It all started on stage.
While opening for Devin The Dude in Kans… Read Full Bio ↴It all started on stage.
While opening for Devin The Dude in Kansas City, Ces Cru thoroughly impressed hometown rap kingpin Tech N9ne. Tech motioned to Ces Cru’s Ubiquitous and let him know that he loved what he was hearing.
Fast forward a few years to Kansas City barbeque staple Jack Stack. There, a friend of Ubiquitous gave Tech N9ne a copy of Ces Cru’s 2009 album, The Playground. Tech took the album home, listened to it and tweeted that he was vibing out to the music of Ubiquitous and his partner-in-rhyme, Godemis. In 2010, Tech N9ne and Strange Music CEO, Travis O’Guin, called to offer Ces Cru a slot on Tech N9ne’s forthcoming Bad Season mixtape. Along with the mixtape appearance, came an opportunity to open for Tech at the Beaumont Club, a prestigious KC entertainment venue. Ces Cru’s impressive contribution to the Bad Season track, “Livin Like I'm Dyin”, along with their energetic live performance, paved the way for the duo to join the Strange Music roster. “This is like passing the bar or something,” Godemis says. “It’s a really big deal. It means everything to me. I feel super-validated. We’ve been working for a really long time and this is the best place we could be.”
Indeed, Ces Cru has been putting in work for nearly a decade. The crew went through a number of different group members before becoming the trio of Ubiquitous, Godemis and Sorceress in the early 2000s. In 2004, the group released its debut album, Capture Enemy Soldiers. But while promoting the project, Sorceress wanted to fire the group’s then-manager. Ubiquitous and Godemis disagreed, so Sorceress departed the group. The impact of Sorceress’ exodus was immediate and significant. “Sorceress’ leaving definitely shaped how our next record was going to go,” Ubiquitous says. “We had to focus on a new dynamic when we were making songs. We had to figure out how to fill that space. The formula goes from just everybody just submits a verse and we put a chorus together to now it’s just kind of fluid. Her leaving made us break that writing box that we’d been in. We had to fill more space, work harder.” Part of working harder included appearing on a bevy of albums, mixtapes and recordings from local and regional artists. Another important undertaking was securing production and producers for forthcoming Ces Cru material.
Ces Cru found its new sonic partner in well-rounded producer Lenny D. “He was someone who focused all of his efforts into us,” Godemis says. “We didn’t have that and we needed that.”
Both Ubiquitous and Godemis dedicated themselves to writing more potent, intricate and meaningful rhymes. They also enhanced their song-making skills, better understanding how to strengthen the impact of their material thru doubling vocals, ad-libs and learning how to better navigate production with their voices. The hard work certainly paid off. Ces Cru’s next album, 2009’s The Playground, signaled marked artistic growth. Ubiquitous and Godemis earned critical acclaim thanks to such songs as the break-up anthem “DYT,” the chest-thumping “Float” and the politically-charged “Teeter.” In fact, the release contains such powerful material that Ces Cru will be releasing videos for The Playground cuts “Hate Season” and “Eye on Dat” in 2012, a full three years after the album’s initial release. As the group continued their evolution, Ubiquitous and Godemis realized that the meaning of Ces Cru also changed with the times, too. Originally an abbreviation for “Conglomerate Elements of Self-Consciousness,” Ces has also taken on the additional meanings of “Children Everywhere Smiling” and “Cost Effective Strategy” to Ubiquitous’ recent favorite “Can’t Entertain Stupidity” and Godemis’ tongue-in-cheek “Can’t Eat Sweets.”
“Having the name stand for different things brings a certain versatility to our culture,” Ubiquitous says. “We’re constantly building our own personal culture and adding to it.”
The next additions to Ces Cru’s catalog will be Ubiquitous’ Matter Don’t Money solo mixtape, which features the standout selections “Harmony of Spheres” and “Larry David.” Godemis’ The Deevil will also come out in early 2012, prior to Ces Cru’s debut Strange Music LP. The duo is starting the pre-production process with Strange Music production stalwart Michael “Seven” Summers (Tech N9ne, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne). Now, after grinding for years in the underground, steadily building its following and releasing high-quality material, Ces Cru is set to take a major step thanks to its recent signing with Strange Music and its visionary artistic leader Tech N9ne.
