Known in various stages as Grimm Reaper, MF Grimm and, now, Grand Master (GM) Grimm, Harlem-bred Percy Carey should be a legend. He isn’t. Such have been the circumstances of this 33-year-old MC’s life. He played a small but pivotal role on the 1993 KMD masterpiece, Black Bastards – that album was shelved by Elektra, not to appear until nearly a decade later. He was asked by Large Pro to be the fourth guest on “Live at the Barbecue” – he was arrested on his way to the studio. He ripped shit guesting on Kool G. Rap’s 4, 5, 6 – “Fast Life” was released as the single, and Nas blew up. In 1994, Grimm was shot ten times, and doctors said he would never see, hear or walk again – although his sight and hearing recovered fully, he remains bound to a wheelchair. After building a rep as a frequent cohort of MF Doom, and founding Monsta Island Czars, Grimm was sentenced to three years for conspiracy to distribute narcotics, after beating an attempted murder charge. The following was his first interview after being released from Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island this summer.

HHS: So you just got out of jail two months ago and already I hear you have all these projects coming out.

GRIMM: I got “Scars & Memories”,  which is tracks I recorded from 1989 to now. That is coming out on my label, Day By Day Entertainment. I also got a Jet-Jaguar album coming out with production by X-Ray, Roc Raida and Louiee 2. We’re trying to get that out by December. Roc Raida and I are also doing an album together called The Grand Masters album – Grand Master Roc Raida and Grand Master Grimm. I have several projects I am working on at once. I just finished an EP with J-Zone, an Old Maid/Day By Day production. I am doing a song with Chuck D. I’m honored he would do a song with me.

Being from Harlem, how did you first hook up with MF Doom and the rest of the Monsta Island dudes who were from Long Island?

Doom and I met through Kurious. Me and Kurious grew up together in Harlem. I met the rest of the Czars – X-Ray, Megalon, Rodan- through Doom. I created MIC but our affiliation came through Doom.

So what made you come up with a crew based around old monster flicks?

I have to admit it was with respect to Wu-Tang. I saw how they came together and brought something new to music. I wanted to do something equivalent. Wu-Tang is legendary but I feel that MIC is on that path if it is maintained correctly, and not manipulated for greedy purposes. I admire what Wu-Tang did and I built off of it. I don’t want to lie and say the idea of MIC is not like Wu-Tang. Of course it is. We took an idea from another concept and we built something off of it. If it would be anyone, why not Wu-Tang. People came with martial arts after them, we came with something different. We came in the form of monsters. We knock buildings over as opposed to just breaking bones.

Were you real into the monster movie thing growing up?

I liked the Godzilla flicks. I wasn’t a fanatic but I appreciated them. I was always fascinated with the idea of monsters. The whole idea of monsters and Monsta Island is they all work on frequencies. A lot of them are controlled by music or their powers are through music, even the sound effects with it. It coincides with our music to a degree. Monsta Island is of course NY, symbolically. Manhattan is Monster Island, and that’s where I’m from. It represents all of NY.

Why did you choose Jet-Jaguar as your monster identity?

I am a lot like him. Jet-Jaguar was created for a certain reason. He was programmed to make himself more intelligent and I feel that is something that I have attempted to do throughout my life. He goes by a system where he is under a certain amount of control. But whenever he chooses to, he disregards it. The other Monstas will tell you that I am just like that. I’ll go with the program but I love to go against the grain if I find it beneficial, and then I’ll get back with the program. He is capable of expanding. He grows and I am like that as well. When I was shot I was 5″9; I’m 6″3 now. Like Jet-Jag, I grew. I am kind of robotic. I can relate to him more than other monsters. If I didn’t, I would be someone else. I would be Megalon, I would be Rodan.  Each member of our crew coincides with the monsters that they represent. I fly, I am quiet at times. I am just a lot like him.

What movie was Jet-Jaguar in?

“Godzilla vs. Megalon”. Part of the reason why Jet-Jaguar was created was to lead Megalon. I find that appropriate because Megalon, the artist Tommy Gunn, is on Day by Day. Hopefully it will work out. Megalon is a good person. He is a hell of an MC.

What is your favorite monster flick?

I would have to say “Godzilla vs. Megalon”.

Was everyone in Monsta Island Czars up on the movies from the beginning, from growing up or did you have to sit down with people and be like ‘This is what we’re doing, go out and rent this movie.’?

There was some type of coordination. Once everyone was in agreement they would do their research. People weren’t given names. You had to earn your name.

What was the first official MIC recording, you know released under your Monsta Island identities?

We recorded with a friend of mine in the UK named Howard for Greedy Fingers. I couldn’t tell

But you were in jail the whole time they were working on it, right?

you the name of it right now because I have been away for so long. I am fresh home. When I was in, that was when it was put out. That was officially as all the Monstas. But stuff in 1992,’93, ’94, ’95 until now I was saying that. 1994 was really when it started. But if you listen to the remix of KMD’s ‘What A Niggy Know’ you hear me mention it.

Has anything come out under the Jet-Jaguar name?

Well, we did “No Snakes Alive” which is on Doom’s King Geedorah album but it was also a hidden track on my album, “The Downfall of Ibliys”. It was supposed to be noted as a Jet-Jaguar track but I was incarcerated so I didn’t have that much control when it came out. If you hear the new MIC album there is nothing of me on there.

