LOCAL PRODUCT: Freddie Gibbs & Will Scrilla (Gary, IN)
Freddie Gibbs (Photo courtesy of Clayton Woodley)
Local Product is a new and hopefully reoccurring series where current day artists from smaller market hip hop scenes break down the untold histories of their cities. Freddie Gibbs, of Gary, Indiana seemed like a good place to start. His Miseducation Of Freddie Gibbs is one of the stronger mixtapes to drop in recent months, but the community that birthed him has been taking form since the mid to late 90s with groups like The Grind Family, CCA and the MCG’z. Here Freddie tells their story and introduces you to some of their classic records. He even gets Grind Family’s incarcerated founder Will Scrilla in on the conversation.
C.O.B., Shorty Grind & Big Cheese of The Grind Family
Grind Family – “The Devil’s Advocate”
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Grind Family f/ Ric Jilla – “Studio 2 The Ghetto“
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from In The Grind We Trust Vol. 1 (Mixtape, 1999)
Freddie Gibbs: The Grind Family were a group started by Will Scrilla. He’s from my neighborhood on the East Side of Gary on 17th Avenue. It was Will Scrilla and a guy named COB. COB wasn’t from Gary, though, he was from East Chicago that’s a city right next to Gary. They started the Grind Family which consisted of eight guys. It was pretty much a mid-west Wu-Tang type thing. And then they made a lot of noise. They was pretty much the first rap group ever out of Gary and Will Scrilla was at the helm of that. He was from Gary and the rest of the guys were from neighboring cities like Hammond, East Chicago. But Will Scrilla was really the focal point of the group, he was the guy who really made the wheels turn and in ’99 he caught a murder charge and he went to jail and that was pretty much the end of the group. A lot of the guys in Gary that was rapping and doing their thing really got swallowed up by the streets.
CCA (Concord Affiliated) – “We All Gotta Die”
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CCA (Concord Affiliated) – “Street Life“
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from One Life 2 Live (Laidback, 1998)
FG: Another case is CCA, they got hit with a charge for controlling a criminal enterprise. They had a big drug ring and the guy that was the main rapper of the group, C-Mack, I think he got 45 years and a couple of other guys in the group got life. So that was their demise. They had it popping between ’98 and 2000, and then around 2000 that’s when they got arrested, everybody caught their cases.
MCG’z – “Club 1337″
MCG’z – “Great Lakes (Remix)“
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MCG’z – “Dollaz & Sense“
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rom 53 Chambers Of Danger (Skrewface, 1999)
FG: MCG’z, that’s short for Murder Capital Gangsters and that consists of my homeboy Hit, my homeboy Daz and Mr. Lo. They was another pioneering group from Gary. They pretty much was at the helm of the whole thing. They started it out. They were really the first cats I knew to have a CD out in the city, everybody else was getting tapes.
It’s funny that we having this conversation because Will Scrill just called me from jail right now. He’s on the other line. I could click him in on the conversation if you want… [Will Scrilla gets on the line]
Will Scrilla f/ Ric Jilla – “My Identity”
from Live & Die In GI Soundtrack (?, 1998)
Freddie Gibbs f/ Will Scrilla & Sani G – “We Does This“
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from Live From Gary, Indiana Pt. 2 (Mixtape, 2008)
Noz: So Will, was it difficult coming out from such a small city?
Will Scrilla: Going back from the late 80s onto the 90s we were basically just viewed as consumers, but then there’s always been a big underground music scene going back to guys that called themselves the Lee Boys [?] and [Stuntman Records] then going up into the late 90s with myself and guys like CCA and other local groups – the Gatekeepers. But there’s always been a big underground scene it’s just that the city is so small in population it doesn’t bring a lot of notoriety.
Did you guys ever feel like you were getting overshadowed by bigger cities like Chicago?
WS: Chicago basically has a superiority complex. They don’t reach out to network with Gary Indiana. So our music has to demand the respect of other localities, particularly Chicago. Being so close they were really not interested in networking with us until we created a buzz for ourselves. Then they’re willing to network with us.
What do you think of Freddie as a rapper? Is he doing a good job carrying the torch for the city.
WS: Freddie’s got the freshest style that’s out right now. His style is phenomenal, he’s able to go across the board with his topics and he’s also got the appeal to go along with it. I think he’s highly capable of being a big mainstream artist.
So how did you guys link up in the first place? Fred, you came up listening to him?
