History of the Bay

Recorded live at the Midway SF for the History of the Bay Day Party, this panel includes rapper CMG of Conscious Daughters, Thizz Nation photographer D-Ray, graffiti artist Dime of Few & Far Collective, and Nastia Voynovskya of KQED Arts & Culture. These women discuss their respective careers, sisterhood in the Bay Area, challenges they've faced in the industry, and what the future hol...

Benny Diar is a graffiti writer who grew up in Gilroy and made his name painting in San Jose, Portland, Seattle and beyond. Early on, he learned the consequences of graffiti while dealing with incarceration as a juvenile but never stopped his drive to paint. Coming up as a member of KYT and DTC crews, Diar's painted thousands of freight trains. He was also one of the creative minds behind Clou...

D-Ray is a photographer who has taken some of the most legendary and well-recognized pictures in Bay Area rap history. Picking up photography as a hobby, she soon transitioned into doing shoots for magazines and local rappers. This quickly led to her becoming the official photographer for Mac Dre's Thizz Nation, which put her in perfect position to capture the Hyphy Movement as it exploded in...

Apexer is a world-renowned painter whose roots began in the San Francisco graffiti scene and evolved into one of the most recognized muralists from the Bay Area. He started writing graffiti in 3rd grade and fully immersed himself in the local scene, from bus hopping to racking paint and piecing in yards. Learning from older writers like Neon and his colleagues in BA crew, Apex created his own uniq...

30 years after their debut, Souls of Mischief are proving that the title of their song "93 'Til Infinity" is true. Currently, they are in the middle of a world tour spanning over 100 dates, selling out shows around the globe, winning over young fans through streaming, and demonstrating a longevity that is rarely seen in rap music. This exclusive interview with all 4 members of Souls...

Known for his unmistakable producer tag and signature style of beats, DJ.Fresh has been a staple of the Bay Area hip-hop scene for decades. Growing up in Baltimore, Fresh learned the foundations of DJing before moving to the Bay. While he was still a teenager, he entered and won several DJ competitions for the ITF and DMC. This led to Fresh becoming a tour DJ for Common and then Nas. As he started...

A-Wax and Big Tone are veteran rappers representing the East Bay cities of Pittsburg and Antioch. Both got involved in gang life early and saw music as a way to turn their lives around. Wax and Tone linked up through Woodie, the legendary Antioch rapper who made his own beats and created the acclaimed Northern Expozure compilation series through his record label East Co-Co Records. Woodie taught b...

Herm Lewis turned his life around from being a street hustler and addict in San Francisco's notorious Hunters Point neighborhood to running his own record label and becoming a motivational speaker. His first compilation, "Trying to Survive in the Ghetto," is a landmark release for San Francisco hip-hop, featuring artists like RBL Posse, Rappin 4-Tay, Cougnut, JT the Bigga Figga and m...

Rick Rock is a legendary producer whose extensive credits include some of the greatest rappers of all time. He's made hits for 2pac, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, E-40, Busta Rhymes, Redman, Method Man, Angie Martinez, Spice 1, RBL Posse, Mystikal, Marvaless, and so many more. From his humble beginnings in Alabama, he relocated to the Bay Area after passing a beat to Oakland's Conscious Daughters. Th...

History of the Bay Podcast Ep. 21: Champelli is a San Francisco legend who created the beloved "champagne" strain in the 90s, decades ahead of the booming legal cannabis industry that exists today. He talks about how his roots in this culture intersected with clothing design, skateboarding, graffiti, and hip-hop music. While growing and hustling his own product, Champelli also entered th...

Ceav has been an active graffiti writer since the 1990s. Coming out of Oakland, he was influenced by older writers like Mike Dream and Serf TMP. Known for his original style, tireless work ethic, and large-scale pieces, Ceav tries his best to stay humble, show love to upcoming writers, and continue to do what he loves. At the same time, he doesn't shy away from conflict and breaks down how he&...

Mike Giant made a name for himself as an artist in the worlds of graffiti, skateboarding, tattoo, streetwear, and fine art. Drawing ever since he was a child, Giant started painting graffiti in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. An opportunity to design at Think Skateboards led him to San Francisco where he relocated in 1993 when the city was a mecca of graffiti, skating, music, and culture....

