By: Todd “DG” Davis
Rapindustry.com
Photos by Steve Sweatpants Irby
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Some groups make records. Some create characters. Czarface did both—and then built an entire universe around the idea.

Born in 2013 from the collision of Boston underground veterans 7L & Esoteric and Wu-Tang Clan cornerstone Inspectah Deck, Czarface arrived with an old-school soul and a completely modern imagination. Three artists with different histories, but one shared mission: make the kind of hip-hop they loved—raw, lyrical, unpredictable and rooted in the golden era.

Boom-bap. Heavy drums. Scratches. Samples. Personality. Storytelling. No chasing trends. Just three seasoned artists bringing their own histories into one strange, colorful world.

Then came the mask.

Czarface wasn’t simply a group name—it became a superhero, an alter ego and an entire mythology spanning music, comic books, artwork, action figures and collectibles. The music told the stories, while the visuals expanded the universe. Czarface became something you didn’t just listen to—you could actually step inside.

At the center are three essential pieces: Inspectah Deck, bringing decades of Wu-Tang history and razor-sharp lyricism; Esoteric, with his battle-tested wordplay and pop-culture arsenal; and 7L, supplying the rugged production and scratching that gives Czarface its unmistakable sound.

And then came the crossovers.

Czarface Meets Metal Face brought them together with MF DOOM in 2018, creating a collision of two masked worlds that felt almost destined to happen. Their connection continued with Super What?, which had already been completely recorded, pressed and manufactured before DOOM’s passing. Czarface held the album back afterward, giving fans space to mourn before releasing the finished work.

Then came Czarface Meets Ghostface, bringing Ghostface Killah into the universe and adding another layer of Wu-Tang DNA to the story.

Now Czarface has opened the door even wider with Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, bringing Frankie Pulitzer, the rap alter ego of actor Tom Hardy, fully into the fold alongside heavyweight guests including Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P.

That’s the Czarface formula: take two worlds, smash them together and see what happens. And somehow, it always makes sense.

The connection between hip-hop and comics runs deep. Both cultures grew into major forces in New York City. Both celebrate alter egos, larger-than-life personalities, battles, villains, heroes and the power of creating an identity. An MC builds mythology with words; a comic-book character builds it with a mask. Czarface understood they were speaking the same language.

That vision has grown beyond the records, too, with collaborations such as Super7 bringing Czarface into the world of figures and collectibles. What began as an idea inspired by childhood imagination became something fans could literally hold in their hands. And after more than a decade, the most impressive part may be that Czarface still feels like Czarface. No trend-chasing. No unnecessary reinvention. Just three artists creating, building and reaching people on their own terms.

The mask is still on. The beats are still knocking. The universe is still expanding.

And the next issue? Well… time will tell.

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Q. Take it back to 2013. Inspectah Deck already had Wu-Tang history, while 7L & Esoteric had built their own underground legacy. What made that first collaboration feel like something that deserved to become an actual group rather than a one-off project?

We were really all on the same mission. I think the response from the audience indicated that we had some chemistry, and they seemed to respond to the character we created quite well.

Q. Czarface arrived when a lot of people were declaring boom-bap a thing of the past. Was preserving that raw MC-and-DJ aesthetic ever part of the mission, or were you simply making the kind of hip-hop the three of you still wanted to hear?

I think we were doing what we love and reflecting what we were all inspired by. If you followed our careers going back to the ’90s, none of us really “switched up” to try and appeal to the mainstream.

Q. Somewhere along the way, Czarface stopped being simply the name of the group and became an entire character and universe—comics, artwork, action figures and mythology. When did you realize you had created something that could live far beyond records?

This was always the idea from the inception of the name and character. I was raising my son, who was really into superheroes like me, and I was trying to find a balance between work and parenting—a bridge that could connect the two. So, whether he knows it or not, he inspired me to try to build a world around the character via action figures and comic books. Shout-out to Lamour Supreme, who really brought the character to life with his artwork.

Q. Inspectah Deck comes from Wu-Tang, Esoteric from Boston’s underground and 7L brings the producer/DJ perspective. After more than a decade together, what does each member provide that Czarface simply wouldn’t be Czarface without?

I think Deck brings that technically perfect emceeing from the heart of NYC, and 7L brings the production and scratching that captures the spirit of what we all love as a group—beats you can really spaz on. Me? I just try to keep up. *Laughs*

Q. Czarface Meets Metal Face paired you with MF DOOM in what almost seems inevitable in retrospect—two masked universes colliding. What was DOOM like creatively, and what do you appreciate differently about those sessions now that he’s gone?

DOOM stayed mysterious, but he was always ahead of the curve without trying to be. I always look back on the early days when he first inspired me. I’m talking about the 3rd Bass era, when he was part of KMD. He was playing with words and creating sounds with his brother that made me want to grab a pen or a sampler and incorporate everything from my childhood into hip-hop. He was a true inspiration, and it was an honor to work with him on a few projects.

Q. Super What? gave that relationship one final chapter after DOOM’s passing. Was there an added responsibility in releasing that music and making sure it honored your friend rather than simply extending a successful collaboration?

That album was fully recorded, pressed and manufactured before his passing. It was going to drop during his lifetime, but once that awful news hit, we kept it in the warehouse and gave everyone who loved him plenty of space and time to reflect, mourn and honor the man. So, there was no changing anything, no editing anything or stuff like that. It was a finished product.

Q. Then came Czarface Meets Ghostface, bringing another Wu-Tang voice into the universe. With Deck and Ghost sharing so much history already, how did you make that project feel like a Czarface record rather than simply another Wu collaboration?

Well, if it felt that way to you, that’s great. I believe that’s 7L’s production and some of the quirky sound bites I like to throw into the mix that gave it the sound that corresponds to Czarface. But do remember, Czarface is heavily inspired by Wu-Tang to begin with, so there will be some overlap.

Q. Now you’ve taken perhaps the wildest crossover yet with Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, bringing Tom Hardy fully into the fold after his earlier appearances. When did you realize this wasn’t celebrity stunt-casting—that Hardy genuinely understood the culture and could hold his own on an entire album?

You must mean Frankie Pulitzer. There’s no Tom Hardy here. You’re confusing Frankie with Hollywood stars, and that’s bizarre.

Q. The new album brings Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P into the story, while “Grim-Visaged War” even lets Frankie tap into that unmistakable Bane voice. How do you keep these larger-than-life appearances from becoming gimmicks and make sure the music still wins?

How would these appearances be considered gimmicks? They’re all legendary and iconic in their own right, so the synergy will exist on a Czarface record.

Q. Hip-hop and comic books have shared DNA for decades—alter egos, origin stories, battles, villains, secret identities and larger-than-life mythology. Why do you think those two cultures have always understood each other so naturally?

Hip-hop and the comics I love both rose to fame in NYC, and both feature larger-than-life personalities with extra confidence and attitude. Writing rhymes is about building and creating an identity and turning that identity, backed by an irrefutable skill set, into stuff of legend.

Q. Thirteen years after the debut, Czarface has survived trends without chasing them and turned an underground rap group into its own intellectual property. What has that independence taught you about ownership, longevity and building something the culture can’t take away from you?

I think I will be able to fully answer that when we slow down and collectively take our feet off the turbo thrusters. Right now, we are just having fun creating, building and reaching the people!

Q. You’ve already crossed universes with MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah and now Frankie Pulitzer. If there are truly no limits left on the Czarface multiverse, who—or what—does Czarface meet next?

The door is wide open! Time will tell!