The Bay Area is officially cementing the legacy of one of its greatest musical icons. The Vallejo City Council voted unanimously to rename Taper Avenue in the Crestside neighborhood to Mac Dre Way, honoring the late rapper who served as a primary architect of Northern California’s legendary “hyphy” movement.

The decision sparked immediate celebration, with Vallejo Vice Mayor Diosdado “J.R.” Matulac echoing the sentiment of generations of hip-hop heads: “It’s about damn time.”

The new street designation isn’t just random geography—it hits right at the roots of Bay Area rap history. According to a petition launched by Miami the Most, an artist signed to Mac Dre’s own Thizz Entertainment label, the intersection of Taper Avenue and Amelia Street marks the exact location of the rapper’s childhood home. It was in this very house where a teenage Andre Hicks recorded the earliest tracks that would go on to shape the sonic identity of the region.

With this historic vote, Vallejo joins a growing regional movement to immortalize its hip-hop pioneers in asphalt and green street signs. Mac Dre is the latest Northern California titan to receive this honor, joining an elite class of legends who have had local streets named after them: Too $hort, E-40, and Tupac Shakur.

The City Council meeting felt more like a community celebration than a political event, drawing a massive crowd of supporters for 42 minutes of passionate public testimony. Local artists, producers, managers, and community leaders all took the mic to advocate for the change.

Among the speakers was Bay Area rap vet Mac Mall, who grew up with Hicks in the Crest.

“Andre Hicks was a selfless person,” Mac Mall told the council. “He helped start my career, and helped countless young people get their start in the music business, and be able to change their lives and provide for their family and friends.”

Mac Mall added that he hopes the physical signpost will inspire the next generation of neighborhood kids to dream big and hustle independently, just like Dre did. The energy in the room was so high that Vallejo Mayor Andrea Sorce paused the proceedings to take a massive celebratory selfie with the crowd, praising the “intangible community” spirit that defines the city.

Born in 1970, Mac Dre’s life was tragically cut short when he was killed in a 2004 Kansas City shooting at just 34 years old. Yet, more than two decades later, his blueprint remains flawless.

When Dre burst onto the scene in the late ’80s, the Bay Area’s independent rap infrastructure barely existed. Ray Luv, a fellow artist and chief of operations for Mac Dre’s estate, noted that Dre helped build the framework that allowed artists from the “707” area code to thrive on their own terms. That independent hustle eventually went global, to the point where “Mac Dre Day” is now celebrated as far away as Amsterdam.

Today, anthems like “Feelin’ Myself” and “Thizzelle Dance” are still mandatory spins in West Coast nightclubs and sports stadiums. His influence stretches straight into modern pop charts, too; earlier this year, Drake dropped “2 Hard 4 the Radio,” a track built entirely around a heavy sample of Mac Dre’s 1989 breakout single of the same name.

An official date for the street-sign unveiling ceremony has not yet been announced, but the upcoming block party on Mac Dre Way is bound to be one for the history books. Keep your eyes on this space for updates.