Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)
Berkeley Rapper LOE Gino's Got Birkenstocks — and Bars
You Never Thought That Hip-Hop Could Take It This Far
When Family Business Becomes Big Business
E-40 Gets the Key to the City of Vallejo and a Street Named in His Honor
'E-40 Way' To Be Unveiled in Vallejo as City Honors Famed Rapper
Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery
E-40, Too Short, Chuck D and More Rap Legends on Their Early Hip-Hop Influences
How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s
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From sourdough bread to the eternal Mission-style burrito, the Bay’s foodmakers have often been ahead of the curve, helping to revolutionize menus nationwide with their fresh farm-to-table approach. To borrow from the great Mac, one could say that in the Bay Area, we \u003ci>eat\u003c/i> a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13907726,arts_13934248']\u003c/span>It’s no surprise, then, that in the history of local rap, food has always been a strong reference point — a metaphorical kitchen for creative exchange. An endless platter of well-seasoned slang. For decades, our rappers have delivered punchlines involving sauce, lasagna and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMah0rX6pGU\">lumpia\u003c/a>; dropped verses that generously reference \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBJR5L2nas\">desserts and bakeries\u003c/a>; and supplied entire songs about stacking bread, cheese and lettuce as lucrative sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-rap-shrimp-crab-17915372.php\">Food-loving Bay Area rappers\u003c/a> have always been bold when it comes to transmorphing culinary items and kitchen utensils into slang that others then appropriate and even misuse (see: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908052/food-doesnt-slap\">food doesn’t slap\u003c/a>”). Shock G once talked about getting busy in a Burger King bathroom and declared, “I like my oatmeal lumpy.” On “Dreganomics,” Mac Dre himself asked, “What’s spaghetti without the sauce?” We’ve got Suga T (sweet) and Spice 1 (hot). Berner founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cookiessf/?hl=en\">Cookies\u003c/a>. And just a few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a> dropped a whole series of viral videos centered on his latest single. His focus? \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@jayworrld/video/7340701934355254574\">Eating a salad\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a unifying ethos in Bay Area food and rap: \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GU3PmttyI\">Everybody eats\u003c/a>. So here’s a brief ode to some of our region’s most skilled vocabulary chefs and the tasteful ways they’ve reimagined the ingredients of language that are possible in a kitchen — and the recording studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956090\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper E-40 in sunglasses and a beige apron, holding a glass of red wine. In front of him are a burrito and a grilled cheese sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 might be the most prolific inventor of food-related slang words in the English language. He’s a head chef in the Bay Area’s rap kingdom. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>E-40: Green eggs, hams, candy yams, Spam, cheese, peanut butter and jam on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIBcRriUJY\">The Slap\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Digital scale, green eggs and hams / Yams, candy yams, Spam, damn! / Loaded, my cheese, peanut butter and jam / Sammich, mannish, me and my Hispanics / Vanish, talkin’ in codes like we from different planets.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it may sound like gibberish to the uninitiated, rest assured that \u003ca href=\"https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2013/12/food-rap-decoded-with-e-40-video\">99.99% of anything 40 Water vocalizes has a cleverly associative meaning\u003c/a>. For anyone who has listened to one of the more than 25 studio albums from Vallejo’s kingpin, you’ve surely heard him mention food — perhaps in a variety of languages (some real, some ingeniously invented). In addition to the smorgasbord he notes above in “The Slap,” he has pioneered rhymes across generations that give new meanings to Gouda, feta, mozzarella, lettuce, bread, sausage, salami, paninis, spaghetti, tacos and enchiladas — ad infinitum. Unsurprisingly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">Mr. Fonzarelli is an actual purveyor of foods and beverages\u003c/a>, with a line of products that includes malt liquor, ice cream and burritos; he even co-owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelumpiacompany/\">The Lumpia Company\u003c/a>. There’s no one with a bigger million-dollar mouthpiece who can distribute as much word candy (“S-L-A-N-G”) quite as flavorfully as the Goon With The Spoon himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andre Nickatina: TOGO’s #41 sandwich with the hot peppers on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FU1XdPE6lM\">Fa Show\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Baby don’t act dumb, I’m number 41, high stepper / TOGO’s sandwich with the hot peppers / At 90 degrees I might freeze, so when it’s hot I sport leather.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fillmore’s finest, and among \u003ca href=\"https://www.passionweiss.com/2016/11/17/andre-nickatina/\">the most criminally underrated San Francisco rappers in history\u003c/a>, Andre Nickatina has always had a penchant for the spicy, the flavorful, the extemporaneously saucy. From rapping about eating Cap’n Crunch around drug dealers to sarcastically handing out Baskin Robbins dollars to his enemies, Nicky Nicotine (formerly known as Dre Dog) raps about food as casually as any rapper would ever dare. Unlike many of today’s international rap personalities, who seem to only eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/6frbt9/why_are_rappers_obsessed_with_nobu_sushi/\">high-priced sushi conglomerates\u003c/a>, Nickatina is a Bay Area real one, electing to stay fed at a regional sandwich chain from San Jose. The enigmatic “number 41” on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.togos.com/menu/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwoPOwBhAeEiwAJuXRh69gJ2fS8J9qmnAKJEnCmI5720psTxEmhEmkgFAemWoe3auyNuuxExoCTm0QAvD_BwE\">Togo’s menu\u003c/a> has since been discontinued, but a spokesperson for the restaurant IDed it as a sirloin steak and mushroom sandwich that was introduced as a seasonal special back in 2002 — the same year “Fa Show” was released. There is no doubt it must’ve been fire, given its endorsement by a legend who knows how to professionally “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TXpoi-goE\">Break Bread\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956088\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Kamaiyah eating from a plate of chicken alfredo tucked under her arm. Next to her is a bottle of champagne.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamaiyah’s album covers often feature food, Hennessey and champagne — a reflection of the rapper’s saucy, bossy lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Kamaiyah: Champagne and chicken on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls2dMJ63tM\">Whatever Whenever\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Just drink champagne with all my chicken meals.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s fitting that East Oakland’s Kamaiyah — who cooked up the searingly hot single “How Does It Feel” on her transcendent debut, \u003ci>A Good Night in the Ghetto\u003c/i> — continued to double down on aspirational living and good eating with her sophomore release, \u003ci>Got It Made\u003c/i>. As always, the bodacious trapper rhymes over a synth-laced, floaty-spaceship soundscape while bragging about her California riches — and cuisine. The music video for “Whatever Whenever” features Kamaiyah roaming the untainted grounds of a Napa Valley-esque chateau. Her album covers over the years have also featured bags of potato chips, Hennessy and double-fisted bottles of champagne. It’s always bottoms up when Kamaiyah is on the track.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too $hort: Macaroni, steak and collard greens on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5B8cFskaw\">All My B*tches Are Gone\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Eat some shit up / macaroni, steak, collard greens, or whatever the fuck.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With over 35 years of classic albums like \u003ci>Cocktails\u003c/i> and \u003ci>Gettin’ It\u003c/i>, there’s no doubt that Short Dogg knows how to feed his multi-generational fanbase. He doesn’t shy away from straightforward lyrics — or having a large appetite for nefarious activities — and he has continued to make seasoned slaps for precisely 225,000 hours and counting (“get a calculator, do the math”). This OG’s plate of choice includes classic soul food staples served with a slab of steak. As the veteran unmistakably outlines on “This How We Eat”: “We make money, we eat, we feed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956087\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Larry June in an SF Giants cap, holding a crab cracker in one hand and a fork in the other. In front of him is a whole lobster on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besides establishing himself as the healthiest rapper in Bay Area lore, Larry June is also known for sporting vintage muscle cars and cracking lobsters in Sausalito as part of his luxurious lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Larry June: Crab legs on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luIhlZBrJos\">Lifetime Income\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“This not my girlfriend, we just eatin’ crab legs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you know Larry June, then you know he’s all about smoothies, green teas, organic juices and oranges (yee hee!). But just as buttery are his numerously silky references to luxury meals and late-night outings with a seemingly endless rotation of women friends. Without question, the Hunters Point rapper has one of the healthiest appetites of anyone around a microphone, regularly dropping rhymes about his organic sustenance. Since Uncle Larry makes a living off his out-of-pocket food references, he merits an honorable mention for dropping other absolute bangers like “I might write a motherfuckin’ smoothie book or somethin’ … Sell this shit for thirty dollars” and “Watermelon juice riding bikes with my latest chick / I don’t do the clubs that often, I got a check to get.” It’s fitting that \u003ca href=\"https://uproxx.com/music/larry-june-interview-san-francisco/\">he also co-owns Honeybear Boba in the Dogpatch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Iamsu!: Chicken strips and Moscato on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcxMU3uvLg\">Don’t Stop\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Keep it real I don’t brag though… / Chicken strips, no escargot / [sippin’] on the Moscato.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, this lyric is from a young, mixtape-era Iamsu! and might not reflect the current palate of the multi-platinum rapper and producer from Richmond. (In fact, that’s probably true of every rapper on this list, so take these lyrics with a grain of salt.) But when I first heard this song in my 20s, it’s a line that did — and still does — resonate for its unglamorized celebration of living on a low-budget microwaveable diet while maintaining a glimmer of high-life ambition. Personally, I’d take chicken strips over escargot nine out of ten times. And, from the sound of it, so would Suzy 6 Speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956086\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956086\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"The rapper P-Lo wiggles his fingers in delight over a plate of chicken wings sitting on a bed of dollar bills.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">P-Lo often raps about his love of chicken (chicken adobo, fried chicken, chicken wings), and his favorite food-related slang word is also “chicken” (as a stand in for “money”). \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>P-Lo: Chicken wings in the strip club on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ajtPhAQ1U\">Going To Work\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“In the strip club eating chicken wings.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13938479']\u003c/span>There may not be another rapper on this list with as much love for chicken wings as Pinole’s P-Lo. For starters, the lyricist and producer launched a transnational food tour, teaming up with Filipino restaurants around the U.S. and Canada to deliver collaborative one-off dishes, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935891/p-lo-senor-sisig-filipino-food-tour-oakland\">his own spicy sinigang wings at Señor Sisig in Oakland\u003c/a>. If that’s not enough, he has popped up on popular social media channels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodz/?hl=en\">Bay Area Foodz\u003c/a> as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJYkVcpM6E0\">he searches for the best wings around the Yay\u003c/a>. His songs are even featured on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwyzdhfrNCE/\">national commercials for Wingstop\u003c/a>. For P-Lo, it’s always time to bring back the bass — and taste.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Guap (formerly Guapdad 4000): Chicken adobo on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DaovaJgytE\">Chicken Adobo\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“How I fell in love with you it was beautiful / Like chicken adobo how you fill me up.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Black Filipino American rapper from West Oakland, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">food has always played a central role in his upbringing\u003c/a>. The anime-loving, Marvel comics fan grew up in a Filipino household eating champorado, and his songs have never shied away from references to his dual cultures. In what might be his most well-known song, Guap equates romantic satiation to filling up on a bowl of chicken adobo. His love of food goes beyond the booth — he recently spoke out on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950363/keith-lee-tiktok-oakland-sf-bay-area-struggles\">the recent Keith Lee fiasco\u003c/a>, and he also put together\u003ca href=\"https://trippin.world/guide/oaklands-top-food-joints-with-rapper-guapdad-4000\"> a map of his favorite places to eat around The Town\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cellski: Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar cheese on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6wFRZOd7n8\">Chedda\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Gotta get the cheddar, fuck the [federals].”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As most food mentions in Bay Area rap goes, Cellski’s mention of this quintessentially North American breakfast combo isn’t exactly a homage to the real ingredients, as much as it is a reference to his hustling. His 1998 \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/841568-Cellski-Canadian-Bacon-Hash-Browns/image/SW1hZ2U6NDg3ODMxNzk=\">album cover\u003c/a> for \u003ci>Canadian Bacon & Hash Browns \u003c/i>features a cartoon depiction of the rapper getting pulled over and arrested by a Canadian mountie, with an open trunk revealing pounds of medicinal herbs. Nonetheless, there’s a good chance that the veteran San Francisco spitter actually does like to carry Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar around — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922141/cellskis-big-mafi-burgers-come-with-a-side-of-sf-rap-history\">he’s a part-time foodie who runs his own burger pop-up, after all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956089\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Dru Down in gold sunglasses and a black trench coat, holding an ice cream cone in one hand and an ice cream sundae on the table in front of him.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a famous 1996 beef, Dru Down and the Luniz accused New Orleans rapper Master P (who started his musical career in the Bay Area) for stealing their concept of the “Ice Cream Man” — slang for a narcotics dealer. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dru Down: Ice cream on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNv2qAje-Q\">Ice Cream Man\u003c/a>” (with the Luniz)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Get your ice cream, ice cream / Not Ice-T, not Ice Cube, ice cream.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not intended for children, the classic 1993 anthem off Dru Down’s \u003ci>Fools From The Street \u003c/i>paints a startling picture of addiction and illicit drug distribution around Oakland in the wake of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs. Despite its unapologetic content, “Ice Cream Man” went on to establish an indisputably popular food motif in national rap music: ice cream as a stand-in for drug dealing. Since the production includes an audio sampling of an ice cream truck’s inimitable tune, listening to it evokes a sense of nostalgia for the frozen treat — and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">golden-era Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A brief look at some of the Bay Area’s most notoriously hungry rappers — and the foods they’ve lyricized about.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713412777,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":28,"wordCount":2211},"headData":{"title":"Bay Area Rappers and Food Lyrics | KQED","description":"A brief look at some of the Bay Area’s most notoriously hungry rappers — and the foods they’ve lyricized about.","ogTitle":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Bay Area Rappers and Food Lyrics %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","datePublished":"2024-04-17T21:52:32.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-18T03:59:37.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Food","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/food","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen conveying what it means to really be from the Bay Area, I often return to this simple yet revelatory \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mac-dre\">Mac Dre\u003c/a> lyric: “In the Bay Area, we dance a little different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether it’s in our music, political activism or technological contributions, there’s a certain out-of-box forwardness that tends to manifest from Bay Area minds — and a pride in how we approach everything with a savvy sprinkling of game, hustlership and top-tier ideation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same can be said for the Bay Area’s food scene, which ranks among the nation’s best and most imaginative. From sourdough bread to the eternal Mission-style burrito, the Bay’s foodmakers have often been ahead of the curve, helping to revolutionize menus nationwide with their fresh farm-to-table approach. To borrow from the great Mac, one could say that in the Bay Area, we \u003ci>eat\u003c/i> a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13907726,arts_13934248","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>It’s no surprise, then, that in the history of local rap, food has always been a strong reference point — a metaphorical kitchen for creative exchange. An endless platter of well-seasoned slang. For decades, our rappers have delivered punchlines involving sauce, lasagna and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMah0rX6pGU\">lumpia\u003c/a>; dropped verses that generously reference \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBJR5L2nas\">desserts and bakeries\u003c/a>; and supplied entire songs about stacking bread, cheese and lettuce as lucrative sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-rap-shrimp-crab-17915372.php\">Food-loving Bay Area rappers\u003c/a> have always been bold when it comes to transmorphing culinary items and kitchen utensils into slang that others then appropriate and even misuse (see: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908052/food-doesnt-slap\">food doesn’t slap\u003c/a>”). Shock G once talked about getting busy in a Burger King bathroom and declared, “I like my oatmeal lumpy.” On “Dreganomics,” Mac Dre himself asked, “What’s spaghetti without the sauce?” We’ve got Suga T (sweet) and Spice 1 (hot). Berner founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cookiessf/?hl=en\">Cookies\u003c/a>. And just a few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a> dropped a whole series of viral videos centered on his latest single. His focus? \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@jayworrld/video/7340701934355254574\">Eating a salad\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a unifying ethos in Bay Area food and rap: \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GU3PmttyI\">Everybody eats\u003c/a>. So here’s a brief ode to some of our region’s most skilled vocabulary chefs and the tasteful ways they’ve reimagined the ingredients of language that are possible in a kitchen — and the recording studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956090\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper E-40 in sunglasses and a beige apron, holding a glass of red wine. In front of him are a burrito and a grilled cheese sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 might be the most prolific inventor of food-related slang words in the English language. He’s a head chef in the Bay Area’s rap kingdom. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>E-40: Green eggs, hams, candy yams, Spam, cheese, peanut butter and jam on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIBcRriUJY\">The Slap\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Digital scale, green eggs and hams / Yams, candy yams, Spam, damn! / Loaded, my cheese, peanut butter and jam / Sammich, mannish, me and my Hispanics / Vanish, talkin’ in codes like we from different planets.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it may sound like gibberish to the uninitiated, rest assured that \u003ca href=\"https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2013/12/food-rap-decoded-with-e-40-video\">99.99% of anything 40 Water vocalizes has a cleverly associative meaning\u003c/a>. For anyone who has listened to one of the more than 25 studio albums from Vallejo’s kingpin, you’ve surely heard him mention food — perhaps in a variety of languages (some real, some ingeniously invented). In addition to the smorgasbord he notes above in “The Slap,” he has pioneered rhymes across generations that give new meanings to Gouda, feta, mozzarella, lettuce, bread, sausage, salami, paninis, spaghetti, tacos and enchiladas — ad infinitum. Unsurprisingly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">Mr. Fonzarelli is an actual purveyor of foods and beverages\u003c/a>, with a line of products that includes malt liquor, ice cream and burritos; he even co-owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelumpiacompany/\">The Lumpia Company\u003c/a>. There’s no one with a bigger million-dollar mouthpiece who can distribute as much word candy (“S-L-A-N-G”) quite as flavorfully as the Goon With The Spoon himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andre Nickatina: TOGO’s #41 sandwich with the hot peppers on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FU1XdPE6lM\">Fa Show\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Baby don’t act dumb, I’m number 41, high stepper / TOGO’s sandwich with the hot peppers / At 90 degrees I might freeze, so when it’s hot I sport leather.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fillmore’s finest, and among \u003ca href=\"https://www.passionweiss.com/2016/11/17/andre-nickatina/\">the most criminally underrated San Francisco rappers in history\u003c/a>, Andre Nickatina has always had a penchant for the spicy, the flavorful, the extemporaneously saucy. From rapping about eating Cap’n Crunch around drug dealers to sarcastically handing out Baskin Robbins dollars to his enemies, Nicky Nicotine (formerly known as Dre Dog) raps about food as casually as any rapper would ever dare. Unlike many of today’s international rap personalities, who seem to only eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/6frbt9/why_are_rappers_obsessed_with_nobu_sushi/\">high-priced sushi conglomerates\u003c/a>, Nickatina is a Bay Area real one, electing to stay fed at a regional sandwich chain from San Jose. The enigmatic “number 41” on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.togos.com/menu/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwoPOwBhAeEiwAJuXRh69gJ2fS8J9qmnAKJEnCmI5720psTxEmhEmkgFAemWoe3auyNuuxExoCTm0QAvD_BwE\">Togo’s menu\u003c/a> has since been discontinued, but a spokesperson for the restaurant IDed it as a sirloin steak and mushroom sandwich that was introduced as a seasonal special back in 2002 — the same year “Fa Show” was released. There is no doubt it must’ve been fire, given its endorsement by a legend who knows how to professionally “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TXpoi-goE\">Break Bread\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956088\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Kamaiyah eating from a plate of chicken alfredo tucked under her arm. Next to her is a bottle of champagne.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamaiyah’s album covers often feature food, Hennessey and champagne — a reflection of the rapper’s saucy, bossy lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Kamaiyah: Champagne and chicken on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls2dMJ63tM\">Whatever Whenever\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Just drink champagne with all my chicken meals.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s fitting that East Oakland’s Kamaiyah — who cooked up the searingly hot single “How Does It Feel” on her transcendent debut, \u003ci>A Good Night in the Ghetto\u003c/i> — continued to double down on aspirational living and good eating with her sophomore release, \u003ci>Got It Made\u003c/i>. As always, the bodacious trapper rhymes over a synth-laced, floaty-spaceship soundscape while bragging about her California riches — and cuisine. The music video for “Whatever Whenever” features Kamaiyah roaming the untainted grounds of a Napa Valley-esque chateau. Her album covers over the years have also featured bags of potato chips, Hennessy and double-fisted bottles of champagne. It’s always bottoms up when Kamaiyah is on the track.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too $hort: Macaroni, steak and collard greens on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5B8cFskaw\">All My B*tches Are Gone\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Eat some shit up / macaroni, steak, collard greens, or whatever the fuck.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With over 35 years of classic albums like \u003ci>Cocktails\u003c/i> and \u003ci>Gettin’ It\u003c/i>, there’s no doubt that Short Dogg knows how to feed his multi-generational fanbase. He doesn’t shy away from straightforward lyrics — or having a large appetite for nefarious activities — and he has continued to make seasoned slaps for precisely 225,000 hours and counting (“get a calculator, do the math”). This OG’s plate of choice includes classic soul food staples served with a slab of steak. As the veteran unmistakably outlines on “This How We Eat”: “We make money, we eat, we feed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956087\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Larry June in an SF Giants cap, holding a crab cracker in one hand and a fork in the other. In front of him is a whole lobster on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besides establishing himself as the healthiest rapper in Bay Area lore, Larry June is also known for sporting vintage muscle cars and cracking lobsters in Sausalito as part of his luxurious lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Larry June: Crab legs on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luIhlZBrJos\">Lifetime Income\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“This not my girlfriend, we just eatin’ crab legs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you know Larry June, then you know he’s all about smoothies, green teas, organic juices and oranges (yee hee!). But just as buttery are his numerously silky references to luxury meals and late-night outings with a seemingly endless rotation of women friends. Without question, the Hunters Point rapper has one of the healthiest appetites of anyone around a microphone, regularly dropping rhymes about his organic sustenance. Since Uncle Larry makes a living off his out-of-pocket food references, he merits an honorable mention for dropping other absolute bangers like “I might write a motherfuckin’ smoothie book or somethin’ … Sell this shit for thirty dollars” and “Watermelon juice riding bikes with my latest chick / I don’t do the clubs that often, I got a check to get.” It’s fitting that \u003ca href=\"https://uproxx.com/music/larry-june-interview-san-francisco/\">he also co-owns Honeybear Boba in the Dogpatch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Iamsu!: Chicken strips and Moscato on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcxMU3uvLg\">Don’t Stop\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Keep it real I don’t brag though… / Chicken strips, no escargot / [sippin’] on the Moscato.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, this lyric is from a young, mixtape-era Iamsu! and might not reflect the current palate of the multi-platinum rapper and producer from Richmond. (In fact, that’s probably true of every rapper on this list, so take these lyrics with a grain of salt.) But when I first heard this song in my 20s, it’s a line that did — and still does — resonate for its unglamorized celebration of living on a low-budget microwaveable diet while maintaining a glimmer of high-life ambition. Personally, I’d take chicken strips over escargot nine out of ten times. And, from the sound of it, so would Suzy 6 Speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956086\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956086\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"The rapper P-Lo wiggles his fingers in delight over a plate of chicken wings sitting on a bed of dollar bills.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">P-Lo often raps about his love of chicken (chicken adobo, fried chicken, chicken wings), and his favorite food-related slang word is also “chicken” (as a stand in for “money”). \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>P-Lo: Chicken wings in the strip club on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ajtPhAQ1U\">Going To Work\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“In the strip club eating chicken wings.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13938479","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>There may not be another rapper on this list with as much love for chicken wings as Pinole’s P-Lo. For starters, the lyricist and producer launched a transnational food tour, teaming up with Filipino restaurants around the U.S. and Canada to deliver collaborative one-off dishes, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935891/p-lo-senor-sisig-filipino-food-tour-oakland\">his own spicy sinigang wings at Señor Sisig in Oakland\u003c/a>. If that’s not enough, he has popped up on popular social media channels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodz/?hl=en\">Bay Area Foodz\u003c/a> as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJYkVcpM6E0\">he searches for the best wings around the Yay\u003c/a>. His songs are even featured on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwyzdhfrNCE/\">national commercials for Wingstop\u003c/a>. For P-Lo, it’s always time to bring back the bass — and taste.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Guap (formerly Guapdad 4000): Chicken adobo on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DaovaJgytE\">Chicken Adobo\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“How I fell in love with you it was beautiful / Like chicken adobo how you fill me up.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Black Filipino American rapper from West Oakland, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">food has always played a central role in his upbringing\u003c/a>. The anime-loving, Marvel comics fan grew up in a Filipino household eating champorado, and his songs have never shied away from references to his dual cultures. In what might be his most well-known song, Guap equates romantic satiation to filling up on a bowl of chicken adobo. His love of food goes beyond the booth — he recently spoke out on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950363/keith-lee-tiktok-oakland-sf-bay-area-struggles\">the recent Keith Lee fiasco\u003c/a>, and he also put together\u003ca href=\"https://trippin.world/guide/oaklands-top-food-joints-with-rapper-guapdad-4000\"> a map of his favorite places to eat around The Town\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cellski: Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar cheese on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6wFRZOd7n8\">Chedda\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Gotta get the cheddar, fuck the [federals].”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As most food mentions in Bay Area rap goes, Cellski’s mention of this quintessentially North American breakfast combo isn’t exactly a homage to the real ingredients, as much as it is a reference to his hustling. His 1998 \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/841568-Cellski-Canadian-Bacon-Hash-Browns/image/SW1hZ2U6NDg3ODMxNzk=\">album cover\u003c/a> for \u003ci>Canadian Bacon & Hash Browns \u003c/i>features a cartoon depiction of the rapper getting pulled over and arrested by a Canadian mountie, with an open trunk revealing pounds of medicinal herbs. Nonetheless, there’s a good chance that the veteran San Francisco spitter actually does like to carry Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar around — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922141/cellskis-big-mafi-burgers-come-with-a-side-of-sf-rap-history\">he’s a part-time foodie who runs his own burger pop-up, after all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956089\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Dru Down in gold sunglasses and a black trench coat, holding an ice cream cone in one hand and an ice cream sundae on the table in front of him.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a famous 1996 beef, Dru Down and the Luniz accused New Orleans rapper Master P (who started his musical career in the Bay Area) for stealing their concept of the “Ice Cream Man” — slang for a narcotics dealer. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dru Down: Ice cream on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNv2qAje-Q\">Ice Cream Man\u003c/a>” (with the Luniz)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Get your ice cream, ice cream / Not Ice-T, not Ice Cube, ice cream.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not intended for children, the classic 1993 anthem off Dru Down’s \u003ci>Fools From The Street \u003c/i>paints a startling picture of addiction and illicit drug distribution around Oakland in the wake of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs. Despite its unapologetic content, “Ice Cream Man” went on to establish an indisputably popular food motif in national rap music: ice cream as a stand-in for drug dealing. Since the production includes an audio sampling of an ice cream truck’s inimitable tune, listening to it evokes a sense of nostalgia for the frozen treat — and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">golden-era Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june","authors":["11748"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_12276","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_21883","arts_5397","arts_1601","arts_10278","arts_1297","arts_3771","arts_831","arts_21738","arts_1558","arts_9337","arts_1143","arts_1803","arts_1146","arts_19942","arts_19347","arts_3478","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13956152","label":"source_arts_13955802"},"arts_13953009":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13953009","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13953009","score":null,"sort":[1708994696000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"loe-gino-berkeley-birkenstocks-and-bars","title":"Berkeley Rapper LOE Gino's Got Birkenstocks — and Bars","publishDate":1708994696,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Berkeley Rapper LOE Gino’s Got Birkenstocks — and Bars | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>A few things to know about Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/loe.gino/\">LOE Gino\u003c/a>: He’s a rapper, delivery truck driver, and a self-proclaimed foodie. He avidly rocks Birkenstock sandals, \u003cem>with\u003c/em> socks, and has a clever way of putting personal pain into his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first part of his stage name, LOE, stands for \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/07/22/berkeley-hip-hop-artist-loe-gino\">loyalty over everything\u003c/a>. The second part, Gino, comes from his late mother, Gina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 6’3″ with locs, shaved at the side, he stands out in a crowd — and he’s often in one. He’s rocked stages all over the region, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxpteTyGdI/?img_index=1\">The Plant Queen\u003c/a> nursery shop in his hometown of Berkeley to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3RNmJrR_Jd/\">LaRussell’s pergola in Vallejo\u003c/a>. Last fall, I saw him perform a full set at Lola’s Lounge in Sacramento — a good portion of it while holding his young son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2458px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953018\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM.png\" alt=\"Berkeley rapper LOE Gino looks skyward.\" width=\"2458\" height=\"1616\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM.png 2458w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-800x526.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1020x671.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-160x105.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-768x505.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1536x1010.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-2048x1346.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1920x1262.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2458px) 100vw, 2458px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley rapper LOE Gino looks skyward. \u003ccite>(Jason 'Yeiseon' Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His bars are cerebral and relatable; another human writing to process their thoughts, and at the same time escape their thought process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Craft brew drinker, with the cold pizza / Thoughts everywhere, I’m a fucking over-thinker / Never trip when they catted, I just turned them into believers / Showed up for myself and that’s on Citas,” he says in the song “What’s Life Supposed To Look Like?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That idea of showing up for yourself, or SUFY, is a guiding principle in his career and brand. When he invited me over to listen to his new project, I had to show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13950855']Inside his home garage-slash studio space, Gino sat with his friend and multimedia producer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cheatcodeproductions_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cheatcode\u003c/a>, who handed me a pair of studio headphones. The plan was for me to listen to Gino’s new release, \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">\u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, after which they’d film my reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While I listened to the 15 minute-long project — head-nodding and stretching my legs on a pair of stairs in the backyard — they made small talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t recall the last time I pulled up to an artist’s crib and listened to their newest work. Nothing like standing next to someone while they play a recording of themselves, pouring out their heart over drums, snares and guitar riffs. Assessing someone’s latest contribution to humanity while being right next to them. It can make for a very awkward situation. \u003cem>What if the album doesn’t slap?!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13950431']The first three tracks of \u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i> are fun, full of clever bars and quality production. There’s a cold guitar solo from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gyrefunk/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gyrefunk\u003c/a> on “Lox n Stocks,” and a dope drum breakdown by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deafheff/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deaf Heff\u003c/a> on “Lavender Candles.” The EP’s lyrics reference the things that make Gino who he is: reflective walks in the Berkeley hills, thoughts about deceased loved ones, and Birkenstocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Vices,” the fourth track, is a heavy one. I didn’t fully grasp the story being told on first listen, but two lines stood out: “Late night she was typing her essay / Bitch nigga came in the room gave her SA.” A few listens later, I understood that it’s Gino’s account of a young family member’s life both before and after surviving sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intimate details like these, both universal and personal, are present throughout the EP. Gino writes about seeing his mother take her last breath, his photosynthetic relationship with his radiant son and his appreciation for lavender and sage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Whats life supposed to look like?