Eight Tray (83) Gangster Crip

Eight Trey (83) Gangster Crips

Kody Scott (aka Sanyika Shakur), a member of this gang wrote a popular autobiography entitled An Autobiography of an L.A. Gangs Member while he was in prison during the late 1980s and early 1990s and in 2006 the rights to his book were sold and adopted into a screen play. Scott has appeared on BET, 20th Century, and 60 minutes, and several other programs and magazines discussing his experiences in gangs addressing the gang situation in Los Angeles. His younger brother, Lil Monster has been very influential in the peace movement and was involved in the gang truce of 1992

Monster (b. 1963) was named to the top 10 most wanted gang members February 7, 2007 and was arrested on March 7, 2007 for assault and car-jacking. According to the LAPD press release (March 8, 2007) Scott was identified on the 7600 block of Brighton Street by a tipster and was later apprehended. The LAPD also stated that Scott had been in and out of prison for 26 years of his life and that he was the “self proclaimed founder” of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips. According to his autobiography, he attributed a guy named Sidewinder as the founder who created this neighborhood which was a split of Tookie’s West Side Crips (p. 80). Lil Monster appeared in the HBO documentary, Bastards of the Party (2005).

Because of the popularity of this gang, it is one of the most reported Los Angeles based Crip gangs in the United States having been identified in Denver, CO; Aurora, CO; Hennepin, Minnesota; Harris County, TX; Wichita, KS; St. Louis, MO; Albuquerque, NM; and Portland, OR. These other gangs are not connected to Los Angeles and are not part of a national network. Youth from these cities have adapted this identity because of its popularity.

The Rollin 60s Crips are their main rivals and this conflict goes back to 1979. It is one of the biggest and most fierce rivalries between any two gang in the County. Although there have been some new conflict during the 21st Century that has been extremely violent, such as the Blood Stone Villain vs. Pueblos Bloods and the East Coast Crips vs. Florence, the conflict between the 60s and 83s are among two of the largest gangs in Los Angeles and has existed for over 30 years unabated.

The rivalry between the Rollin 60s and Eight Trays has become a rivalry between N-Hood Crips and Gangster Crips, which extends the conflict into a regional one. This rivalry is discussed in Scott’s book Autobiography of an LA Gang Member and Donald Bakeer’s book, Crips. Leon Bing also wrote an article on this rivalry in 1988 for the LA Weekly. Thus far, a truce or a cease fire between these 2 sets has not been implemented, but if possible a truce between all “Gangster Crip” sets that fall under the Eight Trays, and the N-Hood sets which fall under the Rollin Sixties would be revolutionary.

They are also rival to all “Rollin 0s” gang which would include the Rollin 40s and the Rollin 90s. They also have a rivalry with all other “NeighborHood” or “NH” gangs including the 67 NeighborHood Crips (67 NHC), located on the north side of their territory. They are rivals to all Blood gangs but their main Blood rivalry is with the Inglewood Family Gang (IFG) located to the west of their territory but it must be noted that their rivalry with the Rollin’ 60s Crips is stronger than with any blood gang. The IFGs are attributed for the first ETG casualty (Autobiography of an LA Gang Member, p. 28) which predates their rivalry with the Sixties (1979). Their Crip rivalries include: Rollin 30′s, 40NH, 55NH, 57NH, 58NH, 60NH, 67NH, 90NH, 100′S NH, NH103HTHC, 111NH, 112NH, 115NH, UnderGround Crips, BCG, Menlo Crips, BudLong Crips, Geer Gang, 99 Mafia Crips, and 87 Gangsta Crips.

The ETGs have the largest black gang territory in the entire county of Los Angeles occupying an area of 2.59 square miles. Their territory extends from 65th Street (north) to Century Ave (south) between Vermont (east) and Western Avenues (west). Their territory also extends on the westside to Van Ness between 79th Street (north) and Manchester (south).

Graffiti of the 83 Gangster Crips crossed out by 67 NHC, 2002