Remembering Anthony Ant, Trumpeter and Indefatigable Scene-Builder
It’s a Golden Age for Asian-Style Afternoon Tea in the Bay Area
Revisiting Smokehouse, a Berkeley Classic for Late-Night Burgers and Shakes
Cellist Mia Pixley Flourishes in Darkness
In 2025, I Became a Competitive Crossword Solver — and Got Absolutely Smoked
Berkeley’s Jazzschool Appoints Lisa Mezzacappa as Executive Director
Unsigned and Hella Broke: The East Bay’s Dirt-Hustling 1990s Hip-Hop Subculture
Meet the Bay Area Rappers Who Want You to Eat a Salad
This R&B Singer Has Made a Lifelong Study of Human Behavior
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"content": "\u003cp>Anthony Ant spent his adult life bringing the Bay Area music scene together. On Thursday night, the scene convened at the Starry Plough in South Berkeley to dance, shout, jam and comfort each other over the shocking and sudden loss of their friend, colleague and tireless champion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A powerful trumpeter versed in funk, jazz, R&B and soul, Ant, 40, was a binding force in the region’s far-flung musical community, connecting hundreds of musicians through a succession of East Bay jam sessions. He also played countless club dates, corporate gigs, weddings and parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news of his death — Ant was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073025/man-fatally-shot-by-alameda-county-deputies-reportedly-had-a-pipe-not-a-gun\">shot by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in an early Monday morning confrontation\u003c/a> outside his home in San Leandro — was still raw and undigested for many. The Starry Plough, where Ant produced the weekly Free Funk Glory Jam, had already seen impromptu vigils on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday’s was officially organized by his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The response was legion. At 10 p.m., fed by a steady flow of newcomers, the crowd spilled out onto Shattuck Avenue, making the corner unpassable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986714\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The crowd during a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crowd during a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside the packed club, guitarist Stu Silverman’s Stu Crew kicked off the music after leading a call-and-response declaring love for Ant. Shortly before taking the stage, he and his bandmates praised the trumpeter, who was born Anthony Anderson and grew up in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He did more to connect people and create happiness than anyone I know,” Silverman said. “They should name a school after him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a true community musician,” added saxophonist John Palowitch. “Anthony never looked to go out on tour. He was focused on here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ant’s adopted name was apt. Like the diminutive picnic staple, he was ubiquitous on the Bay Area stages, impossible to miss at jam sessions and shows. But his most ant-like quality was an ability to lift dozens of times his weight, carrying an entire music scene on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He manually sent out text messages to hundreds of people every week, so everybody would have a chance to participate, for their voices to be heard,” said Kaila Love, who helped organize the tribute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Stu Crew perform at a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stu Crew perform at a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ant’s primary vehicle for this roiling musical democracy was the jam session, starting at The Layover in downtown Oakland in the mid-aughts. “He took over from me when I went on tour,” said bassist Stephen Paul Godwin. “When I got back, the place was packed, like 200 people. It got too big for the club.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ant organized sessions at other Oakland joints, including Legionnaire and the Starline Social Club, before settling in at the Starry Plough. “He’s been building this for 15 years,” said trumpeter Mario Silva. “Early on, it was thin, but he refused to give up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jam sessions can be treacherous. If a player is unfamiliar with chord changes, or falls a beat behind, or simply doesn’t exude confidence, they can feel a draft of dismissal. Ant was the antidote to getting vibed. As word of his death started to circulate on social media, dozens of musicians described Ant welcoming them onto the scene. Those stories were echoed by many at the Starry Plough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A crowd forms outside the jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986711\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd forms outside the jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a high school student in San Jose, Joy Hackett was an aspiring jazz keyboardist searching for a jam session, and “this was the one that everyone talked about,” she said. “I drove up with a friend, walked in the door and my mind was blown. It was shoulder-to-shoulder, and I hear Anthony on the mic: ‘The glory!’ I made it up and took my solo, and knew I found the place I need to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the greatest testament to Ant’s support of the local music scene is that he literally changed people’s lives. On Thursday night, Scott Chowning recalled how he’d played French horn in a Navy band, but gave it up, and had walked away from music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anthony heard me noodling around on keyboard and called me for a gig, my first one in 10 years,” he recalled. “Now I’m a full-time musician.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Family members are planning a memorial for Anthony Ant, with details to be announced soon; a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-anthony-support-his-family-after-tragic-shooting\">GoFundMe page\u003c/a> to support his family and funeral expenses is live now. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Anthony Ant spent his adult life bringing the Bay Area music scene together. On Thursday night, the scene convened at the Starry Plough in South Berkeley to dance, shout, jam and comfort each other over the shocking and sudden loss of their friend, colleague and tireless champion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A powerful trumpeter versed in funk, jazz, R&B and soul, Ant, 40, was a binding force in the region’s far-flung musical community, connecting hundreds of musicians through a succession of East Bay jam sessions. He also played countless club dates, corporate gigs, weddings and parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news of his death — Ant was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073025/man-fatally-shot-by-alameda-county-deputies-reportedly-had-a-pipe-not-a-gun\">shot by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in an early Monday morning confrontation\u003c/a> outside his home in San Leandro — was still raw and undigested for many. The Starry Plough, where Ant produced the weekly Free Funk Glory Jam, had already seen impromptu vigils on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday’s was officially organized by his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The response was legion. At 10 p.m., fed by a steady flow of newcomers, the crowd spilled out onto Shattuck Avenue, making the corner unpassable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986714\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The crowd during a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986714\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crowd during a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inside the packed club, guitarist Stu Silverman’s Stu Crew kicked off the music after leading a call-and-response declaring love for Ant. Shortly before taking the stage, he and his bandmates praised the trumpeter, who was born Anthony Anderson and grew up in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He did more to connect people and create happiness than anyone I know,” Silverman said. “They should name a school after him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a true community musician,” added saxophonist John Palowitch. “Anthony never looked to go out on tour. He was focused on here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ant’s adopted name was apt. Like the diminutive picnic staple, he was ubiquitous on the Bay Area stages, impossible to miss at jam sessions and shows. But his most ant-like quality was an ability to lift dozens of times his weight, carrying an entire music scene on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He manually sent out text messages to hundreds of people every week, so everybody would have a chance to participate, for their voices to be heard,” said Kaila Love, who helped organize the tribute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Stu Crew perform at a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_015-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stu Crew perform at a jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ant’s primary vehicle for this roiling musical democracy was the jam session, starting at The Layover in downtown Oakland in the mid-aughts. “He took over from me when I went on tour,” said bassist Stephen Paul Godwin. “When I got back, the place was packed, like 200 people. It got too big for the club.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ant organized sessions at other Oakland joints, including Legionnaire and the Starline Social Club, before settling in at the Starry Plough. “He’s been building this for 15 years,” said trumpeter Mario Silva. “Early on, it was thin, but he refused to give up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jam sessions can be treacherous. If a player is unfamiliar with chord changes, or falls a beat behind, or simply doesn’t exude confidence, they can feel a draft of dismissal. Ant was the antidote to getting vibed. As word of his death started to circulate on social media, dozens of musicians described Ant welcoming them onto the scene. Those stories were echoed by many at the Starry Plough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A crowd forms outside the jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986711\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/ANTHONY-ANT-JAM-SESSION_20260212_AA_002-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd forms outside the jam session in honor of Anthony ‘Anthony Ant’ Anderson at The Starry Plough Pub in Berkeley, California on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. \u003ccite>(Amir Aziz for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a high school student in San Jose, Joy Hackett was an aspiring jazz keyboardist searching for a jam session, and “this was the one that everyone talked about,” she said. “I drove up with a friend, walked in the door and my mind was blown. It was shoulder-to-shoulder, and I hear Anthony on the mic: ‘The glory!’ I made it up and took my solo, and knew I found the place I need to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the greatest testament to Ant’s support of the local music scene is that he literally changed people’s lives. On Thursday night, Scott Chowning recalled how he’d played French horn in a Navy band, but gave it up, and had walked away from music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anthony heard me noodling around on keyboard and called me for a gig, my first one in 10 years,” he recalled. “Now I’m a full-time musician.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Family members are planning a memorial for Anthony Ant, with details to be announced soon; a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-anthony-support-his-family-after-tragic-shooting\">GoFundMe page\u003c/a> to support his family and funeral expenses is live now. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "asian-high-tea-afternoon-tea-singaporean-malaysian-bay-area-kopi-bar-malaya-tea-room",
"title": "It’s a Golden Age for Asian-Style Afternoon Tea in the Bay Area",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent Saturday morning, about a dozen elegantly dressed pastry lovers, decked out in their finest Regency-era gowns and dainty flower hats, promenaded into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bampfa\">Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive\u003c/a>. Up the museum’s bright red staircase they went, pausing occasionally to snap a selfie, until they’d reached the second-floor cafe, where a handsome spread of teacakes and finger sandwiches awaited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The occasion? A \u003cem>Bridgerton\u003c/em>-themed tea party, which the cafe, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980465/kopi-bar-bampfa-cafe-berkeley-avocado-iced-coffee-kaya-toast\">Kopi Bar\u003c/a>, had timed to coincide with the soapy Netflix costume drama’s fourth season premiere. Thus the cavalcade of pearls and frilly chiffon gowns. Everything about the event appeared to be oh-so-perfectly British in its sensibilities — except that the food displayed on the wooden two-tier cake stands wasn’t \u003cem>only \u003c/em>your typical array of scones, clotted cream and cucumber sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cinnamon-roll-like pastry swirls shot through with sweet pandan and coconut sat next to crispy beef rendang samosas. Curried tuna salad topped delicate open-face sourdough brioche sandwiches. And while one sandwich did feature sliced cucumbers, they were mainly there to provide a cooling counterpoint to the fiery sambal-spiked egg salad on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the kind of food that chef-owner Nora Haron likes to serve at Kopi Bar — a reflection of her background as a Singaporean immigrant of Indonesian-Indian descent. And while the spread might have surprised some Anglophile tea party enthusiasts, anyone who’s taken high tea at, say, one of Singapore’s grand hotels would find the mix of Eastern and Western flavors utterly familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, in countries like Singapore and Malaysia, where afternoon tea is a well-loved remnant of British colonization, it’s standard practice to combine the format and the aesthetics of English-style tea service with an infusion of Asian flavors. There, too, Haron likes to point out, guests get dressed up and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963228/indonesian-high-tea-kopi-bar-sandai-walnut-creek\">sip their Earl Grey with their pinkies out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986143\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Diners enjoying an afternoon tea spread inside a busy cafe.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests share tea and pastries while dressed in “Bridgerton”-inspired outfits during Kopi Bar’s themed high tea service on Jan. 31, 2026, at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area has its own rich tea party traditions, mostly nodding to the British style. But up until a couple of years ago, it was nearly impossible to find this kind of hybridized, Asian-inspired afternoon tea service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s no longer the case. In fact, we’re experiencing something of a golden age for Asian-style afternoon tea here in the Bay Area, as new pop-ups and standalone tea rooms crop up to satisfy the growing demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To wit: Kopi Bar’s aforementioned \u003cem>Bridgerton \u003c/em>tea series will take over a section of the cafe every Saturday at least through the end of February. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/littlemoonbakehouse/?hl=en\">Little Moon Bakehouse\u003c/a>, an Asian American vegan baking company in Oakland, hosts “reimagined” afternoon tea pop-ups at different venues around the Bay — packing 100 sweets lovers onto, say, the second floor of San Francisco’s Ferry Building for moon cakes and mini pork floss buns. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pamanaplantas/?hl=en\">Pamana Plantas\u003c/a>, a plant store in Berkeley, has started throwing kamayan-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://pamanaplantas.com/pages/kamayan-tea-parties\">Filipino tea parties\u003c/a>, lining the tables with banana leaves and ube pastries. And while the afternoon tea program at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sonandgarden/?hl=en\">Son & Garden\u003c/a>, a lavishly flower-bedecked spot from the owners of the Farmhouse Thai restaurant empire, doesn’t have an explicit Asian focus, its \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/son-and-garden-san-francisco?select=WSZlwDtjjA9iLKVlv9XNng\">themed tea sets\u003c/a> often include delicacies like Japanese cherry blossom cookies and homemade samosas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986142\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986142\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of a diner's hand holding up an open-face avocado sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A guest at Kopi Bar holds a tea sandwich topped with avocado and herbs. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the OG of the genre, Alameda’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/malayatearoom/?hl=en\">Malaya Tea Room\u003c/a>, which has served elegant Malaysian afternoon tea sets, both in person and as a take-home kit, for nearly seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Haron says the tea parties have by far been her most popular events since she started hosting them last year. After she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980465/kopi-bar-bampfa-cafe-berkeley-avocado-iced-coffee-kaya-toast\">moved Kopi Bar to Berkeley\u003c/a> from its original Walnut Creek location this past fall, she received a steady stream of DMs from old customers, pleading with her: “Please, please, will you do this again?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to such a groundswell of support, Haron says, laughing, “How can I not?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reclaiming a colonial history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course, the British were the ones who brought the practice of a light afternoon meal with tea to Singapore and Malaysia during their long period of colonial rule — from 1819 to 1963, in the case of Singapore. The Raffles Hotel, probably the most iconic place to take tea in Singapore, started offering its afternoon tea service — complete with live orchestra — in 1918.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The new enterprise should be warmly encouraged by the public of both sexes who often find the hours between 4:30 and dinner time hang heavily,” an \u003ca href=\"https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19180109-1.2.26?qt=%22afternoon%20tea%22,%20%22raffles%20hotel%22&q=%22afternoon%20tea%22%20%22raffles%20hotel%22\">article in Singaporean newspaper \u003cem>The Straits Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a> enthused at the time. Meanwhile, a popular restaurant called Emmerson’s Tiffin Room was advertising a more modest daily afternoon tea \u003ca href=\"https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepressb18980702-1.2.32.2?qt=%22afternoon%20tea%22,%20emmerson&q=%22afternoon%20tea%22%20%22emmerson%27s%22\">as early as 1898\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986151\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986151\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in an elegant dark blue dress with matching floral hat.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cindy Lee, a guest at Kopi Bar’s “Bridgerton”-themed high tea, poses in the stairwell at BAMPFA. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These initial offerings were mostly geared toward Singapore’s British residents, as well as wealthy travelers visiting from Europe. But the custom of taking afternoon tea was eventually taken up by locals as well — and persisted long after the British left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local expressions of the tradition began as early as the 1960s, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kfseetoh/?hl=en\">KF Seetoh\u003c/a>, probably the foremost street food expert in Singapore. Cafes began selling kaya toast and local coffee in the afternoon; curry puffs and pandan cakes also first appeared around this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These days at Raffles, you’ll find Indian tiffin meals \u003cem>and\u003c/em> tiered trays of high tea offerings, [everything] from the usual British fare to even \u003ca href=\"https://ccs.city/en/chinese-cultural-club/chinese-culinary/nyonya-cake\">Nyonya cakes\u003c/a>,” Seetoh says. “The evolution [can be] credited to finding an identity true to the mishmash of cultures in Singapore — the best of everyone’s kitchens and grandmas’ recipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar story played out in Malaysia. For Malaya Tea Room owner Leena Lim, going out for tea was an occasional mother-daughter treat she remembers enjoying all through her childhood. Every couple of months, her mother would bring her to afternoon tea at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where she’d marvel at all of the fancy cakes and finger sandwiches.[aside postID=arts_13986360 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/yaichi-kaisendon.jpg']“It was such an intimate, beautiful experience,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, in the ’80s and ’90s, most of the upscale hotel afternoon tea places in Malaysia still served food that was overwhelmingly British. At most, Lim recalls, maybe one item — say, a curry puff — would nod toward the local food culture. Because afternoon tea at the big hotels was “fancy” and expensive, Lim says even locals \u003cem>wanted\u003c/em> the food to be authentically British. Why would anyone pay so much to eat a Malaysian snack they could buy down the street for just a few ringgits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lim estimates it’s only in the last 10 years or so that even the fanciest British-style tea rooms in Malaysia and Singapore have started leaning more into local flavors, adding sambals and curries and kuehs (assorted bite-size treats made with glutinous rice) into the mix with the scones and cucumber sandwiches that people still expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Lim opened Malaya Tea Room in 2019, on a quiet stretch of Central Avenue in Alameda, she wanted it to be more of a hybrid. At the time, she didn’t know of any other businesses that were throwing Asian–inspired afternoon tea parties. Beloved local institutions like Lovejoy’s more or less replicate the British traditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/14/21436496/malaya-tea-room-afternoon-tea-takeout-box-kaya-jam-rendang-alameda\">Lim wanted to do both\u003c/a>. She planned to do the British stuff just as well as, or maybe even better than, the purely Anglophilic places — to, for instance, be one of the only places that make their clotted cream from scratch. But she also wanted to introduce customers to elegant, afternoon tea versions of some of her favorite Malaysian street snacks — in other words, to serve food that actually tastes \u003cem>good\u003c/em>. (She’d grown to find the British standards to be quite bland and boring.) Her menu included one finger sandwich that’s based on kaya toast, another that combines pork floss with a homemade basil spread, and yet another that features bakkwa (Malaysian pork jerky).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986561\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986561\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Three-tiered cake stand with an array of cakes, pastries and finger sandwiches.