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New Hip-Hop Song “Housing Crisis” Takes Unflinching Look at SF’s Huge Problem

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I received this press release a little bit ago. As I’m doing a million things before I have to run to work I’m just gonna paste it below. That said I know many of you will really appreciate the message in this song. He calls out lots of folks who need to be called out including tech billionaire Ron Conway.

Frustrated with San Francisco’s housing crisis and the quickly growing divide separating rich and poor, local resident Scott Samels, who goes by the name SCS, has chosen to voice his concerns through his hip hop music. His recent music video “Housing Crisis” talks about tech firms, developers and City Hall’s contribution to the displacement of so many long-time San Franciscans, impacting the city’s once rich and diverse culture. Recorded and produced at the legendary Hyde Street Studios, the music video sends a message of addressing the need for more affordable housing.

Samels says, “I felt like I had to raise my voice to speak up for those being silently pushed out and express the collective aversion that many are feeling to the bulldozing of our communities in the name of housing for primarily the tech sector employees”.

Having lived in San Francisco for over 18 years and currently residing in the Excelsior District, Samels said he initially set out to create a socially driven narrative to vent about the anger of those being pushed out. However, he says his primary goal has since shifted to sparking a conversation about how innovation can solve the housing problem.

“I think our civic leaders and the tech sector can produce amazing solutions and have the capacity of truly creating a platform of policies where San Francisco residents can come together and find a better way forward to keep SF affordable to all.”

If you’d like to become part of the solution, please opt-in to our email list. We’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on our progress and how you can help. If you join this March, SCS will send you 3 free download links (including “Housing Crisis”) and will personally make a donation to the San Francisco Tenants Union for each new subscriber. Thank you for your love and support.

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Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is a travel writer, poet, TV host, activist, and general shit-stirrer. His website BrokeAssStuart.com is one of the most influential arts & culture sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and his freelance writing has been featured in Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The Bold Italic, Geek.com and too many other outlets to remember. His weekly column, Broke-Ass City, appears every other Thursday in the San Francisco Examiner. Stuart’s writing has been translated into four languages. In 2011 Stuart created and hosted the travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful on IFC and in 2015 he ran for Mayor of San Francisco and got nearly 20k votes.

He's been called "an Underground legend": SF Chronicle, "an SF cult hero":SF Bay Guardian, and "the chief of cheap": Time Out New York.