Ali spoke Friday as he prepared to file an appeal, which costs $763. He pointed out that his after-hours permit has long carried a condition stating, “No Hip-Hop events will be planned for the extended hour days,” to support his argument that New Karibbean City is treated differently because of its audience. “I’ve been reasonable, and this is discrimination,” he said.

DC is Chillin, the KMEL host and New Karibbean City DJ, described the nightclub as a cultural fixture popular among Oakland natives, noting that his mom partied there in its earlier incarnation. "It's the last club," he said. "A lot of new places are lounge-based, and a lot of East and West Oakland people I know aren't comfortable with the new places."

DC added, "At NKC you can play a new record and the crowd's real with you."

He pointed out, for example, that fellow DJ Big Von played Ella Mai's single "Boo'd Up" at New Karibbean City in late 2017. Inspired by the audience response, he brought it to KMEL, and radio nationally followed suit. Von's selection that night was noted in Rolling Stone as a turning point for the now-smash single.

Ali was interviewed by this writer for a 2017 feature about Oakland police and live hip-hop, describing how city cops, particularly in the Special Events Unit, pressured promoters to drop certain rappers from lineups. Some local artists felt they were effectively blacklisted; in one incident, Ali said an officer insisted he drop a rapper because of the artist’s lyrics about police harassment.

Previous reporting has shown that hip-hop venue owners in Oakland, including Ali, are required to seek special-event permits entailing thousands of dollars in police fees. Meanwhile, clubs associated with other styles of music are spared the expense under otherwise identical circumstances. The costs have led Ali and other promoters to pass on booking prominent touring artists in Oakland.

The latest conflicts are part of a long history. Oakland police and the local hip-hop community have been at odds practically since the inception of hip-hop. The city imposed a year-long moratorium on live rap in 1989, right at the time local artists such as Too $hort and MC Hammer were building national profiles. Geoffrey’s Inner Circle owner Geoffrey Pete blamed police overtime costs for temporarily closing his storied club in 2009, and filed an unsuccessful civil-rights lawsuit against the department.

KQED has requested comment from the Oakland Police Department.

This post has been updated with comments from DC is Chillin.