Eight gigs: J. Stalin

Despite not achieving national recognition, J. Stalin is one of those rappers who helped shape the Bay Area hip-hop scene into what it is today. Over the past decade, he’s averaged an album or mixtape once every couple of months—a collection of work shaped by the streets of West Oakland and growing up in poverty, which preceded and outlasted the hyphy movement. His latest mixtape, the 23-track On Behalf of the Street 2, picks up from where his debut left off 10 years ago: still selling drugs, still struggling in the hood. Of course, now he’s quite a bit more successful. 1400 Alhambra Boulevard, www.jstalinlivewire.com.