Hot Rhymes in a Hard Place: Meet the Teen Hip-Hop Heroes of 3 Problems
3 Problems’ best song is called “Come Around.” In it, the guys explain in clear, heartbreaking detail why a young kid would turn to a life of crime. “They say fuck our applications, so we slangin’ dope,” raps Merriweather. “‘Cause you ain’t gotta fill an app just to cop a ‘o.'” (An ‘o’ is an ounce.) Their “For a Fcknigga” video features them pointing semiautomatic guns at the camera in front of an abandoned shipping container.
3 Problems started as something of a boy band. PG singalongs like “Tell the D.J.” (“You can tell the DJ to play our song”) helped them build a following, but were eventually replaced by the more ominous tones of their newer music. They’re adept at either style, with a gift for choruses that stay with you, and sharp songwriting regardless of the subject matter.
Johnson – instantly relatable, exuding charisma – is their ringleader, while Merriweather is the obvious breakout star, with a Drake-like ability to switch between rapping and singing, his braids bouncing as he gleefully threatens adversaries. 3 Problems have opened shows for popular acts like Rich Kidz and Webbie, and are allied with a local crew called Street Sweepers. It includes the artists Nerve, YD, Twon, and, most notably, LA4SS, another young rapper who is close to breaking out. Word about 3 Problems has been spreading; Johnson says he gets Instagram messages from fans all over the South.
Lacking a production budget, 3 Problems got the beats for some of their songs – including “Come Around” and “For a Fcknigga” – from YouTube instrumentals, and can’t remember who produced them. Otherwise, their beats and engineering come largely courtesy of a local veteran named Playboy. Like the city itself, the St. Louis sound is a cross between Midwestern and Southern influences, with the Chicago drill scene an obvious touchstone.
Terrell Brown Sr. is 3 Problems’ manager, and the father of their incarcerated groupmate. He’s had his own problems; last year he was released from federal prison after serving three years on drug-conspiracy charges. But he met a valuable connection inside, a music-industry veteran who taught him how to shape an act. “Hopefully they’ll make it out of a bad situation into a good situation,” he says.
Brown Sr., says it’s important not to confuse the group’s hip-hop personas with their real lives. But it’s not always so easy to separate the two. Merriweather and Johnson have both been shot at – Merriweather has been hit, though the bullet passed through his arm, and he says he used to steal cars. He also says that, in October 2012, he was beaten up by the St. Louis police, because they thought he had drugs on him. “They took me down to the station and tried to charge me with assaulting an officer, but they didn’t have anything so they let me go.”
According to St. Louis PD’s official report on the incident, police had been called “after a report of subjects armed with guns.” Several people dispersed after officers arrived, including Merriweather, but an officer caught up with him. Merriweather “struck the officer in the face with a closed fist,” the report said, adding that a struggle ensued and Merriweather continued to resist arrest until he was pepper-sprayed. He was taken into custody but released to his mother because he was a juvenile. No guns or drugs were found.