Bay Area rap hero Celly Cel headlines End of Summer Bash at the Fox.

This Saturday, a mountainous lineup of hip-hop and rap acts will perform at the End of Summer Bash at the Fox Theater in Salinas.

Headliner Celly Cel – one of the hardest working and most prolific rap artists in the biz – has been making waves in the West Coast rap scene since the early ’90s.

Known as the “Bay Area Rap Boss,” Cel has a physique like Lawrence Taylor and wears his long hair straightened and braided into a pair of Pippi Longstocking ponytails.

Cel had been an instrumental force of the Bay Area’s bustling rap scene: He owns his own record label, Realside Records, has collaborated with some of the biggest names in rap, including Too Short and The Game, and has made more than 10 albums in just over a decade.

But one of the biggest highlights of Cel’s career was getting props from 2Pac during a Spice 1 video shoot in Oakland.

“Pac walked up to me and he said, ‘When I heard your song ‘Bailin’ Thru My Hood’ I had to go find the producer who did that; I play that song all day, every day.’ I mean that was big, because I play 2Pac music all day every day,” Cel told www.thuglifearmy.com. “And for him to come and tell me that he is riding around listening to me I will always cherish that moment.”

In 2007, Cel released Tha Sick Wit it Dayz: The Best of Celly Cel. His new album, I Spit Game, is expected to come out sometime in 2010.

Also performing at the bash are Alcatraz, Jimmy Roses, PI, Royal Mafia, Savage Proz, Five Hunnet, Lil Peps, DEA and Mayra.

END OF SUMMER BASH starts 7pm Saturday, Sept. 19, at Fox Theater, 241 South Main St., Salinas. $20 advance; $25-$30 at the door. 758-8459.