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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927684\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 792px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927684\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DEL.GIF.Horiz_.USE_.gif\" alt=\"a record cover cycles in and out of the background where its original cover photo was shot, showing a pagoda and victorian houses\" width=\"792\" height=\"565\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Released Nov. 23, 1993, Del the Funky Homosapien’s ‘No Need for Alarm’ is shown at the original location of its cover photo, in Chinese Garden Park at Alice and 7th Streets in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Photos by Beth LaBerge/KQED; animation by Bryan Bindloss/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Del the Funky Homosapien’s sophomore album \u003c/em>No Need For Alarm\u003cem> is a Bay Area classic that proved his uncompromising skill and helped establish the Hieroglyphics collective nationally as a creative force. Here, from an interview condensed for length and clarity, Del, a.k.a. Teren Delvon Jones, recalls the circumstances of the album’s recording, artwork and reception.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>As told to\u003c/strong>: Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">W\u003c/span>hen I was making \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>, I was in a dark space. I had a lot of issues growing up. I don’t think I was aware of it then, but looking back, I was in an angsty space. I was dealing with issues of abuse, being different from everybody, pretty much being a loner except for people that was into the culture I was, which was not that many. I appreciated the camaraderie that I had, too, don’t get me wrong. But yeah, I had an attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had come out with my first album, \u003cem>I Wish My Brother George Was Here\u003c/em>, which I made with Ice Cube — he’s my cousin. And the response from a lot of heads was not at all what I expected. It wasn’t celebratory. It was more like, “OK, you’re selling out. Why’re you rappin’ over P-Funk shit?” So, that caused me to be, like, “All right, I’m just going all in this time, just to show motherfuckers what I really be on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think that hurt Cube — I think he was like, “OK, well, damn, you didn’t like the first album?” I’m like, “Nah, nah, I like it, but, you know…” It was just that, from my little social network, I wasn’t getting the love that I thought I was going to get. It was the opposite. Because motherfuckers already done heard all my demos and shit. They knew how wild I could get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball cap, sunglasses, nose ring and sweatshirt holds a microphone out to the crowd\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del the Funky Homosapien onstage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Feb. 22, 1992, the year before ‘No Need for Alarm.’ \u003ccite>(Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So that’s what I did for \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>. I’m a battle rapper by nature. That’s what I really do. It was limited on the first album. And that was probably a wise decision, because a lot of people can’t understand that shit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in transition. I was couch-surfing for a minute, living with different people, roommating. In ’93, I ended up living in New York mixing the album, doing whatever I needed to do for the album, so I had a little flat in New York that I was staying out of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923766']Before mixing in New York, though, we recorded at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, with Matt Kelly. Matt Kelly is one of my mentors. He really showed me how to mix, he showed me how to be able to listen to the mix, how to work the equipment in the studio. When I had questions, he would answer my questions and really fuck with me. He took me under his wing and showed me a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people write in the studio. We were more self-reliant — we had songs done before we even hit the studio. Nine times out of 10 when we hit the studio, we’re there to record the shit and get it done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our time outside the studio, though, that would be when we were smoking and drinking, making beats, selecting shit. Motherfuckers might bring records over, I’d be like, “Ooh, what’s this?” Be like, “Ooh, okay. We’ll use that real quick.” I might be at Opio’s house with A-Plus, Tajai might be there, we might be listening to records. His stepfather had a great collection of records, so we’d just be in his office, listening to records, getting ideas, maybe watching anime or something, playing video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"a young man in a superman t-shirt smokes in a park\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del: ‘One of my favorite songs from around that time, ‘Pistol Whippers,’ it didn’t even make the album. I was proud of the production on that one. I just thought that beat was hella crazy.’ \u003ccite>(Carl Posey / Elektra Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The album came out and Elektra Records loved it. I don’t know if Cube loved it, but Elektra was fully supportive. And Dante Ross was my dog over there — he’s part of the culture, so he felt it. I was with Sophia Chang too, she was A&R over at Jive Records, and got Souls of Mischief and Casual on the label there. She ended up leaving, but I still was good friends with her. So when I was in New York, I would never be at my little flat. A lot of the time I’d either be at Dante’s crib, or Sophia’s crib, or over at Kurious Jorge’s crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I appreciated their friendship and the encouragement, because like I said, I was in a dark place. I don’t even think I really believed in my shit like that, but Sophia and Dante really backed it, especially Sophia. I appreciated her taste because she fucked with Wu-Tang, she knew what was up. So it was big for her to be like, “Nah, this really is tight. Go forward.” Even when Cube was like, “Whatever, man, if you wanna do what you wanna to do, go ahead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spcKBTfjW1M\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I will say this, there’s some things I said about women on that album that I’m not too proud of. I was a kid, but no excuses. I said some shit about white people on there that I’m not too proud of. I don’t really feel like that. Like I said, I have my issues — and, I’m Black, growing up in that era, so it was different. I think people that heard it understood where I was coming from, too, because I wasn’t trying to be malicious, necessarily. I was just letting it spill out, whatever the fuck it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland had crack going on and the high murder rate, which affected me, but I didn’t wanna rap about that shit. For me, hip-hop was like how it was for motherfuckers in the Bronx, like Ultramagnetic MCs. I done talked to Kool Keith, and he was like, “You might come home and see a hand in the mailbox, or your next-door neighbor might have a gorilla in this house.” Just wild shit. Because if you’ve got dope money, you might be trying to floss, maybe you might get a tiger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ultramag, they’re trying to escape that shit. They’re like, “Man, why I wanna rap about gangster shit? I don’t wanna rap about that shit.” So, that’s how I was. It did affect me, but hip-hop gave me a vehicle to escape it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"a red pagoda in a park, with victorian houses in the background\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The pagoda at Chinese Garden Park in Oakland, where the ‘No Need for Alarm’ cover photo was shot. Photographer Carl Posey recalls of the location: “The idea was to take people out of their typical element, and try something different.” \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The album cover was shot by Carl Posey. The pagoda, you know, I love all kind of different cultures, and that just spoke to me, the structure and how it looked. Maybe since I was into anime and shit, martial arts, that might’ve had a slight thing to do with it too. But I just like Chinatown too, you feel me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13924167']We shot at the pagoda, then I picked this other spot that’s an underpass over by Lake Merritt, by the college. These are places that I liked to go to at night, because I was like, a street kid. I might not have had a place to go sometimes, so I’d just be out at night, tripping or whatever, in some of the places that I like to be at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We did a comic book design for the cover. That was my idea. I was into Marvel and DC, but I was also heavy into underground comics. Vaughn Bodē, Mark Bodē, \u003cem>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\u003c/em>, all that shit was starting to come out and really bust the bubble. I did the lettering too. I’m a visual artist first and foremost, so I already had an artistic vision. Elektra was just gracious enough to let me go with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"a man in a bucket hat sitting in a concrete culvert holds his hands out toward the camera\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del the Funky Homosapien in Oakland, in 1993, in a publicity photo for ‘No Need for Alarm.’ ‘I think, looking back, Cube feels like, ‘Okay, you really did your thing. You didn’t try to ride my coattails. You did your thing and you became successful for that.’ I think he respects that now.’ \u003ccite>(Carl Posey / Elektra Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Man, I wish I still had that boombox I’m holding on the cover. I’d be playing all the classics on it. I was a huge Gang Starr fan. Ultramag, Erick Sermon, Jungle Brothers, De La, KMD, Brand Nubian. I also might be fucking with some dub, too, some King Tubby or Scratch Perry. I’d listen to dancehall too, and a bit of punk rock, like Black Flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was 20 when I recorded \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>. I’m 50 now. I don’t feel 50, because I don’t drive. I skate everywhere. In certain ways I feel my age because of some of the injuries I’ve had, like when I was with the Gorillaz, I had a real bad injury, fell off the stage, damn near killed myself. But I don’t feel like I look hella old, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hip-hop is 50 now, too, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s so far removed from where it was. The essence of it is so far removed from where kids is at now. I’m not saying that don’t nobody care about it, because a lot of kids do care about it, and they try to research the shit and figure it out. It speaks to them. But it’s been commercialized to the point where it’s been milked down by corporate society, motherfuckers feasting on shit, just wearing it into the ground. That’s the sad situation of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not trying to sound hella dark or nothing, because I do got a lot of hope in the shit. There’s been new movements within hip-hop that took it somewhere else, that maybe a lot of old heads might not really fuck with. But I feel, overall, just the corporate rule, always, that’s what it is — “We trying to make money off this.” Ain’t really no concern about the culture or people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>, I’m just glad people still fuck with it, 30 years later. One love to all the supporters and all the fans. I love you all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-800x60.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927684\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 792px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927684\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DEL.GIF.Horiz_.USE_.gif\" alt=\"a record cover cycles in and out of the background where its original cover photo was shot, showing a pagoda and victorian houses\" width=\"792\" height=\"565\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Released Nov. 23, 1993, Del the Funky Homosapien’s ‘No Need for Alarm’ is shown at the original location of its cover photo, in Chinese Garden Park at Alice and 7th Streets in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Photos by Beth LaBerge/KQED; animation by Bryan Bindloss/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Del the Funky Homosapien’s sophomore album \u003c/em>No Need For Alarm\u003cem> is a Bay Area classic that proved his uncompromising skill and helped establish the Hieroglyphics collective nationally as a creative force. Here, from an interview condensed for length and clarity, Del, a.k.a. Teren Delvon Jones, recalls the circumstances of the album’s recording, artwork and reception.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>As told to\u003c/strong>: Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">W\u003c/span>hen I was making \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>, I was in a dark space. I had a lot of issues growing up. I don’t think I was aware of it then, but looking back, I was in an angsty space. I was dealing with issues of abuse, being different from everybody, pretty much being a loner except for people that was into the culture I was, which was not that many. I appreciated the camaraderie that I had, too, don’t get me wrong. But yeah, I had an attitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had come out with my first album, \u003cem>I Wish My Brother George Was Here\u003c/em>, which I made with Ice Cube — he’s my cousin. And the response from a lot of heads was not at all what I expected. It wasn’t celebratory. It was more like, “OK, you’re selling out. Why’re you rappin’ over P-Funk shit?” So, that caused me to be, like, “All right, I’m just going all in this time, just to show motherfuckers what I really be on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think that hurt Cube — I think he was like, “OK, well, damn, you didn’t like the first album?” I’m like, “Nah, nah, I like it, but, you know…” It was just that, from my little social network, I wasn’t getting the love that I thought I was going to get. It was the opposite. Because motherfuckers already done heard all my demos and shit. They knew how wild I could get.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball cap, sunglasses, nose ring and sweatshirt holds a microphone out to the crowd\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.ApolloTheater.1992.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del the Funky Homosapien onstage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Feb. 22, 1992, the year before ‘No Need for Alarm.’ \u003ccite>(Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So that’s what I did for \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>. I’m a battle rapper by nature. That’s what I really do. It was limited on the first album. And that was probably a wise decision, because a lot of people can’t understand that shit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in transition. I was couch-surfing for a minute, living with different people, roommating. In ’93, I ended up living in New York mixing the album, doing whatever I needed to do for the album, so I had a little flat in New York that I was staying out of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Before mixing in New York, though, we recorded at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, with Matt Kelly. Matt Kelly is one of my mentors. He really showed me how to mix, he showed me how to be able to listen to the mix, how to work the equipment in the studio. When I had questions, he would answer my questions and really fuck with me. He took me under his wing and showed me a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people write in the studio. We were more self-reliant — we had songs done before we even hit the studio. Nine times out of 10 when we hit the studio, we’re there to record the shit and get it done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our time outside the studio, though, that would be when we were smoking and drinking, making beats, selecting shit. Motherfuckers might bring records over, I’d be like, “Ooh, what’s this?” Be like, “Ooh, okay. We’ll use that real quick.” I might be at Opio’s house with A-Plus, Tajai might be there, we might be listening to records. His stepfather had a great collection of records, so we’d just be in his office, listening to records, getting ideas, maybe watching anime or something, playing video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"a young man in a superman t-shirt smokes in a park\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.BackCover.600.72dpi-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del: ‘One of my favorite songs from around that time, ‘Pistol Whippers,’ it didn’t even make the album. I was proud of the production on that one. I just thought that beat was hella crazy.’ \u003ccite>(Carl Posey / Elektra Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The album came out and Elektra Records loved it. I don’t know if Cube loved it, but Elektra was fully supportive. And Dante Ross was my dog over there — he’s part of the culture, so he felt it. I was with Sophia Chang too, she was A&R over at Jive Records, and got Souls of Mischief and Casual on the label there. She ended up leaving, but I still was good friends with her. So when I was in New York, I would never be at my little flat. A lot of the time I’d either be at Dante’s crib, or Sophia’s crib, or over at Kurious Jorge’s crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I appreciated their friendship and the encouragement, because like I said, I was in a dark place. I don’t even think I really believed in my shit like that, but Sophia and Dante really backed it, especially Sophia. I appreciated her taste because she fucked with Wu-Tang, she knew what was up. So it was big for her to be like, “Nah, this really is tight. Go forward.” Even when Cube was like, “Whatever, man, if you wanna do what you wanna to do, go ahead.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/spcKBTfjW1M'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/spcKBTfjW1M'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>I will say this, there’s some things I said about women on that album that I’m not too proud of. I was a kid, but no excuses. I said some shit about white people on there that I’m not too proud of. I don’t really feel like that. Like I said, I have my issues — and, I’m Black, growing up in that era, so it was different. I think people that heard it understood where I was coming from, too, because I wasn’t trying to be malicious, necessarily. I was just letting it spill out, whatever the fuck it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland had crack going on and the high murder rate, which affected me, but I didn’t wanna rap about that shit. For me, hip-hop was like how it was for motherfuckers in the Bronx, like Ultramagnetic MCs. I done talked to Kool Keith, and he was like, “You might come home and see a hand in the mailbox, or your next-door neighbor might have a gorilla in this house.” Just wild shit. Because if you’ve got dope money, you might be trying to floss, maybe you might get a tiger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ultramag, they’re trying to escape that shit. They’re like, “Man, why I wanna rap about gangster shit? I don’t wanna rap about that shit.” So, that’s how I was. It did affect me, but hip-hop gave me a vehicle to escape it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"a red pagoda in a park, with victorian houses in the background\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.Square.NoLP_.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The pagoda at Chinese Garden Park in Oakland, where the ‘No Need for Alarm’ cover photo was shot. Photographer Carl Posey recalls of the location: “The idea was to take people out of their typical element, and try something different.” \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The album cover was shot by Carl Posey. The pagoda, you know, I love all kind of different cultures, and that just spoke to me, the structure and how it looked. Maybe since I was into anime and shit, martial arts, that might’ve had a slight thing to do with it too. But I just like Chinatown too, you feel me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We shot at the pagoda, then I picked this other spot that’s an underpass over by Lake Merritt, by the college. These are places that I liked to go to at night, because I was like, a street kid. I might not have had a place to go sometimes, so I’d just be out at night, tripping or whatever, in some of the places that I like to be at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We did a comic book design for the cover. That was my idea. I was into Marvel and DC, but I was also heavy into underground comics. Vaughn Bodē, Mark Bodē, \u003cem>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\u003c/em>, all that shit was starting to come out and really bust the bubble. I did the lettering too. I’m a visual artist first and foremost, so I already had an artistic vision. Elektra was just gracious enough to let me go with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"a man in a bucket hat sitting in a concrete culvert holds his hands out toward the camera\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Del.PressPhoto.93.800.72dpi-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del the Funky Homosapien in Oakland, in 1993, in a publicity photo for ‘No Need for Alarm.’ ‘I think, looking back, Cube feels like, ‘Okay, you really did your thing. You didn’t try to ride my coattails. You did your thing and you became successful for that.’ I think he respects that now.’ \u003ccite>(Carl Posey / Elektra Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Man, I wish I still had that boombox I’m holding on the cover. I’d be playing all the classics on it. I was a huge Gang Starr fan. Ultramag, Erick Sermon, Jungle Brothers, De La, KMD, Brand Nubian. I also might be fucking with some dub, too, some King Tubby or Scratch Perry. I’d listen to dancehall too, and a bit of punk rock, like Black Flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was 20 when I recorded \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>. I’m 50 now. I don’t feel 50, because I don’t drive. I skate everywhere. In certain ways I feel my age because of some of the injuries I’ve had, like when I was with the Gorillaz, I had a real bad injury, fell off the stage, damn near killed myself. But I don’t feel like I look hella old, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hip-hop is 50 now, too, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s so far removed from where it was. The essence of it is so far removed from where kids is at now. I’m not saying that don’t nobody care about it, because a lot of kids do care about it, and they try to research the shit and figure it out. It speaks to them. But it’s been commercialized to the point where it’s been milked down by corporate society, motherfuckers feasting on shit, just wearing it into the ground. That’s the sad situation of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not trying to sound hella dark or nothing, because I do got a lot of hope in the shit. There’s been new movements within hip-hop that took it somewhere else, that maybe a lot of old heads might not really fuck with. But I feel, overall, just the corporate rule, always, that’s what it is — “We trying to make money off this.” Ain’t really no concern about the culture or people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for \u003cem>No Need for Alarm\u003c/em>, I’m just glad people still fuck with it, 30 years later. One love to all the supporters and all the fans. I love you all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-800x60.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "frisco-daze-san-francisco-rap-album",
"title": "‘Frisco Daze’ Puts on a New Generation of San Francisco Rap",
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"headTitle": "‘Frisco Daze’ Puts on a New Generation of San Francisco Rap | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>At a recent Friday night function just blocks from the Salesforce Tower, there isn’t a Patagonia vest in sight. The evening’s unofficial dress code is orange and black: Giants gear, Jordans, hoops and long lashes. Bass frequencies pump through the speakers, camera phones light up and braids start flying as the room erupts in dance — not the typical vibe of a bar nestled between corporate offices in San Francisco’s Financial District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With gentrification, there are a lot of things that don’t feel like they’re for us,” says Antonio Murcia, a.k.a. DeLaCity, between greeting groups of smiling attendees. “We wanted to create something for the San Francisco natives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3711643683/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That something is the new album \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friscodaze415/\">\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, a rap compilation featuring 30 up-and-coming artists all born and raised in the City. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/delacity/\">DeLaCity\u003c/a>, who runs a clothing brand of the same name, executive-produced \u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em> with rapper-turned-engineer Mix (Martin Encinas Leon) and DJSay (Von Parker). The three are longtime friends and collaborators: DeLaCity and DJSay co-founded the party crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/saucefamcollective/\">Sauce Fam Collective\u003c/a> with Chase Collins, and DJSay is also a member of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/familynotagroup__/\">Family Not a Group\u003c/a> (FNG), a squad of San Francisco DJs and rappers, 17 members deep. [aside postid='arts_13910221']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to this type of teamwork, San Francisco natives have been making their presence known in a transplant-heavy city where tech is king. Their efforts are clearly resonating: Family Not a Group regularly packs out venues like El Rio and Curio Bar. SOMArts’ acclaimed, recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926133/muni-raised-me-somarts-san-francisco\">\u003ci>Muni Raised Me\u003c/i> exhibition\u003c/a> — which included art by several FNG and Sauce Fam affiliates — uplifted the stories of working-class, Black, Brown and immigrant San Francisco. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/larry-june-the-alchemist-the-great-escape.html\">Larry June’s national success\u003c/a> is putting a spotlight back on Frisco rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/ORy0slIG-yQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> is just the latest development in this cresting wave of creative momentum. City kids are tired of their voices being drowned out, and they have something to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my big mission to highlight the art and culture scene in San Francisco because we were very deprived of that, like before COVID and during COVID,” says DJSay. “And that was the push to be collaborative because — knowing what you’re up against, especially in San Francisco, given the price of rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Produced entirely by Adeyemi, \u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> is pure windows-down party music with a signature, Bay Area slap. DJSay, Mix and DeLaCity conceived its 14 tracks as a journey through a perfect San Francisco day. “Rollin’ Up at Bernal,” which samples Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On (The Dock of the Bay),” shows Professa Gabel, DinaRo, Serg2x, Ozer, Monk HTS and Made.by.Harry trading bars at a smoke spot with a view. “High Speeds N Heem” by OBN Emony and Allmothug is a perfect soundtrack for the corner store run before the house party. “Azul (DemSco)” pays homage to Dominican dembow and San Francisco’s Latin party scene, with verses from JaaayStayTru, Lirico en la Casa and Frisco Baby, whose double-time, bilingual bars sound like they could catch fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/g9QTeGv3QKU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em>’s three executive producers are all in their late 20s and early 30s, and the featured artists range from 18–44 years old. And with samples from San Francisco 1970s Latin soul legends Malo, and the city’s ’90s underground icons like Cold World Hustlers and Paris, “the Black Panther of hip-hop,” the project has an intergenerational appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> might not be conscious rap in terms of lyrical content, but it embodies an activist mission. The album’s three executive producers and many of its artists devote themselves to community work. By day, DeLaCity is a services coordinator at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ifrsf.org/rtp?locale=en\">Roadmap to Peace\u003c/a>, a Mission-based Latinx violence prevention initiative. DJSay volunteers with \u003ca href=\"https://www.us4usbayarea.org/\">Us4Us\u003c/a>, an organization with similar goals in Bayview/Hunters Point. And Mix — proudly the first member of his family to go to college — mentors youth at two educational initiatives, the \u003ca href=\"https://thesmartprogram.org/\">SMART Program\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://devmission.org/\">Dev/Mission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927635\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-800x585.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man and two young Latino men make an announcement behind DJ gear at a party. \" width=\"800\" height=\"585\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-800x585.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-1020x746.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-768x561.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-1536x1123.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945.jpg 1640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJSay, Mix and DeLaCity (left to right) executive produced ‘Frisco Daze.’ \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In other words, DeLaCity, DJSay and Mix don’t just make music about their love for their city — they live it. One of their goals is to inspire San Francisco unity across neighborhoods and cultures. After all, that hasn’t always been the case in the Sucka Free City. In the late ’80s, a neighborhood \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-black-c-from-rbl-p-81d5909efdd8\">beef between Sunnydale and the Fillmore\u003c/a> resulted in violence. A peaceful period followed when Frisco rap rose to national prominence in the early ’90s, following the success of RBL Posse, I.M.P., Messy Marv and JT the Bigga Figga. But too often, tragedy and incarceration \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/For-S-F-rappers-another-dream-deferred-2560404.php\">derailed the careers of San Francisco’s biggest stars\u003c/a>, and Oakland and Vallejo emerged as more prominent powerhouses of Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco’s biggest problem was that we were always competing against each other, competing for the same space,” says Mix. “And, basically, we were our own worst enemy. And I think what we’re seeing today — and not just with us, but different collectives, different artists, different organizations — we are seeing the result of the mindset changing in the City, and different neighborhoods having peace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927636\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-800x1066.jpg\" alt=\"Three young women with matching pink and white Frisco Daze shirts, denim shorts, braids and hoop earrings pose for a photo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-800x1066.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">R&B group In Tha Moment contributed vocals and did the skits on ‘Frisco Daze.’ \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the guidance of mentors like beloved Us4Us founder and \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/01/uncle-damien-in-action/\">activist Uncle Damien\u003c/a>, who blesses \u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em> on the intro, the next generation is growing up with a different message. “When we were in high school, we had \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/S-F-gang-injunction-zone-controversial-3264233.php\">the gang injunction stuff\u003c/a> going on in the City, and the harsh sentencing that was happening with the D.A. [Kamala Harris] at the time — all of these things impacted a generation,” says Mix. “And now that people are coming out of jail, and people have suffered through so much, they don’t want to repeat that cycle. And it’s being expressed through the music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396.jpg 1870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alien Mac Kitty (right) goes dumb to ‘Late Night Hype,’ her ‘Frisco Daze’ track with EaSWay, Afterthought and Real KMS. \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That grassroots push for Frisco unity is picking up momentum just in time for 415 Day on April 15. The \u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> crew is getting ready to celebrate the album with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq3OArMJE8g/\">415 Daze Fest\u003c/a>, with live performances and vendors at Monarch Gardens, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CqmFmYDJSPg/\">415 Nights\u003c/a> at ArenaSF, the official release party with a headlining performance from Young Bari.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, already, the project is resonating. “Me and Antonio go out on random nights and just have a big ol’ speaker playing the music to see the feedback. People bobbing their heads, asking, ‘What song is that?’ is such a great feeling,” says DJSay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some O.G. that rides a chopper came up,” DeLaCity says, “this gangster-ass dude, was like, ‘What’s that song right there?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-800x60.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq3OArMJE8g/\">415 Daze Fest\u003c/a> takes place on April 15, 1-7 p.m., at Monarch Gardens, with food, vendors and performances by Stunnaman02, Allmothug, OBN Emony, Frisco Baby, In tha Moment and more. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Family Not a Group presents \u003ca href=\"https://tockify.com/elriosf2/detail/3089/1681596000000\">It’s a 415 Day Function at El Rio\u003c/a> on April 15, 3-8 p.m. with performances by Stunnaman02, Alien Mac Kitty, Grand-O, Sutro, Afterthought and Professa Gabel. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CqmFmYDJSPg/\">415 Nights\u003c/a>, the Frisco Daze release party, takes place April 15 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. at ArenaSF, with music by Young Bari, Zo Rosales, Sean G, DJSay, West Carolina and TheCityKid.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At a recent Friday night function just blocks from the Salesforce Tower, there isn’t a Patagonia vest in sight. The evening’s unofficial dress code is orange and black: Giants gear, Jordans, hoops and long lashes. Bass frequencies pump through the speakers, camera phones light up and braids start flying as the room erupts in dance — not the typical vibe of a bar nestled between corporate offices in San Francisco’s Financial District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With gentrification, there are a lot of things that don’t feel like they’re for us,” says Antonio Murcia, a.k.a. DeLaCity, between greeting groups of smiling attendees. “We wanted to create something for the San Francisco natives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3711643683/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That something is the new album \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friscodaze415/\">\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, a rap compilation featuring 30 up-and-coming artists all born and raised in the City. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/delacity/\">DeLaCity\u003c/a>, who runs a clothing brand of the same name, executive-produced \u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em> with rapper-turned-engineer Mix (Martin Encinas Leon) and DJSay (Von Parker). The three are longtime friends and collaborators: DeLaCity and DJSay co-founded the party crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/saucefamcollective/\">Sauce Fam Collective\u003c/a> with Chase Collins, and DJSay is also a member of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/familynotagroup__/\">Family Not a Group\u003c/a> (FNG), a squad of San Francisco DJs and rappers, 17 members deep. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to this type of teamwork, San Francisco natives have been making their presence known in a transplant-heavy city where tech is king. Their efforts are clearly resonating: Family Not a Group regularly packs out venues like El Rio and Curio Bar. SOMArts’ acclaimed, recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926133/muni-raised-me-somarts-san-francisco\">\u003ci>Muni Raised Me\u003c/i> exhibition\u003c/a> — which included art by several FNG and Sauce Fam affiliates — uplifted the stories of working-class, Black, Brown and immigrant San Francisco. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/larry-june-the-alchemist-the-great-escape.html\">Larry June’s national success\u003c/a> is putting a spotlight back on Frisco rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ORy0slIG-yQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ORy0slIG-yQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> is just the latest development in this cresting wave of creative momentum. City kids are tired of their voices being drowned out, and they have something to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my big mission to highlight the art and culture scene in San Francisco because we were very deprived of that, like before COVID and during COVID,” says DJSay. “And that was the push to be collaborative because — knowing what you’re up against, especially in San Francisco, given the price of rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Produced entirely by Adeyemi, \u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> is pure windows-down party music with a signature, Bay Area slap. DJSay, Mix and DeLaCity conceived its 14 tracks as a journey through a perfect San Francisco day. “Rollin’ Up at Bernal,” which samples Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On (The Dock of the Bay),” shows Professa Gabel, DinaRo, Serg2x, Ozer, Monk HTS and Made.by.Harry trading bars at a smoke spot with a view. “High Speeds N Heem” by OBN Emony and Allmothug is a perfect soundtrack for the corner store run before the house party. “Azul (DemSco)” pays homage to Dominican dembow and San Francisco’s Latin party scene, with verses from JaaayStayTru, Lirico en la Casa and Frisco Baby, whose double-time, bilingual bars sound like they could catch fire.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/g9QTeGv3QKU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/g9QTeGv3QKU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em>’s three executive producers are all in their late 20s and early 30s, and the featured artists range from 18–44 years old. And with samples from San Francisco 1970s Latin soul legends Malo, and the city’s ’90s underground icons like Cold World Hustlers and Paris, “the Black Panther of hip-hop,” the project has an intergenerational appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> might not be conscious rap in terms of lyrical content, but it embodies an activist mission. The album’s three executive producers and many of its artists devote themselves to community work. By day, DeLaCity is a services coordinator at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ifrsf.org/rtp?locale=en\">Roadmap to Peace\u003c/a>, a Mission-based Latinx violence prevention initiative. DJSay volunteers with \u003ca href=\"https://www.us4usbayarea.org/\">Us4Us\u003c/a>, an organization with similar goals in Bayview/Hunters Point. And Mix — proudly the first member of his family to go to college — mentors youth at two educational initiatives, the \u003ca href=\"https://thesmartprogram.org/\">SMART Program\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://devmission.org/\">Dev/Mission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927635\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927635\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-800x585.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man and two young Latino men make an announcement behind DJ gear at a party. \" width=\"800\" height=\"585\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-800x585.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-1020x746.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-768x561.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945-1536x1123.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-53-02-945.jpg 1640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJSay, Mix and DeLaCity (left to right) executive produced ‘Frisco Daze.’ \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In other words, DeLaCity, DJSay and Mix don’t just make music about their love for their city — they live it. One of their goals is to inspire San Francisco unity across neighborhoods and cultures. After all, that hasn’t always been the case in the Sucka Free City. In the late ’80s, a neighborhood \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-black-c-from-rbl-p-81d5909efdd8\">beef between Sunnydale and the Fillmore\u003c/a> resulted in violence. A peaceful period followed when Frisco rap rose to national prominence in the early ’90s, following the success of RBL Posse, I.M.P., Messy Marv and JT the Bigga Figga. But too often, tragedy and incarceration \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/For-S-F-rappers-another-dream-deferred-2560404.php\">derailed the careers of San Francisco’s biggest stars\u003c/a>, and Oakland and Vallejo emerged as more prominent powerhouses of Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco’s biggest problem was that we were always competing against each other, competing for the same space,” says Mix. “And, basically, we were our own worst enemy. And I think what we’re seeing today — and not just with us, but different collectives, different artists, different organizations — we are seeing the result of the mindset changing in the City, and different neighborhoods having peace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927636\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927636\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-800x1066.jpg\" alt=\"Three young women with matching pink and white Frisco Daze shirts, denim shorts, braids and hoop earrings pose for a photo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1066\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-800x1066.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-55-01-237.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">R&B group In Tha Moment contributed vocals and did the skits on ‘Frisco Daze.’ \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the guidance of mentors like beloved Us4Us founder and \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/01/uncle-damien-in-action/\">activist Uncle Damien\u003c/a>, who blesses \u003cem>Frisco Daze\u003c/em> on the intro, the next generation is growing up with a different message. “When we were in high school, we had \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/S-F-gang-injunction-zone-controversial-3264233.php\">the gang injunction stuff\u003c/a> going on in the City, and the harsh sentencing that was happening with the D.A. [Kamala Harris] at the time — all of these things impacted a generation,” says Mix. “And now that people are coming out of jail, and people have suffered through so much, they don’t want to repeat that cycle. And it’s being expressed through the music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Picsart_23-04-10_06-47-51-396.jpg 1870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alien Mac Kitty (right) goes dumb to ‘Late Night Hype,’ her ‘Frisco Daze’ track with EaSWay, Afterthought and Real KMS. \u003ccite>(Zeus Cano (@zeustheprestigious))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That grassroots push for Frisco unity is picking up momentum just in time for 415 Day on April 15. The \u003ci>Frisco Daze\u003c/i> crew is getting ready to celebrate the album with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq3OArMJE8g/\">415 Daze Fest\u003c/a>, with live performances and vendors at Monarch Gardens, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CqmFmYDJSPg/\">415 Nights\u003c/a> at ArenaSF, the official release party with a headlining performance from Young Bari.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, already, the project is resonating. “Me and Antonio go out on random nights and just have a big ol’ speaker playing the music to see the feedback. People bobbing their heads, asking, ‘What song is that?’ is such a great feeling,” says DJSay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some O.G. that rides a chopper came up,” DeLaCity says, “this gangster-ass dude, was like, ‘What’s that song right there?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-800x60.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq3OArMJE8g/\">415 Daze Fest\u003c/a> takes place on April 15, 1-7 p.m., at Monarch Gardens, with food, vendors and performances by Stunnaman02, Allmothug, OBN Emony, Frisco Baby, In tha Moment and more. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Family Not a Group presents \u003ca href=\"https://tockify.com/elriosf2/detail/3089/1681596000000\">It’s a 415 Day Function at El Rio\u003c/a> on April 15, 3-8 p.m. with performances by Stunnaman02, Alien Mac Kitty, Grand-O, Sutro, Afterthought and Professa Gabel. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CqmFmYDJSPg/\">415 Nights\u003c/a>, the Frisco Daze release party, takes place April 15 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. at ArenaSF, with music by Young Bari, Zo Rosales, Sean G, DJSay, West Carolina and TheCityKid.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How to Write Film Music That Stops Time",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>here’s a standout scene in \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>, Barry Jenkins’ widely acclaimed 2016 coming-of-age film, that doesn’t have the typical “pivotal moment” hallmarks of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQn_FkFElI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oscars Best Picture winner\u003c/a>. There’s not a big speech. Not a lot really happens, even.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scene in which Juan (Mahershala Ali) teaches Little (Alex Hibbert) how to swim is rich text for other reasons. There’s the painterly light, athletic camera work. The symbolism is somehow both striking and understated — a rare glimpse of Black masculinity as a nurturing force, as well as what Jenkins has called a “spiritual transference” between these two characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the music. Bright, anxious violins pick up speed as the figurative baptism progresses; over the course of a two-minute piece, composer Nicholas Britell’s score reflects the beauty and danger of the ocean, as well as the complex sea of emotions in our young protagonist: determination, hope and fear. I dare you to find me someone who didn’t sit in the movie theater holding their breath for the entire scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6yMItXePG8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the seven years since \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>’s release, with films like \u003cem>If Beale Street Could Talk\u003c/em> and the limited series \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, the partnership between Jenkins and Britell has produced numerous breathtaking moments like this. Jenkins tells stories of Black America, consistently turning an artful, unflinching eye on protagonists who are limited or literally trapped by injustice, by poverty and incarceration. And while Jenkins’ writing and direction are deeply empathetic, it’s often Britell’s scores — soaring, evocative works that apply R&B and hip-hop production techniques to classical music — that grant these characters their full humanity, reminding us that even people living in the most tragic of circumstances experience a vast range of emotion, including love and yearning along with anguish.[aside postid='forum_2010101892493']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A horn line swells, and we remember — oh, right. Every single person I meet has an entire universe of pain and beauty and unfulfilled dreams swirling inside them at all times. And then we weep uncontrollably into our popcorn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Britell, a classically trained pianist, has been a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/About-SFS/Collaborative-Partners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">collaborative partner\u003c/a>” with the San Francisco Symphony since 2018. But his April 14–15 events with Jenkins at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soundbox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SoundBox\u003c/a>, with Symphony musicians performing works from \u003cem>Moonlight,\u003c/em> \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, will present his most personal collaboration yet with the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Emma Silvers: Barry, your projects have always shown a love of music, even going back to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/24154/medicine_for_melancholy\">\u003cem>Medicine for Melancholy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Can you talk about where music lives in your writing process? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> Music has always been part of it. I mean, I’ve always been surrounded by music — I grew up in a household where, even though we were so extremely poor, there was always music playing. Or I would go to the flea market and get tapes — and this is terrible as someone who now makes a living from copywritten material — but people would make these cassette tapes with all these different songs on them, and you could get a tape for like five bucks, as opposed to an album, which cost 15 or 20 bucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13844783']And I’ve always listened to music while I write. When I first got to college and started pursuing creative writing and working on film, I would go to this café to work. And between coffee, wine and music, I found that I could slip into a place where I could translate the feeling of what was happening in the scene in my head to the page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was also when I was discovering the filmmakers who became foundational to my idea of what cinema was, people like Claire Denis and Wong Kar-wai, and they used music in a very open, very clear way. In film school, I was taught music is meant to be in the background of a film, which is kind of making it elevator music. So I was like, \u003cem>No, no, no:\u003c/em> I’ve seen films where you can use this combination of sound and images and score to really elevate what the character was feeling. That’s the place it’s always had for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927608\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927608\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"a black and white photo of a young Black man in a dark collared shirt with glasses, smiling at the camera \" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-2048x1358.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1920x1273.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barry Jenkins’ San Francisco-set debut feature, ‘Medicine for Melancholy,’ will be released by The Criterion Collection in June, with new commentary from the filmmaker. \u003ccite>(Matt Morris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’ve both spoken about not wanting to tell the audience how to feel, that it’s more about music that sounds the way the characters feel — kind of achieving interiority through music. Which, especially as a non-musician, seems mystical to me. Can you talk about what it looks like to get into that headspace and compose for different characters, especially people with very different lived experiences from your own?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> It can \u003cem>feel\u003c/em> mystical; I also use the word “alchemy” a lot. And so much of it is about this incredibly close collaboration, searching \u003cem>together\u003c/em> for things — I’m never working alone. Which is why it’s so special that Barry and I are doing this show; we get into this stream of consciousness when we’re in the room together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em>, for example, Barry said “I’m hearing brass and horns.” So I started thinking about the scene where Tish and Fonny have finally been able to rent that apartment, and they’re in the street and they start shouting to the sky with joy. I think a lot about shapes. I feel that the shapes of things in music actually affect us all in similar ways. So, OK, I want the music to go upward — to shout to the sky. Well, what if it’s a trumpet shouting to the sky? And then I start doing experiments with brass, French horns, clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, and I kind of go off into the wilderness and try things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through experimenting together, we realized it was missing cellos. Like, \u003cem>oh, the cellos are the feeling of love.\u003c/em> And all of a sudden, if I take the chords that I was playing with brass but the cellos play them, everything feels different. It’s never, oh, what key signature is this, or what type of chord is this. It ultimately always comes back to feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmK71ZfaZO4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audiences have these incredibly poignant, personal responses to these scores, where the music seems to help them access complicated feelings about their own lives. Have you seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWQ7neoBhCE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the comments\u003c/a> on “Agape” on YouTube?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> They’re nuts. (Laughs.) Nuts! Way more people have listened to that piece than have even heard of this film. Way more people are going to hear that song than will ever watch \u003cem>If Beale Street Could Talk\u003c/em>. And I remember being there at the moment of its creation, in this really diligent but simple process of chasing what that moment felt like, both within the film and within the characters’ lives. It’s this very aspirational moment, when Tish is at her most hopeful, like everything is on the table for this family. And Nick just did this thing where he had the song keep reaching \u003cem>up and up and up\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Barry Jenkins\"]‘[James] Baldwin was … bottling this nuclear atom of the hopes, the aspirations, the yearning, the melancholy of Black life in America. And Nick somehow found a way to get in there and really translate that into music.’[/pullquote]But the way that piece of music connects with people, and this is me saying this, not Nick — these are Black films and this is Black music. It really is. And it’s amazing to me there are white people all over the world, we’ve seen this on Instagram, who walk down the aisle to this piece of music. I say it’s Black music because what Mr. Baldwin was writing, and what Regina and Stephan and KiKi are doing in that sequence, is bottling this nuclear atom of the hopes, the aspirations, the yearning, the melancholy of Black life in America. And Nick somehow found a way to get in there and really translate that into music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I get a little tipsy and I go read those comments on YouTube, I see that the whole journey of making that film, even if people only accessed it through hearing this one song, would have been worth it. Because the way people respond to the feeling of that music … I mean, sometimes it knocks me down. If you want to know the power, the effect, the legitimate movement that a piece of score can create, go look up that thing on YouTube and the things that complete strangers — who have no skin in the game on how successful this film is or isn’t! — and they’re just pouring themselves out about what this piece of music means to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927605\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a young white man with light brown hair in a black button-down shirt and glasses looks down away from the camera\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicholas Britell’s other scores include collaborations with director Adam McKay, including ‘The Big Short’ and ‘Don’t Look Up,’ as well as the HBO show ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Emma McIntyre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> I’ll just add that the music that I write with Barry is unlike anything else that I write. In some ways, I think Barry lets me tap into different emotions, and there are certain feelings that I think we are both drawn to. And I get to figure out: what is the sound of that? So much of what we do is experimentation — Barry will like a kernel of something, so we follow that, but we don’t know where we’re going. Just that when we’re there, we’ll know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> were both so rooted in Miami and New York, respectively, the cities where they took place. But \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> takes us to so many different locations, and then also has surreal elements. How do you find the sound for something of that scope, especially without the anchor of a specific, singular time or place?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13897166']\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> The scale and scope and difficulty of \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> was unlike anything I’d ever done. I remember Barry saying to me, you know, each state is a different state of mind for Cora — and we thought of it almost like different planets. Because that journey is unlike \u003cem>anything\u003c/em>. As a comparison, it’s not \u003cem>Succession,\u003c/em> where, from episode 1 to 2, we’re probably in New York City, probably in the Roy family. This is like we’re in a different \u003cem>universe\u003c/em>. We’re in a different dimension, possibly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the sonic experimentation, just the amount that we were going to push… we look at \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>, where there was the idea of using \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/features/4040\">chopped and screwed\u003c/a> as a technique, or in \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em>, where we’re taking the sounds of love and harming them so they’re broken and they become a sound of injustice. On \u003cem>Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, it was times 100. How do we push things to feel beyond what we can even imagine?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, what is the architecture? Because if you establish a musical idea at the very beginning of a film, part of the beauty, hopefully, is that if it comes back later, you have a memory of having felt it — even just subconsciously. So multiplying that across 10 episodes, when do we echo back? I remember showing Barry some new ideas at one point, and he was like, ‘You know what? No new ideas. We’re done.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUIo56q-Qw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> was definitely less of a literal journey, but to me it was also a much more clear emotional one: every state is different, because Cora’s mental state has shifted in addition to the setting. What Nick said about planets — I love that because different planets have different atmospheres, and these soundscapes are like those atmospheres. Venus is not like Mars, you know, it’s got to be completely different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we’re also responding to the world around us. [At one point during production] Nick and Caitlin, his wife, who’s a cellist, had moved out to L.A., and Nick, do you remember Caitlin took up this hobby of birdwatching?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell: \u003c/strong>She’s still doing it. She’s an avid birder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> She had all these feeders around, so there were these hummingbirds always around the studio. And I was thinking the other day, Nick, about the track “Fireflies.” And there’s a harp that’s played really fast, and to me, that’s the hummingbird wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927602\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927602\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a crowd of people sits watching classical musicians perform in a dark club-like space with large artworks projected onto the walls and ceiling\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘SoundBox: Modern Sanctuary,’ conducted by Edwin Outwater in February 2020. \u003ccite>(Mike Grittani/Grittani Creative)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do you want people to know going into these SoundBox shows?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> These performances are something Barry and I have never really done. While we’ve played \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em> live to picture before with orchestras, we have never actually performed in the authentic forms of the film with the original orchestrations. This is something we’ve been talking about since these were first written — like, how could we do this? \u003cem>Can\u003c/em> we do this? Because, for example, \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> is as much an orchestration exercise, with these different instrument colors, as it is about these very special reverbs at times, where you hear the sounds sort of floating and soaring and swirling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins: \u003c/strong>We have heard stories about the reverb quality of SoundBox and we are hoping to put it through its paces. We’ve heard it’s legit. And the cats that work there are out to prove to us that it’s legit, so we’re pushing the boundaries with this concert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll also say — I moved to the Bay at a time in my life when I was incredibly down on myself, and I went through some ups and downs there. And I’d walk past the Symphony all the time, and I just never thought … There are going to be images of Black folks projected all throughout this show. These folks are going to be playing music that I think organically reflects the experience of Black people. And I just never, never thought there was a world in which that would ever happen. It’s gonna be very cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘SoundBox: In Conversation With Nicholas Britell and Barry Jenkins’ takes place at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15 at the San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox (300 Franklin St., San Francisco). Tickets start at $99; \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/SBX-NicholasBritell\">details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>here’s a standout scene in \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>, Barry Jenkins’ widely acclaimed 2016 coming-of-age film, that doesn’t have the typical “pivotal moment” hallmarks of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQn_FkFElI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oscars Best Picture winner\u003c/a>. There’s not a big speech. Not a lot really happens, even.