With a well-deserved nomination for “Best Funk/R&B Band” for this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards, The Gritz Band is more of an eclectic super-group than your average hip-hop band. Known by some as Erykah Badu’s band, the group is made up of a diverse mix of musicians from across Texas: RC “Rceeezy” Williams, keyboards; Cleon Edwards, percussion; Braylon “Brother B” Lacy, bass; Claudia Melton, vocals; and Jah Born, MPC (drum machine). Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, RC Williams is the musical director of The Gritz Band. Brought up in a family of strong musicians, RC was introduced to every music genre at a young age. While attending Arts Magnet School in Dallas, he committed himself to learning jazz and synthesizer combinations, while advancing to playing keyboards and the organ for Grammy Award-winning gospel group, God’s Property. RC has performed alongside great musical talents like Snoop Dogg, Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, The Roots, Pharell, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, Kirk Franklin, Musiq, Bilah, N’Dambi, Floetry, The Game, Soulive, and many more. RC was nominated for three Grammy Awards for his production and writing on Erykah Badu’s 2003 album, World Wide Underground.