Street Justice

It’s safe to say that the Detroit-based (well, Inkster, but close enough) hip hop foursome Street Justice is living the dream. Better known as Redd, Ketchphraze, Jypsy Eye and DJ 4mulaOne to their local fan base, Street Justice is hoping to be a household name in cities across the Midwest. And that’s a goal that shouldn’t be too hard to achieve — especially when you hear what they have in store for themselves. The success of the group’s latest project titled “Out 4 Just Us” has already opened many doors for these guys. Filled with smart rhymes, catchy beats and surprise guest appearances, “Out 4 Just Us” is a Mixtape featuring the flawless single, “Meaning Of Soul ft. Buff-1.” From heavy radio rotation on some of Detroit’s biggest stations to raving reviews by music critics across Michigan, Street Justice is doing something right. - ecurrent.com

In an era of hip-hop where groups are few and far between, Street Justice is a very welcome change to the game. With a unique sound and lyrical flow backed by phenomenal production, it’s no question why Street Justice took the listener vote for the favorite track of Episode #88 of the HoodHype show.

And on a personal note, now that voting is over, I can say I’ve been bumpin’ “High Life” at least once a day since they first submitted it for the show so it’s no doubt that I’m gonna be coppin that “DJ DDT & Street Justice Go To White Castle” album they will be dropping soon. Peep their winning track below and check out our interview with Street Justice on Episode #90.

-JMack

http://www.hoodhype.com/blog/?p=3467 - Hoodhype.com

"Street Justice: Quality hip-hop groups are becoming something of a rarity in Detroit these days. Street Justice, comprise of Ketchphraze, Redd, Jypsy Eye, and DJ 4mulaOne, have brought fun, organization, and showmanship back to Detroit hip-hop while continually working on their craft. Artists who appear to constantly improve earn my attention, so I’m looking forward to impressive things from Street Justice in the future."

-Kelly "K-Fresh" Frazier
rensoul.com - Flavorwire.com

It's a chilly Sunday afternoon in downtown Detroit. The members of Street Justice — Ketchphraze, Redd, DJ 4mulaOne and Jypsy Eye — are digging into McDonald's burgers and fries. Redd tears open a packet of ketchup and says, "Man, I ain't ate in 24 hours!" A loud affirmation rises from the other full mouths.

Although food's the focus at the moment, the group brims with positive energy and excitement. It performed a great show the night before in Ann Arbor with Phat Kat. Redd talks about the crowd: "They showed us a lot of love out there last night, y'all."

"They was feeling all of us," Ketchphraze speaks up between bites.

These are good times for Street Justice. The group's new recording project — This is not our album, thee album? — is nearly done. This year's Detroit Music Awards committee nominated the act for "Hip-hop group of the year," "Mixtape of the year," and "Hip-hop song of the year."

"All of this has been a long time coming," Ketchphraze says, "but there's a lot more to do."

Street Justice's latest underground hit, "What's Goin' On Motown is Back," is making rounds in local clubs and iPods. The Marvin Gaye-sampled tune is a dedication to Detroit's urban renewal, complete with shout-outs to fallen Detroiters Proof and J-Dilla.

In many ways, the group defines balance and chemistry: Ketchphraze is the heart and self-appointed punch line king; Redd is the brains and resident wordplay artist, Jypsy Eye the raw, skull-hatted and hoodie-wearing emcee. Add the calm personality of resident cutter and scratcher DJ 4mulaOne and you've a cross that falls somewhere between Jurassic 5 and Souls of Mischief.

What's strange is the group's sound works well for both the backpacker and thug. There are no gangsta tales, of course, but plenty of witty lyrics over hardcore beats.

Eye describes it. "It's like, 'I wanna love my mama but I also wanna smack this fool' kind of music," he says, laughing.

A quick backstory of Street Justice: Cousins Ketchphraze (Krishaun Stanton) and Jypsy Eye (Julian Hearn) first befriended Redd (Cliff Johnson) at Inkster's Wayne Memorial High School around 1997.

"I was a nerd in high school," Redd says, snickering. Then he boasts, "I graduated with honors — 4.0 grade point average and all that."

Eye wasn't so serious. "I was that brother that went to class every day but barely passed because I was always writing rhymes."

Ketchpraze finishes his last slurp of water, stands up, stretches, and talks of his football player days in high school before he decided to form a rap group in college.

"I was up at Saginaw Valley College, going to school," he says, "and I heard these dudes rapping. I thought they were all garbage, so I challenged them." He soon crushed all rivals and came back to Inkster, contacted Redd and Eye, and, by 2000, Street Justice was real.

"Its funny," Redd says, "but I didn't really start rapping until Ketch formed the group."

The group's lineup cemented when the guys met DJ 4mulaOne (Mike Rogers) at Alvin's in Detroit.