Rocky Rivera is a rapper, journalist, and activist from San Francisco. After her family immigrated from the Philippines, she became immersed in hip-hop culture and grassroots community education. This led Rocky to San Francisco State University where she studied journalism and landed an editor position at Ruckus Magazine, which was a Bay Area media staple during the Hyphy Movement. After auditioni...

From Richmond, Mack Magic Mike started rapping in 1982. Along with his partner Calvin T, he sold homemade tapes around the Bay Area and influenced the likes of E-40, Mac Dre, and Mac Mall. Along with Too $hort and Freddy B, Magic Mike and Calvin T are considered some of the first rappers from the Bay Area and possibly the whole west coast. When you hear Magic Mike's music, the style of rapping and...

Recorded at the legendary Amoeba Music San Francisco, Dregs One and P-Lo break down their early memories of Bay Area rap, talk about P-Lo's rise in the music game, and take questions from listeners and aspiring artists in the audience. P-Lo touches on his early influences, how he met Iamsu and how their crew HBK Gang got their start at the Shmop Fest house parties hosted by Kool John in Richmond....

Adisa Banjoko's contributions to hip-hop go back to its beginnings in the Bay Area. He started off as a rapper with the group Freedom Troop 187, who made it into the first unsigned hype column in The Source before disbanding. As a senior at Oceana High in Pacifica, he did Eazy-E's first interview ever for his high school newspaper. From there, he ended up writing for The Source and other acclaimed...

Tracey Helton Mitchell is a published author, activist, and a subject of the 1999 HBO documentary "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End Of The Street." She shares her incredible stories of San Francisco in the 90s, where she ended up strung out on drugs once she arrived in the city. As shown in the documentary, the streets she lived on were far different than today's image of SF . Although she lost many...

Total Devastation achieved legendary status in the early 90s with their hit, "Many Clouds of Smoke." The duo of Bernie Yo Potna Red Eye and Big Tone Smoke, along with DJ Tuff Cut Tim, came up in San Francisco's Mission District. As the some of the first Latin rappers in the Bay, they blazed trails independently with their first release "In The SF Streets." This led to a dea...

Vic20 is a graffiti writer who had an infamous run in the early 2000s along with his crew KUK (Kill Until Killed). Vic grew up in the North Bay and later moved to San Francisco, where he got introduced to graffiti through the skateboarding scene. After getting up with writers like Jade and Amaze, joining THR crew, and developing his style, Vic decided to forge his own path in graffiti with some li...

On Episode 11 of the History of the Bay Podcast, 16-year old @GabeInThaBay joins Dregs One to talk about his experience creating content centered around Bay Area culture. Gabe is from Hayward and grew up listening to hyphy music that his dad would play; such as Mac Dre, the Jacka, Messy Marv. After working on content with Mario0o0o, Gabe decided to start creating his own Bay-related content at his...

Crayone is one of the most well-respected graffiti writers in the world. His career goes back to the beginning of hip-hop in San Francisco, where he started off as a b-boy. Once he transitioned into graffiti, Crayone pushed himself to become one of the best in the game. He founded the TWS crew (Together With Style) with the mission to bring together writers who could excel at every area of graffit...

Jocelyn Superstar's early passion for art and graffiti led her to San Francisco in the 1990s, where one of her first introductions to the scene was a mandatory lecture at the Art Institute by Twist. From there she started exploring her own work in bombing with spray paint and stickers. It wasn't long before she met famed writers like Amaze, and the legendary young writer Tie. Although Tie was shot...

Part 2 of 2: After the success of their debut album "Direct From The Backstreets,"  Totally Insane appeared on Master P's classic "West Coast Bad  Boyz" compilation. But as their career was rising, they had to deal  with a turf war in their neighborhood that led to their hometown  becoming the per capita murder capital of the United States. This,  combined with shady busin...

Part 1 of 2: Ad Kapone is one half of the legendary group Totally Insane. Coming out of East Palo Alto, the group had a unique style that helped them establish themselves in the early days of Bay Area hip-hop. Although he started rapping with a larger group of friends, different circumstances led the group to become a duo with Ad Kapone and Mack 10. Once they hooked up with San Francisco producer...

Young Lay has one of the craziest stories in Bay Area rap. From his beginnings in North Vallejo's Lofas neighborhood, Lay developed his talent early and immediately attracted a deal from producer Khayree's Young Black Brotha Records, who put out Mac Dre's first albums. Collaborating with 2pac, Mac Mall and Ray Luv, Lay started work on the classic album, "Black 'N Dangerous." Along the way, Lay rec...