Anthony Ian Berkeley (November 15, 1964 – July 15, 2001) better known as Poetic, was an American rapper and producer. He was also a founding member of the hip-hop group

Gravediggaz Gravediggaz were an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from New York. Known for their Black comedy, dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes, Gravediggaz blended hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap with horror elements to pioneer t ...

, for which he used the alias Grym Reaper. He also used the alias Tony Titanium. His daughter is the German rapper Qidinah Eunique Cudjo Berkeley, better known by her stage name ''Eunique''.

Early life

The eldest son of a minister John Berkley and Wife Ela Berkeley. With three other siblings Dawne, Edward, and Richard. Poetic was born in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

and raised in the town of Wyandanch on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. 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 Poetic to pursue a solo career and released a solo

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

, ''Poetical Terror/God Made Me Funky'', in 1989 on

Tommy Boy ''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring soon-to-be former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and D ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. However, his deal with Tommy Boy fell through before the release of his first album, and Poetic fell on hard times, which included a period of

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

Gravediggaz

Poetic then joined

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

's leader

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

, former

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

/ Stetsasonic producer Prince Paul, and Frukwan from Stetsasonic in the hip-hop supergroup

. 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, Freddie "DJ Kaos" Cox, said in an interview "He went homeless and that took a toll on him. He hit rock bottom and that opens your eyes to go deep, and that's when he got dark. I guess it makes you strong to want it that bad. Tommy Boy jerked a lot of people." Wyandanch Week, Pt. 5: The Too Poetic Story + lost album 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. After the group's second album, '' The Pick, the Sickle, and the Shovel'' was released in 1997, The RZA and Prince Paul decided to leave Gravediggaz, leaving Frukwan and Poetic as the only remaining members. During this time, Anthony's rhyming style had matured more. He later showcased this new style in the 1998 single "Savior," which was produced by British-born producer Baby J, The song was more different than most of his Gravediggaz related material as he rhymed about how much he detested mainstream hip-hop music in general. In April 1999, Anthony collapsed in his home studio with stomach pains and was subsequently diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

. During this period, he collaborated with

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

Maxim Reality Keith Andrew Palmer (born 21 March 1967), better known by his stage name Maxim (previously Maxim Reality), is a British musician, known for being a vocalist of electronic music band The Prodigy. Pre-Prodigy history Keith Andrew Palmer was born ...

and Last Emperor under the name of Tony Titanium. He created work under his original name as well as continuing work on the third Gravediggaz album. The subsequent release, '' Nightmare in A-Minor'', was the group's darkest work yet. It made references to Poetic's cancer on the track "Burn, Baby, Burn" and on the Last Emperor's track "One Life". In 2010, an interview was done with Poetic's former DJ Freddie "Kaos" Cox, in which the DJ discusses the early career of the rapper, and an unreleased album of Poetic's music prior to joining the gravediggaz entitled ''Drop Signal'' (which was supposed to be his debut album on Tommy Boy, before the deal with the group fell through) has surfaced on the Internet, which includes 14 tracks.

Death

Poetic died of

on July 15, 2001, 1:45 pm EST at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, five weeks before ''Nightmare in A-Minor's'' scheduled release. He had survived almost two and a half years beyond the doctors' initial 3-month prognosis. Tributes came quickly from across the hip-hop world, both from fellow musicians such as

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, who wrote an article in tribute to him on his Welcome To The Terrordome commentary section on the group's website, and from critics, who widely wrote of their regret at the loss of his talent. An intimate memorial service for him was held at the

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The church is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the Un ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

on August 4, 2001, attended by his family and close friends, including bandmates Frukwan and Prince Paul. ''Nightmare in A-Minor'' was initially released by Echo Distribution on August 23, 2001. It was re-released without the track "Better Wake Up" on Empire Musicwerks/ BMG in 2002 to critical plaudits. According to Frukwan, a new album may be released using leftover material from Poetic.

Discography

Singles

* "Poetical Terror / God Made Me Funky" 1989

Albums

* ''Droppin' Signal'' (1989, unreleased)

With Gravediggaz

* '' 6 Feet Deep'' (1994, Gee Street/Island/PolyGram Records) * '' The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel'' (1997, Gee Street/V2/BMG Records) * '' Nightmare in A-Minor'' (2002, Empire Musicwerks/BMG Records)

Appearances

''Vocals only unless otherwise noted.'' * 1998: "Savior" (from Baby J's album ''Baby J Presents The Birth'') * 2000: "Worldwide Syndicate" (from the

album ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

'') * 2001: ''Better Days'' (album by Liquid Ltd. (of Bran Van 3000); vocals and production) * 2001: ''Nightmare In A-Minor'' (album by Gravediggaz; vocals and production) * 2001: "We Run Shit (with Frukwan)" (from the DJ Honda album ''hIII'') * 2003: "One Life" (from

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

album '' Music, Magic, Myth'') * 2003: "Ghetto Apostles" (from the Shabazz the Disciple album '' The Book of Shabazz (Hidden Scrollz)'')

References

External links

Press release from publicist on Poetic's death

Interview with Poetic dealing with his illness

Article on Poetic's death including Lisa "Chase" Patterson's memorial speech

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Anthony Ian 1964 births 2001 deaths Rappers from New York (state) African-American rappers Tommy Boy Records artists American hip-hop record producers Five percenters American rappers of Trinidad and Tobago descent Deaths from colorectal cancer in California Gravediggaz members