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scene in which Juan (Mahershala Ali) teaches Little (Alex Hibbert) how to swim is rich text for other reasons. There’s the painterly light, athletic camera work. The symbolism is somehow both striking and understated — a rare glimpse of Black masculinity as a nurturing force, as well as what Jenkins has called a “spiritual transference” between these two characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the music. Bright, anxious violins pick up speed as the figurative baptism progresses; over the course of a two-minute piece, composer Nicholas Britell’s score reflects the beauty and danger of the ocean, as well as the complex sea of emotions in our young protagonist: determination, hope and fear. I dare you to find me someone who didn’t sit in the movie theater holding their breath for the entire scene.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/z6yMItXePG8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/z6yMItXePG8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In the seven years since \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>’s release, with films like \u003cem>If Beale Street Could Talk\u003c/em> and the limited series \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, the partnership between Jenkins and Britell has produced numerous breathtaking moments like this. Jenkins tells stories of Black America, consistently turning an artful, unflinching eye on protagonists who are limited or literally trapped by injustice, by poverty and incarceration. And while Jenkins’ writing and direction are deeply empathetic, it’s often Britell’s scores — soaring, evocative works that apply R&B and hip-hop production techniques to classical music — that grant these characters their full humanity, reminding us that even people living in the most tragic of circumstances experience a vast range of emotion, including love and yearning along with anguish.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A horn line swells, and we remember — oh, right. Every single person I meet has an entire universe of pain and beauty and unfulfilled dreams swirling inside them at all times. And then we weep uncontrollably into our popcorn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Britell, a classically trained pianist, has been a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/About-SFS/Collaborative-Partners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">collaborative partner\u003c/a>” with the San Francisco Symphony since 2018. But his April 14–15 events with Jenkins at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/soundbox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SoundBox\u003c/a>, with Symphony musicians performing works from \u003cem>Moonlight,\u003c/em> \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, will present his most personal collaboration yet with the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Emma Silvers: Barry, your projects have always shown a love of music, even going back to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/24154/medicine_for_melancholy\">\u003cem>Medicine for Melancholy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Can you talk about where music lives in your writing process? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> Music has always been part of it. I mean, I’ve always been surrounded by music — I grew up in a household where, even though we were so extremely poor, there was always music playing. Or I would go to the flea market and get tapes — and this is terrible as someone who now makes a living from copywritten material — but people would make these cassette tapes with all these different songs on them, and you could get a tape for like five bucks, as opposed to an album, which cost 15 or 20 bucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>And I’ve always listened to music while I write. When I first got to college and started pursuing creative writing and working on film, I would go to this café to work. And between coffee, wine and music, I found that I could slip into a place where I could translate the feeling of what was happening in the scene in my head to the page.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was also when I was discovering the filmmakers who became foundational to my idea of what cinema was, people like Claire Denis and Wong Kar-wai, and they used music in a very open, very clear way. In film school, I was taught music is meant to be in the background of a film, which is kind of making it elevator music. So I was like, \u003cem>No, no, no:\u003c/em> I’ve seen films where you can use this combination of sound and images and score to really elevate what the character was feeling. That’s the place it’s always had for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927608\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927608\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"a black and white photo of a young Black man in a dark collared shirt with glasses, smiling at the camera \" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-2048x1358.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/3519cb71-3220-4c5f-bd61-a040847310ed-1920x1273.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barry Jenkins’ San Francisco-set debut feature, ‘Medicine for Melancholy,’ will be released by The Criterion Collection in June, with new commentary from the filmmaker. \u003ccite>(Matt Morris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’ve both spoken about not wanting to tell the audience how to feel, that it’s more about music that sounds the way the characters feel — kind of achieving interiority through music. Which, especially as a non-musician, seems mystical to me. Can you talk about what it looks like to get into that headspace and compose for different characters, especially people with very different lived experiences from your own?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> It can \u003cem>feel\u003c/em> mystical; I also use the word “alchemy” a lot. And so much of it is about this incredibly close collaboration, searching \u003cem>together\u003c/em> for things — I’m never working alone. Which is why it’s so special that Barry and I are doing this show; we get into this stream of consciousness when we’re in the room together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em>, for example, Barry said “I’m hearing brass and horns.” So I started thinking about the scene where Tish and Fonny have finally been able to rent that apartment, and they’re in the street and they start shouting to the sky with joy. I think a lot about shapes. I feel that the shapes of things in music actually affect us all in similar ways. So, OK, I want the music to go upward — to shout to the sky. Well, what if it’s a trumpet shouting to the sky? And then I start doing experiments with brass, French horns, clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, and I kind of go off into the wilderness and try things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, through experimenting together, we realized it was missing cellos. Like, \u003cem>oh, the cellos are the feeling of love.\u003c/em> And all of a sudden, if I take the chords that I was playing with brass but the cellos play them, everything feels different. It’s never, oh, what key signature is this, or what type of chord is this. It ultimately always comes back to feelings.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/mmK71ZfaZO4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mmK71ZfaZO4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audiences have these incredibly poignant, personal responses to these scores, where the music seems to help them access complicated feelings about their own lives. Have you seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWQ7neoBhCE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the comments\u003c/a> on “Agape” on YouTube?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> They’re nuts. (Laughs.) Nuts! Way more people have listened to that piece than have even heard of this film. Way more people are going to hear that song than will ever watch \u003cem>If Beale Street Could Talk\u003c/em>. And I remember being there at the moment of its creation, in this really diligent but simple process of chasing what that moment felt like, both within the film and within the characters’ lives. It’s this very aspirational moment, when Tish is at her most hopeful, like everything is on the table for this family. And Nick just did this thing where he had the song keep reaching \u003cem>up and up and up\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘[James] Baldwin was … bottling this nuclear atom of the hopes, the aspirations, the yearning, the melancholy of Black life in America. And Nick somehow found a way to get in there and really translate that into music.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the way that piece of music connects with people, and this is me saying this, not Nick — these are Black films and this is Black music. It really is. And it’s amazing to me there are white people all over the world, we’ve seen this on Instagram, who walk down the aisle to this piece of music. I say it’s Black music because what Mr. Baldwin was writing, and what Regina and Stephan and KiKi are doing in that sequence, is bottling this nuclear atom of the hopes, the aspirations, the yearning, the melancholy of Black life in America. And Nick somehow found a way to get in there and really translate that into music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I get a little tipsy and I go read those comments on YouTube, I see that the whole journey of making that film, even if people only accessed it through hearing this one song, would have been worth it. Because the way people respond to the feeling of that music … I mean, sometimes it knocks me down. If you want to know the power, the effect, the legitimate movement that a piece of score can create, go look up that thing on YouTube and the things that complete strangers — who have no skin in the game on how successful this film is or isn’t! — and they’re just pouring themselves out about what this piece of music means to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927605\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a young white man with light brown hair in a black button-down shirt and glasses looks down away from the camera\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/image0-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicholas Britell’s other scores include collaborations with director Adam McKay, including ‘The Big Short’ and ‘Don’t Look Up,’ as well as the HBO show ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Emma McIntyre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> I’ll just add that the music that I write with Barry is unlike anything else that I write. In some ways, I think Barry lets me tap into different emotions, and there are certain feelings that I think we are both drawn to. And I get to figure out: what is the sound of that? So much of what we do is experimentation — Barry will like a kernel of something, so we follow that, but we don’t know where we’re going. Just that when we’re there, we’ll know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> were both so rooted in Miami and New York, respectively, the cities where they took place. But \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> takes us to so many different locations, and then also has surreal elements. How do you find the sound for something of that scope, especially without the anchor of a specific, singular time or place?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> The scale and scope and difficulty of \u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> was unlike anything I’d ever done. I remember Barry saying to me, you know, each state is a different state of mind for Cora — and we thought of it almost like different planets. Because that journey is unlike \u003cem>anything\u003c/em>. As a comparison, it’s not \u003cem>Succession,\u003c/em> where, from episode 1 to 2, we’re probably in New York City, probably in the Roy family. This is like we’re in a different \u003cem>universe\u003c/em>. We’re in a different dimension, possibly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the sonic experimentation, just the amount that we were going to push… we look at \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em>, where there was the idea of using \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/features/4040\">chopped and screwed\u003c/a> as a technique, or in \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em>, where we’re taking the sounds of love and harming them so they’re broken and they become a sound of injustice. On \u003cem>Underground Railroad\u003c/em>, it was times 100. How do we push things to feel beyond what we can even imagine?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, what is the architecture? Because if you establish a musical idea at the very beginning of a film, part of the beauty, hopefully, is that if it comes back later, you have a memory of having felt it — even just subconsciously. So multiplying that across 10 episodes, when do we echo back? I remember showing Barry some new ideas at one point, and he was like, ‘You know what? No new ideas. We’re done.’\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-sUIo56q-Qw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-sUIo56q-Qw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>The Underground Railroad\u003c/em> was definitely less of a literal journey, but to me it was also a much more clear emotional one: every state is different, because Cora’s mental state has shifted in addition to the setting. What Nick said about planets — I love that because different planets have different atmospheres, and these soundscapes are like those atmospheres. Venus is not like Mars, you know, it’s got to be completely different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we’re also responding to the world around us. [At one point during production] Nick and Caitlin, his wife, who’s a cellist, had moved out to L.A., and Nick, do you remember Caitlin took up this hobby of birdwatching?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell: \u003c/strong>She’s still doing it. She’s an avid birder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins:\u003c/strong> She had all these feeders around, so there were these hummingbirds always around the studio. And I was thinking the other day, Nick, about the track “Fireflies.” And there’s a harp that’s played really fast, and to me, that’s the hummingbird wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927602\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927602\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a crowd of people sits watching classical musicians perform in a dark club-like space with large artworks projected onto the walls and ceiling\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DSC09282-grittani-creative-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘SoundBox: Modern Sanctuary,’ conducted by Edwin Outwater in February 2020. \u003ccite>(Mike Grittani/Grittani Creative)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do you want people to know going into these SoundBox shows?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nicholas Britell:\u003c/strong> These performances are something Barry and I have never really done. While we’ve played \u003cem>Moonlight\u003c/em> live to picture before with orchestras, we have never actually performed in the authentic forms of the film with the original orchestrations. This is something we’ve been talking about since these were first written — like, how could we do this? \u003cem>Can\u003c/em> we do this? Because, for example, \u003cem>Beale Street\u003c/em> is as much an orchestration exercise, with these different instrument colors, as it is about these very special reverbs at times, where you hear the sounds sort of floating and soaring and swirling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barry Jenkins: \u003c/strong>We have heard stories about the reverb quality of SoundBox and we are hoping to put it through its paces. We’ve heard it’s legit. And the cats that work there are out to prove to us that it’s legit, so we’re pushing the boundaries with this concert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll also say — I moved to the Bay at a time in my life when I was incredibly down on myself, and I went through some ups and downs there. And I’d walk past the Symphony all the time, and I just never thought … There are going to be images of Black folks projected all throughout this show. These folks are going to be playing music that I think organically reflects the experience of Black people. And I just never, never thought there was a world in which that would ever happen. It’s gonna be very cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘SoundBox: In Conversation With Nicholas Britell and Barry Jenkins’ takes place at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15 at the San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox (300 Franklin St., San Francisco). Tickets start at $99; \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/SBX-NicholasBritell\">details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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She is wearing pink headphones, gold hoop earrings and a leopard print jacket.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1243\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-800x1243.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-1020x1584.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-160x249.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-768x1193.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-989x1536.jpg 989w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917-1318x2048.jpg 1318w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/bird1_custom-2e5973a79650e4beb40d736197b63dae9dcb1917.jpg 1648w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The book cover of ‘This Bird Has Flown’ by Susanna Hoffs. \u003ccite>(Little, Brown & Company)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jane Start’s life is all over the place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The musician was once a star, albeit a brief one — she scored a hit single with “Can’t You See I Want You,” a cover of a song by a pop star named Jonesy. But in the 10 years that have passed since then, our hero has taken a fall: “I was living with my parents again, which at thirty-three was a demoralizing last resort,” she says, bemoaning her new life with all of her possessions in four garbage bags, sitting near her “sagging twin bed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jane is the charming, funny, but unlucky protagonist of \u003cem>This Bird Has Flown\u003c/em>, the debut novel from Susanna Hoffs, the singer and guitarist who rose to fame with the Bangles in the 1980s. It’s a smart romantic comedy that proves that Hoffs’ immense writing talent isn’t just confined to songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926136']As the novel opens, Jane is preparing for a gig in Las Vegas. She’s not exactly thrilled to be playing a private party, but she chooses to look at the bright side: “The pay tonight would mean a deposit on an apartment, and a few months’ rent, a chance to make another artsy record, even if no one bothered to listen to it. It would matter to me. If I could ever write another song again, that is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She shows up for the performance “wearing a tiny scrap of fabric posing as a dress, half-hidden beneath my ex-boyfriend’s vintage cardigan, the one possession I’d pinched, for sentimental reasons, when he’d left me for a twenty-three-year-old lingerie model. Two months ago.” Her longtime friend and manager, Pippa, has some bad news for her: She’s only going to play one song (her sole hit) to the audience full of “rowdy frat-bro types,” and it will be accompanied by a karaoke track. And she’s expected to sing in a hot pink wig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the show, Pippa insists that Jane fly to London with her, a chance to regroup and write some new songs. Pippa ends up unable to make the flight, which turns out to be a bit of kismet — Jane finds herself seated next to an Oxford literature professor named Tom Hardy. The two chat about books and music over the course of the long flight and Jane, unable to resist the handsome academic, impulsively kisses him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13925644']Jane spends several days in London, pining for the one she thinks might have gotten away, until she finally gets a text message from him, asking her to visit him in Oxford. She does, and the two hit it off — so much so that she essentially moves in with him, accompanying him to events at his university, and befriending some of his colleagues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also gets some exciting career news: Jonesy, the author of her one hit, wants her to play with him at a special show at Royal Albert Hall. Jane isn’t sure she wants to go through with it; she’s been afflicted with stage fright for most of her career. And she’s growing used to the idea of living with her new eternal flame, far from the spotlight: “Could it be the life I wanted was the one in England, with Tom? To write, record, perform in small venues — a folk singer’s life?” But things get complicated with Tom — Jane learns that he’s got a secret, one that causes her to see him in a different light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Novels like \u003cem>This Bird Has Flown \u003c/em>succeed or fail on the strength of their protagonists, and Jane is an unforgettable one. She’s refreshingly three-dimensional, aware of her own faults, frustrated over the difficult time she has getting over her ex-boyfriend. She’s self-deprecating, but knows she’s talented; Hoffs never makes her the butt of jokes. The reader sees her as a friend, not an object of pity, which is crucial to the novel’s success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom, too, is a fully fleshed character, not the kind of stock love interest that Hugh Grant might have played in a 1990s movie. The relationship between the two is unforced and natural, and their dialogue together never descends into the too-cute-by-half banter that sometimes marks contemporary love stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926190']This novel is a comedy, and Hoffs is a tremendously funny author; she writes with an amused gentleness that syncs perfectly with Jane’s frenetic, somewhat anxious personality. And she nails the setting — London and Oxford turn into characters in the story, and Hoffs writes about them with real affection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This Bird Has Flown\u003c/em> is a love story, a sweet and tender romance, but not just one between Jane and Tom — it’s Hoffs’ valentine to music. (It’s no surprise that she titled the book after a song by her beloved Beatles.) “I’d never yearned for the spotlight, only the music, only to strive to give others what music has unwaveringly given to me,” Jane thinks at one point. “An outpouring of love, of expression, of connection.” That’s just what this novel is, and it’s an absolutely beautiful outpouring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Susanna+Hoffs%27+%27This+Bird+Has+Flown%27+is+a+love+story+%E2%80%94+and+a+valentine+to+music&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"title": "SOTA Celebrates 10 Years of World Music Education With Taiko, Gamelan and More",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s been a decade since the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/asawamusic/world-music\">World Music Program\u003c/a> was founded at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and students are poised to celebrate in a big way with “Takeover X”: \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/announcements/2023-04-04-takeover-x-ruth-asawa-school-arts-world-music-celebration\">three nights of performances\u003c/a> at the school’s Don Kryston Memorial Theater, April 13–15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The production will be a far cry from the program’s humble beginnings when founder and director Monina Sen Cervone started with a single taiko drumming class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first drum was an old tire that I taped with duct tape. We had no classroom. So I was out on the tennis courts. I was out in the quad,” Cervone recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervone was tired of music education centering European classical music and wanted to offer classes that represent the diversity of cultures in San Francisco. Her efforts evolved into the school’s World Music Program in 2012 – the only public school department of its kind in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program is differentiated not only by the type of music and instruments it teaches, but by \u003ci>how\u003c/i> they are taught. “Everything that we learn is taught aurally [by] ear,” Cervone says. “And there’s a lot of, I think, assumptions made about music that’s learned in that way. It doesn’t have as much credit as classical music, and I hope that’s being changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Takeover X anniversary show will feature musical performances on Japanese taiko and Afro-Brazilian and West African drums. They’ll also highlight the Balinese gamelan, the Filipino kulintang and tinikling folk dance, and original pieces composed and choreographed by students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our 10-year anniversary, so it’s a little bit different than our normal shows. We have alumni coming back and we have some really special pieces,” says Skyler Lee, a junior. Lee performs with the all-female identifying Afro-Brazilian drum group Bateria con Fuerza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another student, senior Elliot Berry, has been going to sleep at night thinking about the songs he and his classmates will perform. “I love it so much, and it’s always on my mind,” Berry says. And he assures you won’t be able to resist the spirit of the music, either, if you check out one of their shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Audience participation is such a huge, important factor of our shows,” Berry says. “So if you’re in the audience, you’re gonna be having fun, you’re gonna be screaming, you’re gonna be cheering. Like, we’ll hype you up and you’ll hype us up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts World Music Program presents ‘Takeover X’ April 13–15 at the Dan Kryston Memorial Theater on campus. Tickets and more info \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/announcements/2023-04-04-takeover-x-ruth-asawa-school-arts-world-music-celebration\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s been a decade since the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/asawamusic/world-music\">World Music Program\u003c/a> was founded at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and students are poised to celebrate in a big way with “Takeover X”: \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/announcements/2023-04-04-takeover-x-ruth-asawa-school-arts-world-music-celebration\">three nights of performances\u003c/a> at the school’s Don Kryston Memorial Theater, April 13–15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The production will be a far cry from the program’s humble beginnings when founder and director Monina Sen Cervone started with a single taiko drumming class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first drum was an old tire that I taped with duct tape. We had no classroom. So I was out on the tennis courts. I was out in the quad,” Cervone recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervone was tired of music education centering European classical music and wanted to offer classes that represent the diversity of cultures in San Francisco. Her efforts evolved into the school’s World Music Program in 2012 – the only public school department of its kind in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program is differentiated not only by the type of music and instruments it teaches, but by \u003ci>how\u003c/i> they are taught. “Everything that we learn is taught aurally [by] ear,” Cervone says. “And there’s a lot of, I think, assumptions made about music that’s learned in that way. It doesn’t have as much credit as classical music, and I hope that’s being changed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Takeover X anniversary show will feature musical performances on Japanese taiko and Afro-Brazilian and West African drums. They’ll also highlight the Balinese gamelan, the Filipino kulintang and tinikling folk dance, and original pieces composed and choreographed by students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our 10-year anniversary, so it’s a little bit different than our normal shows. We have alumni coming back and we have some really special pieces,” says Skyler Lee, a junior. Lee performs with the all-female identifying Afro-Brazilian drum group Bateria con Fuerza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another student, senior Elliot Berry, has been going to sleep at night thinking about the songs he and his classmates will perform. “I love it so much, and it’s always on my mind,” Berry says. And he assures you won’t be able to resist the spirit of the music, either, if you check out one of their shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Audience participation is such a huge, important factor of our shows,” Berry says. “So if you’re in the audience, you’re gonna be having fun, you’re gonna be screaming, you’re gonna be cheering. Like, we’ll hype you up and you’ll hype us up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts World Music Program presents ‘Takeover X’ April 13–15 at the Dan Kryston Memorial Theater on campus. Tickets and more info \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/announcements/2023-04-04-takeover-x-ruth-asawa-school-arts-world-music-celebration\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>His name is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gabekatz_music/\">Gabe Katz\u003c/a>. He’s 37 years old and lives in Oakland. And for weeks, punks all over the Bay Area (and beyond) have been sharing his hilarious impersonations of California’s favorite punk bands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz, a music teacher by day and \u003ca href=\"https://gabekatz1.bandcamp.com/\">guitarist\u003c/a> and punk rock drummer by night, also co-hosts \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turd-polisher/id1513288302\">\u003cem>Turd Polisher\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: a podcast that relentlessly (and gloriously) dismantles guests’ least favorite songs of all time. In short, the man understands song structure. And punk rock. And hilarity. Which is how he came up with the now-widely shared, supremely knowing, one-minute takedowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started back in January with the Rancid one. “Every Rancid Song” expertly captures the essence of the East Bay quartet in five easy steps:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓Enunciation that’s just a little bit British\u003cbr>\n✓Talking about walking\u003cbr>\n✓References to drab infrastructural entities\u003cbr>\n✓A vague suggestion of poverty\u003cbr>\n✓Gratuitously mentioning geographic locations (Rancid does this so often, \u003ca href=\"https://i.redd.it/qhjhwdivfnv01.jpg\">someone on Reddit made a map\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7194630909063384362\" data-video-id=\"7194630909063384362\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\">\n\u003csection> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every Rancid Song \u003ca title=\"punk\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"rancid\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rancid?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#rancid\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"rancidpunks\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rancidpunks?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#rancidpunks\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"music\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/music?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#music\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oakland\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oakland?