The Grouch always wanted to make beats since he first heard about this music called hip-hop. His dad played keys and he felt music was inside him as well, but he didn’t plan on being an MC. Being from Oakland, he grew up on local heroes like Digital Underground, Too Short, Toni, Tony, Tone, and many others.
Around ‘91/’92 Del tha Funkee Homosapien and the Hieroglyphics crew were first starting to make noise in the bay and it was then that he felt he could really make something out of this music thing. He had a friend who rapped who convinced The Grouch to start writing/rapping in ‘94. He met the Mystik Journeymen soon after and they schooled him on the independent hustle. It was on.
The Grouch’s first show as an MC was in 1995, it was at one the Journeymen’s “Broke Ass Summer Jam” shows in East Oakland. At that time he performed under his real name and the crowd showed him much love, which he says is the main reason he stuck with making music. The Grouch’s music influences include all the hip-hop greats from LL Cool J to the Beastie Boys along with the Bay Area classics and jazz, rock, and soul music. The Grouch has always taken the independent route and has done everything himself along the way, a fact he takes great pride in. |
