Cellski Frisco’s Finest
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San Francisco, ca
henever “San Fr an years under his cisco” and “Hip Hop” are men tioned in the sa belt he has gues me sentence, ve popular acts fro t ry m RBL Posse an starred on over one hundred projects as both seldom is Cellski’s name not d Master P, to Ge brought up. Wi a rapper and pr t Lo w Playaz and the Cellski credits m th over 15 oducer for som late Coughnut. os e of the Bay Ar “That was my be t of his success in the rap ga ea’s most me to Coughnut st friend, that’s , wh to this day,” he who I came up under. That nigg o gave him his start in the in says. dustry by letting a was the first nigga who put him perform as me on the stag As a rapper an an opening ac e. [His death] st d pr ill fucks with m t. when Mr. Predict oducer, Cellski earned a nam y head e for himself al er hit the street on s in 1995. “Tha get heard.” t album right th g the streets of San Francisco ere put me on,” and his buzz ex pa he notes. “It op ened a lot of do nded all throughout the Peni Mr. Predicter we nsula ors for me and nt on to becom a lot of mu’fuc e ground classic kas to and was lauded an underby many as the best album to ever be rele as Francisco rapp er. Selling 6,000 ed by a San un radio play or pr omotion and fo its with no llowing the success of Master P’s West Coast Bad Level of the Ga me, Cellski cont Boys: Another inued to break new ground. “I was producing for Master P,” he remembers. “H e of fuck with him at fered me $100,000 to come No Limit.” Rather than join the No Limit So ld decided to rem ain a completel iers, Cellski y se cient artist and founded his ow lf-suffin label, Inner City Records, at ag produce my ow e 18. “I write my own shit, n shit, executive pr shit, mix my ow n shit. I’ve done oduce my own self-contained it all,” says the emcee. “I own all my publishing. I have a long ca my shit, all talogue I still eat off.” With six album s, seven mixtap es an DVDs under his belt, the long ca d 2 Took TV talogue Cellski speaks of is ab out to get long er as he prepar to release the es mixtape Coach Celli by the album Ch emical Baby. Sla check followed ary 2008 releas te e, it boasts gues d for a Janut appearances the likes of Tw by ista, Lil Boosie, Kille Roccet, Keak da Sneak and Mist r Mike, CTE’s ah FAB. Having experie nced the transfo rm Area music first hand from mob ation of Bay m and the purgat ory in between, usic to hyphy Cellski plans to introduce a new sound to the Ba latest project. y Area with his “The phy movement,” y think everything is the hyCellski says, no tin Rick Rock, Play -N-Skillz and Mi g DJ Toomp, dnight Black among produc tion out here that be credits. “We got real rappers en doing it. I’m not tryna saturate myself to the Bay. I’ve be en my life. You go tta get out ther doing that all e.” // Words by Keita Jones // Photo by D-Ray
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