“We’re from the same era of music and like the same kind of things,” Godemis says of Ces Cru’s relationship with Tech N9ne. “Tech sees something different in us and always comments that we’re on some real MC stuff. We put our best into the music. I think Tech sees that and can tell we’re not some flash-in-the-pan group. We give it our all.” Creating Endless Success may be the next thing Ces Cru is known for.
While opening for Devin The Dude in Kans… Read Full Bio ↴It all started on stage.
While opening for Devin The Dude in Kansas City, Ces Cru thoroughly impressed hometown rap kingpin Tech N9ne. Tech motioned to Ces Cru’s Ubiquitous and let him know that he loved what he was hearing.
Fast forward a few years to Kansas City barbeque staple Jack Stack. There, a friend of Ubiquitous gave Tech N9ne a copy of Ces Cru’s 2009 album, The Playground. Tech took the album home, listened to it and tweeted that he was vibing out to the music of Ubiquitous and his partner-in-rhyme, Godemis. In 2010, Tech N9ne and Strange Music CEO, Travis O’Guin, called to offer Ces Cru a slot on Tech N9ne’s forthcoming Bad Season mixtape. Along with the mixtape appearance, came an opportunity to open for Tech at the Beaumont Club, a prestigious KC entertainment venue. Ces Cru’s impressive contribution to the Bad Season track, “Livin Like I'm Dyin”, along with their energetic live performance, paved the way for the duo to join the Strange Music roster. “This is like passing the bar or something,” Godemis says. “It’s a really big deal. It means everything to me. I feel super-validated. We’ve been working for a really long time and this is the best place we could be.”
Indeed, Ces Cru has been putting in work for nearly a decade. The crew went through a number of different group members before becoming the trio of Ubiquitous, Godemis and Sorceress in the early 2000s. In 2004, the group released its debut album, Capture Enemy Soldiers. But while promoting the project, Sorceress wanted to fire the group’s then-manager. Ubiquitous and Godemis disagreed, so Sorceress departed the group. The impact of Sorceress’ exodus was immediate and significant. “Sorceress’ leaving definitely shaped how our next record was going to go,” Ubiquitous says. “We had to focus on a new dynamic when we were making songs. We had to figure out how to fill that space. The formula goes from just everybody just submits a verse and we put a chorus together to now it’s just kind of fluid. Her leaving made us break that writing box that we’d been in. We had to fill more space, work harder.” Part of working harder included appearing on a bevy of albums, mixtapes and recordings from local and regional artists. Another important undertaking was securing production and producers for forthcoming Ces Cru material.
Ces Cru found its new sonic partner in well-rounded producer Lenny D. “He was someone who focused all of his efforts into us,” Godemis says. “We didn’t have that and we needed that.”
Both Ubiquitous and Godemis dedicated themselves to writing more potent, intricate and meaningful rhymes. They also enhanced their song-making skills, better understanding how to strengthen the impact of their material thru doubling vocals, ad-libs and learning how to better navigate production with their voices. The hard work certainly paid off. Ces Cru’s next album, 2009’s The Playground, signaled marked artistic growth. Ubiquitous and Godemis earned critical acclaim thanks to such songs as the break-up anthem “DYT,” the chest-thumping “Float” and the politically-charged “Teeter.” In fact, the release contains such powerful material that Ces Cru will be releasing videos for The Playground cuts “Hate Season” and “Eye on Dat” in 2012, a full three years after the album’s initial release. As the group continued their evolution, Ubiquitous and Godemis realized that the meaning of Ces Cru also changed with the times, too. Originally an abbreviation for “Conglomerate Elements of Self-Consciousness,” Ces has also taken on the additional meanings of “Children Everywhere Smiling” and “Cost Effective Strategy” to Ubiquitous’ recent favorite “Can’t Entertain Stupidity” and Godemis’ tongue-in-cheek “Can’t Eat Sweets.”
“Having the name stand for different things brings a certain versatility to our culture,” Ubiquitous says. “We’re constantly building our own personal culture and adding to it.”
The next additions to Ces Cru’s catalog will be Ubiquitous’ Matter Don’t Money solo mixtape, which features the standout selections “Harmony of Spheres” and “Larry David.” Godemis’ The Deevil will also come out in early 2012, prior to Ces Cru’s debut Strange Music LP. The duo is starting the pre-production process with Strange Music production stalwart Michael “Seven” Summers (Tech N9ne, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne). Now, after grinding for years in the underground, steadily building its following and releasing high-quality material, Ces Cru is set to take a major step thanks to its recent signing with Strange Music and its visionary artistic leader Tech N9ne.