\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/YyqvBdS0lSI?list=OLAK5uy_ngXaY_qX7MZ28FRUug1Z1fjpIChdDAcdA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project ends with “Brandon Greene,” a 90-second track with bright keys, airy synths and wispy background vocals from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shante_music/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shanté\u003c/a>. Gino writes about pills and anxiety, a nod to the life story of a guy named Brandon, who Gino met at work. During a 20-minute conversation, Brandon opened up about his youthful addiction to pills, and how it manifested as an adult. Gino hasn’t seen or talked to Brandon since, but it’s clear from the track that his story left a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days later, after a few listens, I called Gino and asked him about the inspiration behind this project as a whole. While on the job, between shouting instructions and making deliveries, he answered with “the hard shit I go through.” Laughing, he noted that being able to adjust and persevere are key, and that ultimately, it’s his ever-cool mindset that pushed him to make this music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he says: “Everything gone be alright, even when it’s looking like it’s not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>LOE Gino’s ‘\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">\u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i>\u003c/a>‘ is \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">out now\u003c/a>. He performs live on \u003ca href=\"https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/60493678/live-in-the-atriumloe-gino-dave-steezy-santa-cruz-the-catalyst-atrium\">Sunday, March 24 at the Catalyst Atrium in Santa Cruz\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"LOE Gino raps with equal ease about heavy moments, like his mother's dying breath, and everyday joys.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1709071162,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":21,"wordCount":829},"headData":{"title":"Berkeley Rapper LOE Gino's Got Birkenstocks — and Bars | KQED","description":"LOE Gino raps with equal ease about heavy moments, like his mother's dying breath, and everyday joys.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Berkeley Rapper LOE Gino's Got Birkenstocks — and Bars","datePublished":"2024-02-27T00:44:56.000Z","dateModified":"2024-02-27T21:59:22.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13953009/loe-gino-berkeley-birkenstocks-and-bars","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A few things to know about Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/loe.gino/\">LOE Gino\u003c/a>: He’s a rapper, delivery truck driver, and a self-proclaimed foodie. He avidly rocks Birkenstock sandals, \u003cem>with\u003c/em> socks, and has a clever way of putting personal pain into his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first part of his stage name, LOE, stands for \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/07/22/berkeley-hip-hop-artist-loe-gino\">loyalty over everything\u003c/a>. The second part, Gino, comes from his late mother, Gina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 6’3″ with locs, shaved at the side, he stands out in a crowd — and he’s often in one. He’s rocked stages all over the region, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxpteTyGdI/?img_index=1\">The Plant Queen\u003c/a> nursery shop in his hometown of Berkeley to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3RNmJrR_Jd/\">LaRussell’s pergola in Vallejo\u003c/a>. Last fall, I saw him perform a full set at Lola’s Lounge in Sacramento — a good portion of it while holding his young son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2458px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953018\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM.png\" alt=\"Berkeley rapper LOE Gino looks skyward.\" width=\"2458\" height=\"1616\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM.png 2458w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-800x526.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1020x671.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-160x105.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-768x505.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1536x1010.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-2048x1346.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-1.01.06-PM-1920x1262.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2458px) 100vw, 2458px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley rapper LOE Gino looks skyward. \u003ccite>(Jason 'Yeiseon' Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His bars are cerebral and relatable; another human writing to process their thoughts, and at the same time escape their thought process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Craft brew drinker, with the cold pizza / Thoughts everywhere, I’m a fucking over-thinker / Never trip when they catted, I just turned them into believers / Showed up for myself and that’s on Citas,” he says in the song “What’s Life Supposed To Look Like?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That idea of showing up for yourself, or SUFY, is a guiding principle in his career and brand. When he invited me over to listen to his new project, I had to show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13950855","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Inside his home garage-slash studio space, Gino sat with his friend and multimedia producer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cheatcodeproductions_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cheatcode\u003c/a>, who handed me a pair of studio headphones. The plan was for me to listen to Gino’s new release, \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">\u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, after which they’d film my reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While I listened to the 15 minute-long project — head-nodding and stretching my legs on a pair of stairs in the backyard — they made small talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t recall the last time I pulled up to an artist’s crib and listened to their newest work. Nothing like standing next to someone while they play a recording of themselves, pouring out their heart over drums, snares and guitar riffs. Assessing someone’s latest contribution to humanity while being right next to them. It can make for a very awkward situation. \u003cem>What if the album doesn’t slap?!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13950431","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The first three tracks of \u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i> are fun, full of clever bars and quality production. There’s a cold guitar solo from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gyrefunk/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gyrefunk\u003c/a> on “Lox n Stocks,” and a dope drum breakdown by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deafheff/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deaf Heff\u003c/a> on “Lavender Candles.” The EP’s lyrics reference the things that make Gino who he is: reflective walks in the Berkeley hills, thoughts about deceased loved ones, and Birkenstocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Vices,” the fourth track, is a heavy one. I didn’t fully grasp the story being told on first listen, but two lines stood out: “Late night she was typing her essay / Bitch nigga came in the room gave her SA.” A few listens later, I understood that it’s Gino’s account of a young family member’s life both before and after surviving sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intimate details like these, both universal and personal, are present throughout the EP. Gino writes about seeing his mother take her last breath, his photosynthetic relationship with his radiant son and his appreciation for lavender and sage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Whats life supposed to look like?\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/YyqvBdS0lSI?list=OLAK5uy_ngXaY_qX7MZ28FRUug1Z1fjpIChdDAcdA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project ends with “Brandon Greene,” a 90-second track with bright keys, airy synths and wispy background vocals from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shante_music/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shanté\u003c/a>. Gino writes about pills and anxiety, a nod to the life story of a guy named Brandon, who Gino met at work. During a 20-minute conversation, Brandon opened up about his youthful addiction to pills, and how it manifested as an adult. Gino hasn’t seen or talked to Brandon since, but it’s clear from the track that his story left a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days later, after a few listens, I called Gino and asked him about the inspiration behind this project as a whole. While on the job, between shouting instructions and making deliveries, he answered with “the hard shit I go through.” Laughing, he noted that being able to adjust and persevere are key, and that ultimately, it’s his ever-cool mindset that pushed him to make this music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he says: “Everything gone be alright, even when it’s looking like it’s not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>LOE Gino’s ‘\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">\u003ci>Everything Gone Be Aight\u003c/i>\u003c/a>‘ is \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/loegino\">out now\u003c/a>. He performs live on \u003ca href=\"https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/60493678/live-in-the-atriumloe-gino-dave-steezy-santa-cruz-the-catalyst-atrium\">Sunday, March 24 at the Catalyst Atrium in Santa Cruz\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13953009/loe-gino-berkeley-birkenstocks-and-bars","authors":["11491"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_1270","arts_831","arts_21978","arts_974","arts_5779","arts_585","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13953015","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13939056":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13939056","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13939056","score":null,"sort":[1702051219000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"the-maturation-of-your-favorite-artists-and-a-look-back-at-hip-hop-50","title":"You Never Thought That Hip-Hop Could Take It This Far","publishDate":1702051219,"format":"standard","headTitle":"You Never Thought That Hip-Hop Could Take It This Far | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“W\u003c/span>hat drew me into hip-hop,” said Tariq Trotter, widely known as Black Thought of the legendary Roots crew, “was that it was, you know, spoken in a language that, you know, people who were 30, 40, 50 years old didn’t understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">Trotter was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1211025998/tariq-trotter-black-thought-the-roots-questlove-upcycled-self\">in conversation with NPR’s Tonya Mosely\u003c/a> as the two discussed Trotter’s new memoir, \u003cem>The Upcycled Self\u003c/em>. The book charts his path both as an artist and an individual; it includes heavy details about his life, including the murders of both his parents, as well a fire he set in his house at the age of six. Trotter, now 52, is clear about his personal maturation process, and how the culture of hip-hop has grown as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotter appreciates the many subgenres within hip-hop, even if he doesn’t understand them; and that’s because he’s not supposed to. The popular sound of today, drill music, isn’t made for people his age. Trotter, who will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/ordertickets.asp?p=13941\">in discussion with Jelani Cobb at San Francisco’s City Arts & Lectures\u003c/a> on Saturday, Feb. 24, concluded his point by telling Mosely, “We’ve become our parents and grandparents at this point, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939084\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939084\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre 3000 attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2023 VIP dinner at Chateau Marmont on Nov. 16, 2023 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the celebration of what’s widely regarded as hip-hop’s 50th anniversary year comes to an end, I’m waiting for someone to make one of those montages that plays at the end of a movie. You know, where they show a sepia-colored portrait of each prominent character, overlaid with a couple lines about what eventually came of their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the cheesy music starts, the first image could be of OutKast, the famed Atlanta duo who showed the world that you can rhyme about Cadillacs and spaceships in the same breath. André 3000, who made his mark at the 1995 Source Awards (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyxaYc9F48Y\">the south got something to say\u003c/a>”), is now a world-traveling flutist who dropped a full-length jazz album. Meanwhile, his former partner in rhyme, Big Boi, a renowned lyricist and actor who played the role of a dope dealer named Marcus in the hit movie \u003cem>ATL\u003c/em>, has become \u003ca href=\"https://www.revolt.tv/article/2022-09-29/213913/big-boi-trends-as-stunned-fans-marvel-over-his-owl-collection/\">an owler\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the collective that birthed OutKast, the Dungeon Family, have also gone on to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N4jf6rtyuw\">notable\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://beats-rhymes-lists.com/facts/future-originally-member-atlanta-dungeon-family/\">things\u003c/a>. Just a few years after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/03/26/596988606/killer-mike-apologizes-for-interview-with-nra-claims-it-was-misused\">controversial interview with the NRA\u003c/a>, and forming an odd-couple partnership with Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2020 presidential run, lyricist Killer Mike dropped Michael, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. Even at the big age of 48, folks can still rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828022\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13828022\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Killer Mike performing in Atlanta in 2017. \u003ccite>(David A. Smith/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Speaking of old heads from Atlanta who can still gas a track: Ludacris has entered the chat. In addition to co-starring in the Christmas film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5608166/\">Dashing Through The Snow\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, creating a charming children’s show called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.karmasworld.com/p/1\">Karma’s World\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, and doing \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3WaUZhvjK4\">commercials for State Farm Insurance\u003c/a>, at age 46 Luda is reportedly \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/ludacris-to-release-new-music-2024-after-taking-step-back-8405825\">working on an album\u003c/a> for 2024. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoL-fnvAlAq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">He still has bars\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not everyone is doing well with maturation. Again in Atlanta, rapper T.I.’s life has become a bit of a walking reality show. Despite his large vocabulary and investment in \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-rapper-ti-celebrates-opening-his-first-affordable-housing-development/5IYPKMYWTJB33KHSZX3VK6XHN4/\">real estate properties\u003c/a>, T.I., who at the age of 43 recently announced an impending double album and subsequent \u003ca href=\"https://allrapnews.com/news/t-i-to-retire-from-rap-with-final-double-album-featuring-nba-youngboy/\">retirement from rap\u003c/a>, has been the butt of jokes about \u003ca href=\"https://globalnews.ca/news/6214889/ti-daughter-hymen-controversy/\">family issues\u003c/a>. Most recently, the King of the South had to deal with a \u003ca href=\"https://theshaderoom.com/settin-things-straight-t-i-addresses-viral-scuffle-with-son-king-harris/\">recorded altercation with his son\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923938']Speaking of hip-hop icons and domestic disputes: Diddy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After changing his name again, this time to “Brother Love,” and dropping an album titled \u003cem>The Love Album: Off the Grid\u003c/em>, it’s become extremely apparent that 54 year-old Diddy, real name Sean Combs, is the polar opposite of love. Just days after being \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213684443/lawsuit-accuses-sean-diddy-combs-of-trafficking-sexual-assault-and-abuse\">sued by musician and former girlfriend Cassie\u003c/a> for trafficking, rape, assault and more, Combs settled the case out of court, expeditiously. A few days later, Combs, who recently stepped down as Chairman of Revolt TV, was served with additional lawsuits from different women who alleged similar crimes. \u003cem>More money, more problems\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the topic of people involved in the mid-’90s East Coast / West Coast beef and the law: \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1202716171/tupac-shakur-killing-duane-davis-indicted\">Duane “Keffe D” Davis\u003c/a> is now in prison for charges related to the murder of Tupac Shakur after his arrest earlier this fall. Just a few months later, in an unrelated but relevant story, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937563/tupac-shakur-way-oakland-street-renaming\">Tupac Shakur’s name was immortalized\u003c/a> during a street naming ceremony in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYT3T3UBdw\">the city he got his game from\u003c/a>, Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937625\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sign for ‘Tupac Shakur Way’ is unveiled during a renaming ceremony in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Late last year, the City of Oakland also unveiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">a street sign recognizing 57 year-old Too Short’s contributions\u003c/a> to the culture in front of his alma mater, Fremont High School. Additionally, while dropping an album, releasing a cookbook, and selling enough liquor to sink a ship, 56 year-old entrepreneur \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936776/e-40-gets-the-key-to-the-city-of-vallejo-and-a-street-named-in-his-honor\">E-40 got a part of Magazine Street in Vallejo named in his honor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staying in the Bay, the Hieroglyphics crew’s Souls of Mischief, who three decades ago famously predicted that they’d be chillin’ until the clock strikes infinity, are doing a lot more than just chillin’. They initially set out to do 93 shows this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their song “93 ’Til Infinity.” As of today, they’ve done 117 shows across multiple continents, and they’ve also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932471/souls-of-mischief-freestyle-93-til-infinity\">recorded new verses over the “93 ’Til Infinity” instrumental\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another member of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2013/04/17/177326079/this-was-1993-20-years-ago-i-heard-the-perfect-rap-song\">the class of ’93\u003c/a> from Oakland, 52 year-old Boots Riley, has been on a run. His 2023 TV series about a giant Black man from East Oakland, \u003cem>I’m A Virgo\u003c/em>, has been nominated for multiple awards. Behind the scenes, Boots has continued to point out injustices in our society, with a focus on the predatory nature of capitalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933475\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a very tall hat speaks in to a set of microphones at a podium in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley speaks at the 2023 Writers Guild Of America Strike: Rally And March at Pan Pacific Park on June 21, 2023 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the subject of early ’90s West Coast MCs who once used their music to give the middle finger to Uncle Sam before turning to film, there’s Ice Cube. The good news is that Cube, the 54 year-old founder of the Big3 basketball league, is still making music and movies, just as he did three decades ago. The bad news? \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/ice-cube-tucker-carlson-interview-many-fans-disappointed-1234775390/\">He’s also giving tours of the hood to conservative white folks\u003c/a>. Then again, that’s kind of what mainstream “gangsta rappers” have always done, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politics hasn’t always been the most welcoming arena for hip-hop artists, but just this past week, 53 year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/04/1215901880/queen-latifah-billy-crystal-and-others-celebrated-at-kennedy-center-honors\">Queen Latifah\u003c/a> received praise from President Joe Biden as she became the first female rap artist to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While we’re awarding artists who’ve done the work and then some, let’s talk about the ever-influential \u003ca href=\"https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/missy-elliott?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsburBhCIARIsAExmsu7TtF4zNeILr0texP3h8TsAue-XEitgt7gIgGsbddEAcVvheVatO24aAokcEALw_wcB\">Missy Elliott\u003c/a>, who at the age of 52 was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. (68 year-old DJ Kool Herc, a founding father of hip-hop, joined her as a 2023 inductee.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915629\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915629\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a Black woman's face with colorful eyeliner, as she sings into a microphone\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1725\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-2048x1380.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lauryn Hill has written about feeling pressured to choose between her career and motherhood. \u003ccite>(Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the revelation that Fugees member \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/26/1172368058/former-fugees-musician-pras-michel-found-guilty-of-10-criminal-charges\">Pras was once a federal agent\u003c/a>, that didn’t stop 48 year-old Lauryn Hill and the crew from reuniting for a few shows around the country, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/lauryn-hill-oakland-concert-18467645.php\">including one last month in Oakland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are veteran artists doing completely unforeseen things, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.xxlmag.com/redman-licensed-skydiver/\">Redman (age 53) becoming a licensed skydiver\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.complex.com/music/a/jaelaniturnerwilliams/twista-raps-overnight-celebrity-over-gun-shots\">Twista (age 50) teaching firearm safety and rapping to the sound of bullets flying\u003c/a> at a shooting range. And then there are artists continuing what they’ve been doing, just at a higher level. Method Man is a certified actor who still periodically drops a verse here and there, and at the age of 52 \u003ca href=\"https://www.menshealth.com/health/a44665280/method-man-hip-hop-50-interview/\">moonlights as a sex symbol\u003c/a>. Lil Kim, who at 49 has her own claim as a sex symbol, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/queen-bee_4--lil-kim\">penned a memoir\u003c/a> that’s set to release next year. Texas OG Bun B, a 50 year-old who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMCSP5yNLQk\">knows his way around the kitchen\u003c/a>, has opened a restaurant called \u003ca href=\"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/arts-culture/food/2023/06/07/453856/bun-bs-trill-burgers-launches-first-brick-and-mortar-location-in-houston/\">Trill Burgers\u003c/a>. The ever-fashionable megaproducer Pharrell, who doesn’t age despite government records showing he’s 50, is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/style/louis-vuitton-menswear-pharrell-williams-louis-vuittons.html\">designing for Louis Vuitton\u003c/a>. And 53 year-old MC Lyte, whose voice dropped rock-heavy flows when hip-hop was in its nascent form and has since gone on to host award shows, is now using her voice to talk to the \u003ca href=\"https://afrotech.com/mc-lyte-supporting-black-girls-in-tech/\">next generation of Black girls interested in coding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932398\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932398\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rakim performs at Blue Note Jazz Festival on Sunday, July 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Eric Arnold)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Let’s take a second to pause, and acknowledge the many hip-hop artists who’ve died at a young age due to poor health. And follow that by celebrating and supporting the legends who are living, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/gallery/paid-in-full-foundations-inaugural-hip-hop-grandmaster-awards-rakim-nas-1234814725/\">Scarface (53) and Rakim (55)\u003c/a>, who both recently received healthcare benefits and financial support from the Paid in Full Foundation. Health concerns for our aging icons are also part of the reason folks’ ears perked up when 52 year-old Snoop Dogg posted on social media that he’s “done with smoke.” And, because he’s Snoop, we weren’t surprised when the news turned out to be a commercial for \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/snoop-dogg-not-giving-up-weed-announces-collaboration-with-smokeless-fire-pit-brand-8404736\">a smoke-free fire pit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13934874']In this 50th year of hip-hop, we’re grateful to see the resolution of feuds between artists. \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/camron-mase-sign-talk-show-deal-1234782595/\">Ma$e (48) and Cam’ron (47) reunited\u003c/a> and created “It Is What It Is,” a talk show that’s full of laughs and insight on current events. North Carolina’s hip-hop duo Little Brother recently released a documentary film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_LQmpx5l-E\">May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, highlighting their friendship’s trajectory. And on the more romantic side of reunions, Nelly and Ashanti got back together, and are expecting their first child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a good segue to the news that at the age of 48, the first woman to go platinum as a rap artist, Da Brat, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ajc.com/life/radiotvtalk-blog/da-brat-amazed-and-grateful-for-baby-son-at-age-48/QLNVH4K4I5FWRLJ6FDTNEQAMVU/\">just gave birth to a baby boy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939085\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"787\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk.jpg 1400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juvenile performs with Mannie Fresh and an all-star band at the NPR offices in a Tiny Desk Concert. \u003ccite>(Catie Dull/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Neither could we have imagined that at the age 45, Trina, Ms. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsPwwphxrg\">Whoop-whoop, pull over, that ass is too fat\u003c/a>,” would be performing at the offices of National Public Radio. Nor \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kes2P4IC2bQ\">Mr. Back That Azz Up\u003c/a>, a.k.a. Juvenile (48), for that matter. But yes, both happened this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A half-century since hip-hop started and there are many reasons to rejoice, despite some of the unsavory news. As fans, we’re appreciative that the catalogs of Young Jeezy and De La Soul are now on streaming sites. And we’re equally appreciative that there’s new music from the likes of J.Cole, Lil Wayne and Nas, who at age 50, has dropped multiple award-winning albums in the past five years and had a resurrection unlike anyone else in the game—with the possible exception of Black Thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Tariq Trotter isn’t rocking as a part of the house band for \u003cem>Late Night with Jimmy Fallon\u003c/em>, he’s writing off-Broadway plays and acting in films. But don’t think for a second he can’t spit a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmQgSpV3fA\">scorching freestyle\u003c/a>, too. He’s dropped verses on projects with younger rappers that show he hasn’t lost a step. And he’s put out a few highly acclaimed projects over the past couple years — arguably some of his best work — with music that speaks to middle-aged hip-hop heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13840236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13840236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583.jpg\" alt=\"Black Thought plays Hiero Day in Oakland on Monday, September 3, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Black Thought plays Hiero Day in Oakland on Monday, September 3, 2018. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During his interview with NPR, Black Thought talked about maturing, and that he feels more comfortable sharing more intimate details of his life. “As artists, there’s a dance, there’s a negotiation that takes place,” Trotter told Mosely. “But it’s the sort of thing that I was holding on to for the right moment — you know what I mean? For when it made the most sense. And that’s right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that right there is all the more reason to appreciate the aging process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Black Thought appears in discussion with Jelani Cobb on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Sydney Goldstein Theatre in San Francisco as part of City Arts & Lectures. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/ordertickets.asp?p=13941\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Hip-Hop at 50 and the maturation of your favorite artists.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1708620742,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":32,"wordCount":2251},"headData":{"title":"You Never Thought That Hip-Hop Could Take It This Far | KQED","description":"Hip-Hop at 50 and the maturation of your favorite artists.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"You Never Thought That Hip-Hop Could Take It This Far","datePublished":"2023-12-08T16:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2024-02-22T16:52:22.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13939056/the-maturation-of-your-favorite-artists-and-a-look-back-at-hip-hop-50","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“W\u003c/span>hat drew me into hip-hop,” said Tariq Trotter, widely known as Black Thought of the legendary Roots crew, “was that it was, you know, spoken in a language that, you know, people who were 30, 40, 50 years old didn’t understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">Trotter was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1211025998/tariq-trotter-black-thought-the-roots-questlove-upcycled-self\">in conversation with NPR’s Tonya Mosely\u003c/a> as the two discussed Trotter’s new memoir, \u003cem>The Upcycled Self\u003c/em>. The book charts his path both as an artist and an individual; it includes heavy details about his life, including the murders of both his parents, as well a fire he set in his house at the age of six. Trotter, now 52, is clear about his personal maturation process, and how the culture of hip-hop has grown as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotter appreciates the many subgenres within hip-hop, even if he doesn’t understand them; and that’s because he’s not supposed to. The popular sound of today, drill music, isn’t made for people his age. Trotter, who will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/ordertickets.asp?p=13941\">in discussion with Jelani Cobb at San Francisco’s City Arts & Lectures\u003c/a> on Saturday, Feb. 24, concluded his point by telling Mosely, “We’ve become our parents and grandparents at this point, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939084\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939084\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Andre.3000-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre 3000 attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2023 VIP dinner at Chateau Marmont on Nov. 16, 2023 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the celebration of what’s widely regarded as hip-hop’s 50th anniversary year comes to an end, I’m waiting for someone to make one of those montages that plays at the end of a movie. You know, where they show a sepia-colored portrait of each prominent character, overlaid with a couple lines about what eventually came of their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the cheesy music starts, the first image could be of OutKast, the famed Atlanta duo who showed the world that you can rhyme about Cadillacs and spaceships in the same breath. André 3000, who made his mark at the 1995 Source Awards (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyxaYc9F48Y\">the south got something to say\u003c/a>”), is now a world-traveling flutist who dropped a full-length jazz album. Meanwhile, his former partner in rhyme, Big Boi, a renowned lyricist and actor who played the role of a dope dealer named Marcus in the hit movie \u003cem>ATL\u003c/em>, has become \u003ca href=\"https://www.revolt.tv/article/2022-09-29/213913/big-boi-trends-as-stunned-fans-marvel-over-his-owl-collection/\">an owler\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the collective that birthed OutKast, the Dungeon Family, have also gone on to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N4jf6rtyuw\">notable\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://beats-rhymes-lists.com/facts/future-originally-member-atlanta-dungeon-family/\">things\u003c/a>. Just a few years after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/03/26/596988606/killer-mike-apologizes-for-interview-with-nra-claims-it-was-misused\">controversial interview with the NRA\u003c/a>, and forming an odd-couple partnership with Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2020 presidential run, lyricist Killer Mike dropped Michael, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. Even at the big age of 48, folks can still rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828022\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13828022\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/gettyimages-632359900_wide-75cfc86b44dfbaea982eba0457af104c57871411-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Killer Mike performing in Atlanta in 2017. \u003ccite>(David A. Smith/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Speaking of old heads from Atlanta who can still gas a track: Ludacris has entered the chat. In addition to co-starring in the Christmas film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5608166/\">Dashing Through The Snow\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, creating a charming children’s show called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.karmasworld.com/p/1\">Karma’s World\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, and doing \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3WaUZhvjK4\">commercials for State Farm Insurance\u003c/a>, at age 46 Luda is reportedly \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/ludacris-to-release-new-music-2024-after-taking-step-back-8405825\">working on an album\u003c/a> for 2024. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoL-fnvAlAq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">He still has bars\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not everyone is doing well with maturation. Again in Atlanta, rapper T.I.’s life has become a bit of a walking reality show. Despite his large vocabulary and investment in \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-rapper-ti-celebrates-opening-his-first-affordable-housing-development/5IYPKMYWTJB33KHSZX3VK6XHN4/\">real estate properties\u003c/a>, T.I., who at the age of 43 recently announced an impending double album and subsequent \u003ca href=\"https://allrapnews.com/news/t-i-to-retire-from-rap-with-final-double-album-featuring-nba-youngboy/\">retirement from rap\u003c/a>, has been the butt of jokes about \u003ca href=\"https://globalnews.ca/news/6214889/ti-daughter-hymen-controversy/\">family issues\u003c/a>. Most recently, the King of the South had to deal with a \u003ca href=\"https://theshaderoom.com/settin-things-straight-t-i-addresses-viral-scuffle-with-son-king-harris/\">recorded altercation with his son\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13923938","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Speaking of hip-hop icons and domestic disputes: Diddy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After changing his name again, this time to “Brother Love,” and dropping an album titled \u003cem>The Love Album: Off the Grid\u003c/em>, it’s become extremely apparent that 54 year-old Diddy, real name Sean Combs, is the polar opposite of love. Just days after being \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213684443/lawsuit-accuses-sean-diddy-combs-of-trafficking-sexual-assault-and-abuse\">sued by musician and former girlfriend Cassie\u003c/a> for trafficking, rape, assault and more, Combs settled the case out of court, expeditiously. A few days later, Combs, who recently stepped down as Chairman of Revolt TV, was served with additional lawsuits from different women who alleged similar crimes. \u003cem>More money, more problems\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the topic of people involved in the mid-’90s East Coast / West Coast beef and the law: \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1202716171/tupac-shakur-killing-duane-davis-indicted\">Duane “Keffe D” Davis\u003c/a> is now in prison for charges related to the murder of Tupac Shakur after his arrest earlier this fall. Just a few months later, in an unrelated but relevant story, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937563/tupac-shakur-way-oakland-street-renaming\">Tupac Shakur’s name was immortalized\u003c/a> during a street naming ceremony in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYT3T3UBdw\">the city he got his game from\u003c/a>, Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937625\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-TupakShakurWay-27-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sign for ‘Tupac Shakur Way’ is unveiled during a renaming ceremony in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Late last year, the City of Oakland also unveiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">a street sign recognizing 57 year-old Too Short’s contributions\u003c/a> to the culture in front of his alma mater, Fremont High School. Additionally, while dropping an album, releasing a cookbook, and selling enough liquor to sink a ship, 56 year-old entrepreneur \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936776/e-40-gets-the-key-to-the-city-of-vallejo-and-a-street-named-in-his-honor\">E-40 got a part of Magazine Street in Vallejo named in his honor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staying in the Bay, the Hieroglyphics crew’s Souls of Mischief, who three decades ago famously predicted that they’d be chillin’ until the clock strikes infinity, are doing a lot more than just chillin’. They initially set out to do 93 shows this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their song “93 ’Til Infinity.” As of today, they’ve done 117 shows across multiple continents, and they’ve also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932471/souls-of-mischief-freestyle-93-til-infinity\">recorded new verses over the “93 ’Til Infinity” instrumental\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another member of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2013/04/17/177326079/this-was-1993-20-years-ago-i-heard-the-perfect-rap-song\">the class of ’93\u003c/a> from Oakland, 52 year-old Boots Riley, has been on a run. His 2023 TV series about a giant Black man from East Oakland, \u003cem>I’m A Virgo\u003c/em>, has been nominated for multiple awards. Behind the scenes, Boots has continued to point out injustices in our society, with a focus on the predatory nature of capitalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933475\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a very tall hat speaks in to a set of microphones at a podium in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/230818-BOOTS-RILEY-Getty-MM-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley speaks at the 2023 Writers Guild Of America Strike: Rally And March at Pan Pacific Park on June 21, 2023 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the subject of early ’90s West Coast MCs who once used their music to give the middle finger to Uncle Sam before turning to film, there’s Ice Cube. The good news is that Cube, the 54 year-old founder of the Big3 basketball league, is still making music and movies, just as he did three decades ago. The bad news? \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/ice-cube-tucker-carlson-interview-many-fans-disappointed-1234775390/\">He’s also giving tours of the hood to conservative white folks\u003c/a>. Then again, that’s kind of what mainstream “gangsta rappers” have always done, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politics hasn’t always been the most welcoming arena for hip-hop artists, but just this past week, 53 year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/04/1215901880/queen-latifah-billy-crystal-and-others-celebrated-at-kennedy-center-honors\">Queen Latifah\u003c/a> received praise from President Joe Biden as she became the first female rap artist to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While we’re awarding artists who’ve done the work and then some, let’s talk about the ever-influential \u003ca href=\"https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/missy-elliott?