OoOoH SHIT ! E X C L U S I V E

Sii
May 6, 2018
1 min read

C H I E F PEACE

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Rapper and artist Barrett Tarr, known by his stage name Chief Peace, hosts open mic nights at the local hookah lounge, 2900 N. Classen Blvd., several times a month.

He did not expect the 7-foot, 1-inch basketball legend to drop in on the poetry jam after an Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs playoff game. He did not expect the grand entry to lead to the biggest career bump any young local artist might dream of.

Poetry and spoken word are great, but Peace thought O’Neal, who once showed promising rap chops in a short-lived music career that included collaborations with The Notorious B.I.G. and Fu-Schnickens, would appreciate a different kind of showcase.

“I had just started doing songs when I realized Shaq walked in,” he said.

It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, and it paid off. The emcee saw O’Neal waving his hands to the beat of Peace’s tune “Hippy Kid” back in the VIP lounge. After Peace left the stage, he was called back to see O’Neal, who said he wanted to use his song on ShaqFu Radio, his streaming online radio station.

When O’Neal asked him if he was going back onstage, Peace convinced O’Neal to join him as his hype man. In May, a video of the two performing “Hippy Kid” was soon picked up by celebrity gossip and news website TMZ. It quickly went viral.

HIPPY KID