Status: Most current and comprehensive

Released: Mid-2025

Views: 100,000+

Entries: 1,100+

Creator: “Tiny Joker”

Verification: Partially corroborated by law enforcement in a 2025 Detroit News article (tag wars, set activity, neighborhood conflicts)

Coverage: Detroit, Metro Detroit, and multiple Michigan cities

Overview

The Real Detroit Map is the most detailed modern archive of Detroit’s streets, sets, cliques, historic crews, defunct groups, cultural landmarks, schools, and verified graffiti and gang conflicts. Widely used in mini-documentaries and street-topic breakdowns, it has become the current reference standard.

It includes extensive sections such as Streets & Hoods, Reputables, Historic Gangs, Famous Murders, Projects, Closed Schools, and regional expansions covering Flint, Grand Rapids, Muskegon Heights, Lansing, Holland, Battle Creek, and more.

Notable Features

• Over 1,100 entries with consistent updates
• Broad historical scope combined with modern graffiti documentation
• Detailed color-coded key for nations, cliques, defunct sets, schools, and cultural sites
• Public, non-affiliated disclaimer clarifying no insider knowledge
• Used by researchers, YouTube documentaries, and street-topic channels
• Referenced by outlets like Kulture Vulturez and Detroit News

Assessment

• Reliability: High
• Depth: Very High
• Weakness: Large scale requires ongoing maintenance

MAP AUTHOR PROFILE:

Zahid Sekou Matthews, also known by his street moniker “Tiny Joker,” (or simply “Joker”) is described as a documented member of the ScoreGang (SCRG) Crips, an Eight Tray Gangster Crip offshoot based in northwest Detroit, Michigan, primarily within the Five Points neighborhood (48219 ZIP code). The group has reportedly been active since approximately 2019 and has been associated with a broad range of criminal activities.

Originally a localized northwest Detroit graffiti or “tagger crew” known as the Bloc Side Soldiers (B.S.S.), the organization evolved into a violent street gang after adopting an 8Tray Gangster Crip identity and forming the ScoreGang. The group has been associated with narcotics trafficking, violent offenses, weapons violations, and organized street vandalism. Its primary territory is centered around the West Seven Mile and Five Points corridors of northwest Detroit, where it operates as an independent local organization with an organized-crime structure used to maintain territorial influence and control.

Matthews first gained significant public visibility through a long-form investigative journalism feature published by The Detroit News.

Background & Early Life

Education: Matthews attended Ludington Magnet Middle School before graduating from Loyola High School in 2019. While at Loyola, he was a track and field athlete who competed primarily in sprinting and relay events.

Gang Evolution: Around 2019, Matthews transitioned his northwest Detroit graffiti crew, the Bloc Side Soldiers (B.S.S.), into what he describes as a full-fledged street-gang identity by adopting the 8Tray Gangster Crip identity and forming ScoreGang (SCRG). His alias, “Tiny Joker,” was reportedly adopted in homage to prolific early Crip tagger Tommy “Shakur” Ross, who was known as “Joker.”

Media Feature & Criminal History

The Detroit News Profile: In August 2025, Matthews, identified as Zahid Sekou a/k/a “Tiny Joker,” was featured prominently on the front page of The Detroit News in a dedicated “Tag Wars” feature examining localized gang tagging in Detroit and the “numeric ciphers” used in street graffiti. Matthews provided insight into the culture and meaning behind the markings.

Matthews also created “The Real Detroit Map,” a large-scale interactive archive containing more than 1,100 entries and over 100,000 views, documenting Detroit-area streets, hoods, sets, cliques, historic crews, defunct groups, cultural landmarks, schools, and documented graffiti and gang conflicts. The map has been used in mini-documentaries, YouTube street-topic breakdowns, and independent research, and has been referenced by outlets including Kulture Vulturez and The Detroit News.

The archive features sections covering Streets & Hoods, Reputables, Historic Gangs, Famous Murders, Projects, Closed Schools, and regional expansions into Flint, Grand Rapids, Muskegon Heights, Lansing, Holland, Battle Creek, and other Michigan communities. It combines historical research with modern graffiti documentation and uses a detailed color-coded key to distinguish nations, cliques, defunct sets, schools, and cultural sites. The map also maintains a public, non-affiliated disclaimer stating that it does not represent insider or official law-enforcement knowledge.

