Gary Eldridge Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA (/ˈdʒɪzə/ JIZ-ə) and The Genius,[2] is an American rapper. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in the group to receive a record deal and being the oldest member.[3] He has appeared on his fellow Wu-Tang members' solo projects, and has maintained a successful solo career starting with Liquid Swords (1995). His lyrical style often dismisses typical rap story lines in favor of science and wide-ranging philosophies and has been characterized as "armed with sharp metaphors and a smooth flow".[4][5][6][7] An analysis of GZA's lyrics found that he has the second largest vocabulary in popular hip hop music.[8][9] He teamed up with an education group to promote science education in New York City through hip hop.[10]