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">British-style scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam sit alongside curried potato canapés on gluten-free crackers during afternoon tea at Malaya Tea Room in Alameda on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When my family arrived at Malaya on a recent Sunday, the atmosphere inside the cozy tea room was languid and vaguely tropical — lush greenery sprawled in every direction; a ceiling fan spun lazily up above. Nostalgic knickknacks (antique Chinese vases, an abacus, an old Hup Seng cracker tin) decorated the display cabinets. On the table was a little bell to ring when you were ready for your server to come take your order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sandwiches we loved best included the curry chicken, made with coconut milk and a secret spice blend, and a sardine-and-cucumber number that Lim makes by doctoring the canned sardines in tomato sauce that you can buy at Asian grocers. On the sweets side, we enjoyed an airy-light pandan chiffon cake that wasn’t \u003cem>too \u003c/em>sweet — the ultimate compliment for an Asian dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the egg salad sandwich, which we ordered off the British side of the menu, was uncommonly good — lush with Kewpie mayonnaise and served on fluffy milk bread. It tasted exactly like the ones you get at 7-Eleven in Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lim says that’s exactly what she was going for: a familiar flavor that reminds you of childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986559\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian woman poses in front of a tiered cake stand with pastries and sandwiches.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leena Lim, owner of Malaya Tea Room, sits behind a table set for afternoon tea. The tea room opened in Alameda in 2019 and has become a destination for specialty tea service in the East Bay. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her business has had its ups and downs over the past seven years, especially with the pandemic hitting just months after it opened. But she’s developed a loyal customer base, and people do seem to better understand Malaya’s afternoon tea offerings now than they did in the shop’s early days. Part of that, she says, just has to do with how much more popular Asian food is these days — how there’s now a cultural cachet to being the sort of person who understands pandan and ube: “Otherwise, it’s like who are you? Do you even live here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helps that afternoon tea is the ultimate Instagram-friendly meal. Plus, Lim says, “people love dressing up,” and going out for tea provides a rare opportunity to do that. Every year, she has a big group that comes in cosplaying as anime characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During our visit, we spotted three elderly women enjoying a quiet conversation, a table of Gen Z Taiwanese ladies chattering happily in Mandarin, and a group of white otaku having an intense debate about \u003cem>Dragon Ball Z\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I even get groups of men who come in by themselves,” Lim says. “I think that’s awesome.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tea with a twist\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bakeries and cafes that offer Asian-style afternoon tea in the Bay Area all have their own charm — and their own little twists on the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little Moon Bakehouse owner Annie Wang says her pop-ups are a natural extension of the fact that she started baking bread for the first time in 2024, adding a variety of Chinese bakery–style buns to her repertoire of plant-based cookies and mooncakes. Unlike Wang’s other baked goods, the breads don’t have long enough of a shelf life to ship nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986606\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Little Moon Bakehouse owner Annie Wang (standing) mingles with guests at her afternoon tea pop-up at the San Francisco Ferry Building on Dec. 14, 2025. Featured items included plant-based mooncakes and mini pork floss buns. \u003ccite>(Phil Stockbridge/SF Event Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized that this would be great for an experience,” she says. She started renting out venues across the Bay Area to host one-day afternoon tea pop-ups, filling up three-tier cake stands with an equal split of sweet and savory treats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 22, she’ll host her second tea pop-up in the San Francisco Ferry Building — a \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/afternoon-tea-in-sf-sun-dec-14-ferry-building-copy\">Lunar New Year–themed bash\u003c/a> for 100 guests, seated at long tables that stretch the length of the festive second-floor Grand Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu will include miniature pork floss buns, garlic butter buns, and \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/preorder-soy-sauce-chocolate-citrus-cookie-sandwich-heydoh-x-little-moon-bakehouse\">citrus zest sugar cookies\u003c/a> filled with soy sauce–spiked white chocolate (that one is a collaboration with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heydoh.co/\">Heydoh\u003c/a>, a Taiwanese American soy sauce brand). In the coming months, she’ll host \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/collections/afternoon-tea\">additional pop-ups\u003c/a> in SF Chinatown, the Sunset District and San José.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986562\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986562\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Tea kettles, sugar bowls and metal canisters of loose-leaf tea on a wooden credenza.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loose-leaf teas line a wooden cabinet at Malaya Tea Room. The tea room serves a wide selection of teas in a space filled with nostalgic antique furnishings. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Jai Kandayah, the owner of Pleasanton’s recently closed \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/curryleavesbistro/?hl=en\">Curry Leaves Bistro\u003c/a>, says he never \u003cem>intended \u003c/em>to serve afternoon tea at his restaurant. He, too, grew up taking afternoon tea in Malaysia, but not the kind served at fancy hotels, which wasn’t accessible for working-class people. For the majority of Malaysians, afternoon tea — or high tea — was more of a home ritual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In Kandayah’s experience, Malaysians are more likely to talk about “high tea” than afternoon tea, referring to a heartier meal eaten later in the afternoon, at perhaps 4 or 5 p.m. after they get home from work — much more practical for working-class folks who can’t leave their jobs to eat cakes for an hour at 2 in the afternoon.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These meals always featured local flavors, Kandayah recalls. “I remember my mom would make a big pot of tea in the afternoon and then usually a savory snack — banana fritters, fried yucca, fried yams, fried taro,” he says. Sometimes the bread man would come around, and they’d buy a loaf and dip the bread in the curry that was left over from lunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local high tea buffets he remembers frequenting as a young man similarly skewed toward Malaysian flavors. Many of them would even serve fried noodles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But again, Kandayah never had a high tea menu at Curry Leaves Bistro. Instead, regular customers — all of them older Malaysian immigrants — would knock on his door on Friday or Saturday afternoons, when the restaurant was closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would call and say, ‘Hey, there are eight of us coming in at 4 o’clock after our golf game. Can you prepare some tea and roti, and a plate of noodles?’” Kandayah says. “And we would do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curry Leaves Bistro wound up closing this past fall after the landlord increased the rent, but Kandayah has already scouted out a new location in the East Bay and hopes to reopen later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, he says, afternoon tea on the restaurant’s backyard patio is going to come officially baked into the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A celebration of immigration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Kopi Bar has leaned into the cosplay of it all. In addition to her \u003cem>Bridgerton\u003c/em> series, Haron has also hosted Bollywood- and \u003cem>Arabian Nights\u003c/em>–themed afternoon teas, and encourages guests to come dressed up to reflect the theme. People come for Haron’s stellar baked goods, sure. But they also come because the tea parties are joyful and extravagant — an all-out happening, as they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for Haron, in the current political climate — while masked federal agents whisk soccer moms and five-year-old kids away to far-off detention centers — her tea parties aren’t just some frivolous, let-them-eat-cake moments to cosplay as British aristocrats. They’re important rituals that allow immigrants like her to come together and celebrate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986148\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in glasses poses inside a cafe.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Nora Haron, owner of Kopi Bar and Bakery, poses in her cafe on the second floor of BAMPFA. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This idea of ‘illegal’ immigrants being criminals — that’s obnoxious. We’re doing something for the community. You know, we’re bringing people together. We’re creating jobs,” she says. “So it’s wonderful to be able to support one another this way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, she says, food is intertwined with the immigration process. And traditions like afternoon tea are a vital way for immigrants to maintain their cultural identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Singapore and Malaysia, the history of afternoon tea followed the same path as so many other things in Southeast Asia: The colonizers brought it, but locals improved it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986547\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up on a pandan pastry, a cup of tea and a menu for a special high tea event.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pandan and coconut pastry swirl sits next to Kopi Bar’s “Bridgerton”-inspired high tea menu. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the food writer Seetoh puts it, “You can still spend over a hundred bucks for the little pinky high teas at posh hotels flavored with affluence, but the majority, even the well-heeled, prefer a kueh salat, curry puff or ang ku kueh at local cafes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels more like a Singapore story,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it goes here in the diaspora, as Asian Americans create a new set of traditions replete with sourdough, vegan pork floss and the Bay Area’s own unique sense of swagger. They, too, are making afternoon tea their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Kopi Bar’s \u003c/em>Bridgerton \u003cem>high tea series will run every Saturday through Feb. 28, plus an additional date on March 1, with seatings at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-bridgerton-inspired-high-tea-at-kopi-bar-tickets-1979138513571\">\u003cem>Tickets\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are limited. The cafe is located on the second floor of BAMPFA, at 2155 Center St. in Berkeley.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Little Moon Bakehouse’s Lunar New Year–themed afternoon tea will take place on Feb. 22, 11:30-1:30 p.m., at the SF Ferry Building (1 Ferry Building, San Francisco). \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/afternoon-tea-in-sf-sun-dec-14-ferry-building-copy\">\u003cem>Tickets\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are limited. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/collections/afternoon-tea\">\u003cem>Future tea events\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are scheduled to take place in SF Chinatown, the Sunset District, and San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://malayatearoom.com/\">\u003cem>Malaya Tea Room\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> has three seatings per day, Thu.-Sun., at 11 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. It’s located at 920 Central Ave. in Alameda.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Scones and clotted cream come with a side of pandan and curry.",
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"title": "It’s a Golden Age for Asian-Style Afternoon Tea in the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent Saturday morning, about a dozen elegantly dressed pastry lovers, decked out in their finest Regency-era gowns and dainty flower hats, promenaded into the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bampfa\">Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive\u003c/a>. Up the museum’s bright red staircase they went, pausing occasionally to snap a selfie, until they’d reached the second-floor cafe, where a handsome spread of teacakes and finger sandwiches awaited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The occasion? A \u003cem>Bridgerton\u003c/em>-themed tea party, which the cafe, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980465/kopi-bar-bampfa-cafe-berkeley-avocado-iced-coffee-kaya-toast\">Kopi Bar\u003c/a>, had timed to coincide with the soapy Netflix costume drama’s fourth season premiere. Thus the cavalcade of pearls and frilly chiffon gowns. Everything about the event appeared to be oh-so-perfectly British in its sensibilities — except that the food displayed on the wooden two-tier cake stands wasn’t \u003cem>only \u003c/em>your typical array of scones, clotted cream and cucumber sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cinnamon-roll-like pastry swirls shot through with sweet pandan and coconut sat next to crispy beef rendang samosas. Curried tuna salad topped delicate open-face sourdough brioche sandwiches. And while one sandwich did feature sliced cucumbers, they were mainly there to provide a cooling counterpoint to the fiery sambal-spiked egg salad on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the kind of food that chef-owner Nora Haron likes to serve at Kopi Bar — a reflection of her background as a Singaporean immigrant of Indonesian-Indian descent. And while the spread might have surprised some Anglophile tea party enthusiasts, anyone who’s taken high tea at, say, one of Singapore’s grand hotels would find the mix of Eastern and Western flavors utterly familiar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, in countries like Singapore and Malaysia, where afternoon tea is a well-loved remnant of British colonization, it’s standard practice to combine the format and the aesthetics of English-style tea service with an infusion of Asian flavors. There, too, Haron likes to point out, guests get dressed up and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963228/indonesian-high-tea-kopi-bar-sandai-walnut-creek\">sip their Earl Grey with their pinkies out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986143\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Diners enjoying an afternoon tea spread inside a busy cafe.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests share tea and pastries while dressed in “Bridgerton”-inspired outfits during Kopi Bar’s themed high tea service on Jan. 31, 2026, at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area has its own rich tea party traditions, mostly nodding to the British style. But up until a couple of years ago, it was nearly impossible to find this kind of hybridized, Asian-inspired afternoon tea service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s no longer the case. In fact, we’re experiencing something of a golden age for Asian-style afternoon tea here in the Bay Area, as new pop-ups and standalone tea rooms crop up to satisfy the growing demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To wit: Kopi Bar’s aforementioned \u003cem>Bridgerton \u003c/em>tea series will take over a section of the cafe every Saturday at least through the end of February. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/littlemoonbakehouse/?hl=en\">Little Moon Bakehouse\u003c/a>, an Asian American vegan baking company in Oakland, hosts “reimagined” afternoon tea pop-ups at different venues around the Bay — packing 100 sweets lovers onto, say, the second floor of San Francisco’s Ferry Building for moon cakes and mini pork floss buns. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pamanaplantas/?hl=en\">Pamana Plantas\u003c/a>, a plant store in Berkeley, has started throwing kamayan-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://pamanaplantas.com/pages/kamayan-tea-parties\">Filipino tea parties\u003c/a>, lining the tables with banana leaves and ube pastries. And while the afternoon tea program at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sonandgarden/?hl=en\">Son & Garden\u003c/a>, a lavishly flower-bedecked spot from the owners of the Farmhouse Thai restaurant empire, doesn’t have an explicit Asian focus, its \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/son-and-garden-san-francisco?select=WSZlwDtjjA9iLKVlv9XNng\">themed tea sets\u003c/a> often include delicacies like Japanese cherry blossom cookies and homemade samosas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986142\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986142\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of a diner's hand holding up an open-face avocado sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A guest at Kopi Bar holds a tea sandwich topped with avocado and herbs. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the OG of the genre, Alameda’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/malayatearoom/?hl=en\">Malaya Tea Room\u003c/a>, which has served elegant Malaysian afternoon tea sets, both in person and as a take-home kit, for nearly seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Haron says the tea parties have by far been her most popular events since she started hosting them last year. After she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13980465/kopi-bar-bampfa-cafe-berkeley-avocado-iced-coffee-kaya-toast\">moved Kopi Bar to Berkeley\u003c/a> from its original Walnut Creek location this past fall, she received a steady stream of DMs from old customers, pleading with her: “Please, please, will you do this again?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to such a groundswell of support, Haron says, laughing, “How can I not?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reclaiming a colonial history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course, the British were the ones who brought the practice of a light afternoon meal with tea to Singapore and Malaysia during their long period of colonial rule — from 1819 to 1963, in the case of Singapore. The Raffles Hotel, probably the most iconic place to take tea in Singapore, started offering its afternoon tea service — complete with live orchestra — in 1918.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The new enterprise should be warmly encouraged by the public of both sexes who often find the hours between 4:30 and dinner time hang heavily,” an \u003ca href=\"https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19180109-1.2.26?qt=%22afternoon%20tea%22,%20%22raffles%20hotel%22&q=%22afternoon%20tea%22%20%22raffles%20hotel%22\">article in Singaporean newspaper \u003cem>The Straits Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a> enthused at the time. Meanwhile, a popular restaurant called Emmerson’s Tiffin Room was advertising a more modest daily afternoon tea \u003ca href=\"https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepressb18980702-1.2.32.2?qt=%22afternoon%20tea%22,%20emmerson&q=%22afternoon%20tea%22%20%22emmerson%27s%22\">as early as 1898\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986151\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986151\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in an elegant dark blue dress with matching floral hat.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_031-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cindy Lee, a guest at Kopi Bar’s “Bridgerton”-themed high tea, poses in the stairwell at BAMPFA. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These initial offerings were mostly geared toward Singapore’s British residents, as well as wealthy travelers visiting from Europe. But the custom of taking afternoon tea was eventually taken up by locals as well — and persisted long after the British left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local expressions of the tradition began as early as the 1960s, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kfseetoh/?hl=en\">KF Seetoh\u003c/a>, probably the foremost street food expert in Singapore. Cafes began selling kaya toast and local coffee in the afternoon; curry puffs and pandan cakes also first appeared around this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These days at Raffles, you’ll find Indian tiffin meals \u003cem>and\u003c/em> tiered trays of high tea offerings, [everything] from the usual British fare to even \u003ca href=\"https://ccs.city/en/chinese-cultural-club/chinese-culinary/nyonya-cake\">Nyonya cakes\u003c/a>,” Seetoh says. “The evolution [can be] credited to finding an identity true to the mishmash of cultures in Singapore — the best of everyone’s kitchens and grandmas’ recipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar story played out in Malaysia. For Malaya Tea Room owner Leena Lim, going out for tea was an occasional mother-daughter treat she remembers enjoying all through her childhood. Every couple of months, her mother would bring her to afternoon tea at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where she’d marvel at all of the fancy cakes and finger sandwiches.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It was such an intimate, beautiful experience,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, in the ’80s and ’90s, most of the upscale hotel afternoon tea places in Malaysia still served food that was overwhelmingly British. At most, Lim recalls, maybe one item — say, a curry puff — would nod toward the local food culture. Because afternoon tea at the big hotels was “fancy” and expensive, Lim says even locals \u003cem>wanted\u003c/em> the food to be authentically British. Why would anyone pay so much to eat a Malaysian snack they could buy down the street for just a few ringgits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lim estimates it’s only in the last 10 years or so that even the fanciest British-style tea rooms in Malaysia and Singapore have started leaning more into local flavors, adding sambals and curries and kuehs (assorted bite-size treats made with glutinous rice) into the mix with the scones and cucumber sandwiches that people still expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Lim opened Malaya Tea Room in 2019, on a quiet stretch of Central Avenue in Alameda, she wanted it to be more of a hybrid. At the time, she didn’t know of any other businesses that were throwing Asian–inspired afternoon tea parties. Beloved local institutions like Lovejoy’s more or less replicate the British traditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/14/21436496/malaya-tea-room-afternoon-tea-takeout-box-kaya-jam-rendang-alameda\">Lim wanted to do both\u003c/a>. She planned to do the British stuff just as well as, or maybe even better than, the purely Anglophilic places — to, for instance, be one of the only places that make their clotted cream from scratch. But she also wanted to introduce customers to elegant, afternoon tea versions of some of her favorite Malaysian street snacks — in other words, to serve food that actually tastes \u003cem>good\u003c/em>. (She’d grown to find the British standards to be quite bland and boring.) Her menu included one finger sandwich that’s based on kaya toast, another that combines pork floss with a homemade basil spread, and yet another that features bakkwa (Malaysian pork jerky).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986561\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986561\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Three-tiered cake stand with an array of cakes, pastries and finger sandwiches.