Equipto
American rapper and activist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Equipto is the stage name of Ilyich Yasuchi Sato, a rapper and political activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1][2] In his teens, Equipto founded Bored Stiff, a long-running hip-hop group, and has performed and toured with many notable hip-hop acts, including KRS-One, De La Soul, Mac Dre, and Nas.[3][4] He has also released music with Andre Nickatina.[5]
Equipto led the Frisco Five hunger strike outside San Francisco's Mission District police station, to protest police brutality and killings of unarmed civilians.[6][7][8][9] The hunger strike has been discussed as direct action similar to that of Martin Luther King Jr. by three law professors,[10] while another scholar argued that the hunger-striking rappers exhibited the same type of political power as Malcolm X when he attempted to thwart the military draft.[11]
Equipto is of mixed Japanese and Colombian ancestry. He is named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union.[12] His father, Art Sato, was born in a Japanese internment camp in Colorado.[13]
Discography
Albums:
- 1992: 3 Shades Of Rhythm EP (with 3 Shades Of Rhythm)
- 1993: Xcuse The Static (with The People’s)
- 1994: Peacock Lounge Promo Tape (with Bored Stiff)
- 1994: 8 Track Music (with Bored Stiff)
- 1995: Explainin' (with Bored Stiff)
- 1997: Timeless (with Bored Stiff)
- 1999: Vintage Volume Won (Avant Garde)
- 2000: Vintage Volume II (Like There's No Tomorrow)
- 2001: Ghetto Research (with Bored Stiff)
- 2001: Explainin' (Collectors Edition) (with Bored Stiff)
- 2002: Unreleased 4 Track Shit (with Bored Stiff)
- 2002: Midnight Machine Gun, Rhymes, And Alibis (with Andre Nickatina)
- 2002: Vintage Volume III (It Hurts So Good)
- 2003: Hybrid (with Estairy)
- 2003: For The Record (with TD Camp)
- 2004: K.I.M. EP (with Michael Marshall)
- 2004: Cigariilos EP
- 2004: K.I.M. (with Michael Marshall)
- 2004: Cigariilos
- 2004: Sketches (From The Inside Out)
- 2005: Horns & Halos EP (with Andre Nickatina)
- 2005: The Takeover (This Love Cover) (with Michael Marshall)
- 2005: Horns & Halos (with Andre Nickatina)
- 2005: Gun Mouth 4 Hire: Horns & Halos #2 (with Andre Nickatina)
- 2006: Bullet Symphony: Horns & Halos #3 (with Andre Nickatina)
- 2006: Behind The Rhyme
- 2006: 3 New Songs EP (with Bored Stiff)
- 2006: Tha Western Union (That's My Folk)
- 2007: Track Money & Pack Money (with Berner)
- 2007: 4 Ever In A Day EP
- 2007: 4 Ever In A Nite EP
- 2007: From The Ground Up (with Bored Stiff)
- 2007: Sin City (with K-Dinero)
- 2007: 4 Ever In A Day LP
- 2008: International EP (with Bored Stiff)
- 2008: On My Down Time
- 2008: Explainin'/Timeless
- 2008: The Sad Truth (with Bored Stiff)
- 2009: Duffle Bag Money (with Berner)
- 2009: Now More Than Ever EP (with Bored Stiff)
- 2009: A Christmas Album (with Solidarity Records)
- 2009: Selections From The Vintage Collection
- 2010: Profound (with Solidarity Records)
- 2010: The Generation Gap (with Dregs One)
- 2010: Mans World Mixtape (with Solidarity Records)
- 2011: K.I.M. II (Keep It Movin' 2 Love Changes) (with Michael Marshall)
- 2011: Red X Tapes (with Opio)
- 2011: llyich
- 2012: Hellaween (with Hippy Mobb)
- 2012: Million Dollar Remix Series (Volume 3): Resinated Raps
- 2012: No Filter (with DJ Troubleman)
- 2013: The Stress Free Tour Compilation (with Solidarity Records)
- 2014: Out Of Respect
- 2014: Red XX (with Opio)
- 2015: 3 Shades Of Rhythm LP (with 3 Shades Of Rhythm)
- 2015: Baby Steps (with Otayo Dubb)
- 2015: Smoke Filled Room (with Hippy Mobb)
- 2015: Phoenix Academy (with White Mic & Professor X)
- 2016: 1530 EP (with I.L.A.M.)
