By Oh Dang!
Mar 3, 2010 - 1:02 AM

DaVinci is one of the last men standing on his block, trying to keep San Francisco's Fillmore culture alive. Once a predominantly black community, many of the now gentrified neighborhood's longtime residents have been pushed out. In “What You Finna Do?” off his upcoming debut, The Day the Turf Stood Still (available March 9 via SWTBRDS Creative Collective), DaVinci describes the changes like an overnight, zombie-like takeover as he wakes up to black-owned businesses and homes being eradicated: “They’ve replaced all the liquor stores with coffee shops. I ain’t sayin’ that’s a bad thing, but where I’m finna hustle at?” he raps, calling it a “republican’s dream” and a “street n----’s nightmare.” Directed by Marcus Ubungen, the video takes us around DaVinci’s neighborhood and illustrates the plight of those pushed out of the community.

DaVinci - "What You Finna Do" (Music Video) from Sweetbreads Creative Collective on Vimeo.

I've been slapping DaVinci's The Day the Turf Stood Still for over a month now, and I can say it's a definite must-cop. He's one of the realest emcees in the Bay, kicking heavy doses of game--not bullshit pimp talk, but real knowledge about why folks in the projects are so marginalized. With production from Al Jieh, Ambush and Big D, it's an early contender for album of the year.