Custom Made (hip hop group)

Custom Made
Element, Bluff and Scoobs of Custom Made
Background information
Also known as	C-Made
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	West Coast hip hop, Hip hop, Gangsta Rap
Years active	2002-present
Labels	Custom Made Recordings (2004-present) Babygrande (2006-2008) Rawkus (2007)
Website	custommadehiphop.com
Members
Bluff Element Scoobs

Custom Made (also known as C-Made) is an American hip hop trio from Los Angeles, California known for their hardcore reality based mixtape series, Street Cinema. They were key players in helping to establish a mixtape scene in Los Angeles during the early 2000s. The group is made up of emcees Bluff, Element and Scoobs.

Career

In 2002, Bluff, Element, Scoobs and Six formed the group at their high school in LA. Aneek was introduced to the group through mutual friends and joined the crew later that year. In 2004, they released their first straight-to-street album, LA State of Mind, to critical acclaim. This led to the beginning of their Street Cinema mixtape series which would help catapult the group's underground notoriety. Within a few years of their formation Custom Made had already sold over 100,000 units worldwide.^[1] After a string of mixtape releases Custom Made saw their popularity grow, but with the release of The Blackboard Jungle (2006) they enjoyed their most success and began receiving offers from numerous labels. They ultimately made the decision to turn down the majors and go the independent route by signing with Babygrande in 2006.^[1] That same year, Babygrande released Sidewalk Mindtalk, a compilation highlighting their standout mixtape records. Their proper debut album, Fresh Out, was intended to be released after their signing, but was put on hold after Six was sentenced to four years in prison for counterfeiting and drug sales.^[2] 2006 also marked the year Aneek relocated to the East Coast. The material originally intended for Fresh Out was eventually converted into Truth Be Told and released by Rawkus in 2007. With Six in prison and Aneek on the East Coast, the crew returned as a trio to release their proper Babygrande debut, Original Dynasty, in 2008.^[3] In 2009, the group left Babygrande due to financial disagreements and released The Lost Weekend independently. In 2010 the group signed a one album deal with NY label Coalmine Records to release their fourth studio album, Hi-Def.

Along with fellow LA acts such as Strong Arm Steady and DJ Warrior, Custom Made helped pioneer a mixtape scene that was previously non-existent in Los Angeles. Custom Made became one of the first LA artists to consistently use mixtapes and DVDs for promotional and marketing purposes.^[4]

On March 7, 2011 Bluff appeared in a Los Angeles federal court and was charged with fifteen counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors accused Bluff and ten co-defendants of scamming $1.5 million out of victims throughout the US with an advanced fee scam. He currently faces up to twenty years in prison on those charges.^[5]

Custom Made Recordings

In 2004, Scoobs founded Custom Made Recordings as an outlet for the group to release their independent albums and mixtapes. The label is currently distributed by IODA.^[4]

Custom Made Crew

The Custom Made Crew is a collective of Los Angeles based hip hop musicians made up of Aneek, Bluff, Element, Paradox, Skitzo, Scoobs, Six and S-Mak and producers Abstrakt Soundz, THX, Finesse, and Jayem. Members from the crew have appeared on every Custom Made release since LA State of Mind.

Discography

Albums

Album information
LA State of Mind Released: March 2, 2004 Label: Custom Made Recordings Singles: "What Is It?"/"Escape Your Mind"
Truth Be Told Released: November 27, 2007 Label: Rawkus Records Singles: "07 I See"/"I'm Home"
Original Dynasty Released: May 27, 2008 Label: Babygrande Records Singles: "Original Dynasty"
Hi-Def Released: November 9, 2010 Label: Coalmine Records Singles: "LA Steeze"

Mixtapes

Album information
Live From Los Angeles Released: 2005 Label: Custom Made Recordings
Pillow Talk Released: June 8, 2005 Label: Custom Made Recordings
Sin City Released: 2005 Label: Custom Made Recordings
The Blackboard Jungle Released: April 24, 2006 Label: Custom Made Recordings Singles: "M.I.Aneek"
Sidewalk Mindtalk Released: September 19, 2006 Label: Babygrande Records Singles: "M.I.Aneek/Go Away"
Heavy Traffic Released: May 27, 2008 Label: Custom Made Recordings Singles: "LAX", "Trouble"/"West Route"
The Lost Weekend Released: June 2, 2009 Label: Custom Made Recordings Singles: "Sunday Money"

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Custom Made. Babygrande.
2. ^ Cordor, Cyril. Custom Made Biography. Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation.
3. ^ Davis, Todd (July 31st, 2007). Custom Made: It's The Real ... Hip-Hop. BallerStatus.
4. ^ ^{a b} Covers + Features: Custom Made. URBNET. (May 2008).
5. ^ Daily News Wire Servies (March 7th, 2011). 10 charged in Nigerian e-mail scam. LA Daily News.

External links

• Official Custom Made website
• Custom Made on Myspace
• Custom Made on Twitter
• Custom Made on YouTube