Priceless Da Roc, creator of "Hella Saucy."

In advance of his Underground Celebrity EP, which will be available on iTunes and Amazon on April 16, rapper, dancer, and San Francisco State student Priceless Da Roc dropped an EA-Ski-produced single called "Hella Saucy" that features an accompanying dance video.

Priceless and Richmond DJ J12 are the duo behind last year's infectious J12 dance craze. After hearing "Slow Down" by Clyde Carson and the Team, Priceless and J12 made their own version of the song with a guest verse by Priceless and dance moves the two created for the track. Carson embraced the version and made it an official release many months after the original dropped, a wise move that gave his song a large boost. He also featured the J12 dance in the video -- by which time it had already spread through Bay Area schools and dancefloors.

As it turns out, though, the J12 was just the first move.

See also:
* Learn the J12, a New Bay Area Hip-Hop Dance Anyone Can Do

More »

Antwon

Behold, Antwon. The San Jose rapper's End of Earth mixtape made our list of the best local rap releases of 2012, and his latest tape, last week's In Dark Denim, is even better. (Grab it here.) The highlight and first video is "3rd World Grrl," a gritty party-funk beat that features Antwon getting explicit about his sexual pursuits. That would be a fairly accurate description of all of In Dark Denim, but (as SPIN's Brandon Soderberg has noted), Antwon's sex raps stand apart: They come off less as annoying braggadocio and more as desperate liberation. There's a pleasure to lines like "We fuckin' in the morning like who cares who we waking," sure, but it comes in lieu of the darker moments that surround "3rd World Grrl" on In Dark Denim. Suitably, then, this song has an all-fun video, where a puppet Antwon gets his silly-ass mack on in the club. Watch it, grab In Dark Denim, and let's all wait excitedly to see where Antwon goes next.

More »

Sick Wid It

Droop-E channels the 1930s with "'N The Traffic."

As these new releases might suggest, Bay Area rap continues to evolve and become harder to pigeonhole. This is especially true when it comes to matching songs up with a visual; the same old bitches-in-the-club videos that we see all over the country don't really fly here unless they're super-duper fly -- and set, like, 80 years ago.

See Also:
* IamSu! on KILT, Getting an Invite From E-40, and Why He Wants Lil B to Do an "Up" Remix

More »

Hiero Imperium

Hiero Mickey shirt by Hieroglyphics.

Here in the Yay Area, we like to wear our affection for local rap on our sleeves. Our favorite hip-hop T-shirts are largely silly novelties that make us smile, with a sprinkling of iconic imagery that has lasted in some cases for as long as 20 years. Whether Hieroglyphics or Humpty Hump, here are our top 10 old and new classics.

See Also:
* Blondie's Debbie Harry Is Still Not Used to Seeing Her Face on T-Shirts

More »

Arturo Torres

IamSu!

IamSu! is ending the year as one of the brightest new rap talents on the West Coast. Having seen his profile soar off the back of a starring turn on E-40's "Function" earlier this year, the Richmond-raised rapper dropped the $uzy 6 $peed mixtape last week to wide acclaim. Now he'll be keeping the buzz going with an instore appearance at Upper Haight streetwear shop True this Sunday. (Nov. 18, 3 p.m.) Ahead of that, we got him to drop the details behind his five favorite tracks from $uzy 6 $peed.

5. "100 Grand" feat. Juvenile
This collaboration came about when Juvenile came to town to perform. He was up in the studio after I was in a studio session and had a chance to kick it with him. He had heard a couple of my songs, so everything just fell into place. I was surprised he'd heard of me, 'cause I look up to Juvenile and have been listening to him since elementary school. When I first heard The Hot Boys, I remember thinking Juve was dope and had a unique style. Just having him sitting in the back for the song was a learning experience. I wasn't nervous though, 'cause I know what I can do.

More »

A Hammer for Oakland

Oakland, meet your new tourism ambassador: MC Hammer, famous rapper, man of Christ, former A's exec, and purveyor of some very goofy pantaloons. The man born Stanley Burrell was born and raised in East Oakland, so it's only natural that he'd by tapped by the city for a new campaign to counter its rather grim public image. "Oakland: To know it is to love it" is the slogan for Hammer's effort, and while we'd agree, fancy words aren't going to solve Oakland's image problem alone. (Hammer pants, on the other hand...) So: as an encouraging slap on the back to the man who first introduced us, indirectly, to "Super Freak" -- and who played the first concert we ever attended, in Oakland -- here are five fairly easy ways Hammer could help his native burg.

More »

Days after San Francisco's own DaVinci dropped a brand-new album for free -- the dense and delightful The MOEna Lisa -- here's a new video for the bumpin' track "In My City," which might be the best bit of Sucka Free City eye-candy we've seen all year. Shot in gorgeous black and white, the Tim Jieh-directed video has this Fillmore rapper reppin' his home hood along with other lovely S.F. locales like North Beach and Twin Peaks. He even ventures out of town to Oakland and Vallejo, grabbing cameos from the likes of Main Attrakionz and others along the way.

More »

Regular readers will doubtless know DaVinci, the under-appreciated Fillmore District rapper whose work has long stood out among the eager crop of local MCs. Over two records so far -- 2010's The Day The Turf Stood Still and last year's Feast or Famine -- DaVinci painted a portrait of his changing 'hood while proving himself one of the most vivid and versatile rappers in the Bay. Today he's back with new album The MOEna Lisa, the final chapter in a trilogy of sorts -- and he's posted it for free download on the usual platforms.

See also:
* SF Rapper DaVinci Lists His Five Favorite Fillmore District Memories
* The 10 Best Bay Area Hip-Hop Records of 2011
* Fillmore Rapper DaVinci's thoughtful 'hood parables

More »

Stevie Joe at the Freshman 10 Cypher.

Bay Area Freshmen 10 Class of 2011 Star Cypher
Rafael Casal, Richie Cunning, Mike-Dash-E, Show Banga, Young Bari, Damey, Young Gully, Lil Rae, Symba, Cousin Fix, Nikatine Da King, Shady Blaze, Erik Tha Jerk, Mistah FAB, Stevie Joe, Big Rich, Bailey
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012
Brick & Mortar Music Hall

Better than: The "Home Turf" show on KMEL, though not quite as good as KMEL in its totality.

Hip-hop is certainly no meritocracy, and in a sterile, perennially under-nourished environment like the Bay Area, it can be a particularly tough line of work.

Just ask Stresmatic. A member of the once-famous Fairfield hyphy group The Federation, he's now an elder statesman of the Bay Area scene -- which basically means he's relegated to rapping hooks on other people's radio hits. He prefers listening to rock music these days (his new group is a rap-rock hybrid called 1st Place), and says it's doubtful The Federation will return to its original glory. "We all have kids," he explained.

More »

Too $hort and E-40 in "Dump Truck" video.

On "Dump Truck," the first single from E-40 and Too $hort's long-awaited collaborative double-album The History Channel (which drops on Nov. 6), the two longtime friends are joined by the youngsters in Travis Porter, which is not an individual but a group from Atlanta that's popular for making music for strip clubs. The video finds this collective crew popping up amidst a big room full of wiggling posteriors.

See also:
* What The Hell Is Too $hort Doing on VH1's Couples Therapy?
* The New Too $hort: Oakland Rapper Reconsiders His Image After a Scandal

More »