FG: Yeah, definitely. Will was the first nigga from neighborhood definitely putting it down. Like Will said earlier, we were basically viewed as a consumers market. So we was consuming whatever was on BET and MTV. Will really solidified the Gary Rapper. When you thought about the status quo of a Gary rapper, you thought about Will because he put niggas in position to be from Gary and be able to rap and compete on the same level as cats from New York and LA and down south. So he was like our hero. And he was right from my neighborhood so it was definite.
What’s the future for Gary?
FG: When I started rapping I looked at it as me picking up where Will left off and just bring this Gary shit to the forefront. The midwest really hasn’t had that standout talent to solidify our area. The cats from Chicago don’t really rep it hard enough. Even with the Kanyes and the Twistas, they midwest all day but I think it’s a little too much of them on the cusp of other areas and other coasts. They’re making the south or the west stronger, nobody’s really solidifying the midwest as a whole. You got cats like Tech N9ne, cats like that still keeping it strong in the midwest, but for the most part I think that we more underground.
WS: We haven’t reached that point. We have a lot of local success and some regional success but there really hasn’t been an artist to create a ten city or even a five or six state buzz. My mindstate has always been an international mindstate as far as the music scene coming out of Gary, with brothers like Gibbs and myself. But he need my help right now. I’m in a situation where 10 or 20,000 dollars could remove from incarceration and create the movement. I’m really the nucleus to the movement that’s needed out there. That brother Freddie Gibbs is the energy, he really needs me by his side out there. But we limited on the finances to get me out there. 10 or 20,000 would remove me from these walls of bondage. It would put me out there to be side by side with him to create the movement that’s needed because I can network with so many people. We truly are the street, we are the voice and we need to be heard. And my guy [Freddie], he’s ready now.
Related: Murder Dog Interview with C.O.B. of the Grind Family
Tumblin' Erb
June 30th, 2009 at 11:43 am
haven’t read the whole thing yet, but i really, really like the idea of this local product feature
June 30th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
hell yea. need to give shine so hoods like gary. Freddie Gibbs is the truth.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
lovin this
June 30th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
This is extremely real. Good lookin’ out Noz. These dudes deserve some attention. The music was pretty groundbreaking and very very Gary. I went there a lot man, Grind Family, I always had a lot of hope for them. So much talent out there and many many real topics to speak on.
I have all the Midwest mobstaz CDs in boxes in my garage, man I need all of them at arms length at all times. Shit bumps.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Wow a whole post about Gary Indiana, this week, that doesn’t mention it’s most famous son(s).
June 30th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Haha I know. I didn’t even think to make that connection. I lose at the internet.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
haven’t read the whole thing yet, but i really, really like the idea of this local product feature
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regional reality rap > everything else right now.
Wow a whole post about Gary Indiana, this week, that doesn’t mention it’s most famous son(s).
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LOL, damn. All the stuff I know about Gibbs, I never think of Gary either.
Good shit Noz.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Hell yeah, I like this idea, can’t wait until you take it down south though.
//and if I can add anything, I’d add more artists/albums to the timeline, but I guess thats all you had to deal with for Gary, IN,
but I’m sure most southern markets have a deeper local hierarchy.
//looks for Midwicked – Like We Sposed Ta
June 30th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
anybody got Midwikid – Like We Spose Ta on mp3?
June 30th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
So long as Nashville is up on the list
July 1st, 2009 at 12:06 am
props. I’m typing this from Gary, IN. Gotta check out that mixtape.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:36 am
Ha! Check what Freddie does with the “93 Til” beat. That is an incredible tape.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:37 am
Great representation. Freddie Gibbs deserves some fame as does GI.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:48 pm
All are DEFINITELY local legends around here. Coming up we all thought the Grind Family was gone put Gary on the map.
Best of luck to Freddie.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:45 pm
will scrilla incarcerated interview cameo is kind of next level dude
this is a great idea for a feature, and I think Gary needs all the love it can get. Not just rap wise, that city has had some bad luck.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Freddie Gibbs is that dude. Him and Pill just did a track together. I can’t wait til they unleash it on the world. We got another one comin too! Real talk, great coverage.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
This is definitely a good idea for a regular feature. I’d like to see more of these.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:20 am
free will scrill
July 24th, 2009 at 11:25 am
NO DROUGHT RUN G.I. NOW 2009 MINE
August 31st, 2009 at 5:43 pm
ay but dis c-mack son so mane get a nigga in da studio
September 1st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
[...] a city whose unbroken bleakness is perhaps outmatched by only Camden, NJ. Noz at Cocaine Blunts has a great primer on Gary’s rap history, including interviews with Gibbs and Grind Family’s Will Scrilla [...]
