Anthony Ian Berkeley
| Poetic | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anthony Ian Berkeley |
| Also known as | Grym Reaper |
| Born |
November 15, 1964 Trinidad and Tobago |
| Origin | Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 15, 2001 (aged 36) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Emcee, record producer, CEO |
| Instruments | rapping |
| Years active | 1989–2001 |
| Labels |
Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. (1989) Gee Street/Island/PolyGram Records (1994–1996) Gee Street/V2/BMG Records (1997–1999) Empire Musicwerks/BMG Records (2000) |
| Associated acts |
Brothers Grym Gravediggaz |
Anthony Ian Berkeley (November 15, 1964 – July 15, 2001) better known as Too Poetic, was a Trinidadian-born American rapper and producer. He was also a founding member of the hip-hop group Gravediggaz, for which he used the alias Grym Reaper.
The eldest son of a minister, Poetic was born in Trinidad and raised in the town of Wyandanch on Long Island, New York. After forming his first hip-hop group, Brothers Grym, with younger siblings Brainstorm and E Sharp in 1989, Sharp handled some of the production duties, while Poetic and Brainstorm provided vocals. The group created a buzz for itself in the underground with its first official demo, which included notable cuts such as “Circle-Circle-Dot-Dot” and “GRYMnastics.” Just when the group was close to landing a record deal, Brainstorm surprisingly decided to quit hip hop altogether and forced Too Poetic to pursue a solo career and released a solo 12-inch single, Poetical Terror/God Made Me Funky, in 1989 on Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records. However, his deal with Tommy Boy fell through before the release of his first album, and Too Poetic fell on hard times, which included a period of homelessness.
Poetic then joined Wu-Tang Clan's leader RZA, former De La Soul/Stetsasonic producer Prince Paul, and Frukwan from Stetsasonic in the hip-hop supergroup Gravediggaz. Concerning the origins of the supergroup, he said:
Each member adopted a Gravedigga alias, and Poetic became known as the Grym Reaper (with Grym, an acronym for Ghetto-Repaired Young Mind, also referring back to his first group). It was stated this stylistic change was adapted from his brief period of homelessness as his former DJ Koas said in an interview "He went homeless and that really took a toll on him. He hit rock bottom and that opens your eyes to really go deep, and that’s when he got dark. I guess it makes you strong to want it that bad. Tommy Boy basically jerked a lot of people." This proved to be an impressive change, as his offbeat rhyming style quickly gained attention as the group's first album, 1994's 6 Feet Deep (also known by its original title Niggamortis outside the US), garnered positive reviews and strong sales alike.
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