Who is RZA? Everything you need to know about the rapper who inspired Rihanna’s baby name

Rihanna and her longtime boyfriend A$AP Rocky made headlines earlier this week after DailyMail.com revealed that the couple named their baby boy, RZA Athelston Mayers.

After keeping his name under wraps for 11 months, a copy of the little boy’s certificate of live birth confirmed their son’s unique moniker.

While the stars have yet to comment on what or who inspired them to select the name, RZA, the unexpected choice appears to pay homage to the rapper RZA, 53 – the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan – the American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island in 1992.

Since becoming a mother, Rihanna subtly hinted at the name by wearing clothing repping Wu-Tang Clan, which comprises RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol’ Dirty B**tard.

Notably, Rihanna’s little one was given his father’s middle name of Athelston, which is derived from the Old English æþele and stān, which translate to ‘noble’ and ‘stone.’

In response to feverish curiosity about the man that seemingly inspired the name of the Fenty Beauty founder’s firstborn, DailyMail.com has done a deep dive on the American rapper, Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.

Is RZA short for something?

While the first name of Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s tot is just three letters long, RZA’s full name is actually Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.

The Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author and rapper, who was born in 1969, however, has used RZA as his stage name since the early Nineties.

His mother reportedly named him after the Kennedy brothers Robert and John Fitzgerald.

Previously, he late 35th president of the United States, who was assassinated in 1963, and his sibling, who served as the 64th United States attorney general.

While forming his band, Wu-Tang Clan, each member chose a new nickname for themselves.

Diggs picked new moniker ‘based on a nickname he had been given by fans of his music, ‘Rza Rza Rakeem.’ 

Who is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs?

Diggs began his hip hop career, at the age of nine, and by eleven, was competing in rap battles.

He divided his time with his parents by spending weekdays with his mother in Steubenville, Ohio, and weekends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his dad.

His father ran a convenience store in the Hill District and the then-aspiring performer spent his days listening to the radio station, WAMO, according to a 2001 gazette article.

As a teenager, he is said to have been involved with petty crime and drug-dealing, before a brush with the law that nearly left him behind bars for almost a decade. 

Diggs’ clothing brand, including a ‘RZA’ t-shirt on August 12 of last year, nearly three months after she gave birth 

Did RZA go to prison?

In 1991, RZA, faced a felony assault charge in Ohio after allegedly shooting a man, named Willie Walters, in the leg. 

At just 22, following his move to Steubenville from Staten Island, the star was ‘arrested and charged with felonious assault, according to the Village Voice.

Ultimately, RZA was acquitted in 1992, after fearing he would spent eight years in jail for the shooting, which he claimed was in self-defense. 

‘I went to trial. And black dudes don’t really go to trial and win,’ RZA recalled in a Oxygen’s True Crime docuseries. 

After a jury declared him not guilty, RZA said his ‘mother looked’ looked him in the eyes and said this is his ‘second chance.’ 

‘Don’t look back, walk straight. Walk that straight and narrow path. I did that,’ he said.  

What is RZA known for?

The New York native is best known for forming the rap group, Wu-Tang Clan, with GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard (who passed away in 2004).

The band is widely considered one of the most influential groups in hip hop history. 

Back in 2008, About ranked them as the greatest hip hop group of all time, and Kris Ex, a writer for Rolling Stone, called Wu-Tang Clan ‘the best rap group ever.’

The rapper, who has collaborated with directors Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino over the years, has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital. 

What are his biggest accomplishments?

In addition to changing the music industry, the mastermind of the Wu Tang Clan expanded his career in Hollywood by taking on directing jobs and scoring films, like Ghost Dog.

According to IMBD, many consider him to have ‘pioneered the gritty, dark, cinematic sounds of the mid-1990s.’

In 2003, he famously produced and orchestrated the first volume of the two-part Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill. 

‘It was more of a collaboration. He had an idea and a vision when he wrote the script. I think I was more of somebody that kept it in the guidelines of what he wanted,’ RZA said of the project.

Speaking of Tarantino’s vision, RZA stated: ‘He was like, here go the eggs, the milk, the cake, the sugar, everything, and I’m going to stir it up. Put this in the oven, watch it, take it out in forty-five minutes.’

‘I made sure it got out and if I saw something wrong with it, I fixed it. So when he saw it, he was like, this is cake,’ he said, at the time.

A year later, he teamed back up with Tarantino to score Kill Bill Vol. 2, alongside  Robert Rodriguez. 

Is he friends with Rihanna and A$AP Rocky?

The extent of Rihanna’s fandom for RZA and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan isn’t totally clear.

Her partner Rocky is definitely a fan, though, as he previously collaborated with Raekwon from the rap group on the 2015 song Fly International Luxurious Art.

A$AP Mob, the collective that Rocky belongs to, also earned comparisons to the legendarily hip hop group early in its existence.

Like Wu-Tang, the group features a string of high-profile core members, along with peripheral members who are featured less frequently.

RZA almost had an opportunity to collaborate with Rihanna, but on screen instead of in the studio.

Back in 2008, the rapper told MTV News — which is now being shut down by Paramount Global after a 36-year run — that he hoped to film a remake of the 1985 kung-fu comedy The Last Dragon with Rihanna appearing in it.

She would have taken on the role of a video show host and singer, much like in the original film.

‘That’s the one I’m rooting for,’ he said of the Barbados-born songstress. ‘We’re keeping that same concept of the girl being in the music business.’

However, in a fit of particularly bad taste, RZA later suggested to XXL in 2009 that Rihanna’s ex Chris Brown should star with her in the film, even though he had beaten her severely enough to require a trip to the hospital just months earlier.

The film, which had already cast Samuel L. Jackson, never came to fruition.

Has Rihanna confirmed her baby’s name yet?

The superstar, who is currently expecting her second child, has not publicly announced her little boy’s name.

She did, however, wear a ‘RZA’ t-shirt on August 12 of last year, nearly three months after she gave birth

At this time, she has yet to confirm any additional details of her current pregnancy, like her due date or baby-to-be’s gender. 

During her stunning appearance at the Met Gala with her boyfriend, Rihanna shared with ET that her latest pregnant was ‘so different’ from the first one.

‘No cravings. Tons of nausea. Everything’s different, but I’m enjoying it,’ she explained.

She added that she was ‘in love’ with her littlest one. ‘I’m obsessed and I don’t even feel guilty about it,’ she said.

Some fans thought she might have hinted that she was expecting a girl after she was seen looking at pink baby clothes last month.

However, she had also been spotted looking at girl clothes prior to welcome RZA, so she might have been shopping for someone else’s baby.