Office Hours: Putting in Work for Bay Area Hip-Hop

Over the past year The Office Hours Studio, a monthly live performance series in Oakland, has played host to some of the most decorated names in Bay Area hip-hop and R&B.

The list ranges from veterans like Nef the Pharaoh, Kevin Allen and J. Stalin to newcomers like Kiyomi, Shanté and 1100 Himself. They’ve featured artists with devout followings (LaRussell and Qing Qi) and musicians who’ve dropped regional classics (the Trunk Boiz, who made “Cupcake No Fillin‘,” and D-Lo, the creator of “No Hoe.”)

This weekend will be more of the same, as the series hosts a special Office Hours Live: RnB Night on Sunday, Nov. 2, featuring 3LISE, Big Hongry (who also assists in event curation), Adrian Marcel and more.

“I knew we needed something,” event founder Randy McPhly says,  referring the Bay’s music scene. But, he admits, “I didn’t know it was going to be this.” 

His formula sounds simple: get a venue, a bunch of rappers and a few musicians, and tell the people to pull up. Film it, share it and watch as the momentum builds. But it’s no easy feat. McPhly and his team, who operate on a budget provided by Binta Oxossii at Commune, are actually doing this in the midst of dire times for artists.

Between the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence on the music industry, hip-hop’s lack of presence on the Billboard charts and the Bay Area’s decades-long struggle to grow a sustained identity beyond the Hyphy Movement, it’s tough sledding for any artist looking to “slide.”

Despite all of that, McPhly and company built something special, and the people are pulling up.

Expanding on his approach, McPhly says over the phone, “You take Sleepy D,” referring to the East Oakland lyricist, known for making turf anthems. “When you take him and put him on the 30th floor, surrounded by views of the city that he’s from, and allow him to express his art,” says McPhly, “now it’s an art form.”

The idea of rapping with a live band in an intimate venue is actually something McPhly did back when he was a young lyricist coming out of East Palo Alto. Now 35, McPhly opens up about the “many lives” he’s lived.

During the first, in his late teens and early twenties, McPhly was an educator in EPA, as well as a turf dancer. (You can see him gigging at the end of Dem Hoodstarz and David Banner’s music video for the song “Laughing.”)

McPhly used to turf dance with groups in the Town, as well as at Powell Street in San Francisco, on BART and in competitions. But he soon realized there was more benefit to being a host than a competitor.

“I’m a host by nature,” says the charismatic McPhly, often seen with a smile on his face. He pivoted from dancing in competitions to being an MC because it guaranteed he’d get paid, and with that came a new lane. “When I started MCing dance events,” he says, “it really got my chops up to understand what big crowds react to.”

Orchestrating events took him to new heights from 2017 through 2019, when he teamed up with the Shmop House crew (IamSu!, Oopz, Kool John, ST Spittin and more) to throw a series of shows.

“The first one we did,” he recalls, “we booked Rexx Life Raj.” They went on to add performances by Chris O’Bannon, Stunnaman02, Capolow 304, DJ Shellheart and Haiti Babii to the mix. By turning the Shmop House into a venue, McPhly met people, formed bonds and found his niche. 

“I was really making something out nothing, which is what I do now,” he says. “That’s, like, basically one of my superpowers.”

After spending a few years in Los Angeles during the pandemic, McPhly returned to the Bay Area, and in 2024 he implemented a new plan. Working with his wife and business parter Lauren Dyer and good friend Tiffani Marie (aka Artelia Green), he reached out to music producer SLGHTWRK and a few musicians to form a band. “I also invited as many rappers as I could,” McPhly says, naming Danny Ali, KD The Poet and Nigel Xavier as some of the initial performers.

Without having a name yet, they filmed the first gathering. “It was like, ‘OK, shoot,” McPhly recalls. “We’re doing something!”

It didn’t take off. Not until a few months later when they filmed a performance with Berkeley’s L.O.E. Gino did they see real traction.

“And then shit started popping off for real when The R.O.D. Project shit went viral,” McPhly says. “Everybody was fucking with it.”

Acknowledging his event’s success, in spite of the lack of opportunities and community-oriented platforms for hip-hop and R&B artists in the region, McPhly refers to the constant complaint that artists have about why they’re not “on.” 

In response, he says “what your ‘on’ is is different from what somebody else’s ‘on’ is.” He explains, “Some people just want the social aspect.” Others, he says, want to be rich. And still others, he adds, “want to just be around some tight shit, you feel me?”

But for him, being “on” is simple.

“I just want to provide a platform,” says McPhly.

Because of his experiences as a dancer, rapper and host, he knows being successful isn’t easy. “But,” he says, “if I can help you on your journey, now that I’m here to provide this for you — without you going through what I went through — that would be the most fulfilling, you know?”

Office Hours Live: RnB Night is from 4–8 p.m. this Sunday, November 2, at Torch Oakland Rooftop Bar (1630 San Pablo Ave., on the 6th floor). For more information click here.