Video: The Bay's Diverse, but Unified Front

The latest heat from the Livewire Camp is fully loaded as-per-usual. Philthy Rich, Stevie Joe and Lil Blood offer heated bars that sum up the murderous mentality that governs many in Oakland. On the other side, we have the latest effort from J. Billion featuring 1-O.A.K. and Spank Pops of the Honor Roll crew. Their new video, "Cali Way," champions a rather alternative festival-filled lifestyle. Other than the enjoyment of a little tweed, these two Bay Area hip-hop sub-scenes seem worlds a part.  Only they're not.

Real recognizes real, and these two camps are lookin familiar. As much as promoters and publications tend to separate our local hip-hop scene into a "turf/conscious" dichotomy, there is a lot of shared soil and respect between the two. That mutual love is what brings Too $hort and Zion I together for songs and The Grouch and Keak together for shows. The connection defines what it is to live in Oakland; To be surrounded by beauty  and death and love and hate. It doesn't mean that the West Oakland dominated Livewire camp kicks it at Tilden with The Honor Roll on a regular basis, but it means that Bay Area hip-hop's various incarnations share mutual  roots that transcend their differences.

Bay Area music fans are an eclectic bunch. We gig to Furl and nod to Lyrics Born. We party with League510 and club with The Cataracs. We pay respect to Pac and laugh to 40. We build with Trackademicks while mobbin to Stalin. This diverse unified front is what grounds 38th Notes as a site and you all as a community. We are not one-dimensional, we are imperfect humans full of a gang of variables and whathaveyous. That's why it didn't phase me when Pac died over coastal beef instead of community progress. That's why I wasn't surprised when  The Cataracs traded their hyphy sixteens for universal pop appeal. And that is also why, I smiled when Too $hort took the stage with Kev Choice at Yoshis last month. This is the Bay, "and in The Bay, we dance a lil different."