Poetic
Artist
Anthony Ian Berkeley (November 15, 1964 – July 15, 2001) better known as Poetic, was a Trinidadian-born American rapper and producer. He was also a founding member of hip-hop group Gravediggaz, for which he used the alias, The Grym Reaper.
He released a solo 12-inch single, Poetical Terror/God Made Me Funky, in 1989 on Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records As The group Too poetic with DJ’s Capital K and Woody Wood. However, his deal with Tommy Boy fell through before the release of his first album, and Too Poetic fell on hard times, which included a period of homelessness.
In 1994 to 1999, he is best known for his work in the horrorcore influenced supergroup, The Gravediggaz where he became known as The Grym Reaper (with “Grym” as an acronym for Ghetto-Repaired Young Mind, also referring back to his first group). In April 1999, Anthony collapsed in his home studio with stomach pains and was subsequently diagnosed with colon cancer. During this period, he collaborated with The Prodigy’s Maxim Reality and Last Emperor under the name of Tony Titanium.
Poetic died of colon cancer on July 15, 2001, 1:45 pm EST at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, five weeks before Nightmare in A-Minor’s scheduled release. He had survived almost two and a half years beyond the doctors' initial 3-month prognosis. He was 36.
