Zack Ruskin December 20, 2020Updated: January 2, 2021, 2:49 pm
Bay Area rappers E-40 (left) and Too Short on “Verzuz,” the webcast series created by producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. The series was introduced in March during the COVID-19 pandemic as a virtual DJ battle on Instagram Live. Photo: Verzuz
The winner was always going to be the Bay.
Seated between crossed street signs representing Oakland and Vallejo, E-40 and Too Short two legends of local hip-hop were in top form on Saturday, Dec. 19. In total, they held court for more than three hours as they swapped tracks and reminisced about the height of the Bay Area’s rap scene.
Maury Phillips/WireImage
E-40 and Too Short arrive at 40 On Fairfax listening party on Nov. 21, 2016 in Los Angeles.
The Verzuz battle between two legends of the Bay Area on Saturday night (December 19) was a party like no other, as E-40 and Too $hort faced off to close out the year in spectacular fashion. Apple Music, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland pulled out all the stops as the unique stage set up had the two rappers pay homage to the Bay s hip-hop history with two lowriders, and a street sign representing the crossing of Oakland and Vallejo.
Over 250,000 fans logged into their Instagram accounts to tune into the legendary battle which took quite some time to get started. Big Von and DJ Slowpoke got the audience fired up in the chat with an early warm-up to kick off the event, and after waiting over 40 minutes, fans were relieved to see E-40 and Too $hort finally arrive. The legendary rappers poured up a drink, gave a cheer and got right to work on a night full of speaker-knoc
you know what i mean? i m easily influenced. i ve done some [ bleep ]. but i ain t the only one. this is the bay area. this is where crack was invented. i m just a needle in a haystack. coming up just let me see girl who you be girl dru down keeps the inmates sbrand and talks about hi other career. it s called eye candy. in l.a., i ran for like eight years. and later the truth is, there s four other killings out there that i m suspected of. they can come talk to me anytime. eugene protsman s homicidal confession.
daughters. they re all into the rap. you know, he was around when packa was around. in the 90s, i listened to a lot of his music. so we ve got a celebrity here. i m here, right now. i don t have all day, so you will see my back on the street. you will see my doing my music again. you will see me doing movies. because this ain t going to stop me. i m a boss. dru down s real name is dan yle robinson. he was arrested on evating police. violations of his probation for a prior dui. now he must serve the remainder of his sentence, three years, in the santa rita jail. hello!
inmates at the santa rita jail in oakland, celebrity rapper daniel robinson, or dru down, considers himself just another one of the guys. hey! come on! that s why he s chosen to turn down the jail s offer to put him in protective custody. i m just the person i am. i can be pc d up, but that s not me. that s never going to be me. i m walking the main line at all-time. this is how rock em sock em down. ha! what you going to do? there s the joker! robinson is currently in jail for violating his probation, by driving under the influence and evading police. but he says run-ins with the law inspired his music. i started rapping when i was