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#oakland\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"hellcatrecords\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hellcatrecords?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#hellcatrecords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedy\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedy?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedy\u003c/a> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7194630908639759150?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a> \u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> [tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Rancid’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5HZ5Bd6DUY\">Olympia, WA\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJy823DXgk4\">Lulu\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WOx4U3sCuQ\">Nihilism\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up is Katz’s “Every NOFX Song,” which perfectly encapsulates the San Francisco pop punks using the following elements:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓A reference to drugs\u003cbr>\n✓At least one person’s full name\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to a bar\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to another band\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to pee\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boom!\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7201598891245030698\" data-video-id=\"7201598891245030698\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every NoFX song. \u003ca title=\"nofx\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/nofx?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#nofx\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatmike\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatmike?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatmike\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatmikeddude\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatmikeddude?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatmikeddude\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punk\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatwreckchords\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatwreckchords?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatwreckchords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"sanfrancisco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sanfrancisco?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#sanfrancisco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"sf\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sf?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#sf\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fishermanswharf\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fishermanswharf?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fishermanswharf\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vanswarpedtour\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vanswarpedtour?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#vanswarpedtour\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"warpedtour\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/warpedtour?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#warpedtour\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"theeparkside\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/theeparkside?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#theeparkside\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedyvideo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedyvideo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedyvideo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"music\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/music?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#music\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7201598923704929070?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to NOFX’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZ2sha5994\">Kids of the K-Hole\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI-Gjg_vi3A\">Seeing Double at the Triple Rock\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4IEFLgYAoc\">See Her Pee\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, there’s “Every Bad Religion Song,” which captures the So-Cal legends using the following formula:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓A staccato delivery\u003cbr>\n✓References to scientific pursuits\u003cbr>\n✓Rolling your eyes at God\u003cbr>\n✓Relentless assonance\u003cbr>\n✓Throwing shade at mindless mainstream culture\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7215641460652297518\" data-video-id=\"7215641460652297518\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every Bad Religion song. \u003ca title=\"badreligion\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/badreligion?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#badreligion\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"epitaphrecords\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/epitaphrecords?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#epitaphrecords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punk\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedyvideo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedyvideo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedyvideo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"gabekatzcomedy\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/gabekatzcomedy?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#gabekatzcomedy\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7215641415353781035?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Bad Religion’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12kcpP-8jfM\">American Jesus\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhzhiQA6-Aw\">Atomic Garden\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JikOUxstTZ4\">Modern Day Catastrophists\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz says we can definitely expect more videos like these from him in future, but asked which other bands he has in his sights, he says simply: “I cannot divulge that information at this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz is hoping to move into comedy writing and voice acting full-time soon. Asked why he started making fun of these beloved bands in the first place, he is firm. “They had it coming,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Place your bets now on who’s got it coming next. Lagwagon? Dead Kennedys? Green Day? Pennywise? Black Flag? Fingers crossed for all of the above.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>His name is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gabekatz_music/\">Gabe Katz\u003c/a>. He’s 37 years old and lives in Oakland. And for weeks, punks all over the Bay Area (and beyond) have been sharing his hilarious impersonations of California’s favorite punk bands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz, a music teacher by day and \u003ca href=\"https://gabekatz1.bandcamp.com/\">guitarist\u003c/a> and punk rock drummer by night, also co-hosts \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turd-polisher/id1513288302\">\u003cem>Turd Polisher\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: a podcast that relentlessly (and gloriously) dismantles guests’ least favorite songs of all time. In short, the man understands song structure. And punk rock. And hilarity. Which is how he came up with the now-widely shared, supremely knowing, one-minute takedowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started back in January with the Rancid one. “Every Rancid Song” expertly captures the essence of the East Bay quartet in five easy steps:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓Enunciation that’s just a little bit British\u003cbr>\n✓Talking about walking\u003cbr>\n✓References to drab infrastructural entities\u003cbr>\n✓A vague suggestion of poverty\u003cbr>\n✓Gratuitously mentioning geographic locations (Rancid does this so often, \u003ca href=\"https://i.redd.it/qhjhwdivfnv01.jpg\">someone on Reddit made a map\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7194630909063384362\" data-video-id=\"7194630909063384362\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\">\n\u003csection> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every Rancid Song \u003ca title=\"punk\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"rancid\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rancid?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#rancid\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"rancidpunks\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rancidpunks?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#rancidpunks\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"music\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/music?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#music\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"oakland\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/oakland?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#oakland\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"hellcatrecords\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hellcatrecords?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#hellcatrecords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedy\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedy?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedy\u003c/a> \u003ca target=\"_blank\" title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7194630908639759150?refer=embed\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a> \u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Rancid’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5HZ5Bd6DUY\">Olympia, WA\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJy823DXgk4\">Lulu\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WOx4U3sCuQ\">Nihilism\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next up is Katz’s “Every NOFX Song,” which perfectly encapsulates the San Francisco pop punks using the following elements:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓A reference to drugs\u003cbr>\n✓At least one person’s full name\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to a bar\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to another band\u003cbr>\n✓A reference to pee\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boom!\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7201598891245030698\" data-video-id=\"7201598891245030698\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every NoFX song. \u003ca title=\"nofx\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/nofx?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#nofx\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatmike\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatmike?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatmike\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatmikeddude\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatmikeddude?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatmikeddude\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punk\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fatwreckchords\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fatwreckchords?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fatwreckchords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"sanfrancisco\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sanfrancisco?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#sanfrancisco\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"sf\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sf?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#sf\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"fishermanswharf\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fishermanswharf?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#fishermanswharf\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"vanswarpedtour\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vanswarpedtour?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#vanswarpedtour\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"warpedtour\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/warpedtour?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#warpedtour\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"theeparkside\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/theeparkside?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#theeparkside\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedyvideo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedyvideo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedyvideo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"music\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/music?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#music\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7201598923704929070?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to NOFX’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZ2sha5994\">Kids of the K-Hole\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI-Gjg_vi3A\">Seeing Double at the Triple Rock\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4IEFLgYAoc\">See Her Pee\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, there’s “Every Bad Religion Song,” which captures the So-Cal legends using the following formula:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>✓A staccato delivery\u003cbr>\n✓References to scientific pursuits\u003cbr>\n✓Rolling your eyes at God\u003cbr>\n✓Relentless assonance\u003cbr>\n✓Throwing shade at mindless mainstream culture\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_/video/7215641460652297518\" data-video-id=\"7215641460652297518\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@gabekatz_\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@gabekatz_?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@gabekatz_\u003c/a> Every Bad Religion song. \u003ca title=\"badreligion\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/badreligion?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#badreligion\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"epitaphrecords\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/epitaphrecords?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#epitaphrecords\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punk\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punk?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punk\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"punkrock\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/punkrock?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#punkrock\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"comedyvideo\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/comedyvideo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#comedyvideo\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"funny\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/funny?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#funny\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thisiswhatgetsmecancelled?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#thisiswhatgetsmecancelled\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"gabekatzcomedy\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/gabekatzcomedy?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#gabekatzcomedy\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Gabe Katz\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7215641415353781035?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Gabe Katz\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Bad Religion’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12kcpP-8jfM\">American Jesus\u003c/a>,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhzhiQA6-Aw\">Atomic Garden\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JikOUxstTZ4\">Modern Day Catastrophists\u003c/a>.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz says we can definitely expect more videos like these from him in future, but asked which other bands he has in his sights, he says simply: “I cannot divulge that information at this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katz is hoping to move into comedy writing and voice acting full-time soon. Asked why he started making fun of these beloved bands in the first place, he is firm. “They had it coming,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Place your bets now on who’s got it coming next. Lagwagon? Dead Kennedys? Green Day? Pennywise? Black Flag? Fingers crossed for all of the above.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bay-area-hip-hop-1980s",
"title": "How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s",
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"headTitle": "How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the mid-1980s, after years of street dance, DJing and graffiti sharing equal space, rapping took center stage. The Bay Area’s bass-heavy sound would arrive at the end of the decade. (Clockwise from top left: Too Short, MC Hammer, Dominique DiPrima, Club Nouveau, and Motorcycle Mike.) \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images; Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; SFSU Television Archives; Raymond Boyd/Getty Images; Hodisk Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>t’s a wintry January evening when Bas-1 brings me to Del the Funky Homosapien’s house in the East Bay. For much of the afternoon, Bas — the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/old-school-fool-1/\">Oakland native\u003c/a> who’s worked with Digital Underground and released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bas-1+full+album+mentally+astute\">his own solo records\u003c/a> — has schooled me on the origins of the Bay Area hip-hop sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas lists numerous rappers from the ’80s, and not just Todd “Too Short” Shaw, the East Oakland rapper who famously hustled homemade cassette tapes. I’ve never heard most of the names Bas mentions: MC Chocolate Milk, Windell Baby Doll, Davy Def, Buddy Bean, Reggie Reg Rock Ski.ter, M.C. Tracy, Rock Master Fresh, Nic Nack, Kimmie Fresh, and the Acorn Crew with Grandmaster Fresh (a rapper later known as “DJ Daryl” Anderson, famed for producing tracks like 415’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZ6CAwZmys\">Side Show\u003c/a>” and 2Pac’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJfDP3b5_U\">Keep Ya Head Up\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13924126']Many of these early Bay Area rappers never put out a commercially available record. Instead, their work is mostly confined to locally distributed cassette tapes — collectors call them “gray tapes” — that are now nearly impossible to find. They publicly broadcasted these tapes throughout neighborhoods, utilizing boomboxes and car stereos as well as stereos at house parties. “None of them sound like Too Short,” says Bas. “Some of these people didn’t put out recordings, but they were known.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1980s, Bay Area hip-hop was an artistic movement struggling for a distinct identity. The first half of the decade was defined by street dance and aerosol art as much as rap and DJing. But as local youth began to absorb the sounds emanating from national hotspots like New York, they created a distinctive style all their own — one that would make a global impact in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Del’s house, Bas queues up an extraordinary live video clip of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\">Mac Mill, Emperor E, and DJ Anthony “K-os” Bryant\u003c/a> performing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11690787/when-oakland-was-a-chocolate-city-a-brief-history-of-festival-at-the-lake\">Festival at the Lake\u003c/a>, a now-defunct annual event held at Lake Merritt, in 1988. (Alex “Naru” Reece, who organized the showcase where Mac Mill performed, clarified in a follow-up conversation that it didn’t happen during Festival at the Lake. He also says the showcase was filmed in 1986 for a 1988 video compilation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mac Mill and Emperor E go back and forth, trading sound effects and dense Oakland slang as K-os cuts and scratches copies of Long Island band Original Concept’s deathless bass classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai4VC0NUxl4\">Knowledge Me\u003c/a>.” Bas praises Mac Mill’s unusual “Arabian” style, which the latter deployed nearly a decade later with the 1995 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_f0TB3Igro\">Arabian Hump\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, Bas-1 calls Chris “CJ Flash” Jourdan, an OG who worked with Timex Social Club, the Berkeley teen band whose 1986 electro-funk classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\">Rumors\u003c/a>,” represented the first national breakthrough for Bay Area hip-hop culture. As Bas broadcasts CJ Flash’s voice from his phone through Del’s stereo equipment, CJ Flash spends the next hour or so describing a fledging scene where poppers and boogaloo dancers, not rappers or DJs, were the prime attractions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These ensembles drew from a street-dance tradition that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891300/reclaiming-the-legacy-of-oaklands-boogaloo-dance-culture\">dates back decades\u003c/a>. Their kinetic performances ignited crowds at high schools, house parties, and public spaces like Justin Herman Plaza and Union Square in San Francisco and UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. Battles even took place on the street, with crews traveling to different neighborhoods around the region to seek out rivals. “You could meet with people on their turf and get down, and hopefully not get thumped in the process,” says CJ Flash. Many Bay Area hip-hop pioneers got their start in dance crews, including Club Nouveau’s Jay King (who pop-locked with The Unknowns), DJ King Tech (who was known as Wizard, and danced with Master City Breakers), and Flash himself (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\">performed with UFO\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, rapping was a relatively new and undeveloped skill, the lowest element on the hip-hop totem pole. “Anybody could rap. Anybody could say a bunch of basic rhyme words with no style and flavor,” says Bas, noting as an aside that “most folks couldn’t understand the lyrics anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turntables, Casios and Homemade Tapes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As KQED’s Eric Arnold explains in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924126/the-bay-area-was-hip-hop-before-there-was-hip-hop\">The Bay Area Was Hip-Hop Before There Was Hip-Hop\u003c/a>,” foundational elements such as spoken word, funk, and rhythm & blues existed locally well before New Jersey trio Sugarhill Gang arrived with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM\">Rapper’s Delight\u003c/a>” in the fall of 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923978']At the same time, the Bay Area was not the Bronx, where breakbeat culture catalyzed and fermented. Bronx DJs, MCs and B-boys like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, the Rock Steady Crew and many others gained renown among mid-’70s New York youth long before “Rapper’s Delight.” By contrast, as CJ Flash explains, it took much of the 1980s for Bay Area youth to develop the cadences and rhythms we now associate with modern rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, enterprising musicians couldn’t purchase studio software and distribute their own music on an internet platform like Soundcloud. Recording equipment was expensive. An unsigned artist needed the financial and business expertise to manufacture vinyl and cassettes with artwork, much less convince record stores like Leopold’s Records in Berkeley to carry them. (Recordable CD-Rs weren’t widely used until the 1990s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This helps explain why so many rappers utilized turntables and Casio keyboards, and then recorded their songs using the microphone input on relatively cheap stereo equipment. Captured on recordable cassettes like Maxell and TDK, some of these “gray tapes” simply had stickers with handwritten titles. More often, they weren’t labeled at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927410\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A box of handmade Bay Area rap tapes, part of Naru’s home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In those days, Too Short was an outlier, a Fremont High School student who canvassed East Oakland spots like Arroyo Park, \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-56fae687e9c\">selling copies of “Game Raps”\u003c/a> at a few dollars a pop. Since Short was originally from Los Angeles, he relied on rap partner Tony “Freddy B” Adams to show him around the Town. The duo \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">made customized tapes for local drug dealers and players\u003c/a> in the city’s nightlife — now known as “special request” tapes — shouting out the customers’ names in their raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Short was a hustler,” says CJ Flash. “He had a style of telling stories that was so outlandish and so funny that word got around.” Short and Freddy B developed the trademark “Biiiiitch!” catchphrase, and Short has often said that he and Freddy B intended to get famous together. Unfortunately, Freddy B was in prison when Short released his landmark “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>” tape in 1987. (Adams is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/from-too-hort-colleague-to-christian-missionary/\">now a minister\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 676px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"455\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg 676w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short in 1984, at the age of 18. \u003ccite>(Katy Raddatz/San Francisco Examiner/Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others like Sir Quick Draw, Mac Mill, and Chief Naked Head (later known as Premo; he passed away in January of 2023) simply gave away their tapes or let friends copy or “dub” the originals. As Richmond rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925761/magic-mike-richmond-calvin-t-rap-hip-hop\">Magic Mike explained in a recent interview with Dregs One\u003c/a>, dubs of his tracks circulated as widely as Germany. “It was more or less trying to make a name for yourself…you had to make a tape,” adds CJ Flash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Bay Area hip-hop in the ’80s was a primordial soup of youngsters figuring out what the local sound would be. The answers wouldn’t arrive until near the end of the decade. “The Bay Area was behind,” says CJ Flash, comparing it to more advanced regions like Los Angeles, South Florida, and New York. “We never thought about radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Pivotal Moment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alex “Naru Kwina” Hence remembers the first time he heard the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as a 14-year-old preparing to attend Oakland High School. “When the song went off, everybody ran outside, like, ‘Did you hear that song?!” he laughs, calling it one of the best moments of his life. “It was a pivotal moment, bro. We literally started rapping the song and trying to remember it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naru called himself Sir Quick Draw, an alias inspired by Hanna-Barbera cartoon \u003cem>Quick Draw McGraw\u003c/em> as well as the fact that, as a runner, “I was hella fast.” He took inspiration from Kurtis Blow, the Harlem rapper who scored major hits like 1980’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzl-2g5HhaI\">The Breaks\u003c/a>.” And Naru almost immediately began recording his voice on tape. His first original song was “The Caveman Rap,” which was inspired by Brooklyn rapper Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkGLco0tGqc\">Adventures of Super Rhyme\u003c/a>.” Naru can still recite those verses from memory: \u003cem>Now people come and take a trip in time with me / Back to that sweet year one million B.C.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still got that old-school flavor, man,” he admits. “Hip-hop was more fun for me back then.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naru Kwina, who recorded under the names Sir Quick Draw and Em Cee Quick, poses with his home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But rap in the Bay Area didn’t take off right away. “Most people would rap other people’s songs. They’d just repeat what they heard on the radio,” says Naru. Aspiring MCs honed their craft by congregating at Eastmont Mall, “trying to impress the girls, and getting our names on our derby jackets.” And when Tom Tom Club’s 1981 hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiMhe4E0pI\">Genius of Love\u003c/a>” dropped? “Everybody rapped over that joint, man. Too many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s worth remembering that hip-hop was a phenomenon developed essentially by Black and Brown children. Rapping, pop-locking, spray-painting aerosol art on neighborhood walls, even DJing: These were youthful forms of play and creative expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas, who grew up in North Oakland, remembers \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#at-fishermans-wharf-a-street-dance-destination-emerges\">popping and “roboting” at Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf\u003c/a> in the late ’70s as a child. “You have people like Ben [James] from Live Incorporated doing pantomime and roboting,” he says, noting one of the better-known dance crews. Dancers competed for attention and tips that they could spend on Snickers bars and arcade games. “Battle-wise, you had to have skill and talent to a certain caliber in order to truly be out on the Wharf or on Market [and Powell] in front of the cable cars,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"547\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street dance crew called The Vita Family perform at Pier 39 in 1986. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local newspaper stories focused on the emergence of hip-hop as a youth obsession. Enterprising teachers incorporated it into their lesson plans. On high-school campuses, fledgling DJs like Joseph Thomas “G.I. Joe” Simms Jr. at El Cerrito High School and groups like the Devastating Four proliferated. At house parties, mobile DJ crews spun the latest electro, boogie-funk, and rap hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gatherings at schools, churches, and community centers typically reserved a few minutes for fledgling local rap and dance crews to perform. This was also the era of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#nancy-reagan-visits-oakland-and-coins-the-phrase-just-say-no\">the Reagan Administration’s “Just Say No” campaign\u003c/a>, and kids were often asked to help spread an anti-drug message through raps. “Inspired by rapping groups such as Sugar Hill, Run DMC, Jeckyl and Hyde and Mell (sic) and the Furious Five, teen-agers create their own raps mostly for fun and to bring attention to themselves,” read a June 29, 1985, story in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925415']In the first half of the decade, street dance remained a focal point. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/04/1140504217/double-dutch-fantastic-four-holiday-classic\">Double Dutch jump-rope competitions\u003c/a> sponsored by McDonald’s drew thousands to Lincoln Square Center in Oakland. The San Francisco Street Breakers held a fundraising benefit, “Super Break Sunday,” at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts in 1985. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, street dance “got played out” after the success of Hollywood movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’\u003c/em>, and rap music moved to the center of hip-hop culture. Quickening the process were concerts by Black music stars like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-fresh-fest-comes-to-oakland\">Fresh Festival\u003c/a>, the first national hip-hop tour, with headliners Run-DMC at the Oakland Coliseum. Local radio tentatively began to experiment with rap, notably KMEL-FM and its mix DJs such as Michael Erickson and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13828163/watch-cameron-paul-give-a-masterclass-in-early-djing\">the late Cameron Paul\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"952\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13927323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-800x1190.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-768x1142.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1033x1536.jpg 1033w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_.jpg 1345w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for the Fresh Festival, which arrived in Oakland in 1984.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“By 1985, there was this incredible scene in the South Bay,” says Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko. As a teen DJ in San Bruno “who looked like Urkel,” he remembers traveling far and wide to buy records, from Creative Music Emporium in San Francisco to T’s Wauzi in Oakland. Meanwhile, nightclubs like Mothers and Studio 47 brought a fusion of hip-hop, freestyle and techno. “San Jose had underage hip-hop teenage clubs, and no other city had those,” he says. (Banjoko later became a rapper, a journalist, and now promotes jiu-jitsu, meditation and chess with his company \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/real64blocks/?hl=en\">64 Blocks\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Oakland, Naru continued making tapes. “I come from a musical family. My cousin’s the Maestro” — a.k.a. producer Keenan Foster, who has worked with Too Short, Dru Down, and Askari X — “and a lot of my family sings. I got a drum machine, a little Yamaha keyboard. I would play my bass lines. We had double-cassette decks.” He collaborated with Taj “Turntable T” Tilghman, “who was dope on the turntables.” Turntable T eventually bought a Roland TR-808 drum machine, the instrument du jour for def beat MCs. “When that 808 came, that was it. Everyone loved that deck. \u003cem>Boom!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray tapes” that circulated weren’t the EP and album-length releases we’re familiar with today. Some tapes only had one song per side; or maybe just one song on one side, period. Artists were judged not only by their ability to rap engagingly for several minutes, but also to chop up a familiar beat like Whodini’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5r0i2ZAbCc\">Friends\u003c/a>,” transforming it into something fresh and original; or even make rudimentary 808 beats. For example, Too Short drew attention for “rapping the longest,” as Bas explains, leading to songs that lasted eight or nine minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"682\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-1020x870.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-160x136.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-768x655.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adisa Banjoko in the 1980s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adisa Banjoko)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Those tapes were everywhere. Everyone was trying to see what was possible,” says Banjoko. In 1987, he began making raps under the name MC Most Ill. His first song was “Rhyme Junkie.” “The truth was, some of it was really cool but a lot of it actually also sucked, because [the art form] was brand new. … The quality control was not there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On August 18, 1984, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> published an article called “Rapping with Too-Short,” the first story on the 18-year-old prodigy. Pacific News Service journalist Anthony Adams called Short’s songs “preacher-like yarns over pre-recorded music,” and noted that one of them was about automaker John DeLorean, whose conviction for cocaine trafficking made national news. Short claimed he and his partner Freddy B sold over 2,000 tapes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Chronicle-Examiner\u003c/em> also frequently interviewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.dominiquediprima.com/\">Dominique “Lady D” DiPrima\u003c/a>, a New York transplant and San Francisco State University student who rapped, sung, and organized events. DiPrima possessed a rich family pedigree — her father was the jazz writer Amiri Baraka, her mother the beat poet Diane DiPrima. In late 1984, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV recruited her to host \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a Saturday-afternoon program that became appointment viewing for local teens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone had a crush on Dominique,” says Naru, giggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1536x1039.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_.png 1540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dominique DiPrima, pictured here hosting a 1987 episode of ‘Home Turf’ on KRON-4. \u003ccite>(SFSU Television Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Bay Area Rap Record Opens the Floodgates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the under-acknowledged aspects of early hip-hop is the way elder Black musicians shepherded young artists into the recording industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Sylvia Robinson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, initially emerged in the mid-’50s as one-half of Mickey & Sylvia, who scored a national hit with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwMB9v1pQ4\">Love Is Strange\u003c/a>.” As a ’70s solo artist and producer, Robinson made slinky, Eartha Kitt-like erotic disco capers such as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA2X1040_gY\">Pillow Talk\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPScEJ66_m4\">Sweet Stuff\u003c/a>.” After discovering hip-hop when she heard DJ Lovebug Starski at a party, Robinson formed Sugar Hill Records, and turned three rapping teens she found in New Jersey into its first act, the Sugarhill Gang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This process of soul veterans working with young people resulted in independent 12” singles that mirrored — if not yet accurately capturing — the nascent rap sound at a time when big companies virtually ignored it. With his Mercury Records contract, Kurtis Blow was the only act with a major album deal. A handful of other pioneers like DJ Hollywood scored one-off 12” deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar process played out in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_h9BCuvBE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first Bay Area rap record is widely considered to be Phil “Motorcycle Mike” Lewis and the Rat Trap Band’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Odk2Vu70s\">Super Rat\u003c/a>,” a 1981 boogie-funk single notoriously released by East Oakland heroin kingpin Milton “Mickey Mo” Moore’s Hodisk Records. The name “Hodisk” was a cheeky reference to his onetime side business as a pimp. (Moore has since reformed and is now a pastor in West Oakland.) In fact, Mickey Mo boasts in his 1996 autobiography \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qy6RNV6f5w\">The Man: The Life Story of a Drug Kingpin\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, “Hodisk Records became the first record company on the West Coast to release a rap record.” (The first L.A. rap record, Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp’s “The Gigolo Rapp,” was also released in 1981.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mickey Mo has another claim to rap lore: In 1980, he \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-first-rap-performance-on-a-major-stage\">helped finance an Oakland Coliseum concert\u003c/a> headlined by L.A. funk band War, with the Sugarhill Gang as a supporting act. Journalist Lee Hildebrand’s pre-concert interview with the Gang in the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> was the first mention of rap music in the local press. A second funk-rap novelty, Steve Walker’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9jCLUWwBY\">Tally Ho!\u003c/a>,” also appeared in 1981. In 1983, San Francisco’s Debo & Brian released the electro-funk EP \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv_AfTbEng\">This Is It\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The momentum had started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had made this vow that I would never ever do anything having to do with rap,” laughs Claytoven Richardson. During his long career, the Berkeley-born, Oakland-raised Richardson worked with Aretha Franklin, Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Elton John, and Celine Dion. But in the early ’80s, he was best known as a singer, producer, and arranger with hot dancefloor jazz-funk bands like Bill Summers & Summers’ Heat. His anti-rap stance reflected the music industry at large in the 1980s. “Nobody had the foresight to see that it would morph and change and do the things that it’s done,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927369\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 625px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg 625w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claytoven Richardson pictured in March 2023 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Steven Simione/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, Richardson couldn’t avoid the increasingly popular genre when he scored a production deal at Fantasy Records, the onetime Berkeley jazz label also known for innovative acts like Sylvester and Cybotron, as well as one-off singles generated by a “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” philosophy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the records Richardson produced in that anything-goes environment was Mighty Mouth’s satirical complaint, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1hAFnrtU8\">I’m All Rapped Out\u003c/a>.” (He wasn’t the only one annoyed over rap; perhaps out of wishful thinking, a 1985 \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> article referred to the “fast-fading hip-hop scene.”) A vocalist named Lawrence Pittman didn’t show up for the session, so Richardson performed the lyrics himself. However, Pittman showed up to rap on Mighty Mouth’s second single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfQcLbemE4\">The Roaches\u003c/a>,” which parodied Whodini’s electro hit, “Freaks Come Out at Night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scattered local raps appeared between 1985 and 1986. Former boogaloo dancer Jay King, just home from a stint in the Air Force and splitting time between Sacramento and Vallejo, formed a group called Frost and released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hObIekxeoSg\">Battle Beat\u003c/a>.” His friends Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy produced it, as well as another electro-rap track, Sorcerey’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ap6uw-kX8o\">Woo Baby\u003c/a>.” Pittsburg rapper James “Red Beat” Briggs issued “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dUlMEZUSc\">Freak City\u003c/a>,” which was later remixed by N.W.A. co-founder Arabian Prince. And there was Rodney “Disco Alamo” Brown, from Richmond, whose 12” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-pXg1DY98\">The Task Force\u003c/a>” is \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#richmonds-task-force-memorialized-on-wax\">an early example\u003c/a> of Bay Area rap chronicling street life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"484\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927313\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-1020x618.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-768x465.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short, pictured at his manager’s house in Oakland on September 21, 1987. \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Too Short’s rising buzz led to a deal with deep East Oakland entrepreneur Dean Hodges’ 75 Girls label. Released in 1985, the resulting \u003cem>Don’t Stop Rappin’\u003c/em> was the first official album by a local rapper. While fans of a certain age still treasure protean electro-funk tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ywke376NQ\">Girl\u003c/a>” — which E-40 referenced on his 1998 hit, “Earl, That’s Yo Life” — the album couldn’t compare to his raunchy and wickedly hilarious “special request” tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was during this period that Naru finally got his chance in the studio. Since 1984, UC Berkeley station \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">KALX-FM\u003c/a> served as home to “Music for the People,” a Sunday-morning community affairs and music show hosted by the late Charles “Natty Prep” Douglass, as well as DJs like Billy “Jam” Kiernan (who also broadcast on San Francisco State University station KUSF-FM), David “Davey D” Cook, and funkster Rickey “The Uhuru Maggot” Vincent. When Naru won \u003ca href=\"https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/107287\">a 1986 rap contest hosted by Billy Jam on KALX\u003c/a>, he earned a deal with Bay Wave Records, a local imprint distributed by Hollywood-based Macola Records. Richardson was hired to produce the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Quick Draw] was a great rapper. He had a lot of great lyrics and ideas,” says Richardson. On “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\">Rapaholic\u003c/a>,” Richardson and session engineer Michael Denten (who later worked with Spice 1 and E-40) accompanied Quick Draw’s dexterous and energetic raps with sharp-angled percussive edits and sound effects reminiscent of The Art of Noise and Mantronix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Respect to Claytoven,” says Naru, who not only continues to make music but also owns a company, \u003ca href=\"http://hiplearning.org/\">Hip Learning\u003c/a>, that promotes childhood education with rap. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the “Rapaholic” experience: “They made the record sound hella more polished. It was [supposed to be] a little more underground than that.” However, he adds, “[Claytoven] taught us a lot in the studio about the mics they use and how to mix. It was a good experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"889\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photocopied flyer advertising Sir Quick Draw’s single ‘Rapaholic.’ \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Radio Breakthrough — And a Kid Named Hammer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the trajectory of Bay Area hip-hop waxed and waned, three catalyzing moments brought the scene into focus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was an R&B track. Timex Social Club’s “Rumors” captured the pulse of Bay Area youth culture, from Marcus Thompson and Alex Hill’s skittering electro-funk bass and drums to singer Michael Marshall’s distinctly regional accent and coy recitation of schoolyard gossip (“Did you hear the one about Michael? Some say he must be gay…”) Produced by Jay King and Denzil Foster and released on King’s Jay Records in February 1986, it mushroomed into a top ten \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> pop hit and dominated radio all year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the summer, Timex Social Club was falling apart and trading accusations with King over money and credit. The group’s only album \u003cem>Vicious Rumors\u003c/em> — by that point it was just Michael Marshall — featured drum programming from CJ Flash and a shout-out to KALX’s Natty Prep, who helped break “Rumors” on his “Music and Life” show. Marshall retreated from the spotlight before \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#i-got-5-on-it-remix-a-meeting-of-greats-recorded-in-alameda\">re-emerging as the hook man\u003c/a> on the Luniz’ 1995 smash “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtkpnXLrL4\">I Got 5 on It\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After breaking with Timex Social Club, King formed a group called Jet Set and signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The group changed their name to Club Nouveau before debuting with the single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKWhkjXV5uM\">Jealousy\u003c/a>.” A follow-up, the Bill Withers cover “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk\">Lean on Me\u003c/a>,” went to number-one on the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> Hot 100, while Club Nouveau’s debut album \u003cem>Life, Love & Pain\u003c/em> went platinum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"489\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-1020x624.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-768x470.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singers Samuelle Prater, Jay King and Valerie Watson of Club Nouveau performs at the U.I.C. Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois in August 1987. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>King’s growing stardom rippled across the Bay and reached Felton Pilate, the Vallejo keyboardist, singer, and producer best known as a driving force in Bay Area funk stars Con Funk Shun. The two had already worked together on King’s onetime rap group Frost; Pilate engineered that record. Pilate soon added one of King’s projects, Sacramento R&B/rap group New Choice, to a growing slate of projects he produced and engineered at his Felstar Studios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felstar Studios was the culmination of work he had begun while not touring and rehearsing with Con Funk Shun. At his home studio on Sandpiper Drive in Vallejo, Pilate helped assemble records for fledgling local artists. “I never thought of myself as just a studio,” he says, where he simply records his clients. “I have a little experience here. I’ve got several gold albums. Here, let me pass on some of this knowledge.” When asked if he considered himself a mentor, he demurs, even though that’s arguably what he was. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pilate opened Felstar Studios on Sonoma Boulevard, his trusted associate was James Earley, a young engineer whom he credits for adding a more contemporary sensibility to the Studios’ output. Among the locals who came to them were M.V.P., a family trio consisting of Earl Stevens, Danell Stevens, and Brandt Jones. Their 1988 12”, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLuAL6DueI\">The Kings Men\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, also included Tanina Stevens and Angela Pressley, who called themselves Sugar ‘N’ Spice. The members of M.V.P. updated their stage names to E-40, D-Shot and B-Legit, added Tanina as Suga T, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-clicks-down-dirty-ushers-in-mobb-music-era\">evolved into The Click\u003c/a>, arguably becoming the most famous rap group to emerge from Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927370\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">M.V.P., a 1988 Vallejo rap group featuring Busy D, E-40 and Legit (L–R). The three would later add E-40’s sister Suga T and become known as The Click. \u003ccite>(Gerry Ericksen / Rushforce Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1986, Pilate and Earley both had solo deals at Berkeley’s Fantasy Records. It was there that Pilate met a former Oakland A’s batboy named Stanley “Holyghost Boy” Burrell through Fantasy Records producer Fred L. Pittman. “Fred would often hire me to do keyboard arrangements for him,” says Pilate. When Pittman asked him to play keys for Holyghost Boy, Pilate responded, “Hey Fred, why don’t you let me take the reins on this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a classically trained jazz and classical musician, Pilate didn’t think much of rap, even though Con Funk Shun not only included a rap verse on a 1982 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9GHVTI-EE\">Ain’t Nobody Baby\u003c/a>”; but also made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmzvN7raB0\">Electric Lady\u003c/a>,” a 1985 hit produced by Larry Smith of Whodini fame that landed in the top five of \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>’s Black Singles chart. “Musically, I wasn’t a fan, but as a producer, I said, ‘I can do this,’” he says. “Like everyone else, Con Funk Shun wanted to be relevant, and rap was all over the radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks Burrell brought to Pilate consisted of him rapping over sparse Yamaha RX5 drum-machine parts. Pilate responded by going into “study mode.” He listened to the rap stuff that was getting airplay like Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew. As a result, the skittering percussion on Burrell’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVWFiptGNY\">Let’s Get It Started\u003c/a>” is reminiscent of the go-go-inspired arrangements on Doug E. Fresh hits like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sGw9GSCiYU\">The Show\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtqnKIF7kE\">All the Way to Heaven\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927325\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-1020x720.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-768x542.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer films the music video for ‘Let’s Get It Started’ at Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub in downtown Oakland, March 19, 1988. \u003ccite>(Deanne Fitzmaurice/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My thing was to make it more music-driven than beat-driven,” says Pilate. In many cases, he simply “listened to what [Burrell] was talking about and wrote a straight R&B song underneath it.” He also gives credit to Earley, who helped refine the drum programming and brought “that younger ear” to the project. They incorporated stock horn stabs from a battery of Juno, Roland, and Yamaha drum machines. Meanwhile, Kent “The Lone Mixer” Wilson and Bryant “D.J. Redeemed” Marable added rhythmic scratches by cutting up Curtis Mayfield and Beastie Boys records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the demos were finished, Fantasy Records dropped Pilate, Earley and Burrell from their deals. “They weren’t really sure how to market any of us,” says Pilate. Then, he chuckles, “The next time I ran into the Holyghost Boy, he had changed his name to MC Hammer.” After forming Bustin’ Records in Fremont with financial help from Oakland A’s ballplayers like Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, Hammer turned the Pilate demos into three 12”s — “Ring ’Em,” “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Let’s Get It Started” — and the 1987 album \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em>. “I was like, man, those were rough mixes! You were supposed to come back and let me fix that!” Pilate laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone involved in Bay Area hip-hop has vivid memories of MC Hammer blowing up. Near-mythical stories of his local takeover abound, like attending local concerts surrounded by a massive crew; or tearing up the dance floor at The Silks, a popular nightclub in Emeryville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-768x698.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate.jpg 1058w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer and Fenton Pilate in modern times. Pilate engineered and co-produced MC Hammer’s first recordings. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Felton Pilate)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s worth revisiting \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em> and 1988’s \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em>. Released after Hammer signed with Capitol Records, \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em> found Hammer and Pilate remixing those original demos while adding vital new tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZVcXzSE3M\">Pump It Up\u003c/a>.” The results are bombastic and vibrant dance-floor jams as ecstatic as anything by Kid ‘n’ Play and Salt-n-Pepa. Hammer’s subsequent leap into pop superstardom with 1990’s \u003cem>Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em\u003c/em> and the ubiquity of “U Can’t Touch This” obscure just how great those early tracks are.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eight Woofers in the Trunk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Hammer’s major-label arrival in 1988 capped a year of Bay Area hip-hop on the cusp of national exposure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Too Short issued \u003cem>Born to Mack\u003c/em> in the fall of 1987 on his Dangerous Music label, Jive Records picked it up. (Dangerous Music also issued \u003cem>Dangerous Crew\u003c/em>, a compilation of vital Bay Area acts like Spice-1, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and the female duo Danger Zone.) Digital Underground’s playful and psychedelic “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zQ1frcgSbI\">Underwater Rimes\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBNB20wVo0\">Your Life’s a Cartoon\u003c/a>” led to a deal with Tommy Boy. Local talent waited in the wings, including rapper/producer Paris (A.T.C.’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpiPWfOBk4\">Cisco Jam\u003c/a>”), Sway & King Tech (\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJujmVXiwE\">Flynamic Force\u003c/a>\u003c/em> EP), Dangerous Dame (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Frj4j09GE\">The Power That’s Packed\u003c/a>”), and MC Twist and the Def Squad (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZz7qhjfjw\">Just Rock\u003c/a>”). And the late Cameron Paul, known for his “Beats & Pieces” breakbeats, remixed Queens trio Salt-n-Pepa’s 1987 track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkdk1oMmtE\">Push It\u003c/a>” into a global phenomenon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Paul reveals his mixing secrets.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13828164\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-768x476.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-240x149.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-375x233.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-520x322.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cameron Paul, who provided the spine of New Orleans bounce music with ‘Brown Beats’ and recorded a smash-hit remix of Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s ‘Push It,’ was also a prominent club and radio megamix DJ in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(YouTube)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the first local group to score a major label deal wasn’t Hammer, but Surf MCs, a Berkeley group that Profile Records promoted as a Beastie Boys-like rap/rock crossover. Their 1987 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojCAqdBA7uA\">Surf or Die\u003c/a>\u003c/em> proved a flop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the third moment that catalyzed Bay Area hip-hop wasn’t a singular record like Timex Social Club’s “Rumors,” or an artist like Hammer and Short. It was the sound of walloping, all-enveloping bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made for surgically enhanced car and jeep stereos, the bass colossus is as much a feature of hip-hop in the mid-’80s as the pounding Roland TR-808 machine, from Rick Rubin’s production on LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” and T La Rock’s “It’s Yours” to Rodney O and DJ Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and Dr. Dre’s work on Eazy-E’s “The Boyz-N-The Hood.” It also mirrors the crack-cocaine epidemic that began to blight and distort communities across the country. As street life turned treacherous, the specter of the hustler, and whether to become one, cast a growing shadow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13925761']“Then the new style came, the bass got deeper / You gave up the mike and bought you a beeper / Do you want to rap or sell coke? / Brothers like you ain’t never broke,” Too Short memorably rapped on his 1989 hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvfUUOO0xoM\">Life Is…Too Short\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banjoko recalls how the presence of gangs transformed local shows. “You would see a bunch of people dressed up together [in the same gear], and you might assume they were a rap or dance crew. They were young drug lords,” he says. “You could get trampled, beat up or robbed by any of them. I remember 69 Ville being massively deep at the Fresh Fest and the [Run-DMC] Raising Hell tour. They were terrifying, straight up. You were going to tuck your chain, you were going to take your Kangol off, or they were going to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927326\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh EMC, the San Francisco rapper whose 1988 single ‘It’s the Game’ unflinchingly chronicled street life. \u003ccite>(Soul Sonic Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rap imagery became more honest and explicit. Some like Richmond rapper Magic Mike, San Francisco’s Hugh EMC (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_p7L0eJfKI\">It’s the Game\u003c/a>”), and Oakland’s Hollywood (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/641778-Hollywood-Stay-Heart-And-Soul-Raps-Just-A-Battlefield\">Gangster Rap\u003c/a>”) seemed to embrace the hustler ethos, while cautiously adding verses about the consequences of that lifestyle. Then there was Oakland rapper Morocco Moe, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNoOCIVPrI\">Task\u003c/a>” criticized how law enforcement brutalized communities in the War on Drugs: “Their intentions are good/But their actions are wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every Black neighborhood was infested” with crack, says Vallejo producer Khayree Shaheed. “There was an influx of money coming into young Black men, but there was also a lot of death occurring.” The epidemic also marked his entry into the world of rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a descendant of the Bay Area’s vaunted funk tradition, Khayree spent the ’70s and early ’80s playing bass guitar for bands like Grand Larceny, Body Mind & Spirit and Touch of Class (with keyboardist Rosie Gaines, who later joined Prince & the New Power Generation). His travels took him across the U.S. and even to Japan, where Touch of Class lived and performed for several months. (Though his bands made demos, there are no official recordings to date.) When asked about the first time he heard rap, Khayree cites “jazzoetry” ensembles like The Last Poets, not the Sugarhill Gang. And as a youth growing up on Lofas Place in Vallejo, he spent plenty of time following Con Funk Shun, hoping to apprentice with the biggest band in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927412\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-768x490.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo musician Khayree Shaheed, playing bass onstage in 1979. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khayree was in his mid-20s when Rod “I.C.E.” Andrews and Dan “Luvva D” Morrison a.k.a. the Luvva Twins brought Khayree a demo they had made on a Casio keyboard, “Hubba Head.” The song title was slang for a crack addict, and the duo described the “hubba head’s” descent into addiction with charismatic punch. They arranged the music and rapped most of the lyrics, while Khayree dropped a short verse and added guitar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khayree had already spent time at Pilate’s home studio, honing his writing and production skills. (“I always enjoyed working with him,” says Pilate.) Now, he brought “Hubba Head” to Pilate, and the two prepared it for release. Setting up his own label, Big Bank Records, Khayree distributed two hundred copies of the 12” to DJs and influencers. “The record was super popular in the streets,” says Khayree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pArkWvlAebg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After “Hubba Head,” Khayree began working with Jay King, a fellow graduate of Vallejo High School. The opportunity to write and produce New Choice’s 1987 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VLZQ4X1yA\">Cold Stupid\u003c/a>” and most of the quintet’s 1988 debut, \u003cem>At Last\u003c/em>, gave him important experience on a major project and financial stability. By fusing bass, funky R&B and hip-hop breakbeats, New Choice reflected a parallel R&B movement that both influenced and was inspired by the hip-hop scene. Similar Bay Area acts included Oakland’s Tony! Toni! Toné!, who parlayed backing sessions for Sheila E. and Tramaine Hawkins into a major-label deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flush from his experience with New Choice, Khayree was ready to start his own company. “I’m listening to EPMD’s \u003cem>Strictly Business\u003c/em>,” he says, inspiring the name of his second label, Strictly Business Records. He knew that Mike “The Mac” Robinson, who also grew up on Lofas Place, was a rapper. Robinson hailed from a musical family: his uncle Steve “Silver” Scales was a well-traveled Vallejo funk percussionist who played with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and the B-52s. (Though it would be a delicious coincidence, Scales didn’t perform on “Genius of Love.”) Khayree encouraged Robinson to take music more seriously. Meanwhile, Robinson’s mother drew the memorable Strictly Business logo: an open briefcase, ready for business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, Khayree released The Mac’s three-song EP, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/805531-The-Mac-Im-Ah-Big-Mac\">I’m Ah Big Mac\u003c/a>.” Heard now, what immediately stands out is the unique \u003cem>tone\u003c/em> of the bass. “We used synthesizers that had dumb-fat bass lines,” explains Khayree in reference to himself and Too Short as well as future Bay Area colleagues like Ant Banks. By comparison, he says, other regional scenes relied on a “natural” bass guitar or samples from records. “You feel it through your whole body. … You can get it with a bass guitar, depending on how you EQ the bass and what you run your guitar through. But you’re \u003cem>never\u003c/em> going to touch the subs and the depth of a Minimoog, of the Oberheim Ovx, or the Roland Juno 106.” The EP’s highlight is its B-side “The Game Is Thick,” which centers on a sample of Prince’s “D.M.S.R.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"498\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-1020x635.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick.jpg 1537w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree and The Mac (L–R), pictured on the cover of The Mac’s ‘The Game is Thick.’ \u003ccite>(Phil Bray / Strictly Business Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1989, Khayree remixed and re-released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCxGl7Ok1YI\">The Game Is Thick\u003c/a>” as a standalone 12” with a memorable cover photo: Khayree looking super-clean in a grey suit, clasping a briefcase, with The Mac in a red-and-black bomber jacket. Khayree calls the style “pimping.” “We didn’t mean pimping so much as getting prostitutes to work,” he explains. “It’s an attitude, and it’s a musical style.” The “game” is a metaphor for life in the Black community. Street slang illustrated complex situations, whether it was dealing with the repercussions of a raging crack epidemic, or simply navigating the tensions of everyday living. Meanwhile, The Mac’s “cool, silky, pimpish” flow and Khayree’s synthesized bass production proved a clear predecessor to the ’90s mob-music sound that took over Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13924167']Upon release, “The Game Is Thick” didn’t make a major impact, and most copies went to local DJ pools. “We promoted records out of the trunk,” says Khayree. “We went from Bobby G’s Soul Disco in San Francisco to [Rico Casanova’s record pool] The Pros in Oakland.” Still, “The Game Is Thick” remix received a mention in Davey “D” Cook’s April 7, 1989 “Beats & Breaks” column for \u003cem>BAM\u003c/em> Magazine. “Let me tell you, it’s hyped to the max,” Davey D wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Khayree’s encouragement, the Mac taught himself how to produce music with synth keyboards. He also introduced Khayree to another Vallejo artist, Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks, who became Strictly Business’ second act. By the time The Mac was shot and killed on July 23, 1991 in what Khayree calls “a case of mistaken identity,” the two had recorded dozens of tracks and released a third and final 12” protesting police violence, 1990’s “Enuff of Tis Sh-t!” One of The Mac’s beats posthumously appeared on Mac Dre’s 1993 track, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slA_s7tSjMU\">The M.A.C. & Mac D.R.E.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree with Kool Moe Dee at the 1988 BRE Conference in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike had a big, big loving heart,” remembers Khayree, sounding wistful. He emphasizes how The Mac left behind a daughter, “Mac” Reina Robinson, and a pregnant girlfriend who gave birth to his son, Mike. At one point, Khayree plays a voicemail of The Mac passionately singing a funky, swinging hook, as if to counteract the stereotype that rappers aren’t musicians. He talks about how The Mac’s way of playing simple, evocative keyboard notes for maximum effect echoes in the work of his famed protégé, Mac Dre. “I miss him,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area rap broke wide at the end of the decade, leading to a 1989 story in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/rap-by-the-bay-oakland-emerges-as-a-force-in-pop.html\">Rap by the Bay: Oakland Emerges as a Force in Pop\u003c/a>.” Not every local pioneer who laid the groundwork would enjoy the fruits of that success. But their stories are essential to understanding how local hip-hop came of age, and everything that came after.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1020x574.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the mid-1980s, after years of street dance, DJing and graffiti sharing equal space, rapping took center stage. The Bay Area’s bass-heavy sound would arrive at the end of the decade. (Clockwise from top left: Too Short, MC Hammer, Dominique DiPrima, Club Nouveau, and Motorcycle Mike.) \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images; Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; SFSU Television Archives; Raymond Boyd/Getty Images; Hodisk Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>t’s a wintry January evening when Bas-1 brings me to Del the Funky Homosapien’s house in the East Bay. For much of the afternoon, Bas — the \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/old-school-fool-1/\">Oakland native\u003c/a> who’s worked with Digital Underground and released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bas-1+full+album+mentally+astute\">his own solo records\u003c/a> — has schooled me on the origins of the Bay Area hip-hop sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas lists numerous rappers from the ’80s, and not just Todd “Too Short” Shaw, the East Oakland rapper who famously hustled homemade cassette tapes. I’ve never heard most of the names Bas mentions: MC Chocolate Milk, Windell Baby Doll, Davy Def, Buddy Bean, Reggie Reg Rock Ski.ter, M.C. Tracy, Rock Master Fresh, Nic Nack, Kimmie Fresh, and the Acorn Crew with Grandmaster Fresh (a rapper later known as “DJ Daryl” Anderson, famed for producing tracks like 415’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZ6CAwZmys\">Side Show\u003c/a>” and 2Pac’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJfDP3b5_U\">Keep Ya Head Up\u003c/a>”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Many of these early Bay Area rappers never put out a commercially available record. Instead, their work is mostly confined to locally distributed cassette tapes — collectors call them “gray tapes” — that are now nearly impossible to find. They publicly broadcasted these tapes throughout neighborhoods, utilizing boomboxes and car stereos as well as stereos at house parties. “None of them sound like Too Short,” says Bas. “Some of these people didn’t put out recordings, but they were known.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1980s, Bay Area hip-hop was an artistic movement struggling for a distinct identity. The first half of the decade was defined by street dance and aerosol art as much as rap and DJing. But as local youth began to absorb the sounds emanating from national hotspots like New York, they created a distinctive style all their own — one that would make a global impact in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Del’s house, Bas queues up an extraordinary live video clip of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3eiG9BtdE\">Mac Mill, Emperor E, and DJ Anthony “K-os” Bryant\u003c/a> performing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11690787/when-oakland-was-a-chocolate-city-a-brief-history-of-festival-at-the-lake\">Festival at the Lake\u003c/a>, a now-defunct annual event held at Lake Merritt, in 1988. (Alex “Naru” Reece, who organized the showcase where Mac Mill performed, clarified in a follow-up conversation that it didn’t happen during Festival at the Lake. He also says the showcase was filmed in 1986 for a 1988 video compilation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mac Mill and Emperor E go back and forth, trading sound effects and dense Oakland slang as K-os cuts and scratches copies of Long Island band Original Concept’s deathless bass classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai4VC0NUxl4\">Knowledge Me\u003c/a>.” Bas praises Mac Mill’s unusual “Arabian” style, which the latter deployed nearly a decade later with the 1995 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_f0TB3Igro\">Arabian Hump\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/5u3eiG9BtdE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/5u3eiG9BtdE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Then, Bas-1 calls Chris “CJ Flash” Jourdan, an OG who worked with Timex Social Club, the Berkeley teen band whose 1986 electro-funk classic, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVce2IeYcTg\">Rumors\u003c/a>,” represented the first national breakthrough for Bay Area hip-hop culture. As Bas broadcasts CJ Flash’s voice from his phone through Del’s stereo equipment, CJ Flash spends the next hour or so describing a fledging scene where poppers and boogaloo dancers, not rappers or DJs, were the prime attractions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These ensembles drew from a street-dance tradition that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891300/reclaiming-the-legacy-of-oaklands-boogaloo-dance-culture\">dates back decades\u003c/a>. Their kinetic performances ignited crowds at high schools, house parties, and public spaces like Justin Herman Plaza and Union Square in San Francisco and UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. Battles even took place on the street, with crews traveling to different neighborhoods around the region to seek out rivals. “You could meet with people on their turf and get down, and hopefully not get thumped in the process,” says CJ Flash. Many Bay Area hip-hop pioneers got their start in dance crews, including Club Nouveau’s Jay King (who pop-locked with The Unknowns), DJ King Tech (who was known as Wizard, and danced with Master City Breakers), and Flash himself (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub1TtnI4dh8\">performed with UFO\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ub1TtnI4dh8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ub1TtnI4dh8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>By contrast, rapping was a relatively new and undeveloped skill, the lowest element on the hip-hop totem pole. “Anybody could rap. Anybody could say a bunch of basic rhyme words with no style and flavor,” says Bas, noting as an aside that “most folks couldn’t understand the lyrics anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Turntables, Casios and Homemade Tapes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As KQED’s Eric Arnold explains in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924126/the-bay-area-was-hip-hop-before-there-was-hip-hop\">The Bay Area Was Hip-Hop Before There Was Hip-Hop\u003c/a>,” foundational elements such as spoken word, funk, and rhythm & blues existed locally well before New Jersey trio Sugarhill Gang arrived with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM\">Rapper’s Delight\u003c/a>” in the fall of 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the same time, the Bay Area was not the Bronx, where breakbeat culture catalyzed and fermented. Bronx DJs, MCs and B-boys like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, the Rock Steady Crew and many others gained renown among mid-’70s New York youth long before “Rapper’s Delight.” By contrast, as CJ Flash explains, it took much of the 1980s for Bay Area youth to develop the cadences and rhythms we now associate with modern rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, enterprising musicians couldn’t purchase studio software and distribute their own music on an internet platform like Soundcloud. Recording equipment was expensive. An unsigned artist needed the financial and business expertise to manufacture vinyl and cassettes with artwork, much less convince record stores like Leopold’s Records in Berkeley to carry them. (Recordable CD-Rs weren’t widely used until the 1990s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This helps explain why so many rappers utilized turntables and Casio keyboards, and then recorded their songs using the microphone input on relatively cheap stereo equipment. Captured on recordable cassettes like Maxell and TDK, some of these “gray tapes” simply had stickers with handwritten titles. More often, they weren’t labeled at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927410\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.BoxofTapes.CloseUp.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A box of handmade Bay Area rap tapes, part of Naru’s home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In those days, Too Short was an outlier, a Fremont High School student who canvassed East Oakland spots like Arroyo Park, \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@bayareahiphoparchive/in-conversation-with-56fae687e9c\">selling copies of “Game Raps”\u003c/a> at a few dollars a pop. Since Short was originally from Los Angeles, he relied on rap partner Tony “Freddy B” Adams to show him around the Town. The duo \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">made customized tapes for local drug dealers and players\u003c/a> in the city’s nightlife — now known as “special request” tapes — shouting out the customers’ names in their raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Short was a hustler,” says CJ Flash. “He had a style of telling stories that was so outlandish and so funny that word got around.” Short and Freddy B developed the trademark “Biiiiitch!” catchphrase, and Short has often said that he and Freddy B intended to get famous together. Unfortunately, Freddy B was in prison when Short released his landmark “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>” tape in 1987. (Adams is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/from-too-hort-colleague-to-christian-missionary/\">now a minister\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 676px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"455\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984.jpg 676w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TooShort.SFExaminer.1984-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short in 1984, at the age of 18. \u003ccite>(Katy Raddatz/San Francisco Examiner/Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others like Sir Quick Draw, Mac Mill, and Chief Naked Head (later known as Premo; he passed away in January of 2023) simply gave away their tapes or let friends copy or “dub” the originals. As Richmond rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925761/magic-mike-richmond-calvin-t-rap-hip-hop\">Magic Mike explained in a recent interview with Dregs One\u003c/a>, dubs of his tracks circulated as widely as Germany. “It was more or less trying to make a name for yourself…you had to make a tape,” adds CJ Flash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Bay Area hip-hop in the ’80s was a primordial soup of youngsters figuring out what the local sound would be. The answers wouldn’t arrive until near the end of the decade. “The Bay Area was behind,” says CJ Flash, comparing it to more advanced regions like Los Angeles, South Florida, and New York. “We never thought about radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Pivotal Moment’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Alex “Naru Kwina” Hence remembers the first time he heard the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” as a 14-year-old preparing to attend Oakland High School. “When the song went off, everybody ran outside, like, ‘Did you hear that song?!” he laughs, calling it one of the best moments of his life. “It was a pivotal moment, bro. We literally started rapping the song and trying to remember it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naru called himself Sir Quick Draw, an alias inspired by Hanna-Barbera cartoon \u003cem>Quick Draw McGraw\u003c/em> as well as the fact that, as a runner, “I was hella fast.” He took inspiration from Kurtis Blow, the Harlem rapper who scored major hits like 1980’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzl-2g5HhaI\">The Breaks\u003c/a>.” And Naru almost immediately began recording his voice on tape. His first original song was “The Caveman Rap,” which was inspired by Brooklyn rapper Jimmy Spicer’s 1980 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkGLco0tGqc\">Adventures of Super Rhyme\u003c/a>.” Naru can still recite those verses from memory: \u003cem>Now people come and take a trip in time with me / Back to that sweet year one million B.C.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still got that old-school flavor, man,” he admits. “Hip-hop was more fun for me back then.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"840\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Naru.Boxes_.1-160x224.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naru Kwina, who recorded under the names Sir Quick Draw and Em Cee Quick, poses with his home archives. \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But rap in the Bay Area didn’t take off right away. “Most people would rap other people’s songs. They’d just repeat what they heard on the radio,” says Naru. Aspiring MCs honed their craft by congregating at Eastmont Mall, “trying to impress the girls, and getting our names on our derby jackets.” And when Tom Tom Club’s 1981 hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiMhe4E0pI\">Genius of Love\u003c/a>” dropped? “Everybody rapped over that joint, man. Too many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s worth remembering that hip-hop was a phenomenon developed essentially by Black and Brown children. Rapping, pop-locking, spray-painting aerosol art on neighborhood walls, even DJing: These were youthful forms of play and creative expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bas, who grew up in North Oakland, remembers \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#at-fishermans-wharf-a-street-dance-destination-emerges\">popping and “roboting” at Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf\u003c/a> in the late ’70s as a child. “You have people like Ben [James] from Live Incorporated doing pantomime and roboting,” he says, noting one of the better-known dance crews. Dancers competed for attention and tips that they could spend on Snickers bars and arcade games. “Battle-wise, you had to have skill and talent to a certain caliber in order to truly be out on the Wharf or on Market [and Powell] in front of the cable cars,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"547\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1298788791.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A street dance crew called The Vita Family perform at Pier 39 in 1986. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local newspaper stories focused on the emergence of hip-hop as a youth obsession. Enterprising teachers incorporated it into their lesson plans. On high-school campuses, fledgling DJs like Joseph Thomas “G.I. Joe” Simms Jr. at El Cerrito High School and groups like the Devastating Four proliferated. At house parties, mobile DJ crews spun the latest electro, boogie-funk, and rap hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gatherings at schools, churches, and community centers typically reserved a few minutes for fledgling local rap and dance crews to perform. This was also the era of \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#nancy-reagan-visits-oakland-and-coins-the-phrase-just-say-no\">the Reagan Administration’s “Just Say No” campaign\u003c/a>, and kids were often asked to help spread an anti-drug message through raps. “Inspired by rapping groups such as Sugar Hill, Run DMC, Jeckyl and Hyde and Mell (sic) and the Furious Five, teen-agers create their own raps mostly for fun and to bring attention to themselves,” read a June 29, 1985, story in the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the first half of the decade, street dance remained a focal point. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/04/1140504217/double-dutch-fantastic-four-holiday-classic\">Double Dutch jump-rope competitions\u003c/a> sponsored by McDonald’s drew thousands to Lincoln Square Center in Oakland. The San Francisco Street Breakers held a fundraising benefit, “Super Break Sunday,” at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts in 1985. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, street dance “got played out” after the success of Hollywood movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’\u003c/em>, and rap music moved to the center of hip-hop culture. Quickening the process were concerts by Black music stars like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-fresh-fest-comes-to-oakland\">Fresh Festival\u003c/a>, the first national hip-hop tour, with headliners Run-DMC at the Oakland Coliseum. Local radio tentatively began to experiment with rap, notably KMEL-FM and its mix DJs such as Michael Erickson and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13828163/watch-cameron-paul-give-a-masterclass-in-early-djing\">the late Cameron Paul\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"952\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13927323\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1020x1517.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-800x1190.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-768x1142.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_-1033x1536.jpg 1033w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/FreshFest.Flyer_.jpg 1345w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for the Fresh Festival, which arrived in Oakland in 1984.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“By 1985, there was this incredible scene in the South Bay,” says Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko. As a teen DJ in San Bruno “who looked like Urkel,” he remembers traveling far and wide to buy records, from Creative Music Emporium in San Francisco to T’s Wauzi in Oakland. Meanwhile, nightclubs like Mothers and Studio 47 brought a fusion of hip-hop, freestyle and techno. “San Jose had underage hip-hop teenage clubs, and no other city had those,” he says. (Banjoko later became a rapper, a journalist, and now promotes jiu-jitsu, meditation and chess with his company \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/real64blocks/?hl=en\">64 Blocks\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Oakland, Naru continued making tapes. “I come from a musical family. My cousin’s the Maestro” — a.k.a. producer Keenan Foster, who has worked with Too Short, Dru Down, and Askari X — “and a lot of my family sings. I got a drum machine, a little Yamaha keyboard. I would play my bass lines. We had double-cassette decks.” He collaborated with Taj “Turntable T” Tilghman, “who was dope on the turntables.” Turntable T eventually bought a Roland TR-808 drum machine, the instrument du jour for def beat MCs. “When that 808 came, that was it. Everyone loved that deck. \u003cem>Boom!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray tapes” that circulated weren’t the EP and album-length releases we’re familiar with today. Some tapes only had one song per side; or maybe just one song on one side, period. Artists were judged not only by their ability to rap engagingly for several minutes, but also to chop up a familiar beat like Whodini’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5r0i2ZAbCc\">Friends\u003c/a>,” transforming it into something fresh and original; or even make rudimentary 808 beats. For example, Too Short drew attention for “rapping the longest,” as Bas explains, leading to songs that lasted eight or nine minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"682\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-800x682.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-1020x870.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-160x136.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait-768x655.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Adisa.portrait.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adisa Banjoko in the 1980s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adisa Banjoko)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Those tapes were everywhere. Everyone was trying to see what was possible,” says Banjoko. In 1987, he began making raps under the name MC Most Ill. His first song was “Rhyme Junkie.” “The truth was, some of it was really cool but a lot of it actually also sucked, because [the art form] was brand new. … The quality control was not there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On August 18, 1984, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> published an article called “Rapping with Too-Short,” the first story on the 18-year-old prodigy. Pacific News Service journalist Anthony Adams called Short’s songs “preacher-like yarns over pre-recorded music,” and noted that one of them was about automaker John DeLorean, whose conviction for cocaine trafficking made national news. Short claimed he and his partner Freddy B sold over 2,000 tapes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>Chronicle-Examiner\u003c/em> also frequently interviewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.dominiquediprima.com/\">Dominique “Lady D” DiPrima\u003c/a>, a New York transplant and San Francisco State University student who rapped, sung, and organized events. DiPrima possessed a rich family pedigree — her father was the jazz writer Amiri Baraka, her mother the beat poet Diane DiPrima. In late 1984, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV recruited her to host \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a Saturday-afternoon program that became appointment viewing for local teens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone had a crush on Dominique,” says Naru, giggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-800x541.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1020x690.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-160x108.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-768x520.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_-1536x1039.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/DominiqueDiprima.HomeTurf.SFSU_.png 1540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dominique DiPrima, pictured here hosting a 1987 episode of ‘Home Turf’ on KRON-4. \u003ccite>(SFSU Television Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Bay Area Rap Record Opens the Floodgates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the under-acknowledged aspects of early hip-hop is the way elder Black musicians shepherded young artists into the recording industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Sylvia Robinson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, initially emerged in the mid-’50s as one-half of Mickey & Sylvia, who scored a national hit with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwMB9v1pQ4\">Love Is Strange\u003c/a>.” As a ’70s solo artist and producer, Robinson made slinky, Eartha Kitt-like erotic disco capers such as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA2X1040_gY\">Pillow Talk\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPScEJ66_m4\">Sweet Stuff\u003c/a>.” After discovering hip-hop when she heard DJ Lovebug Starski at a party, Robinson formed Sugar Hill Records, and turned three rapping teens she found in New Jersey into its first act, the Sugarhill Gang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This process of soul veterans working with young people resulted in independent 12” singles that mirrored — if not yet accurately capturing — the nascent rap sound at a time when big companies virtually ignored it. With his Mercury Records contract, Kurtis Blow was the only act with a major album deal. A handful of other pioneers like DJ Hollywood scored one-off 12” deals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar process played out in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/2R_h9BCuvBE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/2R_h9BCuvBE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The first Bay Area rap record is widely considered to be Phil “Motorcycle Mike” Lewis and the Rat Trap Band’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Odk2Vu70s\">Super Rat\u003c/a>,” a 1981 boogie-funk single notoriously released by East Oakland heroin kingpin Milton “Mickey Mo” Moore’s Hodisk Records. The name “Hodisk” was a cheeky reference to his onetime side business as a pimp. (Moore has since reformed and is now a pastor in West Oakland.) In fact, Mickey Mo boasts in his 1996 autobiography \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qy6RNV6f5w\">The Man: The Life Story of a Drug Kingpin\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, “Hodisk Records became the first record company on the West Coast to release a rap record.” (The first L.A. rap record, Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp’s “The Gigolo Rapp,” was also released in 1981.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mickey Mo has another claim to rap lore: In 1980, he \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-first-rap-performance-on-a-major-stage\">helped finance an Oakland Coliseum concert\u003c/a> headlined by L.A. funk band War, with the Sugarhill Gang as a supporting act. Journalist Lee Hildebrand’s pre-concert interview with the Gang in the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> was the first mention of rap music in the local press. A second funk-rap novelty, Steve Walker’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9jCLUWwBY\">Tally Ho!