Who is E-40, the rapper and Warriors superfan at the center of the Kings’ playoff drama?
Everybody got choices. And E-40 has decided not to attend Game 2 of the Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors first round playoff series, citing racial bias that led to his ejection in Game 1.
The Bay Area native, rap legend and Warriors superfan was tossed from Game 1 of the series after a verbal altercation with another fan. While Kings security personnel officially ejected E-40 for “excessive standing,” the organization is looking into his claims of racial prejudice.
E-40’s ejection has become a side narrative to the supercharged playoff series between Northern California’s two teams, the first postseason bid for the Kings in 17 years. But basketball fans unfamiliar with his music may be wondering just who he is.
Born in Vallejo on Nov. 15, 1967, E-40 (birth name Earl Stevens) is considered one of the founders of the Bay Area’s rap scene. He started performing in 1986 with rap group The Click, founded independent label Sick Wid It Records and burst into the national spotlight with the hit song “Captain Save A Ho” in 1993.
While his career flourished on the West Coast, E-40 didn’t again reach nationwide acclaim until the mid-2000s. That’s when he dropped or was featured on a series of club hits — “Snap Yo Fingers,” “U And Dat” and most famously, “Tell Me When To Go.”
Like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, E-40 parlayed his music success into cultural relevance elsewhere. He launched a sports drink called 40 Water in 2006 and followed that with a stream of different alcohols: tequila, cognac, beer, wine, a ready-to-drink cocktail called Sluricane and of course, 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor.
E-40 also co-owns a Bay Area lumpia brand and a food production company called Goon with the Spoon that makes ice cream, sausages and freezer burritos.
The 55-year-old artist still lives in the Bay Area (Danville) and references cultural touchstones throughout his songs, such as the Vallejo Naval Houses or the hyphy movement.
He’s been a courtside fixture during the Warriors decade-long dynasty and frequently pops up at San Francisco Giants games as well — the team even gave away 15,000 bobbleheads with his likeness last year.
Stevens plans to be back at the Warriors’ Chase Center in San Francisco for Game 3 of the series against the Kings, which tips off at 7 pm. Thursday. But he’ll skip Game 2 at Golden 1 Center, he said, while the team investigates his claims.
