| Gary G-Wiz | |
| Birth Name: | Gary Rinaldo |
| Birth Date: | 3 May 1969 |
| Origin: | Freeport, New York, U.S. |
| Genre: | Hip hop |
| Occupation: | Publisher, film score composer, record producer, executive producer |
| Years Active: | 1987–present |
| Associated Acts: | Public Enemy, urbanscore |
Gary Rinaldo (born May 3, 1969), better known by the name Gary G-Wiz, is an American record producer and film score composer. Most known for being a member of the hip hop production team the Bomb Squad, G-Wiz is a longtime Public Enemy producer and contributed to many albums including: Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black, Greatest Misses, Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age, Autobiography of Mistachuck, There's a Poison Goin' On, Revolverlution, and How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?.[1]
G-Wiz, like many East Coast hip hop producers, began as a DJ spinning at basement parties and small clubs in Long Island, Queens and New York City in the mid-1980s.
He made the transition to record producer in the early 1990s, when he handed fellow Long Islander Chuck D a tape full of beats. The hip hop production team, The Bomb Squad, had silently gone their separate ways after Fear of a Black Planet (1990) and no new Public Enemy album was imminent. After hearing G-Wiz's music, Chuck D immediately planned to do an EP with G-Wiz being the sole producer. The two had such chemistry, the original eight cuts soon turned into 12 and Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black was born.[2] Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black, as of 2007, is Public Enemy's greatest selling album to date, selling close to two million copies, and spawning the hits "Can't Truss It"[2] and "Shut Em Down."
G-Wiz went on to produce for artists such as Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, U2, Busta Rhymes, Rakim, Run–D.M.C., Method Man, Redman, Ludacris, Twista, KRS-One, Bell Biv Devoe, Peter Gabriel, Lisa Stansfield, Aaron Hall, Big Daddy Kane, Anthrax and Sinéad O'Connor.[2]
In 1992, G-Wiz was introduced to the world of film, where he composed the score for the Paramount Pictures film, Juice,[2] starring Tupac Shakur, as well as producing on the film's certified platinum soundtrack.[3] Since then, G-Wiz has contributed songs and score to Spike Lee's He Got Game, Bulworth with Warren Beatty, Paramount Pictures Mad City, Fox Television's King of the Hill, and a collaboration with Chuck D to create the main title theme to Fox's Dark Angel starring Jessica Alba. G-Wiz produced "Harder Than You Think", which climbed to No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart,[4] becoming the highest charting Public Enemy UK single to date.
Chuck D (solo)
Hyenas in the Desert
Aaron Hall
Film and television