\u003c/a>,” also appeared in 1981. In 1983, San Francisco’s Debo & Brian released the electro-funk EP \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv_AfTbEng\">This Is It\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The momentum had started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had made this vow that I would never ever do anything having to do with rap,” laughs Claytoven Richardson. During his long career, the Berkeley-born, Oakland-raised Richardson worked with Aretha Franklin, Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Elton John, and Celine Dion. But in the early ’80s, he was best known as a singer, producer, and arranger with hot dancefloor jazz-funk bands like Bill Summers & Summers’ Heat. His anti-rap stance reflected the music industry at large in the 1980s. “Nobody had the foresight to see that it would morph and change and do the things that it’s done,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927369\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 625px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson.jpg 625w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/ClaytovenRichardson-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claytoven Richardson pictured in March 2023 in Los Angeles, California. \u003ccite>(Steven Simione/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, Richardson couldn’t avoid the increasingly popular genre when he scored a production deal at Fantasy Records, the onetime Berkeley jazz label also known for innovative acts like Sylvester and Cybotron, as well as one-off singles generated by a “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” philosophy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the records Richardson produced in that anything-goes environment was Mighty Mouth’s satirical complaint, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1hAFnrtU8\">I’m All Rapped Out\u003c/a>.” (He wasn’t the only one annoyed over rap; perhaps out of wishful thinking, a 1985 \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> article referred to the “fast-fading hip-hop scene.”) A vocalist named Lawrence Pittman didn’t show up for the session, so Richardson performed the lyrics himself. However, Pittman showed up to rap on Mighty Mouth’s second single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfQcLbemE4\">The Roaches\u003c/a>,” which parodied Whodini’s electro hit, “Freaks Come Out at Night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scattered local raps appeared between 1985 and 1986. Former boogaloo dancer Jay King, just home from a stint in the Air Force and splitting time between Sacramento and Vallejo, formed a group called Frost and released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hObIekxeoSg\">Battle Beat\u003c/a>.” His friends Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy produced it, as well as another electro-rap track, Sorcerey’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ap6uw-kX8o\">Woo Baby\u003c/a>.” Pittsburg rapper James “Red Beat” Briggs issued “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dUlMEZUSc\">Freak City\u003c/a>,” which was later remixed by N.W.A. co-founder Arabian Prince. And there was Rodney “Disco Alamo” Brown, from Richmond, whose 12” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-pXg1DY98\">The Task Force\u003c/a>” is \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#richmonds-task-force-memorialized-on-wax\">an early example\u003c/a> of Bay Area rap chronicling street life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"484\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927313\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-1020x618.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164-768x465.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1206295164.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short, pictured at his manager’s house in Oakland on September 21, 1987. \u003ccite>(Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most importantly, Too Short’s rising buzz led to a deal with deep East Oakland entrepreneur Dean Hodges’ 75 Girls label. Released in 1985, the resulting \u003cem>Don’t Stop Rappin’\u003c/em> was the first official album by a local rapper. While fans of a certain age still treasure protean electro-funk tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ywke376NQ\">Girl\u003c/a>” — which E-40 referenced on his 1998 hit, “Earl, That’s Yo Life” — the album couldn’t compare to his raunchy and wickedly hilarious “special request” tapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was during this period that Naru finally got his chance in the studio. Since 1984, UC Berkeley station \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">KALX-FM\u003c/a> served as home to “Music for the People,” a Sunday-morning community affairs and music show hosted by the late Charles “Natty Prep” Douglass, as well as DJs like Billy “Jam” Kiernan (who also broadcast on San Francisco State University station KUSF-FM), David “Davey D” Cook, and funkster Rickey “The Uhuru Maggot” Vincent. When Naru won \u003ca href=\"https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/107287\">a 1986 rap contest hosted by Billy Jam on KALX\u003c/a>, he earned a deal with Bay Wave Records, a local imprint distributed by Hollywood-based Macola Records. Richardson was hired to produce the session.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/dLlNn1Zh1ww'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/dLlNn1Zh1ww'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“[Quick Draw] was a great rapper. He had a lot of great lyrics and ideas,” says Richardson. On “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLlNn1Zh1ww\">Rapaholic\u003c/a>,” Richardson and session engineer Michael Denten (who later worked with Spice 1 and E-40) accompanied Quick Draw’s dexterous and energetic raps with sharp-angled percussive edits and sound effects reminiscent of The Art of Noise and Mantronix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Respect to Claytoven,” says Naru, who not only continues to make music but also owns a company, \u003ca href=\"http://hiplearning.org/\">Hip Learning\u003c/a>, that promotes childhood education with rap. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the “Rapaholic” experience: “They made the record sound hella more polished. It was [supposed to be] a little more underground than that.” However, he adds, “[Claytoven] taught us a lot in the studio about the mics they use and how to mix. It was a good experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"889\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/SirQuickdrawFlyer.72dpi-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photocopied flyer advertising Sir Quick Draw’s single ‘Rapaholic.’ \u003ccite>(Mosi Reeves)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Radio Breakthrough — And a Kid Named Hammer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the trajectory of Bay Area hip-hop waxed and waned, three catalyzing moments brought the scene into focus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was an R&B track. Timex Social Club’s “Rumors” captured the pulse of Bay Area youth culture, from Marcus Thompson and Alex Hill’s skittering electro-funk bass and drums to singer Michael Marshall’s distinctly regional accent and coy recitation of schoolyard gossip (“Did you hear the one about Michael? Some say he must be gay…”) Produced by Jay King and Denzil Foster and released on King’s Jay Records in February 1986, it mushroomed into a top ten \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> pop hit and dominated radio all year.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/jVce2IeYcTg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/jVce2IeYcTg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>But by the summer, Timex Social Club was falling apart and trading accusations with King over money and credit. The group’s only album \u003cem>Vicious Rumors\u003c/em> — by that point it was just Michael Marshall — featured drum programming from CJ Flash and a shout-out to KALX’s Natty Prep, who helped break “Rumors” on his “Music and Life” show. Marshall retreated from the spotlight before \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#i-got-5-on-it-remix-a-meeting-of-greats-recorded-in-alameda\">re-emerging as the hook man\u003c/a> on the Luniz’ 1995 smash “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtkpnXLrL4\">I Got 5 on It\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After breaking with Timex Social Club, King formed a group called Jet Set and signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The group changed their name to Club Nouveau before debuting with the single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKWhkjXV5uM\">Jealousy\u003c/a>.” A follow-up, the Bill Withers cover “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbyjaUJWWmk\">Lean on Me\u003c/a>,” went to number-one on the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em> Hot 100, while Club Nouveau’s debut album \u003cem>Life, Love & Pain\u003c/em> went platinum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"489\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-800x489.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-1020x624.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851-768x470.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/GettyImages-1346275851.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Singers Samuelle Prater, Jay King and Valerie Watson of Club Nouveau performs at the U.I.C. Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois in August 1987. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>King’s growing stardom rippled across the Bay and reached Felton Pilate, the Vallejo keyboardist, singer, and producer best known as a driving force in Bay Area funk stars Con Funk Shun. The two had already worked together on King’s onetime rap group Frost; Pilate engineered that record. Pilate soon added one of King’s projects, Sacramento R&B/rap group New Choice, to a growing slate of projects he produced and engineered at his Felstar Studios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felstar Studios was the culmination of work he had begun while not touring and rehearsing with Con Funk Shun. At his home studio on Sandpiper Drive in Vallejo, Pilate helped assemble records for fledgling local artists. “I never thought of myself as just a studio,” he says, where he simply records his clients. “I have a little experience here. I’ve got several gold albums. Here, let me pass on some of this knowledge.” When asked if he considered himself a mentor, he demurs, even though that’s arguably what he was. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pilate opened Felstar Studios on Sonoma Boulevard, his trusted associate was James Earley, a young engineer whom he credits for adding a more contemporary sensibility to the Studios’ output. Among the locals who came to them were M.V.P., a family trio consisting of Earl Stevens, Danell Stevens, and Brandt Jones. Their 1988 12”, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLuAL6DueI\">The Kings Men\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, also included Tanina Stevens and Angela Pressley, who called themselves Sugar ‘N’ Spice. The members of M.V.P. updated their stage names to E-40, D-Shot and B-Legit, added Tanina as Suga T, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#the-clicks-down-dirty-ushers-in-mobb-music-era\">evolved into The Click\u003c/a>, arguably becoming the most famous rap group to emerge from Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927370\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40.jpg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/MVP.e-40-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">M.V.P., a 1988 Vallejo rap group featuring Busy D, E-40 and Legit (L–R). The three would later add E-40’s sister Suga T and become known as The Click. \u003ccite>(Gerry Ericksen / Rushforce Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1986, Pilate and Earley both had solo deals at Berkeley’s Fantasy Records. It was there that Pilate met a former Oakland A’s batboy named Stanley “Holyghost Boy” Burrell through Fantasy Records producer Fred L. Pittman. “Fred would often hire me to do keyboard arrangements for him,” says Pilate. When Pittman asked him to play keys for Holyghost Boy, Pilate responded, “Hey Fred, why don’t you let me take the reins on this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a classically trained jazz and classical musician, Pilate didn’t think much of rap, even though Con Funk Shun not only included a rap verse on a 1982 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9GHVTI-EE\">Ain’t Nobody Baby\u003c/a>”; but also made “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmzvN7raB0\">Electric Lady\u003c/a>,” a 1985 hit produced by Larry Smith of Whodini fame that landed in the top five of \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>’s Black Singles chart. “Musically, I wasn’t a fan, but as a producer, I said, ‘I can do this,’” he says. “Like everyone else, Con Funk Shun wanted to be relevant, and rap was all over the radio.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks Burrell brought to Pilate consisted of him rapping over sparse Yamaha RX5 drum-machine parts. Pilate responded by going into “study mode.” He listened to the rap stuff that was getting airplay like Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew. As a result, the skittering percussion on Burrell’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVWFiptGNY\">Let’s Get It Started\u003c/a>” is reminiscent of the go-go-inspired arrangements on Doug E. Fresh hits like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sGw9GSCiYU\">The Show\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtqnKIF7kE\">All the Way to Heaven\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927325\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-800x565.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-1020x720.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_-768x542.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.VIdeoShoot.NewParish.Getty_.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer films the music video for ‘Let’s Get It Started’ at Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub in downtown Oakland, March 19, 1988. \u003ccite>(Deanne Fitzmaurice/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My thing was to make it more music-driven than beat-driven,” says Pilate. In many cases, he simply “listened to what [Burrell] was talking about and wrote a straight R&B song underneath it.” He also gives credit to Earley, who helped refine the drum programming and brought “that younger ear” to the project. They incorporated stock horn stabs from a battery of Juno, Roland, and Yamaha drum machines. Meanwhile, Kent “The Lone Mixer” Wilson and Bryant “D.J. Redeemed” Marable added rhythmic scratches by cutting up Curtis Mayfield and Beastie Boys records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the demos were finished, Fantasy Records dropped Pilate, Earley and Burrell from their deals. “They weren’t really sure how to market any of us,” says Pilate. Then, he chuckles, “The next time I ran into the Holyghost Boy, he had changed his name to MC Hammer.” After forming Bustin’ Records in Fremont with financial help from Oakland A’s ballplayers like Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, Hammer turned the Pilate demos into three 12”s — “Ring ’Em,” “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Let’s Get It Started” — and the 1987 album \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em>. “I was like, man, those were rough mixes! You were supposed to come back and let me fix that!” Pilate laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone involved in Bay Area hip-hop has vivid memories of MC Hammer blowing up. Near-mythical stories of his local takeover abound, like attending local concerts surrounded by a massive crew; or tearing up the dance floor at The Silks, a popular nightclub in Emeryville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate-768x698.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Hammer.Pilate.jpg 1058w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MC Hammer and Fenton Pilate in modern times. Pilate engineered and co-produced MC Hammer’s first recordings. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Felton Pilate)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, it’s worth revisiting \u003cem>Feel My Power\u003c/em> and 1988’s \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em>. Released after Hammer signed with Capitol Records, \u003cem>Let’s Get It Started\u003c/em> found Hammer and Pilate remixing those original demos while adding vital new tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZVcXzSE3M\">Pump It Up\u003c/a>.” The results are bombastic and vibrant dance-floor jams as ecstatic as anything by Kid ‘n’ Play and Salt-n-Pepa. Hammer’s subsequent leap into pop superstardom with 1990’s \u003cem>Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em\u003c/em> and the ubiquity of “U Can’t Touch This” obscure just how great those early tracks are.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Eight Woofers in the Trunk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Hammer’s major-label arrival in 1988 capped a year of Bay Area hip-hop on the cusp of national exposure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Too Short issued \u003cem>Born to Mack\u003c/em> in the fall of 1987 on his Dangerous Music label, Jive Records picked it up. (Dangerous Music also issued \u003cem>Dangerous Crew\u003c/em>, a compilation of vital Bay Area acts like Spice-1, Rappin’ 4-Tay, and the female duo Danger Zone.) Digital Underground’s playful and psychedelic “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zQ1frcgSbI\">Underwater Rimes\u003c/a> / \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBNB20wVo0\">Your Life’s a Cartoon\u003c/a>” led to a deal with Tommy Boy. Local talent waited in the wings, including rapper/producer Paris (A.T.C.’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpiPWfOBk4\">Cisco Jam\u003c/a>”), Sway & King Tech (\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJujmVXiwE\">Flynamic Force\u003c/a>\u003c/em> EP), Dangerous Dame (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Frj4j09GE\">The Power That’s Packed\u003c/a>”), and MC Twist and the Def Squad (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lZz7qhjfjw\">Just Rock\u003c/a>”). And the late Cameron Paul, known for his “Beats & Pieces” breakbeats, remixed Queens trio Salt-n-Pepa’s 1987 track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkdk1oMmtE\">Push It\u003c/a>” into a global phenomenon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13828164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"Cameron Paul reveals his mixing secrets.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13828164\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-768x476.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-240x149.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-375x233.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/CameronPaul-520x322.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cameron Paul, who provided the spine of New Orleans bounce music with ‘Brown Beats’ and recorded a smash-hit remix of Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s ‘Push It,’ was also a prominent club and radio megamix DJ in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(YouTube)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the first local group to score a major label deal wasn’t Hammer, but Surf MCs, a Berkeley group that Profile Records promoted as a Beastie Boys-like rap/rock crossover. Their 1987 album \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojCAqdBA7uA\">Surf or Die\u003c/a>\u003c/em> proved a flop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the third moment that catalyzed Bay Area hip-hop wasn’t a singular record like Timex Social Club’s “Rumors,” or an artist like Hammer and Short. It was the sound of walloping, all-enveloping bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made for surgically enhanced car and jeep stereos, the bass colossus is as much a feature of hip-hop in the mid-’80s as the pounding Roland TR-808 machine, from Rick Rubin’s production on LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” and T La Rock’s “It’s Yours” to Rodney O and DJ Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and Dr. Dre’s work on Eazy-E’s “The Boyz-N-The Hood.” It also mirrors the crack-cocaine epidemic that began to blight and distort communities across the country. As street life turned treacherous, the specter of the hustler, and whether to become one, cast a growing shadow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Then the new style came, the bass got deeper / You gave up the mike and bought you a beeper / Do you want to rap or sell coke? / Brothers like you ain’t never broke,” Too Short memorably rapped on his 1989 hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvfUUOO0xoM\">Life Is…Too Short\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banjoko recalls how the presence of gangs transformed local shows. “You would see a bunch of people dressed up together [in the same gear], and you might assume they were a rap or dance crew. They were young drug lords,” he says. “You could get trampled, beat up or robbed by any of them. I remember 69 Ville being massively deep at the Fresh Fest and the [Run-DMC] Raising Hell tour. They were terrifying, straight up. You were going to tuck your chain, you were going to take your Kangol off, or they were going to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927326\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13927326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/HughEMC-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh EMC, the San Francisco rapper whose 1988 single ‘It’s the Game’ unflinchingly chronicled street life. \u003ccite>(Soul Sonic Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rap imagery became more honest and explicit. Some like Richmond rapper Magic Mike, San Francisco’s Hugh EMC (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_p7L0eJfKI\">It’s the Game\u003c/a>”), and Oakland’s Hollywood (“\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/641778-Hollywood-Stay-Heart-And-Soul-Raps-Just-A-Battlefield\">Gangster Rap\u003c/a>”) seemed to embrace the hustler ethos, while cautiously adding verses about the consequences of that lifestyle. Then there was Oakland rapper Morocco Moe, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNoOCIVPrI\">Task\u003c/a>” criticized how law enforcement brutalized communities in the War on Drugs: “Their intentions are good/But their actions are wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every Black neighborhood was infested” with crack, says Vallejo producer Khayree Shaheed. “There was an influx of money coming into young Black men, but there was also a lot of death occurring.” The epidemic also marked his entry into the world of rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a descendant of the Bay Area’s vaunted funk tradition, Khayree spent the ’70s and early ’80s playing bass guitar for bands like Grand Larceny, Body Mind & Spirit and Touch of Class (with keyboardist Rosie Gaines, who later joined Prince & the New Power Generation). His travels took him across the U.S. and even to Japan, where Touch of Class lived and performed for several months. (Though his bands made demos, there are no official recordings to date.) When asked about the first time he heard rap, Khayree cites “jazzoetry” ensembles like The Last Poets, not the Sugarhill Gang. And as a youth growing up on Lofas Place in Vallejo, he spent plenty of time following Con Funk Shun, hoping to apprentice with the biggest band in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927412\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-800x510.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-768x490.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi-1536x980.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.1979.DockoftheBay.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vallejo musician Khayree Shaheed, playing bass onstage in 1979. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khayree was in his mid-20s when Rod “I.C.E.” Andrews and Dan “Luvva D” Morrison a.k.a. the Luvva Twins brought Khayree a demo they had made on a Casio keyboard, “Hubba Head.” The song title was slang for a crack addict, and the duo described the “hubba head’s” descent into addiction with charismatic punch. They arranged the music and rapped most of the lyrics, while Khayree dropped a short verse and added guitar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khayree had already spent time at Pilate’s home studio, honing his writing and production skills. (“I always enjoyed working with him,” says Pilate.) Now, he brought “Hubba Head” to Pilate, and the two prepared it for release. Setting up his own label, Big Bank Records, Khayree distributed two hundred copies of the 12” to DJs and influencers. “The record was super popular in the streets,” says Khayree.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pArkWvlAebg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pArkWvlAebg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>After “Hubba Head,” Khayree began working with Jay King, a fellow graduate of Vallejo High School. The opportunity to write and produce New Choice’s 1987 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VLZQ4X1yA\">Cold Stupid\u003c/a>” and most of the quintet’s 1988 debut, \u003cem>At Last\u003c/em>, gave him important experience on a major project and financial stability. By fusing bass, funky R&B and hip-hop breakbeats, New Choice reflected a parallel R&B movement that both influenced and was inspired by the hip-hop scene. Similar Bay Area acts included Oakland’s Tony! Toni! Toné!, who parlayed backing sessions for Sheila E. and Tramaine Hawkins into a major-label deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flush from his experience with New Choice, Khayree was ready to start his own company. “I’m listening to EPMD’s \u003cem>Strictly Business\u003c/em>,” he says, inspiring the name of his second label, Strictly Business Records. He knew that Mike “The Mac” Robinson, who also grew up on Lofas Place, was a rapper. Robinson hailed from a musical family: his uncle Steve “Silver” Scales was a well-traveled Vallejo funk percussionist who played with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and the B-52s. (Though it would be a delicious coincidence, Scales didn’t perform on “Genius of Love.”) Khayree encouraged Robinson to take music more seriously. Meanwhile, Robinson’s mother drew the memorable Strictly Business logo: an open briefcase, ready for business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, Khayree released The Mac’s three-song EP, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/805531-The-Mac-Im-Ah-Big-Mac\">I’m Ah Big Mac\u003c/a>.” Heard now, what immediately stands out is the unique \u003cem>tone\u003c/em> of the bass. “We used synthesizers that had dumb-fat bass lines,” explains Khayree in reference to himself and Too Short as well as future Bay Area colleagues like Ant Banks. By comparison, he says, other regional scenes relied on a “natural” bass guitar or samples from records. “You feel it through your whole body. … You can get it with a bass guitar, depending on how you EQ the bass and what you run your guitar through. But you’re \u003cem>never\u003c/em> going to touch the subs and the depth of a Minimoog, of the Oberheim Ovx, or the Roland Juno 106.” The EP’s highlight is its B-side “The Game Is Thick,” which centers on a sample of Prince’s “D.M.S.R.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"498\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927371\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-800x498.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-1020x635.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/TheMac.GameisThick.jpg 1537w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree and The Mac (L–R), pictured on the cover of The Mac’s ‘The Game is Thick.’ \u003ccite>(Phil Bray / Strictly Business Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1989, Khayree remixed and re-released “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCxGl7Ok1YI\">The Game Is Thick\u003c/a>” as a standalone 12” with a memorable cover photo: Khayree looking super-clean in a grey suit, clasping a briefcase, with The Mac in a red-and-black bomber jacket. Khayree calls the style “pimping.” “We didn’t mean pimping so much as getting prostitutes to work,” he explains. “It’s an attitude, and it’s a musical style.” The “game” is a metaphor for life in the Black community. Street slang illustrated complex situations, whether it was dealing with the repercussions of a raging crack epidemic, or simply navigating the tensions of everyday living. Meanwhile, The Mac’s “cool, silky, pimpish” flow and Khayree’s synthesized bass production proved a clear predecessor to the ’90s mob-music sound that took over Bay Area rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Upon release, “The Game Is Thick” didn’t make a major impact, and most copies went to local DJ pools. “We promoted records out of the trunk,” says Khayree. “We went from Bobby G’s Soul Disco in San Francisco to [Rico Casanova’s record pool] The Pros in Oakland.” Still, “The Game Is Thick” remix received a mention in Davey “D” Cook’s April 7, 1989 “Beats & Breaks” column for \u003cem>BAM\u003c/em> Magazine. “Let me tell you, it’s hyped to the max,” Davey D wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Khayree’s encouragement, the Mac taught himself how to produce music with synth keyboards. He also introduced Khayree to another Vallejo artist, Andre “Mac Dre” Hicks, who became Strictly Business’ second act. By the time The Mac was shot and killed on July 23, 1991 in what Khayree calls “a case of mistaken identity,” the two had recorded dozens of tracks and released a third and final 12” protesting police violence, 1990’s “Enuff of Tis Sh-t!” One of The Mac’s beats posthumously appeared on Mac Dre’s 1993 track, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slA_s7tSjMU\">The M.A.C. & Mac D.R.E.\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13927413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13927413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-800x523.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Khayree.KoolMoeDee.72dpi.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khayree with Kool Moe Dee at the 1988 BRE Conference in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Khayree Shaheed)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Mike had a big, big loving heart,” remembers Khayree, sounding wistful. He emphasizes how The Mac left behind a daughter, “Mac” Reina Robinson, and a pregnant girlfriend who gave birth to his son, Mike. At one point, Khayree plays a voicemail of The Mac passionately singing a funky, swinging hook, as if to counteract the stereotype that rappers aren’t musicians. He talks about how The Mac’s way of playing simple, evocative keyboard notes for maximum effect echoes in the work of his famed protégé, Mac Dre. “I miss him,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area rap broke wide at the end of the decade, leading to a 1989 story in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/arts/rap-by-the-bay-oakland-emerges-as-a-force-in-pop.html\">Rap by the Bay: Oakland Emerges as a Force in Pop\u003c/a>.” Not every local pioneer who laid the groundwork would enjoy the fruits of that success. But their stories are essential to understanding how local hip-hop came of age, and everything that came after.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Blue Note Jazz Festival Lineup: Mary J. Blige, Nas, Chance the Rapper, More",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.bluenotejazz.com/jazz-festival-napa/\">Blue Note Jazz Festival\u003c/a> in Napa has announced its 2023 lineup, and it leans ever more into hip-hop for its second year. Headliners Mary J. Blige, Nas, and Chance the Rapper will be joined by Madlib, Cordae, Rakim, Digable Planets, Rapsody and special guests De La Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>R&B artists like Ari Lennox and and NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) are also high on the bill, with jazz artists Keyon Harrold, Soulive, Domi & JD Beck, Terrace Martin, Nicholas Payton, Yussef Dayes and others scattered across the three-day festival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13916940']Rounding out the notable acts on the lineup are funk legend George Clinton appearing with Parliament Funkadelic, New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia, soul visionary Meshell Ndegeocello, and Taylor McFerrin appearing with his dad, Bobby McFerrin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in 2022, the festival’s artist in residence is Robert Glasper, and will be hosted by Dave Chappelle. One big change for 2023, though: 2022’s festival was held at Charles Krug Winery, north of St. Helena, while this year’s festival is at Silverado Resort, just outside the city of Napa. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Blue Note Jazz Festival runs Friday–Sunday, July 28–30, at the Silverado Resort in Napa. Tickets for the three-day festival, starting at $550 plus fees, go on sale Wednesday, April 9 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bluenotejazz.com/jazz-festival-napa/tickets/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Also performing: Ari Lennox, NxWorries, Madlib, Cordae, George Clinton, Big Freedia, Meshell Ndegeocello, Rakim, Domi & JD Beck and more.