Saafir is known as one of the Bay Area’s greatest lyricists. The founder of the Hobo Junction crew first made waves in 1994 with his classic debut, The Boxcar Sessions. He followed with 1998’s indie Trigonometry, made his major label debut the following years with The Hit List, and issued Good Game: The Transition in 2006. Many also know him as 1/3 of the short-lived supergroup Golden State, alongside Xzibit and Freestyle 101 vet Ras Kass. Or you also may remember him from his role in the film Menace II Society. But it is Hobo Junction’s controversial on-air freestyle battle with rival SF crew Hieroglyphics that many hip hop heads remember him best from.
In his Freestyle 101 interview here, Saafir goes into great detail about what set off this legendary KMEL battle with Del the Funky Homosapien’s crew, how it went down in the studio, and how it finally ended back on the streets. It’s a fascinating look into one of most notorious and infamous freestyle battles ever. He also spits over a slippery R.N.S. beat at The Engine Room in Hollywood, and chats about his days with Digital Underground, and weighs in on the debate over whether written rhymes can be used in a freestyle or not. Fascinating stuff from a man many feel in one of the game’s all-time most underrated.