There's one saying which has, and will always hold true, "Only the Strong Shall Survive". If there's one group who takes this saying to the heart, J.Squad is just that. Consisting of brothers YK (born John hardaway) and Mr. Model (born Jason Hardaway) and longtime friend Young Dizzy (born Antwon Jay), they've seen their share of friends and partners lost to the game. Explains YK "Alot of niggas just cant handle the downsides of the streets, and I seen alot dudes fall victim to the streets". After he and his brother both suffered near fatal experiences, they both put down the call of the streets and decided they would chase after their longtime dream of making music that people who came from the same struggle would understand. "We met Dizzy along the way, after he began helping us promote he eventually just fell in place as the next member of the group", say's Model. They put together their hustling mentalities, and began selling anything and everything they could to earn money for their music. "We were selling Cars, clothes, and some not so legal stuff, just trying to earn a buck", says YK. "Here in Cleveland, you can't just come up on a bunch of niggas with money, you gotta earn ya take". After saving enough to build a decent studio, they enter'd the booth churning out constant mixtapes selling them at school in there hometown of Euclid, Ohio, an urban suburb of Cleveland, and as far as Ashtabula and Lorain. "We was just grinding hard" says Young Dizzy. Starting as a 5 man group with one R&B singer, down to the three man team left today, they are witness to the type of hard work and commitment that the industry needs. Eventually catching the ears of many top Industry Exec's, J.squad says they're still grinding just waiting for the right deal to hit the table. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.