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.bluenotejazz.com/jazz-festival-napa/\">Blue Note Jazz Festival\u003c/a> in Napa has announced its 2023 lineup, and it leans ever more into hip-hop for its second year. Headliners Mary J. Blige, Nas, and Chance the Rapper will be joined by Madlib, Cordae, Rakim, Digable Planets, Rapsody and special guests De La Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>R&B artists like Ari Lennox and and NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) are also high on the bill, with jazz artists Keyon Harrold, Soulive, Domi & JD Beck, Terrace Martin, Nicholas Payton, Yussef Dayes and others scattered across the three-day festival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Rounding out the notable acts on the lineup are funk legend George Clinton appearing with Parliament Funkadelic, New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia, soul visionary Meshell Ndegeocello, and Taylor McFerrin appearing with his dad, Bobby McFerrin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in 2022, the festival’s artist in residence is Robert Glasper, and will be hosted by Dave Chappelle. One big change for 2023, though: 2022’s festival was held at Charles Krug Winery, north of St. Helena, while this year’s festival is at Silverado Resort, just outside the city of Napa. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Blue Note Jazz Festival runs Friday–Sunday, July 28–30, at the Silverado Resort in Napa. Tickets for the three-day festival, starting at $550 plus fees, go on sale Wednesday, April 9 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bluenotejazz.com/jazz-festival-napa/tickets/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Heklina, the San Francisco drag legend and longtime performer at clubs around the city, has died in London, according to multiple reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/joshuagrannell/posts/pfbid02KjDojuS1c3sNoGwranKLk9FKkfunAZYLBj3GD3qJhiKW5t7kmqVRsCDfdqoUWHWel\">a Facebook post\u003c/a> on Monday, friend and colleague Peaches Christ wrote, “I am shocked and horrified to bring this news to you. … This morning, in London, England, I went to collect my dear friend Heklina, who is co-starring with me in a ‘Mommie Queerest’ show here, and found her dead. I do not know the cause of death yet. I know this is shocking news and I am beyond stunned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>London’s Soho Theatre, where Peaches Christ and Heklina had been performing together in “Mommie Queerest,” also \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sohotheatre/status/1642989190072680451\">posted a message\u003c/a> of being “in shock and incredibly saddened with news of Heklina’s passing. Our thoughts are with Peaches, Mommie Queerest company, Heklina’s family, friends + their wider community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Watch a short documentary on Heklina here\u003c/strong>:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61qbUimYg9g\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heklina co-founded popular drag club Oasis, regularly performed at El Rio and The Stud, and was the creator and hostess of the long-running show Trannyshack (later called Mother). Heklina appeared regularly in drag parodies of popular television shows like \u003cem>Sex in the City\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Golden Girls\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Roseanne\u003c/em>, and produced and hosted a party called Daytime Realness — with the tagline “Dancing, Drag & Disorder” — most recently at El Rio just weeks ago, on March 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We at El Rio are absolutely devastated to hear of the passing of Heklina,” wrote El Rio co-owner Lynne Angel in an email to KQED. “She was a huge part of our extended family and we will miss her terribly. The mark she made on the San Francisco drag and performance scene is incomparable. We were blessed to work with her often and she was a joy to witness both on stage and off. May she be surrounded by cats, ’80s New Wave and football butts eternally. Rest in Power to one of the best.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heklina was born in Minneapolis, and was raised in New York, New England and Iceland. After a stint in the Navy, Heklina moved to San Francisco; in an interview segment from a KQED documentary in 2015, Heklina recalled that “immediately I fell in love with it, and I felt right at home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12242568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12242568\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Heklina\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heklina, pictured here in a promotional photo for one of many events at Oasis. \u003ccite>(Nick Ice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I met Heklina around 1995 — which now feels like many generations past, just a year before she started her weekly party T-Shack at The Stud,” veteran drag performer Juanita MORE! wrote in an email to KQED. “I performed on the second week of the club, not caring or taking any consideration about what the theme was — and that’s how our friendship rolled. … We respected and knew what each other was great at doing. We cracked each other up all the time. The sound of her laugh will be missed greatly by everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_10134691']Artist and filmmaker Leo Herrera started working for Heklina as a photographer shortly after he first moved to San Francisco in 2003; Herrera was 21 at the time. By then, Trannyshack had become a San Francisco drag institution, and Heklina took Herrera under her wing. “Trannyshack brought drag back to its transgressive roots, and its roots of political resistance,” Herrera said. “There was a lot of healing that happened in the spaces that Heklina created, especially for folks that had come out of the AIDS crisis, and had moved from really homophobic places, like it was for me and my brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera says Heklina influenced a generation of artists — both drag performers and others like him who’ve gone on to make an impact in other fields. “I think a lot of us always strived to get her approval because it was really hard to. But once you got one of her deep cackles, you knew you had done something right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/sfoasis/status/1643009770927042560\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>News of Heklina’s passing devastated the drag community in San Francisco and beyond. “I kept thinking it was an April Fool’s joke, it doesn’t make sense. I spoke to her the day before yesterday when she was heading to England from Iceland,” Oasis owner D’Arcy Drollinger told the \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/drag-performer-heklina-reported-dead-in-london\">\u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. “But it is confirmed, it is real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Monday afternoon, a tearful crowd gathered for an informal memorial at Oasis, which Heklina co-owned until 2019. “She was a powerhouse. And she also had a soft side, and a vulnerable side, that I was lucky enough to get to know,” booking manager Carissa Hatchel, who performs as Snaxx, told KQED. “She was a very complicated person, and was very, very important to so many people in the community for so many decades now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started drag about eight years ago, and Heklina was one of the first queens I ever saw,” said Oasis performer Nicki Jizz. “She was unfiltered, she was unapologetically Heklina. She said whatever came to her mind. She didn’t care what anyone thought — which is a great trait for a drag performer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, State Senator Scott Wiener said he first saw Heklina perform in the 1990s, and was “devastated” by the news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heklina was an icon in the truest sense — funny, caring, outrageous, and brave,” Wiener wrote. “I’ve rarely worked with someone as fierce, creative, and dedicated. … She was the soul of San Francisco, and it’s hard to imagine the city without her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera echoed the sentiments of many on Monday that Heklina was synonymous with the best of drag tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A successful artist embodies their medium, so when we think of a brush or an instrument, we think of their name,” he said. “And I think for many of us, when we hear drag, we’re going to think of Heklina. She embodied the oldest and most powerful kind of drag that was about survival and political freedom, and I think we’re all going to miss that very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/scottshafer\">Scott Shafer\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Heklina, the San Francisco drag legend and longtime performer at clubs around the city, has died in London, according to multiple reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/joshuagrannell/posts/pfbid02KjDojuS1c3sNoGwranKLk9FKkfunAZYLBj3GD3qJhiKW5t7kmqVRsCDfdqoUWHWel\">a Facebook post\u003c/a> on Monday, friend and colleague Peaches Christ wrote, “I am shocked and horrified to bring this news to you. … This morning, in London, England, I went to collect my dear friend Heklina, who is co-starring with me in a ‘Mommie Queerest’ show here, and found her dead. I do not know the cause of death yet. I know this is shocking news and I am beyond stunned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>London’s Soho Theatre, where Peaches Christ and Heklina had been performing together in “Mommie Queerest,” also \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sohotheatre/status/1642989190072680451\">posted a message\u003c/a> of being “in shock and incredibly saddened with news of Heklina’s passing. Our thoughts are with Peaches, Mommie Queerest company, Heklina’s family, friends + their wider community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Watch a short documentary on Heklina here\u003c/strong>:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/61qbUimYg9g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/61qbUimYg9g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Heklina co-founded popular drag club Oasis, regularly performed at El Rio and The Stud, and was the creator and hostess of the long-running show Trannyshack (later called Mother). Heklina appeared regularly in drag parodies of popular television shows like \u003cem>Sex in the City\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Golden Girls\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Roseanne\u003c/em>, and produced and hosted a party called Daytime Realness — with the tagline “Dancing, Drag & Disorder” — most recently at El Rio just weeks ago, on March 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We at El Rio are absolutely devastated to hear of the passing of Heklina,” wrote El Rio co-owner Lynne Angel in an email to KQED. “She was a huge part of our extended family and we will miss her terribly. The mark she made on the San Francisco drag and performance scene is incomparable. We were blessed to work with her often and she was a joy to witness both on stage and off. May she be surrounded by cats, ’80s New Wave and football butts eternally. Rest in Power to one of the best.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heklina was born in Minneapolis, and was raised in New York, New England and Iceland. After a stint in the Navy, Heklina moved to San Francisco; in an interview segment from a KQED documentary in 2015, Heklina recalled that “immediately I fell in love with it, and I felt right at home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12242568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12242568\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Heklina\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/heklina-2015-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heklina, pictured here in a promotional photo for one of many events at Oasis. \u003ccite>(Nick Ice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I met Heklina around 1995 — which now feels like many generations past, just a year before she started her weekly party T-Shack at The Stud,” veteran drag performer Juanita MORE! wrote in an email to KQED. “I performed on the second week of the club, not caring or taking any consideration about what the theme was — and that’s how our friendship rolled. … We respected and knew what each other was great at doing. We cracked each other up all the time. The sound of her laugh will be missed greatly by everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Artist and filmmaker Leo Herrera started working for Heklina as a photographer shortly after he first moved to San Francisco in 2003; Herrera was 21 at the time. By then, Trannyshack had become a San Francisco drag institution, and Heklina took Herrera under her wing. “Trannyshack brought drag back to its transgressive roots, and its roots of political resistance,” Herrera said. “There was a lot of healing that happened in the spaces that Heklina created, especially for folks that had come out of the AIDS crisis, and had moved from really homophobic places, like it was for me and my brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera says Heklina influenced a generation of artists — both drag performers and others like him who’ve gone on to make an impact in other fields. “I think a lot of us always strived to get her approval because it was really hard to. But once you got one of her deep cackles, you knew you had done something right.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>News of Heklina’s passing devastated the drag community in San Francisco and beyond. “I kept thinking it was an April Fool’s joke, it doesn’t make sense. I spoke to her the day before yesterday when she was heading to England from Iceland,” Oasis owner D’Arcy Drollinger told the \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/drag-performer-heklina-reported-dead-in-london\">\u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i>\u003c/a>. “But it is confirmed, it is real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Monday afternoon, a tearful crowd gathered for an informal memorial at Oasis, which Heklina co-owned until 2019. “She was a powerhouse. And she also had a soft side, and a vulnerable side, that I was lucky enough to get to know,” booking manager Carissa Hatchel, who performs as Snaxx, told KQED. “She was a very complicated person, and was very, very important to so many people in the community for so many decades now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started drag about eight years ago, and Heklina was one of the first queens I ever saw,” said Oasis performer Nicki Jizz. “She was unfiltered, she was unapologetically Heklina. She said whatever came to her mind. She didn’t care what anyone thought — which is a great trait for a drag performer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, State Senator Scott Wiener said he first saw Heklina perform in the 1990s, and was “devastated” by the news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heklina was an icon in the truest sense — funny, caring, outrageous, and brave,” Wiener wrote. “I’ve rarely worked with someone as fierce, creative, and dedicated. … She was the soul of San Francisco, and it’s hard to imagine the city without her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera echoed the sentiments of many on Monday that Heklina was synonymous with the best of drag tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A successful artist embodies their medium, so when we think of a brush or an instrument, we think of their name,” he said. “And I think for many of us, when we hear drag, we’re going to think of Heklina. She embodied the oldest and most powerful kind of drag that was about survival and political freedom, and I think we’re all going to miss that very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/scottshafer\">Scott Shafer\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In 2018, the Oakland Symphony’s “Rooted in Oakland” series brought an orchestral ensemble to the Paramount Theatre. But instead of the 50-piece band playing the usual Mozart or Bach, they summoned the mobbish energy of Too $hort, the Luniz and Dru Down. The mastermind behind that string-heavy tour de hyphy? Oakland’s own, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878382/kev-choices-social-distancing-album-captures-four-weeks-of-hope-and-grief\">Kev Choice\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kevchoice/?hl=en\">Choice\u003c/a> isn’t just a prolific, classically trained composer and arranger who has worked with the Oakland and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYuoaytEeDE\">San Francisco\u003c/a> symphonies, though; he also raps, produces, sings and is an especially fire pianist. His wide-ranging list of collaborators includes NBA superstar Damian Lillard and local rap savant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915940/rexx-life-raj-the-blue-hour-empire\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13878382']Now, the chameleonic artist is on the verge of a new sound, one that synthesizes his maturity as a veteran Bay Area musician with his latest project, \u003ci>The Healing\u003c/i>. He’ll debut select tracks from the album as a “ghetto upscale” pre-release party with guest performances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AnAwaYmIlE\">Rob Woods\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/aR1LVuhivnY\">T. Carriér\u003c/a> on Friday, April 7, at the New Parish in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event will serve as a teaser for the upcoming full-length album (scheduled to be dropped at the end of April). It’s a celebration of the local arts community that has pushed him towards his musical peak — “from concert halls to sidewalks,” as Choice puts it. Though listed as a solo project, the album’s various features — which include Woods and Carriér and contributions from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djdsharp/?hl=en\">DJ D-Sharp\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/drewwwbanga/\">Drew Banga\u003c/a> — are meant to tell a story about the kinds of relationships that men, Black men in particular, are capable of healing from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a dope energy to build on. Just seeing how we’re all aligned as men in music, hip hop, community. We focus on craft, positive messaging,” he says. “There’s lots of issues around commitment, trust and transparency in any relationship. This is me telling that in a musical form.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album is part of a planned trilogy, something Choice says is influenced by his work as an orchestra arranger in a genre which often features a series of movements and sequences to create epic emotion. \u003ci>The Healing\u003c/i> is a preamble of sorts, and Choice later plans to explore the stages of “progression” and “transformation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about my growth as a human, musician and artist,” he adds. “Every step is building towards a larger composition. This is that first step for people to recognize and hear those elements I’ve been working on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘The Healing’ album pre-release party will be at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thenewparish/?hl=en\">The New Parish\u003c/a> (1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland) on Friday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-40 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ticketweb.com/event/kev-choice-t-carrier-rob-the-new-parish-tickets/12972385\">in advance\u003c/a>, $20 at the door.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2018, the Oakland Symphony’s “Rooted in Oakland” series brought an orchestral ensemble to the Paramount Theatre. But instead of the 50-piece band playing the usual Mozart or Bach, they summoned the mobbish energy of Too $hort, the Luniz and Dru Down. The mastermind behind that string-heavy tour de hyphy? Oakland’s own, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878382/kev-choices-social-distancing-album-captures-four-weeks-of-hope-and-grief\">Kev Choice\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kevchoice/?hl=en\">Choice\u003c/a> isn’t just a prolific, classically trained composer and arranger who has worked with the Oakland and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYuoaytEeDE\">San Francisco\u003c/a> symphonies, though; he also raps, produces, sings and is an especially fire pianist. His wide-ranging list of collaborators includes NBA superstar Damian Lillard and local rap savant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915940/rexx-life-raj-the-blue-hour-empire\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, the chameleonic artist is on the verge of a new sound, one that synthesizes his maturity as a veteran Bay Area musician with his latest project, \u003ci>The Healing\u003c/i>. He’ll debut select tracks from the album as a “ghetto upscale” pre-release party with guest performances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AnAwaYmIlE\">Rob Woods\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/aR1LVuhivnY\">T. Carriér\u003c/a> on Friday, April 7, at the New Parish in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event will serve as a teaser for the upcoming full-length album (scheduled to be dropped at the end of April). It’s a celebration of the local arts community that has pushed him towards his musical peak — “from concert halls to sidewalks,” as Choice puts it. Though listed as a solo project, the album’s various features — which include Woods and Carriér and contributions from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djdsharp/?hl=en\">DJ D-Sharp\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/drewwwbanga/\">Drew Banga\u003c/a> — are meant to tell a story about the kinds of relationships that men, Black men in particular, are capable of healing from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a dope energy to build on. Just seeing how we’re all aligned as men in music, hip hop, community. We focus on craft, positive messaging,” he says. “There’s lots of issues around commitment, trust and transparency in any relationship. This is me telling that in a musical form.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album is part of a planned trilogy, something Choice says is influenced by his work as an orchestra arranger in a genre which often features a series of movements and sequences to create epic emotion. \u003ci>The Healing\u003c/i> is a preamble of sorts, and Choice later plans to explore the stages of “progression” and “transformation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about my growth as a human, musician and artist,” he adds. “Every step is building towards a larger composition. This is that first step for people to recognize and hear those elements I’ve been working on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘The Healing’ album pre-release party will be at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thenewparish/?hl=en\">The New Parish\u003c/a> (1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland) on Friday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-40 \u003ca href=\"https://www.ticketweb.com/event/kev-choice-t-carrier-rob-the-new-parish-tickets/12972385\">in advance\u003c/a>, $20 at the door.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Even in an era with endless entertainment options, there’s nothing quite like the rush of seeing 89 top-tier musicians coming together, channeling their passion — and thousands of hours of practice — into a moving vision. On Tuesday, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a> (SFS) announced its ambitious \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/2023-24/2023-24Season\">2023-2024 season\u003c/a>, featuring several world premieres, superstar guest performers, classical masterpieces, experimental SoundBox programming and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A highlight of the season is the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music, a new statewide initiative by SFS Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, LA Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare. (Recently poached by the New York Philharmonic\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/arts/music/gustavo-dudamel-new-york-philharmonic.html\">, Dudamel’s\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/arts/music/gustavo-dudamel-new-york-philharmonic.html\"> esteemed tenure at the LA Phil is set to end in 2026\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running Nov. 3–19, the California Festival features international works composed within the last five years. Salonen conducts the world premieres of \u003ci>City Lights: Aquatic Park\u003c/i> by Terry Riley — the influential minimalist composer still innovating at 87 years old — and \u003ci>Drowned in Light\u003c/i> by \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/03/16/cartography-project-kennedy-center-review/\">Jens Ibsen\u003c/a>, a critically acclaimed young vocalist, composer and winner of the San Francisco Conservatory’s 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909289/emerging-black-composers-project-san-francisco-symphony-conservatory-music-trevor-weston\">Emerging Black Composers Project\u003c/a>. Salonen, a formidable composer himself, also conducts his own piece \u003ci>Kínēma\u003c/i>, featuring SFS Principal Clarinet Carey Bell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/m9eJ3zp0aho\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFS’ Great Performers Series brings out Russian star pianist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812897/wunderkind-daniil-trifonov-takes-the-classical-music-world-by-storm\">Daniil Trifonov\u003c/a> on Nov. 19, 2023, and Chinese piano virtuoso Yuja Wang on May 15, 2024. And on April 2, 2024, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Scott perform works by Gabriel Fauré, Antonín Dvořák and others. Alonzo King LINES Ballet joins the orchestra in June 2024 for performances of Maurice Ravel’s \u003cem>Ma Mère l’Oye\u003c/em> and Arnold Schoenberg’s \u003cem>Erwartung\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFS Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas returns to the stage to conduct several performances, starting with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in October 2023. In January 2024, Tilson Thomas revisits Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler, a defining composer of his decades-long career at SFS. (Fans will note that the same Mahler symphony is a centerpiece of the Oscar-nominated 2022 film \u003ci>Tár\u003c/i>, which included an \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-01-25/oscars-tar-conducting-is-bad-for-classical-music\">inexplicable dig at MTT\u003c/a>.) Barrier-breaking guest conductor Gustavo Dudamel takes the podium to conduct Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 on Nov. 24, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The San Francisco Symphony’s season begins on Sept. 22, 2023. For a full concert schedule, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/2023-24/2023-24Season\">visit the San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even in an era with endless entertainment options, there’s nothing quite like the rush of seeing 89 top-tier musicians coming together, channeling their passion — and thousands of hours of practice — into a moving vision. On Tuesday, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/\">San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a> (SFS) announced its ambitious \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/2023-24/2023-24Season\">2023-2024 season\u003c/a>, featuring several world premieres, superstar guest performers, classical masterpieces, experimental SoundBox programming and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A highlight of the season is the California Festival: A Celebration of New Music, a new statewide initiative by SFS Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, LA Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare. (Recently poached by the New York Philharmonic\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/arts/music/gustavo-dudamel-new-york-philharmonic.html\">, Dudamel’s\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/arts/music/gustavo-dudamel-new-york-philharmonic.html\"> esteemed tenure at the LA Phil is set to end in 2026\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running Nov. 3–19, the California Festival features international works composed within the last five years. Salonen conducts the world premieres of \u003ci>City Lights: Aquatic Park\u003c/i> by Terry Riley — the influential minimalist composer still innovating at 87 years old — and \u003ci>Drowned in Light\u003c/i> by \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/03/16/cartography-project-kennedy-center-review/\">Jens Ibsen\u003c/a>, a critically acclaimed young vocalist, composer and winner of the San Francisco Conservatory’s 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909289/emerging-black-composers-project-san-francisco-symphony-conservatory-music-trevor-weston\">Emerging Black Composers Project\u003c/a>. Salonen, a formidable composer himself, also conducts his own piece \u003ci>Kínēma\u003c/i>, featuring SFS Principal Clarinet Carey Bell.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/m9eJ3zp0aho'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/m9eJ3zp0aho'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>SFS’ Great Performers Series brings out Russian star pianist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812897/wunderkind-daniil-trifonov-takes-the-classical-music-world-by-storm\">Daniil Trifonov\u003c/a> on Nov. 19, 2023, and Chinese piano virtuoso Yuja Wang on May 15, 2024. And on April 2, 2024, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Scott perform works by Gabriel Fauré, Antonín Dvořák and others. Alonzo King LINES Ballet joins the orchestra in June 2024 for performances of Maurice Ravel’s \u003cem>Ma Mère l’Oye\u003c/em> and Arnold Schoenberg’s \u003cem>Erwartung\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFS Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas returns to the stage to conduct several performances, starting with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in October 2023. In January 2024, Tilson Thomas revisits Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler, a defining composer of his decades-long career at SFS. (Fans will note that the same Mahler symphony is a centerpiece of the Oscar-nominated 2022 film \u003ci>Tár\u003c/i>, which included an \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-01-25/oscars-tar-conducting-is-bad-for-classical-music\">inexplicable dig at MTT\u003c/a>.) Barrier-breaking guest conductor Gustavo Dudamel takes the podium to conduct Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 on Nov. 24, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The San Francisco Symphony’s season begins on Sept. 22, 2023. For a full concert schedule, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Calendar/2023-24/2023-24Season\">visit the San Francisco Symphony\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop",
"title": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism",
"publishDate": 1679511909,
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"headTitle": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.[aside postid='arts_13924167,arts_13925931,arts_13924109' label='More on Bay Area Hip-Hop Culture']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. [pullquote size='large' citation='Spie']‘I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Meet graffiti artist Spie One, the Bay Area legend whose work spans nearly every era of graffiti.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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},
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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