This is an installment in The Posse Project, a 12-day series in which www.PHXmusic.com catches up with all 12 guys pictured on the cover of N.W.A's first album, N.W.A. and the Posse. Today, we continue with MC Chip, who proved to be the hardest person to track down of anyone in the photo.
^Chip then^
^MC Chip is still reppin' N.W.A today.^
MC Chip
Also Known As:
Granville Moton, Chip Dirty, Da Konvicted Felon.
Before the Photo:
Chip was one of MC Ren's best friends and also hung out with Eric "Eazy E" Wright, who grew up around the corner from him.
In The Photo:
Along with Ren, Chip actually looks like he's part of N.W.A as the group later looked -- Kings hat, white t-shirt, jeans, black sneakers. Within a few months Chip and Ren's style became the group's style.
"Early, early West Coast hip-hop, before it became gangsta, we were looking for an identity," Chip tells me. "That was just how we, Ren and I, dressed. We were from the C.P.T. so that's how we dressed -- t-shirt, khakis -- we dressed like the G's. That's how the G's did it, so that's how we did it."
After the Photo:
Chip went on to record a couple verses for Ren's solo records, including a spot on "One False Move" from Ren's 1993's 2nd album, Shock of the Hour.
He's also appeared on "In Da Ghetto"
and "Bang Wit Me." He was namechecked in the first verse of Ren's "Old Times," which is probably the best solo tracks Ren has released recently. (Ren actually mentions several other guys profiled for The Posse Project in the song -- can you pick them out?)
Now:
Chip isn't doing anything with music and keeps a low profile online. His only web presence is a BlackPlanet account.
He lives in L.A. and works in transportation for an aerospace company.
"I still write a little bit, but I'm just working, man, just basically taking care of wifey. I can still do it, I'm still sick with it, but the reality of life, it didn't crack the way it was supposed to crack."
People Don't Know:
Cursing on records was a huge novelty when gangster rap first started.
"It's a trip, I still remember when Eazy let me hear 'Boyz-n-the-Hood' for the first time," he says. "That was some crazy shit, man, because you're sitting there listening to it and you're like 'Man, he's cussing on this rap!' You're thinking, like, 'Damn, how's he gonna get radio play?' But one thing you knew about it was that shit was tight. There wasn't nobody else on that level doing that type of thing."
People Don't Know:
Not everyone involved in N.W.A dislikes Jerry Heller, N.W.A's manager, who Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have attacked in song several times.
"[Jerry] was an important part of what happened, because, really, he took his business sense, and saw something in Eazy E, a street dude with a lot of intelligence, and he made it so he could get his records out to the world."
People Don't Know:
N.W.A was it's own street team back in the day.
"I can remember jumping in the truck with Eric, we would just go grab some records from Macola and just go out to the swap meets and just give them to people. We would just hand them out, and that gave Eric a lot of street buzz,"says Chip.
Related;
Chip on discogs.com
VIA
PHXmusic.com
Related;
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse?
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Kid Disaster) 1
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Candyman) 2
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Sir Jinx) 3
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Arabian Prince) 4
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (DJ Scratch) 5
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (MC Ren) 6
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (DJ Train) 7
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Krazy D) 8
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Ice Cube) 9
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (MC Chip) 10
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Dr. Dre) 11
and
What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse? (Eazy-E) 12
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