Wu Tang Clan collaborator Oliver ‘Power’ Grant dead at 52
Oliver “Power” Grant, a close affiliate and early backer of the wu tang clan who executive-produced its debut and built the group’s business ventures, has died at 52, the collective confirmed. His death has left members and collaborators publicly mourning a figure the group credited with helping turn an idea into a global brand.
Wu Tang Clan confirms Grant’s death
The hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan posted the message “Rest in power, Power” on social media and confirmed Grant’s death; the music site Okayplayer first confirmed the news. A cause of death was not revealed and remains unknown in the provided context.
From Park Hill to funding Protect Ya Neck
Grant was born in 1973 in Jamaica and raised in Staten Island’s Park Hill projects, where he met future members of the group and earned the nickname “Power” over a game of chess. He helped gather financing to produce the debut single Protect Ya Neck and served as executive producer on the group’s first album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
Building Wu Wear and a $25m peak
Two years after the debut, Grant oversaw the launch of the Wu Wear clothing line and later served as CEO as the label moved into department stores and opened four retail locations across the United States, at its peak grossing US$25m annually. In 2008 he renamed the line Wu-Tang Brand and discontinued the original amid widespread counterfeiting; in 2017 Grant and RZA relaunched Wu Wear with Live Nation Merchandise.
Games, films and a relaunch with RZA
Grant produced the PlayStation game Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style in 1999, a fighting game that featured the collective as playable characters. He also moved into acting with an on-screen debut in Hype Williams’ 1998 crime drama Belly, a role in the 1999 drama Black and White alongside Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr, a part in the 2004 mob drama Coalition, and an appearance in the unreleased Wendy Williams biopic Queen of Media.
Colleagues’ tributes and private reflections
Fellow Wu-Tang members posted personal tributes: Method Man wrote on Instagram, “Paradise my brother safe travels!” and “I am not okay, ” while GZA posted that “Wu wouldn’t have come to fruition without Power” and called Grant’s passing “a profound loss to us all. ” Raekwon shared a photo with Grant and wrote, “We been everywhere … now you everywhere” and “The most high is merciful love you. ”
Lessons, interviews and on-screen portrayals
Grant often described his entrepreneurial path as hard-won. In a 2011 interview with Passion of the Weiss he called his business forays a “hard-knock life, ” saying “Everything that we learned was hard-knock life … A lot of it was trial and error. There were no models. ” He also told the same interviewer, “I think I came with most of the money, ” and described himself as “more the financial guy” while others provided musical talent. In the 2019–2023 Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Grant was portrayed by Marcus Callender; Callendar recalled in 2023 that their “first conversation … lasted like three hours” and that Grant largely answered with stories rather than instructions.
It is unclear in the provided context what public memorials, funeral arrangements or next public events are scheduled; no next steps were detailed in the available information.
