“Frisco, welcome to the city of the fog…”

That’s how San Francisco rapper Frak starts out his first bars in a new song – a love letter to the city that shaped him.

From Bay Area poetry slams to national television, Frak has built a career around quick wit, improvisation, and sharp punchlines. The San Francisco native first gained recognition in the battle rap scene before appearing on MTV, BET, and VH1’s Wild ‘N Out.

But during Jewish Heritage Month, the artist says his work is also deeply connected to identity and culture.

“I think Jewish heritage had a big impact on my music,” Frak said. “The self-deprecation, the cynicism, the humor all that stuff in my culture has been worked into my craft.”

Frak says his perspective was shaped by his family’s immigrant roots. His parents came to the United States from Peru and Hungary, experiences he says influenced both his worldview and his creative voice.

“Jewish culture isn’t a monolith,” he said. “It’s brought so much joy and humor to my life.”

Now, Frak is expanding beyond traditional rap performances with immersive live productions that combine hip-hop, theater, gaming, and comedy.

“We built a huge game cartridge, and this whole stage became a video game world,” he explained.

His latest project, Four Square, transforms concertgoers into active participants, blending music, storytelling, and audience interaction into what he describes as a larger creative mission.

“I’ve been blessed to have a platform now to make amazing music, do rap battles, be on Wild ‘N Out, even do comedy and political satire,” Frak said. “My goal is to bring it all together and also bring the community together.”

Longtime collaborator Kaly Jay says that vision has always been central to Frak’s work.

“We’ve been doing this since we were 14 years old,” Kaly Jay said. “To still be doing this, it’s a blessing.”

He added that Frak’s ability to connect different creative communities across the Bay Area is part of what makes the work resonate.
“In a city many people say has lost its artistic identity. There are still so many artists making things happen,” Frak said. “We still have the culture.”

Frak’s next immersive Four Square performance is scheduled for August 14 at The Independent in San Francisco. 

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing person to the Portland-Seattle area.

“This is a woman who died alone, a long way from home. And we feel an obligation, and it’s important to be able to reunite her with her family,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit in Canada.

On September 29, 2022, a tugboat crew found a woman’s body floating in the waters off Spanish Banks in British Columbia.

She was found near a blue inflatable kayak and had candy, insulin, and a backpack, but no identification.

While they were able to get a pulse back on her, she never regained consciousness and was officially declared dead the following morning.

“We know what somebody’s got to know about her. She’s somebody’s sister. She’s somebody’s daughter. She’s somebody’s friend. Somebody’s coworker. Somebody will know who she is,” said Detective Rebecca Matson with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit.

After four years with no leads, Sgt. Anton Schamberger with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit in Canada came across a forensic technique that hadn’t been used by their agency, and has increased movement in this four-year-old investigation.

“They were able to say, based on pollen grains and fern spores found on her sweater, that the sweater had had recent exposure to an urban or suburban environment in the Pacific Northwest, most positively between Portland and Seattle,” said Sgt. Schamberger. “They were also able to say, based on the complete lack of pollen grains and fern spores that were native to British Columbia, that she likely had not had any exposure or was likely not a resident.”

Now, the Vancouver Police Department, Portland Police Bureau, and the Seattle Police Department are reaching beyond the Canadian border.

KATU’s Avery Elowitt asked, “With this new information, how will future outreach efforts be different from these previous efforts now that we have more local ties?”

Sgt. Donaldson answered, “Well, if we have more local ties, we can focus the information, and since we’ve done some outreach in the past few days, we have had some actionable tips to our email address. So now we’re going to have to go back, start investigating those tips, and build up that investigation. It may not be information that leads directly to her identification, but it can narrow the scope of the investigation.”

By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers.

Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing woman to the Portland-Seattle area. By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers/Avery Elowitt, KATU News

Advertisement

“What we need is one tip. All it takes is one. All it takes is someone saying, ‘hey, that’s my auntie,’ ‘that’s my mom.’ Or, ‘that was my neighbor,’” said Sgt. Donaldson.

The unidentified woman is believed to be approximately 30-40 years old, Black, and despite extensive investigation across North America, no missing persons report matches her descriptions, according to the Vancouver Police Department.

If you have any information on this case, email thekayaker@vpd.ca or call 604-717-0619.