"They liked how I sounded and made me a part of the family," the DJ says.

Without glancing back, Street Justice went on to release three mixtapes in three years — 2003's Out for Justice; 2004's Soul Searching; and The Coffee House in 2006. You could find members of the group hawking CDs everywhere, from outside the city-county building to neighborhood Coney Islands. It became a livelihood.

"Me and Redd quit our jobs and lived off selling mix CDs for one year," Ketchphraze says. "It was tough but our rent always got paid — so, thank you, Detroit."

The three emcees and their DJ were then earning street cred at hip-hop open-mic nights at the Stardust Lounge, C-note and the Trolley Shop. They were sometimes hated on and ridiculed for having Inkster roots. And then that fake A&R dude tried to recruit the group.

Eye looks out the window and shakes his head. "Man, this cat named Ulysses used to throw these competitions to find the best performers at St. Andrew's Hall," he says. "He promised the winner money and a deal — but we won and we never got shit!"

A month after the contest, the band saw Ulysses on Fox News 2's "Hall of Shame" for pulling the same thing on others.

Welcome to the music biz, guys.

Eye's the most bemused over the ordeal, which might make sense as his is the group's hardest edge. He's a chain-smoker and the self-titled "Eddie Cain" (a reference to the fictitious David Ruffin-like character from Robert Townsend's thinly veiled Temptations movie, The Five Heartbeats) of the group. While he's never done jail time, he once lived as if jail or the cemetery were his only options.

"I went though a phase where the hip-hop thing wasn't paying off, so I had to do what I had to do," Eye says. "But people around me started to go down and I didn't want to go down with them."

Opportunities arose for Street Justice in 2007. In fact, the group supported Little Brother and performed its entire set with a live band.

"When you're local in Detroit, you gotta make people pay attention to you," Redd says.

Ketchphraze: "We opened for E-40 earlier this year and we hit the stage to Bell Biv Devoe's 'Poison.'" Using an early '90s hit as an entrance song got the audience chuckling but Ketchphraze says it was a perfect icebreaker for a crowd who normally would've ignored them.

The energy level has mellowed in McDonald's. Everybody has finished eating, drinking and belching. While the group is more than happy with what's going on; they see themselves becoming even more successful outside the Motor City.

"We wanna get to Europe," Ketchphraze says. "We've looked at the success Slum [Village] and others have had overseas, and we think that we have a sound they will really get into."

Redd's perspective is simple. "Everybody out there with a MySpace page and a mic thinks they're a rapper," he laughs, "but we want to be more than that."

Ketchphraze folds his arms and leans back in his chair. "We just wanna make a decent living doing music. That's the dream. That's the goal."

Street Justice plays Friday, Dec. 28, at St. Andrews Hall, 431 E. Congress, Detroit. 313-961-8137.

-Kahn Davison - Metro Times

Forget the established but stagnant Chi-town scene and the flash-in-the-pan output of the Lou; aside for my personal bias for the Twin Cities as the capital of Midwest Hip Hop, I think the D could have things on lock; especially if they have other acts of Street Justice's caliber floating under the radar. From the opening lines of their latest mixtape History of the Mixtape, the Detroit-area rhyme trio makes it clear who they're rolling with creatively. From the jazzy laidback but grimy boom bap soundscapes they favor to the effortless back-and-forth rhyme styles crisp with articulation while full of hidden rhythms and infectious humanism, these cats are squarely on the correct side of the love versus commerce schism currently pervasive in hip hop. Reminiscent of fellow tru-schoolers like Madlib, Little Brother and of course J Dilla but not derivative of any of them, Street Justice deserves to be known worldwide by all lovers of thoughtful, well-crafted rap music like their fellow left fielders.

A mixtape that's nearly as polished and cohesive as any official LP released this year, History overflows with uniformly dope beats (courtesy of inspired board work by Oddisee, from the acclaimed Low Budget collective) and topical song structures that prevents the mundanity of the typical braggadocio-filled mixtape. Trading 16 bars like a juggler on his grind, the three MCs seem to share a common creative and philosophic outlook, while keeping their vocal presentations just varied enough to be able to distinguish each one from the other. The occasional battle rap is mixed smoothly with self-depreciating wit and move-the-crowd exhortations ('cause like the Abstract Poet might've said, what are intelligent lyrics without ass-shaking party starters? Nada nada nada...), while a few tracks even attempt (and succeed at) genuine introspection and revelation, with a handful of clever similes thrown in like the cherry on top. Whether rocking machine-gun flows and wiser-than-their-years observations of "Sights That We Seen" or the straight-up heat of "80 Bars Dash," the trio masters many styles and never slips. This is Hip Hop for fans of real Hip Hop, music that is both dope and feel-good, both aware of its place in the history of classic rap yet also eager to further it. If this is just a mixtape, giving these dudes the time and money to record a proper full-length is a truly scary concept.

