Griphh was born on December 16th, 1988. In St. Petersburg, Florida at All Children's Hospital at 1:09 p.m. Although, he spent his growing years in Tampa, Florida. Born with ryhthm in his veins, but no roots linking him to any hip-hop giants, Griphh fell in love with music. If you were to ask him, he'd tell you that his first hip-hop song he fell in love with was, the classic "Rapper's Delight". Being from the South, Griphh says, "No one really worried about, West Coast rappers and East Coast rappers. Not that we did'nt care about B.I.G and 2Pac and others, it was just that in the South, we were too busy partying. So to southern listeners, southern rappers was the only thing we cared about." At the age of 10, Griphh would stand in the middle of the battles, as the smallest face in the crowd. Listening and learning, with word that spewed out of the rappers mouth. As the rappers would ramble on, Griphh sat there matching them in his mind, ryhme for rhyme. Always nervous and unsure, of his then, mediocre rhymes, when asked to go head and kick his own skills, Griphh remained a face in the crowd. It was'nt until the age of 12, when he was introduced to Queensbridge rapper Nas, through his father's CD collection. After hearing the CD, his entire ryhming scheme, beat selection, and musical groups changed for good. It was'nt until, at the age of 16, he was discovered spitting his undeveloped rhymes at the local movie theater, where he worked. The person who came to address him was respected local rapper and Detroit native, E.P.. After hearing Griphh's early ryhmes, E.P. took him in as Rosedale Records, newest artist. One year later, as Griphh continued to get better with his lyrics and his style, E.P. deemed him ready to conquer. Snuck in under the noses of bouncers at the Cypha, at Ybor's Full Moon Saloon, he showed the city of Tampa his potential. He jokes and still says, "I did'nt slam the mic". After that night his journey began.
