Gunna Goes Global Wants To Bring The Fillmore To The World
The Fillmore District was the original heart of Black San Francisco. At one point it was even referred to as the ‘Harlem of the West.’ However, if you walk around the area that sits just a stone’s throw away from the Painted Ladies made famous by Full House, you’re more likely to witness white people from outside of San Francisco discussing startup ideas over expensive cups of coffee than you are to see Andre Nickatina smokin’ chewy like a muthin’ fuckin’ nut.
This is exactly why people like Gunna Goes Global are important. He’s a rapper, local historian and cultural spokesperson for not only the Fillmore District, but the entirety of San Francisco’s shrinking African American population. Not long after meeting him, I realized why he was the man for the job. His passion for his neighborhood is rooted in a love for his people, not a distaste for others.
So I decided to sit down with him so I could better understand what’s next for the Fillmore, his career, and what he thinks San Francisco’s original Black neighborhood could do to bounce back from rampant gentrification.
Why do you think San Francisco’s Black community hasn’t been given a pathway into San Francisco’s tech economy?
The main reason why the Black community hasn’t been given an opportunity to benefit from tech is due to predatory educational exclusion. When you look at the people who are local, who are in tech, look at the schools that they go to. They’re going to private schools or schools in wealthy parts of the city. Schools in low income parts of San Francisco aren’t given that kind of investment. On top of that, they’re closing schools in San Francisco, and the schools that they’re closing are the ones that need investment the most. How are we the tech capital of the world, but we’re not educating our children to benefit from it?
What inspired you to become a rapper?
That’s a great question. You may actually be one of the first interviewers to ask me that. For me it was Tupac and my older brother, Al-Mon. The first time I heard Tupac, it was the song So Many Tears. Around the time I heard that song, my parents had split up and I was going through a lot of turbulence at home. My mom got with a dude who had a different type of energy. Things weren’t peaceful at home. When I heard ‘Pac’s So Many Tears, it resonated with me. Even though I was in elementary school, I was like ‘this dude’s famous, and if he has problems and I have problems, maybe we’re not that far apart.’ Then my older brother was freestyling over instrumentals. It made it feel possible for me to start rapping, and I wanted to know where they were getting all these words from. It was amazing. So that’s what made me want to start rapping.
How’d you get good at rapping? I’ve listened to some of your songs, and you’re good. Were you always good at rapping or did you have to learn how to rap? Some rappers are just naturally talented, while others develop over time. Are you a talented rapper or a skilled rapper?
I was the weakest link in my neighborhood, but I was brutally honest with myself when I started rapping. I grew up listening to great people, and in hindsight I realized repetition is the father of learning. When you look at the majority of people rapping, while some are naturals, most of the greats are people that put in the work by constantly practicing and improving. That’s not just with rap, that’s with everything. When I say I was the weakest, I mean I was the weakest around when I started, but I also had people around me who were brutally honest. My brother, Ron Ruger told me my shit was going double wood. He was my best friend and he was saying that, so it made me realize that I had to improve. But when I recorded my debut street album, Gunnafornia, he never said that shit again.”
In my opinion, during the ‘90s and early 2000s, San Francisco had one of the most unique rap scenes not only in the Bay, but the country. However, it feels like other cities, namely Vallejo and Oakland have outpaced the City in terms of Hip Hop more recently. Do you think that’s due to gentrification or something else?
Vallejo has and Oakland had, but is rapidly losing something San Francisco never had: home ownership. Like NWA in Los Angeles started off in a garage. Everybody in SF is in the projects. We didn’t have the space you find in Vallejo or even Oakland to make a home studio. We had to create a space to do it. We had to find a rec center or go to an actual recording studio. Even SOB X RBE will tell you they recorded their first hits in a garage. You’ll never hear anyone in San Francisco tell you they recorded in their garage because we never had a garage to record in.
What is your ideal San Francisco? If the City was fully influenced by you, what would San Francisco look like?
Oh, you ready for that answer? I believe education and access to information is essential. I would have each large, successful tech company adopt an elementary school, a middle school and a high school. What I mean by adopt is that they would guarantee that the schools would have beautiful infrastructure. The tech companies would donate technology to these schools and assign product experts from places like Google and Facebook to these schools to ensure that the students in these schools have the skills needed to get hired at one of these big tech companies. We would also have great incentives for communities (like the Fillmore) to bring residents that have been displaced back into the community. We could create home ownership opportunities so that these formerly displaced residents would never be forced out of their neighborhoods again. We would use and repurpose surplus land in the city to address the homelessness crisis. I would also provide adequate funding for things like Pop Warner Football, and other activities to give disadvantaged youth something to do other than get into trouble. These kids need activities to find themselves. If these things were adequately funded, we wouldn’t only lead the world in tech, but in sports, in the arts and everything else. We also need to address police brutality. We don’t need cops making things worse. We need responders, not necessarily police, who have the capacity to identify when someone is in crisis, and have someone who is adequately trained to help them. Not arrest them, not shoot them, not beat them the fuck up, but help them. We have the money, we have the concentration of capital to make this the best fuckin’ city in the United States… So let’s do it.
This only scratched the surface of what me and Gunna Goes Global talked about. Maybe after he’s done putting the Fillmore and San Francisco back to the top of the rap charts, maybe Gunna should go City Hall and run for Mayor? Who knows? But I honestly think he would do a better job than the people who are currently running.
If you want more Gunna Goes Global, check out Therapy In The Ghetto
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Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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