アンソニー・イアン・バークレー

アンソニー・イアン・バークレー（1964年11月15日 - 2001年7月15日）、ポエティックとして知られる彼は、アメリカのラッパー兼プロデューサーだった。彼はヒップホップグループGravediggazの創設メンバーでもあり、 Grym Reaperという別名を使用していた。また、 Tony Titaniumという別名も使用していた。^{[ 1 ]}

彼の娘はドイツ人ラッパーのキディナ・ユニーク・クジョ・バークレーで、ステージネームはユニークとしてよく知られている。^{[ 2 ]}

牧師ジョン・バークレーと妻エラ・バークレーの長男。他にドーン、エドワード、リチャードの3人の兄弟がいる。ポエティックはトリニダードで生まれ、ニューヨーク州ロングアイランドのワイアンダンチで育った。1989年に弟のブレインストームとEシャープと共に最初のヒップホップグループ、ブラザーズ・グリムを結成した後、シャープがプロデュースの一部を担当し、ポエティックとブレインストームがボーカルを担当した。このグループは最初の公式デモでアンダーグラウンドで話題を呼び、その中には「Circle-Circle-Dot-Dot」や「GRYMnastics」などの注目すべき曲が含まれていた。グループがレコード契約を獲得する寸前だった時、ブレインストームは驚くべきことにヒップホップを完全に辞めることを決意し、ポエティックはソロキャリアを追求せざるを得なくなり、1989年にトミーボーイ/ワーナーブラザーズレコードからソロ12インチシングル「Poetical Terror/God Made Me Funky」をリリースした。しかし、ファーストアルバムのリリース前にトミーボーイとの契約は破談となり、ポエティックはホームレス生活を送るなど苦境に陥った。^{[ 3 ]}

その後、ポエティックはウータン・クランのリーダーであるRZA、元デ・ラ・ソウル／ステットサソニックのプロデューサーであるプリンス・ポール、そしてステットサソニックのフルクワンと共にヒップホップ・スーパーグループ、グレイブディガズを結成した。スーパーグループの起源について、彼は次のように語っている。

Prince Paul was going through a period in the business where he was, number one: not getting acknowledged for his talent, and two: not getting his monetary situation... when he owned his label, Dew-Doo Man through RAL and Def Jam, they owed him a lot of money and he really got stuck into a position as a producer where he wasn't producing for a couple of years because he was waiting on Russell Simmons, waiting to do some things. That left him frustrated, angry and kind of vexed. He's very creative, so naturally, he wanted to translate that feeling back into his music, so during that period he was making a certain type of music and he decided that he wanted to get a crew together so he could vent against the music industry. So he called on people that he was working with: myself, Frukwan and RZA as vocalists who he felt had the same opinion of the industry and how they were being treated unfairly... he put it together for that express purpose.^[4]

Each member adopted a Gravedigga alias, and Poetic became known as the Grym Reaper (with Grym, an acronym for Ghetto-Repaired Young Mind, also referring back to his first group). It was stated this stylistic change was adapted from his brief period of homelessness as his former DJ, Freddie "DJ Kaos" Cox, said in an interview "He went homeless and that took a toll on him. He hit rock bottom and that opens your eyes to go deep, and that's when he got dark. I guess it makes you strong to want it that bad. Tommy Boy jerked a lot of people."^[5] This proved to be an impressive change, as his offbeat rhyming style quickly gained attention as the group's first album, 1994's 6 Feet Deep (also known by its original title Niggamortis outside the US), garnered positive reviews and strong sales alike.

After the group's second album, The Pick, the Sickle, and the Shovel was released in 1997, The RZA and Prince Paul decided to leave Gravediggaz, leaving Frukwan and Poetic as the only remaining members. During this time, Anthony's rhyming style had matured more. He later showcased this new style in the 1998 single "Savior," which was produced by British-born producer Baby J, The song was more different than most of his Gravediggaz related material as he rhymed about how much he detested mainstream hip-hop music in general.

In April 1999, Anthony collapsed in his home studio with stomach pains and was subsequently diagnosed with colon cancer.^[3]

During this period, he collaborated with The Prodigy's Maxim Reality and Last Emperor under the name of Tony Titanium.^[1]

He created work under his original name as well as continuing work on the third Gravediggaz album. The subsequent release, Nightmare in A-Minor, was the group's darkest work yet. It made references to Poetic's cancer on the track "Burn, Baby, Burn" and on the Last Emperor's track "One Life".

In 2010, an interview was done with Poetic's former DJ Freddie "Kaos" Cox, in which the DJ discusses the early career of the rapper, and an unreleased album of Poetic's music prior to joining the gravediggaz entitled Drop Signal (which was supposed to be his debut album on Tommy Boy, before the deal with the group fell through) has surfaced on the Internet, which includes 14 tracks.^[5]

Poetic died of colon cancer on July 15, 2001, 1:45 pm EST, 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. Tributes came quickly from across the hip-hop world, both from fellow musicians such as Chuck D of Public Enemy, who wrote an article in tribute to him on his Welcome To The Terrordome commentary section on the group's website,^[6] and from critics, who widely wrote of their regret at the loss of his talent.

An intimate memorial service for him was held at the Riverside Church in Harlem on August 4, 2001, attended by his family and close friends, including bandmates Frukwan and Prince Paul.

Nightmare in A-Minor was initially released by Echo Distribution on August 23, 2001. It was re-released without the track "Better Wake Up" on Empire Musicwerks/BMG in 2002 to critical plaudits. According to Frukwan, a new album may be released using leftover material from Poetic.

• ポエティックの死去に関する広報担当者からのプレスリリース
• ポエティックが自身の病気と向き合うインタビュー
• ポエティックの死去に関する記事（リサ・“チェイス”・パターソンの追悼スピーチを含む）
• Village Voiceの記事は、Poeticの事例を踏まえ、ミュージシャンの末期疾患における経済的側面について考察している。