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_039-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">British-style scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam sit alongside curried potato canapés on gluten-free crackers during afternoon tea at Malaya Tea Room in Alameda on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When my family arrived at Malaya on a recent Sunday, the atmosphere inside the cozy tea room was languid and vaguely tropical — lush greenery sprawled in every direction; a ceiling fan spun lazily up above. Nostalgic knickknacks (antique Chinese vases, an abacus, an old Hup Seng cracker tin) decorated the display cabinets. On the table was a little bell to ring when you were ready for your server to come take your order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sandwiches we loved best included the curry chicken, made with coconut milk and a secret spice blend, and a sardine-and-cucumber number that Lim makes by doctoring the canned sardines in tomato sauce that you can buy at Asian grocers. On the sweets side, we enjoyed an airy-light pandan chiffon cake that wasn’t \u003cem>too \u003c/em>sweet — the ultimate compliment for an Asian dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the egg salad sandwich, which we ordered off the British side of the menu, was uncommonly good — lush with Kewpie mayonnaise and served on fluffy milk bread. It tasted exactly like the ones you get at 7-Eleven in Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lim says that’s exactly what she was going for: a familiar flavor that reminds you of childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986559\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian woman poses in front of a tiered cake stand with pastries and sandwiches.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_034-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leena Lim, owner of Malaya Tea Room, sits behind a table set for afternoon tea. The tea room opened in Alameda in 2019 and has become a destination for specialty tea service in the East Bay. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her business has had its ups and downs over the past seven years, especially with the pandemic hitting just months after it opened. But she’s developed a loyal customer base, and people do seem to better understand Malaya’s afternoon tea offerings now than they did in the shop’s early days. Part of that, she says, just has to do with how much more popular Asian food is these days — how there’s now a cultural cachet to being the sort of person who understands pandan and ube: “Otherwise, it’s like who are you? Do you even live here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helps that afternoon tea is the ultimate Instagram-friendly meal. Plus, Lim says, “people love dressing up,” and going out for tea provides a rare opportunity to do that. Every year, she has a big group that comes in cosplaying as anime characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During our visit, we spotted three elderly women enjoying a quiet conversation, a table of Gen Z Taiwanese ladies chattering happily in Mandarin, and a group of white otaku having an intense debate about \u003cem>Dragon Ball Z\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I even get groups of men who come in by themselves,” Lim says. “I think that’s awesome.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tea with a twist\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bakeries and cafes that offer Asian-style afternoon tea in the Bay Area all have their own charm — and their own little twists on the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little Moon Bakehouse owner Annie Wang says her pop-ups are a natural extension of the fact that she started baking bread for the first time in 2024, adding a variety of Chinese bakery–style buns to her repertoire of plant-based cookies and mooncakes. Unlike Wang’s other baked goods, the breads don’t have long enough of a shelf life to ship nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986606\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/LITTLE-MOON-BAKEHOUSE-TEA-PARTY-2025-136-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Little Moon Bakehouse owner Annie Wang (standing) mingles with guests at her afternoon tea pop-up at the San Francisco Ferry Building on Dec. 14, 2025. Featured items included plant-based mooncakes and mini pork floss buns. \u003ccite>(Phil Stockbridge/SF Event Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I realized that this would be great for an experience,” she says. She started renting out venues across the Bay Area to host one-day afternoon tea pop-ups, filling up three-tier cake stands with an equal split of sweet and savory treats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 22, she’ll host her second tea pop-up in the San Francisco Ferry Building — a \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/afternoon-tea-in-sf-sun-dec-14-ferry-building-copy\">Lunar New Year–themed bash\u003c/a> for 100 guests, seated at long tables that stretch the length of the festive second-floor Grand Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu will include miniature pork floss buns, garlic butter buns, and \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/preorder-soy-sauce-chocolate-citrus-cookie-sandwich-heydoh-x-little-moon-bakehouse\">citrus zest sugar cookies\u003c/a> filled with soy sauce–spiked white chocolate (that one is a collaboration with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heydoh.co/\">Heydoh\u003c/a>, a Taiwanese American soy sauce brand). In the coming months, she’ll host \u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/collections/afternoon-tea\">additional pop-ups\u003c/a> in SF Chinatown, the Sunset District and San José.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986562\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986562\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Tea kettles, sugar bowls and metal canisters of loose-leaf tea on a wooden credenza.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/020626GOLDEN-AGE-OF-ASIAN-STYLE-HIGH-TEA_GH_042-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loose-leaf teas line a wooden cabinet at Malaya Tea Room. The tea room serves a wide selection of teas in a space filled with nostalgic antique furnishings. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Jai Kandayah, the owner of Pleasanton’s recently closed \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/curryleavesbistro/?hl=en\">Curry Leaves Bistro\u003c/a>, says he never \u003cem>intended \u003c/em>to serve afternoon tea at his restaurant. He, too, grew up taking afternoon tea in Malaysia, but not the kind served at fancy hotels, which wasn’t accessible for working-class people. For the majority of Malaysians, afternoon tea — or high tea — was more of a home ritual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(In Kandayah’s experience, Malaysians are more likely to talk about “high tea” than afternoon tea, referring to a heartier meal eaten later in the afternoon, at perhaps 4 or 5 p.m. after they get home from work — much more practical for working-class folks who can’t leave their jobs to eat cakes for an hour at 2 in the afternoon.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These meals always featured local flavors, Kandayah recalls. “I remember my mom would make a big pot of tea in the afternoon and then usually a savory snack — banana fritters, fried yucca, fried yams, fried taro,” he says. Sometimes the bread man would come around, and they’d buy a loaf and dip the bread in the curry that was left over from lunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local high tea buffets he remembers frequenting as a young man similarly skewed toward Malaysian flavors. Many of them would even serve fried noodles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But again, Kandayah never had a high tea menu at Curry Leaves Bistro. Instead, regular customers — all of them older Malaysian immigrants — would knock on his door on Friday or Saturday afternoons, when the restaurant was closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would call and say, ‘Hey, there are eight of us coming in at 4 o’clock after our golf game. Can you prepare some tea and roti, and a plate of noodles?’” Kandayah says. “And we would do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curry Leaves Bistro wound up closing this past fall after the landlord increased the rent, but Kandayah has already scouted out a new location in the East Bay and hopes to reopen later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, he says, afternoon tea on the restaurant’s backyard patio is going to come officially baked into the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A celebration of immigration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Kopi Bar has leaned into the cosplay of it all. In addition to her \u003cem>Bridgerton\u003c/em> series, Haron has also hosted Bollywood- and \u003cem>Arabian Nights\u003c/em>–themed afternoon teas, and encourages guests to come dressed up to reflect the theme. People come for Haron’s stellar baked goods, sure. But they also come because the tea parties are joyful and extravagant — an all-out happening, as they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for Haron, in the current political climate — while masked federal agents whisk soccer moms and five-year-old kids away to far-off detention centers — her tea parties aren’t just some frivolous, let-them-eat-cake moments to cosplay as British aristocrats. They’re important rituals that allow immigrants like her to come together and celebrate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986148\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in glasses poses inside a cafe.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GOLDENAGEOFASIANSTYLEHIGH-TEA_GH_019-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Nora Haron, owner of Kopi Bar and Bakery, poses in her cafe on the second floor of BAMPFA. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This idea of ‘illegal’ immigrants being criminals — that’s obnoxious. We’re doing something for the community. You know, we’re bringing people together. We’re creating jobs,” she says. “So it’s wonderful to be able to support one another this way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, she says, food is intertwined with the immigration process. And traditions like afternoon tea are a vital way for immigrants to maintain their cultural identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Singapore and Malaysia, the history of afternoon tea followed the same path as so many other things in Southeast Asia: The colonizers brought it, but locals improved it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13986547\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13986547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up on a pandan pastry, a cup of tea and a menu for a special high tea event.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/013126GoldenAgeofAsianStyleHigh-Tea_GH_020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pandan and coconut pastry swirl sits next to Kopi Bar’s “Bridgerton”-inspired high tea menu. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the food writer Seetoh puts it, “You can still spend over a hundred bucks for the little pinky high teas at posh hotels flavored with affluence, but the majority, even the well-heeled, prefer a kueh salat, curry puff or ang ku kueh at local cafes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels more like a Singapore story,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it goes here in the diaspora, as Asian Americans create a new set of traditions replete with sourdough, vegan pork floss and the Bay Area’s own unique sense of swagger. They, too, are making afternoon tea their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Kopi Bar’s \u003c/em>Bridgerton \u003cem>high tea series will run every Saturday through Feb. 28, plus an additional date on March 1, with seatings at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-bridgerton-inspired-high-tea-at-kopi-bar-tickets-1979138513571\">\u003cem>Tickets\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are limited. The cafe is located on the second floor of BAMPFA, at 2155 Center St. in Berkeley.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Little Moon Bakehouse’s Lunar New Year–themed afternoon tea will take place on Feb. 22, 11:30-1:30 p.m., at the SF Ferry Building (1 Ferry Building, San Francisco). \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/products/afternoon-tea-in-sf-sun-dec-14-ferry-building-copy\">\u003cem>Tickets\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are limited. \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://littlemoonbakehouse.com/collections/afternoon-tea\">\u003cem>Future tea events\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> are scheduled to take place in SF Chinatown, the Sunset District, and San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://malayatearoom.com/\">\u003cem>Malaya Tea Room\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> has three seatings per day, Thu.-Sun., at 11 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. It’s located at 920 Central Ave. in Alameda.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "smokehouse-berkeley-late-night-burgers-hot-dogs-shakes",
"title": "Revisiting Smokehouse, a Berkeley Classic for Late-Night Burgers and Shakes",
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"headTitle": "Revisiting Smokehouse, a Berkeley Classic for Late-Night Burgers and Shakes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985783\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smokehouse specializes in fire-grilled burgers and hot dogs. The Berkeley staple stays open until midnight on weekends. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week, guest artist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brianabreaks/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Briana Loewinsohn\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> joined the burger party.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lit up like a beacon on the corner of Telegraph and Woolsey in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/\">Smokehouse\u003c/a> is a picture-postcard image of a classic American burger shack: the big, red, retro diner–style sign; the no-frills menu; the string lights twinkling over the cluster of picnic tables in back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent chilly Friday night, we could smell the smoke and the charred meat from all the way down the block. Jackpot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d come because we were in the mood for a fast food–style char-grilled burger — and, like generations of Berkleyans before us, we knew that Smokehouse was \u003ci>the \u003c/i>spot to satisfy that craving, especially after 10 or 11 o’clock at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1951, the restaurant has a frozen-in-time quality that we found incredibly charming. The one of us who’d been a Smokehouse regular as a high schooler in the ’90s spotted only a handful of visible changes: Now, you order outside from a guy manning a tablet set up on a wheelie cart instead of lining up inside the restaurant itself. There’s now an Impossible Burger on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/menu/\">menu\u003c/a>. And, after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/11/20/the-smokehouse-berkeley-burger-restaurant-reopening\">post-fire renovation\u003c/a> during the pandemic, the grassy back patio has gotten a nice little makeover — if you come earlier in the day, there are always a bunch of kids running around on the lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One other gesture to modernity: Smokehouse now has one of those \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialDesign/comments/hlr50d/what_you_guys_think_about_this_freestyle_coke/\">Coke Freestyle machines\u003c/a> — a relatively rare sighting in the non-movie-theater wilds — adding 60-some flavors’ worth of whimsy and mad science to your burger shop experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Otherwise, the place feels more or less the same as it always has. Even as the prices have crept up over the years, the burgers and hot dogs are still shockingly inexpensive by Bay Area standards — less than $9, for instance, for a double cheeseburger. Now, as always, the restaurant is the kind of place where \u003ci>everyone \u003c/i>in Berkeley goes. During our visit, we saw a multi-generational Filipino family, a handful of elderly couples who seemed like they lived in the neighborhood, a pack of teens, a couple of professor types, and several college kids enjoying the last gasp of their winter break. It was a nice, welcoming vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985784\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985784\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a burger shack lit up at night. The retro-style red sign reads, \"Smokehouse.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant has been open on the corner of Telegraph and Woolsey since 1951. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Let’s be real, though: If you’ve come to Smokehouse, it’s probably because you want to see your food get set on fire. The big sign outside touts the restaurant’s “flame-grilled” hot dogs and burgers, and that’s something the line cooks take seriously. Every minute or so, the entire grill bursts into massive flames, engulfing everything on it. And that’s the taste I crave: The cheeseburgers at Smokehouse are super-simple (my order is lettuce, diced onion, caramelized onion, hold the tomato, add a little tub of cherry peppers on the side), but the deep smoky, charred flavor that they get on the patties is tough to beat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13985042,arts_13983249,arts_13954597']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>The fire-grilling also makes for some of the tastiest hot dogs in town — snappy and juicy, but with that extra dimension of smokiness like you get when you cook over a campfire. (Be forewarned that when they ask if you want everything on your hot dog, they really do mean \u003ci>everything \u003c/i>— we probably could have done with a little less relish, onions and ketchup.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it went with the rest of what we ordered. Everything was better, or at least as good, as it needed to be: the thick-cut fries that were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The extra-crunchy, frizzled onion rings that were cooked perfectly so you could bite through them cleanly. The savory, bean-forward chili with exactly the right texture for adhering to your fries or hot dog. The just-thick-enough straight chocolate shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not a “gourmet” destination meal by any stretch. But on many, many nights, it’s exactly the meal that hits the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/\">\u003ci>Smokehouse\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Mon. to Thursday 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10:30 a.m.–midnight and Sun. 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. at 3115 Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Smokehouse Is a Berkeley Classic for Late-Night Burgers and Shakes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985783\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smokehouse specializes in fire-grilled burgers and hot dogs. The Berkeley staple stays open until midnight on weekends. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week, guest artist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brianabreaks/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Briana Loewinsohn\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> joined the burger party.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lit up like a beacon on the corner of Telegraph and Woolsey in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/berkeley\">Berkeley\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/\">Smokehouse\u003c/a> is a picture-postcard image of a classic American burger shack: the big, red, retro diner–style sign; the no-frills menu; the string lights twinkling over the cluster of picnic tables in back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent chilly Friday night, we could smell the smoke and the charred meat from all the way down the block. Jackpot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d come because we were in the mood for a fast food–style char-grilled burger — and, like generations of Berkleyans before us, we knew that Smokehouse was \u003ci>the \u003c/i>spot to satisfy that craving, especially after 10 or 11 o’clock at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1951, the restaurant has a frozen-in-time quality that we found incredibly charming. The one of us who’d been a Smokehouse regular as a high schooler in the ’90s spotted only a handful of visible changes: Now, you order outside from a guy manning a tablet set up on a wheelie cart instead of lining up inside the restaurant itself. There’s now an Impossible Burger on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/menu/\">menu\u003c/a>. And, after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/11/20/the-smokehouse-berkeley-burger-restaurant-reopening\">post-fire renovation\u003c/a> during the pandemic, the grassy back patio has gotten a nice little makeover — if you come earlier in the day, there are always a bunch of kids running around on the lawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One other gesture to modernity: Smokehouse now has one of those \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialDesign/comments/hlr50d/what_you_guys_think_about_this_freestyle_coke/\">Coke Freestyle machines\u003c/a> — a relatively rare sighting in the non-movie-theater wilds — adding 60-some flavors’ worth of whimsy and mad science to your burger shop experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Otherwise, the place feels more or less the same as it always has. Even as the prices have crept up over the years, the burgers and hot dogs are still shockingly inexpensive by Bay Area standards — less than $9, for instance, for a double cheeseburger. Now, as always, the restaurant is the kind of place where \u003ci>everyone \u003c/i>in Berkeley goes. During our visit, we saw a multi-generational Filipino family, a handful of elderly couples who seemed like they lived in the neighborhood, a pack of teens, a couple of professor types, and several college kids enjoying the last gasp of their winter break. It was a nice, welcoming vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985784\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985784\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a burger shack lit up at night. The retro-style red sign reads, \"Smokehouse.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Smokehouse_2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant has been open on the corner of Telegraph and Woolsey since 1951. \u003ccite>(Briana Loewinsohn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Let’s be real, though: If you’ve come to Smokehouse, it’s probably because you want to see your food get set on fire. The big sign outside touts the restaurant’s “flame-grilled” hot dogs and burgers, and that’s something the line cooks take seriously. Every minute or so, the entire grill bursts into massive flames, engulfing everything on it. And that’s the taste I crave: The cheeseburgers at Smokehouse are super-simple (my order is lettuce, diced onion, caramelized onion, hold the tomato, add a little tub of cherry peppers on the side), but the deep smoky, charred flavor that they get on the patties is tough to beat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>The fire-grilling also makes for some of the tastiest hot dogs in town — snappy and juicy, but with that extra dimension of smokiness like you get when you cook over a campfire. (Be forewarned that when they ask if you want everything on your hot dog, they really do mean \u003ci>everything \u003c/i>— we probably could have done with a little less relish, onions and ketchup.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it went with the rest of what we ordered. Everything was better, or at least as good, as it needed to be: the thick-cut fries that were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The extra-crunchy, frizzled onion rings that were cooked perfectly so you could bite through them cleanly. The savory, bean-forward chili with exactly the right texture for adhering to your fries or hot dog. The just-thick-enough straight chocolate shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not a “gourmet” destination meal by any stretch. But on many, many nights, it’s exactly the meal that hits the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eatsmokehouse.com/\">\u003ci>Smokehouse\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Mon. to Thursday 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10:30 a.m.–midnight and Sun. 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. at 3115 Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "mia-pixley-jazz-cello-new-album-review-love-dark-bloom-berkeley-concert",
