Grown Folks

Grown Folks Is made up of two Grand Rapids, MI natives, Garrett Clark (a.k.a. DJ Strange) and Wannace Perdue (a.k.a. Don Juan).Don Juan began his career free styling in the hallways of high school and moved on to win numerous mc competitions and street battles throughout parts of Michigan and Illinois. He eventually wanted to put more organized music together and started looking for a DJ to rock some beats.DJ Strange began his career mixing up cuts on WEHB 89.9 fm radio and WKWM 1140 am radio in Grand Rapids, MI. DJ Strange went on to win numerous DJ competitions and eventually worked as a studio production DJ for Grand Rapids born artists such as Adina Howard Sir-Mix-A-Lot and Ice Mann J. His true desire was not to spin records but to make records, and so he began looking for a lyricist.Don Juan and DJ Strange crossed paths in 1997 and instantly realized that they both shared the dream of making hip hop music about real life for real life people, and both agreed that the hip hop industry was getting by with easy one-liner rhymes and little substance.They formed the group Black Market Music (known as BMM) The Two Powers Got Togehter And started making tracks and rocking sets throughout the Midwest. They have had the opportunity to perform at all types of venues across Michigan such as the Grand Rapids Arts and Music Festival in 2000, 2004,and 2007 all with stellar reviews from the surrounding area media. They also performed at the West Michigan Wealthy Street Jam in 2002, the African American Arts Festival in 2001, again with rave reviews in all performances. Other performances include the Intersection Bar & Lounge, the Lexicon Club, The Purple East Battle of the Bands and a host of other clubs and venues across Michigan and Illinois. BMM eventually became known as Grown Folks.