My City: The Crown City Rockers Rock the Bay Area

From the student protests in Berkeley to the Black Panther party in Oakland, the Bay Area has always been a place of intense creativity and vision. It's no surprise then that from the Bay's eclectic stew has emerged the Crown City Rockers, a live, five-person (sometimes more) hip-hop crew that's part b-boy, part jazz band and and all dope. In this edition of My City, Crown City emcee Raashan Ahmad sits down to take us through his favorite neighborhood spots and explain just what it is about rush hour he finds so inspirational.

RefinedHype: Throughout its history the Bay Area has been known as a place of experimentation. What is it about the Bay that breeds such creativity?

Rashaan Ahmad: I think it's the long history of self motivators and rebels, from the hippies and the black panthers in the 60's to the cats selling mixtapes in the 90's, finding a new way to present your cause/art seems to be the Bay way. I think anyone living here feels it even on a sub-conscious level,plus people here are really open to new ideas.

RefinedHype: Where do you go to get inspired?

Rashaan Ahmad: I love downtown Oakland, specifically 9th and Broadway at rush hour. I love watching all the people coming home from the day working, at school, or even hustling. It's a great picture of society and all the people and expressions remind me of places I've been or hit a spot in me that I wanna explore. I also love driving up to Tilden in Berkeley and watching the city from the peaks, feeling the silence while watching the storm. dope.

RefinedHype: Crown City is widely known as a great live band. What are some of your favorite local venues and why?

Rashaan Ahmad: Wow. there's so many. Probably Blake's in Berkeley mostly because its where we started out. We played so many shows there and really worked out our show. It's a small basement type venue and gets packed easy because of the UC Berkeley students. We had lots of raucous shows there back in the day. I also love the Independent in S.F. the staff especially the sound engineers there are great and the energy that place gets when it's jumpin' is beautiful!...big shout to the Elbo Room and of course The Fillmore!!!

RefinedHype: If I'm rolling through the Bay Area, where can I find you?

Raashan Amhad: Probably in Oakland at the Ashby flea market getting some incense, records and a plate of food from "Taste of Africa", possibly outside Rasputins in Berkeley digging through the free records they leave outside sometimes, maybe at the Berkely Marina when the kite festival is poppin, then again I could be hanging at Yuerba Buena gardens in S.F. watching a concert and laying on the grass, and if I'm not there I'll be on Haight Street choppin' it up with a homeless teen before I hit Powell Street to watch the cats play chess trying to get the nerve to FINALLY sit in on a game!

RefinedHype: Last words?

Raashan Ahmad: Thank you for rocking this interview! Please check the new Crown City Rockers album "The Day After Forever" Oh you have that? Then you should cop my latest solo release "Raashan Ahmad "Soul Power". You did? then you should check my homegirl/bandmate Kat Ouano's latest release available on Quanuum called "Natural Phenomenon", and PLEASE support local independent music ya'll! Love. You can check out more on Crown City on our site.

And as an added bonus, here's the new video for Crown City's "B-Boy". Enjoy.