By Matt Conner
“There’s no stopping their ambition.” Every time I’ve had the chance to speak to either member of GRITS, that’s the immediate thought formed in my mind.
Yet that’s what pioneers do. The formidable hip-hop duo of Teron "Bonafide" Carter and Stacy "Coffee" Jones has crafted its sound from the ground up, seeming to single-handedly push rap and hip-hop into the mainstream conscience of contemporary Christian music since its 1995 debut, Mental Releases (Gotee). For two artists who’ve had to work so hard to even garner a notice, it’s no surprise they’re not content to rest for a while.
A fashion line. A record label. Nurturing other young artists. Releasing solo projects and producing others. These are simply some of the plates Bonafide and Coffee spin on a daily basis. Yet one listen to Reiterate, the duo’s 2008 offering, allows you to understand that the music still remains at the core.
“When we go in and do a record, we don't just go in and do a bunch of songs and a bunch of music and have fun together,” explains Bonafide between phone calls setting up the band’s latest video. “We really plan out from the title, and then we try to make sure that everything is consistent and that it flows together so that when we do put it together, it's one body of work and not a couple of singles. We try to make it flow like that, so when people listen, they don't have to fast forward. They can listen from front to back. They can get into the music and understand who we are and what we're about completely, because we never do the same type of songs. We always try to make different songs.”
Of course, Bonafide recognizes that’s easier said than done. With the constant output over the course of time, it can be difficult to dream up new rhymes and new ways of saying the message you’ve been given.
“We've had a lot of music out over the last few years,” he continues. “We have our music from Gotee to being independent and things like that. We want to come out with something different, that people never expected—music that's fresh until the end. A lot of stuff can get recycled. We've been at this for 12 years in this game, and we have a large catalog. We don't want people to feel like they're getting the same old stuff.”
GRITS’ ability to keep things fresh on Reiterate comes from some unexpected places. Having guests and friends collaborate on a hip-hop album is hardly anything new in the industry, yet the partnerships displayed on Reiterate certainly deserve a second glance. After all, names like Mac Powell (Third Day), Martha Munizzi and Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay) are hardly the stuff of rap albums.
“Things came together way easier than we thought they would,” says Bonafide. “We thought there'd be a lot of politics and guys not necessarily secure even in collaborating with us on the basis of being a hip-hop group. But it was really just calling our friends and figuring out when we could do it. It caught us by surprise. But these weren't guys we just called up and said, 'Can you be on our record?' We do have somewhat of a friendship or acquaintance with them. We've toured with them before, and we had just never collaborated before. So we thought, 'You know what? Let's throw people for a loop. Let's do a song with people who we know that we appreciate what they do and vice versa and think forward.'