Perhaps the best known rapper to come out of San Francisco's vibrant hip hop scene, Rappin 4Tay has a career that spans over 15 years and 7 albums, and with a new release slated for the summer of 2004. He has worked collaboratively with a number of other artists both well known and on the grassroots level, including 2Pac, Too $hort, Snoop Doggy Dog, and E-40 to name a few.
Born in San Francisco, California on March 2,1968, Anthony Forte and was raised in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has a twin sister, Toni. The Fillmore was already well known before 4Tay made a name for himself.,and the Fillmore he grew up in exposed him to many facets of community life. Although the Fillmore contains poverty, gang problems and housing projects, it is also home to black businesses, political and community leaders, and a historically important arts and cultural district.
As a young man, 4Tay attended an arts high school, MacAtyre. Because he was in a music program at an arts high school, he learned how to read and write music and play half a dozen instruments, and recieved his musical education there. Fellow Bay Area rapper Hugh EMC - who was a freshman at MacAtyre when 4Tay was a senior - said he remembered seeing the ambitious young man bringing his basoon to school in a little kid's toy wagon tied to the back of his bicycle. He said the younger students admired 4Tay, and he was an accomplished musician and talented writer at an early age.
Although several Fillmore area rappers strived for success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and many of them worked together, none of them ever became as famous and successful as 4Tay. Over the past 15 years Rappin 4Tay has worked with and collaborated with numerous other artists; notably, as a performer and a songwriter with Tupac Shakur in 1996 on the song "Only God Can Judge Me" (from the 2Pac Album "All Eyez On Me"), Bootsey Collins (Bulletproof Soundtrack), Berry Gordy (Dangerous Minds Soundtrack), JT The Bigga Figga (1996 - "Game On The Shelf"), Too $hort (1996 - "Never Talk Down", "She's A Sellout"), Snoop Doggy Dog (2000 - "Dogghouse"), and other artists too numerous to mention.
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