Nebula in 2020.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, Walter Reed, who records as Killah Priest, developed an early passion for hip-hop through exposure to both classic and emerging artists. Local presences such as Genius and Onyx's DJ Suave, who spun records at neighborhood parties, also left an impression. After sharpening his lyricism and building a local following, he paused his musical pursuits to study religion and history on his own, studies that later shaped his songwriting in decisive ways.

He reentered rap circles in 1994 with appearances on several Wu-Tang-related releases, including Gravediggaz' 6 Feet Deep, Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers, and Genius/GZA's landmark Liquid Swords. While all of these contributions drew notice, his performance on Liquid Swords, particularly the near-solo track "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)," attracted distinctive praise. By late 1996 Sunz of Man had formed and become the inaugural signing to Wu-Tang Records. In 1997 GZA recommended that Geffen sign Priest as a solo artist, and the label followed through. Working with producers True Master and 4th Disciple, both tied to the Wu-Tang circle, he completed Heavy Mental, an album dense with religious imagery and atmospheric production that earned strong critical notices after its March 1998 release and reached number 24 on the Billboard 200. His follow-up, View from Masada, arrived in May 2000 and reinforced his standing among the most distinctive solo voices connected to the extended Wu-Tang family, even though he had stepped away from the crew at that point. Despite favorable reviews, the project sold poorly, leading to his release from the label.

Rather than disappearing or delaying his return, Priest quickly launched his own imprint. Produced by Luminati and Nirocist and issued on his Proverbs label, Priesthood surfaced in July 2001 with no Wu-Tang involvement. Black August followed in July 2003 on Recon. Although he remained active through ongoing work with Black Market Militia (alongside Tragedy Khadafi and Hell Razah), HRSMN (with Ras Kass, Kurupt, and Canibus), and Sunz of Man, several years passed before another solo album. The Offering appeared in March 2007 on Good Hands Records via Traffic. His pace then accelerated, with Behind the Stained Glass, Black August Revisited, and the full-length collaboration Beautiful Minds with Chief Kamachi all arriving in 2008. The Exorcist, Elizabeth, and assorted mixtapes followed in 2009, while The 3 Day Theory, featuring Cappadonna, Ill Bill, and the Last Emperor, came out on Man Bites Dog in 2010.

After multiple postponements, Killah Priest delivered the expansive double-CD The Psychic World of Walter Reed in 2013, a project that reunited him with the Wu-Tang circle through guest verses and production from GZA, RZA, Inspectah Deck, and Ghostface Killah, plus an appearance by George Clinton. The more science-fiction-oriented Planet of the Gods emerged in 2015, after which he formed Moon Crickets with Toronto-based rapper Lord Fury and DJ Mercilless. The Infinite Universe, a collaboration with Vendetta Kingz, appeared in 2016, followed in 2017 by the mixtapes Don't Sit on the Speakers, Vol. 1 (with 4th Disciple) and The Untold Story of Walter Reed, Pt. 2. A 2020 mixtape with longtime associate Jordan River Banks, Journey to the Planet of the Gods, preceded Rocket to Nebula, one of Priest's most abstract and atmospheric releases, a largely beatless set built on reversed samples and ambient textures. A full album with Banks, The Third Eye in Technicolor, closed the year, and the cinematic Lord Sun Heavy Mental 1.1 arrived in March 2021.