"title": "Cellist Mia Pixley Flourishes in Darkness",
"publishDate": 1765900804,
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"headTitle": "Cellist Mia Pixley Flourishes in Darkness | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As cold weather and lack of sunlight cause the leaves’ dominant shades of green to fade, other pigments, like the orange and yellow carotenoids and red and purple anthocyanins, become more visible. The beautiful colors lie dormant in the leaves year-round, only to be revealed by darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a perfect metaphor for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/miapixley/\">Mia Pixley\u003c/a>’s new album, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV\">\u003ci>Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> The soulful jazz singer and cellist pulls from the unknown, the absence of light and even the underworld in her latest body of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984301\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with an afro sings while on stage.\" width=\"1710\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg 1710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-768x1150.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1368x2048.jpg 1368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1710px) 100vw, 1710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Multitalented musician Mia Pixley, seen here performing at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley, is using her music to explore the beautiful things that can come from the darker side of life. \u003ccite>(Josh Sugitan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I naturally gravitate towards what’s unseen,” says Pixley during a phone call, explaining that her attraction to “what’s underneath” or what some people might deem as “taboo” is pushed by her understanding that darkness is a huge part of who we are as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so when I’m approaching my art, I’m interested in looking at these areas,” she says in reference to darkness, adding that she’s mindful of finding ways to them “zing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alchemy is shown from the start of the nine-track album, \u003ca href=\"https://miapixley.com/contact-1\">which she’ll be performing\u003c/a> across the state, in Occidental on Dec. 20 and at \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">The Freight\u003c/a> in Berkeley on Dec. 21, the evening of the Winter Solstice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album kicks off with the song “Like Water, Like Love,” providing theme music for an adventure into the depths. The rhythmic thud of Pixley’s cello is paired with drums, creating a sound that’s tailor-made for a lovely jaunt into the unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the song, the drums are stripped from the track and the jaunting is over; the only thing left is Pixley’s haunting hymns and the umph of the string instrument. The journey toward darkness begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album proceeds to a jazzy, uptempo, smoky-room-sounding song in “Gimmie The Juice,” before leading us to “Dirty” (inspired by the James Baldwin’s \u003cem>Previous Condition\u003c/em>) and “Marigold” (inspired by Toni Morrison’s \u003cem>The Bluest Eye\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pixley, the co-organizer of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bushwickbookcluboakland/?hl=en\">the Bushwick Book Club Oakland\u003c/a>, periodically meets with other local musicians, reads the same book and then writes music inspired by the literature. If so moved, the artists perform their song for an audience. (Pixley, \u003ca href=\"https://nikbomusic.com/\">Nikbo \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://clairecalderon.com/\">Claire Calderón\u003c/a> also co-wrote the song “Mother Told Me,” which appears later in the album; it was inspired by the book \u003cem>Women Who Run with the Wolves\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just past the halfway point of the project, the fifth song brings us into peak darkness. And it’s beautiful. The track, “A Woman, A Wind,” opens with a foot-tapping rhythm as Pixley plays the cello and sings in a gritty tone, “She was walking along the road…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song literally came to Pixley during a walk, when she had this idea about a person wearing a top hat. A people pleaser like herself, the top-hatter had to learn how to not “dance and jive for people,” she tells me. Instead, both she and the fictional character had to learn to “let it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driving rhythm — an urgent strumming of the cello strings that sounds like change is coming — came to her thereafter. She paired it with a benevolently delightful melody for juxtaposition. “It’s, like, free,” Pixley says in reference to the lighter side of the song’s counterbalance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laid it all down on a five-channel looper and then mapped out where the supporting artists would fit in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do all the harmonies,” says Pixley, bringing me into the magic behind the scenes. “And then,” she says, “in the recording session is when I invite people that I think whose artistic sensibilities can take those ideas to the next level.” On this track those “artistic sensibilities” were provided by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/hapabass?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnKDAfxmOM8xik_-ykOJmi_zmfTHhPI7m0mr31HW3YzSkmOg8-vCJIcTDI77E_aem_BhexGW1hvR6uWl9-i1H_eg\">Kevin Goldberg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chezhanny.com/isaac_schwartz_2022.html\">Isaac Schwartz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mc.arthurgiuseppe/?hl=en\">Ian McArdle\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bryancsimmons/?hl=en\">Bryan C. Simmons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song is a journey and, arguably, the epitome of the album. It takes the listener from the darkness of confusion through the driving sound of change before ending on a profound note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it don’t matter where that wind blows,” Pixley sings in an ominous tone over slow strums of the cello at the very end of the song. “Just know, it gets harder when you won’t let go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 774px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png\" alt=\"A woman sits, posing for a photo, holding her cello vertically. \" width=\"774\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png 774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-160x161.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-768x774.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mia Pixley, who has been playing the cello since about the age of four, uses the instrument to guide her through dark times as an adult. \u003ccite>(Victor Xie)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A psychologist as well as an artist, Pixley says her dealings in darkness in both practices “cross-pollinate.” At the heart of it all is the idea of “transforming hard things into new energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through listening, feeling and intuiting — trusting her intuition — Pixley gathers the information she needs for her work. “I like being \u003cem>in the things,” \u003c/em>she says of her ability to use more than her eyes to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artistically inclined from a young age, Pixley asserts that her time in New York studying at Columbia University nurtured her natural proclivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Texas during the winter months, Pixley used to not like the cold season. But through the process of making this album, she’s shifted her relationship with winter and simultaneously broken free of repeating patterns in her life by simply “feeling” her way through it, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Darkness requires a different kind of sensing,” states Pixley, explaining that this season is all about hearing, tasting, feeling and “listening to ancestral guidance.” And because it requires a different set of senses, some people can find it “totally unnerving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Pixley, navigating darkness, be it from lack of light or clarity, is like the child’s game of “Lights Out,” or Hide-And-Go-Seek in the dark. To play the game, she says, you have to move slower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the album concludes, it goes from the cold, somber depths of the songs “Dark” and “Line” to remerge with light in the final track, “Bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track was originally written as a commissioned piece for famed violinist\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/570165123/anne-akiko-meyers\"> Anne Akiko Meyers\u003c/a>, who was moved by Pixley’s performance of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\">Everything is Slow Motion\u003c/a>” at the de Young Museum with Mercury Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reached out to me and said, ‘Could you write me a song?'” recalls Pixley, who then wrote “Bloom,” but Meyers never used it. “So,” explains Pixley, “I asked her permission if I could put it on this project because it felt like the right track to close the album.” Meyers agreed, under one condition: that Pixley note that it was originally penned for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I need good external validation,” Pixley reflects, with a lightness in her tone, “I’m like, ‘But Anne believes in me.'” More seriously, she notes that reassurance is a necessity when you’re on a path through darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I do this journey with openness and with surrender and with love,” says Pixley, “It’s gonna bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mia Pixley’s album \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV?si=e2bbb10ddc484e9d8d6e38eb7cac4a44&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing\">Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/a> was released on Dec. 4. She’ll be performing on Dec. 21, as a part of Barbara Higbie and Friends Winter Solstice Celebration (with Vicki Randle, Kofy Brown, Michaelle Goerlitz and Jasper Manning). Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. at The Freight in Berkeley (2020 Addison St.). \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">Check here for more information\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"subhead": "'Tis the season to \"feel your way through\" the darkness. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As cold weather and lack of sunlight cause the leaves’ dominant shades of green to fade, other pigments, like the orange and yellow carotenoids and red and purple anthocyanins, become more visible. The beautiful colors lie dormant in the leaves year-round, only to be revealed by darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a perfect metaphor for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/miapixley/\">Mia Pixley\u003c/a>’s new album, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV\">\u003ci>Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> The soulful jazz singer and cellist pulls from the unknown, the absence of light and even the underworld in her latest body of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984301\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with an afro sings while on stage.\" width=\"1710\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg 1710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-768x1150.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1368x2048.jpg 1368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1710px) 100vw, 1710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Multitalented musician Mia Pixley, seen here performing at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley, is using her music to explore the beautiful things that can come from the darker side of life. \u003ccite>(Josh Sugitan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I naturally gravitate towards what’s unseen,” says Pixley during a phone call, explaining that her attraction to “what’s underneath” or what some people might deem as “taboo” is pushed by her understanding that darkness is a huge part of who we are as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so when I’m approaching my art, I’m interested in looking at these areas,” she says in reference to darkness, adding that she’s mindful of finding ways to them “zing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alchemy is shown from the start of the nine-track album, \u003ca href=\"https://miapixley.com/contact-1\">which she’ll be performing\u003c/a> across the state, in Occidental on Dec. 20 and at \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">The Freight\u003c/a> in Berkeley on Dec. 21, the evening of the Winter Solstice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album kicks off with the song “Like Water, Like Love,” providing theme music for an adventure into the depths. The rhythmic thud of Pixley’s cello is paired with drums, creating a sound that’s tailor-made for a lovely jaunt into the unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the song, the drums are stripped from the track and the jaunting is over; the only thing left is Pixley’s haunting hymns and the umph of the string instrument. The journey toward darkness begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album proceeds to a jazzy, uptempo, smoky-room-sounding song in “Gimmie The Juice,” before leading us to “Dirty” (inspired by the James Baldwin’s \u003cem>Previous Condition\u003c/em>) and “Marigold” (inspired by Toni Morrison’s \u003cem>The Bluest Eye\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pixley, the co-organizer of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bushwickbookcluboakland/?hl=en\">the Bushwick Book Club Oakland\u003c/a>, periodically meets with other local musicians, reads the same book and then writes music inspired by the literature. If so moved, the artists perform their song for an audience. (Pixley, \u003ca href=\"https://nikbomusic.com/\">Nikbo \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://clairecalderon.com/\">Claire Calderón\u003c/a> also co-wrote the song “Mother Told Me,” which appears later in the album; it was inspired by the book \u003cem>Women Who Run with the Wolves\u003c/em>.)\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/PZxtGhk8rPA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/PZxtGhk8rPA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Just past the halfway point of the project, the fifth song brings us into peak darkness. And it’s beautiful. The track, “A Woman, A Wind,” opens with a foot-tapping rhythm as Pixley plays the cello and sings in a gritty tone, “She was walking along the road…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song literally came to Pixley during a walk, when she had this idea about a person wearing a top hat. A people pleaser like herself, the top-hatter had to learn how to not “dance and jive for people,” she tells me. Instead, both she and the fictional character had to learn to “let it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driving rhythm — an urgent strumming of the cello strings that sounds like change is coming — came to her thereafter. She paired it with a benevolently delightful melody for juxtaposition. “It’s, like, free,” Pixley says in reference to the lighter side of the song’s counterbalance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laid it all down on a five-channel looper and then mapped out where the supporting artists would fit in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do all the harmonies,” says Pixley, bringing me into the magic behind the scenes. “And then,” she says, “in the recording session is when I invite people that I think whose artistic sensibilities can take those ideas to the next level.” On this track those “artistic sensibilities” were provided by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/hapabass?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnKDAfxmOM8xik_-ykOJmi_zmfTHhPI7m0mr31HW3YzSkmOg8-vCJIcTDI77E_aem_BhexGW1hvR6uWl9-i1H_eg\">Kevin Goldberg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chezhanny.com/isaac_schwartz_2022.html\">Isaac Schwartz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mc.arthurgiuseppe/?hl=en\">Ian McArdle\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bryancsimmons/?hl=en\">Bryan C. Simmons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song is a journey and, arguably, the epitome of the album. It takes the listener from the darkness of confusion through the driving sound of change before ending on a profound note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it don’t matter where that wind blows,” Pixley sings in an ominous tone over slow strums of the cello at the very end of the song. “Just know, it gets harder when you won’t let go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 774px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png\" alt=\"A woman sits, posing for a photo, holding her cello vertically. \" width=\"774\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png 774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-160x161.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-768x774.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mia Pixley, who has been playing the cello since about the age of four, uses the instrument to guide her through dark times as an adult. \u003ccite>(Victor Xie)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A psychologist as well as an artist, Pixley says her dealings in darkness in both practices “cross-pollinate.” At the heart of it all is the idea of “transforming hard things into new energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through listening, feeling and intuiting — trusting her intuition — Pixley gathers the information she needs for her work. “I like being \u003cem>in the things,” \u003c/em>she says of her ability to use more than her eyes to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artistically inclined from a young age, Pixley asserts that her time in New York studying at Columbia University nurtured her natural proclivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Texas during the winter months, Pixley used to not like the cold season. But through the process of making this album, she’s shifted her relationship with winter and simultaneously broken free of repeating patterns in her life by simply “feeling” her way through it, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Darkness requires a different kind of sensing,” states Pixley, explaining that this season is all about hearing, tasting, feeling and “listening to ancestral guidance.” And because it requires a different set of senses, some people can find it “totally unnerving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Pixley, navigating darkness, be it from lack of light or clarity, is like the child’s game of “Lights Out,” or Hide-And-Go-Seek in the dark. To play the game, she says, you have to move slower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the album concludes, it goes from the cold, somber depths of the songs “Dark” and “Line” to remerge with light in the final track, “Bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track was originally written as a commissioned piece for famed violinist\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/570165123/anne-akiko-meyers\"> Anne Akiko Meyers\u003c/a>, who was moved by Pixley’s performance of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\">Everything is Slow Motion\u003c/a>” at the de Young Museum with Mercury Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reached out to me and said, ‘Could you write me a song?'” recalls Pixley, who then wrote “Bloom,” but Meyers never used it. “So,” explains Pixley, “I asked her permission if I could put it on this project because it felt like the right track to close the album.” Meyers agreed, under one condition: that Pixley note that it was originally penned for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I need good external validation,” Pixley reflects, with a lightness in her tone, “I’m like, ‘But Anne believes in me.'” More seriously, she notes that reassurance is a necessity when you’re on a path through darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I do this journey with openness and with surrender and with love,” says Pixley, “It’s gonna bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mia Pixley’s album \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV?si=e2bbb10ddc484e9d8d6e38eb7cac4a44&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing\">Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/a> was released on Dec. 4. She’ll be performing on Dec. 21, as a part of Barbara Higbie and Friends Winter Solstice Celebration (with Vicki Randle, Kofy Brown, Michaelle Goerlitz and Jasper Manning). Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. at The Freight in Berkeley (2020 Addison St.). \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">Check here for more information\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "crossword-puzzle-competition-berkeley-westwords-failure",
"title": "In 2025, I Became a Competitive Crossword Solver — and Got Absolutely Smoked",
