Bay Area hip hop. You know it when you hear it.
Here’s the sixth and final round of our favorite Bay Area albums of 2023. From the crews (Family Not a Group, Qamp) to the solo stars (Larry June, La Doña), the artists on this list keep beats and bars bombastic and free flowing, with pride of hometown always front and center.
Communal Healing – Afterthought
“The first step in healing is recognizing that you are not healed. Recognizing that you are hurt. Recognizing that you are in some ways broken.”
Ozer. Jada Imani. Ian Kelly. Marika Sage. The Jealous Guys. SundaY. Tongo Eisen-Martin. Stoni. Kaly Jay. Shy’an G. Will Randolph V. And on and on: Afterthought fully puts into practice the name and spirit of hip hop collective Family Not a Group on his 2023 album Communal Healing, bringing together dozens of the best in underground Bay Area hip hop and R&B (whether still based here or not) to collaborate on 13 tracks about pain and suffering, community and connection, love and healing.
The album opens with “What Now?”, the only track where Afterthought performs alone. From there on it’s literally a (chosen) family affair, multiple collaborators riffing on personal stories, sharing learned philosophies, and describing the state of our society as well as its consequences on our individual and communal health. Midtempo to downtempo, fully conscious, celebratory as much as it is confessional—Communal Healing is a gentle bath. Step in, soak your soul.
— Ronny Kerr
Can’t Eat Clout – La Doña
Since her debut in 2020, San Francisco’s La Doña has been shooting for the stars and almost immediately nailed it with widespread local praise. But this year, we’ve really been seeing her big moves pay off – recognition in Rolling Stone, a slot at Outside Lands, and the coveted Obama playlist placement. Despite the fact that she could, if she wanted, start striving for national and international fame, she stays grounded in the Bay with her 2023 EP, Can’t Eat Clout, on ultra-local label Text Me Records.
I’m half Mexican-American, but was raised, culturally, very white. So I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know much about Mexican musical traditions. All I know is that the album is a refreshing entry into the local music catalog. Even within Text Me’s already wide-ranging musical roster, it stands out as a release that straddles traditional music and newer trends. “Loser Girl” builds on the Mexican-American community’s love of oldies, and her collaboration with up-and-coming actor and rapper Tia Nomore, “Show Me How You Livin,” is a seamless melding of brassy hooks and spirited delivery. On Can’t Eat Clout, La Doña bridges her more traditional roots with moving towards her own singular sound.
— Jody Amable
91 Owl: Heaven or Hell – Dregs One & Max Kane
“Don’t ever question my city
We got a strong legacy and we still going
I represent every single part of San Francisco
I got love for everyone that got love for us”Dregs One
With visual references to Candlestick Park and the strip clubs in North Beach, lyrical references that never leave the streets, and a title inspired by the special nighttime-only Muni service whose route encircles the city, 91 Owl: Heaven Or Hell is a serious contender for one of hip hop’s greatest odes to San Francisco. Max Kane provides the production—all G-funk-inspired beats—while Dregs One has a ball, unapologetic in offering up love and respect to the city. “Real San Franciscan” is the centerpiece, but the SF love and inspiration flows across all six tracks, all plush pride and passion.
— Ronny Kerr
Rent Check – Family Not a Group
“Whether it’s gentrification in San Francisco or what’s happening in Palestine, we see the establishment as people who continue to support the structures that are in place now that will put profit — put wealth, capital — over people’s lives.”Baghead, KQED
Family Not a Group (FNG), the super tight community-powered SF-based hip hop crew, took its friends-and-family-music-making to the next level with the release of Rent Check. The official soundtrack to the web series of the same name (written, co-directed, and starring comedian Mike Evans Jr.) features not just FNG’s 17 members but dozens of other rappers and collaborators, amounting to almost an hour of loving celebration, braggadocio, witty lyricism, social justice, passion, and poetry. It’s a reflection of the series plot itself—and of the lives of many artists trying to make it in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the world. But though the politics and protest of the music sometimes comes front and center (as on “Cut the Stimmy”), it’s usually simply woven into the fabric, just a part of the music like it’s part of life here.
— Ronny Kerr
North Star – Isaiah Mostafa
“Music is my north star.”
Isaiah Mostafa has finally found his north star, and now it seems so obvious. Sultry, soulful, and confident as heaven, Mostafa in January celebrated the release of his six-track EP North Star at Bandcamp HQ in downtown Oakland. Joined onstage by a full band as well as SundaY, ASTU, and Marika Sage, the artist was almost overwhelmed with the sheer joy and love exuding from the packed room. Almost, but not quite, because Mostafa sang and performed with an equal amount of joy and love. Beginning with gloriously lovely a cappella harmonies, the EP gently cruises through back-to-back beats and flows fit for any slow jam playlist. A love letter to community, a love letter to self.
— Ronny Kerr
The Great Escape – Larry June & The Alchemist
Slaponia – Ozer and EaSWay
Ozer and EaSWay rising to the top of the SF rap game. They know it too, unapologetic about recreating OutKast’s Stankonia album art and referencing Biggie, Kendrick, Ludacris, and other greats throughout their new five-track EP. Except for “Heatwave,” the sexy banging super danceable single, Slaponia sees Ozer and EaSWay dialing into slow, groovy beats. It’s great to see them continuing their easy collaboration, riffing off each other along with features by Luvc4 and Serg2x.
— Ronny Kerr
Qamp II – Qamp
Marquito and Casey Cope returned in 2023 with Qamp II, a hyper-collaborative hip hop and R&B album created in three days:
“With no prepared content nor knowledge of the invitee list prior to the gathering, the participants shuffle between two well-equipped studios and conjure a project from scratch – the only limit being their capacity to commune.”
You get Isaiah Mostafa and ASTU pouring out their angelic voices. Pandaraps breathlessly flowing. Artist Named You speaking soft and gentle with musical incandescence. AroMa, crushing heart, lungs pumping out passion. Marika Sage, Cash Campain, Nuxia, Big Soda, Tommy Holmes, Alexa Prus, Bianca Brown, Hokage Simon. And Casey Cope and Marquito tying the thread together with neat bars and wide consciousness throughout. All in all, it’s a fitting tribute to the power of community, creativity, and spontaneity—perfection is nothing, the practice is everything.
— Ronny Kerr
Fort Knocks – Sndtrak
The Oakland beat genius is back. Fort Knocks, released by Jamla Records and Empire, is the latest beat tape by Sndtrak, linking together 20 two-minute vignettes into a masterful set of soulful boom bap. The last time we wrote about Sndtrak was to praise FLIPS V2: FLIP-TUCK, the artist’s second full-length collection of creative, jam-packed, and juicy beats flipping some of the most well-known songs from the past. On this latest collection, the sources are a bit more buried, showcasing the digger side of Sndtrak and (instead of getting playful and even a little silly as FLIPS does) exploring the emotions and heart strings threading through the music.
Fort Knocks is part of a series by the Soul Council, founded by hip hop producer 9th Wonder and currently made up of members Khrysis, Nottz, Eric G, Kash, Amp, E Jones, and Sndtrak.
— Ronny Kerr
