Office Hours: Putting in Work for Bay Area Hip-Hop

"Despite all of that, McPhly and company built something special, and the people are pulling up. Expanding on his approach, McPhly says over the phone, "You take Sleepy D," referring to the East Oakland lyricist, known for making turf anthems. "When you take him and put him on the 30th floor, surrounded by views of the city that he's from, and allow him to express his art," says McPhly, "now it's an art form.""

"The idea of rapping with a live band in an intimate venue is actually something McPhly did back when he was a young lyricist coming out of East Palo Alto. Now 35, McPhly opens up about the "many lives" he's lived. During the first, in his late teens and early twenties, McPhly was an educator in EPA, as well as a turf dancer. (You can see him gigging at the end of Dem Hoodstarz and David Banner's music video for the song " Laughing.")"

"McPhly used to turf dance with groups in the Town, as well as at Powell Street in San Francisco, on BART and in competitions. But he soon realized there was more benefit to being a host than a competitor. "I'm a host by nature," says the charismatic McPhly, often seen with a smile on his face. He pivoted from dancing in competitions to being an MC because it guaranteed he'd get paid, and with that came a new lane. "When I started MCing dance events," he says, "it really got my chops up to understand what big crowds react to.""

Artificial intelligence, weak Billboard presence and the Bay Area's decades-long identity challenges create obstacles for local hip-hop artists. McPhly and his collective forged a resilient live scene that attracts audiences despite those headwinds. He emphasizes staging turf lyricists like Sleepy D in elevated, intimate settings to reframe performance as art. McPhly's history includes turf dancing, education work in East Palo Alto and early MC experience, which informed his move into hosting. Event production with the Shmop House crew between 2017 and 2019 expanded his reach and sharpened his sense of what engages large crowds. The approach blends community, performance and place-based pride.

Read at Kqed