“We’re from the same era of music and like the same kind of things,” Godemis says of Ces Cru’s relationship with Tech N9ne. “Tech sees something different in us and always comments that we’re on some real MC stuff. We put our best into the music. I think Tech sees that and can tell we’re not some flash-in-the-pan group. We give it our all.” Creating Endless Success may be the next thing Ces Cru is known for.
Gridlock
Ces Cru Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
You heard about it but, couldn't believe it
That they would kill a man, just for breathin'
And you were thinking fat chance there's a reason
Until you hear the BLAT BLAT then you see it
You heard about it but, couldn't believe it
That they would kill a man, just for breathin'
And you were thinking fat chance there's a reason
Until you hear the BLAT BLAT then you see it
Well okay now they thinking that the gunplay
Was just an isolated thing from the one place
I tell 'em hell naw keep a celly cell on
And follow Philando, Alton and Delrawn
Out in Dallas they were caught up in the onslaught
Had a couple cop ducking from the pop pop
Body drop it was looking like he on top
Then they killed that motherfucker with the bomb bot
Now we cooking up the beef and the grill hot
You ain't heard about the deal with the Chilcot
It's a jagged little pill and the pill caught
In your throat and you wonder when it will stop
Greenpeace on the beach for the whale watch
Innocent still sittin' in a cell block
Got you wishin' on a tail of the Hale-Bopp
Lookin' for the gold ticket in the mailbox
Got a broke down livin' in my locale
Killa city block business you ain't know about
Donald Drumpf on a ticket we don't know how
Everybody lined up hopin' that their vote count
Maybe for their kids sake, how do you dictate
The real winner when they runnin' in a fixed race
Either which way, whoever you pick payed off by the rich motherfuckers in a big way
Gridlock on the government of this day, and everybody in the senate on a sick day
Lawmakers all caught up in the red tape, I read about it and I'm feeling like a headcase
Now they sayin' that I might've made a mistake
And I probably shoulda put it on a mixtape
Instead I put it on my name is on a list tape
And if they kill me then my baby mama gets paid, fuck y'all!
We can pretend we don't see it like our lids, locked
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I got caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and get, got
Everybody so uneducated on the problem
I don't think I'll live to see the day that people solve it
Killin' unarmed individuals in cold blood
Now if that ain't murder what the fuck am I to call it?
They don't even give a shit and everybody saw it
Why would they, when they running around lawless
Acting like a ghetto celebrity, when they floss it
Worst kept secret everybody who lost it
What's the repercussion for puttin' bodies in coffins
When you got a family member running for office
Moving in the circle of real killers and bosses
Who the one to lose and they never take any losses
Anybody be gone yes pardon me but your honor
I don't want to be conned, and I don't want to be conquered
I don't want to be caged, and I don't want to be master
I don't want to be instrumental in a disaster
Murdering them and after, gathering all the data
I can see what the media thinking don't really matter
People do what they gotta do to make a move up the ladder
Sticking whoever long as their pockets are getting fatter
Mama's are getting madder, daddy don't give a damn
If people are in the street dedicating the jam
I'm looking at mother nature hollering no ma'am
Killing the little piggy literally going ham
And the fat cats acting like they know best
Live a carefree life feeling no stress
Will they ever pay for it never know I guess
But they don't give a shit about a protest
I said the fat cats acting like they know best
Live a carefree life feeling no stress
Will they ever pay for it never know I guess
But they don't give a shit about a protest, comer on
We can pretend we don't see it like our lids, locked
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I got caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and
That they would kill a man, just for breathin'
And you were thinking fat chance there's a reason
Until you hear the BLAT BLAT then you see it
You heard about it but, couldn't believe it
That they would kill a man, just for breathin'
And you were thinking fat chance there's a reason
Well okay now they thinking that the gunplay
Was just an isolated thing from the one place
I tell 'em hell naw keep a celly cell on
And follow Philando, Alton and Delrawn
Out in Dallas they were caught up in the onslaught
Had a couple cop ducking from the pop pop
Body drop it was looking like he on top
Then they killed that motherfucker with the bomb bot
Now we cooking up the beef and the grill hot
You ain't heard about the deal with the Chilcot
It's a jagged little pill and the pill caught
In your throat and you wonder when it will stop
Greenpeace on the beach for the whale watch
Innocent still sittin' in a cell block
Got you wishin' on a tail of the Hale-Bopp
Lookin' for the gold ticket in the mailbox
Got a broke down livin' in my locale
Killa city block business you ain't know about
Donald Drumpf on a ticket we don't know how
Everybody lined up hopin' that their vote count
Maybe for their kids sake, how do you dictate
The real winner when they runnin' in a fixed race
Either which way, whoever you pick payed off by the rich motherfuckers in a big way
Gridlock on the government of this day, and everybody in the senate on a sick day
Lawmakers all caught up in the red tape, I read about it and I'm feeling like a headcase
Now they sayin' that I might've made a mistake
And I probably shoulda put it on a mixtape
Instead I put it on my name is on a list tape
And if they kill me then my baby mama gets paid, fuck y'all!