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"headTitle": "In 2025, I Became a Competitive Crossword Solver — and Got Absolutely Smoked | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>This week, as we near the end of 2025, the writers and editors of KQED Arts & Culture are reflecting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/one-beautiful-thing\">One Beautiful Thing\u003c/a> from the year.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n a bright Sunday morning in June, I sat down in a crowded synagogue library in West Berkeley for my first ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/crossword\">crossword puzzle\u003c/a> competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d signed up on a lark, in the interest of trying something new. Berkeley’s second annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.westwordsbestwords.com/\">Westwords\u003c/a> crossword tournament — a grueling, six-hour puzzle-solving extravaganza — certainly fit the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m gonna get smoked!” I told my wife and kids, who’d decamped to New Jersey for the summer a few days earlier, leaving me with a precious free weekend to pursue my nerdy hobbies. “I just don’t want to finish last.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I’d done enough research ahead of time to know I didn’t have a prayer of winning, or even placing remotely close to the top of the leaderboard. Not when the \u003ca href=\"https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dan-feyer-american-crossword-puzzle-tournament/\">world’s top puzzlers\u003c/a> routinely solve the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>Saturday crossword in 3 or 4 minutes — nearly 10 times faster than my best efforts. Still, I didn’t \u003ci>really \u003c/i>think I was in any danger of coming in dead last. I’d completed the \u003ci>NYT \u003c/i>puzzle for more than 500 days in a row! I didn’t know anyone, personally, who was a more devoted crossword puzzle solver than me!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If glory was out of reach, I figured I could at least achieve respectability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how did it come to be that about 15 minutes into the first puzzle of the tournament, I was one of just five or six people in the room who still hadn’t finished my grid? Looking at the friendly mix of mild-mannered software engineer types, dudes rocking ponytails and goth girls in crossword-themed dresses who’d gathered in Berkeley that day, how did I not realize that more than half of them were outright\u003ci> monsters\u003c/i>?\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last place started to seem like a real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984722\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672.jpg\" alt=\"Vintage black and white photo of crossword solvers sitting at individual desks during a competition.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1470\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-768x564.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-1536x1129.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahh, crossword squares and Scotch: In 1971, competitors take part in the Cutty Sark/Times National Crossword Championships in the London. \u003ccite>(Central Press/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n one sense, you could say I’d been training for crossword glory for my entire life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d always been the Word Person in my science-oriented friend group — the OED brandisher, the unrepentant menace in games of Boggle and \u003ca href=\"https://www.mrkland.com/mrkland.com/sport/spscrab.htm\">Speed Scrabble\u003c/a>. But I came to crossword puzzles, specifically, relatively late in life. In the early pandemic years, I started taking long hot baths every night as a way to self-soothe. Instead of doomscrolling during those hours-long soaks, I got in the habit of doing the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>crossword on my phone. I was surprised to be able to complete them, mostly — the breezy Monday puzzles and, with enough time and effort, the gnarly, knotty Saturdays (which I learned were much harder than their more famous Sunday counterparts). Week by week, I got faster and more confident, and my mental health started to improve, too: As it turns out, racking your brain to think of a five-letter word for “performed reasonably well”\u003csup>1\u003c/sup> was a decent way to distract yourself from all that existential dread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, none of this prepared me for the balls-to-the-wall world of competitive crossword tournaments, where puzzles are scored on both speed and accuracy. The largest, most prestigious in-person crossword competitions, like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/2101852/will-shortz\">Will Shortz\u003c/a>–hosted American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, can draw more than 1,000 participants. The most expert among them have been known to fill out a grid, error-free, even faster than the puzzle’s \u003ci>constructor \u003c/i>(who, presumably, knew all the answers ahead of time).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the 150 or so who’d crammed into the synagogue library for Westwords, I learned that most of my tablemates were also first-timers — a lawyer, a video game designer, a couple of sleepy-looking college kids. We sat with our papers turned upside down until the proctors started the timer, like we’d all gone back to high school to take the SATs. Wielding the mechanical pencil and fancy Japanese eraser I’d purchased for the occasion, I started working my way through the first puzzle — an easy warmup, we were told. A three-letter word for “hullabaloo.”\u003csup>2\u003c/sup> Six-letter word for “pandemonium” starting with “B.”\u003csup>3\u003c/sup>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything was going swimmingly until about two minutes in, when people started raising their hands to indicate that they’d \u003ci>finished\u003c/i>. (I’d filled in maybe a dozen answers at that point.) Nothing can prepare you for that very specific form of stress — the way my hands were sweaty and my pencil started to shake — when 5 contestants, then very quickly 10 and then 50, turned in their puzzles and trickled out of the room. Soon enough, there were only a dozen of us left. Meanwhile, the clock continued to tick down, and half of my puzzle was still blank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time the clock ran out on the second puzzle, which I didn’t come particularly close to finishing, I was thoroughly demoralized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13969423,arts_13983150']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>I’m the sort of person who’s spent most of my life focusing on things I knew I excelled at: getting good grades, being cutthroat at board games and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_two\">Big Two\u003c/a>, eating large quantities of noodles \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">late at night\u003c/a>. I quit organized sports and the jazz band before I started high school because I didn’t think I was any good. I never really gave writing that novel a serious shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet I tell my kids all the time how they shouldn’t be afraid to try new and difficult things — how they should challenge themselves and enjoy learning for learning’s sake. That they shouldn’t worry about failing or looking foolish. Sitting in a soondubu shop across the street from the crossword competition during our lunch break, I thought about how so many of my favorite memories were from letting loose at things I’m genuinely \u003ci>bad \u003c/i>at — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969423/sports-dad-rock-climbing-bouldering-parenting\">rock climbing\u003c/a>, or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968142/karaoke-south-san-francisco-hong-kong-late-night-restaurant-noodles-e-plus\">karaoke\u003c/a>, or those six months in college when I tried to become a breakdancer [screaming face emoji].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a kind of freedom that comes with embracing your own mediocrity — or at least in not worrying how well you’re going to do compared to anyone else. I wish I could say that I came back from lunch and aced the last three puzzles of the tournament, but the truth is, I only finished one of them, and even that one was riddled with mistakes. But I did finally manage to relax a little. To just fill in one square at a time and enjoy the thrill of solving for solving’s sake. To have \u003ci>fun\u003c/i> with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984723\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1598px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984723\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm.png\" alt=\"The leaderboard of a crossword competition. Luke Tsai is in 134th place.\" width=\"1598\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm.png 1598w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-160x45.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-768x214.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-1536x429.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1598px) 100vw, 1598px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luke Tsai’s final ranking and score in the crossword competition.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, I didn’t wind up finishing in last place after all — though my 134th place ranking (out of 144 competitors) was almost low enough to be a punchline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course I decided immediately that I’d be back to try again next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003csup>1\u003c/sup>\u003c/i>\u003ci>DID OK\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003csup>2\u003c/sup>\u003c/i>\u003ci>ADO\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003csup>3\u003c/sup>\u003c/i>\u003ci>BEDLAM\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>This week, as we near the end of 2025, the writers and editors of KQED Arts & Culture are reflecting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/one-beautiful-thing\">One Beautiful Thing\u003c/a> from the year.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">O\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n a bright Sunday morning in June, I sat down in a crowded synagogue library in West Berkeley for my first ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/crossword\">crossword puzzle\u003c/a> competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d signed up on a lark, in the interest of trying something new. Berkeley’s second annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.westwordsbestwords.com/\">Westwords\u003c/a> crossword tournament — a grueling, six-hour puzzle-solving extravaganza — certainly fit the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m gonna get smoked!” I told my wife and kids, who’d decamped to New Jersey for the summer a few days earlier, leaving me with a precious free weekend to pursue my nerdy hobbies. “I just don’t want to finish last.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I’d done enough research ahead of time to know I didn’t have a prayer of winning, or even placing remotely close to the top of the leaderboard. Not when the \u003ca href=\"https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dan-feyer-american-crossword-puzzle-tournament/\">world’s top puzzlers\u003c/a> routinely solve the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>Saturday crossword in 3 or 4 minutes — nearly 10 times faster than my best efforts. Still, I didn’t \u003ci>really \u003c/i>think I was in any danger of coming in dead last. I’d completed the \u003ci>NYT \u003c/i>puzzle for more than 500 days in a row! I didn’t know anyone, personally, who was a more devoted crossword puzzle solver than me!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If glory was out of reach, I figured I could at least achieve respectability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how did it come to be that about 15 minutes into the first puzzle of the tournament, I was one of just five or six people in the room who still hadn’t finished my grid? Looking at the friendly mix of mild-mannered software engineer types, dudes rocking ponytails and goth girls in crossword-themed dresses who’d gathered in Berkeley that day, how did I not realize that more than half of them were outright\u003ci> monsters\u003c/i>?\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last place started to seem like a real possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984722\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672.jpg\" alt=\"Vintage black and white photo of crossword solvers sitting at individual desks during a competition.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1470\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-768x564.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/GettyImages-3319672-1536x1129.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahh, crossword squares and Scotch: In 1971, competitors take part in the Cutty Sark/Times National Crossword Championships in the London. \u003ccite>(Central Press/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n one sense, you could say I’d been training for crossword glory for my entire life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d always been the Word Person in my science-oriented friend group — the OED brandisher, the unrepentant menace in games of Boggle and \u003ca href=\"https://www.mrkland.com/mrkland.com/sport/spscrab.htm\">Speed Scrabble\u003c/a>. But I came to crossword puzzles, specifically, relatively late in life. In the early pandemic years, I started taking long hot baths every night as a way to self-soothe. Instead of doomscrolling during those hours-long soaks, I got in the habit of doing the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>crossword on my phone. I was surprised to be able to complete them, mostly — the breezy Monday puzzles and, with enough time and effort, the gnarly, knotty Saturdays (which I learned were much harder than their more famous Sunday counterparts). Week by week, I got faster and more confident, and my mental health started to improve, too: As it turns out, racking your brain to think of a five-letter word for “performed reasonably well”\u003csup>1\u003c/sup> was a decent way to distract yourself from all that existential dread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, none of this prepared me for the balls-to-the-wall world of competitive crossword tournaments, where puzzles are scored on both speed and accuracy. The largest, most prestigious in-person crossword competitions, like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/2101852/will-shortz\">Will Shortz\u003c/a>–hosted American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, can draw more than 1,000 participants. The most expert among them have been known to fill out a grid, error-free, even faster than the puzzle’s \u003ci>constructor \u003c/i>(who, presumably, knew all the answers ahead of time).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the 150 or so who’d crammed into the synagogue library for Westwords, I learned that most of my tablemates were also first-timers — a lawyer, a video game designer, a couple of sleepy-looking college kids. We sat with our papers turned upside down until the proctors started the timer, like we’d all gone back to high school to take the SATs. Wielding the mechanical pencil and fancy Japanese eraser I’d purchased for the occasion, I started working my way through the first puzzle — an easy warmup, we were told. A three-letter word for “hullabaloo.”\u003csup>2\u003c/sup> Six-letter word for “pandemonium” starting with “B.”\u003csup>3\u003c/sup>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything was going swimmingly until about two minutes in, when people started raising their hands to indicate that they’d \u003ci>finished\u003c/i>. (I’d filled in maybe a dozen answers at that point.) Nothing can prepare you for that very specific form of stress — the way my hands were sweaty and my pencil started to shake — when 5 contestants, then very quickly 10 and then 50, turned in their puzzles and trickled out of the room. Soon enough, there were only a dozen of us left. Meanwhile, the clock continued to tick down, and half of my puzzle was still blank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time the clock ran out on the second puzzle, which I didn’t come particularly close to finishing, I was thoroughly demoralized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>I’m the sort of person who’s spent most of my life focusing on things I knew I excelled at: getting good grades, being cutthroat at board games and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_two\">Big Two\u003c/a>, eating large quantities of noodles \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">late at night\u003c/a>. I quit organized sports and the jazz band before I started high school because I didn’t think I was any good. I never really gave writing that novel a serious shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet I tell my kids all the time how they shouldn’t be afraid to try new and difficult things — how they should challenge themselves and enjoy learning for learning’s sake. That they shouldn’t worry about failing or looking foolish. Sitting in a soondubu shop across the street from the crossword competition during our lunch break, I thought about how so many of my favorite memories were from letting loose at things I’m genuinely \u003ci>bad \u003c/i>at — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969423/sports-dad-rock-climbing-bouldering-parenting\">rock climbing\u003c/a>, or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968142/karaoke-south-san-francisco-hong-kong-late-night-restaurant-noodles-e-plus\">karaoke\u003c/a>, or those six months in college when I tried to become a breakdancer [screaming face emoji].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a kind of freedom that comes with embracing your own mediocrity — or at least in not worrying how well you’re going to do compared to anyone else. I wish I could say that I came back from lunch and aced the last three puzzles of the tournament, but the truth is, I only finished one of them, and even that one was riddled with mistakes. But I did finally manage to relax a little. To just fill in one square at a time and enjoy the thrill of solving for solving’s sake. To have \u003ci>fun\u003c/i> with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984723\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1598px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984723\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm.png\" alt=\"The leaderboard of a crossword competition. Luke Tsai is in 134th place.\" width=\"1598\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm.png 1598w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-160x45.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-768x214.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/screenshot_2025-12-09_at_6.50.50___pm-1536x429.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1598px) 100vw, 1598px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luke Tsai’s final ranking and score in the crossword competition.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, I didn’t wind up finishing in last place after all — though my 134th place ranking (out of 144 competitors) was almost low enough to be a punchline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course I decided immediately that I’d be back to try again next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003csup>1\u003c/sup>\u003c/i>\u003ci>DID OK\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003csup>2\u003c/sup>\u003c/i>\u003ci>ADO\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Berkeley-based community education institution \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/\">The Jazzschool\u003c/a> on Tuesday announced Bay Area composer, educator and bassist \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisamezzacappa.com/bio.html\">Lisa Mezzacappa\u003c/a> as its new executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling great, excited, nervous and thrilled,” says Mezzacappa, reached by phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa plans to listen to the needs of students to add to the “magical” environment that already exists at the school — a place she said she’s fallen in love with over the past five years as an educator at the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg\" alt=\"A candid shot of two people playing jazz on stage. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa with vibraphonist Mark Clifford, one of many local musicians she’s worked with throughout her career. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you’re teaching there at night,” she says, “the place is just so alive and activated by so many different kinds of people, who are kind of giddy with playing music together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa refers to the school, housed in a basement in downtown Berkeley, as a “subterranean realm” full of music and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are drummers looking for cymbals and swapping out their gear,” she says, painting a picture of the place on any given night. “There are people looking for cables, moving amplifiers around, getting vibraphones wheeled in, finding percussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded in 1997 by music scholar and jazz pianist \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/people/susan-muscarella/\">Susan Muscarella\u003c/a>, the Jazzschool was previously connected to the California Jazz Conservatory (CJC), which offered a program for students to earn bachelors degrees in music. That program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969281/california-jazz-conservatory-degree-program-ending\">came to an end last year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa, who has also performed at the Jazzschool, says the driving force behind the institution’s appeal — beyond music — is its outstanding staff and the community of artists who gravitate to its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand on stage playing jazz together.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer, bandleader and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa (second from right) and her ensemble Five(ish) performing in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With year-round classes offered on a quarterly basis for both adults and youth, the school teaches various styles, from Latin jazz to Brazilian funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond acquiring technical expertise, Mezzacappa describes an added draw of the school: people often spend years at the Jazzschool, and connect “on that really interpersonal level through music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An avant-garde jazz artist who has a long resumé of playing gigs all over the Bay Area and beyond, Mezzacappa holds nothing back when it comes advocating for the art form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13981396']“I think jazz should be part of every conversation,” she says, noting that she’s even open to exploring the ways technological advancements are impacting one of this country’s oldest genres of music. “We can’t run away from new technology,” she attests. “We have to see what students are interested in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first assignment, as she takes the helm of the nearly thirty year-old institution, is the school’s fall \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a>. An annual showcase that runs Dec. 5–16, it features nearly 400 students from different levels, playing different styles of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The showcase doubles as a way of expanding community. Many people bring friends and loved ones, Mezzacappa said, who may eventually get involved and become part of a new crop of talented musicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re curious about dusting off your guitar, or the keyboard that’s been in your garage,” offers Mezzacappa, “and you’re like, ‘Maybe I wanna take a class,’ it’s a good chance to see what happens here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Jazzschool’s \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Fall Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a> features several free concerts from Dec. 5–16 at the Jazzschool (2087 Addison Street, Berkeley). \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">More event information here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Berkeley-based community education institution \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/\">The Jazzschool\u003c/a> on Tuesday announced Bay Area composer, educator and bassist \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisamezzacappa.com/bio.html\">Lisa Mezzacappa\u003c/a> as its new executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling great, excited, nervous and thrilled,” says Mezzacappa, reached by phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa plans to listen to the needs of students to add to the “magical” environment that already exists at the school — a place she said she’s fallen in love with over the past five years as an educator at the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg\" alt=\"A candid shot of two people playing jazz on stage. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa with vibraphonist Mark Clifford, one of many local musicians she’s worked with throughout her career. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you’re teaching there at night,” she says, “the place is just so alive and activated by so many different kinds of people, who are kind of giddy with playing music together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa refers to the school, housed in a basement in downtown Berkeley, as a “subterranean realm” full of music and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are drummers looking for cymbals and swapping out their gear,” she says, painting a picture of the place on any given night. “There are people looking for cables, moving amplifiers around, getting vibraphones wheeled in, finding percussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded in 1997 by music scholar and jazz pianist \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/people/susan-muscarella/\">Susan Muscarella\u003c/a>, the Jazzschool was previously connected to the California Jazz Conservatory (CJC), which offered a program for students to earn bachelors degrees in music. That program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969281/california-jazz-conservatory-degree-program-ending\">came to an end last year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa, who has also performed at the Jazzschool, says the driving force behind the institution’s appeal — beyond music — is its outstanding staff and the community of artists who gravitate to its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand on stage playing jazz together.