Scavie Scoobs is an emcee from the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, CA. As a teenager he would relocate to the South Bay region of Los Angeles living in Redondo Beach, Hawthorne, Inglewood and Gardena. Later on he would end up in Koreatown and the Skid Row district of Downtown Los Angeles. His mother’s family hailed from Palermo, Sicily, but would later immigrate to the San Pedro district of Los Angeles, Guadalajara in the Jalisco state of Mexico and Lima, Peru. His father’s family on the other hand were full blooded Ashkenazi Jews from the historic city of Uman, Ukraine. They too would immigrate to the United States ending up in New York City. As a child growing up in LA he learned to embrace all the aspects of his Italian, Jewish and Latino heritage. At the age of 10 he was introduced to hip-hop by his mother who was an avid artist involved in the Los Angeles fashion scene. By the age of 12 he was fully immersed in hip-hop culture and had begun rapping and doing graffiti art extensively. In 2002, while attending high school in Redondo Beach he would meet fellow emcees Lavi Bluff, EL-K!NG and Sinister Six. The four rappers joined forces to create the underground rap group Custom Made, which would go on to become known worldwide for their hardcore tales of LA street life narrated over production that sounded more like they were from the projects in Brooklyn or Queens. Scoobs eventually stopped attending school and spent all his free time pursuing a career in music and running the streets. In 2004, Scoobs founded Custom Made Recordings as an outlet for the group to release their independent albums and mixtapes. The label is currently distributed by The Orchard, a division of Sony Music. That same year the group released their first straight-to-street album, LA State of Mind, which was well received by both critics and hip-hop fans alike. Over the years Custom Made continued to gain underground notoriety as prolific emcees that defied the typical stereotypes placed on West Coast rap at the time. Their music conveyed sincere honesty, passion and authenticity unmatched by many other emerging rappers during the same era. For Custom Made rap was never a game, hobby or something to be taken lightly; it was blood sport.
Every album recorded was similar to an audio photo album since they poured their real world experiences and stories into all of their music. In the beginning stages of Custom Made, many Los Angeles natives had a mixed reception to the group’s style of music. The bottom line concerning Custom Made was; you either love them or you hate them. They received critical acclaim for their abilities as reality rap lyricists and their decision to strictly rhyme over East Coast influenced production, but other West Coast rap purists hated their music and couldn’t understand why rappers from Los Angeles were so heavily influenced by NYC hip-hop. That didn’t concern them whatsoever as Custom Made embraced all their supporters with love and defiantly gave the middle finger to anyone who didn’t understand or respect what they were trying to accomplish. By 2006, their relentless work ethic that included years of nonstop recording and live performances was starting to attract the attention of numerous labels both independent and major. They decided to stay independent and signed a deal with NYC hip-hop label Babygrande Records to release Sidewalk Mindtalk (2006), a compilation of their best work from all their previous mixtapes. The following year saw the group partner with the legendary hip-hop label Rawkus Records for the release of their album, Truth be Told, and in 2008 Babygrande released the classic Custom Made LP, Original Dynasty. After leaving Babygrande in 2009 and helping Element create his debut solo album, Great Expectations, it was time to get back to making some new Custom Made music. In 2010, NYC label Coalmine Records signed the group to a one album deal and dropped their critically acclaimed LP, Hi-Def. By 2011, the group was starting to fall apart since Scoobs, Bluff and Six were constantly dealing with legal issues which kept them in and out of prison like a revolving door. It started becoming more and more difficult to promote Custom Made because of all the side distractions. After Bluff was sentenced to twelve months in federal prison for his role in a wire fraud scheme, Scoobs and Element decided to focus more on their respective solo careers. In 2011, Scoobs released his debut solo LP, Trap Star Volume One, which remains a fan favorite to this day. Compared to the more hip-hop purist sound of Custom Made, his solo music was more influenced by gangsta, trap and mafioso rap due to his upbringing in the streets and constantly being incarcerated.
In March 2014, he released the Go Up Boyz collaborative EP, Dealer // Druggy, with fellow LA rapper Woozy Medz of Brothaz Bent. Custom Made has been affiliated with Brothaz Bent and The Arch Druids since the early 2000’s and were close friends even outside of the hip-hop community. Two months after dropping Dealer // Druggy, he was sentenced to a year in jail on charges stemming from drug sales. Upon his release he went straight back to music and recorded the epic masterpiece, Friday Night Plays, which was a documentary on wax. In 2017, he opened Custom Made Creative, a full service recording and production studio with locations in Inglewood and Downtown Los Angeles catering to creatives in the music, fashion, film and art world. In 2022, he released the mafioso themed album, The Omertà Code, which some consider his best work to date. At the end of the day, Scoobs is an emcee who raps the only way he knows how to; grimy, hardcore and authentic to his core values. He never had goals of becoming a pop superstar or living some outlandish lifestyle. He just enjoys making music for the streets and for the hip-hop heads who appreciate and respect his style of music. All the music Scoobs creates is a true reflection of his lifestyle and personal beliefs. According to him, if someone doesn’t like his music then it wasn’t made for them in the first place. If you don’t like his music, go listen to something else. As far as he is concerned; If you can’t relate to his subject matter then obviously it wasn’t meant for you in the first place. Besides music he is also an avid painter and filmmaker who enjoys creating his abstract style of art by any means necessary.