"Griffen is a songwriter (specializing in high caliber, clever rhymes) that writes, records and performs a lost brand of hip-hop music where lyrics reigned supreme and content mattered."
B I O G R A P H Y
If there's a common thread through the story of Griffen, the Chicago based rapper and MC, it's his belief that nothing is impossible – you just have to do whatever it takes to get it. In his years working the underground scenes in Chicago, Atlanta and L.A., he's made his mark by any means necessary. The reward for his tenacious and unrelenting style is his new project, "Apotheosis", scheduled to drop late 2010, a collection of songs that showcase his skills as a songwriter (specializing in high caliber, clever rhymes), rapper and performer, bringing back a lost brand of hip-hop where lyrics reign supreme and content is paramount.
Born on Chicago's south side, Griffen took his earliest cues in determination from his grandmother, one of the first female lawyers in Chicago. "It took her eleven years to get through law school," marvels Griffen, "I got her tenacity…There was no quit in her. If they shut the door, you go through the window – that's what I got from her."
Griffen was introduced to hip-hop by his older brother, a DJ, who exposed him to the greats of the music's golden era. "The minute I heard N.W.A., I knew what I wanted to do," he remembers. His first shows, opening for the likes of Raekwon and Souls of Mischief, earned him spots within Chicago's elite underground crews, Elements of Nature and Cyanide. His "Jacken Fa Beats" mixtape (the first in a trilogy), released in 1999, got a lot of backlash from the hip-hop scene in Chicago, due to its overt commercial aspirations. Griffen dismissed the criticism. "The more backlash I got, the more mixtapes I wanted to do," he recalls defiantly, and to date, Griffen has released twelve more mixtapes as free giveaways. After a brief stint in Atlanta, he traveled to LA to record his first official album, Insomnia, which was released to iTunes in 2003. "That's when I got real focused," Griffen says. "I taught myself everything – built my own website, did my own graphics…I bought an MPC and started making my own beats. I worked for CBS as an engineer; I was a color technician for Kinko's…I learned it all and incorporated everything I did into my music hustle and launched my own label."
Griffen followed Insomnia with DrunkMusik (The Gigoloco LP) in 2005, recorded with an array of underground producers. In 2006, he graduated to recording, editing and mixing projects with the release of his group's debut album Outfitt – Tha Shock & Awe Campaign, where Griffen was not only half of the duo in front of the mic, but the man behind the board as well. 2009 brought the Bionik-produced, “Tha Urn” which set the bar even higher for the Midwest-raised MC.
These last few years have seen Griffen step it up; as his track "N. Donesia" was featured on the FX Network show, Dirt, starring Courtney Cox…He collaborated with Ice-T and Black Silver on the song "Most Uv Tha Time" from Ice's latest endeavor, Black Ice – Urban Legends…He's won acclaim for the digitally-released Purpill Paradise Mixxtape, featuring reverse-engineered music by Prince & Sade…became one of only a handful of rappers with their own iPhone applications…the list grows weekly.
After inking a deal with Scarface’s Facemob Music imprint earlier this year and being featured multiple times on every Chicago blogsite that matters, Griffen readies “Apotheosis” with a national campaign to finally bring this talent to the masses.
It's a testament to his perseverance that after three solo albums, a series of mixtapes and moves from Chicago to Atlanta to L.A. and back, that Griffen is still out here, raising his game and drawing in new fans.
But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense – it's in his blood to be unstoppable.
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It's allot of hate floating in the air about me, but I welcome that. Hate is fuel. I hold myself down. I'm cool wit whoever's cool wit me.Period. My music is drunk, joe.
**Sip it responsibly.**
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