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsburBhCIARIsAExmsu7TtF4zNeILr0texP3h8TsAue-XEitgt7gIgGsbddEAcVvheVatO24aAokcEALw_wcB\">Missy Elliott\u003c/a>, who at the age of 52 was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. (68 year-old DJ Kool Herc, a founding father of hip-hop, joined her as a 2023 inductee.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915629\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915629\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A close-up of a Black woman's face with colorful eyeliner, as she sings into a microphone\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1725\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-2048x1380.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/GettyImages-57095278-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lauryn Hill has written about feeling pressured to choose between her career and motherhood. \u003ccite>(Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the revelation that Fugees member \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/26/1172368058/former-fugees-musician-pras-michel-found-guilty-of-10-criminal-charges\">Pras was once a federal agent\u003c/a>, that didn’t stop 48 year-old Lauryn Hill and the crew from reuniting for a few shows around the country, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/lauryn-hill-oakland-concert-18467645.php\">including one last month in Oakland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are veteran artists doing completely unforeseen things, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.xxlmag.com/redman-licensed-skydiver/\">Redman (age 53) becoming a licensed skydiver\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.complex.com/music/a/jaelaniturnerwilliams/twista-raps-overnight-celebrity-over-gun-shots\">Twista (age 50) teaching firearm safety and rapping to the sound of bullets flying\u003c/a> at a shooting range. And then there are artists continuing what they’ve been doing, just at a higher level. Method Man is a certified actor who still periodically drops a verse here and there, and at the age of 52 \u003ca href=\"https://www.menshealth.com/health/a44665280/method-man-hip-hop-50-interview/\">moonlights as a sex symbol\u003c/a>. Lil Kim, who at 49 has her own claim as a sex symbol, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/queen-bee_4--lil-kim\">penned a memoir\u003c/a> that’s set to release next year. Texas OG Bun B, a 50 year-old who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMCSP5yNLQk\">knows his way around the kitchen\u003c/a>, has opened a restaurant called \u003ca href=\"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/arts-culture/food/2023/06/07/453856/bun-bs-trill-burgers-launches-first-brick-and-mortar-location-in-houston/\">Trill Burgers\u003c/a>. The ever-fashionable megaproducer Pharrell, who doesn’t age despite government records showing he’s 50, is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/style/louis-vuitton-menswear-pharrell-williams-louis-vuittons.html\">designing for Louis Vuitton\u003c/a>. And 53 year-old MC Lyte, whose voice dropped rock-heavy flows when hip-hop was in its nascent form and has since gone on to host award shows, is now using her voice to talk to the \u003ca href=\"https://afrotech.com/mc-lyte-supporting-black-girls-in-tech/\">next generation of Black girls interested in coding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932398\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932398\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Rakim-2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rakim performs at Blue Note Jazz Festival on Sunday, July 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Eric Arnold)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Let’s take a second to pause, and acknowledge the many hip-hop artists who’ve died at a young age due to poor health. And follow that by celebrating and supporting the legends who are living, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/gallery/paid-in-full-foundations-inaugural-hip-hop-grandmaster-awards-rakim-nas-1234814725/\">Scarface (53) and Rakim (55)\u003c/a>, who both recently received healthcare benefits and financial support from the Paid in Full Foundation. Health concerns for our aging icons are also part of the reason folks’ ears perked up when 52 year-old Snoop Dogg posted on social media that he’s “done with smoke.” And, because he’s Snoop, we weren’t surprised when the news turned out to be a commercial for \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/snoop-dogg-not-giving-up-weed-announces-collaboration-with-smokeless-fire-pit-brand-8404736\">a smoke-free fire pit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13934874","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In this 50th year of hip-hop, we’re grateful to see the resolution of feuds between artists. \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/camron-mase-sign-talk-show-deal-1234782595/\">Ma$e (48) and Cam’ron (47) reunited\u003c/a> and created “It Is What It Is,” a talk show that’s full of laughs and insight on current events. North Carolina’s hip-hop duo Little Brother recently released a documentary film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_LQmpx5l-E\">May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, highlighting their friendship’s trajectory. And on the more romantic side of reunions, Nelly and Ashanti got back together, and are expecting their first child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a good segue to the news that at the age of 48, the first woman to go platinum as a rap artist, Da Brat, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ajc.com/life/radiotvtalk-blog/da-brat-amazed-and-grateful-for-baby-son-at-age-48/QLNVH4K4I5FWRLJ6FDTNEQAMVU/\">just gave birth to a baby boy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939085\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"787\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk.jpg 1400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Juvenile.TinyDesk-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juvenile performs with Mannie Fresh and an all-star band at the NPR offices in a Tiny Desk Concert. \u003ccite>(Catie Dull/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Neither could we have imagined that at the age 45, Trina, Ms. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsPwwphxrg\">Whoop-whoop, pull over, that ass is too fat\u003c/a>,” would be performing at the offices of National Public Radio. Nor \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kes2P4IC2bQ\">Mr. Back That Azz Up\u003c/a>, a.k.a. Juvenile (48), for that matter. But yes, both happened this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A half-century since hip-hop started and there are many reasons to rejoice, despite some of the unsavory news. As fans, we’re appreciative that the catalogs of Young Jeezy and De La Soul are now on streaming sites. And we’re equally appreciative that there’s new music from the likes of J.Cole, Lil Wayne and Nas, who at age 50, has dropped multiple award-winning albums in the past five years and had a resurrection unlike anyone else in the game—with the possible exception of Black Thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Tariq Trotter isn’t rocking as a part of the house band for \u003cem>Late Night with Jimmy Fallon\u003c/em>, he’s writing off-Broadway plays and acting in films. But don’t think for a second he can’t spit a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmQgSpV3fA\">scorching freestyle\u003c/a>, too. He’s dropped verses on projects with younger rappers that show he hasn’t lost a step. And he’s put out a few highly acclaimed projects over the past couple years — arguably some of his best work — with music that speaks to middle-aged hip-hop heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13840236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13840236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583.jpg\" alt=\"Black Thought plays Hiero Day in Oakland on Monday, September 3, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_9583-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Black Thought plays Hiero Day in Oakland on Monday, September 3, 2018. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During his interview with NPR, Black Thought talked about maturing, and that he feels more comfortable sharing more intimate details of his life. “As artists, there’s a dance, there’s a negotiation that takes place,” Trotter told Mosely. “But it’s the sort of thing that I was holding on to for the right moment — you know what I mean? For when it made the most sense. And that’s right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that right there is all the more reason to appreciate the aging process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Black Thought appears in discussion with Jelani Cobb on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Sydney Goldstein Theatre in San Francisco as part of City Arts & Lectures. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityboxoffice.com/ordertickets.asp?p=13941\">Details and ticket info here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13939056/the-maturation-of-your-favorite-artists-and-a-look-back-at-hip-hop-50","authors":["11491"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_2303","arts_835","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_11374","arts_1998","arts_1601","arts_10278","arts_2284","arts_831","arts_1143","arts_21785","arts_3478","arts_4269","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13329186","label":"arts"},"arts_13937331":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13937331","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13937331","score":null,"sort":[1698874300000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"larussell-vallejo-def-jam-record-deal","title":"When Family Business Becomes Big Business","publishDate":1698874300,"format":"standard","headTitle":"When Family Business Becomes Big Business | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>It’s the first Sunday of October, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/larussell\">LaRussell\u003c/a> jumps onto the stage, framed by the backyard pergola beneath the Vallejo sun. With a huge smile, he rips off his brown cape adorned with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodCompenny/videos\">Good Compenny\u003c/a> logo and and points his finger toward the crowd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Game Sevennnnn…,” he says, as the 200-person crowd roars, cameras click and smiles spread on the faces of fans, many holding merchandise bags and wearing Good Compenny T-shirts that read “This is a Family Business.” Indeed, the scene is infused with family: babies are bounced on their parents’ laps, children laugh, and a bouncy house in the front whirrs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923938']For LaRussell, 29, this is the final sold-out “pergola” show of 2023. These one-of-a-kind concerts, held in his parents’ backyard, have brought over a thousand guests to Vallejo this summer alone to experience LaRussell’s lyricism — to say nothing of the delicious food, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\">other talented artists’ performances\u003c/a>, and the chance to watch LaRussell’s collective Good Compenny make history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tickets to LaRussell’s backyard concerts are offered on a “proud to pay” basis: rather than a conventional Ticketmaster checkout with additional fees, fans simply make an offer of what they’re willing to pay. Demand is high; each of his backyard shows in 2023 has sold out. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell’s influence has grown significantly this past year. He’s sold out shows across the country, accumulated \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/larussell/\">nearly a million followers on Instagram\u003c/a>, performed at major events and festivals and championed Vallejo every step of the way — all independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while LaRussell’s community support has never been greater, there are some new faces here in the backyard audience: music executives. LaRussell has often been transparent about his business practices, and partway through the show, he makes a sudden announcement. He’s considering signing with a major label.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From the backyard to the boardroom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The executives in the backyard, LaRussell later clarifies, work for Def Jam — the legendary hip-hop record label that’s owned by Universal Music Group, the largest music company in the world. And while signing a record deal with Def Jam would mean a sizable cash advance — \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1712903852838486180\">the hypothetical figure he’s cited is $1 million\u003c/a> — it would also mark a surprising break from LaRussell’s reputation as a staunchly independent artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell’s been visited in Vallejo by luminaries like NBA star Stephen Jackson, rapper Xzibit and local hero Too Short, all drawn to his incessant drive and independent business model. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, LaRussell began \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893314/how-musicians-are-navigating-streaming-algorithms-ai-and-automation\">reimagining how creatives are compensated\u003c/a>. His “proud to pay” model allows fans to determine their own price, subject to approval, for his tickets and merchandise. He’s also known for “splitting the pie” — sharing royalties not only with those involved in the creative process, but interested fans who want to invest across LaRussell’s income streams, including recordings, merchandise and shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Hayes, a photographer and creative director who frequently collaborates with LaRussell, says that without the early profit share in projects he contributed to, he periodically wouldn’t have had money in his pocket. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kept gas in the tank and allowed me to go out and continue making money,” says Hayes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1712903852838486180\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaRussell also utilizes a service that lets people buy his albums before they stream on major platforms; he characterizes it as a contemporary version of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling records out the trunk\u003c/a>. For his \u003cem>Family Business\u003c/em> album, released in October, LaRussell sold over a thousand albums this way, directly to fans, generating more than $25,000 in sales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this audience involvement, signing with a major label would affect LaRussell’s fans, too. After the show in the backyard, some approached him about it. One expressed unwavering support, whether LaRussell stays independent or not. Another was deeply concerned, telling him that he simply \u003cem>can’t\u003c/em> sign, and that he means too much to the independent community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937336\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jayla Baxter (front left) and Tenaya Carter (black and white sweatshirt) with the crowd at LaRussell’s backyard concert on Oct. 1, 2023. Both Baxter and Carter are gold members with lifetime membership to Good Compenny events. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell, who the day before posted that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1708212575358619955\">I could just sign a deal, but that’s not where my heart lies\u003c/a>,” listened to every comment. “I really do feel like an artist of the people,” LaRussell told me later. “I do take into consideration how the people are affected, because I know they’re inspired by my journey too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for me, I kept thinking of what I’d seen just 24 hours earlier, 3,000 miles away. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Made it off them cotton fields’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The day prior to the show, I was in rural North Carolina with fire ants running across my toes along a path lined with red bricks inscribed with dedications like “Dennis, No Age Given, Enslaved,” “Rowena, No Age or Gender, Enslaved,” and “Mary, Female, Aged 4 or 6, Enslaved.” Further down the path stood a magnolia tree where it’s believed the whipping post once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13906706']This was the Franklinton Center at Bricks, a former “breaking” plantation where enslaved people were taken if they were considered disobedient. I was there with grassroots organizations from across the country to capture multimedia stories of those doing work in public schools: protecting queer students in class, tackling the school-to-prison pipeline, advocating for language equity, demanding proper funding and more. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I spoke with college students from Florida, high school students from Georgia, parents from North Carolina and teachers from Louisiana, I felt hope for what could come with so many amazing people working toward shared goals. At the same time, I was overcome with grief for every person who had once walked on this land, bound to its edges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937342\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Singers Jane Handcock, Shanté and Jazs, who work with LaRussell, pose at his backyard show on Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the conference, I took a six-hour flight and drove straight to LaRussell’s family home, where I’d watched him perform multiple backyard shows before. But this time, when he rapped “made it off them cotton fields, now we’re on them stages,” the sentiment resonated more than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d talked with so many people in North Carolina about building a strong community and staying authentic while growing equity, autonomy and agency — a rare thing, which LaRussell has clearly achieved. And to some fans and supporters, signing with a global conglomerate would be in direct opposition to what he stands for. What happens to LaRussell now? What happens to Good Compenny? Is he selling out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937338\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell, when asked about interest from Def Jam, says he’ll only sign a deal if the conditions are right. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Building Disneyland at home in Vallejo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When we talk later, LaRussell’s reasoning is straightforward: he needs assistance to achieve his dreams of reaching as many people as he aspires to within his desired timeframe. And, as he’s continued to expand Good Compenny, he’s now at a crossroads. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m here at the compound—a residential and commercial unit in Vallejo where LaRussell moved this year with five of his team members. Having gotten his start in the family garage, LaRussell continuously talks about building his own “Disneyland,” and the compound is a part of it. LaRussell plans to turn it into an all-in-one creative hub, with a storefront, editing lab, photo studio, recording studio and even housing. To get it off the ground, it will cost him an estimated $250,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manny, the owner of Momo’s — LaRussell’s favorite restaurant in Vallejo — is here too, and he asks the same questions that have been on my mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So what happens to Good Compenny? Is everything going to change?” Manny says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937340\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performs on his backyard stage on Oct. 1, 2023, with Sacramento neighborhood advocate Jordan McGowan at left. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell explains that were he to sign a deal, it would be with him as an artist, and not a subsidiary label deal with Good Compenny, which is a 501(c)(3) organization. His cash advance would be a welcome relief after years of funding his career out of his own pocket, and could help him get projects off the ground. He also met directly with the president of Def Jam, with whom he had a candid conversation, and left feeling that his value was understood both inside and outside the recording booth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, LaRussell isn’t naive. He’s cognizant of the music industry’s hierarchy. Def Jam has a Black president and a largely Black roster, but Universal Music Group, its parent company, is run by a white CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the thing that makes me a little nervous about going into the system too,” LaRussell says. “Because every time we build something substantial as Black people, we sell it to white people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937386\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937386\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shanté, who works with LaRussell, performs at the backyard show on Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tietta Mitchell, LaRussell’s partner and manager, has provided consistent support for LaRussell’s success as he navigates the complexities of fame and business. She’s cautious about any partnership LaRussell enters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m never super hasty on any of the deals that we do, regardless of if it’s a major label or not,” she explains. “Once you do a deal with somebody, you’re kind of in bed with them for whatever that deliverable time is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her primary concerns revolve around preserving LaRussell’s vision and creative control, and ensuring his peace. She also emphasizes that LaRussell’s success isn’t reliant on securing a deal; his accomplishments to date prove it. Any potential deal with a label, she says, will only be pursued if it aligns with the values and vision of Good Compenny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell in his backyard, Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whatever happens in the next couple months — LaRussell should know whether or not he’s signing to Def Jam by the end of the year — the fans will remain a large part of that vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I woke up this morning and I was in a slump,” LaRussell tells me at his house. “I was kind of sad. And a lady last night sent me $50,000, a wire. And I got up off my ass because I was like, ‘People believe in you,’ right?” said LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We wrap up our conversation, LaRussell jumps off his couch and returns to the recording booth in the house, with his roommate and good friend Chow behind the computer, continuing to work on his next album — whatever label it might be on.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"LaRussell, the Bay Area's most resourceful independent artist, is in talks with Def Jam Records about signing a deal.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705003150,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":33,"wordCount":1916},"headData":{"title":"Vallejo's LaRussell Considers Signing to Def Jam | KQED","description":"LaRussell, the Bay Area's most resourceful independent artist, is in talks with Def Jam Records about signing a deal.","ogTitle":"What Happens to LaRussell if He Signs to Def Jam?","ogDescription":"The Bay Area's most resourceful independent artist is considering a major label deal.","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"What Happens to LaRussell if He Signs to Def Jam?","twDescription":"The Bay Area's most resourceful independent artist is considering a major label deal.","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Vallejo's LaRussell Considers Signing to Def Jam %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"When Family Business Becomes Big Business","datePublished":"2023-11-01T21:31:40.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T19:59:10.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Kayla Henderson-Wood","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13937331/larussell-vallejo-def-jam-record-deal","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s the first Sunday of October, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/larussell\">LaRussell\u003c/a> jumps onto the stage, framed by the backyard pergola beneath the Vallejo sun. With a huge smile, he rips off his brown cape adorned with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodCompenny/videos\">Good Compenny\u003c/a> logo and and points his finger toward the crowd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Game Sevennnnn…,” he says, as the 200-person crowd roars, cameras click and smiles spread on the faces of fans, many holding merchandise bags and wearing Good Compenny T-shirts that read “This is a Family Business.” Indeed, the scene is infused with family: babies are bounced on their parents’ laps, children laugh, and a bouncy house in the front whirrs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13923938","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For LaRussell, 29, this is the final sold-out “pergola” show of 2023. These one-of-a-kind concerts, held in his parents’ backyard, have brought over a thousand guests to Vallejo this summer alone to experience LaRussell’s lyricism — to say nothing of the delicious food, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\">other talented artists’ performances\u003c/a>, and the chance to watch LaRussell’s collective Good Compenny make history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tickets to LaRussell’s backyard concerts are offered on a “proud to pay” basis: rather than a conventional Ticketmaster checkout with additional fees, fans simply make an offer of what they’re willing to pay. Demand is high; each of his backyard shows in 2023 has sold out. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell’s influence has grown significantly this past year. He’s sold out shows across the country, accumulated \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/larussell/\">nearly a million followers on Instagram\u003c/a>, performed at major events and festivals and championed Vallejo every step of the way — all independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while LaRussell’s community support has never been greater, there are some new faces here in the backyard audience: music executives. LaRussell has often been transparent about his business practices, and partway through the show, he makes a sudden announcement. He’s considering signing with a major label.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From the backyard to the boardroom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The executives in the backyard, LaRussell later clarifies, work for Def Jam — the legendary hip-hop record label that’s owned by Universal Music Group, the largest music company in the world. And while signing a record deal with Def Jam would mean a sizable cash advance — \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1712903852838486180\">the hypothetical figure he’s cited is $1 million\u003c/a> — it would also mark a surprising break from LaRussell’s reputation as a staunchly independent artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell’s been visited in Vallejo by luminaries like NBA star Stephen Jackson, rapper Xzibit and local hero Too Short, all drawn to his incessant drive and independent business model. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, LaRussell began \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893314/how-musicians-are-navigating-streaming-algorithms-ai-and-automation\">reimagining how creatives are compensated\u003c/a>. His “proud to pay” model allows fans to determine their own price, subject to approval, for his tickets and merchandise. He’s also known for “splitting the pie” — sharing royalties not only with those involved in the creative process, but interested fans who want to invest across LaRussell’s income streams, including recordings, merchandise and shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Hayes, a photographer and creative director who frequently collaborates with LaRussell, says that without the early profit share in projects he contributed to, he periodically wouldn’t have had money in his pocket. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kept gas in the tank and allowed me to go out and continue making money,” says Hayes.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"1712903852838486180"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>LaRussell also utilizes a service that lets people buy his albums before they stream on major platforms; he characterizes it as a contemporary version of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling records out the trunk\u003c/a>. For his \u003cem>Family Business\u003c/em> album, released in October, LaRussell sold over a thousand albums this way, directly to fans, generating more than $25,000 in sales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of this audience involvement, signing with a major label would affect LaRussell’s fans, too. After the show in the backyard, some approached him about it. One expressed unwavering support, whether LaRussell stays independent or not. Another was deeply concerned, telling him that he simply \u003cem>can’t\u003c/em> sign, and that he means too much to the independent community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937336\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-17-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jayla Baxter (front left) and Tenaya Carter (black and white sweatshirt) with the crowd at LaRussell’s backyard concert on Oct. 1, 2023. Both Baxter and Carter are gold members with lifetime membership to Good Compenny events. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell, who the day before posted that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1708212575358619955\">I could just sign a deal, but that’s not where my heart lies\u003c/a>,” listened to every comment. “I really do feel like an artist of the people,” LaRussell told me later. “I do take into consideration how the people are affected, because I know they’re inspired by my journey too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for me, I kept thinking of what I’d seen just 24 hours earlier, 3,000 miles away. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Made it off them cotton fields’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The day prior to the show, I was in rural North Carolina with fire ants running across my toes along a path lined with red bricks inscribed with dedications like “Dennis, No Age Given, Enslaved,” “Rowena, No Age or Gender, Enslaved,” and “Mary, Female, Aged 4 or 6, Enslaved.” Further down the path stood a magnolia tree where it’s believed the whipping post once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13906706","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This was the Franklinton Center at Bricks, a former “breaking” plantation where enslaved people were taken if they were considered disobedient. I was there with grassroots organizations from across the country to capture multimedia stories of those doing work in public schools: protecting queer students in class, tackling the school-to-prison pipeline, advocating for language equity, demanding proper funding and more. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I spoke with college students from Florida, high school students from Georgia, parents from North Carolina and teachers from Louisiana, I felt hope for what could come with so many amazing people working toward shared goals. At the same time, I was overcome with grief for every person who had once walked on this land, bound to its edges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937342\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-39-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Singers Jane Handcock, Shanté and Jazs, who work with LaRussell, pose at his backyard show on Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the conference, I took a six-hour flight and drove straight to LaRussell’s family home, where I’d watched him perform multiple backyard shows before. But this time, when he rapped “made it off them cotton fields, now we’re on them stages,” the sentiment resonated more than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d talked with so many people in North Carolina about building a strong community and staying authentic while growing equity, autonomy and agency — a rare thing, which LaRussell has clearly achieved. And to some fans and supporters, signing with a global conglomerate would be in direct opposition to what he stands for. What happens to LaRussell now? What happens to Good Compenny? Is he selling out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937338\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-26-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell, when asked about interest from Def Jam, says he’ll only sign a deal if the conditions are right. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Building Disneyland at home in Vallejo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When we talk later, LaRussell’s reasoning is straightforward: he needs assistance to achieve his dreams of reaching as many people as he aspires to within his desired timeframe. And, as he’s continued to expand Good Compenny, he’s now at a crossroads. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m here at the compound—a residential and commercial unit in Vallejo where LaRussell moved this year with five of his team members. Having gotten his start in the family garage, LaRussell continuously talks about building his own “Disneyland,” and the compound is a part of it. LaRussell plans to turn it into an all-in-one creative hub, with a storefront, editing lab, photo studio, recording studio and even housing. To get it off the ground, it will cost him an estimated $250,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manny, the owner of Momo’s — LaRussell’s favorite restaurant in Vallejo — is here too, and he asks the same questions that have been on my mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So what happens to Good Compenny? Is everything going to change?” Manny says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937340\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-33-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performs on his backyard stage on Oct. 1, 2023, with Sacramento neighborhood advocate Jordan McGowan at left. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaRussell explains that were he to sign a deal, it would be with him as an artist, and not a subsidiary label deal with Good Compenny, which is a 501(c)(3) organization. His cash advance would be a welcome relief after years of funding his career out of his own pocket, and could help him get projects off the ground. He also met directly with the president of Def Jam, with whom he had a candid conversation, and left feeling that his value was understood both inside and outside the recording booth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, LaRussell isn’t naive. He’s cognizant of the music industry’s hierarchy. Def Jam has a Black president and a largely Black roster, but Universal Music Group, its parent company, is run by a white CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the thing that makes me a little nervous about going into the system too,” LaRussell says. “Because every time we build something substantial as Black people, we sell it to white people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937386\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937386\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-24-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shanté, who works with LaRussell, performs at the backyard show on Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tietta Mitchell, LaRussell’s partner and manager, has provided consistent support for LaRussell’s success as he navigates the complexities of fame and business. She’s cautious about any partnership LaRussell enters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m never super hasty on any of the deals that we do, regardless of if it’s a major label or not,” she explains. “Once you do a deal with somebody, you’re kind of in bed with them for whatever that deliverable time is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her primary concerns revolve around preserving LaRussell’s vision and creative control, and ensuring his peace. She also emphasizes that LaRussell’s success isn’t reliant on securing a deal; his accomplishments to date prove it. Any potential deal with a label, she says, will only be pursued if it aligns with the values and vision of Good Compenny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/LaRussell-Backyard-Residency-Show-7-Best-32-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell in his backyard, Oct. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whatever happens in the next couple months — LaRussell should know whether or not he’s signing to Def Jam by the end of the year — the fans will remain a large part of that vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I woke up this morning and I was in a slump,” LaRussell tells me at his house. “I was kind of sad. And a lady last night sent me $50,000, a wire. And I got up off my ass because I was like, ‘People believe in you,’ right?” said LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We wrap up our conversation, LaRussell jumps off his couch and returns to the recording booth in the house, with his roommate and good friend Chow behind the computer, continuing to work on his next album — whatever label it might be on.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13937331/larussell-vallejo-def-jam-record-deal","authors":["byline_arts_13937331"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_8505","arts_10342","arts_10278","arts_831","arts_13246","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13937341","label":"arts"},"arts_13936776":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13936776","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13936776","score":null,"sort":[1697936103000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"e-40-gets-the-key-to-the-city-of-vallejo-and-a-street-named-in-his-honor","title":"E-40 Gets the Key to the City of Vallejo and a Street Named in His Honor","publishDate":1697936103,"format":"standard","headTitle":"E-40 Gets the Key to the City of Vallejo and a Street Named in His Honor | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>On Saturday, Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell handed the key to the city to one of its biggest musical icons: E-40.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t even know anywhere else. I only knew 4 blocks. I was just a ghetto child. I never thought I’d be selling tapes out of the trunk of the car over at M&M liquor to having my \u003cem>own\u003c/em> liquor,” said Earl Stevens, aka E-40, at the ceremony on a stretch of Magazine Street that now bears the honorary street sign E-40 Way. It marks the neighborhood where he was raised and began his chart-topping career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936795\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936795 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens greets community members after the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens greets community members after the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You can see the type of talent this city has produced over many many decades,” said Mayor McConnell, addressing the crowd of hundreds that gathered for the ceremony. “Continuously when you move throughout the Bay Area and when you live in other cities, you meet people who say ‘I grew up and I lived in Vallejo,’ and they’re very proud of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we want to acknowledge his success, and more importantly, we want to acknowledge his contributions to the city,” added McConnell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936788\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936788 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Vallejo High School cheerleaders perform at Earl “E-40” Stevens’ honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo High School cheerleaders perform at Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’ honorary ceremony, with E-40 (right) sitting beside Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell on stage. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland-born hip-hop and hyphy artist Mistah F.A.B., master of ceremonies at the event, said E-40 was somebody he grew up idolizing as an artist and as a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today is about being here for somebody that has opened up doors, somebody that has pioneered and championed what it is like to be not only an artist, but to be an entrepreneur, to be a father, to be a friend, to be a family member, to be a great business man,” said Mistah F.A.B., who is also a community organizer, entrepreneur and activist. “I think that you guys are just as proud as we are and we’re happy. … This is a beautiful moment, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936789\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936789 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens’s family members sit in the audience during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’s family members sit in the audience during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>E-40 is a name practically synonymous with \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>, and he’s enjoyed impressive career longevity rarely seen in rap. He got his start in the late ’80s as a member of The Click, a group that also featured his sister Suga-T, brother D-Shot and cousin B-Legit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with peers like Too Short, E-40 set the standard for independent music distribution by selling tapes “out the trunk.” His label Sick Wid It Records later signed a distribution deal with Jive, and The Click’s second album, 1995’s \u003cem>Game Related\u003c/em>, peaked at No. 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936794\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936794 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens unveils the sign of the renamed Magazine St, aka E-40 Way, during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens unveils the sign of the renamed Magazine St, aka E-40 Way, during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a good opportunity for the kids that are coming up here, to build something positive for the children coming up in Vallejo,” said Vallejo resident Rosalyn Robinson. “I think it’s a monumental event, giving Vallejo that credit that’s well needed. E-40 has been in the game for four decades, and this celebration is way past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=arts_13935408 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HKGT-part-2-web-image-1020x574.png']In 1993, E-40 launched his solo career with the album \u003cem>Federal\u003c/em> and continued collaborating with members of The Click on hits like 1995’s “Sprinkle Me” featuring Suga-T as his national profile grew. He’s credited with inventing and popularizing many Bay Area slang terms — such as “broccoli” for cannabis, “fasheezy” and “flamboastin’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E-40’s hit-making streak continued with the 2006 smash “Tell Me When To Go,” which came to define hyphy — the local, hard-partying rap subculture — for the rest of the country. His 2014 song “Choices” became a Golden State Warriors anthem that amped up the team during its championship games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936792\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936792 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens’s son, Earl Stevens Jr. talks about his father’s legacy during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’s son, Earl Stevens Jr. talks about his father’s legacy during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dennis Lastra, who grew up next-door to Stevens in his grandmother’s house, said despite all the success and the accomplishments, E-40 was always humble and always made sure to visit them whenever he was in Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so proud of him, man. Because like, just from day one, I seen her struggle as a single mother, and she raised her kids,” said Lastra of Earl Stevens’ mother, who raised him and his siblings as a single parent. “\u003cb>\u003c/b>I give all props to that man. … You feel that gratitude that he has. It’s just humbling to hear that from someone that has achieved so much. … And the hard way, it wasn’t the easy way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936791\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936791 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"E-40 Way seen on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 Way in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, E-40 collaborated with younger Bay Area artists like P-Lo and national rap stars, including Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Ice Cube. While continuing to make music, he’s shifted his energy toward his philanthropy and liquor and food businesses. He has a forthcoming cookbook with Snoop Dogg, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/untitled-snoop-cookbook-2\">Goon With the Spoon\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, out Nov. 14 via Chronicle Books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936790\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936790 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens speaks during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens speaks during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“E-40 is a trailblazer and he’s opened up many doors for young people to walk through,” said Rosalyn Robinson. “He’s very humble, always been humble. He’s always been loyal. And I think it’s important for the kids to see, and it’s important for events like this to keep happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Attila Pelit contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Vallejo's mayor unveiled E-40 Way on Magazine Street, honoring the neighborhood where the Bay Area rap legend was raised and began his chart-topping career.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705003199,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":18,"wordCount":1071},"headData":{"title":"E-40 Gets the Key to the City of Vallejo and a Street Named in His Honor | KQED","description":"Vallejo's mayor unveiled E-40 Way on Magazine Street, honoring the neighborhood where the Bay Area rap legend was raised and began his chart-topping career.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"E-40 Gets the Key to the City of Vallejo and a Street Named in His Honor","datePublished":"2023-10-22T00:55:03.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T19:59:59.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/fc9fa481-8444-4a95-a438-b0a3010342c4/audio.mp3?download=true","sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca>Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/a>, \u003ca>Billy Cruz\u003c/a>","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13936776/e-40-gets-the-key-to-the-city-of-vallejo-and-a-street-named-in-his-honor","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Saturday, Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell handed the key to the city to one of its biggest musical icons: E-40.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t even know anywhere else. I only knew 4 blocks. I was just a ghetto child. I never thought I’d be selling tapes out of the trunk of the car over at M&M liquor to having my \u003cem>own\u003c/em> liquor,” said Earl Stevens, aka E-40, at the ceremony on a stretch of Magazine Street that now bears the honorary street sign E-40 Way. It marks the neighborhood where he was raised and began his chart-topping career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936795\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936795 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens greets community members after the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-74-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens greets community members after the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You can see the type of talent this city has produced over many many decades,” said Mayor McConnell, addressing the crowd of hundreds that gathered for the ceremony. “Continuously when you move throughout the Bay Area and when you live in other cities, you meet people who say ‘I grew up and I lived in Vallejo,’ and they’re very proud of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we want to acknowledge his success, and more importantly, we want to acknowledge his contributions to the city,” added McConnell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936788\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936788 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Vallejo High School cheerleaders perform at Earl “E-40” Stevens’ honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-8-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo High School cheerleaders perform at Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’ honorary ceremony, with E-40 (right) sitting beside Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell on stage. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland-born hip-hop and hyphy artist Mistah F.A.B., master of ceremonies at the event, said E-40 was somebody he grew up idolizing as an artist and as a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today is about being here for somebody that has opened up doors, somebody that has pioneered and championed what it is like to be not only an artist, but to be an entrepreneur, to be a father, to be a friend, to be a family member, to be a great business man,” said Mistah F.A.B., who is also a community organizer, entrepreneur and activist. “I think that you guys are just as proud as we are and we’re happy. … This is a beautiful moment, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936789\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936789 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens’s family members sit in the audience during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-25-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’s family members sit in the audience during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>E-40 is a name practically synonymous with \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>, and he’s enjoyed impressive career longevity rarely seen in rap. He got his start in the late ’80s as a member of The Click, a group that also featured his sister Suga-T, brother D-Shot and cousin B-Legit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with peers like Too Short, E-40 set the standard for independent music distribution by selling tapes “out the trunk.” His label Sick Wid It Records later signed a distribution deal with Jive, and The Click’s second album, 1995’s \u003cem>Game Related\u003c/em>, peaked at No. 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936794\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936794 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens unveils the sign of the renamed Magazine St, aka E-40 Way, during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-70-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens unveils the sign of the renamed Magazine St, aka E-40 Way, during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a good opportunity for the kids that are coming up here, to build something positive for the children coming up in Vallejo,” said Vallejo resident Rosalyn Robinson. “I think it’s a monumental event, giving Vallejo that credit that’s well needed. E-40 has been in the game for four decades, and this celebration is way past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13935408","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HKGT-part-2-web-image-1020x574.png","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 1993, E-40 launched his solo career with the album \u003cem>Federal\u003c/em> and continued collaborating with members of The Click on hits like 1995’s “Sprinkle Me” featuring Suga-T as his national profile grew. He’s credited with inventing and popularizing many Bay Area slang terms — such as “broccoli” for cannabis, “fasheezy” and “flamboastin’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E-40’s hit-making streak continued with the 2006 smash “Tell Me When To Go,” which came to define hyphy — the local, hard-partying rap subculture — for the rest of the country. His 2014 song “Choices” became a Golden State Warriors anthem that amped up the team during its championship games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936792\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936792 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens’s son, Earl Stevens Jr. talks about his father’s legacy during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-53-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens’s son, Earl Stevens Jr. talks about his father’s legacy during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dennis Lastra, who grew up next-door to Stevens in his grandmother’s house, said despite all the success and the accomplishments, E-40 was always humble and always made sure to visit them whenever he was in Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so proud of him, man. Because like, just from day one, I seen her struggle as a single mother, and she raised her kids,” said Lastra of Earl Stevens’ mother, who raised him and his siblings as a single parent. “\u003cb>\u003c/b>I give all props to that man. … You feel that gratitude that he has. It’s just humbling to hear that from someone that has achieved so much. … And the hard way, it wasn’t the easy way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936791\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936791 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"E-40 Way seen on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-34-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 Way in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, E-40 collaborated with younger Bay Area artists like P-Lo and national rap stars, including Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Ice Cube. While continuing to make music, he’s shifted his energy toward his philanthropy and liquor and food businesses. He has a forthcoming cookbook with Snoop Dogg, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/untitled-snoop-cookbook-2\">Goon With the Spoon\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, out Nov. 14 via Chronicle Books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936790\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13936790 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Earl “E-40” Stevens speaks during the honorary ceremony on Oct. 21, 2023 in Vallejo, Calif.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/E-40-33-MV-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens speaks during the honorary ceremony. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“E-40 is a trailblazer and he’s opened up many doors for young people to walk through,” said Rosalyn Robinson. “He’s very humble, always been humble. He’s always been loyal. And I think it’s important for the kids to see, and it’s important for events like this to keep happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Attila Pelit contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13936776/e-40-gets-the-key-to-the-city-of-vallejo-and-a-street-named-in-his-honor","authors":["byline_arts_13936776"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_1331","arts_8505","arts_1601","arts_10278","arts_10422","arts_16372","arts_831","arts_11439","arts_6975","arts_14988","arts_3478","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13936796","label":"arts"},"arts_13932488":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13932488","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13932488","score":null,"sort":[1697831410000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"e-40-way-magazine-street-renamed-vallejo","title":"'E-40 Way' To Be Unveiled in Vallejo as City Honors Famed Rapper","publishDate":1697831410,"format":"standard","headTitle":"‘E-40 Way’ To Be Unveiled in Vallejo as City Honors Famed Rapper | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Update\u003c/strong>: The public unveiling of E-40 Way is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the corner of Del Sur and Magazine Streets in Vallejo, just outside E-40’s childhood home. City leaders will read a proclamation and issue a key to the city for the sign unveiling ceremony. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Earl Stevens — better known around the soil as rapper E-40 — released “Magazine Street” on his album \u003cem>Poverty and Prosperity\u003c/em>. And as anyone who’s listened to the linguistic fabricator throughout his multi-decade career knows, it’s impossible to list the amount of times Magazine Street has been mentioned in his music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s only right that the city of Vallejo will dedicate nearly a mile of the major thoroughfare to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">entrepreneurial\u003c/a> rap mogul by renaming it “E-40 Way.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13927874']The decision was unanimous among Vallejo’s City Council members in July. Though the city will keep its Magazine Street signs, additional signage indicating “E-40 Way” will be added for a one-mile stretch in southern Vallejo, between Laurel St. and Old Glen Cove Road. It will run through Beverly Hills, the neighborhood where E-40 grew up with his mother and three siblings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision comes 30 years after Stevens released \u003cem>Federal\u003c/em>, his first studio album, which documented life in “the V” and helped pioneer an entirety new subgenre of rapping about street life in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naming streets after influential rappers has of late become a rite of passage in the Bay Area, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">East Oakland recently honoring Todd “Too Short” Shaw with his own strip of pavement\u003c/a> along Foothill Boulevard and 2Pac posthumously receiving a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929233/tupac-shakur-street-oakland-tupac-shakur-way\">Tupac Shakur Way\u003c/a>” commemoration on Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard. The addition of “E-40 Way” only further cements the influential role rappers have played in our region’s cultural landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13907726']For a genre of music known for street credibility, Stevens has always garnered respected among his peers. He’s also an advocate known for his community work, philanthropy and mentorship of younger artists — factors presented before the vote took place at July city council meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article originally published on Aug. 1, 2023. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A mile-long stretch of Magazine Street in Vallejo will be renamed 'E-40 Way' on Saturday, Oct. 21.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705003200,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":10,"wordCount":396},"headData":{"title":"'E-40 Way' To Be Unveiled in Vallejo as City Honors Famed Rapper | KQED","description":"A mile-long stretch of Magazine Street in Vallejo will be renamed 'E-40 Way' on Saturday, Oct. 21.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"'E-40 Way' To Be Unveiled in Vallejo as City Honors Famed Rapper","datePublished":"2023-10-20T19:50:10.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T20:00:00.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13932488/e-40-way-magazine-street-renamed-vallejo","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Update\u003c/strong>: The public unveiling of E-40 Way is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the corner of Del Sur and Magazine Streets in Vallejo, just outside E-40’s childhood home. City leaders will read a proclamation and issue a key to the city for the sign unveiling ceremony. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Earl Stevens — better known around the soil as rapper E-40 — released “Magazine Street” on his album \u003cem>Poverty and Prosperity\u003c/em>. And as anyone who’s listened to the linguistic fabricator throughout his multi-decade career knows, it’s impossible to list the amount of times Magazine Street has been mentioned in his music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s only right that the city of Vallejo will dedicate nearly a mile of the major thoroughfare to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">entrepreneurial\u003c/a> rap mogul by renaming it “E-40 Way.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13927874","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The decision was unanimous among Vallejo’s City Council members in July. Though the city will keep its Magazine Street signs, additional signage indicating “E-40 Way” will be added for a one-mile stretch in southern Vallejo, between Laurel St. and Old Glen Cove Road. It will run through Beverly Hills, the neighborhood where E-40 grew up with his mother and three siblings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision comes 30 years after Stevens released \u003cem>Federal\u003c/em>, his first studio album, which documented life in “the V” and helped pioneer an entirety new subgenre of rapping about street life in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naming streets after influential rappers has of late become a rite of passage in the Bay Area, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">East Oakland recently honoring Todd “Too Short” Shaw with his own strip of pavement\u003c/a> along Foothill Boulevard and 2Pac posthumously receiving a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929233/tupac-shakur-street-oakland-tupac-shakur-way\">Tupac Shakur Way\u003c/a>” commemoration on Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard. The addition of “E-40 Way” only further cements the influential role rappers have played in our region’s cultural landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13907726","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For a genre of music known for street credibility, Stevens has always garnered respected among his peers. He’s also an advocate known for his community work, philanthropy and mentorship of younger artists — factors presented before the vote took place at July city council meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article originally published on Aug. 1, 2023. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13932488/e-40-way-magazine-street-renamed-vallejo","authors":["11748"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_1601","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13840958","label":"arts"},"arts_13933701":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13933701","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13933701","score":null,"sort":[1692916891000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"personal-space-vallejo-gallery","title":"Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery","publishDate":1692916891,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or four years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisarcralle.com/\">Lisa Rybovich Crallé\u003c/a> called the number on a vacant storefront just a few blocks from her home in Vallejo. While out on daily dog walks, she sometimes slipped paper notes into the building’s mailbox, lined by yellow and maroon tiles. This May, after years of one-way phone tag, she finally got a call back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13933420']Initially more curious about the building than intent on starting a gallery, the space’s interior quickly shifted Crallé’s intentions. Originally built as a barbershop by the current owner’s grandfather, the building has had a myriad of subsequent identities, including a cafe and a tax preparer’s office. The building’s large front room, defined by its impressive storefront window, suggested the possibility of an exhibition space. A tucked-away nook, down a long hallway, could become a small shop, where friends and local artists could sell their work, and in the back room Crallé envisioned a new home for her own art studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://personalspace.space/\">Personal Space\u003c/a>, currently the only contemporary art space in Vallejo, opened its first show, \u003cem>Salad Days\u003c/em>, on July 30. Quite by chance, it was the 20th anniversary of Crallé’s first experiment with curation. Back in an almost mythological San Francisco, the artist and a friend, Albert Herter, were given a soon-to-be-demolished grocery store in Hayes Valley for a year — rent-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a giant space with a turquoise-and-white checkerboard tile floor and huge ceilings … we turned it into a gallery and a performance space,” Crallé remembers. While open, they hosted a number of group shows and performances, including a packed set by Johnathan Richman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933744\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000.jpg\" alt=\"A white gallery space with works on the wall, a life-sized standee of a young man and colorful sculptural works on white pedestals. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1497\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-768x575.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1536x1150.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1920x1437.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An installation view of ‘Salad Days’ at Personal Space, with work (from left to right) by Abel Rodriguez, Keith Boadwee, Phyllis Yao, Karen May, Reniel del Rosario and Takming Chuang (on pedestals). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Personal Space)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As an artist, Crallé has exhibited her work with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Berkeley Art Museum, UC Davis’s Manetti Shrem Museum and galleries both near and far. With this experience comes a learned awareness that the blue-chip gallery system is, in her words, “fucked and it doesn’t need to be.” Commercial galleries are notoriously vague when it comes to money, creating a culture in which it’s crass to be straight forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Personal Space, artists keep 70% of sales and the gallery covers all shipping expenses for non-local artists. With more external funding, Crallé is hoping to adopt a model in which artists get 100% of sales. It’s just one of the many ways that the artist is drawing on her own experience to create a gallery that offers an alternative to hierarchical or exclusionary conventions in the art world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Some of the best art in the Bay Area’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The gallery is small, with the distinctions of a living room — curved archways and a hallway that pulls the eye deep into the space’s interior. It feels smaller with the crowd that showed up to see \u003cem>Salad Days\u003c/em> on its opening. Constantly pressed against others, I couldn’t help but overhear two college-aged women discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mariaguzmancapron/\">Maria Guzmán Capron\u003c/a>’s sculpture, \u003cem>Eat Me\u003c/em>, a languorous figure leaned back to peacock a gingerly affixed fabric crotch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933748\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000.jpg\" alt=\"At left, a drawing of a polaroid of two women in tank tops with writing around the border against gray background, at right, a sewn sculpture of a figure reclining\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1395\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-800x558.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1020x711.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-768x536.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1920x1339.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Abel Rodriguez, ‘Fotos y recuerdos: Mrs. Goofy & Mrs. Sombra, Oct. 27, 2000,’ 2023; Right: Maria Guzmán Capron, ‘Eat Me,’ 2018. \u003ccite>(Left: Courtesy of the artist; Right: Courtesy of Deli Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Do you think it means, like, \u003cem>you know\u003c/em>,” one young woman shyly asked. The other shrugged and pointed across the room at the cartoonish spread legs of an anthropomorphic frog caught in the act of showering a second laid-out, cigarette-sucking amphibian in piss (a painting by Keith Boadwee). My eyes drifted to the side, towards Cliff Hengst’s delicate watercolor, which shrouds the words “Help Me Make it Through the Night” in an oceanic blue. All of a sudden, it was achingly sexual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://niadart.org/karen-may/\">Karen May\u003c/a>, an artist at \u003ca href=\"https://niadart.org/\">NIAD Art Center\u003c/a> in nearby Richmond, arrived at Personal Space early, favorably checking out her piece in the show. In it, a gingerly rendered face covers an advertisement for a Steven Shearer show on a page cut from an art magazine. The porous quality of the painting is at odds with the intensity of the figure’s stare, which communicates something between horror and omnipotence. Crallé used to work at \u003ca href=\"https://www.creativityexplored.org/\">Creativity Explored\u003c/a> in the early 2000s and has frequently collaborated with \u003ca href=\"https://creativegrowth.org/\">Creative Growth\u003c/a> and NIAD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly,” she says, “I feel like some of the best art in the Bay Area, and maybe the world, is coming out of those centers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a brief time during the opening, the party was out of water, but well stocked in natural rosé. People happily crammed into the hot cement outdoor space advised thirsty friends, “Why not just have wine?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/villagevallejo/\">Village Vallejo\u003c/a>, the pop-up wine project supplying the pours, hopes to open a brick-and-mortar store soon. In fact, they put in a rental application to move in next door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933858\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Four musicians set up around a table play while people watch from foreground and behind a fence; at right, a large crowd is seen from overhead\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1287\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-800x515.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1020x656.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-768x494.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1536x988.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1920x1236.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left and right, the scene in Personal Space’s yard during the ‘Salad Days’ opening. \u003ccite>(Jessalyn Aaland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the opening, my conversation with musicians Geoff Saba and Jennifer Williams, who together form the Oakland band \u003ca href=\"https://gossimer.bandcamp.com/album/mountain-misery\">Gossimer\u003c/a>, was interrupted by the arrival of an impressive plate of shrimp. Saba told me about past visits to Vallejo, where he used to go to parties with his cousins and meet “lots of creative, artistic folk that didn’t seem like they had a public outlet.” With Personal Space, which plans to highlight Vallejo-based artists, Saba is hopeful that the gallery will amplify the voices of local artistic communities during what he characterizes as “a recent influx of out-of-town interest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13933766']Ambient computer music began to ink into the backyard, as Chaz Bear and Anthony Ferrero from the band \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/toro-y-moi\">Toro y Moi\u003c/a> turned nobs by the space’s red wooden fence. Cole Pulice, in what seemed like an improvisational set, blew the saxophone alongside. I snuck back inside during the set. With the gallery emptied out, I found myself pulled towards \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/abel_rdgz/\">Abel Rodriguez\u003c/a>’s photo-realistic charcoal and conte drawing of two women, one in shades, the other staring directly at me. Their forms are outlined by the recognizable white border of a polaroid, marked decisively with the artist’s handwriting, communicating a reflexive authority in defining the composition’s narrative. Rendering a photograph by hand is tender, materially intimate — one imagines the care the artist took to represent their likeness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two women, Rodriguez later shared with me, are his younger sisters, and the photograph was taken in the ’90s, a time when he and the people he knew were trying to define their own identities. “After the photograph is pulled out from the Polaroid,” he says, “when you take your marker and sign it, marking that point of ‘I’m here, and this is who I am, and this is who I’m with, and this is the date.’ That point of ‘I’m here, I lived.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Vallejo’s ebbs and flows\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite growing up in San Francisco, living in Oakland, and frequently visiting relatives in Martinez, I’d previously only been to the Six Flags in Vallejo and had very little knowledge of the city’s history — or for that matter, its present. Speaking with Crallé and Rodriguez, I learned that in 2008, Vallejo became the largest municipality in the country to declare bankruptcy, and subsequently has suffered quick bouts of financial recovery and collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downtown was devastated by the pandemic, Rodriguez tells me. “We saw a peak, and then a huge decline. It’s an ebb and flow that happens with these small cities, especially without funding or city support for cultural engagements,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez felt this personally. In 2015, he opened \u003ca href=\"https://www.elcomalitocollective.com/\">El Comalito Collective\u003c/a> in downtown Vallejo with his partner Edgar-Arturo Camacho-Gonzalez. Together, they turned it into a community resource with art supplies, free workshops and visiting artists. The project is currently on hiatus, a result of the pandemic and a rent increase on their building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just in the 12 years I’ve lived here,” Crallé reflects, “the place has changed quite a bit.” Vallejo has always been a city where artists live: the reclusive conceptual practitioner Howard Fried has long called the city home, \u003ca href=\"http://www.re-sound.net/\">Re:Sound\u003c/a> has run an experimental music and film series on Mare Island since 2015; and, most famously, Vallejo is the hometown of many extremely famous musicians, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, H.E.R. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sob-x-rbe\">SOB X RBE\u003c/a>. But the pandemic saw an uptick of artists relocating from San Francisco and Oakland to the “Up Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933742\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000.jpg\" alt=\"A group of adults stand in loose circle in a lush yard\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kim Frazar-Blantz (at far left) speaks to a group of participants in a writing day at Winslow House, led by Jennifer Williams, in red. \u003ccite>(Sea Snyder)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Everyone I spoke with who’s made the move is acutely aware of the thin line between contemporary art and gentrification, of the relationship between “revitalization” and towering condos. Artists in the Bay Area, especially those who do public programming, seem to be hardened experts, experienced with counteracting the unintended effects of opening art spaces. Kim Frazar-Blantz, who recently started \u003ca href=\"https://www.winslowhouseproject.org/\">Winslow House Project\u003c/a> in Vallejo, an artist residency in a storied Victorian farmhouse, is reticent to claim any definitive knowledge of the place. Instead she’s curious, but respectful and conscientious. As a long-time resident of the Bay Area, and someone who previously had a gallery in West Oakland, she seems all too familiar with the relationship between the arts and gentrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it is a genuine joy to see new art spaces opening in Vallejo. Winslow House offers an incredible resource to artists, inviting them to meditate on the site-specificity of its locale and make work inspired by the physical environment. Village Vallejo has ambitious ideas for event programming and aims to create an inviting scene, where people can find temporary reprieve with a glass of wine. And Personal Space seems well positioned to become a vital artistic hub, as it dismantles false hierarchies between hyperlocal and international contemporary art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the opening, it was impossible not to feel the importance of the gallery. I watched neighbors run into each other, teachers and community activists meet and people from all kinds of scenes intermingle; I even met former students of Crallé’s excited to volunteer and support the burgeoning space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933747\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Four adults stand smiling and laughing in a gallery space, one holds a bouquet in a vase\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Lisa Rybovich Crallé, Amy Owen, Chris Thorson and John Davis at the ‘Salad Days’ opening. \u003ccite>(Jessalyn Aaland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Perhaps I’m biased, but I’m convinced the Bay’s particularity germinates exceptionally good artist-run spaces. There’s an impermanent quality that invites experimentation, not because of bold and prestigious ambition, but because the pressure is low and because it’s transient — both immediate and always precarious. There’s no easy path to institutionalization, wealthy people here don’t particularly support the arts, and many of the artists eschew pretension. It’s a region of perpetual salad days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I shared this half-formed thought with Crallé. “I feel like what you are criticizing in terms of the careerist, capitalist, commercial end of things comes from a scarcity mentality,” she says, “that there is only so much money, only so much fame available for people to squabble over, and that is such a limiting perspective. It’s not wrong, exactly, but it’s not helpful to live with as a driving force. Artist-run projects are flipping that on its head, and being like, well what if there’s plenty?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not an easy question to answer, but it’s much more interesting to ask than, “How do I take the most?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://personalspace.space/exhibitions/salad-days\">Salad Days\u003c/a>’ is on view at Personal Space (1505 Tennessee St., Vallejo) through Sept. 10. The gallery is open Sundays 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and by appointment.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"With Personal Space, Lisa Rybovich Crallé is offering an alternative to the exclusionary conventions of the art world.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705005101,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":28,"wordCount":2132},"headData":{"title":"Vallejo’s Newest Arts Space Is Poised to Become a Vital Hub | KQED","description":"With Personal Space, Lisa Rybovich Crallé is offering an alternative to the exclusionary conventions of the art world.","ogTitle":"Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Vallejo’s Newest Arts Space Is Poised to Become a Vital Hub %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Vallejo’s ‘Salad Days’ Begin Again With the Help of a New Artist-Run Gallery","datePublished":"2023-08-24T22:41:31.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T20:31:41.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13933701/personal-space-vallejo-gallery","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>or four years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisarcralle.com/\">Lisa Rybovich Crallé\u003c/a> called the number on a vacant storefront just a few blocks from her home in Vallejo. While out on daily dog walks, she sometimes slipped paper notes into the building’s mailbox, lined by yellow and maroon tiles. This May, after years of one-way phone tag, she finally got a call back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13933420","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Initially more curious about the building than intent on starting a gallery, the space’s interior quickly shifted Crallé’s intentions. Originally built as a barbershop by the current owner’s grandfather, the building has had a myriad of subsequent identities, including a cafe and a tax preparer’s office. The building’s large front room, defined by its impressive storefront window, suggested the possibility of an exhibition space. A tucked-away nook, down a long hallway, could become a small shop, where friends and local artists could sell their work, and in the back room Crallé envisioned a new home for her own art studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://personalspace.space/\">Personal Space\u003c/a>, currently the only contemporary art space in Vallejo, opened its first show, \u003cem>Salad Days\u003c/em>, on July 30. Quite by chance, it was the 20th anniversary of Crallé’s first experiment with curation. Back in an almost mythological San Francisco, the artist and a friend, Albert Herter, were given a soon-to-be-demolished grocery store in Hayes Valley for a year — rent-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a giant space with a turquoise-and-white checkerboard tile floor and huge ceilings … we turned it into a gallery and a performance space,” Crallé remembers. While open, they hosted a number of group shows and performances, including a packed set by Johnathan Richman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933744\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000.jpg\" alt=\"A white gallery space with works on the wall, a life-sized standee of a young man and colorful sculptural works on white pedestals. