KMEL regularly broadcast the program until 2008. In 2003, E-40 began hosting E-Feezy Radio, a weekly program on San Francisco hip-hop radio station KMEL that showcased Bay Area hip hop. His collaboration with southern rappers continued in 1998, when he was given guest appearances on albums by Southern rappers, including Lost by Eightball, and MP Da Last Don by Master P. He had been working nearly exclusively with rappers from the Bay Area until 1997, when he released the double disc compilation Southwest Riders featuring exclusively rap acts from the Bay Area and the south. Although having a large following within West Coast, E-40 did not have a large mainstream audience, so only two of his songs released under Jive Records, “1-Luv” featuring Levitti and “Things’ll Never Change” featuring Bo-Roc, charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
In a Major Way was regionally well-received, with guest spots by such rappers as Tupac Shakur and Mac Mall, as well as his son Droop-E. Thus, six additional solo albums were to follow, beginning with In a Major Way in 1995 as well as remastered versions of E-40’s independent Sick Wid It recordings from previous years. Along with Too Short, Spice 1, and Ant Banks, E-40 was among the first West Coast rappers to sign a major-label deal, penning a deal with Jive Records in 1994, after years of releasing music independently. Suga-T was then added to the group to form the Click.Synonymous with Bay Area rap, E-40 garnered a regional following, and eventually a national one, with his flamboyant raps, while his entrepreneurial spirit, embodied by his homegrown record label, Sick Wid’ It Records, did much to cultivate a flourishing rap scene to the east of San Francisco Bay, in communities such as Oakland and his native Vallejo. E-40’s gospel singing uncle (Saint Charles) helped them put out the record. They moved back to Vallejo and teamed up with D-Shot, E-40’s brother, to form the group MVP or Most Valuable Players.
In 1993, The Click had the mainstream hit, “Captain Save a Hoe” (radio edit “Captain Save Them Thoe”). Federal, a nine-track LP/14-track CD produced by Studio Ton and released by Sick Wid’ It Records in association with SMG (Solar Music Group), a regional distributor. In 1992 they released second album, Down and Dirty, and in 1993 E-40 made his solo album debut. The group later became The Click and released the EP Let’s Side in 1990.The EP was co-produced by Mike Mosley and Al Eaton and was released on Sick Wid It Records, an independent label founded by E-40. After impressing fellow students with a rap remix of the school song and a Grambling State talent show, Most Valuable Players released a single, “The King’s Men”. Stevens made his rap debut as E-40 in 1986 with Jones (performing as B-Legit), sister Suga T, and brother D-Shot in the group Most Valuable Players.
Hogan High School in Vallejo in 1985.Stevens played baseball in high school, recorded music with his siblings, and sold their recordings from the back of a car.After high school, Stevens enrolled at Grambling State University in 1986 with his cousin Brandt Jones and attended the school for one year. He grew up with his siblings raised by a divorced mother who worked three jobs, and he became interested in hip hop after hearing “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang.Beginning in fourth grade, Stevens played the snare and bass drum. Earl Tywone Stevens was born in Vallejo, California.