Dirtymitten presents… Street Justice

“Street Justice is the future.” That seems to be the most popular answer when the question is asked:

“What do you think about Street Justice?”

In many ways, the group defines balance and chemistry:

Ketchphraze (born Chrishaun Stanton) is the heart and self-appointed punch line king;

Redd (born Clifford Johnson) is the brains and resident wordplay artist;

Jypsy Eye (born Julian Hearn) is the raw, skull-hatted and hoodie-wearing emcee.

Add the calm personality of resident cutter and scratcher DJ 4mulaOne (born Mike Rogers) and you’ve a cross that falls somewhere between Jurassic 5 and Souls of Mischief.

The core of Street Justice formed in their hometown of Inkster, MI in 2003. Three of the four members have known each other for years. In fact, Ketchphraze, Redd, Jypsy are cousins. The group’s lineup cemented when the trio met DJ 4mulaOne at Alvin’s in Detroit in 2006. Their first recording together was “Catch The Contact,” a raw, gritty, lyrical representation of their versatility and hunger, which worked well for both the backpacker and thug. Street Justice has not yet released an original full-length project, but have received major recognition for an uncanny musical prowess, backed by two mixtapes: *The Coffee House *(2006) and *History In The Making* (2007), both of which earned nominations for Mixtape of The Year at the Detroit Hip Hop Awards. The projects are filled with jazzy, laidback, but grimy, boom bap soundscapes, and favor to the effortless back-and-forth rhyme styles crisp with articulation while full of hidden rhythms and infectious humanism. Street Justice is 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.

They are currently in process of releasing a third mixtape entitled *Out For
Justice*, giving a brief glimpse of their new sound backed by DJ/producer 4mulaOne. Their first full length project tentatively titled *This Is Not Our Album: The Album?* is nearly complete.