grind family news
Area rappers 'Grind’ out big niche
Sept. 20, 2002
By Bob Kostanczuk
Post-Tribune staff writer
Hard-edged with underground appeal, the Grind Family has expanded its Northwest Indiana realm by grabbing exposure in national hip-hop magazines.
Within the past few months, the group has landed the cover of Murder Dog and is currently featured in XXL.
They are both high-gloss publications that are sold in book-and-magazine chains like B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble.
The attention in XXL is especially welcomed by the Grind Family, an East Chicago-Hammond quintet.
XXL is able to rope in corporate advertisers like Reebok and Pepsi. Based in New York City, XXL serves up pieces on hip-hop icons like Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.
It also showcases up-and-coming urban talent from around the country.
In its October issue, XXL gives space to Northwest Indiana, lauding the Grind Family for its “brutally honest lyrics and industrial-size beats that sound like boisterous echoes from the now-dormant steel mills that once fueled the area’s economy.’’
XXL has helped the Grind Family’s cause, as did the group’s warm-up gig for rap giant Ja Rule in Indianapolis.
The Grind Family has also been able to sell its CDs at the Hobart branch of Wherehouse Music, a national CD retailer.
The group is listed alphabetically in the rap section, getting rack space among the likes of Ice Cube and Eminem.
“They sell very well. They’re real big,’’ said Gil Walker, a sales associate at Wherehouse Music’s Hobart store.
Walker also noted that the Murder Dog issue with the Grind Family cover was a hit: “We sold out of those.’’
Thomas Millsaps, a manager/promoter who works with rappers, touts the Grind Family as an act with a solid regional fan base.
“They’re extremely well known,’’ said the East Chicago resident.
The most recent album from the Grind Family is “So Many Problems ... So Much Pain’’ — an often bleak excursion into street violence and hard times in the city.
It’s “parental-advisory’’ material, but the group resists being blanketed with the label of hard-core, gangster rappers.
“That’s what the outsiders say. We ain’t just stickin’ to that no more,’’ assured group leader Mr. C.O.B., otherwise known as East Chicago’s Corey Battle. “We don’t just talk about our gangster rap. It’s more soul than anything. We’re telling you something about a way of life. It’s way different than gangster rap. We elevated and got more mature.’’
Mr. C.O.B. thinks an example of that is “So Many Problems ... So Much Pain,’’ which is wrapped in mean-streets reflections.
“It’s like a concept album, instead of just puttin’ a whole album together full of different songs,’’ noted Mr. C.O.B. “We just focused really on one thing and just talked about that.’’
A musical departure of sorts, “So Many Problems ... So Much Pain’’ includes the song “One Night.’’
Meshing rap with an easy-’n’-steamy brand of rhythm and blues, “One Night’’ is a more mainstream effort from a group that’s not been shy about using guns as props in album designs.
“One Night’’ got some decent radio play this year in the Midwest, most notably on WPWX-FM (92.3). That’s the Chicago-area rap/hip-hop station which has studio facilities in Hammond.
“One Night’’ taught the Grind Family that mellower fare sometimes pays off in the push to get noticed in the crowded recording industry.
“It’s a business, and you gotta be smart about it if you wanna get your songs played,’’ said Soope, a member of the Grind Family who resides in Hammond but is originally from Gary.
The group also includes Phil-Mo, Ova-Dose and C-Ghetto.
Reporter Bob Kostanczuk can be reached at 648-3144
or by e-mail at
[email protected].
