Album Notes

To say that this is a rap group like no other would be an understatement.

The members of GIN Kru exceed the expectations of many of today's rap artists, from handling their own management to earning college degrees. The bond they share is strong on both a business and personal level, and they have a different style to deliver.

The five that comprise GIN Kru - M.O.E., Adsun Allah, Charly B.E.A.N., Darc Nyte, and DJ Freddy Scizzahans - are a family in almost every sense of the word, sharing the same values, drive and aspirations, a trait that not only makes them stand out from many other groups but that also makes stronger, with the credentials to boot: M.O.E. and Scizza both have business degrees - M.O.E. from Purdue in finance management and marketing information systems, and Scizza from Kentucky State in business administration; Charly is currently a communications and culture major with a minor in entrepreneurship at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN; and Darc Nyte has a graphic design degree from Alabama State and is currently pursuing his master's in e-business at the University of Phoenix online. Clearly, GIN Kru is ready to take on the world.

"We have a message that seriously needs to be heard in today's society," M.O.E. says. "We ain't on that average rap and bull. Most groups in the game today are saying a whole bunch of nothing.

It seems that GIN Kru came to be by means of fate. All of the members are linked in one way or another. All are from Gary, IN; M.O.E. and Darc Nyte have known each other all their lives - Darc lived around the corner from M.O.E.'s grandmother, with whom M.O.E. spent after-school hours and summers; Scizza lived around the corner from M.O.E. and they took middle and high-school band classes together; Adsun and Charly are cousins; Charly's father was friends with M.O.E.'s father in high school; and Adsun took classes and played sports with M.O.E. GIN Kru was formed in 1992 as a high school organization by Emas Bennett, who attended West Side High School in Gary with M.O.E., Darc Nyte and Adsun. The four of them shared the same academic and street smarts, and often got together for discussions.

"We would build every chance we got on subjects that most kids at that age wouldn't even think about discussing," M.O.E. remembers. "We were so organized and militant that we became recognized by the school board and had our own faculty sponsorship and budget. We would go on field trips and the city was basically paying for us to speak for panel discussions at the local universities. As we got older, we evolved mentally and spiritually as individuals, but the Kru was still our pantheon of thought."

Bennett eventually left the group, but M.O.E., Darc and Adsun kept moving, bringing Charly and Scizza into the fold in 1996. By then, the GIN Kru focus had shifted over to music and the members were looking to get the group off the ground. Charly had a reputation around his high school for being a solid emcee and a deep thinker, while Scizza would often DJ with M.O.E. GIN was originated as a acronym for "Grand Imperial Nubians," and "Kru" was added later, a trendy spelling for "crew." Its concept, according to M.O.E., was "definitely pro-black and pro-African," based on the theory that all cultures in Africa could be traced back to the ancient land of Nubia. It was the common bond within its membership.

Darc Nyte states "This is something bigger that us being a bunch of high school homeboys trying to have fun. We have grown up over the years. Three of us have graduated from college, and two of those college graduates are married men. People have been through different self defining experiences to make us who we are. This isn't a joke or a game. We are actually trying to do something with not only music, but in the entertainment field as a whole.

Past hip hop experiences:
1.) Phat Fridays (hip hop showcase/scene that was prevalent in late '90s-2000 in Gary, Indiana)
2.) Rocking a show @ Angelo's (local bar in Merrillville, Indiana)
3.) Opening up for Rah Digga @ Duke in 1999
4.) Rocking a Show @ Rhino's and The Bluebird in Bloomington, Indiana

The meaning behind the title "God's Island Kings: Masters of the Gray Area": God's Island is another name for Gary, Indiana. Rather than using the same old negative terms for the city they reside in (Murder Capital, Scary Gary), the Kru chose a name that reflected not only the struggle and strife, but also the budding untapped potential that resides in the city. And since they consider their residents and themselves "royalty" in a historical sense, they deemed themselves and those males that reside in Gary "kings". "Masters of the Gray Area" means that they are the masters at the gray area, another term for life itself. With a firm belief in the ying and the yang, regular life represents the gray area, because all humans reside within that area. There is always the good and the bad. However, we all strive for balance. And the GinKru feels that they have mastered that balance.

The hopes for this album: To actually give a musical alternative to the people of Gary, for one. Gin Kru wants to provide that level of diversity to the hip hop scene that is forming within the city at this particular time. Also, we want to be positive influences on those that think that the only outlets are sports and music, even though we are using music as a forum ourselves. Last, but not least, we want to sell as many CD's as possible to make some money!