Legal Record: Matthews has not been convicted of a gang-specific offense, which is consistent with The Detroit Newsreferring to him as a “purported” gang member. He does, however, have a misdemeanor conviction for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI). He served more than 18 months of probation and spent nine days in the Oakland County Jail, where authorities documented that he had drawn “ETG” (Eight Tray Gangster) graffiti on his cell wall.

Matthews also has permanent tattoos displaying “SCRG” and other ScoreGang Crips/W7M ETGC-associated iconography and insignia.

Taken together, these indicators form the basis for identifying Matthews with the SCRG Crips: he has been publicly identified in local news coverage in connection with the organization, has acknowledged or been associated with gang-related graffiti and vandalism, was documented using ETG (Eight Tray Gangster / Evergreen Telegraph Gangster) graffiti while incarcerated, and bears permanent tattoos displaying gang-specific identifiers.

Status: First modern map; now outdated but historically important

Released: Early 2020

Last real update: 2022 (page later shows Aug 2025 edit but no meaningful changes)

Views: 1.5 million+

Entries: 167

Creator: Reddit user u/scbkdeezy

Scope: Detroit only

Overview

The “Detroit Gang Map (W.I.P.)” was the first large-scale attempt to map Detroit neighborhoods and sets. Allegedly created by a user from Schoolcraft (722), it became a staple in early Detroit street-topic videos and online hip-hop discussions.

It remains the most widely viewed map, but its information is several years old and does not reflect newer cliques, shifting alliances, or modern tag wars.

Notable Features

• Four sections:Hoods, Old School Gangs (50s–2000s), Gang Sets, Cliques
• “For entertainment and musical purposes only” disclaimer
• Heavy cultural footprint: used in early documentaries despite limited accuracy

Assessment

• Reliability: Moderate to Low (current day)
• Depth: Low to Moderate
• Weakness: Limited updates; functions more as a relic than an active reference

MAP AUTHOR PROFILE:

“u/scbkdeezy” is an alleged longtime Detroit resident who reportedly congregated and communicated with various Detroit-based gang members and affiliates to compile a “Detroit gang map,” reportedly the first of its kind. The map was originally published on the r/crimeinthed subreddit, a community centered around both serious and unserious discussions of Detroit’s street culture and underground scene.

The map quickly gained traction online and reportedly accumulated millions of views over the years. However, many Michiganders have argued that the map is extremely outdated, particularly given that it contains only 167 entries covering the entirety of Detroit and its surrounding areas. Beyond the map itself, relatively little is publicly known about its author.

Status: Accurate statewide overview; not as detailed locally

Released: Late 2024

Views: 25,000+

Entries: 457

Creator: Reddit user r/WHATHUH699

Scope: Entire state of Michigan

Overview

The Michigan Gang Map offers a broad look at gang nations and cliques across the state. Created by a 6 Mile resident, it includes a clear color-coded system covering Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Saginaw, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Muskegon Heights, and the southwest region.

The map openly states its limitations—some info may be outdated, some lines mark roads rather than borders, and all entries should be taken cautiously. This transparency contributes to its credibility.

Notable Features

• Simple, clear nation-based color key (Bloods, Crips, GDs, VLs, BPS, Sur, etc.)
• Regional layers for major Michigan cities
• Cultural/demographic explanation of Detroit and Southwest
• Not widely used in documentaries but often referenced by Reddit and Discord users

Assessment

• Reliability: Moderate
• Depth: Moderate
• Weakness: Not a deep-dive; lacks neighborhood-level detail compared to 2025 map

MAP AUTHOR PROFILE

Not much is known about the author of this “gang map,” other than that he is a Reddit user who frequents the r/crimeinthed subreddit. The user u/WHATUH699 claims to be from Detroit’s McNichols (also known as “6 Mile”) area near Wyoming. Beyond that, he/she remains an anonymous Reddit user who uploaded a somewhat informative statewide gang map.

Detroit’s online gang-geography mapping has moved through three major stages:

1. Foundation (2020): The first Detroit Gang Map introduced the concept but became outdated quickly.
2. Expansion (2024): The Michigan Gang Map broadened the frame statewide with careful disclaimers.
3. Verification Era (2025): The Real Detroit Map emerged as the most accurate and comprehensive, combining street-level documentation with historical and cultural archiving.

Together, these maps form Detroit’s modern digital record of neighborhood identity, set history, and urban geography.