GRITS


Grits is a Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter, both of whom were DC Talk dancers.
Their song "Ooh Ahh" has appeared on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16. It is also used as the theme song of The Buried Life and on the soundtracks to and Big Momma's House 2. Their song "Tennessee Bwoys" was used on the popular television show Pimp My Ride. GRITS were also recently involved in !Hero The Rock Opera. GRITS recorded a remix of professional wrestler A.J. Styles' entrance music and performed it on the May 28, 2009, episode of TNA Impact!.

Background

The Christian hip hop duo began in 1995, with Teron David "Bonafide" Carter, and Stacy Bernhard "Coffee" Jones,, forming the group together in Nashville, Tennessee. GRITS is an acronym with a meaning of "Grammatical Revolution in the Spirit". They both credited the inspiration for their rapping to hearing DC Talk, when the two first encountered each other in 1990. This is the reason the duo signed with Gotee Records, a label founded by DC Talk member, tobyMac, where they were one of his first signees. They are also considered to be one of the pioneering groups in the Christian hip hop movement, while they eventually started their own record label, Revolution Art, in 2007, where it was first known as 5E Entertainment. They explained it was like graduating from school by leaving Gotee Records, and founding their own label.

Style

Mainly, their style is alternative hip hop and Southern rap, while several of their songs have pop influences, thus an occasional pop-rap sound, and their song "We Don't Play" has a Jamaican influence complete with steel drums. They were one of the first acts signed to Gotee Records, and have released seven albums with Gotee, with an eighth one released by Gotee and AudioGoat. In 2014, Gotee Records announced that the GRITS song "Ooh Ahh" was RIAA Digital Gold Certified, having surpassed 500,000 downloads. They have appeared at Cornerstone Festival and Rock the Universe. In addition their song "Bobbin Bouncin'" was added to the track list in the video-game Project Gotham Racing 4.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Album information
Ooh Ahh EP
  • Released: 2003
  • Label: Gotee
  • single: four versions of one song
Heeyy EP
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Gotee
  • Three tracks: two remixes and one preview

    • Remix albums

    Album information
    The Art of Transformation
    • Released: January 1, 2004
    • Label: Gotee/AudioGoat

    Singles

    As lead artist

    Other songs

    GMA Dove Awards

    They have received several Gospel Music Association Dove Awards throughout their career. Their first award was for a song about plagiarism. For this, they received the best "Rap/Hip Hop Song" award. The next year they took the same award for "They All Fall Down", from Grammatical Revolution. In 2003 The Art Of Translation won the award for "Rap/Hip Hop Album", and the following year their song "Believe" from the same album took "Rap/Hip Hop Song". They also shared in the "Special Event Album" that year, for their contribution to !Hero The Rock Opera.
    YearAwardResult
    2005Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year
    2006Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year
    2006Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year
    2008Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year
    2008Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year
    2009Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year
    2009Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year
    2010Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year

    Other Awards

    They were nominated for Rap/Hip Hop Performer of the Year at the 2009 Visionary Awards Show. However, instead, the award went to the Christian rap duo "Word of Mouth"