YZ

YZ (rapper)

Birth name	Anthony Daniel Hill
Born	December 25, 1971 (age 50)
Origin	Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer, entrepreneur
Years active	1987-present
Label	Diversity Records (1989) Tuff City (1990-1991; 1994) Livin’ Large Records (1992-1993) Reservoir Records, Inc. (2002-2011) Blackworld Entertainment (2016)
Associated acts	Poor Righteous Teachers, Tony D, Too Def

Anthony Hill, known by his stage name YZ, and alias Ali Sa’id Nur al-Din, is an American rapper from Trenton, New Jersey.

Career

At age 17, YZ and DJ Tony D opened a company called Two Tone Productions in Trenton, New Jersey. YZ and group members G-Rock and DJ Tink released the single “I Am Who I Am/I’m Bad” (1989) on Trenton independent label Rockin’ Hard Records. After acquiring half of the company Diversity Records, YZ released the maxi single, “In Control of Things”/”Thinking of a Master Plan”, in 1989.

Diversity Records later signed the hip hop group Poor Righteous Teachers (PRT), but because of conflicts with Tony D (the man responsible for producing PRT), Diversity and PRT severed ties before the release of their first single.

YZ signed a deal with Tuff City Records in 1990, then released his first LP, Sons of The Father (1990), and another project, YZ EP (1991.) Subsequently, YZ signed with Livin’ Large/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros, and released the single “Return of the Holy One” (1992.) In 1993, YZ released his second full-length LP, The Ghetto’s Been Good to Me. After 1994, YZ released numerous projects independently, including the LPs The Legend of Floyd Jones (2011) and Muad’ib (2016.) In 1999, YZ performed vocals on two tracks on Aim’s album Cold Water Music.

YZ explained in 2008 that he has been deaf in both ears since 2001.

Discography

• 1990: Sons of the Father (Tuff City Records)
• 1993: The Ghetto’s Been Good to Me (Livin’ Large/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records)
• 2011: YZ Presents the Legend of Floyd Jones (Reservoir Records)
• 2016: Muad’Dib (Blackworld Entertainment)