Good morning peeps. I've got something dope for you read this morning. Did an interview with Gin-I Grindith yesterday and as promised, here it is:

ZEBULON:
Wordup brother and thanks for having a moment with is. Let’s jum straight into it. Give us some background on Gin-I. Where were you born and raised and how did the decision to grab the mic come to you?

GIN-I:
I was born in Namibia, raised in Joburg. Everyone I hung around rapped, Hymphatic Thabs, a cat called Eduardo from Mozambique. We were always together. Eduardo was from a crew called Baseball Track. they were like the Southern African Wu Tang of the 90s. I was doing graffiti before all that though with a boy of mine from Canada. He got me heavy onto graff and shit, he was also a dj. He had access to so much shit, every time he would go back to Canada during the breaks, he would bring back new shit... Mags and what not. But we were all a crew. Oher cats that really got me started were Hueman Rip and Kaptain my Kap'n aka Ben Sharpa. Krook'd and my fam Kanif and Shorty Skillz were monumental in a lot of everything you see too. Thats where it started

ZEBULON:
Sounds like a dope way to start your career man. The 90's South African rap scene, tell me more about that shit. It couldn't have been easy back then compared to how it is now with all the facilities we have. What was it like? Were there any battling? Was it easy getting tracks recorded and shit?

GIN-I:
Yeah it was the hay dayz you could say. Although there are far more emcees today than there were back then, there was something so raw and unique about that era. Some things will never change though. The cyphers were dope and everyone did it. There were plenty battles and there are mad kids out here now keeping it alive and doing it like it should be done. Pay your dues and battle. So in that regard to kids today its dope and its their era and its for them to mould it and raise the standard… Yeah we would record through the headphones onto a tape hahaha. Today its so fucking easy. Everythings at ones finger tips, which kinda spoils it in a way, because our real interactions as humans are being slowly pushed aside. Peeps are spoilt for choice, if we wanted rubberoom back in the day you would wait a year to hear it. You would have to train down to the Cape for some new music hahaha. Tape exchanges were big. All in all im glad i was born when I was… Hahahahaha…

ZEBULON:
Haha Yeah man I feel you, I'm from the new era but a major old school head and even though many things are better now, I feel that the personal element of it all is slipping away. Today it's easier to download an LP than to get it from the artist yourself. I'm down in the Cape so I only have one physical copy of a South African underground project and that's P.O.T's new mixtape, which brings me to my next question, how many albums/mixtapes do you have out there and where can we get it? And for the ones who has them all, when can we expect a new project by you?

GIN-I:
Yeah thats great thing about records. There are so many timeless albums. Young heads like yourself have access to all of it and its dope because it means a good influence in what hip hop music is, is still alive. I have a few projects locked away. I’ve lost more albums than I’ve released hahaha. I got a beat tape I made years ago that I should release. I got some shit brewing with my homie out in Brooklyn NY , Boxguts. We got a few joints laced along with some other features too out the J23 camp. Real dope cats. Besides that its been all battle league and other label releases with Iapetus. Blakrok dropping soon, Zetina Mosia, Robo, Witchcraft. So yeah we have our hands full at the moment.

ZEBULON:
You should. I didn't know you made beats. You should keep us posted with that shit man. Yeah running a battle league is no joke. Tell me more about it though. How did the whole Scrabmles4Money idea start?

GIN-I:
I learnt to rap by battling people. Its what has always been a part of what the movement has meant to me. Whether be it break dancing, DJ-ing, graffiti, I have always loved the battle element of the culture. Its the strongest block within the structure. The ones who say its not a good look, well, you need to find another hobby. Basically, it was a run off of the Art of War. Myself and Daniel(SafarI) spoke at a Sunday gig out in Honeydew one afternoon and we agreed that shit should start running, that a battle field needs to be laid you could say. I didnt really wanna get involved with dealing with setting up battles and getting film crew or nothing so I just offered the venue at half the door to cover our staff and shit and thats how it 1st started. After the toune I think most peeps no the deal we dont have to go into it. But basically it was between emcees getting robbed by Grindtime (U.S), or setting up a league that could smash. Daniel decided to go with Grindtime. I had been contacted a few months before that all went down by KOTD and was offered a chance to go and battle at wd3. I couldn’t go but stayed in contact with my boy Troy and we had spoken a few times about a league and I started to get ancy about how shit was going with GT. So yeah I figured we been in it long enough to have all the resources we need, so I called up a few peeps and started sorting out the best way to run it. Just at that time My friend Hes (head film director), had just come back from Japan and was looking to get involved in a project. He has done some of the insane shit with a camera, he is also who shot the Ben Sharpa Hegemony vid. We put together a team and basically took it from there. Graffix film, all that shit. Its what we been doing for years all separately but somehow all came together at the right time bring what we have now. Scrambles baby. Hahaha. So yeah thats the deal. Daniel’s the dude who took the bull by the horns.

ZEBULON:
Yeah I'm aware of the Grindtime thing... But at the end of the day Scrambles became the biggest thing in SA battle rap within months man and the platform is dope, even without the whole Canada thing. Yeah I personally think the S4M camera work is neat bro. The video editing too. The whole package is dope. Dan paid his dues for sure. But after this KOTD thing, will you be battling at Scrambles again some time? Or will you just be sticking to hosting and organizing?

GIN-I:
I want to battle, but i feel myself and the other top tier cats need to be battling bigger names than what we have here. So foremost on the list is to network as much as possible in Canada and set up to bring big battle names to battle on our shores. so thats my main aim for now. I’ve spoken to Tumi about a battle, so hopefully we can set that up soon. I'd really like to battle him

ZEBULON:
Damn Gin-I Grindith vs Tumi would be dope. Two completely different but dope styles. I hope it works out and I know the heads out there would love to see that. Drifting away from Scrambles though, tell us more about the Gin-I behind the scenes. Who do you look up to as an emcee? Also, which artists do YOU listen to most and who are your favourite battle rappers?

GIN-I:
Who I look up to as emcees? I think cats like Jonzi D, Shaheen, Kap, and cats Like Hueman, KingPinn and Devious will always be in what we do. Um I listen to shit from like back in the day the most. Im a cat that likes to sit down to some Rodriguez or Zeplin when its time to unwind and twist one. I listen to very little of this new rap but still bump the classics like it was yesterday. As far as a favourite battler goes, that changes every event released. I love the KOTD league and there ground zero battles have been dope too. The brits are getting nice as fuck and watch a lot of those battles too from Dont Flop. I think as far as battles I've seen recently the best performances have come from Cadalack Ron, A-Class, Lefty 2 Guns, The Dead Man, the Fresco Rone battle was good as fuck, Real Deal, Caustic, JC, B Magic. Those are who have stood out for me.

ZEBULON:
Ending it off, is there any advice you have for aspiring battle rappers and recording artists?

GIN-I:
Stay humble and focus on where you see yourself being best... Whether it battles or the booth. This shits not for everyone. Peace