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Through the mounted speakers inside a multistory warehouse in East Oakland, LaVance “Poo$ie” Warren’s thick New Orleans accent vibrates the room.
Rapping about life and death, the 28-year-old lyricist drops bars informed by generational poverty and the cycle of community violence. He also carries the weight of surviving Hurricane Katrina, the storm of a century, 20 years ago.
“Muderrrrrr she wrote,” he says into the mic, performing his take on Chaka Demus & Pliers’ classic reggae track. Poo$ie’s version has a hymn-like cadence, delivered over an ominous bass line. It’s one of 11 songs off of Poos$ie’s new album, My Friends Like to Kill Each Other…