Oliver ‘Power’ Grant, the entrepreneurial force and founding architect behind the Wu-Tang Clan, has died at the age of 52, per pagesix.com.
The news was confirmed on Tuesday by fellow member Method Man, who shared a poignant tribute on Instagram. “Paradise my Brother safe Travels!! Bruh I am not ok,” the rapper wrote, alongside a photograph of the pair.
Grant reportedly passed away on February 23. While a cause of death has not yet been disclosed, the hip-hop community has been swift to honour a man who was instrumental in transforming a Staten Island rap collective into a global dynasty.
Born in Jamaica in 1973 before moving to New York, Grant grew up in the Park Hill projects of Staten Island. While not a performing rapper, his influence as a producer and financier was the bedrock of the group’s early success.
As the executive producer of the group’s seminal records, including the 1993 masterpiece Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Grant was the strategist who navigated the industry’s “hard-knock” realities.
“Wu wouldn’t have come to fruition without Power,” shared GZA in a social media tribute. “His passing is a profound loss to us all.”
Grant’s most visible contribution to the culture was the creation of Wu Wear. Founded in the early 1990s, the clothing line predated the modern “merchandise” trend, establishing the Clan as a lifestyle brand.
Speaking in 2011 about the brand’s early days, Grant noted: “My crew had plenty of skeptics… they didn’t really understand what I was doing or what I was initially trying to get across.”
Beyond fashion and music, Grant’s career included notable acting roles in the cult classics Belly (1998) and Black and White (1999), executive producing the PlayStation title Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style and a lifelong advocate for independent creative control as well as community empowerment.
Raekwon also paid his respects, writing: “POWER we been everywhere… Now you everywhere! The most high is merciful. I love you.”
•Featured image: Oliver “Power” Grant (seen here in New York City in September 2019)/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
