We live in an era where most music releases live fast and die young, flaring up and fading out in the span of a scroll, swallowed by the algorithm and replaced by the next viral song by morning. But every so often, a project resists that churn. It doesn’t beg for attention. It commands replay. It spreads the old-fashioned way, through word of mouth, car speakers, and group chats. A slow burn that leads to real traction.
Enter 1 Umbrella, a five-man alliance bridging two cities often framed as opposites. San Francisco, the global tech metropolis, and working class Oakland, long defined by resilience and political resistance, carry different reputations and rhythms. Yet, for black communities in both cities, the bridge has never been just a way to get from here to there. It has meant shared schools, shared families, and a shared soundtrack. Oakland’s ALLBLACK and 22nd Jim joined San Francisco’s Lil Bean, ZayBang, and Lil Yee not simply as collaborators, but as a visible expression of those ties. What 1 Umbrella represents is not a cross-city sibling rivalry dissolving, but shared realities moving in the same direction.
San Francisco rappers Lil Yee and Lil Bean. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
Oakland rappers 22nd Jim and ALLBLACK. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
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A week after 1 Umbrella’s self-titled debut album dropped on Feb. 6, the super group held an album signing at the San Francisco headquarters of independent label EMPIRE. The momentum around the collaboration was tangible. The rappers signed merch until the very last second before being rushed to catch a flight. A steady stream of fans moved through the space, sharpies glided across glossy covers, and the five artists operated less like solo stars and more like family at a reunion who happened to share the same stage. Oakland and San Francisco rap scenes can sometimes feel like they move in parallel, so seeing these artists shoulder to shoulder felt deliberate.
The album was released by EMPIRE, a label founded in 2010 by Ghazi, which has grown from a Bay Area distributor into a global powerhouse. Over the years, EMPIRE has played a role in amplifying major artists like Kendrick Lamar and Cardi B while continuing to invest locally, supporting Oakland artists Philthy Rich and Too $hort. Last year, Ghazi received the prestigious Clive Davis Visionary Award, which recognizes bold leadership and innovation in the music industry.
On “1 Umbrella,” the 15-track album has traveled further than they have anticipated. Built on stark production and blunt force realism, it does not water down Bay Area edges for mass appeal. It translates them. “We just rap about our upbringing and represent where we from..and talk about what we’ve seen, what we’ve done,” Lil Yee told The Oaklandside.
A fan at a 1 Umbrella meet-and-greet event at the San Francisco headquarters of the new group’s record label, EMPIRE, on Feb. 13, 2026. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
Lil Yee hugs a fan at the event. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
The appeal lies in the lack of filter. The stories are specific to neighborhoods, blocks, and lived experience, but the hunger they rap with is universal. That perspective comes through clearly on the song “Run the City,” produced by Brutal Money, where ALLBLACK and 22nd Jim rap from the vantage point of East Oakland’s San Antonio district, the stretch of International Boulevard locals know as the Murder Dubs, running roughly from 20th to 29th avenues.
The neighborhood that inspired their 2019 joint project “22nd Ways” still anchors their perspective. Over laid back Bay Area production that feels built for a late night drive, the verses move between the realities that shape them and the spoils of success they’ve now experienced – cruising past Lake Merritt, crossing the bridge into San Francisco, and taking in what the city has to offer after dark. The result feels like an on-the-ground snapshot of Oakland life, told with the calm confidence of artists who have lived it and are now moving differently within it.
The project’s strength is its cohesion. Singles like “The Blueprint,” “CODE,” and “Baller Blockin” amplify the group’s Bay Area influences without confining them to a regional box, helping them cultivate a loyal audience that now stretches well beyond Northern California. That expansion has not slowed their motivation. “We’re super focused. We’re back in the studio,” ALLBLACK said. “We don’t want to go to the club. We want to come right back here and do the same thing over again. We want to wow ourselves.”
Some will frame the group as a strategic cross-bay alliance, Oakland meeting San Francisco in a calculated effort to merge audiences, increase leverage, and expand scale beyond regional ceilings. The members see something deeper. “It was a brotherhood,” Lil Yee said. The origin story sounds more like a group text than a boardroom pitch. 22nd Jim made a record, and Yee jumped on it. Bean got called in. Momentum built organically.
Friends and family showed up for the Feb. 13 fan event at EMPIRE. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
Fans lined up around the block for the “1 Umbrella” album signing. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
“I was just thinking…we should do all this, all come together as one,” Yee recalled. The name itself came casually, via an Instagram comment that stuck. “That’s it right there, 1 Umbrella,” he said. The metaphor resonated immediately. “We all under this umbrella. When it rain, we stay dry.”
The spirit extended to the guest list — Bay Area heavy hitters like DaBoii, 1100 Himself, Larry June, and Rexxlife Raj. Even those appearances feel familial rather than transactional. In an era when verses are often emailed in, much of the album came together inside EMPIRE’s studio walls. “Our sessions became a party after a while,” 22nd Jim said. “Everybody wanted to come get the energy…people were just pulling up on their own.”
A month later, there’s no sense of coasting, only momentum building. “You put it in their face for the rest of the time being. Man, this is just what it is,” Lil Yee said, laying out a roadmap that includes a deluxe, a tour, solo projects, and then another group tape. “We coming at least two, three tapes a year.”
Even the deluxe has outgrown expectations. “These songs so hard… we going eight to 10 songs, like it or love it.”
For 1 Umbrella, momentum is not something to manage. It is something to multiply.
Lil Bean, 22nd Jim, ALLBLACK and Lil Yee in front of EMPIRE’s wall of fame listing Bay Area musical luminaries. Credit: Ximena Natura for The Oaklandside
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