The Bay Area is different—from how we walk and talk to the music from the soil. The Hyphy Movement was a defining moment in the musical history of the Bay, but nearly 20 years removed from the sonic explosion that was E-40’s My Ghetto Report Card, and SOBxRBE’s 2016 auditory boom that put eyes back on 101 cities here. Today, the Bay has a newer, more varied sound.
The 26-year-old Oakland rapper 1100 Himself personifies this varied sound through his music. Since 2016, 1100 has been detailing his life as a young man living in East Oakland. When listening to 1100, it is clear where he comes from, having the “traditional” sound of the new Bay Area while simultaneously placing fans into this world he’s built through his music. Sonically, 1100’s music sounds familiar but listening to the lyrics, he tells these stories in new ways that diversify the music from Oakland and the surrounding Bay Area cities.
“It just comes with the neighborhood,” 1100 started. “Everyone can talk about the gangster shit, because we in Oakland, so it’s like second nature. But I didn’t really listen to that shit that much, so I just knew how to do it. But I really like the different styles of beats and slow shit, where I can get my point across. I don’t even got to yell or say nothing crazy.”
In his most recent project, The Lev Show he takes on the persona of a late-night talk show host accompanied by the “He’ll Give Us What We Really Need,” sample as heard on Kanye West’s 2013 song “On Sight.” At this point in his career, he has stepped out from the notion that the music you make has to be what the people want to hear.
1100’s sound is a deviation from what “traditional” California rap music sounds like, he incorporates the sounds that piqued his interest as a child. Seeing Tyler, the Creator rise to fame at the point of self-discovery helped him like the “obscure shit,” as he described.
When listening to “Note To Self” from his 2023 project, Leven Durant, and hearing 1100 recite, “Too many Urkles on your team that’s why your wins low,” just as Kanye West did on the opening of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, placed him back to the first time he heard the album playing from his teacher’s car speakers when getting a ride home as a fourth grader.
“He used to drive me home, and he had My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and I was like ‘damn,’” 1100 began. “I’m looking at him as a teacher, and when he would drive me home after school, he became a normal dude. But he introduced me to that album, and it stuck with me.”
Just as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy became an album that stuck with 1100 nearly 20 years after that first listening experience in his teacher’s car, 1100 has made music himself that has been the soundtrack to special moments in his fans’ lives. He recalls a memory of being tagged online in a post of some fans walking out to his song at their wedding reception.
On the surface, it may not seem like 1100 Himself has music that captures the feeling of celebrating love, but he has the perfect song for every occasion. When looking through his discography, his songs detail the experiences he’s had and is currently having while living in East Oakland, making it so listeners in cities besides Oakland and places outside of the Bay can relate to and enjoy.
“I just try to put it in terms that somebody else can understand, maybe that’s not Black,” he started. “If a white person was to hear this shit, he wouldn’t know what something is if I say it in a slang term, so if it’s a way I can say it regularly.”
Making relatable music has always been part of his mission because he never saw himself doing anything but rap. Coming of age during the Young Money reign, it was hard not to envision yourself as the newest and youngest member alongside Lil Twist and Lil Chuckee. For 1100, he would constantly watch the “Bedrock” music video thinking of when that time would come for him.
When he was 18, he saw his way to make it happen, and by 2020 he released his first project, Funk Theft Auto. Having your introduction to the music industry be molded after Lil Wayne’s iconic mixtape series so many of us were raised on, he wanted Funk Theft Auto to be a series he could build on, but with his own twist. When he went to record, he’d had the cover art for a couple of years, he had a decision to make with the sound direction, go in the route of the iconic video game, or go into detail about his life at the time on top of samples like Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “Anniversary” and Fabolous’ “Throw It In the Bag.”
It’s been four years since the release of Funk Theft Auto, and looking at his musical journey today, 1100 feels like he has more to say. Since his start, he’s had shows in San Jose, and Santa Cruz, and nearly sold out of tickets in his hometown of Oakland. He looks forward to taking his talents to neighboring cities essential to developing a rising West Coast rap star career.
“I feel like I grew a lot more since then, and I just got something different to say now,” 1100 started. “At first I wasn’t doing much, and now I’m actually doing shows and going to these places, and different cities. So I got a lot more stuff to talk about.”
As 1100 continues his artistic journey, he wants to diversify his profile within music through features and outside of his musical career with acting classes to find new ways to express his creativity. In this career advancement, he’s expanded his listenership beyond the city of Oakland. He’s been in Vallejo showcasing a live version of his song “90’s” with The City of Opportunity’s hero LaRussell. He also received a feature from LA’s own WESTSIDE BOOGIE.
1100 will continue to express his creativity through his music and other artistic ventures, and he will always tell the stories of his life, and what he hopes to do as his star rises. “I want to remain relevant and be able to do things for my family. Whatever I want to do, have enough money to do it,” he said.