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1497\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-768x575.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1536x1150.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Salad-Days_02_2000-1920x1437.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An installation view of ‘Salad Days’ at Personal Space, with work (from left to right) by Abel Rodriguez, Keith Boadwee, Phyllis Yao, Karen May, Reniel del Rosario and Takming Chuang (on pedestals). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Personal Space)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As an artist, Crallé has exhibited her work with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Berkeley Art Museum, UC Davis’s Manetti Shrem Museum and galleries both near and far. With this experience comes a learned awareness that the blue-chip gallery system is, in her words, “fucked and it doesn’t need to be.” Commercial galleries are notoriously vague when it comes to money, creating a culture in which it’s crass to be straight forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Personal Space, artists keep 70% of sales and the gallery covers all shipping expenses for non-local artists. With more external funding, Crallé is hoping to adopt a model in which artists get 100% of sales. It’s just one of the many ways that the artist is drawing on her own experience to create a gallery that offers an alternative to hierarchical or exclusionary conventions in the art world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Some of the best art in the Bay Area’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The gallery is small, with the distinctions of a living room — curved archways and a hallway that pulls the eye deep into the space’s interior. It feels smaller with the crowd that showed up to see \u003cem>Salad Days\u003c/em> on its opening. Constantly pressed against others, I couldn’t help but overhear two college-aged women discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mariaguzmancapron/\">Maria Guzmán Capron\u003c/a>’s sculpture, \u003cem>Eat Me\u003c/em>, a languorous figure leaned back to peacock a gingerly affixed fabric crotch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933748\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000.jpg\" alt=\"At left, a drawing of a polaroid of two women in tank tops with writing around the border against gray background, at right, a sewn sculpture of a figure reclining\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1395\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-800x558.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1020x711.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-768x536.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Rodriguez_Capron_2000-1920x1339.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Abel Rodriguez, ‘Fotos y recuerdos: Mrs. Goofy & Mrs. Sombra, Oct. 27, 2000,’ 2023; Right: Maria Guzmán Capron, ‘Eat Me,’ 2018. \u003ccite>(Left: Courtesy of the artist; Right: Courtesy of Deli Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Do you think it means, like, \u003cem>you know\u003c/em>,” one young woman shyly asked. The other shrugged and pointed across the room at the cartoonish spread legs of an anthropomorphic frog caught in the act of showering a second laid-out, cigarette-sucking amphibian in piss (a painting by Keith Boadwee). My eyes drifted to the side, towards Cliff Hengst’s delicate watercolor, which shrouds the words “Help Me Make it Through the Night” in an oceanic blue. All of a sudden, it was achingly sexual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://niadart.org/karen-may/\">Karen May\u003c/a>, an artist at \u003ca href=\"https://niadart.org/\">NIAD Art Center\u003c/a> in nearby Richmond, arrived at Personal Space early, favorably checking out her piece in the show. In it, a gingerly rendered face covers an advertisement for a Steven Shearer show on a page cut from an art magazine. The porous quality of the painting is at odds with the intensity of the figure’s stare, which communicates something between horror and omnipotence. Crallé used to work at \u003ca href=\"https://www.creativityexplored.org/\">Creativity Explored\u003c/a> in the early 2000s and has frequently collaborated with \u003ca href=\"https://creativegrowth.org/\">Creative Growth\u003c/a> and NIAD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly,” she says, “I feel like some of the best art in the Bay Area, and maybe the world, is coming out of those centers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a brief time during the opening, the party was out of water, but well stocked in natural rosé. People happily crammed into the hot cement outdoor space advised thirsty friends, “Why not just have wine?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/villagevallejo/\">Village Vallejo\u003c/a>, the pop-up wine project supplying the pours, hopes to open a brick-and-mortar store soon. In fact, they put in a rental application to move in next door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933858\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Four musicians set up around a table play while people watch from foreground and behind a fence; at right, a large crowd is seen from overhead\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1287\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-800x515.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1020x656.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-768x494.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1536x988.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Music_Crowd_2000-1920x1236.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left and right, the scene in Personal Space’s yard during the ‘Salad Days’ opening. \u003ccite>(Jessalyn Aaland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the opening, my conversation with musicians Geoff Saba and Jennifer Williams, who together form the Oakland band \u003ca href=\"https://gossimer.bandcamp.com/album/mountain-misery\">Gossimer\u003c/a>, was interrupted by the arrival of an impressive plate of shrimp. Saba told me about past visits to Vallejo, where he used to go to parties with his cousins and meet “lots of creative, artistic folk that didn’t seem like they had a public outlet.” With Personal Space, which plans to highlight Vallejo-based artists, Saba is hopeful that the gallery will amplify the voices of local artistic communities during what he characterizes as “a recent influx of out-of-town interest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13933766","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ambient computer music began to ink into the backyard, as Chaz Bear and Anthony Ferrero from the band \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/toro-y-moi\">Toro y Moi\u003c/a> turned nobs by the space’s red wooden fence. Cole Pulice, in what seemed like an improvisational set, blew the saxophone alongside. I snuck back inside during the set. With the gallery emptied out, I found myself pulled towards \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/abel_rdgz/\">Abel Rodriguez\u003c/a>’s photo-realistic charcoal and conte drawing of two women, one in shades, the other staring directly at me. Their forms are outlined by the recognizable white border of a polaroid, marked decisively with the artist’s handwriting, communicating a reflexive authority in defining the composition’s narrative. Rendering a photograph by hand is tender, materially intimate — one imagines the care the artist took to represent their likeness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two women, Rodriguez later shared with me, are his younger sisters, and the photograph was taken in the ’90s, a time when he and the people he knew were trying to define their own identities. “After the photograph is pulled out from the Polaroid,” he says, “when you take your marker and sign it, marking that point of ‘I’m here, and this is who I am, and this is who I’m with, and this is the date.’ That point of ‘I’m here, I lived.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Vallejo’s ebbs and flows\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite growing up in San Francisco, living in Oakland, and frequently visiting relatives in Martinez, I’d previously only been to the Six Flags in Vallejo and had very little knowledge of the city’s history — or for that matter, its present. Speaking with Crallé and Rodriguez, I learned that in 2008, Vallejo became the largest municipality in the country to declare bankruptcy, and subsequently has suffered quick bouts of financial recovery and collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downtown was devastated by the pandemic, Rodriguez tells me. “We saw a peak, and then a huge decline. It’s an ebb and flow that happens with these small cities, especially without funding or city support for cultural engagements,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez felt this personally. In 2015, he opened \u003ca href=\"https://www.elcomalitocollective.com/\">El Comalito Collective\u003c/a> in downtown Vallejo with his partner Edgar-Arturo Camacho-Gonzalez. Together, they turned it into a community resource with art supplies, free workshops and visiting artists. The project is currently on hiatus, a result of the pandemic and a rent increase on their building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just in the 12 years I’ve lived here,” Crallé reflects, “the place has changed quite a bit.” Vallejo has always been a city where artists live: the reclusive conceptual practitioner Howard Fried has long called the city home, \u003ca href=\"http://www.re-sound.net/\">Re:Sound\u003c/a> has run an experimental music and film series on Mare Island since 2015; and, most famously, Vallejo is the hometown of many extremely famous musicians, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, H.E.R. and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sob-x-rbe\">SOB X RBE\u003c/a>. But the pandemic saw an uptick of artists relocating from San Francisco and Oakland to the “Up Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933742\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933742\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000.jpg\" alt=\"A group of adults stand in loose circle in a lush yard\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/WinslowHouse_2000-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kim Frazar-Blantz (at far left) speaks to a group of participants in a writing day at Winslow House, led by Jennifer Williams, in red. \u003ccite>(Sea Snyder)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Everyone I spoke with who’s made the move is acutely aware of the thin line between contemporary art and gentrification, of the relationship between “revitalization” and towering condos. Artists in the Bay Area, especially those who do public programming, seem to be hardened experts, experienced with counteracting the unintended effects of opening art spaces. Kim Frazar-Blantz, who recently started \u003ca href=\"https://www.winslowhouseproject.org/\">Winslow House Project\u003c/a> in Vallejo, an artist residency in a storied Victorian farmhouse, is reticent to claim any definitive knowledge of the place. Instead she’s curious, but respectful and conscientious. As a long-time resident of the Bay Area, and someone who previously had a gallery in West Oakland, she seems all too familiar with the relationship between the arts and gentrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, it is a genuine joy to see new art spaces opening in Vallejo. Winslow House offers an incredible resource to artists, inviting them to meditate on the site-specificity of its locale and make work inspired by the physical environment. Village Vallejo has ambitious ideas for event programming and aims to create an inviting scene, where people can find temporary reprieve with a glass of wine. And Personal Space seems well positioned to become a vital artistic hub, as it dismantles false hierarchies between hyperlocal and international contemporary art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the opening, it was impossible not to feel the importance of the gallery. I watched neighbors run into each other, teachers and community activists meet and people from all kinds of scenes intermingle; I even met former students of Crallé’s excited to volunteer and support the burgeoning space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933747\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Four adults stand smiling and laughing in a gallery space, one holds a bouquet in a vase\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Lisa-Amy-Owen-Chris-Thorson-John-Davis_Jessalyn-Aaland_2000-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Lisa Rybovich Crallé, Amy Owen, Chris Thorson and John Davis at the ‘Salad Days’ opening. \u003ccite>(Jessalyn Aaland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Perhaps I’m biased, but I’m convinced the Bay’s particularity germinates exceptionally good artist-run spaces. There’s an impermanent quality that invites experimentation, not because of bold and prestigious ambition, but because the pressure is low and because it’s transient — both immediate and always precarious. There’s no easy path to institutionalization, wealthy people here don’t particularly support the arts, and many of the artists eschew pretension. It’s a region of perpetual salad days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I shared this half-formed thought with Crallé. “I feel like what you are criticizing in terms of the careerist, capitalist, commercial end of things comes from a scarcity mentality,” she says, “that there is only so much money, only so much fame available for people to squabble over, and that is such a limiting perspective. It’s not wrong, exactly, but it’s not helpful to live with as a driving force. Artist-run projects are flipping that on its head, and being like, well what if there’s plenty?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not an easy question to answer, but it’s much more interesting to ask than, “How do I take the most?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://personalspace.space/exhibitions/salad-days\">Salad Days\u003c/a>’ is on view at Personal Space (1505 Tennessee St., Vallejo) through Sept. 10. The gallery is open Sundays 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and by appointment.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13933701/personal-space-vallejo-gallery","authors":["11696"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_10278","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13933855","label":"arts"},"arts_13932753":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13932753","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13932753","score":null,"sort":[1691506112000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"e-40-too-short-chuck-d-and-more-rap-legends-on-their-early-hip-hop-influences","title":"E-40, Too Short, Chuck D and More Rap Legends on Their Early Hip-Hop Influences","publishDate":1691506112,"format":"standard","headTitle":"E-40, Too Short, Chuck D and More Rap Legends on Their Early Hip-Hop Influences | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>Remember the first rap song you heard? Some of your favorite rappers and DJs certainly do. While hip-hop celebrates 50 years of life, The Associated Press asked some of the genre’s most popular artists to recall their first memory of hearing rap and how the moment resonated with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In interviews with more than two dozen hip-hop legends, Queen Latifah, Chuck D, Method Man, E-40 and eight others cited The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as the first rap song they heard. But not all were hooked on the new musical style by that track, and their answers reveal the sense of discovery that marked rap’s early years. (Watch videos of the \u003ca href=\"https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/hip-hop-50th-in-their-own-words/index.html\">artists describing their early hip-hop influences here\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hip-hops roots are traced to 1973 in the Bronx and it took a few years before rap records emerged — “Rapper’s Delight” was a major catalyst for introducing rap music to a much broader audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the stories of a dozen hip-hop stars who got hooked on the genre around the time “Rapper’s Delight” ruled.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chuck D\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932754\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged Black man clutches a microphone and mic stand and smiles on stage. He is wearing a black t-shirt and black baseball cap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Public Enemy’s Chuck D performs in Berlin in 2019. \u003ccite>(Frank Hoensch/ Redferns)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a sophomore at Adelphi University, Chuck D was about to hit the stage to perform over the melody of Chic’s “Good Times” at a party in October 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least, that’s what he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he stepped behind the microphone, Chuck D heard a different version of the song. It kept going and going for — 15 minutes straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13925958']“I get on the mic to rock the house. Then all of a sudden, I hear words behind me as I’m rockin’. I lipsync. The words keep going. (Expletive) are rockin’ for like 20 minutes,” said Chuck D, a member of the rap group Public Enemy who created “ Fight the Power,” one of hip-hop’s most iconic and important anthems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After it’s all over, cats are giving me high pounds like ‘You went on and on to the break of dawn dawg,’” he continued. “Back then, it’s about how long you can rap. I went and turned to the DJ and looked at the red label that said ‘Sugarhill Gang ‘Rapper’s Delight.’’ I was like ’Oh, they finally did it.’ They were talking all summer long that rap records were going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was stunned: “I was, like, ’It’s inconceivable. How could a rap be a record?′ I couldn’t see it. Nobody could see it. And then when it happened, boom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Queen Latifah\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932755\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932755\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman in an olive green jumpsuit performs on stage. She is holding a microphone up to her mouth.\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-1020x718.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-768x540.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-1536x1081.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Queen Latifah performing in Chicago in 2020. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Queen Latifah, “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap song she and a lot of others heard and memorized where she grew up in Newark, New Jersey. But the biggest record in her world as a kid was Afrika Bambaattaa and the Soul Sonic Force’s 1982 song “ Planet Rock. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Oscar-nominated actor can be seen chasing bad guys on CBS’ \u003cem>The Equalizer\u003c/em>, many forget her roots as a rapper, with hits like “U.N.I.T.Y.” and “Just Another Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It changed the sound,” she said. “It’s more of a synthesized, 808s, hi-hats. The whole sound of it was different. Some of hip-hop in the original days was live music. It was live bands playing break records. Like ‘Good Times’ was the beat to ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ Some of those records took actual disco records, played the music and rhymed to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>E-40\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13840957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13840957\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"E-40 plays Rolling Loud Bay Area on Sunday, September 16, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 plays Rolling Loud Bay Area on Sunday, September 16, 2018. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While heading to school as a seventh grader in 1979, E-40 heard a new rap tune on a local radio station that normally played R&B and soul music in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13932488']It was “Rapper’s Delight,” which interpolated Chic’s hit “Good Times.” That’s when he knew hip-hop was going to be a part of his life forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘Ohh, this is hard. I’m hooked,’” said E-40, who recalled the moment while driving to Franklin Middle School in Vallejo, California. He and fellow rapper B-Legit used to sport the same kind of fedora hats and big gold rope chains Run-D.M.C. performed in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From then on, I loved rap. In 1979, when I first heard The Sugarhill Gang, I wanted to be a rapper. I would play around with it … We grew up on New York rap. All of us did. We wanted to be hip-hop. We wanted to breakdance. We did it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But that changed everything after we heard Sugarhill Gang. Next thing you know, you’re hearing Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow and ‘Roxannne, Roxanne.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lil Jon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932756\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932756\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016. \u003ccite>(Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Rapper’s Delight” was probably the first hip-hop song Lil Jon heard. But he became a “super fan” of the genre as a middle schooler in Atlanta after seeing rap groups the Fat Boys and Whodini. It was his first time seeing professional rappers onstage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I might have been a fan of rap before, but I had never been to a rap concert. I’ve never seen rappers in person,” he said. “Maybe just in the magazines. That turned me into like … a super fan of hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first hip-hop record Lil-Jon bought was Run D.M.C.’s “Sucker M.C.’s (Krush-Groove 1).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remembered my homeboy that lived in the neighborhood. I had to go through some woods to his house with the album,” he said. “We put the album on at his house. We were going crazy over listening to lyrics and beats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Roxanne Shante\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman stands onstage smiling broadly. She is wearing an off the shoulder red gown and holding her hands out in a half shrug.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roxanne Shante at the 2023 Black Music Honors in Atlanta, Georgia. \u003ccite>(Nykieria Chaney/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Roxanne Shante’s first rap experience didn’t come in song form. She was introduced to hip-hop through the late comedian-poet Nipsey Russell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13931795']“He had the ability to rhyme at any time,” said Shante, a host for SiriusXM’s Rock the Bells Radio. At age 14, she became one of the first female rappers to become popular after her song “Roxanne’s Revenge” and gained more notoriety as a member of the Juice Crew. She also took part in \u003cem>Roxanne Wars\u003c/em>, which was a series of hip-hop rivalries in the mid-1980s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shante said “Rapper’s Delight” was the record most parents brought into their home as the “party song.” But in her mind, Russell had just as much of an impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That would be my first encounter with loving what would become hip-hop,” she continued. “This way of having a certain cadence, this way of being able to do these certain rhymes was just incredible to me … He was able to freestyle all day, every day. And that’s who I am. That’s what I still do today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too Short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13922549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13922549\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-800x545.jpg\" alt=\"a Black man raps into a microphone on a stage with the words 'Too $hort' behind him in blue lights\" width=\"800\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-2048x1395.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1920x1308.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short performs during the ‘25th Anniversary of Doggystyle’ tour at Oracle Arena, Oakland. \u003ccite>(Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 1979. Too Short was around 13 years old. He normally listened to a variety of funk songs ranging from the Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster” and Funkadelic’s “Knee Deep.” Then one day at his father’s house, he heard “Rapper’s Delight” blaring through a stereo system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927349']“I was on my funk stuff, then this ‘Rapper’s Delight’ record came out and it was like 15 minutes long,” he recalled. “I’d be at my pop’s house just bumping the loud stereo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As “Rapper’s Delight” gained momentum in 1980, Too Short gravitated more toward beatboxing. That led him to hit up the local record store where he would buy the latest hip-hop album then blasted it on his radio for anyone to hear in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to get a radio with two speakers. That was mandatory,” he said. “I was the guy with the radio who was hitting play going ‘You ain’t never heard that before’ … I had the whole room, the whole bus jumping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Doug E. Fresh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932758\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932758\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-800x553.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man raises both his arms in the air and strides forward on stage. He is wearing a white t-shirt, black jacket and black pants. Stage lights beam all around him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-800x553.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-1020x705.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-768x531.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-1536x1062.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug E. Fresh onstage in New York City in 2023. \u003ccite>(Johnny Nunez/ WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hearing “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time changed the trajectory of Doug E. Fresh’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember when my sister came home and told me about a guy named D.J. Hollywood, who we considered the first real M.C.,” he said. “She came home and told me about a rap he had. And the rap went, ‘Ding, ding, ding, ding, dong, dong, dong the dang, the dang, dang, dang, the ding dong dong. To the hip hop…’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh then added: “I turned around and said, ‘Teach me that, show me.’ And after that, it’s been me and hip-hop since that point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>DJ Kid Capri\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932759\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932759\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A mixed race man wearing a black Givenchy t-shirt smiles from behind DJ decks, holding one side of a set of headphones on his head.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kid Capri DJing in Houston in 2023. \u003ccite>(Marcus Ingram/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJ Kid Capri, arguably one of hip-hop’s most famous DJs in the ‘90s, grew up on soul music. His father was a soul singer. His grandfather played the trumpet. And his uncle, Bill Curtis, was the leader of the Fatback Band — which he says made the first hip-hop single “King Tim III (Personality Jock) ” before “Rapper’s Delight” was released a few months later in 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13932030']Capri’s uncle gave him the opportunity to hear a rap song for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was right there,” Capri said about the Fatback Band, a funk and disco ensemble who became known for their R&B hits including “(Do the) Spanish Hustle,” “I Like Girls” and “I Found Lovin’.” But it was “King Tim III” that had a strong influence on him — especially since it came from family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world thinks ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first rap record, but it was ‘Personality Jock,’” he said. “My uncle, he’s my family. He’s the one that did it. So, I’ve always been around it. That’s what made me be so infectious in it, because I’ve seen every level to where I’m at right now. I took all those things important to me on stage right now. When you see me on stage, you can see all those things wrapped up in me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Method Man\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932760\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932760\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-800x543.jpg\" alt=\"A muscular Black man, wearing an NY baseball cap, white t-shirt and blue jeans strides across a stage, microphone held up to his open mouth.\" width=\"800\" height=\"543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-1536x1042.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Method Man performing in Atlanta in 2023. \u003ccite>(Prince Williams/ WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, “Rapper’s Delight” was the first-ever rap song Method Man ever heard. But the first hip-hop song that really resonated with him was Run-D.M.C.’s “ Sucker MCs (Krush-Groove 1 ).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had never heard this record and I thought I was up on everything at the time,” Method Man said of the 1983 song, which proceeded Run-D.M.C.’s first single “It’s Like That” from their self-titled album. He said “Sucker MCs” helped pave a way to usher in a new school of hip-hop artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were on a sixth-grade class trip to Long Island, and everybody was singing it word-for-word,” the \u003cem>Power Book II: Ghost\u003c/em> actor remembered. “They must have played that record 24 times on our class trip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Big Daddy Kane\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932671\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-800x598.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up image of a Black man wearing a white shirt and rapping into a microphone on stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-1020x762.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Daddy Kane performing in 2015. \u003ccite>(Donna Ward/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around age 12, Big Daddy Kane might not have remembered all of his homework assignments, but he certainly could recite every lyric to the late Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 song “Adventures of Super Rhymes,” one of hip-hop’s first songs recorded in a studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane heard “Rapper’s Delight” first, but Spicer’s storytelling on the 15-minute song resonated with him the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When this song came out, just the way Jimmy Spicer was styling on them and telling the story about Dracula and a story about Aladdin, I thought it was real slick,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>DJ Jazzy Jeff\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932448\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a white t-shirt and gold and white striped hat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazzy Jeff DJs on stage.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJ Jazzy Jeff always had an affinity for music. But when the \u003cem>Fresh Prince of Bel-Air\u003c/em> star heard “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time, he felt like the song spoke to him like no other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that was the first time I felt like the music was mine,” he said. “Before then, I loved the music, but the music was kind of my older brothers and sisters, and I just liked it because it was theirs. This was the one that somebody made just for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Jermaine Dupri\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13835189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13835189\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man with a bald head wears sunglasses and a tuxedo on a red carpet. He is holding an award and smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-520x292.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jermaine Dupri at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 49th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on June 14, 2018 in New York City. \u003ccite>(Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jermaine Dupri couldn’t have envisioned his successful career without listening to “Rapper’s Delight” around the age of 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember the lyrics of the song. I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Dupri, a rap mogul who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. “I just started learning the song. I never knew it was going to take me on this journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Find out more about hip-hop history with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, a KQED Arts & Culture series about the underrecognized influence and background of Bay Area rap.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” looms large as an influence, but it's not the only place these icons found inspiration.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705005179,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":51,"wordCount":2486},"headData":{"title":"E-40, Too Short, Chuck D and More Rap Legends on Their Early Hip-Hop Influences | KQED","description":"The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” looms large as an influence, but it's not the only place these icons found inspiration.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"E-40, Too Short, Chuck D and More Rap Legends on Their Early Hip-Hop Influences","datePublished":"2023-08-08T14:48:32.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T20:32:59.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Jonathan Landrum Jr., Gary Gerard Hamilton ","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13932753/e-40-too-short-chuck-d-and-more-rap-legends-on-their-early-hip-hop-influences","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Remember the first rap song you heard? Some of your favorite rappers and DJs certainly do. While hip-hop celebrates 50 years of life, The Associated Press asked some of the genre’s most popular artists to recall their first memory of hearing rap and how the moment resonated with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In interviews with more than two dozen hip-hop legends, Queen Latifah, Chuck D, Method Man, E-40 and eight others cited The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as the first rap song they heard. But not all were hooked on the new musical style by that track, and their answers reveal the sense of discovery that marked rap’s early years. (Watch videos of the \u003ca href=\"https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/hip-hop-50th-in-their-own-words/index.html\">artists describing their early hip-hop influences here\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hip-hops roots are traced to 1973 in the Bronx and it took a few years before rap records emerged — “Rapper’s Delight” was a major catalyst for introducing rap music to a much broader audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are the stories of a dozen hip-hop stars who got hooked on the genre around the time “Rapper’s Delight” ruled.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chuck D\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932754\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged Black man clutches a microphone and mic stand and smiles on stage. He is wearing a black t-shirt and black baseball cap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1144886924-scaled-e1691443762805.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Public Enemy’s Chuck D performs in Berlin in 2019. \u003ccite>(Frank Hoensch/ Redferns)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a sophomore at Adelphi University, Chuck D was about to hit the stage to perform over the melody of Chic’s “Good Times” at a party in October 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least, that’s what he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he stepped behind the microphone, Chuck D heard a different version of the song. It kept going and going for — 15 minutes straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13925958","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I get on the mic to rock the house. Then all of a sudden, I hear words behind me as I’m rockin’. I lipsync. The words keep going. (Expletive) are rockin’ for like 20 minutes,” said Chuck D, a member of the rap group Public Enemy who created “ Fight the Power,” one of hip-hop’s most iconic and important anthems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After it’s all over, cats are giving me high pounds like ‘You went on and on to the break of dawn dawg,’” he continued. “Back then, it’s about how long you can rap. I went and turned to the DJ and looked at the red label that said ‘Sugarhill Gang ‘Rapper’s Delight.’’ I was like ’Oh, they finally did it.’ They were talking all summer long that rap records were going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was stunned: “I was, like, ’It’s inconceivable. How could a rap be a record?′ I couldn’t see it. Nobody could see it. And then when it happened, boom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Queen Latifah\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932755\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932755\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman in an olive green jumpsuit performs on stage. She is holding a microphone up to her mouth.\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-1020x718.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-768x540.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901-1536x1081.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1206547466-scaled-e1691444156901.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Queen Latifah performing in Chicago in 2020. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Queen Latifah, “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap song she and a lot of others heard and memorized where she grew up in Newark, New Jersey. But the biggest record in her world as a kid was Afrika Bambaattaa and the Soul Sonic Force’s 1982 song “ Planet Rock. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Oscar-nominated actor can be seen chasing bad guys on CBS’ \u003cem>The Equalizer\u003c/em>, many forget her roots as a rapper, with hits like “U.N.I.T.Y.” and “Just Another Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It changed the sound,” she said. “It’s more of a synthesized, 808s, hi-hats. The whole sound of it was different. Some of hip-hop in the original days was live music. It was live bands playing break records. Like ‘Good Times’ was the beat to ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ Some of those records took actual disco records, played the music and rhymed to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>E-40\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13840957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13840957\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"E-40 plays Rolling Loud Bay Area on Sunday, September 16, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/MG_0970-1-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 plays Rolling Loud Bay Area on Sunday, September 16, 2018. