Hardcore Crip rappers aren’t hard to come by in the current state of the hip hop industry.
With every other artist in the industry seeming to be affiliated with some gang or another,
it’s no surprise that a lot of famous and lesser-known rappers
are connected to the cripps street gang.
Two of the biggest sets in the cripp gang are the Rollin 60s Neighborhood cripp and the Grape Street cripp,
and both boast a lot of members who are also rappers. \
The Rollin 60s began in Los Angeles in 1976,
splitting off from the Westside cripps.
It started spreading throughout the US to other cities right off the bat,
and right now, there are about seven thousand members,
so it is definitely got enough members to keep it spreading.
They’ve been found getting into all sorts of stuff
moving heroin, doing drive-bys,
pretty much anything you can think of that’s remotely related to gang activity.
Members identify themselves with specific sports team logos
and graffiti to mark their territory.
As one of the biggest cripp sets,
it’s represented in different neighborhoods in Los Angeles and the rest of the country,
and its presence in the Crenshaw Neighborhood is particularly strong.
They recruit directly from Crenshaw High School
and have enough rival gangs to last a while.
They also have quite a few rappers who are connected,
like ConradFRMDaAve,
an up-and-coming artist that hit the scene in 2019
with “Vintage & Adventurous,”
a song that would become one of the hottest on the West Coast.
And with around eight million views on YouTube for an audio-only video,
it’s clear he’s on his way to the big time.
But when he was just 17,
he was sent to the big house for seven years.
While in solitary confinement,
he started rapping and found out he was good at it.
By the time he was released,
he had a few rhymes under his belt
and was ready to get going.
His lyrics are hard,
talking about his life on the street and the stuff he was around growing up.
What exactly did he see?
He says, “All types of sh*t.
Rich, poor smart, dumb, big, little. Money. Drugs.”
But Conrad is not the only rapper to come out of Crenshaw’s Rollin 60s cripps;
Brynhurst Baby also grew up in the neighborhood.
With his first song “Ketchup,” this young rapper wanted to “put [his] best foot forward” when it came to the music.
Like ConradFRMDaAve,
Brynhurst Baby decided he wanted to get serious about his music while he was in jail.
He pretty much knew that he was screwed job-wise after being in prison
and didn’t want to end up broke with no options,
so he decided on rap to get him the money to get him back to school.
Now that he’s getting some traction in the industry,
he says his goal is to represent his city:
“I just wanna keep the torch lit for my section and my city,
I just wanna show my peers you can outgrow this ****
and make a way for yo family without committing a crime.”
The most famous of all repping Crenshaw Rollin 60s
is the legendary Nipsey Hussle.
Though he joined the gang at a young age,
like most members, once he got some success and money,
he saw that gang life wasn’t the best option for people.
He was seen as the nice guy of rap,
working hard to achieve more so he could give back more to his community.
In his speeches he gave to schools and communities,
he would tell what it was like growing up in a rough hood like Crenshaw and would discourage kids from joining.
He made a huge positive impact on the neighborhoods,
so it really shook the community when he was killed in March 2019.
Crenshaw isn’t the only hood to be represented by this cripp set.
Newark, New Jersey also has a few rapping Rollin 60s.
The set has only 200 or so members in the city,
but they’re still a vicious force on the streets.
Battle rapper Tsu Surf is one of the latest artists to come out of this specific set,
getting some attention for his performances at the Ultimate Rap League battles.
Growing up, he had seen gang activity all the time,
and he joined up officially at just thirteen years old.
He says that hanging out with the gangs cost him his family relationships,
his friends, and his personal time.
It took him five years before he caught a charge
which sent him to jail for possession of a gun.
Serving time helped change his mind from gang activity to music.
The Atlanta Neighborhood Rollin 60s cripps
also boast a few music-making members.
Kazarion Fowler, aka Skooly,
is an Atlanta-based rapper that started his career pretty young.
He was only 14 when he started the music collective Rich Kidz in 2008
and they were signed to Columbia Records in 2012.
In 2015, Skooly signed solo to 2 Chainz’ label T.R.U.
It was sometime in his teenage years that Skooly linked up with the Atlanta Rollin 60s.
We don’t know how deep he is in the gang,
but he did seem to be able to put aside some rivalries in 2018 when he paired up with YNW Melly,
a notorious Florida Blood to create “Till the End”
– a cripps/bloods collaboration that happens from time to time when the rivals find a common enemy.
But as we mentioned above, the Rollin 60s aren’t the only cripps making their mark on the hip hop industry.
The various 103 Grape Street Watts cripps around the United States are also harboring a few hot talents.
The gang originated in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles
and they’re known for being the first Crips in that area.
The name comes from the territory located in Watts near 103rd street.
Their biggest rivalry is with the Bounty Hunter bloods,
and it’s been described as the most violent and long lasting feud between two gangs in the area.
Like the Rollin 60s, Grape Street has a whole bunch of rappers that are affiliated.
The original set in LA is family to rapper Lil One Hunnet.
His popular singles “Grape Walk” and “We Bangin Grape”
are not so lowkey references to his gang allegiance.
But aside from his music, Lil One Hunnet found himself in the news again
after he was shot after leaving a vigil for Rollin 60s’ Nipsey Hussle.
The shooting was a big hit to the attempts of different gangs and sets to come together and call for peace.
And even though he’s connected to Grape Street, he looks up to Nipsey’s later message.
He says “I feel Nipsey and what he wanted for his hood and city.
I want the same for Watts and the city of Los Angeles.
If everyone is for peace and rallying,
then why am I still getting shot in Watts just 7 days later?”
BlocBoy JB, born James Lee Baker in 1996 in Memphis, Tennessee,
is another Grape Street member.
He’s best known for his song “Look Alive”
where he paired up with Drake to create a hit collaboration that brought out the best in both of them.
But like the other rappers in this video,
BlocBoy had to go through some stuff to get to where he is today.
Growing up, his father had been serving a 25-year prison sentence.
When the rapper was twelve, his father broke out of prison
and went to see his kid for a little while.
By fourteen years old, BlocBoy had affiliated with the Grape Street Watts cripps set in his hometown of Memphis.
He talks about it in some of his top songs like “Rover.”
In 2012, when he was sixteen,
he served a month in prison for a home invasion before getting back to the music.
Arsenal Da Rebel, a popping battle rapper,
is a member of the Newark 103 set of Grape Street.
He was one of the most viewed battle rappers on the internet
until he retired from the stage in 2018.
He’s still a co-owner of the UW Battle League,
so he’s still active behind the scenes.
And even though he’s not battling anymore,
he’s beating stereotypes that battle rappers can’t make actual music
and has paired up with Chris Brown, Wyclef Jean, Snoop Dogg, and Fetty Wap to put out new stuff.
Well, that’s all for today!
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