VeRB da CERTIFIED GRINDA

VeRB da CERTIFIED GRINDA

VeRB, born Larry Washington Jr. was born and raised in Churchill, the east side of Richmond, Virginia, one of the roughest parts of the city. Music has been a constant part of his life and VeRB has written music since at least the 4th grade. VeRB has always had many talents and succeeded at almost anything that he put his mind to. In elementary school, 2nd grade to be exact, he played the violin then moved on to learn the trombone in 3rd grade and continued on this instrument all the way up to high school. In Richmond, the streets and rap went hand in hand, so VeRB and Churchill friends put together their first rap tape in the fifth grade. During this time VeRB’s influences in music were mainly Scarface and Ice Cube. The name of the group they put together was Squad !. It consisted of VeRB (Larry Washington Jr.), DND 6 (Laundre Dunlap), Mane (Marion Lyons), and his cousin C – LO (R.I.P. Corey Johnson). VeRB performed for the first time, age 11, at a school dance at Henderson Middle School and was one of 2 people out of 15 not to get booed off stage. VeRB also became deeper involved in the streets at this time and by 7th grade, after being kicked out of school and getting into all sorts of trouble, he ended up being sent away to boarding school in Chatham, Virginia. This was the first life experience that would show VeRB that the world was bigger than his hood, being at a facility with dudes from every state. Arriving there at the age of 12, he had to grow up very fast because it was every man for himself. Coming from a poor, single- parent family, VeRB also did what he had to do there to make money, keep himself clothed, and be able to travel to visit family and friends in different cities on the weekend. “Mane I was buying my own greyhound tickets and traveling on my own at like 12 and 13”. During the span of the rest of VeRB’s school years his major music influences were 2 pac, Snoop Dog, Dre, UGK, Master P, Biggie and many more artists. “Everybody that I fucked wit in the rap game, I fucked wit em for a reason. For example, I fucked wit Pac cause he was a real life nigga and dealt wit real life issues, Snoop, because in a time where nobody was showing love ta VA that nigga brought out Rage, Dre because they was making music for the streets back then, UGK because them niggas was just TRILL and dealt with real issues, Master P one of my favorites because he showed the whole game that we could do way more than just sell cds, and Biggie for his lyrical content”. During his time at the boarding school VeRB maintained close contact with his brother KAOS (Brandon Washington), childhood friends BIG LO (Sean Terry) and Jo Black (Jovon Keith), and the rest of his Churchill family. During his time there VeRB continued to write songs and make music. VeRB laughs, “Mane during that time frame we were looping beats and using the two-boom box method, one records while the other plays the beat!” Everything VeRB went through at the school made him a man at a very young age. VeRB graduated at 17 and it was back to the streets of Richmond, VA. There he hooked back up with childhood friends BIG LO (Sean Terry), DND 6 (Laundre Dunlap), Tony Dank (Antonio Page) and various other Churchill family to form rap group, Churchill City. Churchill City was a group of childhood friends who hustled, smoked, and rode together and all of them had love for music. During this time they put out tapes, performed in a couple of showcases, and VeRB was even featured on Richmond’s #1 radio station, Power 92’s The Battle of the Jams for 2 weeks. At the same time VeRB was constantly being harassed by the law, had been to jail multiple times, and was looking at possibly serving some time. Facing these issues, VeRB signed a deal to join the Marine Corps in 1999. This was a further expansion to show VeRB that the world was bigger than his hood by him living in places like Japan, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Florida, California, Washington, North Carolina and so on. VeRB, being a born leader, naturally had great success in the Marines obtaining the rank of Sergeant, earned top shooter out of bootcamp, meritorious promotions and all kinds of other awards. Him and his brother KAOS also started their own record label in Richmond, VA called “The Greatest In Da World Entertainment”. VeRB and his brother KAOS would release 2 official cds and various underground cds while he was in the Marines. Sadly to say, during the time while VeRB was in the Marines, he had never left the streets alone and it all caught up with him due to someone informing the law in October of 2005. During this time VeRB was stationed in North Carolina and was caught with 20 pounds of marijuana and a pistol on Interstate 20 in Texas. VeRB was jailed and released on bond awaiting trial. Six months later, while awaiting trial in Texas, he was kicked out of the Marine Corps and lost his house, some cars, and a lot more. For VeRB it was back to the streets of Richmond, VA. While awaiting trial, VeRB and his brother KAOS recorded 2 projects, CERTIFIED FIRE in May of 2006 and NIGGAS ON A MISSION, a double cd consisting of the two albums CERTIFIED GRINDA 1 and KAOTIC INVASION which was released in Nov of 2006. VeRB came off bond at this same time in order to start receiving credit toward his inevitable prison term so he could put this behind him. He ended up being sentenced to 7 years for Possession of Marijuana and 300 days for Unlawful Carry of a Weapon by the State of Texas. While incarcerated VeRB read over 200 books and wrote plenty of songs and various business plans. During the same time a lot of people turned their backs on him. VeRB made parole in April of 2008 and officially moved to Texas. “I moved to Texas because I felt this was all in God’s plan, mane while I was down even though I was from another state, they showed me tons of love here”. He got out and started getting his life back on track one step at a time. “I know GOD is there because my first night out, I slept on a porch in the rain and he has not let me look back since”. Although VeRB had written many songs while incarcerated he told himself once he got out that he would not record again, since so many things had already gone wrong, until God told him to. By January of 2009, God gave him the green light to get back in the studio, and in less than a month “Certified Grinda 2: Back 2 Ballin” was ready and awaiting covers for its release in April of 2009. At the same time VeRB took myspace by storm signing up in February, and by May having more than 7800 friends and over 11,000 profile views. Also in addition to being co-CEO of The Greatest In Da World Entertainment, VeRB has just launched his new independent label “Certified Grindaz Entertainment”. Stay tuned on VeRB da Certified Grinda because this is only the beginning, its much more in store.