The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African-American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. What was once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another.

The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members. The gang is known to be involved in murders, robberies, and drug dealing, among many other criminal pursuits. The gang is known for its gang members' use of the color blue in their clothing. However, this practice has waned due to police crackdowns on gang members.

Crips are publicly known to have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Bloods and lesser feuds with some Chicano gangs. Crips have been documented in the U.S. military, found in bases in the United States and abroad.

Stanley Tookie Williams met Raymond Lee Washington in 1969, and the two decided to unite their local gang members from the west and east sides of South Central Los Angeles in order to battle neighboring street gangs. Most of the members were 17 years old. Williams discounted the sometimes cited founding date of 1969 in his memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption. Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating back to the 1950s and '60s, including post-World War II economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty, racial segregation leading to the formation of black "street clubs" by young African American men who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.

Keith Cozart (born August 15, 1995)^{[citation needed]}, better known by his stage name Chief Keef is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He has signed a major record deal with Interscope Records, and is the CEO of his own record label Glory Boyz Entertainment.

Keith Cozart was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 15, 1995.^{[citation needed]} He attended Dulles Elementary School and later Banner High School on the city's South Side. In December 2011, Cozart was arrested on a weapons charge (aggravated unlawful use of a weapon) and put under house arrest at his grandmother’s home.

While under house arrest, Cozart released videos on Youtube. The attention he received grew in the short time between the release of several mixtapes and several of music videos, including 'Bang', '3Hunna' and 'I Don’t Like'. After two locally successful mixtapes, his song 'I Don’t Like' became a local hit in Chicago. It also caught fellow Chicago rapper Kanye West's attention who organized a remix of the song along with Pusha T, Jadakiss and Big Sean. Keef will soon be releasing his third mixtape Finally Rich in which Waka Flocka, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti and fellow GBE members are to be featured. An interview with Keef is slated to appear as part of an upcoming feature on Chicago artists in Spin Magazine. On July 7, 2012, it was announced that Chief Keef would be performing at Lollapalooza 2012, an annual music festival held in Grant Park, Chicago, IL.