2FS producer Decap premiered his new single “Feeling” on Okayplayer last night; this site was started by Questlove of the legendary Roots, and has blossomed into a rich musical community supported by everyone from Talib Kweli to Dead Prez. Let’s just say that it’s a highly prestigious accolade.. one that I wish to eventually achieve myself. I initially heard “Feeling” at a Decap live set and immediately fell in love with.. I begged him to get on the instrumental, was ready to throw money at him, but he said that it was unavailable.. then I completely forgot how it sounded and heard it at his Ableton demo six month later.. fell in love with it again..
Kensho Kuma
ROTC 2 Year Anniversary
Return of the Cypher will be celebrating it’s 2 year anniversary on 06/14/15. If you don’t know by now, ROTC is the livest weekly Hip Hop party in the Bay Area; a free open-mic jam session with a resident band, weekly featured performers, and the legendary DJ Kevvy Kev. It goes down every Sunday night at the SF Boom Boom Room. Point blank, it’s your home if you were raised by this culture. We will have 15+ performers on the 2 year anniversary and my crew 2FS will be the hosts. See you there. Oh, and the Black Film Festival will be premiering a Mac Dre Documentary called “Legend in the Bay” prior to our celebration.. and that’s free too..
2FS Live Performance @ROTC
2nd Floor Samurais (Kensho Kuma x Orukusaki) will be headlining the Boom Boom Room on 05/24. As you probably know by now, Return of the Cypher is our weekly Sunday event at BBR, and on May 24th, we will be doing a full performance for our home team. We will be premiering some of our new material and our comrade Xienhow will be opening for us.
Us Against Them feat. Khafre Jay
I teamed up with Khafre Jay of BPos, who is the front man of the non-profit organization Hip Hop for Change. In no way, shape, or form do I consider myself to be a political rapper, but with so much shit going on, this track only seemed natural. Production was handled by Ink One of Zulu Nation, and mixing/ mastering was done by Just Jay at Hall of Fame Studios in Oakland.
Gebo x Acid Reign Tour
My man Gebo, a veteran MC from Osaka, Japan, has teamed up with Acid Reign from LA, to start their “Cali Cruise” tour. They are promoting their brand new collaborative album “Losaka,” available from Acid Lab Records. They will be stopping by ROTC (Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore St. SF CA94115)on 05/17 to bless us with their dope bilingual lyricism.. be sure to stop by. I will be hosting that night along with the usual suspects you have grown to love.
2015 Hip Hop in the Park
UC Berkeley’s Students for Hip Hop will be hosting their 19th annual “Hip Hop in the Park” on 05/02/15. This annual celebration has a special place in my heart; I remember attending in high school when my mentors Group Uv Nutz killed the stage.. also, I opened for Frontline at this event back in ’03 or ’04.. This year, yours truly will be rocking with my comrades Breathless and BPos. The headliner is the critically acclaimed Fashawn.. this is my favorite verse from dude..
2FS Hosting Scarub (Living Legends) Album Release Party
2FS (Kensho Kuma x Orukusaki) will be hosting Scarub of the Living Legends’ album release party on April 18th, 2015 at the Legionnaire in Oakland. Line-up includes veteranos Xienhow and Zyme (formerly Enzyme Dynamite) that I came up with in the East Bay scene.. Btw Xien’s “True MC” video is at a quarter million views..
“Meet the Cast” Trailer-
ROTC TV Episodes #6-10
Orukusaki and Tefari at Filmatic Productions are continuing the weekly ROTC TV webisodes; every week, the episodes will capture the featured performers, patrons dancing to Kev’s set, MC’s, the Gemstone Band, and the overall vibe of ROTC. Khali at aFilmNoob shot and edited episodes 6.
ROTC TV: Episode 6- Return of the Beat Boxer
ROTC TV: Episode 7- Jern Eye
ROTC TV: Episode 8- Brycon x Luke Sick
ROTC TV: Episode 9- Mack Deezoe
ROTC TV: Episode 10- Boom Bap Sessions
ROTC TV Episodes #1-5
Return of the Cypher now has an official weekly webisode series thanks to my brother Orukusaki and Tefari Casas from Filmatic Productions. Each ROTC TV episode will feature cyphers on and off the stage, the Gem Stone Band, DJ Kevvy Kev rocking the dance floor, featured performers, and patron interviews. Oruk will be the regular anchor, but I’ll cover for him when he’s out on assignments. Here are the first five episodes, enjoy.. Just always remember, ROTC is every Sunday evening at the Boom Boom Room in SF, and it’s always free and never will be canceled. All episodes shot by Tef @Filmatic Productions, except episode 5 shot and edited by Khali at aFilmNoob.
ROTC TV: Episode 5- the Introduction
ROTC TV: Episode 4- Rahman Jahmaal “Street Poetry” Release Party
ROTC TV: Episode 3- Watzreal Album Release Party
ROTC TV: Episode 2- Boom Bap Sessions feat. Joe Mousepad
ROTC TV: Episode 1- January MVP Competition
2015 Team Backpack Submission
Team Backpack is an awesome platform for MC’s to showcase their craft. Many local artists, such as Richie Cunning, Task1ne, and Locksmith, have successfully accumulated a great deal of shine from Team Backpack. To tell you the truth, I have never seen a wack MC on TBP. I decided to submit a verse for the 2015 audition.. I’m normally not into submitting shit, or auditioning for anything.. but enough of my friends have been submitting this year, and it just seemed like too much fun..
Shout outs to Tefari Casas from Filmatic Production for shooting and editing.
Update: So the above submission got accepted and I was invited to the live auditions in LA! Unfortunately, due to life obligations I will be unable to go.. I’ll be rooting for my many friends to pass the auditions and rep in the cyphers.
