Born Tyquan Smith, 21 year old Bushwick, Brooklyn native, Trap Clappa, has been dreaming of hearing his voice on wax since he can remember. Honing his rhyme skills under his neighborhood "done good" crew, Dysfunctional Family, Trap's aspirations and work ethic caught the ear of Jean's DJ, Crazy DJ Bazarro. "The first time I met Jean, we just talked for hours, just about music. Two a.m. the same day we was in the studio recording. It was a rap after that." The rough distinctive voice of Trap embodies the very thought of Brooklyn, and speaks to you like rap did when you still felt it was grimy, real and unapologetic. "I don't hold back anything, I give a fuck about offending nobody, this is just me, love it or leave it."

Unknown to her peers and even her family, 23 year old Boston born and bred Cheech Marina aka Heather O'Callaghan, has always been a battle rapper. But how do you become a battle rapper when no one knows you rap? "I battled myself. I invented different personalities and pitted them against each other, rapping in the mirror. I was completely impartial. Who ever lost, they lost. They had to quit." Jean met Cheech at a small function during a tour and saw her destroy another rapper in an impromptu cipher outside the club. "It was nuts, the dude looked like he was about to cry...I definitely wanted that girl on my team, she's a monster."

Probably the most unlikely piece in the puzzle, Daddy Mills aka Luther Jenkins Jr II, an ATL rapper, falls into play here. Known around his way, not as an emcee, but more of, shall we say... a personality. Why is a crunk-making misogynist a part of the group?

"Jean knew me through her old high school friends, she good people. I used ta entertain everybody at parties rapping and shit... it come natural, it’s that pimp talk. I say it like how I see it, it don't mean nothing bad ta nobody, she can respect that, I respect shawty.. I hustle." Jean commented on the unusual addition, "I don't see what the problem is making music with someone you think is dope. We might not agree on everything, but I'm not trying to be the rap police.. That's who he is. He still makes dope music regardless."

Harlem resident and hard hood repping AK, takes his name from his government-given: Amid Kain. 24, Kain is the ultimate NY tale of hood gone good. His style of laid-back, smooth, yet intricate wordplay got him his spot in the group after Jean saw him performing at a small open
mic spot in the city. She says, "Everyone else that night got on the mic on some rah-rah shit. AK got on and his whole vibe was different, people actually shut up for a second, he got the whole place to listen to him. That dude has charisma."

Not to be mistaken for the "pretty boy" of the group, AK is determined to let his name ring on every block. "I'm that dude.. y'all just don't know it yet."

The only General with two names, the only general under 5'4", the only 12 year old kid willing to forego the candy-colored, Disneyfied side of the kiddy rap game. Bronx representative Erica Lopez is the truth. Still a pre-teen, she’s been rhyming since age 6. Clever and witty, Erica's story is sadly of betrayal, pain and loss. Her mother a devoted gang member, her father deceased, her religiously fanatical grandmother unable to deal with Erica's wild behavior, she has been bounced from foster homes to group homes for the past 4 years of her life.

Jean took Erica under her wing as a protégé and friend. "She’s probably the only person in my life who ever saw that I had potential to do something great. I love her like my own family. I never really had one, she saved me from doing a lot of destructive things."

Let’s hope the readers and listeners are ready. Ready to be taken on a ride. Or six different rides at once. Stand up and salute, The Generals.