Brockton bred J Gramz has been applying a lot of pressure. He has been able to captivate his growing fan base due to his authenticity and experience and battles with the streets, addiction, and depression. Gramz is inspired by the pain he endured and caused loved ones to make something bad into something positive and building a legacy. With a mix of rawness & lyrical prowess, MA rapper has a very promising future. Make sure to subscribe to his Youtube Channel and follow him on Spotify and Apple Music. In our recent Q&A interview, we were able to catch up with him about his mentality, goals, influences and much more! Tap in and check out his website as well.
Boston Culture: Where did you grow up?
J Gramz: I was born and raised in Brockton went to high school in the suburbs in Bridgewater met a lot of cats from Taunton and spent most of my days as a teen and early 20s in Taunton .... man I was young we thought we was invincible I had beaten 2 major cases so I thought no one was going to stop me ... sold a lot of coke , but I also dealt with trauma from growing up in the streets and eventually started doing drugs to “self medicate” later on in life I found out I suffered from mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and ptsd. But my path def inspires every bar I write
Boston Culture: How did you get your name?
J Gramz: I used to split a half of key with a couple of my homies, they would sell weight like 31s , 62s, I always broke half of whatever I had into grams so my street name became Gramz or Mr. Gramz actually so when I started rapping it was only to kill time in the trap anyways in 06 (Funny the trap was actually the studio) but naturally I just used my street name J Gramz as my stage name
Boston Culture: Talk to us about your brand-From its inception stages to the vision.. How did you know you wanted to focus on music and merch?
J Gramz: I know how important branding is before I even decided to take rap seriously last March I made a Gramz logo and started making merch ... by the time I was dropping music ppl was already rocking my masks and shirts all over ... 3L3VAT3 is my Streetwear clothing line that drops 4/10 and really my life is about Elevating my self and the people around me, trying to stay humble, hustle hard, manifest, show my kids that anything is possible and I been in love with the whole Streetwear culture for a longtime... I figured might as well start my own brand ... 3L3VAT3.Clothing is the site we drop on 4/10 .. but it’s wild taking an idea and manifesting it to reality and watching it come true due to hard work and patience and just keeping the faith, it amazing.
Boston Culture: What was the best advice you got early in your career?
J Gramz: “Don’t ever give up , and don’t worry about what anyone else say , you got it don’t let no one tell you different” - My older mans Ace
Boston Culture: Talk us about “Crazy”
J Gramz: So crazy is a catchy track on Dual Diagnosis but it’s about mental health ... in my younger years all I did was trap and get fucked up and rap about it , my life spiraled I ended up locked up, literally had a mental break and to keep it I attempted to end my life ... when I got out in 2018 I knew I had to help people who feel the same, the people with no hope , and have no voice and feel alone. One line I say “My issues got issues you heard what I said? My issues got issues I’m fucked in the head” lol just cuz I got my shit together don’t mean I don’t forget what it’s like to literally be crazy not knowing how I was gonna just get through the day without taking a handful of Xanax or killing myself. so my album Dual Diagnosis is for the people who have all been in the same situation I was in and even if I help just ONE person my job is done man seriously. But yea I wanted to make a catchy song about mental health to show its okay to not be okay, we just need to talk about it.
Boston Culture: Top 3 favorite artists?
J Gramz: The Weekend, Juice Wrld, Kevin Gates
Boston Culture : Walk is through your creative process as far creating music.
J Gramz: Man the pain inspires me mostly but I’m running out of pain the way I’ve manifested my life to be a blessing and checking goals off everyday.. so there’s two ways I write I either have a specific subject I wanna talk about I find the right beat and I just let my fingers get to work typing , also I’ll go to the studio pick a beat I wanna rash on and just go in .. my engineer and business partner hush Harding plays a big role in all of this I wouldn’t be where I am at least with being able to sing a little bit man I owe a lot to that man.
Boston Culture: What do you dislike about the music industry?
J Gramz: I don’t like how the people who gonna get signed to majors are hand picked don’t even matter how much talent you got, I’m talking about industry plants , I also don’t like how nowadays drug use is glorified when I first started making music it was all about getting money and hustling , g-unit, jay-s, nas, Jeezy , Lil Wayne (Carter 2) , dipset. I mean nowadays a lot of people do drugs just cuz they favorite rapper does
Boston Culture: Who or what are some of your biggest influences?
J Gramz: Def my path is my biggest influence I’d consider myself a reality rapper I rap about real situations so growing up in the hood , trapping, being around shooters, and bangers. And then getting addicted losing myself going to jail eventually and ultimately reinventing myself. Artists wise I started rapping in 06 not seriously tho but def 50cent , dipset, beanie sigel , jay, nowadays it’s more juice wrld, the weekend, g eazy, def kevin gates
Boston Culture: Talks to us about your younger mentality.
J Gramz: Haha my younger mentality def made me lose focus of my goals... I always had ambition it was just stuffed down under all the hurt and pain and drugs but as soon as I cleaned up it was still there I’m a hustler at heart and I’m really driven to make generational wealth for my children.
Boston Culture : Tell us about your goals for 2021.
J Gramz: I’m already done with my list of goals I created in December I dropped my first ever album, I've dropped 2 music videos, I’m about to drop my clothing line... My goals are to grow my social media following and turn 10k views on my video to 500k let’s get it.
Boston Culture: Did the pandemic affect any of your plans?
J Gramz: Made me go harder I actually worked almost every day during the pandemic and got my son full time I almost quit but I stuck with it ... haha my hustler ass was def one of the first people to monetize on selling Gramz masks but nah 2020 was def one of the greatest years of my life.
Boston Culture : How did you catch the attention of the state?
J Gramz: Def crazy the song and video and doing videos w the god hush Harding I had a little following but it’s def grown
Boston Culture : What brands should sponsor you?
J Gramz: Lol obviously my own brand 3L3VAT3 but beyond that A Bathing Ape , and Yeezy/ Adidas I mean just listen to my album I’m basically a walking billboard for these companies
Boston Culture :Anything else we missed you want to tell your fans?
J Gramz: Stay with me my first LP was about my life ... I got so many smash hits coming this summer and you know I got the visuals coming thru... but if my music helps you at all reach out or if you need help I’m always down to help ... there’s so much more on the way to an already great 1st year as an Indy artist. This clothing brand 3L3VAT3 Dropping 4/10 .. get on board now I promise you we the next big thing #facts check out my website www.Gramzgtp.com for music , videos and all my merch ... also my fanlink is solo.to/Gramzgtp let’s go!!!!!!
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