On this date in 1981, rapper Greydon Square, né Eddie Collins, was born in Compton, Calif. Square is an outspoken atheist whose clever lyrics focus on atheism, science, philosophy and criticisms of religion. He also has rapped about his experiences growing up in Compton and serving in the war in Iraq. His parents are absent from his life, so as a child and teen he lived in several different group homes. He taught himself how to play piano at one of the group homes when he was 9.
As a teen he joined the gang Tragniew Park Compton Crips. At 19 he decided to make a change in his life and join the army, where he was deployed to the front lines in Iraq. Square began studying physics at Arizona State University but later changed to computer science. He became an atheist at 25 when he began to think critically about religion. He has a large fanbase in the atheist community.
Square has released seven albums, as of this writing: Absolute (2004), The Compton Effect (2007), The C.P.T. Theorem (2008), Type I: The Kardashev Scale (2010), Type II: The Mandelbrot Set (2012), Omniverse: Type 3: Aum niverse (2015) and Compton Scattering (2016).
