It has now already been two weeks since a message landed on Killa Sin’s Instagram page to pray for his big brother Power. Sadly a couple days later the news broke via a post on Method Man his Instagram that the man Oli ‘Power’ Grant had passed away at the age of 55. A truly sad day for Wu. Power was instrumental to the Wu and his influence and work can not be understated enough.
The average person might say that there are nine generals in Wu-Tang. But the true fan knows that next to those nine are two other players, Mitchell ‘Divine’ Diggs & Oli ‘Power’ Grant. They are the business side of things. As one of the founding partners Power showed up with a shoebox full of money to get the group started. It may sound trivial, but Wu changed the music industry after that of course.
When I first started listening to Wu, I would be scouring through booklets for names and information. Checking features as to who is Carlton Fisk, Buddha Monk? Shout outs, who is named? Are there other artists? But also who are these executive producers, Oli ‘Power’ Grant & Mitchel ‘Divine’ Diggs. For me it was here that I first noted his name.
Power Cypher was not one to sit back and relax. He sold the idea of starting Wu-Wear to the Clan, and started it by selling it from the back of the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… booklet. And subsequently turned this hustle into actual stores in multiple cities in the USA. With Wu-Wear he basically laid out the blueprint for merchandise which the industry would only follow with stuff like Roc-A-Wear. That is also why it was so painful to see Ol’ Dirty Bastard at the end being pushed into Roc-A-Wear by Dame Dash. But that is another story. When the second Clan album arrived, as told by Rifkind, it was Power that sold him on the idea to have a million dollar video for Wu-Tang Forever. Again the story does not stop there, somehow he was also involved in getting the Enhanced CD part of that album off the ground. As well as get that Wu-Tang Playstation game made. Power was always looking ahead to new grounds.
After Forever Power & Raekwon linked up to create the Immobilarity album and set up their own clique with American Cream Team. Featured on Immobilarity and the Black & White soundtrack, the group was supposed to get an album. Immobilarity was not that well received when it was released, and it was certainly not what the people where expecting. Personally I have to say that the album is really something different and has it highlights, and its lows. It may have not deserved the hate it got. Black & White was an okay film, which deserves a rewatch and is quite something to see with a pre-Ironman Robert Downey Jr., a pre-Lord Of The Rings Elijah Wood, and a pre-Hangover Mike Tyson. The cast is really a mixture of people and the film serves as a cross between film and documentary. It also does not always work. These two fumbles must have added to the fact that their American Cream Team never saw an album. Because I sure as hell would have loved to see that. Raekwon & Power set up quite the group there, and Banks will be forever be missed. But who knows, maybe we see something posthumously now.
It is heartwarming to see the coverage, and thus the recognition of his work. Even the Dutch national news had a thorough obituary that I would have never expected. Because he might not have been onstage, and made most of his moves outside of the cameras and stage. Rest in peace Power Cypher, you’ll be missed. My condolences to the friends & family.
‘Peace to Power and my whole unit’