Merle Haggard 18 Rare Classics CD

The members of GIN Kru exceed the expectations of many of today's rap artists, from handling their own management to earning college degrees. The bond they share is strong on both a business and personal level, and they have a different style to deliver.

The five that comprise GIN Kru - M.O.E., Adsun Allah, Charly B.E.A.N., Darc Nyte, and DJ Freddy Scizzahans - are a family in almost every sense of the word, sharing the same values, drive and aspirations, a trait that not only makes them stand out from many other groups but that also makes stronger, with the credentials to boot: M.O.E. and Scizza both have business degrees - M.O.E. from Purdue in finance management and marketing information systems, and Scizza from Kentucky State in business administration; Charly is currently a communications and culture major with a minor in entrepreneurship at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN; and Darc Nyte has a graphic design degree from Alabama State and is currently pursuing his master's in e-business at the University of Phoenix online. Clearly, GIN Kru is ready to take on the world."We have a message that seriously needs to be heard in today's society," M.O.E. says. "We ain't on that average rap and bull. Most groups in the game today are saying a whole bunch of nothing.

It seems that GIN Kru came to be by means of fate. All of the members are linked in one way or another. All are from Gary, IN; M.O.E. and Darc Nyte have known each other all their lives - Darc lived around the corner from M.O.E.'s grandmother, with whom M.O.E. spent after-school hours and summers; Scizza lived around the corner from M.O.E. and they took middle and high-school band classes together; Adsun and Charly are cousins; Charly's father was friends with M.O.E.'s father in high school; and Adsun took classes and played sports with M.O.E. GIN Kru was formed in 1992 as a high school organization by Emas Bennett, who attended West Side High School in Gary with M.O.E., Darc Nyte and Adsun. The four of them shared the same academic and street smarts, and often got together for discussions."We would build every chance we got on subjects that most kids at that age wouldn't even think about discussing," M.O.E. remembers. "We were so organized and militant that we became recognized by the school board and had our own faculty sponsorship and budget. We would go on field trips and the city was basically paying for us to speak for panel discussions at the local universities. As we got older, we evolved mentally and spiritually as individuals, but the Kru was still our pantheon of thought."Bennett eventually left the group, but M.O.E., Darc and Adsun kept moving, bringing Charly and Scizza into the fold in 1996. By then, the GIN Kru focus had shifted over to music and the members were looking to get the group off the ground. Charly had a reputation around his high school for being a solid emcee and a deep thinker, while Scizza would often DJ with M.O.E. GIN was originated as a acronym for "Grand Imperial Nubians," and "Kru" was added later, a trendy spelling for "crew." Its concept, according to M.O.E., was "definitely pro-black and pro-African," based on the theory that all cultures in Africa could be traced back to the ancient land of Nubia. It was the common bond within its membership.