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While heading to school as a seventh grader in 1979, E-40 heard a new rap tune on a local radio station that normally played R&B and soul music in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13932488","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It was “Rapper’s Delight,” which interpolated Chic’s hit “Good Times.” That’s when he knew hip-hop was going to be a part of his life forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was like ‘Ohh, this is hard. I’m hooked,’” said E-40, who recalled the moment while driving to Franklin Middle School in Vallejo, California. He and fellow rapper B-Legit used to sport the same kind of fedora hats and big gold rope chains Run-D.M.C. performed in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From then on, I loved rap. In 1979, when I first heard The Sugarhill Gang, I wanted to be a rapper. I would play around with it … We grew up on New York rap. All of us did. We wanted to be hip-hop. We wanted to breakdance. We did it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But that changed everything after we heard Sugarhill Gang. Next thing you know, you’re hearing Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow and ‘Roxannne, Roxanne.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lil Jon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932756\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932756\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016. \u003ccite>(Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Rapper’s Delight” was probably the first hip-hop song Lil Jon heard. But he became a “super fan” of the genre as a middle schooler in Atlanta after seeing rap groups the Fat Boys and Whodini. It was his first time seeing professional rappers onstage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I might have been a fan of rap before, but I had never been to a rap concert. I’ve never seen rappers in person,” he said. “Maybe just in the magazines. That turned me into like … a super fan of hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first hip-hop record Lil-Jon bought was Run D.M.C.’s “Sucker M.C.’s (Krush-Groove 1).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remembered my homeboy that lived in the neighborhood. I had to go through some woods to his house with the album,” he said. “We put the album on at his house. We were going crazy over listening to lyrics and beats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Roxanne Shante\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman stands onstage smiling broadly. She is wearing an off the shoulder red gown and holding her hands out in a half shrug.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1491748126-scaled-e1687807323886.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roxanne Shante at the 2023 Black Music Honors in Atlanta, Georgia. \u003ccite>(Nykieria Chaney/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Roxanne Shante’s first rap experience didn’t come in song form. She was introduced to hip-hop through the late comedian-poet Nipsey Russell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13931795","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“He had the ability to rhyme at any time,” said Shante, a host for SiriusXM’s Rock the Bells Radio. At age 14, she became one of the first female rappers to become popular after her song “Roxanne’s Revenge” and gained more notoriety as a member of the Juice Crew. She also took part in \u003cem>Roxanne Wars\u003c/em>, which was a series of hip-hop rivalries in the mid-1980s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shante said “Rapper’s Delight” was the record most parents brought into their home as the “party song.” But in her mind, Russell had just as much of an impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That would be my first encounter with loving what would become hip-hop,” she continued. “This way of having a certain cadence, this way of being able to do these certain rhymes was just incredible to me … He was able to freestyle all day, every day. And that’s who I am. That’s what I still do today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too Short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13922549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13922549\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-800x545.jpg\" alt=\"a Black man raps into a microphone on a stage with the words 'Too $hort' behind him in blue lights\" width=\"800\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-2048x1395.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GettyImages-1143940667-1-1920x1308.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short performs during the ‘25th Anniversary of Doggystyle’ tour at Oracle Arena, Oakland. \u003ccite>(Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 1979. Too Short was around 13 years old. He normally listened to a variety of funk songs ranging from the Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster” and Funkadelic’s “Knee Deep.” Then one day at his father’s house, he heard “Rapper’s Delight” blaring through a stereo system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13927349","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I was on my funk stuff, then this ‘Rapper’s Delight’ record came out and it was like 15 minutes long,” he recalled. “I’d be at my pop’s house just bumping the loud stereo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As “Rapper’s Delight” gained momentum in 1980, Too Short gravitated more toward beatboxing. That led him to hit up the local record store where he would buy the latest hip-hop album then blasted it on his radio for anyone to hear in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to get a radio with two speakers. That was mandatory,” he said. “I was the guy with the radio who was hitting play going ‘You ain’t never heard that before’ … I had the whole room, the whole bus jumping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Doug E. Fresh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932758\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932758\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-800x553.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man raises both his arms in the air and strides forward on stage. He is wearing a white t-shirt, black jacket and black pants. Stage lights beam all around him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-800x553.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-1020x705.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-768x531.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451-1536x1062.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1563180184-scaled-e1691445859451.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug E. Fresh onstage in New York City in 2023. \u003ccite>(Johnny Nunez/ WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hearing “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time changed the trajectory of Doug E. Fresh’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember when my sister came home and told me about a guy named D.J. Hollywood, who we considered the first real M.C.,” he said. “She came home and told me about a rap he had. And the rap went, ‘Ding, ding, ding, ding, dong, dong, dong the dang, the dang, dang, dang, the ding dong dong. To the hip hop…’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh then added: “I turned around and said, ‘Teach me that, show me.’ And after that, it’s been me and hip-hop since that point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>DJ Kid Capri\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932759\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932759\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A mixed race man wearing a black Givenchy t-shirt smiles from behind DJ decks, holding one side of a set of headphones on his head.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1576356953-scaled-e1691446543374.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kid Capri DJing in Houston in 2023. \u003ccite>(Marcus Ingram/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJ Kid Capri, arguably one of hip-hop’s most famous DJs in the ‘90s, grew up on soul music. His father was a soul singer. His grandfather played the trumpet. And his uncle, Bill Curtis, was the leader of the Fatback Band — which he says made the first hip-hop single “King Tim III (Personality Jock) ” before “Rapper’s Delight” was released a few months later in 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13932030","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Capri’s uncle gave him the opportunity to hear a rap song for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was right there,” Capri said about the Fatback Band, a funk and disco ensemble who became known for their R&B hits including “(Do the) Spanish Hustle,” “I Like Girls” and “I Found Lovin’.” But it was “King Tim III” that had a strong influence on him — especially since it came from family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world thinks ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first rap record, but it was ‘Personality Jock,’” he said. “My uncle, he’s my family. He’s the one that did it. So, I’ve always been around it. That’s what made me be so infectious in it, because I’ve seen every level to where I’m at right now. I took all those things important to me on stage right now. When you see me on stage, you can see all those things wrapped up in me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Method Man\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932760\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932760\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-800x543.jpg\" alt=\"A muscular Black man, wearing an NY baseball cap, white t-shirt and blue jeans strides across a stage, microphone held up to his open mouth.\" width=\"800\" height=\"543\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452-1536x1042.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-1490509176-scaled-e1691446704452.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Method Man performing in Atlanta in 2023. \u003ccite>(Prince Williams/ WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yes, “Rapper’s Delight” was the first-ever rap song Method Man ever heard. But the first hip-hop song that really resonated with him was Run-D.M.C.’s “ Sucker MCs (Krush-Groove 1 ).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had never heard this record and I thought I was up on everything at the time,” Method Man said of the 1983 song, which proceeded Run-D.M.C.’s first single “It’s Like That” from their self-titled album. He said “Sucker MCs” helped pave a way to usher in a new school of hip-hop artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were on a sixth-grade class trip to Long Island, and everybody was singing it word-for-word,” the \u003cem>Power Book II: Ghost\u003c/em> actor remembered. “They must have played that record 24 times on our class trip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Big Daddy Kane\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932671\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-800x598.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up image of a Black man wearing a white shirt and rapping into a microphone on stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-1020x762.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-482124030.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Daddy Kane performing in 2015. \u003ccite>(Donna Ward/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around age 12, Big Daddy Kane might not have remembered all of his homework assignments, but he certainly could recite every lyric to the late Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 song “Adventures of Super Rhymes,” one of hip-hop’s first songs recorded in a studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane heard “Rapper’s Delight” first, but Spicer’s storytelling on the 15-minute song resonated with him the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When this song came out, just the way Jimmy Spicer was styling on them and telling the story about Dracula and a story about Aladdin, I thought it was real slick,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>DJ Jazzy Jeff\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932448\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a white t-shirt and gold and white striped hat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/DJ-Jazzy-Jeff-2-1-scaled-e1691447337494.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazzy Jeff DJs on stage.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJ Jazzy Jeff always had an affinity for music. But when the \u003cem>Fresh Prince of Bel-Air\u003c/em> star heard “Rapper’s Delight” for the first time, he felt like the song spoke to him like no other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that was the first time I felt like the music was mine,” he said. “Before then, I loved the music, but the music was kind of my older brothers and sisters, and I just liked it because it was theirs. This was the one that somebody made just for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Jermaine Dupri\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13835189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13835189\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man with a bald head wears sunglasses and a tuxedo on a red carpet. He is holding an award and smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249-520x292.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/gettyimages-974991902_wide-00a7268466f1d74f29c7c836e83219f92b347249.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jermaine Dupri at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 49th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on June 14, 2018 in New York City. \u003ccite>(Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jermaine Dupri couldn’t have envisioned his successful career without listening to “Rapper’s Delight” around the age of 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember the lyrics of the song. I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Dupri, a rap mogul who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. “I just started learning the song. I never knew it was going to take me on this journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Find out more about hip-hop history with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, a KQED Arts & Culture series about the underrecognized influence and background of Bay Area rap.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13932753/e-40-too-short-chuck-d-and-more-rap-legends-on-their-early-hip-hop-influences","authors":["byline_arts_13932753"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_7862","arts_69","arts_75"],"tags":["arts_21384","arts_10659","arts_1601","arts_10278","arts_831","arts_1420","arts_20994","arts_3478","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13932763","label":"arts"},"arts_13927349":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13927349","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13927349","score":null,"sort":[1680722857000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"bay-area-hip-hop-1980s","title":"How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s","publishDate":1680722857,"format":"aside","headTitle":"How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the mid-1980s, after years of street dance, DJing and graffiti sharing equal space, rapping took center stage. The Bay Area’s bass-heavy sound would arrive at the end of the decade. (Clockwise from top left: Too Short, MC Hammer, Dominique DiPrima, Club Nouveau, and Motorcycle Mike.) \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images; Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; SFSU Television Archives; Raymond Boyd/Getty Images; Hodisk Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>t’s a wintry January evening when Bas-1 brings me to Del the Funky Homosapien’s house in the East Bay. For much of the afternoon, Bas — the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/old-school-fool-1/\">Oakland native\u003c/a> who’s worked with Digital Underground and released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bas-1+full+album+mentally+astute\">his own solo records\u003c/a> — has schooled me on the origins of the Bay Area hip-hop sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas lists numerous rappers from the ’80s, and not just Todd “Too Short” Shaw, the East Oakland rapper who famously hustled homemade cassette tapes. I’ve never heard most of the names Bas mentions: MC Chocolate Milk, Windell Baby Doll, Davy Def, Buddy Bean, Reggie Reg Rock Ski.ter, M.C. Tracy, Rock Master Fresh, Nic Nack, Kimmie Fresh, and the Acorn Crew with Grandmaster Fresh (a rapper later known as “DJ Daryl” Anderson, famed for producing tracks like 415’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZ6CAwZmys\">Side Show\u003c/a>” and 2Pac’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJfDP3b5_U\">Keep Ya Head Up\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13924126']Many of these early Bay Area rappers never put out a commercially available record. Instead, their work is mostly confined to locally distributed cassette tapes — collectors call them “gray tapes” — that are now nearly impossible to find. They publicly broadcasted these tapes throughout neighborhoods, utilizing boomboxes and car stereos as well as stereos at house parties. “None of them sound like Too Short,” says Bas. “Some of these people didn’t put out recordings, but they were known.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1980s, Bay Area hip-hop was an artistic movement struggling for a distinct identity. The first half of the decade was defined by street dance and aerosol art as much as rap and DJing. But as local youth began to absorb the sounds emanating from national hotspots like New York, they created a distinctive style all their own — one that would make a global impact in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Del’s house, Bas queues up an extraordinary live video clip of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\">Mac Mill, Emperor E, and DJ Anthony “K-os” Bryant\u003c/a> performing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11690787/when-oakland-was-a-chocolate-city-a-brief-history-of-festival-at-the-lake\">Festival at the Lake\u003c/a>, a now-defunct annual event held at Lake Merritt, in 1988. (Alex “Naru” Reece, who organized the showcase where Mac Mill performed, clarified in a follow-up conversation that it didn’t happen during Festival at the Lake. He also says the showcase was filmed in 1986 for a 1988 video compilation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mac Mill and Emperor E go back and forth, trading sound effects and dense Oakland slang as K-os cuts and scratches copies of Long Island band Original Concept’s deathless bass classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai4VC0NUxl4\">Knowledge Me\u003c/a>.” Bas praises Mac Mill’s unusual “Arabian” style, which the latter deployed nearly a decade later with the 1995 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_f0TB3Igro\">Arabian Hump\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, Bas-1 calls Chris “CJ Flash” Jourdan, an OG who worked with Timex Social Club, the Berkeley teen band whose 1986 electro-funk classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\">Rumors\u003c/a>,” represented the first national breakthrough for Bay Area hip-hop culture. As Bas broadcasts CJ Flash’s voice from his phone through Del’s stereo equipment, CJ Flash spends the next hour or so describing a fledging scene where poppers and boogaloo dancers, not rappers or DJs, were the prime attractions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These ensembles drew from a street-dance tradition that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891300/reclaiming-the-legacy-of-oaklands-boogaloo-dance-culture\">dates back decades\u003c/a>. Their kinetic performances ignited crowds at high schools, house parties, and public spaces like Justin Herman Plaza and Union Square in San Francisco and UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. Battles even took place on the street, with crews traveling to different neighborhoods around the region to seek out rivals. “You could meet with people on their turf and get down, and hopefully not get thumped in the process,” says CJ Flash. Many Bay Area hip-hop pioneers got their start in dance crews, including Club Nouveau’s Jay King (who pop-locked with The Unknowns), DJ King Tech (who was known as Wizard, and danced with Master City Breakers), and Flash himself (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\">performed with UFO\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, rapping was a relatively new and undeveloped skill, the lowest element on the hip-hop totem pole. “Anybody could rap. Anybody could say a bunch of basic rhyme words with no style and flavor,” says Bas, noting as an aside that “most folks couldn’t understand the lyrics anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turntables, Casios and Homemade Tapes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As KQED’s Eric Arnold explains in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924126/the-bay-area-was-hip-hop-before-there-was-hip-hop\">The Bay Area Was Hip-Hop Before There Was Hip-Hop\u003c/a>,” foundational elements such as spoken word, funk, and rhythm & blues existed locally well before New Jersey trio Sugarhill Gang arrived with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM\">Rapper’s Delight\u003c/a>” in the fall of 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923978']At the same time, the Bay Area was not the Bronx, where breakbeat culture catalyzed and fermented. Bronx DJs, MCs and B-boys like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, the Rock Steady Crew and many others gained renown among mid-’70s New York youth long before “Rapper’s Delight.” By contrast, as CJ Flash explains, it took much of the 1980s for Bay Area youth to develop the cadences and rhythms we now associate with modern rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, enterprising musicians couldn’t purchase studio software and distribute their own music on an internet platform like Soundcloud. Recording equipment was expensive. An unsigned artist needed the financial and business expertise to manufacture vinyl and cassettes with artwork, much less convince record stores like Leopold’s Records in Berkeley to carry them. (Recordable CD-Rs weren’t widely used until the 1990s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This helps explain why so many rappers utilized turntables and Casio keyboards, and then recorded their songs using the microphone input on relatively cheap stereo equipment. Captured on recordable cassettes like Maxell and TDK, some of these “gray tapes” simply had stickers with handwritten titles. More often, they weren’t labeled at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927410\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A box of handmade Bay Area rap tapes, part of Naru’s home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In those days, Too Short was an outlier, a Fremont High School student who canvassed East Oakland spots like Arroyo Park, \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-56fae687e9c\">selling copies of “Game Raps”\u003c/a> at a few dollars a pop. Since Short was originally from Los Angeles, he relied on rap partner Tony “Freddy B” Adams to show him around the Town. The duo \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">made customized tapes for local drug dealers and players\u003c/a> in the city’s nightlife — now known as “special request” tapes — shouting out the customers’ names in their raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Short was a hustler,” says CJ Flash. “He had a style of telling stories that was so outlandish and so funny that word got around.” Short and Freddy B developed the trademark “Biiiiitch!” catchphrase, and Short has often said that he and Freddy B intended to get famous together. Unfortunately, Freddy B was in prison when Short released his landmark “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>” tape in 1987. (Adams is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/from-too-hort-colleague-to-christian-missionary/\">now a minister\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 676px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"455\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg 676w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short in 1984, at the age of 18. \u003ccite>(Katy Raddatz/San Francisco Examiner/Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others like Sir Quick Draw, Mac Mill, and Chief Naked Head (later known as Premo; he passed away in January of 2023) simply gave away their tapes or let friends copy or “dub” the originals. As Richmond rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925761/magic-mike-richmond-calvin-t-rap-hip-hop\">Magic Mike explained in a recent interview with Dregs One\u003c/a>, dubs of his tracks circulated as widely as Germany. “It was more or less trying to make a name for yourself…you had to make a tape,” adds CJ Flash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Bay Area hip-hop in the ’80s was a primordial soup of youngsters figuring out what the local sound would be. The answers wouldn’t arrive until near the end of the decade. “The Bay Area was behind,” says CJ Flash, comparing it to more advanced regions like Los Angeles, South Florida, and New York. “We never thought about radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Pivotal Moment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alex “Naru Kwina” Hence remembers the first time he heard the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as a 14-year-old preparing to attend Oakland High School. “When the song went off, everybody ran outside, like, ‘Did you hear that song?!” he laughs, calling it one of the best moments of his life. “It was a pivotal moment, bro. We literally started rapping the song and trying to remember it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naru called himself Sir Quick Draw, an alias inspired by Hanna-Barbera cartoon \u003cem>Quick Draw McGraw\u003c/em> as well as the fact that, as a runner, “I was hella fast.” He took inspiration from Kurtis Blow, the Harlem rapper who scored major hits like 1980’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzl-2g5HhaI\">The Breaks\u003c/a>.” And Naru almost immediately began recording his voice on tape. His first original song was “The Caveman Rap,” which was inspired by Brooklyn rapper Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkGLco0tGqc\">Adventures of Super Rhyme\u003c/a>.” Naru can still recite those verses from memory: \u003cem>Now people come and take a trip in time with me / Back to that sweet year one million B.C.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still got that old-school flavor, man,” he admits. “Hip-hop was more fun for me back then.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naru Kwina, who recorded under the names Sir Quick Draw and Em Cee Quick, poses with his home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But rap in the Bay Area didn’t take off right away. “Most people would rap other people’s songs. They’d just repeat what they heard on the radio,” says Naru. Aspiring MCs honed their craft by congregating at Eastmont Mall, “trying to impress the girls, and getting our names on our derby jackets.” And when Tom Tom Club’s 1981 hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiMhe4E0pI\">Genius of Love\u003c/a>” dropped? “Everybody rapped over that joint, man. Too many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s worth remembering that hip-hop was a phenomenon developed essentially by Black and Brown children. Rapping, pop-locking, spray-painting aerosol art on neighborhood walls, even DJing: These were youthful forms of play and creative expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas, who grew up in North Oakland, remembers \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#at-fishermans-wharf-a-street-dance-destination-emerges\">popping and “roboting” at Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf\u003c/a> in the late ’70s as a child. “You have people like Ben [James] from Live Incorporated doing pantomime and roboting,” he says, noting one of the better-known dance crews. Dancers competed for attention and tips that they could spend on Snickers bars and arcade games. “Battle-wise, you had to have skill and talent to a certain caliber in order to truly be out on the Wharf or on Market [and Powell] in front of the cable cars,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"547\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street dance crew called The Vita Family perform at Pier 39 in 1986. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local newspaper stories focused on the emergence of hip-hop as a youth obsession. Enterprising teachers incorporated it into their lesson plans. On high-school campuses, fledgling DJs like Joseph Thomas “G.I. Joe” Simms Jr. at El Cerrito High School and groups like the Devastating Four proliferated. At house parties, mobile DJ crews spun the latest electro, boogie-funk, and rap hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gatherings at schools, churches, and community centers typically reserved a few minutes for fledgling local rap and dance crews to perform. This was also the era of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#nancy-reagan-visits-oakland-and-coins-the-phrase-just-say-no\">the Reagan Administration’s “Just Say No” campaign\u003c/a>, and kids were often asked to help spread an anti-drug message through raps. “Inspired by rapping groups such as Sugar Hill, Run DMC, Jeckyl and Hyde and Mell (sic) and the Furious Five, teen-agers create their own raps mostly for fun and to bring attention to themselves,” read a June 29, 1985, story in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925415']In the first half of the decade, street dance remained a focal point. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/04/1140504217/double-dutch-fantastic-four-holiday-classic\">Double Dutch jump-rope competitions\u003c/a> sponsored by McDonald’s drew thousands to Lincoln Square Center in Oakland. The San Francisco Street Breakers held a fundraising benefit, “Super Break Sunday,” at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts in 1985. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, street dance “got played out” after the success of Hollywood movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’\u003c/em>, and rap music moved to the center of hip-hop culture. Quickening the process were concerts by Black music stars like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-fresh-fest-comes-to-oakland\">Fresh Festival\u003c/a>, the first national hip-hop tour, with headliners Run-DMC at the Oakland Coliseum. Local radio tentatively began to experiment with rap, notably KMEL-FM and its mix DJs such as Michael Erickson and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13828163/watch-cameron-paul-give-a-masterclass-in-early-djing\">the late Cameron Paul\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"952\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13927323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-800x1190.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-768x1142.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1033x1536.jpg 1033w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_.jpg 1345w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for the Fresh Festival, which arrived in Oakland in 1984.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“By 1985, there was this incredible scene in the South Bay,” says Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko. As a teen DJ in San Bruno “who looked like Urkel,” he remembers traveling far and wide to buy records, from Creative Music Emporium in San Francisco to T’s Wauzi in Oakland. Meanwhile, nightclubs like Mothers and Studio 47 brought a fusion of hip-hop, freestyle and techno. “San Jose had underage hip-hop teenage clubs, and no other city had those,” he says. (Banjoko later became a rapper, a journalist, and now promotes jiu-jitsu, meditation and chess with his company \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/real64blocks/?hl=en\">64 Blocks\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Oakland, Naru continued making tapes. “I come from a musical family. My cousin’s the Maestro” — a.k.a. producer Keenan Foster, who has worked with Too Short, Dru Down, and Askari X — “and a lot of my family sings. I got a drum machine, a little Yamaha keyboard. I would play my bass lines. We had double-cassette decks.” He collaborated with Taj “Turntable T” Tilghman, “who was dope on the turntables.” Turntable T eventually bought a Roland TR-808 drum machine, the instrument du jour for def beat MCs. “When that 808 came, that was it. Everyone loved that deck. \u003cem>Boom!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray tapes” that circulated weren’t the EP and album-length releases we’re familiar with today. Some tapes only had one song per side; or maybe just one song on one side, period. Artists were judged not only by their ability to rap engagingly for several minutes, but also to chop up a familiar beat like Whodini’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5r0i2ZAbCc\">Friends\u003c/a>,” transforming it into something fresh and original; or even make rudimentary 808 beats. For example, Too Short drew attention for “rapping the longest,” as Bas explains, leading to songs that lasted eight or nine minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"682\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-1020x870.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-160x136.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-768x655.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adisa Banjoko in the 1980s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adisa Banjoko)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Those tapes were everywhere. Everyone was trying to see what was possible,” says Banjoko. In 1987, he began making raps under the name MC Most Ill. His first song was “Rhyme Junkie.” “The truth was, some of it was really cool but a lot of it actually also sucked, because [the art form] was brand new. … The quality control was not there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On August 18, 1984, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> published an article called “Rapping with Too-Short,” the first story on the 18-year-old prodigy. Pacific News Service journalist Anthony Adams called Short’s songs “preacher-like yarns over pre-recorded music,” and noted that one of them was about automaker John DeLorean, whose conviction for cocaine trafficking made national news. Short claimed he and his partner Freddy B sold over 2,000 tapes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Chronicle-Examiner\u003c/em> also frequently interviewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.dominiquediprima.com/\">Dominique “Lady D” DiPrima\u003c/a>, a New York transplant and San Francisco State University student who rapped, sung, and organized events. DiPrima possessed a rich family pedigree — her father was the jazz writer Amiri Baraka, her mother the beat poet Diane DiPrima. In late 1984, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV recruited her to host \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a Saturday-afternoon program that became appointment viewing for local teens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone had a crush on Dominique,” says Naru, giggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1536x1039.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_.png 1540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dominique DiPrima, pictured here hosting a 1987 episode of ‘Home Turf’ on KRON-4. \u003ccite>(SFSU Television Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Bay Area Rap Record Opens the Floodgates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the under-acknowledged aspects of early hip-hop is the way elder Black musicians shepherded young artists into the recording industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Sylvia Robinson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, initially emerged in the mid-’50s as one-half of Mickey & Sylvia, who scored a national hit with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwMB9v1pQ4\">Love Is Strange\u003c/a>.” As a ’70s solo artist and producer, Robinson made slinky, Eartha Kitt-like erotic disco capers such as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA2X1040_gY\">Pillow Talk\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPScEJ66_m4\">Sweet Stuff\u003c/a>.” After discovering hip-hop when she heard DJ Lovebug Starski at a party, Robinson formed Sugar Hill Records, and turned three rapping teens she found in New Jersey into its first act, the Sugarhill Gang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This process of soul veterans working with young people resulted in independent 12” singles that mirrored — if not yet accurately capturing — the nascent rap sound at a time when big companies virtually ignored it. With his Mercury Records contract, Kurtis Blow was the only act with a major album deal. A handful of other pioneers like DJ Hollywood scored one-off 12” deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar process played out in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_h9BCuvBE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first Bay Area rap record is widely considered to be Phil “Motorcycle Mike” Lewis and the Rat Trap Band’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Odk2Vu70s\">Super Rat\u003c/a>,” a 1981 boogie-funk single notoriously released by East Oakland heroin kingpin Milton “Mickey Mo” Moore’s Hodisk Records. The name “Hodisk” was a cheeky reference to his onetime side business as a pimp. (Moore has since reformed and is now a pastor in West Oakland.) In fact, Mickey Mo boasts in his 1996 autobiography \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qy6RNV6f5w\">The Man: The Life Story of a Drug Kingpin\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, “Hodisk Records became the first record company on the West Coast to release a rap record.” (The first L.A. rap record, Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp’s “The Gigolo Rapp,” was also released in 1981.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mickey Mo has another claim to rap lore: In 1980, he \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-first-rap-performance-on-a-major-stage\">helped finance an Oakland Coliseum concert\u003c/a> headlined by L.A. funk band War, with the Sugarhill Gang as a supporting act. Journalist Lee Hildebrand’s pre-concert interview with the Gang in the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> was the first mention of rap music in the local press. A second funk-rap novelty, Steve Walker’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9jCLUWwBY\">Tally Ho!\u003c/a>,” also appeared in 1981. In 1983, San Francisco’s Debo & Brian released the electro-funk EP \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv_AfTbEng\">This Is It\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The momentum had started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had made this vow that I would never ever do anything having to do with rap,” laughs Claytoven Richardson. During his long career, the Berkeley-born, Oakland-raised Richardson worked with Aretha Franklin, Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Elton John, and Celine Dion. But in the early ’80s, he was best known as a singer, producer, and arranger with hot dancefloor jazz-funk bands like Bill Summers & Summers’ Heat. His anti-rap stance reflected the music industry at large in the 1980s. “Nobody had the foresight to see that it would morph and change and do the things that it’s done,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927369\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 625px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg 625w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claytoven Richardson pictured in March 2023 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Steven Simione/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, Richardson couldn’t avoid the increasingly popular genre when he scored a production deal at Fantasy Records, the onetime Berkeley jazz label also known for innovative acts like Sylvester and Cybotron, as well as one-off singles generated by a “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” philosophy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the records Richardson produced in that anything-goes environment was Mighty Mouth’s satirical complaint, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1hAFnrtU8\">I’m All Rapped Out\u003c/a>.” (He wasn’t the only one annoyed over rap; perhaps out of wishful thinking, a 1985 \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> article referred to the “fast-fading hip-hop scene.”) A vocalist named Lawrence Pittman didn’t show up for the session, so Richardson performed the lyrics himself. However, Pittman showed up to rap on Mighty Mouth’s second single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfQcLbemE4\">The Roaches\u003c/a>,” which parodied Whodini’s electro hit, “Freaks Come Out at Night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scattered local raps appeared between 1985 and 1986. Former boogaloo dancer Jay King, just home from a stint in the Air Force and splitting time between Sacramento and Vallejo, formed a group called Frost and released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hObIekxeoSg\">Battle Beat\u003c/a>.” His friends Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy produced it, as well as another electro-rap track, Sorcerey’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ap6uw-kX8o\">Woo Baby\u003c/a>.” Pittsburg rapper James “Red Beat” Briggs issued “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dUlMEZUSc\">Freak City\u003c/a>,” which was later remixed by N.W.A. co-founder Arabian Prince. And there was Rodney “Disco Alamo” Brown, from Richmond, whose 12” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-pXg1DY98\">The Task Force\u003c/a>” is \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#richmonds-task-force-memorialized-on-wax\">an early example\u003c/a> of Bay Area rap chronicling street life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"484\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927313\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-1020x618.