RZA TO RECEIVE INNOVATION AWARD FROM NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC MERCHANTS

RZA is set to be the first Hip Hop artist honored with the TEC Innovation Award at the National Association Of Music Merchants' (NAMM) 2024 TEC Awards.

Given during a ceremony on January 27 in Anaheim, California, the award honors "individuals who have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology." Previous recipients include Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and Herbie Hancock, among others.

In a statement, NAMM president and CEO John Mlynczak said: "RZA's formidable body of work and talent is unquestionable. His legacy of accomplishments and lasting power on music inspires many music makers beyond hip-hop and he deserves this high recognition."

In an entirely different kind of honor, RZA was flattered to learn last year that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky named their first-born son after him.

"[It's a] great honor to know that there's another generation that's not even of my own household that feels the strength and the inspiration of that name," he told CNN in July. "RZA is only a name, it's a title. So it's an honor and I salute her and A$AP and their family. All the blessings in the world from me."

Back in May, when the younger RZA was celebrating his first birthday, his proud papa took to Instagram to celebrate the occasion - which also marked the first time that Rocky officially confirmed their son's name.

"'WU TANG IZ 4 DA CHUREN.' HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO MY 1st BORN. RZA," he wrote.

Rumors of the baby's name originally surfaced when The Daily Mail reportedly got its hands on the child's birth certificate, revealing his name to be RZA Athelston Mayers. It also said he was born May 13 at 10:58 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Naming babies after famous Hip Hop icons appears to be a family trait for A$AP Rocky, as he revealed back in 2012 that he was named after the legendary Rakim.

As for RZA, the father of seven has also served as a father figure to other up-and-coming rappers, including Weather Park, the son of the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, who passed away nearly two decades ago.

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"I would call RZA and just ask him questions about anything like meditation, thinking, breathing skills, just things to keep the mental health in order," Weather Park said in an interview with AllHipHop.

"As we both know, I lost my dad. So without my dad, I would say that I had to figure out a lot of things on my own.

"But having a great mind like RZA just available to speak to me is super helpful to my life. Just keeping my head on the swivel, even though I was maybe facing things that an average person from New York City is facing."