Sacramento may be the capitol of one of the largest states in the country, but it’s far from being the hub of California’s hip-hop scene.
Over the years, rappers like Brotha Lynch Hung and C-Bo have briefly put the city on the map, but Oak Park native Timothy Patterson, better known by his stage name, Mozzy, is quickly becoming Sac’s rap king.
To better understand what life is like for an up-and-coming rapper in a time when a tweet or YouTube video can spark street violence, ABC10 embedded with Mozzy and his crew for a few days as they made their way from Los Angeles to play a show in Humboldt County.
Saying Mozzy’s had a good run the past couple years would be an understatement. Since 2015, he’s put out 17 albums and collaborations, and has drawn the attention of critics from Rolling Stone and Complex Magazine, who’ve hailed him as a “shooting star.”
But is he the best rapper to come out of Sacramento?
“Period,” Mozzy says, sitting on stoop the steps of an abandoned warehouse in West Oakland. “Nobody out of my jurisdiction’s doper than me. Ain’t nobody out of Sacramento doper than me. This ain’t nothing new, like, I been the dopest [expletive] in my region.”
Judging by his swift rise to stardom, it’s entirely possible Mozzy’s reign extends far beyond northern California, but up until recently, run-ins with the law, and a stint in state prison, kept him from leaving the Golden State.
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