Born Clifford Smith in Staten Island, NY, on April 1, 1971, he spent much of his childhood shuttling between the homes of his separated parents in Hempstead, Long Island, and the Staten Island Park Hill Projects. His father imbued him with an interest in music and poetry, which eventually drew him into the hip-hop world. In late 1992, he and several Staten Island-based friends seeking to break into the music business formed the Wu-Tang Clan, releasing their now-classic debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993 to near-universal acclaim among rap fans and critics. As their name suggested, the group was very influenced by martial arts films from the 1970s; Smith’s moniker was taken from a character in a 1979 film by China’s Shaw Bros. Studios called “The Fearless Young Boxer.”
Smith was among the most visible and prolific members of the nine-man group, thus becoming the first to release a solo album, Tical, in 1994. Another monster success, the album was soon followed by a string of singles featuring collaborations with R&B singer Mary J. Blige and fellow solo artist Redman, with whom Smith became associated with for much of his career. One of his singles with Blige – “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need” – earned him a Grammy in 1995. Smith subsequently released two more solo albums (1998’s Tical 2000: Judgment Day, which went platinum, and 2004’s Tical 0: The Prequel, which after only reaching gold status, was the subject of much criticism, from critics and Smith himself), and Blackout! a 1999 collaboration with Redman. He reunited on album twice with the Wu-Tang Clan for 1997’s Wu-Tang Forever and 2000’s The W, and contributed to countless singles and albums for artists ranging from The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, to Limp Bizkit, Ashanti, and Missy Elliott. His latest solo album, 4/21… The Day After, was slated for a summer 2006 release.
Smith’s acting career began in 1996 in the Wayans Brothers’ comedy “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.” He followed that auspicious debut with supporting roles in several films, including James Mangold’s critically lauded “Cop Land” (1997), “One Eight Seven” (1997), and the hip-hop/crime thriller “Belly” (1998).
He also crossed over to television on numerous occasions, including a handful of episodes of the HBO prison series “Oz” (1997-2003). As the ambitious and deadly Carlton “Tug” Daniels, Smith attempted to overthrow the prison drug trade. His other television work included guest gigs on “Third Watch” (NBC, 1999-2005), the third go-round for “The Twilight Zone (UPN, 2002-03), “The Wire” (HBO, 2002- ) as fearsome dealer Calvin “Cheese” Wagstaff, and most recently, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS, 2000- ) as the overly protective manager of a rapper (played by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker). Perhaps his most incongruous television credit was as the rapping voice of the Head Pixie on the animated series “The Fairly Oddparents” (Nickelodeon, 2001-).
Smith’s biggest acting hit to date was the broad 2001 comedy “How High,” in which he co-starred with off-screen buddy Redman as a slacker who developed an astronomically high IQ after ingesting experimental marijuana. The movie presented the pair as a sort of hip-hop Cheech and Chong team (an idea which had been set in motion by their joint album Blackout!), but unfortunately, their second effort together did not capitalize on the potential. “Method and Red” (Fox, 2004) was envisioned by Smith as a cutting-edge comedy, but the end result was a tired fish-out-of-water sitcom that disappointed all involved. The series was pulled after only nine episodes.
Since then, Smith was fairly busy as an actor in projects of various quality, ranging from an amusing cameo in “Garden State” (2004) to larger roles in the broad comedies “Soul Plane” (2004) and “My Baby’s Daddy” (2004), as well as the horror film “Venom” (2005). He was next slated to co-star with Don Cheadle and Vince Vaughn in a crime caper-comedy titled “The Other Side of Simple.”