B
ack on Folsom, Gigz has finished walking. He’s arrived at his destination, a bright purple Victorian decorated with a mural of the universe. Remedy continues to film as Gigz ascends the purple steps and sits next to fellow rapper and lifelong friend Cheese. The two gesture and continue to sing: “Sometimes
I feel cursed / But I know people have it worse.” The three planned every step of this video beforehand, with Remedy taking the artistic lead. A young African-American man in his early 20s, Remedy wears a Blue Jays baseball cap and sports a gold grill. He was wounded by a gunshot in ninth grade, and ended up in the wheelchair he uses now. The producer has decided he should pan up at the end of the song, to get a fuller view of the house. “They’re gonna think there’s some deeper meaning to it,” he smiled earlier to Gigz.
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civilian Oscar Grant, his body becomes rigid and he jumps up from the couch. “I’m not a political rapper; I just had a strong connection to that,” he says of the protests that ensued, which he both samples and raps about on “The Moment.” “I’ve had guns put on me, like multiple times. I’ve been on the floor and looked back up and seen an officer with a gun not knowing what to do.” Gigz won’t go into detail about these events, but he talks about getting pulled over and being falsely accused of carrying a gun himself. “It was when I was younger, and wilder than I am now, and it wasn’t always for no reason,” he admits. “But they just feel the need to control people with guns every time.” Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the Roachy Balboa 2 spectrum, Gigz raps about two ladies named “Codina” and “Dextrolina” on “Syrup Thighs.” “I drink her with my Sprite / I’m thinking that she might / Make me fall into a coma / I’m dope for her aroma,” he rhymes to tinny beats. He shows evidence that this song is confessional, saying he blacked out once from a combination of syrup and pills in L.A. On our drive into San Francisco, he drinks something that he says “isn’t water” from a plastic bottle. But even “Syrup Thighs” isn’t completely flippant, with Gigz mentioning his father’s absence and desire to do better by his son. I ask the new father how his son has affected his career. “It’s beautiful,” he responds, “but it makes me realize I have to work that much harder, because I have no other options. I want to make his life as good as possible.” He stretches his arms out and looks around the room: “I don’t want to live here forever.”
Gigz never knew his own father, who was a supporter of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. The plastic bottle slips as they pass it, and the rappers lunge to grab it. Framed by the building’s purple pillars, lace curtains and, on the bottom floor, unicorn-themed stained glass, they continue the song, chanting: “Roach went and had a baby . . . With no hesitation / I would die for him / As far as I can see the limit is the sky for him / So I love and provide for him.” Gigz chants along with the song coming from Remedy’s laptop: “Hey, I was gonna keep going but I can’t think of a better way to end that.” Remedy pans up at the universe mural on the house, without any deeper meaning. Finally Gigz declares: “That’s a motherfucking wrap!”
by Oscar Wilde Directed by Wendy Wisely This production is underwritten by the F. and C. Lahm Family
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Buy Tickets Online:
www.santarosa.edu/theatrearts Recommended for age 12 and above
Roach Gigz performs with Too Short Thursday and Friday, March 10–11, at the Phoenix Theatre. 201 E. Washington St., Petaluma. 8pm. $25. 707.762.3565.
March 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 at 8 PM March 19, 20 at 2 PM BURBANK AUDITORIUM, SANTA ROSA CAMPUS Santa Rosa Junior College, 1501 Mendocino Ave
THEATRE
Tickets: $10-$15, Box Office: 707.527.4343 Hours: Wed, Thurs, Fri – Noon to 5 PM
2010/2011
PARKING PERMIT REQUIRED ON CAMPUS 7 DAYS A WEEK, 24 HOURS A DAY
SEASON
Tickets available one hour before each show in the Burbank Auditorium lobby