RC & The Gritz

RC & The Gritz is an American soul, R&B, and hip-hop band with origins in Dallas, Texas. Led by RC Williams (keyboards, vocals), the band was formed in 2004. The group most recently served as the back up band for Erykah Badu.[1][2]

RC & The Gritz
OriginDallas, Texas, U.S.
GenresHip hop, jazz, funk, fusion, soul
Years active2004–present
Labels
Members
  • RC Williams
  • Cleon Edwards
  • Braylon Lacy
  • Jah Born
  • Jonathan Mones
  • Claudia Melton
  • Evan Knight
  • Mike Jelani Brooks
Past membersTaRon Lockett
Websitercandthegritz.com

History

At age 19, Williams joined the growing choir led by gospel-crossover group God's Property, founded by Kirk Franklin in 1992 in Dallas. The group garnered accolades including Dove, Grammy, and Stellar awards and a Grammy Award for its chart-topping hit, "Stomp".[3]

By the early 2000s, Williams was serving as music director, producer, and keyboardist for Badu. After connecting with producer Jah Born, another contributor to Badu's discography, Williams and members of the Gritz band began hosting a weekly open-mic at the now-defunct Prophet Bar in Dallas' Deep Ellum area. The sessions helped highlight gospel-rap talent from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Frequent open-mic attendees included hip-hop artists Mos Def and Talib Kweli.[4]

RC & The Gritz self released its debut album, Pay Your Tab, in 2013. This included the single "That Kinda Girl," which featured Snoop Dogg and Raheem DeVaughn.[4] The band worked with artists such as Sarah Jaffe, Bernard Wright, Shaun Martin, and Shelley Carrol on their follow up album and first release under the Ropeadope label, The Feel in 2016.[5]

In 2019, Devin the Dude, Bobby Sessions, and N'Dambi all make appearances on the third release from the Grtiz, Analog World, also released under the Philadelphia-based Ropeadope.[6] The album Live In LA was performed and recorded live during a pop-up show in Hollywood, California.

Members

RC & The Gritz has eight primary members and 11 rotating members.

Primary
  • RC Williams – Keys, Vocals
  • Cleon Edwards – Drums
  • Braylon Lacy – Bass
  • Jah Born – Programmer/MPC
  • Jonathan Mones – Alto Sax, Flute
  • Claudia Melton – Vocals
  • Evan Knight – Sax
  • Mike Jelani Brooks – Tenor Saxophone, Flute

Rotating
  • Miracle Foster – (Vocals)
  • Durand Bernarr – Vocals
  • Matt Ramsey – Bass
  • Mark Lettieri – Guitar
  • Bianca Rodriguez – Vocals
  • A.J. Brown – Bass
  • Nicholas Rothouse – Percussion
  • Kazunori Tanaka – Trumpet
  • Mike Clowes – Guitar
  • Marcus Jones – Drums
  • Frank Moka- Percussion[7]

Discography
  • Pay Your Tab (Independent, 2013)
  • The Feel (Ropeadope, 2016)
  • Analog World (Ropeadope, 2019)
  • Live In LA (Spectrasonics) (Independent, 2019)
  • Live in Deep Ellum (2021)

References
  1. "Erykah Badu's band, RC and the Gritz, adds New Orleans concert". OffBeat Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  2. Erykah Badu: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, retrieved 2019-10-10
  3. Raggio, Eva (2016-12-09). "RC Williams Opens Up About His Wild Ride as Erykah Badu's Musical Director". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  4. "RC & the Gritz Invite You to Dallas' Best Jam Session". D Magazine. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  5. "Stream RC & The Gritz New Album 'The Feel' [Premiere]". Okayplayer. 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  6. "RC & The Gritz – Analog World, a playlist by ddtwhalley on Spotify". Spotify. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  7. "Band". RC and the Gritz. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
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