Berkeley Rapper Caleborate career began to take off in 2016, when his single “Options” hit big, with more than 1 million plays on Spotify. But as his new album Real Person makes clear, Caleborate AKA Caleb Parker isn’t on an ego trip, even though our Senior Arts Editor Gabe Meline dubbed Caleborate “the East Bay’s next rap titan.” My co-host Jamedra Brown Fleischman and I decided our favorite song is “Caught Up,” about Caleborate’s troubled relationship with his dad. In it he sings:
I’m just a byproduct of the pain I keep inside of
My mind is always racing, but they ain’t no f***ing driver
My heart is more cold than a pimp to a client
’cause I am not perfect, unlike God’s timing
I wanna do better, and I’m tryin’
Caleborate plays the The Cornerstone in Berkeley Feb. 22, and then he’s at The Atrium in Santa Cruz on Feb. 28. Details here.