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-768x465.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short, pictured at his manager’s house in Oakland on September 21, 1987. \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Too Short’s rising buzz led to a deal with deep East Oakland entrepreneur Dean Hodges’ 75 Girls label. Released in 1985, the resulting \u003cem>Don’t Stop Rappin’\u003c/em> was the first official album by a local rapper. While fans of a certain age still treasure protean electro-funk tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ywke376NQ\">Girl\u003c/a>” — which E-40 referenced on his 1998 hit, “Earl, That’s Yo Life” — the album couldn’t compare to his raunchy and wickedly hilarious “special request” tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was during this period that Naru finally got his chance in the studio. Since 1984, UC Berkeley station \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">KALX-FM\u003c/a> served as home to “Music for the People,” a Sunday-morning community affairs and music show hosted by the late Charles “Natty Prep” Douglass, as well as DJs like Billy “Jam” Kiernan (who also broadcast on San Francisco State University station KUSF-FM), David “Davey D” Cook, and funkster Rickey “The Uhuru Maggot” Vincent. When Naru won \u003ca href=\"https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/107287\">a 1986 rap contest hosted by Billy Jam on KALX\u003c/a>, he earned a deal with Bay Wave Records, a local imprint distributed by Hollywood-based Macola Records. Richardson was hired to produce the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Quick Draw] was a great rapper. He had a lot of great lyrics and ideas,” says Richardson. On “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\">Rapaholic\u003c/a>,” Richardson and session engineer Michael Denten (who later worked with Spice 1 and E-40) accompanied Quick Draw’s dexterous and energetic raps with sharp-angled percussive edits and sound effects reminiscent of The Art of Noise and Mantronix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Respect to Claytoven,” says Naru, who not only continues to make music but also owns a company, \u003ca href=\"http://hiplearning.org/\">Hip Learning\u003c/a>, that promotes childhood education with rap. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the “Rapaholic” experience: “They made the record sound hella more polished. It was [supposed to be] a little more underground than that.” However, he adds, “[Claytoven] taught us a lot in the studio about the mics they use and how to mix. It was a good experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"889\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photocopied flyer advertising Sir Quick Draw’s single ‘Rapaholic.’ \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Radio Breakthrough — And a Kid Named Hammer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the trajectory of Bay Area hip-hop waxed and waned, three catalyzing moments brought the scene into focus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was an R&B track. Timex Social Club’s “Rumors” captured the pulse of Bay Area youth culture, from Marcus Thompson and Alex Hill’s skittering electro-funk bass and drums to singer Michael Marshall’s distinctly regional accent and coy recitation of schoolyard gossip (“Did you hear the one about Michael? Some say he must be gay…”) Produced by Jay King and Denzil Foster and released on King’s Jay Records in February 1986, it mushroomed into a top ten \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> pop hit and dominated radio all year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the summer, Timex Social Club was falling apart and trading accusations with King over money and credit. The group’s only album \u003cem>Vicious Rumors\u003c/em> — by that point it was just Michael Marshall — featured drum programming from CJ Flash and a shout-out to KALX’s Natty Prep, who helped break “Rumors” on his “Music and Life” show. Marshall retreated from the spotlight before \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#i-got-5-on-it-remix-a-meeting-of-greats-recorded-in-alameda\">re-emerging as the hook man\u003c/a> on the Luniz’ 1995 smash “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtkpnXLrL4\">I Got 5 on It\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After breaking with Timex Social Club, King formed a group called Jet Set and signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The group changed their name to Club Nouveau before debuting with the single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKWhkjXV5uM\">Jealousy\u003c/a>.” A follow-up, the Bill Withers cover “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk\">Lean on Me\u003c/a>,” went to number-one on the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> Hot 100, while Club Nouveau’s debut album \u003cem>Life, Love & Pain\u003c/em> went platinum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"489\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-1020x624.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-768x470.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singers Samuelle Prater, Jay King and Valerie Watson of Club Nouveau performs at the U.I.C. Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois in August 1987. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>King’s growing stardom rippled across the Bay and reached Felton Pilate, the Vallejo keyboardist, singer, and producer best known as a driving force in Bay Area funk stars Con Funk Shun. The two had already worked together on King’s onetime rap group Frost; Pilate engineered that record. Pilate soon added one of King’s projects, Sacramento R&B/rap group New Choice, to a growing slate of projects he produced and engineered at his Felstar Studios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felstar Studios was the culmination of work he had begun while not touring and rehearsing with Con Funk Shun. At his home studio on Sandpiper Drive in Vallejo, Pilate helped assemble records for fledgling local artists. “I never thought of myself as just a studio,” he says, where he simply records his clients. “I have a little experience here. I’ve got several gold albums. Here, let me pass on some of this knowledge.” When asked if he considered himself a mentor, he demurs, even though that’s arguably what he was. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pilate opened Felstar Studios on Sonoma Boulevard, his trusted associate was James Earley, a young engineer whom he credits for adding a more contemporary sensibility to the Studios’ output. Among the locals who came to them were M.V.P., a family trio consisting of Earl Stevens, Danell Stevens, and Brandt Jones. Their 1988 12”, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLuAL6DueI\">The Kings Men\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, also included Tanina Stevens and Angela Pressley, who called themselves Sugar ‘N’ Spice. The members of M.V.P. updated their stage names to E-40, D-Shot and B-Legit, added Tanina as Suga T, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-clicks-down-dirty-ushers-in-mobb-music-era\">evolved into The Click\u003c/a>, arguably becoming the most famous rap group to emerge from Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927370\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">M.V.P., a 1988 Vallejo rap group featuring Busy D, E-40 and Legit (L–R). The three would later add E-40’s sister Suga T and become known as The Click. \u003ccite>(Gerry Ericksen / Rushforce Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1986, Pilate and Earley both had solo deals at Berkeley’s Fantasy Records. It was there that Pilate met a former Oakland A’s batboy named Stanley “Holyghost Boy” Burrell through Fantasy Records producer Fred L. Pittman. “Fred would often hire me to do keyboard arrangements for him,” says Pilate. When Pittman asked him to play keys for Holyghost Boy, Pilate responded, “Hey Fred, why don’t you let me take the reins on this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a classically trained jazz and classical musician, Pilate didn’t think much of rap, even though Con Funk Shun not only included a rap verse on a 1982 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9GHVTI-EE\">Ain’t Nobody Baby\u003c/a>”; but also made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmzvN7raB0\">Electric Lady\u003c/a>,” a 1985 hit produced by Larry Smith of Whodini fame that landed in the top five of \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>’s Black Singles chart. “Musically, I wasn’t a fan, but as a producer, I said, ‘I can do this,’” he says. “Like everyone else, Con Funk Shun wanted to be relevant, and rap was all over the radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks Burrell brought to Pilate consisted of him rapping over sparse Yamaha RX5 drum-machine parts. Pilate responded by going into “study mode.” He listened to the rap stuff that was getting airplay like Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew. As a result, the skittering percussion on Burrell’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVWFiptGNY\">Let’s Get It Started\u003c/a>” is reminiscent of the go-go-inspired arrangements on Doug E. Fresh hits like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sGw9GSCiYU\">The Show\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtqnKIF7kE\">All the Way to Heaven\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927325\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-1020x720.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-768x542.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer films the music video for ‘Let’s Get It Started’ at Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub in downtown Oakland, March 19, 1988. \u003ccite>(Deanne Fitzmaurice/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My thing was to make it more music-driven than beat-driven,” says Pilate. In many cases, he simply “listened to what [Burrell] was talking about and wrote a straight R&B song underneath it.” He also gives credit to Earley, who helped refine the drum programming and brought “that younger ear” to the project. They incorporated stock horn stabs from a battery of Juno, Roland, and Yamaha drum machines. Meanwhile, Kent “The Lone Mixer” Wilson and Bryant “D.J. Redeemed” Marable added rhythmic scratches by cutting up Curtis Mayfield and Beastie Boys records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the demos were finished, Fantasy Records dropped Pilate, Earley and Burrell from their deals. “They weren’t really sure how to market any of us,” says Pilate. Then, he chuckles, “The next time I ran into the Holyghost Boy, he had changed his name to MC Hammer.” After forming Bustin’ Records in Fremont with financial help from Oakland A’s ballplayers like Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, Hammer turned the Pilate demos into three 12”s — “Ring ’Em,” “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Let’s Get It Started” — and the 1987 album \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em>. “I was like, man, those were rough mixes! You were supposed to come back and let me fix that!” Pilate laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone involved in Bay Area hip-hop has vivid memories of MC Hammer blowing up. Near-mythical stories of his local takeover abound, like attending local concerts surrounded by a massive crew; or tearing up the dance floor at The Silks, a popular nightclub in Emeryville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-768x698.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate.jpg 1058w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer and Fenton Pilate in modern times. Pilate engineered and co-produced MC Hammer’s first recordings. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Felton Pilate)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s worth revisiting \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em> and 1988’s \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em>. Released after Hammer signed with Capitol Records, \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em> found Hammer and Pilate remixing those original demos while adding vital new tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZVcXzSE3M\">Pump It Up\u003c/a>.” The results are bombastic and vibrant dance-floor jams as ecstatic as anything by Kid ‘n’ Play and Salt-n-Pepa. Hammer’s subsequent leap into pop superstardom with 1990’s \u003cem>Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em\u003c/em> and the ubiquity of “U Can’t Touch This” obscure just how great those early tracks are.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eight Woofers in the Trunk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Hammer’s major-label arrival in 1988 capped a year of Bay Area hip-hop on the cusp of national exposure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Too Short issued \u003cem>Born to Mack\u003c/em> in the fall of 1987 on his Dangerous Music label, Jive Records picked it up. (Dangerous Music also issued \u003cem>Dangerous Crew\u003c/em>, a compilation of vital Bay Area acts like Spice-1, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and the female duo Danger Zone.) Digital Underground’s playful and psychedelic “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zQ1frcgSbI\">Underwater Rimes\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBNB20wVo0\">Your Life’s a Cartoon\u003c/a>” led to a deal with Tommy Boy. Local talent waited in the wings, including rapper/producer Paris (A.T.C.’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpiPWfOBk4\">Cisco Jam\u003c/a>”), Sway & King Tech (\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJujmVXiwE\">Flynamic Force\u003c/a>\u003c/em> EP), Dangerous Dame (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Frj4j09GE\">The Power That’s Packed\u003c/a>”), and MC Twist and the Def Squad (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZz7qhjfjw\">Just Rock\u003c/a>”). And the late Cameron Paul, known for his “Beats & Pieces” breakbeats, remixed Queens trio Salt-n-Pepa’s 1987 track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkdk1oMmtE\">Push It\u003c/a>” into a global phenomenon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Paul reveals his mixing secrets.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13828164\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-768x476.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-240x149.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-375x233.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-520x322.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cameron Paul, who provided the spine of New Orleans bounce music with ‘Brown Beats’ and recorded a smash-hit remix of Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s ‘Push It,’ was also a prominent club and radio megamix DJ in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(YouTube)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the first local group to score a major label deal wasn’t Hammer, but Surf MCs, a Berkeley group that Profile Records promoted as a Beastie Boys-like rap/rock crossover. Their 1987 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojCAqdBA7uA\">Surf or Die\u003c/a>\u003c/em> proved a flop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the third moment that catalyzed Bay Area hip-hop wasn’t a singular record like Timex Social Club’s “Rumors,” or an artist like Hammer and Short. It was the sound of walloping, all-enveloping bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made for surgically enhanced car and jeep stereos, the bass colossus is as much a feature of hip-hop in the mid-’80s as the pounding Roland TR-808 machine, from Rick Rubin’s production on LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” and T La Rock’s “It’s Yours” to Rodney O and DJ Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and Dr. Dre’s work on Eazy-E’s “The Boyz-N-The Hood.” It also mirrors the crack-cocaine epidemic that began to blight and distort communities across the country. As street life turned treacherous, the specter of the hustler, and whether to become one, cast a growing shadow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925761']“Then the new style came, the bass got deeper / You gave up the mike and bought you a beeper / Do you want to rap or sell coke? / Brothers like you ain’t never broke,” Too Short memorably rapped on his 1989 hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvfUUOO0xoM\">Life Is…Too Short\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banjoko recalls how the presence of gangs transformed local shows. “You would see a bunch of people dressed up together [in the same gear], and you might assume they were a rap or dance crew. They were young drug lords,” he says. “You could get trampled, beat up or robbed by any of them. I remember 69 Ville being massively deep at the Fresh Fest and the [Run-DMC] Raising Hell tour. They were terrifying, straight up. You were going to tuck your chain, you were going to take your Kangol off, or they were going to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927326\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh EMC, the San Francisco rapper whose 1988 single ‘It’s the Game’ unflinchingly chronicled street life. \u003ccite>(Soul Sonic Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rap imagery became more honest and explicit. Some like Richmond rapper Magic Mike, San Francisco’s Hugh EMC (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_p7L0eJfKI\">It’s the Game\u003c/a>”), and Oakland’s Hollywood (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/641778-Hollywood-Stay-Heart-And-Soul-Raps-Just-A-Battlefield\">Gangster Rap\u003c/a>”) seemed to embrace the hustler ethos, while cautiously adding verses about the consequences of that lifestyle. Then there was Oakland rapper Morocco Moe, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNoOCIVPrI\">Task\u003c/a>” criticized how law enforcement brutalized communities in the War on Drugs: “Their intentions are good/But their actions are wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every Black neighborhood was infested” with crack, says Vallejo producer Khayree Shaheed. “There was an influx of money coming into young Black men, but there was also a lot of death occurring.” The epidemic also marked his entry into the world of rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a descendant of the Bay Area’s vaunted funk tradition, Khayree spent the ’70s and early ’80s playing bass guitar for bands like Grand Larceny, Body Mind & Spirit and Touch of Class (with keyboardist Rosie Gaines, who later joined Prince & the New Power Generation). His travels took him across the U.S. and even to Japan, where Touch of Class lived and performed for several months. (Though his bands made demos, there are no official recordings to date.) When asked about the first time he heard rap, Khayree cites “jazzoetry” ensembles like The Last Poets, not the Sugarhill Gang. And as a youth growing up on Lofas Place in Vallejo, he spent plenty of time following Con Funk Shun, hoping to apprentice with the biggest band in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927412\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-768x490.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo musician Khayree Shaheed, playing bass onstage in 1979. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khayree was in his mid-20s when Rod “I.C.E.” Andrews and Dan “Luvva D” Morrison a.k.a. the Luvva Twins brought Khayree a demo they had made on a Casio keyboard, “Hubba Head.” The song title was slang for a crack addict, and the duo described the “hubba head’s” descent into addiction with charismatic punch. They arranged the music and rapped most of the lyrics, while Khayree dropped a short verse and added guitar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khayree had already spent time at Pilate’s home studio, honing his writing and production skills. (“I always enjoyed working with him,” says Pilate.) Now, he brought “Hubba Head” to Pilate, and the two prepared it for release. Setting up his own label, Big Bank Records, Khayree distributed two hundred copies of the 12” to DJs and influencers. “The record was super popular in the streets,” says Khayree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pArkWvlAebg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After “Hubba Head,” Khayree began working with Jay King, a fellow graduate of Vallejo High School. The opportunity to write and produce New Choice’s 1987 single “\u003ca href=\"http://<a%20href=\" https:>Cold Stupid\u003c/a>” and most of the quintet’s 1988 debut, \u003cem>At Last\u003c/em>, gave him important experience on a major project and financial stability. By fusing bass, funky R&B and hip-hop breakbeats, New Choice reflected a parallel R&B movement that both influenced and was inspired by the hip-hop scene. Similar Bay Area acts included Oakland’s Tony! Toni! Toné!, who parlayed backing sessions for Sheila E. and Tramaine Hawkins into a major-label deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flush from his experience with New Choice, Khayree was ready to start his own company. “I’m listening to EPMD’s \u003cem>Strictly Business\u003c/em>,” he says, inspiring the name of his second label, Strictly Business Records. He knew that Mike “The Mac” Robinson, who also grew up on Lofas Place, was a rapper. Robinson hailed from a musical family: his uncle Steve “Silver” Scales was a well-traveled Vallejo funk percussionist who played with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and the B-52s. (Though it would be a delicious coincidence, Scales didn’t perform on “Genius of Love.”) Khayree encouraged Robinson to take music more seriously. Meanwhile, Robinson’s mother drew the memorable Strictly Business logo: an open briefcase, ready for business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, Khayree released The Mac’s three-song EP, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/805531-The-Mac-Im-Ah-Big-Mac\">I’m Ah Big Mac\u003c/a>.” Heard now, what immediately stands out is the unique \u003cem>tone\u003c/em> of the bass. “We used synthesizers that had dumb-fat bass lines,” explains Khayree in reference to himself and Too Short as well as future Bay Area colleagues like Ant Banks. By comparison, he says, other regional scenes relied on a “natural” bass guitar or samples from records. “You feel it through your whole body. … You can get it with a bass guitar, depending on how you EQ the bass and what you run your guitar through. But you’re \u003cem>never\u003c/em> going to touch the subs and the depth of a Minimoog, of the Oberheim Ovx, or the Roland Juno 106.” The EP’s highlight is its B-side “The Game Is Thick,” which centers on a sample of Prince’s “D.M.S.R.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"498\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-1020x635.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick.jpg 1537w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree and The Mac (L–R), pictured on the cover of The Mac’s ‘The Game is Thick.’ \u003ccite>(Phil Bray / Strictly Business Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1989, Khayree remixed and re-released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCxGl7Ok1YI\">The Game Is Thick\u003c/a>” as a standalone 12” with a memorable cover photo: Khayree looking super-clean in a grey suit, clasping a briefcase, with The Mac in a red-and-black bomber jacket. Khayree calls the style “pimping.” “We didn’t mean pimping so much as getting prostitutes to work,” he explains. “It’s an attitude, and it’s a musical style.” The “game” is a metaphor for life in the Black community. Street slang illustrated complex situations, whether it was dealing with the repercussions of a raging crack epidemic, or simply navigating the tensions of everyday living. Meanwhile, The Mac’s “cool, silky, pimpish” flow and Khayree’s synthesized bass production proved a clear predecessor to the ’90s mob-music sound that took over Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13924167']Upon release, “The Game Is Thick” didn’t make a major impact, and most copies went to local DJ pools. “We promoted records out of the trunk,” says Khayree. “We went from Bobby G’s Soul Disco in San Francisco to [Rico Casanova’s record pool] The Pros in Oakland.” Still, “The Game Is Thick” remix received a mention in Davey “D” Cook’s April 7, 1989 “Beats & Breaks” column for \u003cem>BAM\u003c/em> Magazine. “Let me tell you, it’s hyped to the max,” Davey D wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Khayree’s encouragement, the Mac taught himself how to produce music with synth keyboards. He also introduced Khayree to another Vallejo artist, Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks, who became Strictly Business’ second act. By the time The Mac was shot and killed on July 23, 1991 in what Khayree calls “a case of mistaken identity,” the two had recorded dozens of tracks and released a third and final 12” protesting police violence, 1990’s “Enuff of Tis Sh-t!” One of The Mac’s beats posthumously appeared on Mac Dre’s 1993 track, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slA_s7tSjMU\">The M.A.C. & Mac D.R.E.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree with Kool Moe Dee at the 1988 BRE Conference in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike had a big, big loving heart,” remembers Khayree, sounding wistful. He emphasizes how The Mac left behind a daughter, “Mac” Reina Robinson, and a pregnant girlfriend who gave birth to his son, Mike. At one point, Khayree plays a voicemail of The Mac passionately singing a funky, swinging hook, as if to counteract the stereotype that rappers aren’t musicians. He talks about how The Mac’s way of playing simple, evocative keyboard notes for maximum effect echoes in the work of his famed protégé, Mac Dre. “I miss him,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area rap broke wide at the end of the decade, leading to a 1989 story in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/rap-by-the-bay-oakland-emerges-as-a-force-in-pop.html\">Rap by the Bay: Oakland Emerges as a Force in Pop\u003c/a>.” Not every local pioneer who laid the groundwork would enjoy the fruits of that success. But their stories are essential to understanding how local hip-hop came of age, and everything that came after.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705005662,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":86,"wordCount":7705},"headData":{"title":"Bay Area Hip-Hop in the 1980s: A Look Back | KQED","description":"Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.","ogTitle":"How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s","ogDescription":"Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.","ogImgId":"arts_13927363","twTitle":"How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s","twDescription":"Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.","twImgId":"arts_13927363","socialTitle":"Bay Area Hip-Hop in the 1980s: A Look Back %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","socialDescription":"Casio keyboards, homemade tapes and the boundless creativity of Bay Area youth flourished in the 1980s hip-hop scene.","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s","datePublished":"2023-04-05T19:27:37.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-11T20:41:02.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"That's My Word","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13927349/bay-area-hip-hop-1980s","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the mid-1980s, after years of street dance, DJing and graffiti sharing equal space, rapping took center stage. The Bay Area’s bass-heavy sound would arrive at the end of the decade. (Clockwise from top left: Too Short, MC Hammer, Dominique DiPrima, Club Nouveau, and Motorcycle Mike.) \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images; Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; SFSU Television Archives; Raymond Boyd/Getty Images; Hodisk Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>t’s a wintry January evening when Bas-1 brings me to Del the Funky Homosapien’s house in the East Bay. For much of the afternoon, Bas — the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/old-school-fool-1/\">Oakland native\u003c/a> who’s worked with Digital Underground and released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bas-1+full+album+mentally+astute\">his own solo records\u003c/a> — has schooled me on the origins of the Bay Area hip-hop sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas lists numerous rappers from the ’80s, and not just Todd “Too Short” Shaw, the East Oakland rapper who famously hustled homemade cassette tapes. I’ve never heard most of the names Bas mentions: MC Chocolate Milk, Windell Baby Doll, Davy Def, Buddy Bean, Reggie Reg Rock Ski.ter, M.C. Tracy, Rock Master Fresh, Nic Nack, Kimmie Fresh, and the Acorn Crew with Grandmaster Fresh (a rapper later known as “DJ Daryl” Anderson, famed for producing tracks like 415’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZ6CAwZmys\">Side Show\u003c/a>” and 2Pac’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJfDP3b5_U\">Keep Ya Head Up\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13924126","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Many of these early Bay Area rappers never put out a commercially available record. Instead, their work is mostly confined to locally distributed cassette tapes — collectors call them “gray tapes” — that are now nearly impossible to find. They publicly broadcasted these tapes throughout neighborhoods, utilizing boomboxes and car stereos as well as stereos at house parties. “None of them sound like Too Short,” says Bas. “Some of these people didn’t put out recordings, but they were known.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1980s, Bay Area hip-hop was an artistic movement struggling for a distinct identity. The first half of the decade was defined by street dance and aerosol art as much as rap and DJing. But as local youth began to absorb the sounds emanating from national hotspots like New York, they created a distinctive style all their own — one that would make a global impact in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Del’s house, Bas queues up an extraordinary live video clip of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\">Mac Mill, Emperor E, and DJ Anthony “K-os” Bryant\u003c/a> performing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11690787/when-oakland-was-a-chocolate-city-a-brief-history-of-festival-at-the-lake\">Festival at the Lake\u003c/a>, a now-defunct annual event held at Lake Merritt, in 1988. (Alex “Naru” Reece, who organized the showcase where Mac Mill performed, clarified in a follow-up conversation that it didn’t happen during Festival at the Lake. He also says the showcase was filmed in 1986 for a 1988 video compilation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mac Mill and Emperor E go back and forth, trading sound effects and dense Oakland slang as K-os cuts and scratches copies of Long Island band Original Concept’s deathless bass classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai4VC0NUxl4\">Knowledge Me\u003c/a>.” Bas praises Mac Mill’s unusual “Arabian” style, which the latter deployed nearly a decade later with the 1995 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_f0TB3Igro\">Arabian Hump\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/5u3eiG9BtdE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/5u3eiG9BtdE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Then, Bas-1 calls Chris “CJ Flash” Jourdan, an OG who worked with Timex Social Club, the Berkeley teen band whose 1986 electro-funk classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\">Rumors\u003c/a>,” represented the first national breakthrough for Bay Area hip-hop culture. As Bas broadcasts CJ Flash’s voice from his phone through Del’s stereo equipment, CJ Flash spends the next hour or so describing a fledging scene where poppers and boogaloo dancers, not rappers or DJs, were the prime attractions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These ensembles drew from a street-dance tradition that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891300/reclaiming-the-legacy-of-oaklands-boogaloo-dance-culture\">dates back decades\u003c/a>. Their kinetic performances ignited crowds at high schools, house parties, and public spaces like Justin Herman Plaza and Union Square in San Francisco and UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. Battles even took place on the street, with crews traveling to different neighborhoods around the region to seek out rivals. “You could meet with people on their turf and get down, and hopefully not get thumped in the process,” says CJ Flash. Many Bay Area hip-hop pioneers got their start in dance crews, including Club Nouveau’s Jay King (who pop-locked with The Unknowns), DJ King Tech (who was known as Wizard, and danced with Master City Breakers), and Flash himself (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\">performed with UFO\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ub1TtnI4dh8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ub1TtnI4dh8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>By contrast, rapping was a relatively new and undeveloped skill, the lowest element on the hip-hop totem pole. “Anybody could rap. Anybody could say a bunch of basic rhyme words with no style and flavor,” says Bas, noting as an aside that “most folks couldn’t understand the lyrics anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turntables, Casios and Homemade Tapes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As KQED’s Eric Arnold explains in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924126/the-bay-area-was-hip-hop-before-there-was-hip-hop\">The Bay Area Was Hip-Hop Before There Was Hip-Hop\u003c/a>,” foundational elements such as spoken word, funk, and rhythm & blues existed locally well before New Jersey trio Sugarhill Gang arrived with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM\">Rapper’s Delight\u003c/a>” in the fall of 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13923978","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the same time, the Bay Area was not the Bronx, where breakbeat culture catalyzed and fermented. Bronx DJs, MCs and B-boys like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, the Rock Steady Crew and many others gained renown among mid-’70s New York youth long before “Rapper’s Delight.” By contrast, as CJ Flash explains, it took much of the 1980s for Bay Area youth to develop the cadences and rhythms we now associate with modern rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, enterprising musicians couldn’t purchase studio software and distribute their own music on an internet platform like Soundcloud. Recording equipment was expensive. An unsigned artist needed the financial and business expertise to manufacture vinyl and cassettes with artwork, much less convince record stores like Leopold’s Records in Berkeley to carry them. (Recordable CD-Rs weren’t widely used until the 1990s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This helps explain why so many rappers utilized turntables and Casio keyboards, and then recorded their songs using the microphone input on relatively cheap stereo equipment. Captured on recordable cassettes like Maxell and TDK, some of these “gray tapes” simply had stickers with handwritten titles. More often, they weren’t labeled at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927410\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A box of handmade Bay Area rap tapes, part of Naru’s home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In those days, Too Short was an outlier, a Fremont High School student who canvassed East Oakland spots like Arroyo Park, \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-56fae687e9c\">selling copies of “Game Raps”\u003c/a> at a few dollars a pop. Since Short was originally from Los Angeles, he relied on rap partner Tony “Freddy B” Adams to show him around the Town. The duo \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">made customized tapes for local drug dealers and players\u003c/a> in the city’s nightlife — now known as “special request” tapes — shouting out the customers’ names in their raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Short was a hustler,” says CJ Flash. “He had a style of telling stories that was so outlandish and so funny that word got around.” Short and Freddy B developed the trademark “Biiiiitch!” catchphrase, and Short has often said that he and Freddy B intended to get famous together. Unfortunately, Freddy B was in prison when Short released his landmark “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>” tape in 1987. (Adams is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/from-too-hort-colleague-to-christian-missionary/\">now a minister\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 676px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"455\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg 676w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short in 1984, at the age of 18. \u003ccite>(Katy Raddatz/San Francisco Examiner/Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others like Sir Quick Draw, Mac Mill, and Chief Naked Head (later known as Premo; he passed away in January of 2023) simply gave away their tapes or let friends copy or “dub” the originals. As Richmond rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925761/magic-mike-richmond-calvin-t-rap-hip-hop\">Magic Mike explained in a recent interview with Dregs One\u003c/a>, dubs of his tracks circulated as widely as Germany. “It was more or less trying to make a name for yourself…you had to make a tape,” adds CJ Flash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Bay Area hip-hop in the ’80s was a primordial soup of youngsters figuring out what the local sound would be. The answers wouldn’t arrive until near the end of the decade. “The Bay Area was behind,” says CJ Flash, comparing it to more advanced regions like Los Angeles, South Florida, and New York. “We never thought about radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Pivotal Moment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alex “Naru Kwina” Hence remembers the first time he heard the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as a 14-year-old preparing to attend Oakland High School. “When the song went off, everybody ran outside, like, ‘Did you hear that song?!” he laughs, calling it one of the best moments of his life. “It was a pivotal moment, bro. We literally started rapping the song and trying to remember it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naru called himself Sir Quick Draw, an alias inspired by Hanna-Barbera cartoon \u003cem>Quick Draw McGraw\u003c/em> as well as the fact that, as a runner, “I was hella fast.” He took inspiration from Kurtis Blow, the Harlem rapper who scored major hits like 1980’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzl-2g5HhaI\">The Breaks\u003c/a>.” And Naru almost immediately began recording his voice on tape. His first original song was “The Caveman Rap,” which was inspired by Brooklyn rapper Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkGLco0tGqc\">Adventures of Super Rhyme\u003c/a>.” Naru can still recite those verses from memory: \u003cem>Now people come and take a trip in time with me / Back to that sweet year one million B.C.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still got that old-school flavor, man,” he admits. “Hip-hop was more fun for me back then.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naru Kwina, who recorded under the names Sir Quick Draw and Em Cee Quick, poses with his home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But rap in the Bay Area didn’t take off right away. “Most people would rap other people’s songs. They’d just repeat what they heard on the radio,” says Naru. Aspiring MCs honed their craft by congregating at Eastmont Mall, “trying to impress the girls, and getting our names on our derby jackets.” And when Tom Tom Club’s 1981 hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiMhe4E0pI\">Genius of Love\u003c/a>” dropped? “Everybody rapped over that joint, man. Too many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s worth remembering that hip-hop was a phenomenon developed essentially by Black and Brown children. Rapping, pop-locking, spray-painting aerosol art on neighborhood walls, even DJing: These were youthful forms of play and creative expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas, who grew up in North Oakland, remembers \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#at-fishermans-wharf-a-street-dance-destination-emerges\">popping and “roboting” at Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf\u003c/a> in the late ’70s as a child. “You have people like Ben [James] from Live Incorporated doing pantomime and roboting,” he says, noting one of the better-known dance crews. Dancers competed for attention and tips that they could spend on Snickers bars and arcade games. “Battle-wise, you had to have skill and talent to a certain caliber in order to truly be out on the Wharf or on Market [and Powell] in front of the cable cars,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"547\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street dance crew called The Vita Family perform at Pier 39 in 1986. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local newspaper stories focused on the emergence of hip-hop as a youth obsession. Enterprising teachers incorporated it into their lesson plans. On high-school campuses, fledgling DJs like Joseph Thomas “G.I. Joe” Simms Jr. at El Cerrito High School and groups like the Devastating Four proliferated. At house parties, mobile DJ crews spun the latest electro, boogie-funk, and rap hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gatherings at schools, churches, and community centers typically reserved a few minutes for fledgling local rap and dance crews to perform. This was also the era of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#nancy-reagan-visits-oakland-and-coins-the-phrase-just-say-no\">the Reagan Administration’s “Just Say No” campaign\u003c/a>, and kids were often asked to help spread an anti-drug message through raps. “Inspired by rapping groups such as Sugar Hill, Run DMC, Jeckyl and Hyde and Mell (sic) and the Furious Five, teen-agers create their own raps mostly for fun and to bring attention to themselves,” read a June 29, 1985, story in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13925415","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the first half of the decade, street dance remained a focal point. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/04/1140504217/double-dutch-fantastic-four-holiday-classic\">Double Dutch jump-rope competitions\u003c/a> sponsored by McDonald’s drew thousands to Lincoln Square Center in Oakland. The San Francisco Street Breakers held a fundraising benefit, “Super Break Sunday,” at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts in 1985. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, street dance “got played out” after the success of Hollywood movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’\u003c/em>, and rap music moved to the center of hip-hop culture. Quickening the process were concerts by Black music stars like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-fresh-fest-comes-to-oakland\">Fresh Festival\u003c/a>, the first national hip-hop tour, with headliners Run-DMC at the Oakland Coliseum. Local radio tentatively began to experiment with rap, notably KMEL-FM and its mix DJs such as Michael Erickson and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13828163/watch-cameron-paul-give-a-masterclass-in-early-djing\">the late Cameron Paul\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"952\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13927323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-800x1190.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-768x1142.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1033x1536.jpg 1033w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_.jpg 1345w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for the Fresh Festival, which arrived in Oakland in 1984.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“By 1985, there was this incredible scene in the South Bay,” says Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko. As a teen DJ in San Bruno “who looked like Urkel,” he remembers traveling far and wide to buy records, from Creative Music Emporium in San Francisco to T’s Wauzi in Oakland. Meanwhile, nightclubs like Mothers and Studio 47 brought a fusion of hip-hop, freestyle and techno. “San Jose had underage hip-hop teenage clubs, and no other city had those,” he says. (Banjoko later became a rapper, a journalist, and now promotes jiu-jitsu, meditation and chess with his company \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/real64blocks/?hl=en\">64 Blocks\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Oakland, Naru continued making tapes. “I come from a musical family. My cousin’s the Maestro” — a.k.a. producer Keenan Foster, who has worked with Too Short, Dru Down, and Askari X — “and a lot of my family sings. I got a drum machine, a little Yamaha keyboard. I would play my bass lines. We had double-cassette decks.” He collaborated with Taj “Turntable T” Tilghman, “who was dope on the turntables.” Turntable T eventually bought a Roland TR-808 drum machine, the instrument du jour for def beat MCs. “When that 808 came, that was it. Everyone loved that deck. \u003cem>Boom!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray tapes” that circulated weren’t the EP and album-length releases we’re familiar with today. Some tapes only had one song per side; or maybe just one song on one side, period. Artists were judged not only by their ability to rap engagingly for several minutes, but also to chop up a familiar beat like Whodini’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5r0i2ZAbCc\">Friends\u003c/a>,” transforming it into something fresh and original; or even make rudimentary 808 beats. For example, Too Short drew attention for “rapping the longest,” as Bas explains, leading to songs that lasted eight or nine minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"682\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-1020x870.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-160x136.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-768x655.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adisa Banjoko in the 1980s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adisa Banjoko)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Those tapes were everywhere. Everyone was trying to see what was possible,” says Banjoko. In 1987, he began making raps under the name MC Most Ill. His first song was “Rhyme Junkie.” “The truth was, some of it was really cool but a lot of it actually also sucked, because [the art form] was brand new. … The quality control was not there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On August 18, 1984, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> published an article called “Rapping with Too-Short,” the first story on the 18-year-old prodigy. Pacific News Service journalist Anthony Adams called Short’s songs “preacher-like yarns over pre-recorded music,” and noted that one of them was about automaker John DeLorean, whose conviction for cocaine trafficking made national news. Short claimed he and his partner Freddy B sold over 2,000 tapes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Chronicle-Examiner\u003c/em> also frequently interviewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.dominiquediprima.com/\">Dominique “Lady D” DiPrima\u003c/a>, a New York transplant and San Francisco State University student who rapped, sung, and organized events. DiPrima possessed a rich family pedigree — her father was the jazz writer Amiri Baraka, her mother the beat poet Diane DiPrima. In late 1984, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV recruited her to host \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a Saturday-afternoon program that became appointment viewing for local teens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone had a crush on Dominique,” says Naru, giggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1536x1039.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_.png 1540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dominique DiPrima, pictured here hosting a 1987 episode of ‘Home Turf’ on KRON-4. \u003ccite>(SFSU Television Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Bay Area Rap Record Opens the Floodgates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the under-acknowledged aspects of early hip-hop is the way elder Black musicians shepherded young artists into the recording industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Sylvia Robinson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, initially emerged in the mid-’50s as one-half of Mickey & Sylvia, who scored a national hit with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwMB9v1pQ4\">Love Is Strange\u003c/a>.” As a ’70s solo artist and producer, Robinson made slinky, Eartha Kitt-like erotic disco capers such as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA2X1040_gY\">Pillow Talk\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPScEJ66_m4\">Sweet Stuff\u003c/a>.” After discovering hip-hop when she heard DJ Lovebug Starski at a party, Robinson formed Sugar Hill Records, and turned three rapping teens she found in New Jersey into its first act, the Sugarhill Gang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This process of soul veterans working with young people resulted in independent 12” singles that mirrored — if not yet accurately capturing — the nascent rap sound at a time when big companies virtually ignored it. With his Mercury Records contract, Kurtis Blow was the only act with a major album deal. A handful of other pioneers like DJ Hollywood scored one-off 12” deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar process played out in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/2R_h9BCuvBE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/2R_h9BCuvBE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The first Bay Area rap record is widely considered to be Phil “Motorcycle Mike” Lewis and the Rat Trap Band’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Odk2Vu70s\">Super Rat\u003c/a>,” a 1981 boogie-funk single notoriously released by East Oakland heroin kingpin Milton “Mickey Mo” Moore’s Hodisk Records. The name “Hodisk” was a cheeky reference to his onetime side business as a pimp. (Moore has since reformed and is now a pastor in West Oakland.) In fact, Mickey Mo boasts in his 1996 autobiography \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qy6RNV6f5w\">The Man: The Life Story of a Drug Kingpin\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, “Hodisk Records became the first record company on the West Coast to release a rap record.” (The first L.A. rap record, Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp’s “The Gigolo Rapp,” was also released in 1981.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mickey Mo has another claim to rap lore: In 1980, he \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-first-rap-performance-on-a-major-stage\">helped finance an Oakland Coliseum concert\u003c/a> headlined by L.A. funk band War, with the Sugarhill Gang as a supporting act. Journalist Lee Hildebrand’s pre-concert interview with the Gang in the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> was the first mention of rap music in the local press. A second funk-rap novelty, Steve Walker’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9jCLUWwBY\">Tally Ho!\u003c/a>,” also appeared in 1981. In 1983, San Francisco’s Debo & Brian released the electro-funk EP \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv_AfTbEng\">This Is It\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The momentum had started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had made this vow that I would never ever do anything having to do with rap,” laughs Claytoven Richardson. During his long career, the Berkeley-born, Oakland-raised Richardson worked with Aretha Franklin, Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Elton John, and Celine Dion. But in the early ’80s, he was best known as a singer, producer, and arranger with hot dancefloor jazz-funk bands like Bill Summers & Summers’ Heat. His anti-rap stance reflected the music industry at large in the 1980s. “Nobody had the foresight to see that it would morph and change and do the things that it’s done,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927369\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 625px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg 625w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claytoven Richardson pictured in March 2023 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Steven Simione/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, Richardson couldn’t avoid the increasingly popular genre when he scored a production deal at Fantasy Records, the onetime Berkeley jazz label also known for innovative acts like Sylvester and Cybotron, as well as one-off singles generated by a “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” philosophy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the records Richardson produced in that anything-goes environment was Mighty Mouth’s satirical complaint, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1hAFnrtU8\">I’m All Rapped Out\u003c/a>.” (He wasn’t the only one annoyed over rap; perhaps out of wishful thinking, a 1985 \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> article referred to the “fast-fading hip-hop scene.”) A vocalist named Lawrence Pittman didn’t show up for the session, so Richardson performed the lyrics himself. However, Pittman showed up to rap on Mighty Mouth’s second single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfQcLbemE4\">The Roaches\u003c/a>,” which parodied Whodini’s electro hit, “Freaks Come Out at Night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scattered local raps appeared between 1985 and 1986. Former boogaloo dancer Jay King, just home from a stint in the Air Force and splitting time between Sacramento and Vallejo, formed a group called Frost and released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hObIekxeoSg\">Battle Beat\u003c/a>.” His friends Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy produced it, as well as another electro-rap track, Sorcerey’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ap6uw-kX8o\">Woo Baby\u003c/a>.” Pittsburg rapper James “Red Beat” Briggs issued “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dUlMEZUSc\">Freak City\u003c/a>,” which was later remixed by N.W.A. co-founder Arabian Prince. And there was Rodney “Disco Alamo” Brown, from Richmond, whose 12” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-pXg1DY98\">The Task Force\u003c/a>” is \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#richmonds-task-force-memorialized-on-wax\">an early example\u003c/a> of Bay Area rap chronicling street life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"484\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927313\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-1020x618.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-768x465.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short, pictured at his manager’s house in Oakland on September 21, 1987. \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Too Short’s rising buzz led to a deal with deep East Oakland entrepreneur Dean Hodges’ 75 Girls label. Released in 1985, the resulting \u003cem>Don’t Stop Rappin’\u003c/em> was the first official album by a local rapper. While fans of a certain age still treasure protean electro-funk tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ywke376NQ\">Girl\u003c/a>” — which E-40 referenced on his 1998 hit, “Earl, That’s Yo Life” — the album couldn’t compare to his raunchy and wickedly hilarious “special request” tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was during this period that Naru finally got his chance in the studio. Since 1984, UC Berkeley station \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">KALX-FM\u003c/a> served as home to “Music for the People,” a Sunday-morning community affairs and music show hosted by the late Charles “Natty Prep” Douglass, as well as DJs like Billy “Jam” Kiernan (who also broadcast on San Francisco State University station KUSF-FM), David “Davey D” Cook, and funkster Rickey “The Uhuru Maggot” Vincent. When Naru won \u003ca href=\"https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/107287\">a 1986 rap contest hosted by Billy Jam on KALX\u003c/a>, he earned a deal with Bay Wave Records, a local imprint distributed by Hollywood-based Macola Records. Richardson was hired to produce the session.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/dLlNn1Zh1ww'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/dLlNn1Zh1ww'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“[Quick Draw] was a great rapper. He had a lot of great lyrics and ideas,” says Richardson. On “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\">Rapaholic\u003c/a>,” Richardson and session engineer Michael Denten (who later worked with Spice 1 and E-40) accompanied Quick Draw’s dexterous and energetic raps with sharp-angled percussive edits and sound effects reminiscent of The Art of Noise and Mantronix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Respect to Claytoven,” says Naru, who not only continues to make music but also owns a company, \u003ca href=\"http://hiplearning.org/\">Hip Learning\u003c/a>, that promotes childhood education with rap. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the “Rapaholic” experience: “They made the record sound hella more polished. It was [supposed to be] a little more underground than that.” However, he adds, “[Claytoven] taught us a lot in the studio about the mics they use and how to mix. It was a good experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"889\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photocopied flyer advertising Sir Quick Draw’s single ‘Rapaholic.’ \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Radio Breakthrough — And a Kid Named Hammer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the trajectory of Bay Area hip-hop waxed and waned, three catalyzing moments brought the scene into focus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was an R&B track. Timex Social Club’s “Rumors” captured the pulse of Bay Area youth culture, from Marcus Thompson and Alex Hill’s skittering electro-funk bass and drums to singer Michael Marshall’s distinctly regional accent and coy recitation of schoolyard gossip (“Did you hear the one about Michael? Some say he must be gay…”) Produced by Jay King and Denzil Foster and released on King’s Jay Records in February 1986, it mushroomed into a top ten \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> pop hit and dominated radio all year.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/jVce2IeYcTg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/jVce2IeYcTg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>But by the summer, Timex Social Club was falling apart and trading accusations with King over money and credit. The group’s only album \u003cem>Vicious Rumors\u003c/em> — by that point it was just Michael Marshall — featured drum programming from CJ Flash and a shout-out to KALX’s Natty Prep, who helped break “Rumors” on his “Music and Life” show. Marshall retreated from the spotlight before \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#i-got-5-on-it-remix-a-meeting-of-greats-recorded-in-alameda\">re-emerging as the hook man\u003c/a> on the Luniz’ 1995 smash “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtkpnXLrL4\">I Got 5 on It\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After breaking with Timex Social Club, King formed a group called Jet Set and signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The group changed their name to Club Nouveau before debuting with the single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKWhkjXV5uM\">Jealousy\u003c/a>.” A follow-up, the Bill Withers cover “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk\">Lean on Me\u003c/a>,” went to number-one on the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> Hot 100, while Club Nouveau’s debut album \u003cem>Life, Love & Pain\u003c/em> went platinum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"489\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-1020x624.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-768x470.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singers Samuelle Prater, Jay King and Valerie Watson of Club Nouveau performs at the U.I.C. Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois in August 1987. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>King’s growing stardom rippled across the Bay and reached Felton Pilate, the Vallejo keyboardist, singer, and producer best known as a driving force in Bay Area funk stars Con Funk Shun. The two had already worked together on King’s onetime rap group Frost; Pilate engineered that record. Pilate soon added one of King’s projects, Sacramento R&B/rap group New Choice, to a growing slate of projects he produced and engineered at his Felstar Studios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felstar Studios was the culmination of work he had begun while not touring and rehearsing with Con Funk Shun. At his home studio on Sandpiper Drive in Vallejo, Pilate helped assemble records for fledgling local artists. “I never thought of myself as just a studio,” he says, where he simply records his clients. “I have a little experience here. I’ve got several gold albums. Here, let me pass on some of this knowledge.” When asked if he considered himself a mentor, he demurs, even though that’s arguably what he was. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pilate opened Felstar Studios on Sonoma Boulevard, his trusted associate was James Earley, a young engineer whom he credits for adding a more contemporary sensibility to the Studios’ output. Among the locals who came to them were M.V.P., a family trio consisting of Earl Stevens, Danell Stevens, and Brandt Jones. Their 1988 12”, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLuAL6DueI\">The Kings Men\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, also included Tanina Stevens and Angela Pressley, who called themselves Sugar ‘N’ Spice. The members of M.V.P. updated their stage names to E-40, D-Shot and B-Legit, added Tanina as Suga T, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-clicks-down-dirty-ushers-in-mobb-music-era\">evolved into The Click\u003c/a>, arguably becoming the most famous rap group to emerge from Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927370\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">M.V.P., a 1988 Vallejo rap group featuring Busy D, E-40 and Legit (L–R). The three would later add E-40’s sister Suga T and become known as The Click. \u003ccite>(Gerry Ericksen / Rushforce Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1986, Pilate and Earley both had solo deals at Berkeley’s Fantasy Records. It was there that Pilate met a former Oakland A’s batboy named Stanley “Holyghost Boy” Burrell through Fantasy Records producer Fred L. Pittman. “Fred would often hire me to do keyboard arrangements for him,” says Pilate. When Pittman asked him to play keys for Holyghost Boy, Pilate responded, “Hey Fred, why don’t you let me take the reins on this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a classically trained jazz and classical musician, Pilate didn’t think much of rap, even though Con Funk Shun not only included a rap verse on a 1982 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9GHVTI-EE\">Ain’t Nobody Baby\u003c/a>”; but also made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmzvN7raB0\">Electric Lady\u003c/a>,” a 1985 hit produced by Larry Smith of Whodini fame that landed in the top five of \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>’s Black Singles chart. “Musically, I wasn’t a fan, but as a producer, I said, ‘I can do this,’” he says. “Like everyone else, Con Funk Shun wanted to be relevant, and rap was all over the radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks Burrell brought to Pilate consisted of him rapping over sparse Yamaha RX5 drum-machine parts. Pilate responded by going into “study mode.” He listened to the rap stuff that was getting airplay like Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew. As a result, the skittering percussion on Burrell’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVWFiptGNY\">Let’s Get It Started\u003c/a>” is reminiscent of the go-go-inspired arrangements on Doug E. Fresh hits like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sGw9GSCiYU\">The Show\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtqnKIF7kE\">All the Way to Heaven\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927325\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-1020x720.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-768x542.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer films the music video for ‘Let’s Get It Started’ at Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub in downtown Oakland, March 19, 1988. \u003ccite>(Deanne Fitzmaurice/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My thing was to make it more music-driven than beat-driven,” says Pilate. In many cases, he simply “listened to what [Burrell] was talking about and wrote a straight R&B song underneath it.” He also gives credit to Earley, who helped refine the drum programming and brought “that younger ear” to the project. They incorporated stock horn stabs from a battery of Juno, Roland, and Yamaha drum machines. Meanwhile, Kent “The Lone Mixer” Wilson and Bryant “D.J. Redeemed” Marable added rhythmic scratches by cutting up Curtis Mayfield and Beastie Boys records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the demos were finished, Fantasy Records dropped Pilate, Earley and Burrell from their deals. “They weren’t really sure how to market any of us,” says Pilate. Then, he chuckles, “The next time I ran into the Holyghost Boy, he had changed his name to MC Hammer.” After forming Bustin’ Records in Fremont with financial help from Oakland A’s ballplayers like Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, Hammer turned the Pilate demos into three 12”s — “Ring ’Em,” “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Let’s Get It Started” — and the 1987 album \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em>. “I was like, man, those were rough mixes! You were supposed to come back and let me fix that!” Pilate laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone involved in Bay Area hip-hop has vivid memories of MC Hammer blowing up. Near-mythical stories of his local takeover abound, like attending local concerts surrounded by a massive crew; or tearing up the dance floor at The Silks, a popular nightclub in Emeryville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-768x698.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate.jpg 1058w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer and Fenton Pilate in modern times. Pilate engineered and co-produced MC Hammer’s first recordings. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Felton Pilate)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s worth revisiting \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em> and 1988’s \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em>. Released after Hammer signed with Capitol Records, \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em> found Hammer and Pilate remixing those original demos while adding vital new tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZVcXzSE3M\">Pump It Up\u003c/a>.” The results are bombastic and vibrant dance-floor jams as ecstatic as anything by Kid ‘n’ Play and Salt-n-Pepa. Hammer’s subsequent leap into pop superstardom with 1990’s \u003cem>Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em\u003c/em> and the ubiquity of “U Can’t Touch This” obscure just how great those early tracks are.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eight Woofers in the Trunk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Hammer’s major-label arrival in 1988 capped a year of Bay Area hip-hop on the cusp of national exposure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Too Short issued \u003cem>Born to Mack\u003c/em> in the fall of 1987 on his Dangerous Music label, Jive Records picked it up. (Dangerous Music also issued \u003cem>Dangerous Crew\u003c/em>, a compilation of vital Bay Area acts like Spice-1, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and the female duo Danger Zone.) Digital Underground’s playful and psychedelic “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zQ1frcgSbI\">Underwater Rimes\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBNB20wVo0\">Your Life’s a Cartoon\u003c/a>” led to a deal with Tommy Boy. Local talent waited in the wings, including rapper/producer Paris (A.T.C.’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpiPWfOBk4\">Cisco Jam\u003c/a>”), Sway & King Tech (\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJujmVXiwE\">Flynamic Force\u003c/a>\u003c/em> EP), Dangerous Dame (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Frj4j09GE\">The Power That’s Packed\u003c/a>”), and MC Twist and the Def Squad (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZz7qhjfjw\">Just Rock\u003c/a>”). And the late Cameron Paul, known for his “Beats & Pieces” breakbeats, remixed Queens trio Salt-n-Pepa’s 1987 track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkdk1oMmtE\">Push It\u003c/a>” into a global phenomenon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Paul reveals his mixing secrets.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13828164\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-768x476.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-240x149.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-375x233.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-520x322.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cameron Paul, who provided the spine of New Orleans bounce music with ‘Brown Beats’ and recorded a smash-hit remix of Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s ‘Push It,’ was also a prominent club and radio megamix DJ in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(YouTube)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the first local group to score a major label deal wasn’t Hammer, but Surf MCs, a Berkeley group that Profile Records promoted as a Beastie Boys-like rap/rock crossover. Their 1987 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojCAqdBA7uA\">Surf or Die\u003c/a>\u003c/em> proved a flop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the third moment that catalyzed Bay Area hip-hop wasn’t a singular record like Timex Social Club’s “Rumors,” or an artist like Hammer and Short. It was the sound of walloping, all-enveloping bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made for surgically enhanced car and jeep stereos, the bass colossus is as much a feature of hip-hop in the mid-’80s as the pounding Roland TR-808 machine, from Rick Rubin’s production on LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” and T La Rock’s “It’s Yours” to Rodney O and DJ Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and Dr. Dre’s work on Eazy-E’s “The Boyz-N-The Hood.” It also mirrors the crack-cocaine epidemic that began to blight and distort communities across the country. As street life turned treacherous, the specter of the hustler, and whether to become one, cast a growing shadow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13925761","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Then the new style came, the bass got deeper / You gave up the mike and bought you a beeper / Do you want to rap or sell coke? / Brothers like you ain’t never broke,” Too Short memorably rapped on his 1989 hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvfUUOO0xoM\">Life Is…Too Short\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banjoko recalls how the presence of gangs transformed local shows. “You would see a bunch of people dressed up together [in the same gear], and you might assume they were a rap or dance crew. They were young drug lords,” he says. “You could get trampled, beat up or robbed by any of them. I remember 69 Ville being massively deep at the Fresh Fest and the [Run-DMC] Raising Hell tour. They were terrifying, straight up. You were going to tuck your chain, you were going to take your Kangol off, or they were going to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927326\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh EMC, the San Francisco rapper whose 1988 single ‘It’s the Game’ unflinchingly chronicled street life. \u003ccite>(Soul Sonic Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rap imagery became more honest and explicit. Some like Richmond rapper Magic Mike, San Francisco’s Hugh EMC (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_p7L0eJfKI\">It’s the Game\u003c/a>”), and Oakland’s Hollywood (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/641778-Hollywood-Stay-Heart-And-Soul-Raps-Just-A-Battlefield\">Gangster Rap\u003c/a>”) seemed to embrace the hustler ethos, while cautiously adding verses about the consequences of that lifestyle. Then there was Oakland rapper Morocco Moe, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNoOCIVPrI\">Task\u003c/a>” criticized how law enforcement brutalized communities in the War on Drugs: “Their intentions are good/But their actions are wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every Black neighborhood was infested” with crack, says Vallejo producer Khayree Shaheed. “There was an influx of money coming into young Black men, but there was also a lot of death occurring.” The epidemic also marked his entry into the world of rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a descendant of the Bay Area’s vaunted funk tradition, Khayree spent the ’70s and early ’80s playing bass guitar for bands like Grand Larceny, Body Mind & Spirit and Touch of Class (with keyboardist Rosie Gaines, who later joined Prince & the New Power Generation). His travels took him across the U.S. and even to Japan, where Touch of Class lived and performed for several months. (Though his bands made demos, there are no official recordings to date.) When asked about the first time he heard rap, Khayree cites “jazzoetry” ensembles like The Last Poets, not the Sugarhill Gang. And as a youth growing up on Lofas Place in Vallejo, he spent plenty of time following Con Funk Shun, hoping to apprentice with the biggest band in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927412\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-768x490.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo musician Khayree Shaheed, playing bass onstage in 1979. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khayree was in his mid-20s when Rod “I.C.E.” Andrews and Dan “Luvva D” Morrison a.k.a. the Luvva Twins brought Khayree a demo they had made on a Casio keyboard, “Hubba Head.” The song title was slang for a crack addict, and the duo described the “hubba head’s” descent into addiction with charismatic punch. They arranged the music and rapped most of the lyrics, while Khayree dropped a short verse and added guitar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khayree had already spent time at Pilate’s home studio, honing his writing and production skills. (“I always enjoyed working with him,” says Pilate.) Now, he brought “Hubba Head” to Pilate, and the two prepared it for release. Setting up his own label, Big Bank Records, Khayree distributed two hundred copies of the 12” to DJs and influencers. “The record was super popular in the streets,” says Khayree.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pArkWvlAebg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pArkWvlAebg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>After “Hubba Head,” Khayree began working with Jay King, a fellow graduate of Vallejo High School. The opportunity to write and produce New Choice’s 1987 single “\u003ca href=\"http://<a%20href=\" https:>Cold Stupid\u003c/a>” and most of the quintet’s 1988 debut, \u003cem>At Last\u003c/em>, gave him important experience on a major project and financial stability. By fusing bass, funky R&B and hip-hop breakbeats, New Choice reflected a parallel R&B movement that both influenced and was inspired by the hip-hop scene. Similar Bay Area acts included Oakland’s Tony! Toni! Toné!, who parlayed backing sessions for Sheila E. and Tramaine Hawkins into a major-label deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flush from his experience with New Choice, Khayree was ready to start his own company. “I’m listening to EPMD’s \u003cem>Strictly Business\u003c/em>,” he says, inspiring the name of his second label, Strictly Business Records. He knew that Mike “The Mac” Robinson, who also grew up on Lofas Place, was a rapper. Robinson hailed from a musical family: his uncle Steve “Silver” Scales was a well-traveled Vallejo funk percussionist who played with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and the B-52s. (Though it would be a delicious coincidence, Scales didn’t perform on “Genius of Love.”) Khayree encouraged Robinson to take music more seriously. Meanwhile, Robinson’s mother drew the memorable Strictly Business logo: an open briefcase, ready for business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, Khayree released The Mac’s three-song EP, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/805531-The-Mac-Im-Ah-Big-Mac\">I’m Ah Big Mac\u003c/a>.” Heard now, what immediately stands out is the unique \u003cem>tone\u003c/em> of the bass. “We used synthesizers that had dumb-fat bass lines,” explains Khayree in reference to himself and Too Short as well as future Bay Area colleagues like Ant Banks. By comparison, he says, other regional scenes relied on a “natural” bass guitar or samples from records. “You feel it through your whole body. … You can get it with a bass guitar, depending on how you EQ the bass and what you run your guitar through. But you’re \u003cem>never\u003c/em> going to touch the subs and the depth of a Minimoog, of the Oberheim Ovx, or the Roland Juno 106.” The EP’s highlight is its B-side “The Game Is Thick,” which centers on a sample of Prince’s “D.M.S.R.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"498\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-1020x635.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick.jpg 1537w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree and The Mac (L–R), pictured on the cover of The Mac’s ‘The Game is Thick.’ \u003ccite>(Phil Bray / Strictly Business Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1989, Khayree remixed and re-released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCxGl7Ok1YI\">The Game Is Thick\u003c/a>” as a standalone 12” with a memorable cover photo: Khayree looking super-clean in a grey suit, clasping a briefcase, with The Mac in a red-and-black bomber jacket. Khayree calls the style “pimping.” “We didn’t mean pimping so much as getting prostitutes to work,” he explains. “It’s an attitude, and it’s a musical style.” The “game” is a metaphor for life in the Black community. Street slang illustrated complex situations, whether it was dealing with the repercussions of a raging crack epidemic, or simply navigating the tensions of everyday living. Meanwhile, The Mac’s “cool, silky, pimpish” flow and Khayree’s synthesized bass production proved a clear predecessor to the ’90s mob-music sound that took over Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13924167","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Upon release, “The Game Is Thick” didn’t make a major impact, and most copies went to local DJ pools. “We promoted records out of the trunk,” says Khayree. “We went from Bobby G’s Soul Disco in San Francisco to [Rico Casanova’s record pool] The Pros in Oakland.” Still, “The Game Is Thick” remix received a mention in Davey “D” Cook’s April 7, 1989 “Beats & Breaks” column for \u003cem>BAM\u003c/em> Magazine. “Let me tell you, it’s hyped to the max,” Davey D wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Khayree’s encouragement, the Mac taught himself how to produce music with synth keyboards. He also introduced Khayree to another Vallejo artist, Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks, who became Strictly Business’ second act. By the time The Mac was shot and killed on July 23, 1991 in what Khayree calls “a case of mistaken identity,” the two had recorded dozens of tracks and released a third and final 12” protesting police violence, 1990’s “Enuff of Tis Sh-t!” One of The Mac’s beats posthumously appeared on Mac Dre’s 1993 track, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slA_s7tSjMU\">The M.A.C. & Mac D.R.E.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree with Kool Moe Dee at the 1988 BRE Conference in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike had a big, big loving heart,” remembers Khayree, sounding wistful. He emphasizes how The Mac left behind a daughter, “Mac” Reina Robinson, and a pregnant girlfriend who gave birth to his son, Mike. At one point, Khayree plays a voicemail of The Mac passionately singing a funky, swinging hook, as if to counteract the stereotype that rappers aren’t musicians. He talks about how The Mac’s way of playing simple, evocative keyboard notes for maximum effect echoes in the work of his famed protégé, Mac Dre. “I miss him,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area rap broke wide at the end of the decade, leading to a 1989 story in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/rap-by-the-bay-oakland-emerges-as-a-force-in-pop.html\">Rap by the Bay: Oakland Emerges as a Force in Pop\u003c/a>.” Not every local pioneer who laid the groundwork would enjoy the fruits of that success. But their stories are essential to understanding how local hip-hop came of age, and everything that came after.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13927349/bay-area-hip-hop-1980s","authors":["11855"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_966","arts_7862","arts_69","arts_75","arts_990","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_5397","arts_10278","arts_831","arts_1143","arts_19346","arts_3478","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13927364","label":"source_arts_13927349"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. 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You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. 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