Tell Me When To Go
Northern California Rappers Put the Bay Area on the Map
Story by Shana White

The other morning I woke up to hearing my younger brother shouting “Turn on the TV they are finally playing E-40 on BET!” Even a couple of days ago KMEL had been giving props about the video's moment. So I got out of bed and turned on the TV to see the video. It was both E-40 and Keak Da Sneak with their stylish flows, rapping while cars were doing donuts, and folks were ghost ridin' the whip, and fellas shaking their dreads. Bay Area rap is mostly liked by its own people and some places in the South, so it going national on BET is a big deal. When it comes to giving us in the Bay props, we don't get that much play. And actually the Bay getting play is also about changes in the rap game.   Its proof that people can blow-up by staying true to their region. The spotlight is now on the independent labels, and local are finally in.

You can tell which are locals vs. a Nelly or a Kanye West by how the video looks. And even though there are a lot of different rap regions across the country, none of them have been putting in work (like over 15-20 years) like 40 Fonzarelli aka E-40 from the Bay.   When BET or MTV or some other music channel has their awards, they need to give some awards to them. In the past E-40 might not have sold multi-platinum albums, but he still respects his fans to the fullest.   There are some other Bay Area artists who have put it down such as Yukmonth and Keisha Cole from Oakland, and I would say Too Short, but he put it down for the town and moved to Atlanta.

Even though it may seem some Bay rappers talk about being rich and moving out the hood, to me, E-40 keeps its real not only in his lyrics but also with the relationship with his fans. A year or two ago I was listening to the KMEL radio station, and their special guest was none other but the famous E-40. They were getting calls to talk to E-40, and when it was time to go to break, the radio personality was rushing them to get off the phone and saying smarts ass remarks. E-40 cut him off quick by saying, “Hey man don't treat my fans like that, they've been supporting me so I have treat them right!” Wow! At that moment I fell in love. Now that's what I call a well-respected rapper.

Another factor that helped put not only the Bay, but also the South, on the map, is that rappers from independent labels are finally “in” now. Folks like Franchise Boys from Atlanta with (White tee's), D4L from Atlanta (Lean wit it) Hood Stars (Gets My Grown's Man On) from East Palo Alto are examples of this. And even though these rappers are from different parts of the country, they all seem to have similarities that are just expressed in their own regional way. A lot of the guys all wear dreads, in the south they call acting up “crunk,” here we call it hyphie, stupid or dumb, and White Tee's are in both here and there.

There is nothing different from those who rap mainstream or underground because they all talk about struggling with the law or getting money one way or the other. So to say these rappers are going to sell out, is not the issue. They see rapping as opportunity to move out of poverty, not the hood. Now, not helping their hood out with a few good changes and not donating funds is selling out.

Although all of the attention on local rappers is well deserved, there is one thing I'm afraid of. We may only get 5 minutes of fame and then the Bay might be unseen, again. It will be up to these rappers to keep the bay on the map.

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