I had Jet-Jaguar tracks that were supposed to be on it. I still to this day don’t know what happened to them. I think maybe Doom misplaced them.

So when exactly did you start serving?

2000.

And you recorded all of  “Downfall” the day before you went in? What was that like?

Yeah. It was beyond words. I can recall doing, it is just I have had so many other trials and tribulations to deal with since then. I am just glad I had the opportunity but it didn’t come out until two years later.

Why was that?

We were relying on Doom to put it out on his label, Metal Face, but for some reason it was taking too long. A lot of the beats were changed after I went in. I came out and heard the album and a lot of the beats were different. My partner at Day By Day, DJ Fisher and I basically put it out ourselves. It has a lot of Metal Face logos and information on it but Metal Face did nothing for it.

So you and Doom had a falling out?

Yeah, we did, over currency. But we are trying to work it out. We’re getting to the bottom of things. There was a lot of money not accounted for which now is understood that it is neither one of our faults. I am talking six figures not like $100 or $5000. There was a little tension. I did three years, I was expecting to come out to some money. To not come out to it is very disappointing. I am thankful I have DJ Fisher in my corner. DJ made sure I had a sufficient amount of money to get me by.

So is that why you no longer want to be called MF Grimm?

I have elevated to Grandmaster. I’m still Master of Flows, Manipulating Frequencies but Doom can have the MF.

What was it like being disabled in prison?

Prison is not made for people with disabilities. Three years turned into six years. A day is two days. Sometimes you don’t fit in the cell or you don’t get the proper equipment because they don’t have it. Yet you’re still treated like every other prisoner in there. You don’t get special treatment or you get thrown in what they call medical facilities. They are just worse prisons, you’re not allowed outside. Due to disciplinary reasons and circumstances of my disability, I had not been allowed outside for 2 1/2 years. No sun, no fresh air, no birds, nothing. I didn’t even get to see other people besides who was inside where I was at. Right now, as we speak, I am in Central Park. I am looking at the ducks and the rowboats, the grass around me. It is beautiful. I am very happy at the moment. I waited 3 years to get here but I damn sure have been waiting to get back to this.

Damn, that’s inspirational. Are you continuing to progress physically?

All my feelings are back. I still can’t move, though. I move slightly – I’m twitching. I don’t have no type of control but it is coming slowly but surely. Life is beautiful whether I am walking, standing, sitting. I am starting to find the beauty in life. I am learning more and more every day. It is a rollercoaster, it goes up and down but you still got to enjoy the ride. I am trying to enjoy this ride right now.

Do doctors think you will be able to walk again?

The doctors think I can walk again.

Did anyone think when you first got shot that you would be able to get all this coordination back?

No. I was considered a ‘permanent para’; a complete paraplegic and that I would remain that way. I was on a path to get up and walk for the past couple of years but my incarceration slowed it down and backed it up since I didn’t have physical therapy and things of that nature while I was inside.

That’s awful.

I am really three years behind right now so I am playing catch up.

What is an average day like for you right now?

Shit, that’s hard. I go off an hour of sleep. The average day? I can’t even tell the difference anymore. My focus is on the groups of Day By Day. They are very loyal people who mean a lot to me.  Prophetix, Binkis, Cadence, Nobodys, Esau, we got Mr. Voodoo now with us, Natural Elements, we got Roc Raida coming. Dr. Butcher is with us. These people really have faith in me and I am not going to let them down. Whatever they need me to do, they ask me to do it and it is done.

We have to be one of the only labels where the artists do everything for themselves.  Not because we don’t want to do it but because they choose to do it. They know every aspect of the business. Most of them had dealings with majors. We’re not like “Hey we’re Day By Day, we’ll get you everywhere.’ They know already. We all come together with realistic goals, achieve those goals and we try to advance from there. So far, it is working out beautiful. We have a lot of room for improvement and growth. Growing extremely rapidly won’t be beneficial to us. It is proper the way we are growing – steadily. We are a distributor so majors have nothing really to offer us right now. We are a self-sufficient unit.

What is coming out on Day By Day by the other Monsta Island Czars?

All of the Monstas are coming through Day By Day unless someone is making an offer they can’t refuse. We are concentrating on Megalon and Rodan, both have albums coming out in the fall. X-Ray is working with Kong.

How many members of MIC are there in total?

I couldn’t even tell you. Rodan is in charge of MIC. I am a member and the founder but he organizes everyone. My mind is on Day By Day right now. You know, MIC also stands for Money in Circles. We have other aliases. We go by other names, like for instance I’m Allan Grimmspan.

How open are you to talking about when you got shot?

It is something that happened and it is really relevant but that was nine years ago, going on 10 years. That is really the past. It was something that was meant to be or it wouldn’t have happened. The creator’s got a purpose for us all.  I don’t see it as a punishment, I see it as a blessing. It made me a stronger man. I prefer not to get into it. But basically, it was a product of my life, a situation caused by the way I was living. It led to me being in this wheel chair but it was a beautiful thing. It could have been worse. I could have gotten hit by a cab and killed the next day. I prefer not to question things like that anymore.