>Probably part of it is because when I was growing up and got
>into hip-hop heavy, there really was one rapper from my
>hometown making music on a "major" level (Too Short). And by
>the time I was aware of him, I was already into Public Enemy,
>Ice-T-, NWA, Kool Moe Dee, etc. So in those early days, my
>favorite rapper were already from different regions of the
>country (Chuck D and Ice Cube).
>
>As I've gotten older I've come to a weird balance where I'm
>more likely to give something it's day in court, but I also
>know what I like and what I won't fuck with at all.
>
>These days, overall my listening habits might shade more
>towards NY/eastern seaboard shit, but I check heavy for
>artists from Cali, Detroit, Atlanta, Texas, etc.

My rap listening tastes pretty much fall in line with yours.

I'm from the V, but I never had 40 or Mac Dre in any of my top lists outside of Top 10 Bay Area lists. At the same time, I still hold a special place in my heart for all that mob shit, hyphy stuff, and underground bay hip hop of the late 90's and early 2000's. Outside of early DU, Hiero, and classic Frisco/Oakland stuff, my favorite hip hop music usually comes out of LA, NY, ATL, and Detroit.. however since the decline of the DF/ONP sound, NC has probably eclipsed ATL in my opinion these days.

Not much of a hip hop scene in the bay these days, is there? Outside of Hiero Day, I have no idea what's going on regionally in terms of rap. Hated that SOBxRBE shit. Found this dude Larry June on social media, and he's somewhat interesting.. he's like a mixture of the motivational messaging of Lil B, the look of Roc Marci, the smoothed out swagger of a Dom Kennedy or Currensy, but again.. he got that (intentionally?) way off beat cadence like those SOBxRBE cats. It's a little off putting and distracts from the immaculate production. Reminds me of a more polished Main Attrackionz sound.

Locksmith still does what he usually does, and as great as he is at that, it gets old. G-Eazy is wack. Kamaiyah cool but not really my thing. I guess HBK is ok, but their sound is way too polished and Drake-like for my tastes.

If anything, I feel like anything that was significantly dope out the bay is either old or makes me feel old and i ain't really feeling the hot new shit the kids like.

I traditionally give a lot of mid to subpar shit a pass if it's from the bay. If another region put out music of a similar quality, I'd probably not give it a chance at all.