The streets of the inner city can be ruthless and unforgiving; but they can also be a breeding ground for the kind of raw exciting talent that has made hip-hop what it is today.
For the members of Atlanta-based Crime Mob, music is more than just another hustle. It is an outlet for them to vent and somehow extricate themselves from the crime and poverty that encircled them. It is a road that has led them away from the danger they had grown so accustomed to and diverted their attention from their daily menacing routines.
"Knuck If You Buck Boy". That's the spirited chant that resonates throughout Crime Mob's debut singele.
"Knuck if You Buck," featuring fellow ATL headbussa Lil'Scrappy. It is a song that, for a group of teenage renegades, aptly sums up their never- scared, in-your-face attitude as well as the attitudes of many of their peers. It also sets the tone for thier debut BME Recordings/Warner Brothers self-titled CD, a set loaded with brash, hardcore fight songs that are as crunk as anything to ever come out of the Dirty South.
But for anyone who thinks Crime mob is merely a posse of unruly teens who kicked and scratched thier way into the music industry, needs to look a little closer. Comprised of Princess ,17; Lil' Jay, 18;Psycho Black, 18; Killa C, 18; MIG, 17; and Diamond, 16; Crime Mob is an intriguing group of gifted emcees, producers and songwriters who are as poetic and prolific as they are rowdy and rambunctious.
This is not one of those pre-fab, put together groups concocted to fit some preconceived industry idealism; the members of Crime Mob go way back. their friendship didn't begin in some plush studio or at one of Atlanta's trendy music spots; it took root on the streets of Ellenwood, a suburb of Atlanta, when the boys were 12 and 13 years old. Says killa C, "Crime Mob used to be a gang, stealing cars and doing other hot shit." That wasn't all they did says Lil Jay."We were all in the same school. On an average day we would be rapping in the gym, rapping in the lunchroom, making beats in the hallway. That's how we started making music."
The group eventually started making their rounds. Says Psycho Black, "We started performing at clubs, getting to know the promoters and we created a buzz for ourselves." It was the fiery
"Knuck If You Buck" that helped ignite the Crime Mob frenzy in and around Atlanta as early as 2002. Says Lil Jay, "The song took off. It's different. It ain't got no cussing. It's hard. It sticks in your head. I have people come up to me and say "I only say y'all perform one tme, but I remember that song-buck if you knuck'. They can't say it but they remember it."
Characterized by chants, heavy basslines and bold agressive lyrics, Crime Mob's music instantly struck a cord on the streets of Atlanta with
"Knuck" getting its first spark on the East side of Atlanta, spreading to the West side and then burning an unstoppable path straight to radio. Says Killa C, "We made a name for ourselves on the streets. The radio got our song from the streets. It didn't go from the radio to the streets. The radio got our song from the streets. We were the first group to get picked off 'Dig it or Dish It' and get played in rotation."
They'll remember all of Crime Mob's songs he says, "We got our own unique sound. We use this beat program called 'fruity loops' so we got our own distinct sound. When you hear a Crime Mob song come on the radio you know it's Crime Mob. You won't have us mixed up with nobody else." Killa C agrees, "If you get another artist and play thier CD, and they play a Crime Mob CD, from that day on any time you hear another Crime Mob song-even one that you never even heard before- you'll know that's Crime Mob right there'."
Each and every song on Crime Mob has the same kind of vibrant, action-packed street flavor, loaded with passion, confidence, and to some degree, anger. They are the ranting of today's inner city youth who stand toe with adversity and never back down from anyone or anything that challenges who they are or what they believe in.
"Crunk Inc.,"is a song that Psycho Black says is, "really talking to those haters out there." The DJ-Jelly produced
"Don' Put Yo Hands Up," states in crystal clear language, 'don't put you hands up nigga/that'll get yo ass knocked out," and
"Fuck Nigga" which MIG says is about, "lame people who think they hard and you tell them 'fuck nigga. You a ho'." Then there are self-explanatory songs like
"I'll Beat Yo Azz" and
"If You Gonna Try Me" as well as the female dominated
"Stilettos (Pumps)" and the infectious
"Ain't No Joke".
Despite some of thier lyrics, all six members of Crime Mob say they would rather be making music than making trouble--stressing that thier past antics were leading them to certain destruction; much like the fate of a close friend who was killed last year just minutes after he left them. It was a painful, eye opening reality check. "We had to realize that this wasn't gonna get us nowhere," says Killa C, reaclling his days of stealing cars and committing other petty crimes. 'This car I got today, I don't know if I'm gonna have it tomorrow," he reflects. "It ain't mine, but I could go to jail for 10 years becasue it ain't mine, but I won't have it when I get out. It wasn't benefitting us so we started making music. That was like an anti-drug or something. Some body piss you off, you go make some beats, go write a verse or something."
For Crime Mob music has always been a hope, a way to show the world who they are and how they feel. And now music has truly been their salvation, taking them away from danger but not away from who they are. Keeping it real never meant so much.
