A founding member of LiveWire Records West Oakland's Shady Nate is a local rap hero and long a popular artist with both Bay Area rap fans and fans nationwide of the mobb street style of rap that he and his LiveWire potnas (including J Stalin, Philthy Rich, and Stevie Joe) all deliver. He grew up in West Oakland's notoriously violent Acorn housing projects on 7th Street not far from the West Oakland BART station - an area that has gone through much changes over the past decade - and, while a gifted hip-hop artist who has enjoyed moderate success from his art, has gotten caught up in the street life and spent a good deal of the past decade either incarcerated or under house arrest. However thanks to his ever optimistic, upbeat outlook Shady Nate has managed to write and/or record music and boasts an impressive discography that includes  - much of it with his fellow rap artists in the tight knit LiveWire collective - the label he launched in 2004 along with J Stalin and Jay Jonah.  I recently caught up with Shady Nate to talk about rap music, West Oakland, and how he got the name Shady Nate?

"I got my name from my hood: the notorious Acorn Projects - the only projects in Oakland period. They say everybody in my hood is Shady. I'm from a shady hood and Acorn niggas ain't cool and all that. So I named myself Shady Nate just to let people know what it is," Nate told me. Known for caring about his West Oakland neighborhood and giving back to his community (Nate has been responsible for throwing BBQ's in his neighborhood for the kids coming up over the past two summers) I was curious to know what Nate thought of West Oakland today versus ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago. Is it better or worse than when he was a kid coming up? "That's a tough one," he answered, pausing for a second and considering all of the so-called "development" that taken place in West Oakland in the past decade. "Yes they're putting money into the city; they're rebuilding but they're not putting money back into the right places. They're not putting money into the schools so while they're rebuilding the structures, the buildings, they're not rebuilding the community, the people. So the people is getting worse. It's a lot worse from when I was a youngster. People might have thought I was crazy but now the people that is coming up under me they is even more sick. I can't say it's getting better. I really think it's getting worse."

And the winner is......Too $hort in the ongoing beef / rap battle between Too $hort and Messy Marv who, as instigator, is indeed messy - not to mention foolish to take on the respected "Godfather of Bay Area rap." That's my personal opinion but already it seems that most other Bay rap fans are similarly taking the side of $hort in this seemingly mean spirited & uncalled for attack by Marv - an undoubtedly talented rapper but one known for starting beefs with others.  This battle (essentially an attack) began recently on Twitter by Marv but $hort did not take the bait and respond, at least initially. Soon after the beef escalated from online to the studio where Messy Marv., a couple of weeks ago, recorded "Class of 84 (Fuck Too $hort)" in which his main gripes with  Too $hort seem to be that he was not born in the Bay, that he has not helped other artists enough to Marv's liking, and that he is "old." Note that at thirty something (his self-penned bio says he's 31 but some say he's closer to 40 than 30) Marv is not exactly a young cat himself in this rap game.

                              

Exactly 17 years ago San Francisco’s Lakeview district rap crew I.M.P. (Ill Mannered Posse) released their long overdue official debut album Back in the Days on In-A-Minute Records. Three years later, on the same now-defunct Oakland independent label, they would release their only other full length album Ill Mannered Playas. Regionally popular, and to a lesser degree nationally, I.M.P. never really got the level of fame that they so deserved, which is too bad because they were such a talented, distinctive sounding hardcore rap group. That sound was defined by the raspy voiced rapper Cougnut, who tragically died in an auto accident in 2001.

I.M.P. began in San Francisco in 1989 when DJ/producer Rob V, along with fellow DJ/producer and longtime friend and musical collaborater Stingy, had the idea to form a rap group. Shortly afterward, Rob V’s cousin, rapper Cougnut, was enlisted, with rappers C-Fresh and Lou-E-Lou joining the fold next. Within months they had recorded and released their acclaimed debut, the EP No Prisoners. After that, in 1990, they released the six track EP IMP Dogs on Sucka Free Records. Soon word traveled about this talented new Frisco rap group and the requests for concert and radio appearances started pouring in. 

A busy period for I.M.P. followed that included appearing in Digital Underground’s “Doowutchyalike” video. The 17 track Back in the Days showcased the combined talents of the group; C-Fresh's engaging gangsta rap flow, Cougnut's distinctive gravely voiced delivery and clever wordplay, plus the ever-entertaining Lou-E-Lou (“the Flavor Flav of the group”). In one song (“Nigga Rays”) Lou-E-Lou became a total of five different characters, including Willy The Wino, Salamander Fred, and Sick Tos. The album also featured production assistance from prolific 1990's San Francisco producer TC, plus some microphone cameos from local SF rap talents Dre Dog, Totally Insane, Cellski, RBL Posse, Chewy-C, and 2.2. 

1) BlakRoc Blakroc (V2/Cooperative)

2) Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (Interscope)

3) Jay Z Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation/Atlantic)

4) Fashawn Boy Meets World (Loud)

5) Oh No Dr. No's Ethiopium (Stones Throw)

If the newest Amoeba Music Hollywood hip-hop chart above looks similar to the SoCal store's chart from three weeks ago, well, that's because it is exactly the same. All the top selling hip-hop releases from the past few weeks' weekly charts at the Hollywood store have been consistently selling well and hence holding steady in their respective chart slots at the Sunset Blvd. store. Both Jay-Z and the Black Eyed Peas' now months-old 2009 releases continue to sell phenomenally well, and not just at Amoeba but across the nation also. They are still simultaneously holding down spots on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, ranking at #9 and #31 respectively on the national sales based chart. Meantime, instrumental versions of seven of the great tracks off the recommended self-titled BlakRoc album, composed and performed by The Black Keys for the emcees Mos Def, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Ludacris, etc etc, were unveiled this week on the website The Black Keys Fan Lounge.