Unlikely to get major label or radio love due to uncompromised complexity and lack of ignant shit, fans of Street Justice (or good rap in general) can either bemoan the fact that a group of this caliber will never get the shine they deserve, or they can search them out and support them now, in effect becoming a vital part of the very ascension hoped for. As a weary but hopeful member of this here Hip Hop generation, I say the time for organizing around the things that matter is now. Let's start with quality rap music; who knows, maybe within my lifetime we can rally around issues of health care, decent housing and jobs as well as education and paint the muhphucking White House black (now that'd be some true 'street justice'). For now, I guess it's enough to support artists bringing the heat like this.

-as reviewed Jordan Selbo - RapReviews.com

Street Justice
History In The Making
Self-Released
**** (4 out of 5 Stars)

Street Justice adds to the history books with 21 tracks produced by Oddisee that make a perfect plateau for Katchphrase, Red and Jipsi to showcase their lyrics. They tear the beats apart word by word on cuts such as “80 Bars Dash” and “Do What It Takes.” Street Justice is the future! — Origix - Real Detroit Weekly

Fresh from opening for Dilated Peoples at St. Andrews, Inkster’s Street Justice is back with another banger for you to rock this summer! Ketchphraze, Redd, Jypsy Eye and DJ 4mulaOne drop their closest effort to an official album. On the Out 4 Just Us mixtape, they bring raw, clever, thought-provoking rhymes over beats any hip-hop head would love. With half original and half industry production, SJ are just waiting on the right place and right time to put out an LP. “We have enough original material to come out with two albums right now, but we’ve been sitting on it,” Redd says. “There are a lot of gems chilling at the studio. We just wanna make sure our buzz is right before we put ourselves out there.”

Out 4 Just Us is mixed by DJ Gruv and hosted by DDT with strong guest appearances by Buff 1, Marv Won and Supa Emcee. Best of all, it’s up for free download at DirtyMitten.com. “We got over 1,000 downloads in the first week,” adds Redd. For more info, visit myspace.com/streetjustice2. | RDW

-by Origix - Real Detroit Weekly

Wayne State celebrates evolving genre

Rapper: ‘Hip-hop is a culture. Rap is rap.’

Johnesia Sims / For The South End

Share this article Published: Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Updated: Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The debate on whether hip-hop and rap are the same genre seems to be a never-ending issue. Perhaps that question was answered the night of Dec. 5 at an event titled “Hip-Hop is Not Dead … It’s Evolving.”

Several performers — including two break-dancing groups, one comedian and two rap groups — kicked off the show, hosted by comedian Boogie, in the Community Arts Auditorium.

With about 100 people in the audience, tension grew as the first break-dancing group took the stage. The audience did not appear to be enjoying the show and looked quite bored. It was not until further into the show that the crowd showed its appreciation for the performances.

“Hip-Hop” lasted approximately one hour, and most audience members said they enjoyed it overall. It gave Detroit-area entertainers a chance to showcase their talents and try to prove that hip-hop is alive and well.

The group ‘Street Justice’ performed fourth Friday night, and members discussed how they felt about the show, hip-hop in general and what their group represented. Beginning five years ago, three young aspiring entertainers — Chrishaun “Ketchphraze” Stanton, Julian “Jypsy Eye” Hearn and Clifford “Redd” Johnson — would come to be known as ‘Street Justice.’ The group members said that they have been on the music scene for about three years.

They said that their music represents the fundamentals of hip-hop and they attempt to target music lovers of all ages. After completing a two-and-a-half-month tour this past summer, they now perform once or twice per month in the Detroit area.

Hailing from Inkster, ‘Street Justice’ aspired to be something different when growing up. Ironically, Stanton was the only one who always wanted to be a rapper. Hearn saw himself as an architect, while Johnson said he wanted to be an entertainer, whether it was in music or movies.

Stanton and Hearn each had their own definitions as to what they felt was the difference between hip-hop and rap.

“Hip-hop is a culture,” Stanton said. “Rap is rap.”

“Hip-hop has a feeling,” Hearn said.

The musicians had some sound advice for anyone considering becoming a rapper. Hearn said in order to be successful in the business, you have to put into your career what you want to get out of it.

The group agreed that the music business was not all glitz and glam like it is often portrayed on television, and that you had to have a tough skin to make it. They also said that you should reinvent ways to inspire yourself, meaning not depending on solely music to carry you through.

Influenced by legendary hip-hop groups like “A Tribe Called Quest”, and hip-hop/R&B artists like Bell Biv DeVoe, the members of Street Justice said they each had their own style and brought something different into the group.

All of them said they felt there were way too many aspiring rappers in Detroit.