September 9th, 2009 at 9:28 am
[...] has a track by track breakdown of the mixtape album from Gibbs himself. Also check Cocaine Blunts LOCAL PRODUCT series. The first installation features Gibbs highlighting some bright moments in Gary, [...]
October 21st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Im On Dat Concord 19th ave type shit
March 11th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I was extremely pleased to see this! I have a lot of love for Gary, Indiana and for the fantastic music that is made there.
Freddie Gibbs – Go all the way man! I will be spreading the word everywhere I go – state to state, and country to country spreading the word about Gary Rap.
MILITANT
April 9th, 2010 at 8:09 am
I like that its a cool. Site Im starting a label called getting every dollar records.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
that was real..i remember when scrilla 1st come thru…he was goin thru the snow and shit hollin scrilla…it was fresh…quick history lesson though…the end of 97 early 98 the underground militia came thru wit a pretty tight joint….matter of fact they had the savoy shut down the night of their albim release party…there were a few rap groups bubblin but like u said we was gettin more pub for”catchin bodies” than catchin wreck on the mic.wishin u lots of luck bruh and know that there is a swarm of g.i. talent ready give gary some shine….good luck and big up to scrilla…hope they free u black….hold ya head….joey za
May 5th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
it’s nice to hear some actual gangsters talk about scrapin some muthafuckas. I send best regards to motherfuckers that carry their word instead of just rappin about beatin some ass or killin someone; and actually showin love
May 5th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
MCG’z BEST RAP great lakes my area all that shit is not even off the hook, it’s through the hook and into the minds of motherfuckers that got good taste in rap
October 13th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
GARY INDIANA STAND UP!!!!!!! SKREWFACE!!!!!!!! MAMMY!!!!!
December 7th, 2010 at 9:19 am
What happened to TKS? Carlos the King and Capillian
December 13th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
[...] [...]
February 4th, 2011 at 7:15 am
i have several videos of rapping im a white boy but whoevers is racist can suck my white balls white ppl are the same as every other race the body is all mental some one is made by where they are raised by rules watsoever who cars i live in gary,in 46409 bt blue ribbon so everyone white boy has a flow for u guys email: jordan103@sbcglobal.net
east syde
facebook: swishersweet shaun
email: jordan103@sbcglobal.net
phone: 2198950143
February 4th, 2011 at 7:17 am
dont have a website but have the money to set one up kinda difficult to set website up with no expierince but ill do it everything is mental do u go to college to sell drugs no: so bam u just learned something with knowledge picked up and learned sumthing new if i put my mind to it i can do anything that goes for everyone do u go to school as a baby to learn one of the most difficult languages ever : english exactly
April 5th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Just found this site is i still have all of the CCA cds
August 24th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
late in reading this but great to see some light shed on northwest indians rap scene [even though gibbs over exaggerating of his lifestyle-ass] is what helped start this lil artcle, it showed some love outside of the usual jackson related stories. there’s other names not mentioned likt OUTSIDE, first battalion, which i guess would be the gatekeepers] lil maniac, SGP and a buncha others [especially everyone fingeroll produced] oh shit forgot 3rd degree also.
October 27th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
this is kind of odd. will scrill states that he needs 10-20 K to be freed and that Gibbs is his boy. does anybody know if gibbs has tried to put up this paper since i know he has it now. i dont fuck with gibbs but i definitely fucked with the grind (prior to the ovadose and fillmore days), original menace, 1st battalion, G.I.N., MCGz (wheres nookie g?), CCA, and all that old shit.
anyone on insight if gibbs has tried to put up the paper, i would love an update.
holler
February 6th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Im lookin for “To live or die in G.I.” the movie. Anybody know where i can get a copy at?
July 5th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
“to live and die in gi” seen the movie some homies from g.i. had…..seesaw, jilla, cca where i reside these killas done to roll threw ya set wit murder on they mind leave whole block wet
January 4th, 2013 at 6:57 am
FUCK WILL SCRILLA…..GUARANTEE WILL BE WAITING WHEN HIS ASS IS OUT