People gather around a 15-inch flat screen monitor to watch a grainy pirated version of MTV’s My Block: The Bay. Momentarily groaning between interludes of crawling bootlegger logos, internet glitches, and screen saver freak-outs, they hang on to every word, praising the gods of TIVO for allowing them to enjoy the episode that debuted the previous night. While the rest of the nation is, without a doubt, wondering if we all really “ghostride the whip on” the regular, residents of the Bay Area are in silent awe of their newly-famous hometown heroes. A remarkable feat considering that the Bay is finally quiet no longer.

San Quinn enters the building as the episode wraps, and everyone turns around to face him with another set of eyes. Even he seems a little different from 5 weeks prior when his latest album The Rock: Pressure Makes Diamonds first dropped on February 7. His determined features are now softened with an expression of dignified elation. Every so often, a smile peeks, revealing a set of open-faced gold fronts and a glimpse of the Young Baby Boy we all know and love. Although gracious, at 28-years old, the local rap legend knows that this moment isn’t it - it’s just the beginning.

“I’ve been gone since the All-Star game, and I’m leaving again tomorrow until the 14th to go back on tour,” says Quinn of his recent chaotic schedule. Only returning to celebrate his son Zakee’s 4th birthday on the 15th, he’s already been from Sacramento to San Diego and every town in between promoting his new album release. Rapping for fourteen years assures that Quinn is not a stranger to success; entertaining sophomore year at Washington High School in San Francisco when he first got a taste of the limelight. Record-breaking cameo appearances, myriad compilations, and 7 solo albums later, Quinn retains a sense of patience about what is happening when he elucidates his déjà vu spanning a decade long. “There’s always more to do, you got to stay humble and don’t get content,” he says. And after seeing himself on MTV, Quinn states, “I want to be on TV some more! I want to be on MTV and 106 and Park every day like everybody else get to be. And I looked damn good!”

Looking “damn good” is only a fraction of why this newfound acknowledgement of his immense talent is of sentimental value. Much of the reason why San Quinn, and many other Bay artists enjoy only limited regional success, is that the rest of America doesn’t know what they look like at all. The Bay Area’s highly metropolitan landscape doesn’t yet suffice in terms of maximizing the potential of exposure in the media for local artists. And at $7 per cd sold, the only obviously lucrative solution was the independent hustle.

“We at 12,000 last time I checked,” Quinn states. “We hit Billboard #12 for top independent rap albums and hit four different categories in the first week.” In line for the second leg of his tour are Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles twice. This time around, our neighbors to the South are getting hyphy for the bubbling Bay movement. “I was at the Congo Room, and they played, I swear, 12 straight Bay songs. They got crumping in L.A. that’s similar because we wanna get out of killing and go back to dancing,” emphasizes Quinn. Continued on page 2 »