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer, bandleader and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa (second from right) and her ensemble Five(ish) performing in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With year-round classes offered on a quarterly basis for both adults and youth, the school teaches various styles, from Latin jazz to Brazilian funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond acquiring technical expertise, Mezzacappa describes an added draw of the school: people often spend years at the Jazzschool, and connect “on that really interpersonal level through music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An avant-garde jazz artist who has a long resumé of playing gigs all over the Bay Area and beyond, Mezzacappa holds nothing back when it comes advocating for the art form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think jazz should be part of every conversation,” she says, noting that she’s even open to exploring the ways technological advancements are impacting one of this country’s oldest genres of music. “We can’t run away from new technology,” she attests. “We have to see what students are interested in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first assignment, as she takes the helm of the nearly thirty year-old institution, is the school’s fall \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a>. An annual showcase that runs Dec. 5–16, it features nearly 400 students from different levels, playing different styles of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The showcase doubles as a way of expanding community. Many people bring friends and loved ones, Mezzacappa said, who may eventually get involved and become part of a new crop of talented musicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re curious about dusting off your guitar, or the keyboard that’s been in your garage,” offers Mezzacappa, “and you’re like, ‘Maybe I wanna take a class,’ it’s a good chance to see what happens here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Jazzschool’s \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Fall Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a> features several free concerts from Dec. 5–16 at the Jazzschool (2087 Addison Street, Berkeley). \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">More event information here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Unsigned and Hella Broke: The East Bay’s Dirt-Hustling 1990s Hip-Hop Subculture",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, an ongoing KQED series about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll never lose that spirit, but I don’t miss being on the street from morning to night,” says Corey “Sunspot Jonz” Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson is talking about his years of “dirt hustling,” when he sold stapled and Xeroxed copies of his zine \u003ci>Unsigned and Hella Broke \u003c/i>and cassette tapes by his rap group Mystik Journeymen on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Anyone who either attended UC Berkeley in the 1990s or frequented heavily trafficked storefronts like Blondie’s Pizza and Leopold’s Music undoubtedly has memories of being approached by a friendly teenager who moonlit as a rapper and tried to sell you a homemade tape. It was very nearly a rite of passage during an era now romanticized for birthing the Bay Area’s underground hip-hop scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunspot Jonz may have given the Unsigned and Hella Broke era its name, but he wasn’t the only one on Telegraph Avenue. Others who gathered there to sell their wares included the Berkeley duo Fundamentals, Kirby Dominant, Fremont rapper/producer “Walt Liquor” Taylor and his group Mixed Practice, the Cytoplasmz crew, Queen Nefra, and Hobo Junction, the crew led by the dextrous rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968340/saafir-dead-oakland-rapper-dies-at-54\">Saafir\u003c/a>. They duplicated their songs onto blank cassette tapes, added modestly illustrated J-cards and sold them wherever they could, from sidewalks along Telegraph and outside of local concert venues to newly launched message boards on the nascent internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984377\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1079px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1079\" height=\"550\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515.jpg 1079w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515-160x82.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515-768x391.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1079px) 100vw, 1079px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cassettes sold hand-to-hand in the Bay Area’s independent hip-hop scene included the Dereliks’ ‘A Turn on the Wheel Is Worth More Than a Record Deal,’ Hobo Junction’s ‘Limited Edition’ and Bored Stiff’s ‘Explainin’.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the time, the sound of the Bay Area underground was typified by warm and muddy tones generated by basic four-track recording equipment, with deliberately abstract lyrics. Its homespun quality stood in defiantly uncommercial contrast to the slick “gangsta” style that defined mainstream rap after the arrival of Dr. Dre’s 1992 opus \u003ci>The Chronic\u003c/i>. Its ethos posited hip-hop as not just a popular musical genre, but a vocation that required personal commitment and sacrifice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody in Living Legends had a job. Nobody had kids at the time. Nobody had anything but to do \u003ci>this \u003c/i>every day,” says Sunspot, who rapped and produced beats in Mystik Journeymen alongside L.A. transplant Tommy “Luckyiam” Woolfolk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystik Journeymen eventually built a modest yet far-flung cult following, traveling overseas and laying the groundwork for an international DIY touring circuit that others would duplicate. In 1996, the duo co-founded the group Living Legends, alongside Berkeley rapper The Grouch, L.A. rappers Murs and Eligh; San Jose State student Scarab; Fresno rapper Asop and DJ/producer Bicasso, a graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt. (Arata was briefly a member before returning home to Japan.) On Dec. 5 at the UC Theater in Berkeley, they headline \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/how-the-grouch-stole-christmas-tour-living-legends-05-dec\">How the Grouch Stole Christmas\u003c/a>, an annual concert tour organized by The Grouch since 2007; Oakland icons Souls of Mischief and Kentucky trio Cunninlynguists support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984360\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2390px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2390\" height=\"1875\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS.jpg 2390w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-2000x1569.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-768x603.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-1536x1205.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-2048x1607.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2390px) 100vw, 2390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Various members of Living Legends gather outside a show in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for Sunspot, reminiscing about his formative years on Telegraph Avenue elicits complicated feelings. His drive and passion back then put “a battery pack in our asses,” as Fundamentals rapper/producer Jonathan “King Koncepts” Sklute appreciatively notes. Yet it also was an extreme result of surviving as a starving artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I miss being on the street?” asks Sunspot, whose many 2025 projects include releasing a solo album (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/tOmlruvkQak?si=o4fR_64__VH1E-xY\">Bad to the Bonez\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), organizing his annual “Hip Hop Fairyland” back-to-school bazaar at Children’s Fairyland through his Hip-Hop Scholastics nonprofit, and publishing a children’s book he wrote and illustrated (\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1YL39RL\">\u003ci>Werewolves Want the Moon for Christmas\u003c/i>\u003c/a>). “I would literally wake up, scrape together money I had to get on the bus or BART from East Oakland to Berkeley, and unless I sold a tape, I wasn’t getting two things: I wasn’t getting lunch, and I wasn’t getting a ride home, because I needed to make enough for the bus fare home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am done with those days.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984165\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984165\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bret Alexander Sweet poses for a portrait on Telegraph Avenue, where he used to sell his own cassette tapes in the 1990s as part of the Bay Area’s independent hip-hop scene. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>From high school to the Avenue\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The roots of Telegraph Avenue as a brief yet memorable hub for local hip-hop entrepreneurs lie in the University of California, Berkeley. Located at the northernmost end of Telegraph, it’s an unofficial gateway for students to the rest of the Bay Area. At the dawn of the 1990s, as the culture blossomed both locally and nationally, small groups of youth in ciphers joined the annoyingly loud drum circles and couples furiously making out on park benches that typified the daily Sproul Plaza backdrop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, “[Telegraph was] the magnetism point of the entire Bay Area, of something for young people to go and do,” says Bret “Karma” Sweet of Fundamentals. “If you went to Telegraph next week and you would see all the streets are blocked off because there’s [a street festival] where they can sell things for Black Friday, that’s how Telegraph used to be \u003ci>every day\u003c/i>, especially weekends from 1993 to 2001.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13979349']Amid a confluence of developments around the Bay, from Oakland’s Digital Underground on KMEL-FM and \u003ci>Billboard \u003c/i>charts to \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> in Lake Merritt, there was the emergence of\u003ca href=\"https://bsc.coop/housing/our-houses-apartments/african-american-theme-house\"> The Afro House\u003c/a>, a South Berkeley student co-op established in 1977, as a spot for house parties. And there was the Justice League, a crew of 20-30 DJs and MCs that included Beni B (who formed the prominent independent label ABB Records in 1997) as well as UC Berkeley students Hodari “Dr. Bomb” Davis, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">Davey D\u003c/a>, and Defari and Superstar Quamallah (the latter two became ABB artists).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year after Davis graduated in 1991, he began teaching at Berkeley High, and drew national attention for leading its African American studies department. He was \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/RZJxp4iFSK0?si=9PNjzJsSPOQZYVoF&t=1144\">prominently featured in the controversial 1994 PBS \u003ci>Frontline \u003c/i>documentary \u003ci>School Colors\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which led media outlets such as the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/18/arts/television-review-school-s-integration-falling-short-of-ideal.html\">blithely criticize his activism on integration and race relations\u003c/a>. But Davis also launched Live Lyricist Society, an academic club where students could practice hip-hop elements such as DJing, B-boy dancing, and MC’ing. (Its name was inspired by the Robin Williams movie \u003ci>Dead Poets Society\u003c/i>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984375\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1455px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22%E2%80%AFPM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1455\" height=\"1120\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984375\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM.jpg 1455w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM-768x591.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1455px) 100vw, 1455px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hodari Davis in the 1994 PBS documentary ‘School Colors.’ \u003ccite>(PBS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1992, “I’m walking across campus on Berkeley High School, and I noticed that these kids are freestyling on the courtyard. … They’re doing it in the middle of the day, which was a problem for other teachers, because it meant that whole groups of people would be late to class,” says Davis. Eventually, he offered his classroom as a space for the students to practice their craft. “We never kicked anybody out because they were weak. The point was to get people’s skills up,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As students in the Live Lyricist Society club, Fundamentals’ King Koncepts and Karma fondly recall campus visits by rap stars that Davis invited, like Outkast and the Wu-Tang Clan (with help from Justice League crew like Davey D, by then a well-known journalist and radio host). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Wu-Tang came, it was damn near a riot. [The organizers] had to do it outside because there wasn’t any indoor space that could accommodate that amount of people. They had to do a signing and a talk in the courtyard,” remembers Koncepts. “But the only people who knew Outkast at that time were people who were clued in. … We were ciphering with them in the hallway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Broke-ass parties at the East Oakland warehouse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile in East Oakland, Sunspot formed Mystik Journeymen, after spending two years at college in Hawaii. He cycled through various collaborators before meeting Luckyiam on a trip to L.A. “Tom always has my back, no matter how psycho and stupid and childish my ideas would be,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984364\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1806px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1806\" height=\"1204\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984364\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001.jpg 1806w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1806px) 100vw, 1806px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystik Journeymen in the studio. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mystik Journeymen opened for the likes of Broun Fellinis and Conscious Daughters, earned a “Demo Tape of the Week” nod in the \u003ci>San Francisco Bay Guardian\u003c/i>, and were mentored by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914311/rono-tse-disposable-heroes-hiphoprisy-michael-franti\">Rono Tse of Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy\u003c/a>. As the Journeymen’s local reputation ascended, Tse helped the duo get a publishing deal at Polygram, which allowed them to buy equipment and studio time at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. The deal should’ve led to a London Records contract. Instead, Sunspot says, “Polygram was, like, ‘We don’t know what to do with you,’” and released the group from its contract. “We weren’t ready. The way we were going to make it wasn’t gonna be by making songs all perfect for the radio. The way we were going to make it is by making songs from our heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tse also found the duo a unit at 4001 San Leandro Street, a warehouse in East Oakland. Sunspot and Luckyiam began throwing “Unsigned and Hella Broke” parties to pay the bills. Famously, they charged $3 and a package of Top Ramen noodles for entry. “They had no money. That’s how they were feeding themselves,” says Koncepts, who remembers “literally being at 4001 eating Top Ramen. Like, somebody would cook it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the 4001 San Leandro Street parties grew and, later, moved to Jackson Street Studios, the Journeymen attracted acolytes. One of them was Corey “The Grouch” Scoffern, an Oakland youth hungering to network with fellow hip-hop enthusiasts. He met the group during one of its performances at Yo Mama’s Kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hip-hop was like a subculture at the time that was growing and becoming what it is today. But it wasn’t there yet,” says The Grouch. “I didn’t hear of any unsigned artists following their dreams and putting their music in the world out on their own. And that’s what I discovered when I was introduced to Mystik Journeymen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1140px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1140\" height=\"1464\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984367\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM.jpg 1140w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM-160x205.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM-768x986.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collage of underground hip-hop artist names from an issue of ‘Unsigned and Hella Broke.’ \u003ccite>(King Koncepts)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>1995 proved to be a breakthrough year for local underground rap. Mystik Journeymen dropped their first official project the previous year, \u003ci>4001: The Stolen Legacy\u003c/i>, then followed with \u003ci>Walkmen Invaders\u003c/i>, both on their Outhouse imprint. Walt Liquor’s group Mixed Practice dropped \u003ci>Homegrown: The EP\u003c/i>. Hobo Junction dropped \u003ci>Limited Edition\u003c/i>, which generated an unexpected national hit in Whoridas’ “Shot Callin’ and Big Ballin’” after L.A. label Southpaw Records picked it up for distribution. (According to Bas-1 of Cytoplasmz, it was Hobo Junction rapper Eyecue who coined the phrase “dirt hustling.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Grouch completed his debut, \u003ci>Don’t Talk to Me\u003c/i>, after Sunspot jokingly threatened to “beat him up” if he didn’t finish it. The Journeymen captured the energy of it all in \u003ci>Unsigned and Hella Broke\u003c/i>, a photocopied zine they assembled on an occasional basis between 1993 and 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13937489']At its inception, this byzantine movement drew middling industry support. For rap fans that associated “Yay Area” rap with street-oriented mobb music like the Luniz’ “I Got 5 on It” and E-40’s “Sprinkle Me,” these indie acts must’ve seemed like the kind of local yokels that follow in the wake of bigger artists’ success, and whose art seemed insubstantial by comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I met MC Hammer at this [SF mastering studio] called the Rocket Lab,” remembers Sunspot, “and he was, like, ‘Who you guys signed to?’ And I was, like, ‘No one. We’re just doing it ourselves.’ And he was, like, ‘Okay, y’all ain’t doing nothin’.’ And I was, like, \u003ci>whoa\u003c/i>. These motherfuckers really discount us because we’re not trying to be hoe-ed or slaved out to some label.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1463px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1463\" height=\"335\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns.jpg 1463w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns-160x37.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns-768x176.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1463px) 100vw, 1463px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fundamentals members King Koncepts and Karma (L–R, center) and other members of the Kemetic Suns crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Bret Sweet)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Resourceful creativity meets police harassment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for those who took the time to listen, the Journeymen’s tapes as well as similar releases by San Francisco’s Bored Stiff (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUHUp69VXg&list=PLO5qzC_OCrlhnKRpQLJdcVjvKoiBRPwH7\">Explainin’\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), the South Bay’s Dereliks (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7GaAj4M90Vs?si=8l0PbB_0ZWaSWMB8\">A Turn on the Wheel Is Worth More Than a Record Deal\u003c/a>\u003c/i>) and others were soulful, imaginative, and engrossing. On tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/yDM7BBFleVk?si=ksxgjNvrUWYD3xqA\">Call Ov Da Wild\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/G52NArlILxs?si=QrZMXvjtxcpugjT8\">Runnin’ Through the Swamps\u003c/a>,” the Journeymen explored their inner mind’s eye with bracing honesty, and earnestly questioned the meaning of life with ruddy melodies and slangy verses. Their music captivated thousands of local youth that couldn’t relate to the G-funk beats and thugged-out dramatics dominating mainstream rap and were inquisitive enough to seek out alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fundamentals’ Koncepts — who also enjoyed the likes of E-40 and DJ Quik — had just graduated from Berkeley High when he and Karma made \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVuBYizoeUc\">Thirty Daze and a Plane Ticket\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, a title inspired by Koncepts’ impending move to New York to attend NYU. “I used to find it real cringey, because I’m baring my soul from the perspective of a 17 year-old kid,” says Koncepts, who now works in the music industry and runs a label, Key System Recordings. (Full disclosure: I contributed liner notes to a Key System project.) “But I think it’s really sweet. My whole life was about to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With little in the way of media attention, save for brief items in magazines like \u003ci>Rap Pages, 4080, \u003c/i>and \u003ci>URB \u003c/i>or alt-weeklies like the \u003ci>Bay Guardian\u003c/i> that didn’t capture the scene’s growing depth, Telegraph Avenue seemed like a great place to boost much-needed awareness. It was a near-daily open bazaar, with crowds of students, tourists, and even the occasional naked person navigating streets filled with shops and street vendors. The best spot was on the corner of Durant and Telegraph, right next to Leopold’s Records before it closed in 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984163\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984163\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bret Alexander Sweet’s tapes, CD, and record, rest on a divider on Telegraph Avenue, where he sold his own tapes in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is the economics of it,” says Walt Liquor, who sold copies of his group Mixed Practice’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/YrzxuuVqzwU?si=WL5JhFfefhagUKyM\">Homegrown\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. Today, he’s a soundtrack producer and artist manager with several IMDB credits, most recently the Lifetime Channel movie \u003ci>Terry McMillan Presents: Preach, Pray, Love\u003c/i>. “I would go to Costco and get a whole brick of 90-minute TDK tapes for 100 bucks. Let’s say I get 100 tapes. I’d just sit there and dub them shits. I’d record them in my bedroom, having fun with my homies … and selling them for $10 a pop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Black youth solicited passersby, formed impromptu ciphers, took food breaks at Blondie’s and hung out all day outside on the street, police scrutiny inevitably followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13914311']Before he passed away this year on August 18, Living Legends’ Asop recalled how the police harassed him for selling copies of his tapes \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/HydxuPEguR4?si=ajVNkDNIKEYq-NyP\">Who Are U\u003c/a>\u003c/i> and \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/TGsnYFjn9h8?si=2wu1k3pc-a4RU8yO\">Demonstration\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. “I remember the police started running us off Telegraph Avenue,” he told me in a 2001 \u003ci>URB\u003c/i> magazine story. “I had a box of tapes once and some money in my pocket, and it was just like I had dope. They handcuffed me, took my stuff and my money and let me go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karma of Fundamentals was also arrested, thrown in jail, and forced to go to court and pay a fine. “The reason why they would do that is because the other vendors who were selling tie-dyed shirts or necklaces or whatever would go, like, ‘Hey, these guys don’t have a permit,’” he says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the hassles, Karma says he eventually sold thousands of tapes on Telegraph as well as on the internet, a grind that earned him a measure of respect. “Imagine being these kids who keep dreaming that one day they’ll know our name,” he says. “Even the guys who used to pick on you in high school are rolling down [the street and seeing you] and bumping your music. And they’re playing it for \u003ci>you\u003c/i>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984168\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984168\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunspot Jonz shows off his hat representing Oakland on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley on November 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We couldn’t be eating ramen forever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The formation of Living Legends in 1996 symbolized the scene’s emerging professionalism, moving from word-of-mouth house parties to more official event venues like La Peña Cultural Center. The Grouch, for one, welcomed the growth. “I feel like it’s natural. I feel like we couldn’t be eating ramen forever,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the music changed as well, shifting from the murky production and raw lyrics of the mid-’90s tapes to the clean keyboard bounce and DJ Premier-like chops that typified indie-rap toward the end of the decade, as evoked by standout Legends projects like The Grouch’s 1997 album \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0IBntZWJdvU?si=4UVygiMN-HIhURHw\">Success Is Destiny\u003c/a>\u003c/i> and Mystik Journeymen’s 1998 album \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/t2-Y236gllo?si=VoPh_3ApPeN3jcY5\">Worldwide Underground\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. Local companies like TRC Distribution catered to the rising tide, allowing local acts to press 12-inch vinyl and CDs with finished artwork — a marked upgrade from Maxell blank cassettes and hand-drawn covers. With more industry structure, the number of artists calling themselves “underground” and “indie” multiplied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I learned that saturation isn’t always great,” says Sunspot. “If we’re going to be underground, we need to be underground \u003ci>superstars\u003c/i>. We need to be next-level underground.” That led the Legends to pursue larger venues like San Francisco’s Maritime Hall and, later in the 2000s, the national Rock the Bells festival. Still, his older fans often yearned for the “Top Ramen” glory days. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had an ex-girlfriend tell me, ‘Please never do a show in an arena.’ When it’s sacred, people only want you for \u003ci>them\u003c/i>. They don’t care what that means for your career, or your longevity. They want you to be in the same box you always stayed. But the thing is, we are all artists, and we’re gonna evolve,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1802px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1224\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001.jpg 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-1536x1043.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Out of the warehouse and onto the stage: Mystik Journeymen live. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, original copies of Mystik Journeymen’s sundry demo tapes, Fundamentals’ \u003ci>Thirty Daze and a Plane Ticket\u003c/i> and Hobo Junction’s \u003ci>Limited Edition\u003c/i> trade for up to hundreds of dollars. For collectors and rap scholars, the Bay’s underground era yielded a rich source of creativity. However, its cult status means that many people don’t know or appreciate how much those artists contributed to local music history. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I look back on it from 30 years, every single hip-hop household name has been built by a major label, and if there’s one or two exceptions like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13967904/watch-larussell-pay-tribute-to-the-bay-during-his-tiny-desk-concert\">LaRussell\u003c/a>, that speaks to my point,” says The Grouch, who rues that the streaming economy tends to reward major label stars. “We were not able to touch on a household name level, and so that affects business, and the power you have in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps it’s ironic that the heroes of the Bay Area underground, who once valued their distance from the music industry, now struggle to be taken seriously as artists because of it. But it’s also an opportunity: the ’90s Bay Area hip-hop underground is now ripe for discovery by anyone looking for an alternative to the rap mainstream. As the Grouch puts it, “I still say we’re the most underground, independent crew to ever do it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Sunspot, who now operates as a multi-disciplinary artist and cultural strategist, he continues to carry the ethos he honed on Telegraph Avenue, applying the same formula to his current projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll never lose that spirit,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, an ongoing KQED series about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll never lose that spirit, but I don’t miss being on the street from morning to night,” says Corey “Sunspot Jonz” Johnson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson is talking about his years of “dirt hustling,” when he sold stapled and Xeroxed copies of his zine \u003ci>Unsigned and Hella Broke \u003c/i>and cassette tapes by his rap group Mystik Journeymen on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Anyone who either attended UC Berkeley in the 1990s or frequented heavily trafficked storefronts like Blondie’s Pizza and Leopold’s Music undoubtedly has memories of being approached by a friendly teenager who moonlit as a rapper and tried to sell you a homemade tape. It was very nearly a rite of passage during an era now romanticized for birthing the Bay Area’s underground hip-hop scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunspot Jonz may have given the Unsigned and Hella Broke era its name, but he wasn’t the only one on Telegraph Avenue. Others who gathered there to sell their wares included the Berkeley duo Fundamentals, Kirby Dominant, Fremont rapper/producer “Walt Liquor” Taylor and his group Mixed Practice, the Cytoplasmz crew, Queen Nefra, and Hobo Junction, the crew led by the dextrous rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968340/saafir-dead-oakland-rapper-dies-at-54\">Saafir\u003c/a>. They duplicated their songs onto blank cassette tapes, added modestly illustrated J-cards and sold them wherever they could, from sidewalks along Telegraph and outside of local concert venues to newly launched message boards on the nascent internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984377\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1079px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1079\" height=\"550\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515.jpg 1079w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515-160x82.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/R-3874152-1371056865-1515-768x391.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1079px) 100vw, 1079px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cassettes sold hand-to-hand in the Bay Area’s independent hip-hop scene included the Dereliks’ ‘A Turn on the Wheel Is Worth More Than a Record Deal,’ Hobo Junction’s ‘Limited Edition’ and Bored Stiff’s ‘Explainin’.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the time, the sound of the Bay Area underground was typified by warm and muddy tones generated by basic four-track recording equipment, with deliberately abstract lyrics. Its homespun quality stood in defiantly uncommercial contrast to the slick “gangsta” style that defined mainstream rap after the arrival of Dr. Dre’s 1992 opus \u003ci>The Chronic\u003c/i>. Its ethos posited hip-hop as not just a popular musical genre, but a vocation that required personal commitment and sacrifice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody in Living Legends had a job. Nobody had kids at the time. Nobody had anything but to do \u003ci>this \u003c/i>every day,” says Sunspot, who rapped and produced beats in Mystik Journeymen alongside L.A. transplant Tommy “Luckyiam” Woolfolk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystik Journeymen eventually built a modest yet far-flung cult following, traveling overseas and laying the groundwork for an international DIY touring circuit that others would duplicate. In 1996, the duo co-founded the group Living Legends, alongside Berkeley rapper The Grouch, L.A. rappers Murs and Eligh; San Jose State student Scarab; Fresno rapper Asop and DJ/producer Bicasso, a graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt. (Arata was briefly a member before returning home to Japan.) On Dec. 5 at the UC Theater in Berkeley, they headline \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/how-the-grouch-stole-christmas-tour-living-legends-05-dec\">How the Grouch Stole Christmas\u003c/a>, an annual concert tour organized by The Grouch since 2007; Oakland icons Souls of Mischief and Kentucky trio Cunninlynguists support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984360\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2390px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2390\" height=\"1875\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS.jpg 2390w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-2000x1569.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-768x603.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-1536x1205.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/LL-VARIOUS-2048x1607.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2390px) 100vw, 2390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Various members of Living Legends gather outside a show in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for Sunspot, reminiscing about his formative years on Telegraph Avenue elicits complicated feelings. His drive and passion back then put “a battery pack in our asses,” as Fundamentals rapper/producer Jonathan “King Koncepts” Sklute appreciatively notes. Yet it also was an extreme result of surviving as a starving artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I miss being on the street?” asks Sunspot, whose many 2025 projects include releasing a solo album (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/tOmlruvkQak?si=o4fR_64__VH1E-xY\">Bad to the Bonez\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), organizing his annual “Hip Hop Fairyland” back-to-school bazaar at Children’s Fairyland through his Hip-Hop Scholastics nonprofit, and publishing a children’s book he wrote and illustrated (\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1YL39RL\">\u003ci>Werewolves Want the Moon for Christmas\u003c/i>\u003c/a>). “I would literally wake up, scrape together money I had to get on the bus or BART from East Oakland to Berkeley, and unless I sold a tape, I wasn’t getting two things: I wasn’t getting lunch, and I wasn’t getting a ride home, because I needed to make enough for the bus fare home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am done with those days.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984165\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984165\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00132_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bret Alexander Sweet poses for a portrait on Telegraph Avenue, where he used to sell his own cassette tapes in the 1990s as part of the Bay Area’s independent hip-hop scene. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>From high school to the Avenue\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The roots of Telegraph Avenue as a brief yet memorable hub for local hip-hop entrepreneurs lie in the University of California, Berkeley. Located at the northernmost end of Telegraph, it’s an unofficial gateway for students to the rest of the Bay Area. At the dawn of the 1990s, as the culture blossomed both locally and nationally, small groups of youth in ciphers joined the annoyingly loud drum circles and couples furiously making out on park benches that typified the daily Sproul Plaza backdrop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, “[Telegraph was] the magnetism point of the entire Bay Area, of something for young people to go and do,” says Bret “Karma” Sweet of Fundamentals. “If you went to Telegraph next week and you would see all the streets are blocked off because there’s [a street festival] where they can sell things for Black Friday, that’s how Telegraph used to be \u003ci>every day\u003c/i>, especially weekends from 1993 to 2001.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Amid a confluence of developments around the Bay, from Oakland’s Digital Underground on KMEL-FM and \u003ci>Billboard \u003c/i>charts to \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> in Lake Merritt, there was the emergence of\u003ca href=\"https://bsc.coop/housing/our-houses-apartments/african-american-theme-house\"> The Afro House\u003c/a>, a South Berkeley student co-op established in 1977, as a spot for house parties. And there was the Justice League, a crew of 20-30 DJs and MCs that included Beni B (who formed the prominent independent label ABB Records in 1997) as well as UC Berkeley students Hodari “Dr. Bomb” Davis, \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#college-radio-makes-its-mark\">Davey D\u003c/a>, and Defari and Superstar Quamallah (the latter two became ABB artists).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year after Davis graduated in 1991, he began teaching at Berkeley High, and drew national attention for leading its African American studies department. He was \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/RZJxp4iFSK0?si=9PNjzJsSPOQZYVoF&t=1144\">prominently featured in the controversial 1994 PBS \u003ci>Frontline \u003c/i>documentary \u003ci>School Colors\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which led media outlets such as the \u003ci>New York Times \u003c/i>to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/18/arts/television-review-school-s-integration-falling-short-of-ideal.html\">blithely criticize his activism on integration and race relations\u003c/a>. But Davis also launched Live Lyricist Society, an academic club where students could practice hip-hop elements such as DJing, B-boy dancing, and MC’ing. (Its name was inspired by the Robin Williams movie \u003ci>Dead Poets Society\u003c/i>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984375\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1455px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22%E2%80%AFPM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1455\" height=\"1120\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984375\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM.jpg 1455w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-at-9.45.22 PM-768x591.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1455px) 100vw, 1455px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hodari Davis in the 1994 PBS documentary ‘School Colors.’ \u003ccite>(PBS)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1992, “I’m walking across campus on Berkeley High School, and I noticed that these kids are freestyling on the courtyard. … They’re doing it in the middle of the day, which was a problem for other teachers, because it meant that whole groups of people would be late to class,” says Davis. Eventually, he offered his classroom as a space for the students to practice their craft. “We never kicked anybody out because they were weak. The point was to get people’s skills up,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As students in the Live Lyricist Society club, Fundamentals’ King Koncepts and Karma fondly recall campus visits by rap stars that Davis invited, like Outkast and the Wu-Tang Clan (with help from Justice League crew like Davey D, by then a well-known journalist and radio host). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Wu-Tang came, it was damn near a riot. [The organizers] had to do it outside because there wasn’t any indoor space that could accommodate that amount of people. They had to do a signing and a talk in the courtyard,” remembers Koncepts. “But the only people who knew Outkast at that time were people who were clued in. … We were ciphering with them in the hallway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Broke-ass parties at the East Oakland warehouse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile in East Oakland, Sunspot formed Mystik Journeymen, after spending two years at college in Hawaii. He cycled through various collaborators before meeting Luckyiam on a trip to L.A. “Tom always has my back, no matter how psycho and stupid and childish my ideas would be,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984364\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1806px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1806\" height=\"1204\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984364\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001.jpg 1806w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-ELIGH-MURS-AUSTRALIA-FLIER_0001-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1806px) 100vw, 1806px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystik Journeymen in the studio. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mystik Journeymen opened for the likes of Broun Fellinis and Conscious Daughters, earned a “Demo Tape of the Week” nod in the \u003ci>San Francisco Bay Guardian\u003c/i>, and were mentored by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914311/rono-tse-disposable-heroes-hiphoprisy-michael-franti\">Rono Tse of Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy\u003c/a>. As the Journeymen’s local reputation ascended, Tse helped the duo get a publishing deal at Polygram, which allowed them to buy equipment and studio time at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. The deal should’ve led to a London Records contract. Instead, Sunspot says, “Polygram was, like, ‘We don’t know what to do with you,’” and released the group from its contract. “We weren’t ready. The way we were going to make it wasn’t gonna be by making songs all perfect for the radio. The way we were going to make it is by making songs from our heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tse also found the duo a unit at 4001 San Leandro Street, a warehouse in East Oakland. Sunspot and Luckyiam began throwing “Unsigned and Hella Broke” parties to pay the bills. Famously, they charged $3 and a package of Top Ramen noodles for entry. “They had no money. That’s how they were feeding themselves,” says Koncepts, who remembers “literally being at 4001 eating Top Ramen. Like, somebody would cook it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the 4001 San Leandro Street parties grew and, later, moved to Jackson Street Studios, the Journeymen attracted acolytes. One of them was Corey “The Grouch” Scoffern, an Oakland youth hungering to network with fellow hip-hop enthusiasts. He met the group during one of its performances at Yo Mama’s Kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hip-hop was like a subculture at the time that was growing and becoming what it is today. But it wasn’t there yet,” says The Grouch. “I didn’t hear of any unsigned artists following their dreams and putting their music in the world out on their own. And that’s what I discovered when I was introduced to Mystik Journeymen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1140px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1140\" height=\"1464\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984367\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM.jpg 1140w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM-160x205.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-2.48.06-PM-768x986.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1140px) 100vw, 1140px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collage of underground hip-hop artist names from an issue of ‘Unsigned and Hella Broke.’ \u003ccite>(King Koncepts)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>1995 proved to be a breakthrough year for local underground rap. Mystik Journeymen dropped their first official project the previous year, \u003ci>4001: The Stolen Legacy\u003c/i>, then followed with \u003ci>Walkmen Invaders\u003c/i>, both on their Outhouse imprint. Walt Liquor’s group Mixed Practice dropped \u003ci>Homegrown: The EP\u003c/i>. Hobo Junction dropped \u003ci>Limited Edition\u003c/i>, which generated an unexpected national hit in Whoridas’ “Shot Callin’ and Big Ballin’” after L.A. label Southpaw Records picked it up for distribution. (According to Bas-1 of Cytoplasmz, it was Hobo Junction rapper Eyecue who coined the phrase “dirt hustling.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Grouch completed his debut, \u003ci>Don’t Talk to Me\u003c/i>, after Sunspot jokingly threatened to “beat him up” if he didn’t finish it. The Journeymen captured the energy of it all in \u003ci>Unsigned and Hella Broke\u003c/i>, a photocopied zine they assembled on an occasional basis between 1993 and 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At its inception, this byzantine movement drew middling industry support. For rap fans that associated “Yay Area” rap with street-oriented mobb music like the Luniz’ “I Got 5 on It” and E-40’s “Sprinkle Me,” these indie acts must’ve seemed like the kind of local yokels that follow in the wake of bigger artists’ success, and whose art seemed insubstantial by comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I met MC Hammer at this [SF mastering studio] called the Rocket Lab,” remembers Sunspot, “and he was, like, ‘Who you guys signed to?’ And I was, like, ‘No one. We’re just doing it ourselves.’ And he was, like, ‘Okay, y’all ain’t doing nothin’.’ And I was, like, \u003ci>whoa\u003c/i>. These motherfuckers really discount us because we’re not trying to be hoe-ed or slaved out to some label.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984368\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1463px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1463\" height=\"335\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns.jpg 1463w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns-160x37.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/KemeticSuns-768x176.