The Brooklyn-born rapper Killah Priest has been releasing his deep rhymes for over a decade and has gained respect both for his solo projects and his work with groups like the Wu Tang Clan. He was born Walter Reed and grew up listening to classic hip hop artists as well as some of the area's hottest local rappers. It didn't take Priest long to start developing his own flow, and he was soon gaining quite a following for his style. Before diving into the music scene full bore, however, Priest wanted to find out more about history and religion. Both of those subjects influenced Priest immensely, so that when started working on material again it was full of lyrics that drove listeners to think about their lives.By the mid 1990s, Priest was appearing on projects by the Wu Tang Clan. He also formed his own group called the Sunz of Man with Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah and 60 Second Assassin. His many accomplishments soon led to a deal with Geffen Records. He released his solo debut album, Heavy Mental, on Geffen in 1998. Although Priest does not subscribe to one particular religion, his albums are full of religious and spiritual reference as well as Afrocentrism. The album was a success and went to number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 24 on the Billboard 200.Priest found more success with his 2000 follow up album, View from Masada, which was his last album to chart as of 2008. Many pop artists may consider an album not charting a failure, but Killah Priest is more concerned with releasing true hip-hop with his brand of spirituality than mainstream success. He has since released Priesthood in 2001, Black August in 2003, The Offering in 2007 and Behind the Stained Glass and Beautiful Minds both in 2008.
