Meet Josiah Trujillo of GRIMMACE in Englewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josiah Trujillo.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Josiah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a child I grew up thinking and wanting sports to be my future. After a shoulder injury and reconstruction surgery in high school, my life took another direction. I fell in love with music after my cousin introduced me to what hip-hop is. I believe it was my sophomore year that my mother bought me a 50-dollar podcast microphone just so i could start recording my own songs. After I saw how much more serious I took music than the people I was hanging around, I got myself booked for my first performance. The date was October 19th 2010 and the venue were the Aztlan Theatre, formerly known as the Santa Fe Theater. Which is actually just a few blocks away from where I spent the first few years of my life. After that first performance I was automatically addicted to the feeling of performing. So as the years went by, I got to open up for bigger names which gave me my first opportunity at a nationwide tour in 2013. Since then I have been on six more and have done quite a few spot dates in Kansas City, Atlanta, Montana, and more. One thing I had to learn the hard way on my first tour is that merchandising is one of the top ways to promote your brand. People wearing your logo or whatever it is, work as a walking billboard for the brand. So since then I’ve done my best to get my name and logo on every article of clothing I can. Networking outside of Colorado has also been a huge help into getting myself where I am today. I still have a lot farther to go, but at the end of the day I can definitely say that I am thankful for everything I’ve done so far.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There is no college or schooling for becoming a hip-hop artist, so you’re basically just running off faith that one day it’s going to happen. No matter how much friends or money you lose, you just have to keep going. I’ve lost quite a few people that I considered family over the years to this music thing. I’m sure every touring artist has a janky promoter story as well. Also just being away from home and your family so much is a struggle in itself. I’ve had family and friends pass away back home while I was on the road. You also miss out on birthdays and holidays as well. Other than financial and relationship problems there are a lot of emotional and personal problems that come with the musician’s life.

GRIMMACE – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I think the fact that I’ve kept going since the age of 14 is the thing I’m most proud of. I’ve wanted to quit countless times over the years, but something has kept me going no matter what I’m going through. I think one major thing that sets me apart from others is my passion for the music. In this day and age, I think a lot of people just rap to fit in and exaggerate who they really are. I use my music for therapy and it’s always there for me when no one else is. Also, if my music can help somebody get through something they’re struggling with, then that means more to me than any fame or material gains I get from this.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I believe the proudest moment of my career this far is to be able to say that I have performed in more than half the country.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.grimmaceinthis.com
• Phone: 720-690-7028
• Email: grimmaceinthis@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/grimmace_inthis
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thagrimmestinthis

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