Serving up hip-hop, message

The duo's music has been featured on several MTV shows.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Praise the Lord and pass the GRITS.
Among the many subgenres getting stronger in today's music scene is Christian hip-hop, which Nashville-based outfit GRITS (an acronym for "Grammatical Revolution in the Spirit") has been spreading with its spiritual message for over a decade.
However, the duo -- Teron "Bonafide" Carter and Stacy "Coffee" Jones -- doesn't bother itself with limitations surrounding the "C" word.
"Because we don't put ourselves in a box as artists, we know that what we do and what we're doing is much larger than just the Christian industry," said Carter, calling from his car in Nashville. "So, we try not to pigeonhole ourselves and try to be just as creative if not more creative than other artists out there because we want everyone to not just be able to enjoy the music, of course, but to be able to take something away from it too, as far as a lesson in life and spiritual foundation."
What drives duo
Credibility and originality are the driving force behind GRITS, which continues to explore the Dirty South vibe -- with bumping basslines and infectious rhymes -- of its secular (i.e., Outkast) and urban street reality (Jay-Z) peers. Among the outfit's accolades are 10 No. 1 Christian hip-hop singles with its 2004 albums "Dichotomy A" and "Dichotomy B" selling nearly 120,000 copies.
GRITS' notoriety has extended beyond the Christian world with press coverage in The Source, XXL, SPIN and Vibe. Its music has been featured on MTV "Cribs," "The Real World," "Pimp My Ride," "Made," "Boston Public" and more. But the question remains, why hasn't GRITS enjoyed more mainstream success?
"I just don't think it's with us," Carter said. "It's with any band because the Christian industry is not made for urban music, it's not built for it. You barely hear Kirk Franklin on the Christian radio stations and he is a platinum artist. So industrywise, on the business side, there's a lot of room that we have to grow before we ever think about seeing sales that compare [to mainstream secular hip-hop acts]."
Calling card
Part of that growing process includes the band's latest album "7," which acts as a calling card to the entire GRITS recording career. Having released half a dozen albums that have fallen on deaf ears, the band and its record label, Gotee Records, decided to market a seeming greatest hits of misses in hopes of helping new audiences catch up to the GRITS' sound.
While a new studio album is slated for next spring, GRITS is hitting the road this spring on its first headlining bill. The Dem Tennessee Bwoys Tour, which includes opening acts Pettidee, comedian Coy Lasone and new artist IZ, rolls into the Youngstown area for a show sunday at The Riot in Lowellville.
"Even after 10 years, probably I would say 30 percent of people who see GRITS live are seeing or hearing us for the first time," Carter said. "And we kind of took notice of that. We still have a lot of work to do. Until we're in the league of competing with bigger, mainstream acts, we definitely still have a lot of room to grow and a lot of things to do."