Griff grew up in the projects of downtown Toronto (Regent Park). Griff was a very hyper and active child. His older sister used to play records from U2, Tears for Fears, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Sting and the Miracles, which seemed to be away to help Griff settle and calm down. Sadly, in 1997 Griff’s sister contracted a virus and passed away. By the age of 15 Griff was inspired by artists like Nas, DMX, P Diddy, Mase and Bone Thugs N Harmony. Many of Griff’s friends were involved in rap/ hip hop music and introduce Griff to that genre. His friends use to come over after school to his house to record over cassette tapes of other artists instrumentals on Griff’s older brother’s Karaoke machine in the basement. Griff never took part in the recording sessions or writing lyrics.
Since he was very shy. Until one of his childhood friends decided to not allow anyone to leave the room until each person in the room that day, would write a song even if they were not a musician. That point on, Griff discovered his writing abilities and enjoyed writing and started writing lyrics as away to express himself since he was introverted. At the age of 19, Griff worked behind the scenes as a music producer being influenced by producers like Timbaland and Dr Dre. Producing beats for his friends and other local Toronto artists. At age 21, Griff began recording in the studio for the first time. Operating under the stage name “DCG”, which stood for Dark Chocolate Griff. A nick name he had during high school due to his dark complexion. During this time, Griff was not established as a recording artist but had collaborate with a 17-year-old Drake at the time on song titled “This world”. Which was produce by Griff also featuring one of Griff’s childhood musician friends Promise, who had introduced Griff to Drake and put him on the song. Although, Griff was not as skilled as a rapper, his Engineer also good friend T.J Habibi, encouraged Griff to keep going as well as Griff’s best friend also hip-hop artist Prestege. Griff started to pursue music more and was rejected by local radio stations flow 93.5, the number 1 urban station in Toronto. Feedback his producing skills was his strength and rapping needed work. Griff being motivated, he started listening to artists like 50 cent, Jay-z Kanye West, and Lil Wayne, artist that were on top in the hip hop scene during the early 2000’s. Friends and family noticed the improvement in Griff’s style and flow as DCG. Griff was making music as a source of entertainment and release until he lost both his parents to health reasons. Dad in 2007 to a stroke and his Mom in 2009 with cancer. Griff then decided to take music more seriously and made his debut album “DC’s Comments” independently release. Although, album was noticed by industry professions and made the Grammy ballot, did not receive enough votes and did not gain any commercial success to make the Grammy nominations. DCG, had decided to experiment by operating under just the stage name Griff aka Griff the Great and trying out genres, Funk/Pop & R&B. Griff in 2016 decided to continue to work a corporate job and not put anymore energy into music until the 2020 pandemic.
As Griff was feeling depressed, locked out from the outside world, he went back to the thing that he enjoyed the most and helped him remain calm as a child which was music. Griff started rapping & singing both. He shared his music with some musician friends, that sing, Jenna Nation, local R&B star in Toronto and Jades a rising pop star in LA. They advise Griff that he needs to be singing a lot more. From that point, Griff started crafting his music to singing more and the songs he sang lead to commercial radio success. “New Style “being the first and his recent hit “Still” From that point on Griff decided to rebrand himself under the stage name “Griff Galexxzee” As there was another artist out there signed to Warner music U.K name Griff. Griff came up with the name Galaxy because his friends and other industry professionals said his catchy harmonies are out of this “world” and did not sound like anything they have heard before. The spelling of Galexxzee was encouraged with a A&R Mr Scrillz, to have the name standout. Griff’s mom had always wanted Griff to be a singer and join choir practice to be backup vocalist, but Griff always refused as he thought his voice was only fitting for rap. Now a decade later, Griff has found his true calling of being a Pop/ R&B/ artist and is continuing to receive commercial success. Today, Griff Galexxzee is an emerging artist over 200 songs with original flow, a distinctive sound, style, and versatility. He is not afraid to experiment with genres beyond Hip Hop, including Funk, Pop, R&B and Techno. Some people refer to Griff as the “people pleaser”, because he creates music for a wide range of audiences.
Career Highlights:
- Recorded “This World” with a 16-year-old up-and-coming Drake
- International airplay in France Radio for “Radio Laser”, one of the first Canadian artists to air on the station
- Airplay on the UK’s #1 internet radio station for independent artists, and in the top 10 countdown for 6 weeks straight, peaking at #3. Airplay on local radio stations in Toronto with “Project Bounce” and “In the Kitchen” (also featured on Coast to Coast Mixtape Volume 67 along with Drake, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe and Akon
- Featured in “Alwayz Therro” alongside Jay-Z, T.I, and Rihanna
- On The Recording Academy’s Grammy Ballot in 4 categories:
- Best Rap Performance for “Let Me Explain”
- Best Rap for song “Go Ahead”
- Best Rap Collaboration for “Go Ahead”
- Best Rap Album for “Let Me Explain”
- Single “Mansion” received radio play on USA Hip Hop Nation (SiriusXM) with over 60 thousand listeners, and MTV
- Single “New Style” was featured in Toronto Fashion week and on Chicago independent radio
- UK Atlantic Records inquiry
- Aired on Power 103.5, Hits98fm, 104thebeat, wild92.7 and 102hits
M.T.V.rock 