A 415 Day Lineup of San Francisco Rap Connects the Culture's History With its Future

Area codes have always been a thing in rap. (Just ask Ludacris.) But in 1991, Bay Area area code representation got a little murky. That’s the year the East Bay ceded its 415 area code to the West Bay and Marin, and adopted 510 as its dialing prefix. For certain rap artists, the effect was utter chaos: an entire Oakland rap group called 415 disbanded, and whole swaths of East Bay rap songs referencing the 415 became obsolete.

These days, the 415 is a proud marker of San Francisco rap all across the city, from the Fillmore to Hunters Point. And 415 Day, the very definition of a call-into-work-sick Friday afternoon party, is a celebration of that culture.

Featured performers include early-1990s Hunters Point legends RBL Posse (“Don’t Give Me No Bammer Weed,” “Blue Bird“) alongside Hunters Point’s new breed, Prezi (“Do Better“). The day also pairs up Fillmore stalwarts Show Banga & Ronski (“That Filthy“) with a set from current Fillmore sensation Stunnaman02—whose “Big Steppin’” is so ubiquitous, so long-lasting, that if you haven’t heard it or done its viral dance, uh… do you even live in the Bay?

For your $10 ticket, also expect food trucks (area fave Señor Sisig among them) and vendors (Cookies, naturally), plus special silkscreening by artists Colin Taniguchi and Kuya George. The event’s producer EMPIRE collaborates with FTC Skateboards for some planned merch, and a 45rpm record from EMPIRE specially for the event will be available, with music by Andre Nickatina, RBL Posse and FO15.

And it don’t stop: that same night at 7pm, right up the street at KQED’s new event space, Rightnowish host Pendarvis Harshaw interviews Rocky Rivera, the Filipina American MC, author, educator and journalist, before she delivers her own solo set with DJ Roza.

Where was Rocky raised, you ask? Of course: the 415.

More details about 415 Day, running Friday, April 15 from 2pm-8pm at District Six in San Francisco, can be found here. Details about Rocky Rivera’s appearance at the KQED Commons, starting Friday, April 15 at 7pm, can be found here.