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Gripp (left) shoots the breeze with Wills. Photo by Leon Laing.

People in the local music community know Kevin “Gripp” Gripper and Kyle “Wills” Williams as producers. They crafted beats for local artists such as Lei Row, Dexter Kendrick, Cool Davis and Tito Brown from Brooklyn. Now the Harrisburg-based duo can add rappers to their résumé.

Gripp and Wills, who have been producing since 2006, formed the rap collective G13 about two months ago. “We never thought of ourselves as a group [at first],” Gripp said about forming G13. For its first performance, the group was fortunate enough to open up for the Lox last Saturday in Harrisburg. Gripp said only about 200 people attended, but he was able to network back stage. And G13 set its expectations high. “We compare ourselves to [established] groups,” Wills explained.

Gripp and Wills shot a video for “34 Freestyle,”a soulful and horn-heavy joint. “An outsider, an outcast like Christ was/trying to stack up on some rims on the Chrysler,” Wills declared on “34 Freestyle.”  On the anthemic single “Hometown Glory,” Gripp kicks the song off by whispering his bars at a rapid-fire speed (think Bone Thugs). Wills contrasts the track with his more aggressive delivery. And Tito Brown, who achors the extended version, also spits at a fast pace. “Hometown Glory” borrows the vocals from London-based soul singer Adele. Adele’s melancholy vocals accentuate the song’s bittersweet feeling.

And how’s the production business going? G13 tries to be self-sufficient when producing, according to Wills. Although Wills and Gripp have they own studio, they use other studios sometimes. Wills said they try to learn from more experienced producers, so they won’t be dependent on other studios in the future. You can’t knock their hustle.