Catching up with ‘the South’s Dre and Snoop’

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By Gavin Godfrey

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Believe it or not, Grip Plyaz’s forthcoming Purp, Wind & Fire could conceivably be called a concept album. Grip has been working almost exclusively with up-and-coming production wunderkind Nick Kage of the Weathermen, in an effort to break out with his first studio effort in three years. The Fourth Ward MC and ambassador of the “Fuck Dat Hipster Shit” movement in Atlanta’s underground hip-hop scene has been hell-bent on simultaneously testing and exploiting his artistic limits; and he might have finally found the perfect complement in Kage.

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At an undisclosed studio location only described by Grip as “hell,” somewhere on the city’s west side, Crib Notes was able to expose some of the secrets behind the inspiration for Purp, Wind & Fire (hint: Maurice White would not approve) and the story of how Grip and Kage’s musical union came about. Grip also offers a preview of his first single, “Step Out,” featuring Aleon Craft, with a video set to drop this Monday.