Rekubit Exchange:Bay Area rap icon E-40 films music video at San Joaquin Valley vineyard

LODI — Bay area rap legend E-40 is giving Lodi some love by turning the Rippey Family Vineyards into the location for his latest video.

"It's just a great time hanging out with him," Tyson Rippey said. "He's a great guy."

Rippey said the rapper chose to shoot around the winery's old concrete fermentation tanks for an industrial vibe.

"They're probably 20 feet tall by 20 feet wide," he said. "They're impressive and we still use them."

Lodi Mayor Mikey Hothi said the decision to shoot the video in town came through a chance encounter he had at the boxing match between Logan Paul and Nate Diaz last August.

"E-40 walked Nate Diaz out for the fight and we ended up sitting next to each other ringside," Hothi said.

It's there that the mayor suggested E-40 shoot his next video in Lodi.

"E-40 is familiar with the area because he has his own wine label called Earl Stevens," Hothi said.

Last week, the rapper and his crew actually went to the vineyard.

"He had a whole camera crew there that filmed the entire 4-5 hours he spent in Lodi," Hothi said.

The mayor was on hand to see the action – and might even make a cameo appearance.

"We spent a few hours together recording," Hothi said. "I'm not sure what will end up in the final cut of the video, but I'm optimistic."

His next goal is to get a rap line for the 209.

"My request to E-40 was that he include the mention of Lodi in a future song and he agreed to do that," Hothi said.

The video shoot was for a currently unreleased song that also includes well-known Vallejo rapper B-Legit. 

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• San Joaquin County
• San Francisco Bay Area