Vincenzo Luviner ( Luvineri born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is an Italian-born American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the frontman of the hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs.
He released his first solo album, Season of the Assassin, in 2010. This was 18 years after Paz had originally started rapping. He released his second album God of the Serengeti in October 2012. In 2013, Paz confirmed that he was working with Army of the Pharaohs to release In Death Reborn, which was released in 2014. October 22, 2013, marked the release date of his second EP, Carry On Tradition. Paz's third solo LP, The Cornerstone of the Corner Store, was released on October 28, 2016. He released his fourth solo album, The Pain Collector, in September 2018.
Biography
Early career (1992–1997) Paz was born in Sicily, Italy, where he lived for a short time before moving with his family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is of Sicilian/Italian heritage. He has both Italian and American citizenship. Paz originally started rapping with fellow Jedi Mind Tricks member Stoupe in his basement.
In 1996, Paz released the Amber Probe EP. This was the debut EP from the duo and it was released in 1996. It featured guest appearance from The Lost Children of Babylon. It was in 1997, Jedi Mind Tricks released their debut album; The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness (often abbreviated as The Psycho-Social CD). The group only consisted of Paz and Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind at this time and featured Apathy, Jus Allah, and Black Thought.
From Ikon to Vinnie, forming AOTP, Violent by Design (1998–2002) In 1998, Paz formed Army of the Pharaohs. Paz formed the horrorcore outfit with the original roster of Bahamadia, Chief Kamachi, Virtuoso, 7L & Esoteric, plus Jedi Mind Tricks' other members Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and Jus Allah. The group first released the "Five Perfect Exertions" and "War Ensemble" 12" on Paz's short-lived Recordings in 1998, but then the underground supergroup remained silent for several years. Together they released The Five Perfect Exertions.
In 2000, Paz, along with Jedi Mind Tricks, released his second album, Violent by Design. Stoupe and Paz recruited New Jersey rapper Jus Allah to join them on the album, and while he was never inducted into the group, it can be assumed he became JMT's third member on the release, as his contributions were not marked as "featuring Jus Allah", while other close group affiliates such as Army of the Pharaohs members Chief Kamachi, Esoteric and Virtuoso were marked as featured guests. On the album, Ikon the Verbal Hologram changed his name to "Vinnie Paz", naming himself after Rhode Island boxer Vinny Pazienza.
Visions of Gandhi, Legacy of Blood and collaborations (2003–2006)
In 2003, Jedi Mind Tricks released their third studio album, Visions of Gandhi. The album title was inspired by Foxy Brown's verse on the song "Affirmative Action" from Nas' 1996 album It Was Written, in which she raps "They praise Allah with visions of Gandhi". Paz explained that it was "always something that stuck in my head but I never applied it to anything. Then I thought with everything going on in Palestine, the war with Iraq, Mumia's in jail. I just felt this is a time right now that the world and society need someone like Gandhi. So Visions of Gandhi just kind of reflects that." In the following year they released Legacy of Blood.
In 2005, Paz shifted his focus back on to the supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. They worked to release their debut album, The Torture Papers. It was released on March 21, 2006, on Babygrande Records. After the release of this Paz went back to his group Jedi Mind Tricks and worked on fifth studio album, Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell. It was released September 19, 2006, through Babygrande Records.
In 2006, Vinnie Paz released his first solo album, The Sound & the Fury. It featured guest appearance from Apathy and OuterSpace. It was hosted by DJ Kwestion and had 19 tracks.
Ritual of Battle, A History of Violence, The Unholy Terror and solo career (2007–2010)
Paz got together members of Army of the Pharaohs to release their second album, Ritual of Battle. It was released September 21, 2007, on Babygrande Records. The album's first single was "Bloody Tears", featuring Planetary, Doap Nixon, Demoz, and Paz, produced by DJ Kwestion. The song was based on the Castlevania tune of the same name.