Too $hort lives real

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
In August of 1992, Too $hort (born Todd Anthony Shaw) was living in Oakland and had just released Shorty the Pimp. Shorty was the follow-up to hit Short Dog’s in the House, which contained “The Ghetto,” a social realist depiction of his roots backed up by a mesmerizing and [...]

Following Thee Suspect and 20 lost years of OC hip-hop

PHOTO by JEFF GOULD
West Coast hip-hop was just learning how to walk in 1987. Ice-T had released Rhyme Pays—the first hip-hop album stamped with a parental advisory—while giant live hip-hop-fueled flyer parties were starting up all over LA and Orange County and 15-year-old Santa Ana native [...]

Lost Art comes home from La La Land

PHOTO by JEFF GOULD
Rapper Lost Art might be taking the name from the way he grew up—born in Long Beach and from then on split-second stints every single city in Orange County that kept him perpetually disoriented till the age of majority. “How it affected me? Shit—I don’t [...]

Doomtree does things their way

PHOTO by BO HAKALA
After seven years of being a collective/rap group/business/record label, you would think Doomtree would at least be on their third or fourth album by now, but they’re just about to release their first. Doomtree MC, producer and Rhymesayers signee P.O.S. says it’s for the best. First, when Doomtree [...]

Dead Prez takes it off the top

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
Almost five years since the release of the last full dead prez album—2004’s Revolutionary But Gangsta, which introduced a new reverse-acronym for red-black-green and troubled some die-hards by starting with “Don’t Forget Where U Came From” and finishing with Jay-Z’s verse on the remix of “Hell [...]

Respect and a check with C.R.A.C.

PHOTO by ANGELICA GARDE
Two sentences into a C.R.A.C. interview (“This is Ta’Raach.” “This is Blu.”) and they run right to fundamental questions of craft and creation before they even sit all the way down—is Pete Rock the best producer because he has the best record collection? Does Blu need more [...]

Philieano’s story unfolds

PHOTO by JOHN GILHOOLEY
In Japan last month, they knew what Long Beach was and they knew who Sublime were, and although they didn’t exactly know Philieano, they figured him out fast: “The first time they hear you, they really pay attention to the songs,” he says, “and if you got a catchy hook, [...]

Paradise maintained with Coolio

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
Coolio’s been on a comeback from the get-go. Even his major-label breakthrough It Takes A Thief (which won the rap Grammy in 1994) was a rebound from late ‘80s radio play on long-lamented KDAY and early ‘90s work with WC and the Maad Circle, each of those sorta-successes followed [...]

Ten years of hip-hop with Abstract Workshop

ILLUSTRATION by JOE MCGARRY
Abstract Workshop’s 10 years of hard hip-hop labor stands out as one of Orange County’s most impressive endurance tests. DJ, co-founder and producer Cocoe Tsimahidis said he’s lucky if he and the rest of his crew—DJs Scotty Coats and Josh One and MC Jud Nester—leave a [...]

Ode to the Guilty Simpson

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
Yet another protégé of the late great hip-hop visionary J. Dilla, Guilty Simpson broke away from the “featuring” set with his very recent full-length solo album Ode to the Ghetto. Just the ensemble of producers would hype up any million-dollar mainstream album: Madlib, Mr. Porter (also known as [...]