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