Turf Talk

Flight of Issue: How E-40's Heir Veered From the Family Line

Honor Roll Crew Singer 1 O.A.K. on His Debut Solo Album, Studio Mischief, and Covering Wham!

"We'll be taking a lot of shots tonight!" 1 O.A.K. is about to head out and celebrate his brother's 21st birthday by hitting up a few local bars -- but the Oakland-based singer and producer has good reason to indulge in some reveling with his debut solo album, Special Request, having dropped last we ... More >>

DJ Shadow Goes Shopping for Inspiration at Amoeba

E-40 Continues Revenue Retrievin, Revisits His Past Hits

The long wait is over; the next two installments in the Revenue Retrievin series from Vallejo's own E-40 -- the sequels to last year's Day Shift and Night Shift -- are finally out. Just in time for you to finish your tax returns! You know Uncle Sam's doing some serious-ass revenue retrievin' this mo ... More >>

Is Bay Area Rap Too Insular? Roach Gigz Talks to MTV About the Pitfalls of Being Indie

Roach Gigz wants to get out from behind the Bay Area fence.​For whatever reason, Bay Area hip-hop is an insular beast that often fails to escape its Northern California birthplace. Sure, we have artists like E-40 and the Souls of Mischief that made it into the national spotlight ever so briefly, a ... More >>

Friday at Noise Pop: Kid Koala Plays Records That Tell Us How To Dance To Them at Mighty

Matt SeufererKid KoalaKid Koala DJ Swayzee Jel J HouseFebruary 25, 2011@ MightyBetter than: An evening of mediocre music from DJs with good names. I arrive around 9:30 p.m. at a very sparsely populated Mighty, wonder why I don't go to Mighty more, and then remember that I don't like to dance. J Hou ... More >>

The Top 10 Bay Area Hip-Hop Albums of 2010

2010 has been a pretty good year for Bay Area hip-hop, if only because it saw the next generation of local rappers come into its own, eager (and maybe even ready) to put the Bay back on the national radar once again. Even after the death of hyphy, rappers here just continue to get weirder and weirde ... More >>

Listen to a Mini-Mix of Lazer Sword's Upcoming Debut Album

Lazer Sword​Stop us if you've heard enough, but we've got even more to share with you from the long-overdue debut record by the San Francisco ex-pats of Lazer Sword. We're only a couple weeks away from the release date of Low Limit's and Lando Kal's Lazer Sword album (it'll be avail ... More >>

Lazer Sword Will Finally Release its First Album Nov. 2

Lazer Sword's self-titled album's cover art​Even though Low Limit and Lando Kal aren't San Francisco residents any longer, the two producers' collaborative project, Lazer Sword, has long been the darling of our city's electronic beat scene. In fact, the duo have been working hard at their next-lev ... More >>

Sayonara, Vibe

Shawn MortensenVibe's First Cover Hang on to those back issues of Vibe, folks. As of today, they're officially collectors items. As reported by Daily Finance, the New York Times, and RapRadar, Vibe is ceasing publication effective June 30. According to a letter from Vibe CEO Steve Aaron, the magazin ... More >>

Dem Hoodstarz' Rapper Charged in Gang Sweep

Busted: Dem HoodstarzAs the Chronicle reported on Sunday, 42 members of a South Bay gang known as "the Taliban" have been arrested following a joint task force raid conducted in 14 Bay Area cities Friday night and Saturday morning. The suspected Taliban members--who have no religious affiliation, ... More >>

SF Weekly Interview: E-40

By Tamara Palmer It's now been more than 20 years since Earl Stevens (aka E-40) put his first independent record out on the streets of the Bay Area and set out on a mission to put his hometown of Vallejo on the international rap map and his colorful phraseology into the mouths of society at large ... More >>

SF Weekly Music Awards Nominee: Mistah F.A.B.

SF Weekly Letters

Major-Label Misfit: Mistah F.A.B.

SF Weekly Music Awards 2007 Program

Treasure Island Booty

A Guide to Getting Shipwrecked This Weekend

Devin The Dude: 'Beer and Rap'-Approved

The Future of Hyphy?

The Federation and Turk Talk survive major-label incompetence

Misc. Reviews

Hyphy Hitz: dumb and dumber

Live Wires

The high and lowlights of 2006 performances

Hip Hop 101: the Underdogs/Alt-Rock 101: the Secret of Their Overseas Success/ DJ Culture 101: the Critical Mash Honors Club

Zion-I get "Paid" again

Out of the Shadow

The DJ who works out of S.F. has crafted both exquisite beats and a carefully cultivated mystique. Find out from him why the lush trip hop is being replaced by a local hyphy sound.

My Name Is Earl

E-40 blows up, and takes the rest of the Bay Area with him

Misc. Reviews

If it's kinda, sorta music-related, we'll review it. This week: Turf Talk on Judge Joe Brown.

Mixtape Shmixtape

Wherein we review Yay Area mixtapes of the day

Zion I

Hip hop's hope for uniting the underground and the streets

Computer Love

Talking to Moebius Rex's Matt Ness in the first ever "Ask a Music Blogger"

The Sick Wid It Umbrella/Various Artists

Fedi Fetchin'

A New Dawn, a New Bay

A fresh, vital hip hop scene is shaping up in the Bay Area, and MC Balance is leading the charge