The duo spent their early years in El Salvador, a Central American nation torn apart by civil war. As youth, they immigrated with their parents to the United States in search of a new beginning and a better future. They settled in a housing project in East Los Angeles, a new environment that came with its own unique challenges.

In East Los Angeles, the brothers faced difficulties of gang warfare, drugs, alcohol, and criminal elements. They focused on their music as a protection from the shootings and fights that occurred outside of their home. The confrontations between other young immigrants and the police turned into music and the stories of their lives became their lyrics.

The boys were ambitious and planned a future for themselves that would help them get out of their poor neighborhood. They wanted to become music stars and so the brothers began to toy with a musical style of their own. They quickly found that their musical interests differed, Victor had always preferred the music of his roots, with lyrics in Spanish while Johnny loved American rap music. Representing their new reality, as Salvadorans living in Los Angeles, they developed a fusion of their two musical interests.

[edit]Influences

The brothers combined the Latin music that they heard from their parents with the new sounds they encountered in Los Angeles. They brought together: Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, Vico C, Gilberto Santa Rosa, NWA, Gangstarr, EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Mellow Man Ace, Biz Markie, Cypress Hill, A.L.T., Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Notorious BIG.

They christened their new style as "crooked" because "it consists of combining the old Spanish music and new hip hop music," says Johnny. After defining their sound and style, the group began recording in 1993.

Crooked Stilo is a hip-hop duo formed by brothers Victor and Johnny Lopez.