We can pretend we don't see it like our lids, locked
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I got caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and get, got
Everybody so uneducated on the problem
I don't think I'll live to see the day that people solve it
Killin' unarmed individuals in cold blood
Now if that ain't murder what the fuck am I to call it?
They don't even give a shit and everybody saw it
Why would they, when they running around lawless
Acting like a ghetto celebrity, when they floss it
Worst kept secret everybody who lost it
What's the repercussion for puttin' bodies in coffins
When you got a family member running for office
Moving in the circle of real killers and bosses
Who the one to lose and they never take any losses
Anybody be gone yes pardon me but your honor
I don't want to be conned, and I don't want to be conquered
I don't want to be caged, and I don't want to be master
I don't want to be instrumental in a disaster
Murdering them and after, gathering all the data
I can see what the media thinking don't really matter
People do what they gotta do to make a move up the ladder
Sticking whoever long as their pockets are getting fatter
Mama's are getting madder, daddy don't give a damn
If people are in the street dedicating the jam
I'm looking at mother nature hollering no ma'am
Killing the little piggy literally going ham
And the fat cats acting like they know best
Live a carefree life feeling no stress
Will they ever pay for it never know I guess
But they don't give a shit about a protest
I said the fat cats acting like they know best
Live a carefree life feeling no stress
Will they ever pay for it never know I guess
But they don't give a shit about a protest, comer on
We can pretend we don't see it like our lids, locked
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I got caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Look the government is all caught up in grid, lock
Read about it and you wonder when will it, stop
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and get, got
Grid, lock
Gotta get mine before I get caught up and
"Gridlock" by Ces Cru is a powerful and thought-provoking song that addresses the issue of systemic oppression, police brutality, and corruption in government. The lyrics express disbelief and frustration at the fact that individuals are being killed simply for existing, for just "breathing." The song highlights the recurring incidents of police shootings and the lack of accountability for these crimes. It criticizes the media's role in downplaying and manipulating information, allowing those responsible for these atrocities to evade justice.
The song also touches on the political landscape, referencing specific cases like Philando, Alton, and Delrawn, to emphasize the widespread nature of these incidents. It criticizes the government's response to these issues, mentioning the Chilcot investigation and the controversial presidency of Donald Trump.
The lyrics condemn the lack of education and awareness among the general population, as many people seem unaffected or unaware of the severity of the problems at hand. It urges listeners to take action and question the existing power structures, making it clear that change will only come through active resistance and seeking justice.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Written by: Mike Viglione, Donnie King, Michael Summers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Brian Wertz
Just wanted you guys to know. I was listening to this the other day and my gf and i had a whole conversation about how this whole song is even more relevant now for the second trump stained election. Made me really feel it again. Keep killin it guys
Ryan E
Perfect flow, perfect hook; all Ces Cru does is throw haymakers. Ubi absolutely murders on this one.
TRVP HAUS
@hammerhead1232 dat means u got brain cancer, fam. sry to hear about it hopefully u get better soon.
hammerhead1232
I don't really like the hook on this one tbh
Marbella Coleman
"Maybe for their kids sake, how do you dictate, the real winner when they runnin in a fixed race" 👀🔥
Brandon Montgomery
Twin
Killian Arlt
Sean Wattsmoore he DID say it at 1:10
maggotmusic757
Yea i got to meet UBi too....wasnt expecting him to be that short tho haha i think he was like 5'4" and Godemis was like a whole foot taller haha
Sean Wattsmoore
Marbella Coleman read that as he said that
Barry Papworth
Damn these boys never fail to deliver. Top level rhyming. Can't wait for the new album