Five years from now, the guys said they just wanted to be comfortable, whether that be still performing or not. Hearn said that he wanted all his bills to be paid, while Johnson said that he would like to continue his acting career.

Street Justice has already released four albums and said the show was created in an attempt to recreate the hip-hop that diehard fans are used to.

Is hip-hop really dead? According to members of Street Justice, hip-hop isn’t dead; it’s just different and understood to be constantly developing.

The question remains whether it’s a positive or negative development.

View online @: http://www.thesouthendnews.com/a_e/wayne_state_celebrates_evolving_genre - The South End News

Tru Talk With Street Justice
Current mood: chipper
Category: Music
Checkout the interview that Street Justice did with Shannon "Tru 6'2" DeVries from DetroitRap.com!



"Originality and the grind," Ketchphraze states to be the factors that set Street Justice apart from other groups. "We are willing to take risks. Take risks, take hits to the pocket, whatever." With a few discs up for free download, this mentality is obvious. Street Justice members Redd, Ketchphraze and Jypsy Eye grew up in Inkster, but it wasn't until after high school that they became the 'four-headed monster' they are today with the last member DJ 4mula One. The group met 4mula One after a few open mic's downriver and he quickly became the fourth and final member.

The quartet is currently working on a new project, "V for Vendetta" due on November 5th – and it is no accident that it is dropping the day after the big E-day. Street Justice will be hosting a listening party/Democratic Victory Party (yes, they are that confident in our boy, Obama). They also have a few big shows coming up - direct support to Little Brother at St. Andrews Hall on October 18th and Redman/Method Man at the Crofoot in Pontiac on October 25th.

Not only is Street Justice my "favorite group" (and should be yours) as they so perfectly market themselves, but they quickly became some of my favorite people to chop it up with round-table style. Each member is their own piece to the puzzle called Street Justice. And because of that, I am going to break down my take on each of the "fingers in the glove" as Redd so eloquently put it.

DJ 4mulaOne

According to Ketch, 4mulaOne is "the main doo-doo stain in the operation." Sampling everything from R&B to Classic Rock, 4mulaOne makes the beats for Street Justice to build their fortress upon. J. Dilla, the late beat master of Detroit, is of course his main inspiration. Although he hasn't made every beat Street Justice ever laid lyrics on, he has had his hand in the bulk of them.

Redd

Redd is the Renaissance man. He would describe his style as, "educated wordplay;" he is a self-proclaimed geek and offers symbolic syllables in his lyrics and impeccable graphic work to the team as well. Often seen as the front man of the group, Redd has an astonishing ability of networking and connecting with the groups audience. Many genres of music have made an impact on Redd's style including System of a Down and AC/DC, but his biggest influence to start rapping was his cousin and groupmate, Ketchphraze.

Ketchphraze

It is clear why Ketch got his moniker; his quotes permeate this story. The smooth swag-tastic title in Street Justice goes to Ketch, the co-originator of the name Street Justice. As a high schooler, Ketch and his boy used to battle rap in Inkster, they were fighting to give the 'street's justice' and it stuck as the group transformed. "Lyrics and swagger," are what make up his style he said. "I say shit that you wouldn't think of saying but I say it in a way that you can understand."

Jypsy Eye

Rounding out the group's style is the "melting pot" of soul and griminess, Jypsy Eye. Bringing the gritty street sound and polishing it with the smooth hook melodies, Jypsy covers both sides of the spectrum as the "raunch-monic" member (new word courtesy of Ketch, add it to your dictionary).

With the mix of sound, swag and success this still-young group has, there is no telling what the future holds for Street Justice. "When it comes to the music part, we are very humble and very willing to listen and to learn from what people before us have done because we are always trying to find something new… what can we do to be a bigger entity or to be known or to have more people be touched by what we say," said Redd, which is part of the reason they are the Detroit Kings of Free Downloads.

There are many people who are helping keep Detroit a name in the hip hop realm, with a five-stop Midwest stint on the 2008 Van's Warped Tour and other resume key points, add Street Justice to that list. | DetroitRap.com

www.myspace.com/streetjustice2


link: http://www.detroitrap.com/frontpage/?p=1632 - Shannon Devris (Detroitrap.com)

For the hip-hop quartet from Michigan known as Street Justice music boils down to being a family affair. With three of the four members of the group (Ketchphraze, Redd, Jypsy Eye) cousins, there is a strong sense of unity and cohesion in their music. With DJ 4mulaOne providing the classic backbone to any true-school hip-hop group in 2006, everything was set for Street Justice to make their mark on the game. Check out “Gotta Hurry” and you see how this crew seamlessly incorporates qualities of Little Brother, Styles of Beyond and the Visionaries while cultivating their own brand of raw, in your face hip-hop that makes the most of the hot-potato, back and forth approach.

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- Urb Magazine