- 2017: The UpKeep Mixtape
- 2017: K.I.M. 2.5 (Forever Unfinished) (with Michael Marshall)
- 2018: The Watershed (with Brycon)
- 2019: Our 2 Cents (with Architect)
- 2019: Few And Far Between
- 2019: K.I.M. 3 (Sigue La Movida) (with Michael Marshall)
- 2020: Out Range (with Big Shawn)
- 2021: When Worst Comes To Shove EP (with Bored Stiff)
- 2021: Civil Disobedience (Volume 1) (with Aagee)
- 2021: The Resurrection Of Game (with Cartel 360)
- 2021: Memoirs Of An Era Mixtape (with J-Duce)
- 2021: Don't Forget You're Welcome (with The Watershed)
- 2021: Out Range (Instrumentals) (with Big Shawn)
- 2022: The Peoples (with Bored Stiff)
- 2022: Can't Stay Perched All The Time (with Brycon)
- 2022: Coterie Coyote (with J-Duce & FDOG)
- 2022: Contrary To Popular Belief (with Architect)
- 2022: Can't Stay Perched All The Time (Instrumentals) (with Brycon)
- 2023: Equinox EP
- 2023: Attica EP (with AaGee)
- 2024: Someones Everything (with Gennessee)
- 2024: Vintage Volume Won (25th Anniversary Edition)
- 2024: We Still Here EP (with Riesgo)
- 2024: In Other Words (with DJ Pause)
- 2025: The Balancing Act (with Bored Stiff)
Singles:
- 1998: Rappers (with Bored Stiff)
- 2007: Media (with Bored Stiff)
- 2007: Livin' Right (with Bored Stiff)
- 2011: Heart & Soul (S.F. Anthem) (featuring Michael Marshall)
- 2011: Back In The Box (featuring PW Esquire)
- 2011: 4 Wut It Iz
- 2012: Return Of The Backpacker (featuring Moka Only) (with Bored Stiff)
- 2012: Callin’ It Quits
- 2012: The Rise (with Nio Tha Gift & JusTme)
- 2012: Champagne Room (featuring Berner & J Stalin)
- 2013: I Wanna Be Happy (featuring Michael Marshall) (with Bored Stiff)
- 2013: Medicine Man (featuring T.hc) (with W.I.L.L.)
- 2013: Baby Steps (featuring Mars Today) (with Otayo Dubb)
- 2014: Yes, Yes, Yes (with Hippy Mobb)
- 2014: Fail To Win (with DJ Troubleman)
- 2014: This Is San Francisco (with Ashkon)
- 2014: Memoirs Of 2014
- 2015: Conspiracy Theory (with Bored Stiff)
- 2015: We've Been Waiting (G.S. Warriors Anthem) (with Michael Marshall)
- 2017: Real Dope (with The Watershed)
- 2017: The Sco (with Brycon)
- 2017: Tonight We Ride (with Michael Marshall)
- 2018: Freeman's Funk (with Junokoala)
- 2018: Swamp (with The Watershed)
- 2019: The One That Got Away (with Michael Marshall)
- 2019: Been Here Before (with The Watershed)
- 2020: Stars (with Brycon & Cyph4)
- 2021: Days Go By (featuring Ka'Ra Kersey & Momma Woods)
- 2021: Spliff (Part 2) (with Brycon)
- 2021: Wilderness (featuring Phesto Dee) (with Brycon)
- 2022: True Story
- 2022: Free Palestine (with Sharif Rithmatik)
- 2022: Cosmos (with AG)
- 2022: Dia De Los Muertos
- 2023: Butterflies (featuring Byron Mayhew) (with Mcstravick)
- 2023: Nothin' But Love (Remix) (with Azmito, Nicofasho, & Michael Marshall)
- 2025: Tears For Freaky
- 2025: Ho Chi Minh (featuring Guilty Simpson)
- 2025: The Promise Of Len Bias (with Brycon)
- 2026: M.P.L.S. (featuring Power Struggle)