In the early days of rap, particularly outside of cities like New York and L.A., the radio played a huge role. This is the secret history of Santa Cruz hip-hop. This area has never been known as a hip-hop hotspot, but in fact, the music has a rich and fascinating history here. With his dedication to the local scene, Abraham saw something that others didn’t. My dad understood that music is the instrument of the soul. Some people didn’t have the money, the means, or the support. A long time ago, minorities and African Americans, we didn’t really have our own news to watch. Several people called him Rene’s “unofficial ambassador.” He took to Chris Rene when he was coming up and was at every show Rene played. He put on shows, promoted events and supported the scene because he saw the importance of the music to his community. He involved himself in Santa Cruz’s hip-hop scene in its earliest days with Club Caution and Palookaville.
Abraham had moved to Santa Cruz in junior high, and later became a computer programmer. He was a loud, crazy motherfucker.”Ībraham’s son Michael Hightower, who raps as Expo the Ghostwriter, says that the local hip-hop scene was hugely important to his father. He was the loudest one, cheering everybody on. “It really affected our community because he was so well known and so well-liked,” says Raquel. Even with ongoing health issues, he came out to shows before the pandemic, and continued to be a huge advocate for artists. He was 57, and had been on dialysis for some time. On July 4, Abraham passed away from a heart attack. “I turned to him a lot when I had problems in my life.” I had no idea what to do with myself,” she says. He encouraged her to put all her attention into her music. Singer Sonia Raquel recalls meeting Abraham in 2012 after she’d gotten divorced and was looking for some direction in her life. He made himself available for the artists if they needed help in any way whatsoever. Originally from Ghana, he cared a lot about the Santa Cruz hip-hop scene. He showed Gordon emails from those friends thanking him for the music, just to let Gordon know that what he was creating mattered to people.Ībraham did this for a lot of local hip-hop artists. In 2019, when Gordon dropped his 16 Summers project, Abraham bought two copies, and mailed them to hip-hop fans he knew in Hawaii and Ireland. And I just started seeing him at every show.”
You hear that a lot from people when you get offstage. “He treated me like I was a famous person,” Gordon recalls. He might even buy several of their shirts himself, just to make sure they took home some money that night. Sometimes he would linger at the merch booth and help the artists sell. He would usually be up front hyping the artists. Gordon kept seeing Abraham at hip-hop shows. Abraham, a middle-aged man with a friendly smile, stopped him and told him how much he loved his music. Local rapper Alwa Gordon met George Abraham a decade ago at a Blue Lagoon show, as Gordon was coming offstage after finishing a set.
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