GTC(Grind Time Central)

Shout out to Splash Gordon!

Coming up 75 when I stopped in Dayton- and got this new CD and the song was banging, that ‘Im Gonna Grind Til I Get It’. I first got hip to these guys at the Ohio Hip Hop Awards just looking at all the competition, but these guys had a lil different swag to they music. Something about it made a connection so I rode to ’An Hour’ thinking it might be my theme music for 09.

GTC BIO

The Grind. Whether you go to school, work a 9-to-5, or hustle, grindin’ is a way of life. Such is the case with GTC (Grind Time Central), a Dayton, Ohio-based duo that have grindin’ in their blood. On their new single, ‘Grind Till I Get It’, set over an orchestration of epic proportions - the audience can feel their hunger and motivation, smoothly laid out over five minutes of funk.

Consisting of lifelong friends Slim & Polo, GTC represent the hustles and struggles of millions of people all around the world - and they’re proud to do so. “We make world music - Japan, Europe, England we’re ready to go,” says Slim. “We’re going back to everybody music - Rated ‘E”, Polo re-affirms. Slim, who spent time in the choir as a youth, further explains the group’s motivation: “We’re grindin’ to sell records, and take care of our families. My son is the most important thing to me. GTC stands for survival and success, and only the strong survive - we survive.”

It’s their roots in Dayton, though, that provide the backdrop for their inspirational raps. “We from Dayton,” Polo continues. “You sell dope or you don’t. We don’t - we keep it movin’.” After seeing countless peers & friends go to jail for drug offenses, the group decided to stay away from the dope game. For Polo, though, this avoidance came with a blast of irony “When I was 17, my parents admitted that they’d had a drug problem - for years. They’d kept it hidden.” This struck a deep chord with him - “We all have issues”. Slim chimes in, “All we have is music.”

Their first release, 2005’s ‘We Got Trax, Vol.1’ coincided with GTC’s first-ever live performance at Elbows, a hip-hop club in downtown Dayton. Since then, they’ve opened up for the likes of Rick Ross, Plies, Twista, Soulja Boy and many others, all the while having scored two radio successes with ‘Clean’ and ‘Chevy Dance’ (both of which received heavy airplay on 102.9 in Ohio). GTC are planning to release their follow-up, entitled Grind Muzik: The Mixtape. The goal? Motivation. “We want the listener to say they make me wanna go do it. GTC is all about steppin’ up we went from nothin’, to somethin’.’

Their latest single, ‘Grind Till I Get It’ has the duo breaking down the grind one person at a time. “Gotta get it any waymy nigga heavy in the streets, my other nigga in the school/my brother is a player, my sister she do hair/and my cousin get it however it come in, he don’t care,” rhymes Polo. With breathtaking honesty, the group makes the listener groove so smoothly, you’d almost forget the struggle: “Man I feel good, man I feel great/no, I ain’t ballin, but yeah, I’m still straight.”

Dedicated to inspiring positivity and motivation, Slim and Polo are ambassadors of Ohio hip-hop. Their tremendous synergy is perfectly accentuated by their ever-present individuality: Slim’s laid back cool complemented by Polo’s sharp lyricism. GTC doesn’t just preach the ‘Grind’ movement they are a living embodiment of it. They recently established the Grind Till I Get It Foundation, which will provide scholarships to students in seven inner-city public schools. Says Slim, “We want people to say that GTC took Ohio with them. We want to bring life back here.” Polo adds, “GTC did it from the ground up we worked.”

We have played all over Ohio! From hometown Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. We have also have shows in Michigan, and Atlanta.

The people influence us! When people come up to us after shows and quote lines from the single, "Grind Till I Get It." Thats what keeps us going!

“We just want to be one of the greatest what else?”