“It’s so good to be home,” said former SRJC student Ray Luv, his breath smelling of quality rum as he took stage in the main quad that was packed with an estimated 400 people on April 25. “…When the high school kids skip class to see us, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Ray Luv, who took several classes in the music department back in the 80s, was one of four rappers that preformed for free at “On the house,” a show put on by Ray Gattinella’s promotions class.
Other artists included San Quinn (San Francisco Quincy), Zigidy, and Ant dog(which is an acronym for A Nigga That’s Deep On Game).
“No, I did not do so much time that I named myself after a prison,” said San Quinn. “I’m not quite as hard as these other cats.”
San Quinn did a song called “Hard Way,” off an album that has yet to be released called The Rock Pressure Makes Diamonds.
“This is first time the class has been able to get a live performance,” said Chris Valesquez, the student who contacted KMEL to get the artists to come out. “Our class has been preparing and promoting this event all semester… We just wanted to do a good show, give the artists exposure, and bring something different to the JC.”
Besides the rap concert, there were several streetcars on display and a raffle with over $7000 of prizes.
“These guys don’t usually do free shows like this,” said Nancy Bartola, who took a day off work for “On the house.”
The rappers thanked the college for having the show, but Ant Dog, who had to go buy his own album from The Last Record Store right before he went on, had trouble keeping his lyrics as clean as the college administration would have preferred. At one point he apologized over a rolling base line for the language, saying “It don’t mean nuthin’… the sun’s shining on me, and we’re havin’ fun girl show me some.”
Such extemporaneous gems got the crowd hyped. Robert Agrella, president of the college, liked the show so much that afterwards, he had a picture taken with Ray Luv.