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1463px) 100vw, 1463px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fundamentals members King Koncepts and Karma (L–R, center) and other members of the Kemetic Suns crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Bret Sweet)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Resourceful creativity meets police harassment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for those who took the time to listen, the Journeymen’s tapes as well as similar releases by San Francisco’s Bored Stiff (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUHUp69VXg&list=PLO5qzC_OCrlhnKRpQLJdcVjvKoiBRPwH7\">Explainin’\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), the South Bay’s Dereliks (\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7GaAj4M90Vs?si=8l0PbB_0ZWaSWMB8\">A Turn on the Wheel Is Worth More Than a Record Deal\u003c/a>\u003c/i>) and others were soulful, imaginative, and engrossing. On tracks like “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/yDM7BBFleVk?si=ksxgjNvrUWYD3xqA\">Call Ov Da Wild\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/G52NArlILxs?si=QrZMXvjtxcpugjT8\">Runnin’ Through the Swamps\u003c/a>,” the Journeymen explored their inner mind’s eye with bracing honesty, and earnestly questioned the meaning of life with ruddy melodies and slangy verses. Their music captivated thousands of local youth that couldn’t relate to the G-funk beats and thugged-out dramatics dominating mainstream rap and were inquisitive enough to seek out alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fundamentals’ Koncepts — who also enjoyed the likes of E-40 and DJ Quik — had just graduated from Berkeley High when he and Karma made \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVuBYizoeUc\">Thirty Daze and a Plane Ticket\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, a title inspired by Koncepts’ impending move to New York to attend NYU. “I used to find it real cringey, because I’m baring my soul from the perspective of a 17 year-old kid,” says Koncepts, who now works in the music industry and runs a label, Key System Recordings. (Full disclosure: I contributed liner notes to a Key System project.) “But I think it’s really sweet. My whole life was about to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With little in the way of media attention, save for brief items in magazines like \u003ci>Rap Pages, 4080, \u003c/i>and \u003ci>URB \u003c/i>or alt-weeklies like the \u003ci>Bay Guardian\u003c/i> that didn’t capture the scene’s growing depth, Telegraph Avenue seemed like a great place to boost much-needed awareness. It was a near-daily open bazaar, with crowds of students, tourists, and even the occasional naked person navigating streets filled with shops and street vendors. The best spot was on the corner of Durant and Telegraph, right next to Leopold’s Records before it closed in 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984163\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984163\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251124-bretalexanderswet00044_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bret Alexander Sweet’s tapes, CD, and record, rest on a divider on Telegraph Avenue, where he sold his own tapes in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This is the economics of it,” says Walt Liquor, who sold copies of his group Mixed Practice’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/YrzxuuVqzwU?si=WL5JhFfefhagUKyM\">Homegrown\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. Today, he’s a soundtrack producer and artist manager with several IMDB credits, most recently the Lifetime Channel movie \u003ci>Terry McMillan Presents: Preach, Pray, Love\u003c/i>. “I would go to Costco and get a whole brick of 90-minute TDK tapes for 100 bucks. Let’s say I get 100 tapes. I’d just sit there and dub them shits. I’d record them in my bedroom, having fun with my homies … and selling them for $10 a pop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Black youth solicited passersby, formed impromptu ciphers, took food breaks at Blondie’s and hung out all day outside on the street, police scrutiny inevitably followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Before he passed away this year on August 18, Living Legends’ Asop recalled how the police harassed him for selling copies of his tapes \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/HydxuPEguR4?si=ajVNkDNIKEYq-NyP\">Who Are U\u003c/a>\u003c/i> and \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/TGsnYFjn9h8?si=2wu1k3pc-a4RU8yO\">Demonstration\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. “I remember the police started running us off Telegraph Avenue,” he told me in a 2001 \u003ci>URB\u003c/i> magazine story. “I had a box of tapes once and some money in my pocket, and it was just like I had dope. They handcuffed me, took my stuff and my money and let me go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karma of Fundamentals was also arrested, thrown in jail, and forced to go to court and pay a fine. “The reason why they would do that is because the other vendors who were selling tie-dyed shirts or necklaces or whatever would go, like, ‘Hey, these guys don’t have a permit,’” he says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the hassles, Karma says he eventually sold thousands of tapes on Telegraph as well as on the internet, a grind that earned him a measure of respect. “Imagine being these kids who keep dreaming that one day they’ll know our name,” he says. “Even the guys who used to pick on you in high school are rolling down [the street and seeing you] and bumping your music. And they’re playing it for \u003ci>you\u003c/i>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984168\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984168\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/251125-sunspotjonz00286_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunspot Jonz shows off his hat representing Oakland on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley on November 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We couldn’t be eating ramen forever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The formation of Living Legends in 1996 symbolized the scene’s emerging professionalism, moving from word-of-mouth house parties to more official event venues like La Peña Cultural Center. The Grouch, for one, welcomed the growth. “I feel like it’s natural. I feel like we couldn’t be eating ramen forever,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the music changed as well, shifting from the murky production and raw lyrics of the mid-’90s tapes to the clean keyboard bounce and DJ Premier-like chops that typified indie-rap toward the end of the decade, as evoked by standout Legends projects like The Grouch’s 1997 album \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0IBntZWJdvU?si=4UVygiMN-HIhURHw\">Success Is Destiny\u003c/a>\u003c/i> and Mystik Journeymen’s 1998 album \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/t2-Y236gllo?si=VoPh_3ApPeN3jcY5\">Worldwide Underground\u003c/a>\u003c/i>. Local companies like TRC Distribution catered to the rising tide, allowing local acts to press 12-inch vinyl and CDs with finished artwork — a marked upgrade from Maxell blank cassettes and hand-drawn covers. With more industry structure, the number of artists calling themselves “underground” and “indie” multiplied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I learned that saturation isn’t always great,” says Sunspot. “If we’re going to be underground, we need to be underground \u003ci>superstars\u003c/i>. We need to be next-level underground.” That led the Legends to pursue larger venues like San Francisco’s Maritime Hall and, later in the 2000s, the national Rock the Bells festival. Still, his older fans often yearned for the “Top Ramen” glory days. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had an ex-girlfriend tell me, ‘Please never do a show in an arena.’ When it’s sacred, people only want you for \u003ci>them\u003c/i>. They don’t care what that means for your career, or your longevity. They want you to be in the same box you always stayed. But the thing is, we are all artists, and we’re gonna evolve,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1802px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1224\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984363\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001.jpg 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/MJ-VARIOUS_0001-1536x1043.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Out of the warehouse and onto the stage: Mystik Journeymen live. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sunspot Jonz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, original copies of Mystik Journeymen’s sundry demo tapes, Fundamentals’ \u003ci>Thirty Daze and a Plane Ticket\u003c/i> and Hobo Junction’s \u003ci>Limited Edition\u003c/i> trade for up to hundreds of dollars. For collectors and rap scholars, the Bay’s underground era yielded a rich source of creativity. However, its cult status means that many people don’t know or appreciate how much those artists contributed to local music history. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I look back on it from 30 years, every single hip-hop household name has been built by a major label, and if there’s one or two exceptions like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13967904/watch-larussell-pay-tribute-to-the-bay-during-his-tiny-desk-concert\">LaRussell\u003c/a>, that speaks to my point,” says The Grouch, who rues that the streaming economy tends to reward major label stars. “We were not able to touch on a household name level, and so that affects business, and the power you have in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps it’s ironic that the heroes of the Bay Area underground, who once valued their distance from the music industry, now struggle to be taken seriously as artists because of it. But it’s also an opportunity: the ’90s Bay Area hip-hop underground is now ripe for discovery by anyone looking for an alternative to the rap mainstream. As the Grouch puts it, “I still say we’re the most underground, independent crew to ever do it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Sunspot, who now operates as a multi-disciplinary artist and cultural strategist, he continues to carry the ethos he honed on Telegraph Avenue, applying the same formula to his current projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll never lose that spirit,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "bay-area-healthy-rap-stunnaman02-larry-june-eat-a-salad",
"title": "Meet the Bay Area Rappers Who Want You to Eat a Salad",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]A[/dropcap]sk any San Francisco teenager from my generation what they did after school in the ’90s and it would most likely go something like this: bumming a cig off campus, splitting a super suiza from El Farolito with friends, and turning on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933590/california-music-channel-hip-hop-friday-andy-kawanami-chuy-gomez\">California Music Channel\u003c/a> to watch videos from local rap stars who never got love from MTV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I felt proud of hometown heroes like RBL Posse, Messy Marv and San Quinn, who sold cassette tapes out of the trunk of their cars, making a name for themselves — and Frisco — without the backing of major record labels. Back then, much of Bay Area rap reflected the violence of the drug trade and the values of exploitative capitalism. If the music was inspirational, it was about how to be a gangster or a successful drug lord. And if someone rapped about food, it was largely as a way to woo women. “You wanna eat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13958926/nations-burgers-pies-late-night-diner-san-pablo\">Nation’s\u003c/a>? Crab at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">Crustacean’s\u003c/a>?” Quinn raps on “Wassup.” “Tiger prawns, butterflied shrimp, it must be nice living like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, however, there’s a new wave of Bay Area rappers pushing a different kind of aspirational lifestyle — one that’s focused on açaí bowls, organic vegetables and physical fitness rather than a life of crime. Frisco rapper Larry June was the first to double down on this new brand of wellness hip-hop, with song lyrics that reference his own self-imposed health regimen: daily fasting until 1 p.m. followed by fresh-squeezed orange juice (made from \u003ca href=\"https://www.grammy.com/news/rapper-larry-june-interview-alchemist-the-great-escape-new-album\">35 oranges\u003c/a>, to be exact) that he might savor at a crib in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRkKo0HhWcY\">Sausalito\u003c/a> with exquisite views and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaOtLwOkRow\">expensive couches\u003c/a>.” In “Dear Winter,” he raps, “Eat some blueberries in the mornin’, a little raw spinach / If you don’t know nun’ about me, you know I’m gon’ get it…move like a beast do / pulp in my orange juice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, Larry June may be the first rapper to make “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/midnightorganicbrand/?hl=en\">Healthy & Organic\u003c/a>” his personal brand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929276\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956.jpg\" alt=\"Larry June raps into the microphone on a big festival stage. He's wearing a bucket hat, designer sunglasses and a bandana and is smiling.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larry June performs at 2023 Rolling Loud Los Angeles at Hollywood Park Grounds on March 4, 2023, in Inglewood, California. \u003ccite>(Photo by Timothy Norris/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But June isn’t the only Bay Area rapper advocating a healthy lifestyle. About eight years ago, “Don Toriano” Gordon of Fully Loaded decided to go vegan after \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/11/27/23943793/vegan-mob-san-francisco-black-owned\">a health scare\u003c/a> related to his previous street lifestyle. Eventually, Gordon launched Vegan Mob, a plant-based soul food and barbecue food truck that quickly emerged as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895209/vegan-mob-oakland-mission-sf-expansion-food-truck-toriano-gordon-senor-sisig-vegano\">one of the most popular Black-owned vegan businesses\u003c/a> in the Bay. Now, he’s writing songs about his new diet, too. “I don’t want that shit if it ain’t plant-based,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLo889RZnE\">raps\u003c/a> in “Vegan Mob.” “See you gnaw that pork and steak / Wonder why you ain’t in shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe the most outspoken member of this new wave is Jordan Gomes, aka Stunnaman02. Though Stunnaman had already had certified hits like “Big Steppin’” (which even has an official 49ers’ remix), his catchy 2024 ode to his love of leafy greens, “Eat a Salad,” is what put him in the pantheon of health-conscious Frisco rappers. In the song, Stunnaman extols the nutritious properties of fresh ingredients like “lemon, lime, honey … agave if you’re vegan.” To promote the single, he posted videos of himself performing custom verses that were essentially recipes for different salads he would prepare on camera — Asian chicken, watermelon and Tajin, and even a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5m343ILmGW/\">quinoa salad \u003c/a>\u003ci>soup\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, last month, Stunnaman released another healthy slap, “Veggies,” and shot the music video inside L.A. grocery stores, where he goes through the produce aisles naming the benefits of various fruits, vegetables and spices: “If I need the antioxidants, I nibble on cacao / Turmeric with the ginger it could really cleanse your bowels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980887\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980887\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"College students walk on the sidewalk in front of Cali's Sports Bar.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entrance to Cali’s Sports Bar & Kitchen in Berkeley, which features Stunnaman02’s signature salad and dressing on its menu. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Stunnaman has parlayed his newfound status as a hip-hop health influencer into a burgeoning side hustle. In August, he created his own signature salad at Cali’s Sports Bar in Berkeley, in collaboration with owner Wilson Wong. Made with ingredients that don’t trigger the rapper’s eczema, the salad features a choice of grilled or fried chicken, a bed of romaine lettuce and arugula, sliced onions, a custom lemon-pepper hot honey vinaigrette and a side of vegan ranch, which he loves to drizzle on top with the dressing. Stunnaman also has his own \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/big02juice/\">juice brand\u003c/a>. And he collaborates with local restaurants like Square Pie Guys, which recently released a Stunnaman-inspired “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQDmVVgkX5q/\">salad pizza\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With his black mock neck polo and pulled-back dreads, Stunnaman has the energy of a celebrity trainer, complete with the catchy mantra (“We Still Winnin’!”). He says he’s been paying attention to nutrition since he was a kid — a response to struggles with his eczema and his weight. And as the first and last person in his family to be born and raised in San Francisco, he pushes more than just healthy living. He was raised to prize “knowledge of self,” one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa and a focus of John Muir Elementary’s African cultural enrichment program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the children my age [who went to John Muir], majority melanated children, we’re learning about not just the knowledge of self, but the history of Africa. We had to call all our elders ‘auntie’ or ‘uncle,’” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While attending St. Mary’s College, he traced his genealogy four generations back on his mother’s side, finding Narragansett Native American ancestry as well as Angolan by way of Cape Verde. After seeing a picture of his Native maternal great-grandfather, Stunnaman was pleased to find his ancestor was also Black, just like him. He credits his mother and grandmother for instilling that pride in him, breathing affirmations into his everyday life that he now pays forward in his raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, Stunnaman believes he’s been “sent here from another dimension to restore the collective equilibrium through holistic methods,” as he puts it in the intro to “Eat a Salad.” Having been raised Christian, he also credits God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980885\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980885\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A fried chicken salad and a tray of chicken wings displayed on a counter.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “Stunna Salad” and “Winnin Wings” are both part of a menu collaboration between Stunnaman02 and Cali’s Sports Bar. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You might think that with its farmers market ethos, the Bay Area would have a long history of vegetable-themed rap. But prior to the recent trend, the last time I remember hearing a rap song about salad was Dead Prez’s 2001 anthem “Be Healthy,” which, somewhat cringily, rhymed “crouton” and “futon.” Before that, “healthy rap” mostly existed in the lines of rappers who claimed the Five Percent Nation and were taught to “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Eat_to_Live\">eat to live\u003c/a>” by Elijah Muhammad’s book series of the same name, which promotes vegetarianism and avoiding pork and processed foods. These teachings deeply influenced rappers like KRS-One, Rakim and Poor Righteous Teachers. In the ’90s, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Ham n Eggs” rails about the high-cholesterol soul food diets their grannies raised them on, and how difficult it was to make better food choices. It was my first time seeing that kind of health-focused pushback in hip-hop lyrics. But this was mostly all on the East Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13955802,arts_13907726,arts_13921079']\u003c/span>Meanwhile, Berkeley and San Francisco were at the forefront of the natural food movement, going back to the hippie counterculture and “back to the land” movements of the ’70s. When Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971, it helped kick off a national farm-to-table movement that crowned Northern California the mecca of healthy food. Eating organic, biking and yoga all became part of the region’s political and moral identity. And the Black Panthers’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13867337/the-black-panther-partys-free-breakfast-program-a-50-year-old-blueprint\">Free Breakfast Program\u003c/a> emphasized the importance of children eating a healthy breakfast — especially if they lived in a low-income neighborhood. For whatever reason, though, not much of these food politics were reflected in the early years of Bay Area hip-hop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any case, Stunnaman, who’s 31, admits that he didn’t listen to much rap during its “Golden Age.” “No shade to no Frisco rappers, but I ain’t really listen to rap music until I was like eight or nine,” he says. Instead, he’d request the Disney Channel or Michael Jackson whenever he had the chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, he pays homage: “If it wasn’t for RBL Posse, it wasn’t for Cellski, there would be no ‘Big Steppin’.’ What’s reflected in Stunnaman’s music, then, is a rich tapestry of his experience, and a community-minded focus. He really does want his people to eat healthier and take better care of themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slowly but surely, his message seems to be making a difference. On the day of our meeting, Stunnaman was getting ready to shoot a collab video with the popular food influencer Michael Torres, aka GrubwithMike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When his song ‘Eat a Salad’ came out, I thought [Stunnaman] was talking to me,” Torres says, explaining how he’d struggled with his weight — and how Stunnaman’s music helped inspire him to change his diet. Now, he says, “If I wasn’t doing foodie stuff, I’d damn near be a vegan. Like, I’d be super healthy, bro.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980883\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980883\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man, shirtless besides a blue and red superhero cape, poses with a fierce expression while holding a bowl of salad.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stunnaman02 has made salad and personal fitness his personal brand — and a big part of his community-minded message. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The OGs are either locked up or they are unfortunately on drugs. With that being the case, we’ve got to help them,” Stunnaman says, pointing out the consequences of poor lifestyle decisions by some elders in the Black community. “That’s why we got Larry June. Because we’ve seen what it was. We’ve seen the product of when you don’t have any discipline with the intake of your vices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking of vices, when I finally sat down to try Stunnaman’s signature salad, I opted for the grilled chicken instead of the fried cutlets or wing combo I typically order, inspired by our conversation about making better choices. I poured the tangy, caper-flecked dressing all over my lettuce, dabbing a little ranch on there like Stunnaman suggested. With all that good health advice, it didn’t hurt to make it taste good too. Sometimes the medicine goes down better with a little song and dance on the side.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rocky Rivera is a journalist, emcee, author and activist from San Francisco. She has released four albums through her label, Beatrock Music, and a ten-volume mixtape series with DJ Roza — her most recent album, \u003c/em>Long Kiss Goodnight\u003cem>, dropped in Sept. 2024. She released her first book, entitled \u003c/em>Snakeskin: Essays by Rocky Rivera\u003cem>, in 2021.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">A\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>sk any San Francisco teenager from my generation what they did after school in the ’90s and it would most likely go something like this: bumming a cig off campus, splitting a super suiza from El Farolito with friends, and turning on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933590/california-music-channel-hip-hop-friday-andy-kawanami-chuy-gomez\">California Music Channel\u003c/a> to watch videos from local rap stars who never got love from MTV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I felt proud of hometown heroes like RBL Posse, Messy Marv and San Quinn, who sold cassette tapes out of the trunk of their cars, making a name for themselves — and Frisco — without the backing of major record labels. Back then, much of Bay Area rap reflected the violence of the drug trade and the values of exploitative capitalism. If the music was inspirational, it was about how to be a gangster or a successful drug lord. And if someone rapped about food, it was largely as a way to woo women. “You wanna eat \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13958926/nations-burgers-pies-late-night-diner-san-pablo\">Nation’s\u003c/a>? Crab at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys\">Crustacean’s\u003c/a>?” Quinn raps on “Wassup.” “Tiger prawns, butterflied shrimp, it must be nice living like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, however, there’s a new wave of Bay Area rappers pushing a different kind of aspirational lifestyle — one that’s focused on açaí bowls, organic vegetables and physical fitness rather than a life of crime. Frisco rapper Larry June was the first to double down on this new brand of wellness hip-hop, with song lyrics that reference his own self-imposed health regimen: daily fasting until 1 p.m. followed by fresh-squeezed orange juice (made from \u003ca href=\"https://www.grammy.com/news/rapper-larry-june-interview-alchemist-the-great-escape-new-album\">35 oranges\u003c/a>, to be exact) that he might savor at a crib in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRkKo0HhWcY\">Sausalito\u003c/a> with exquisite views and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaOtLwOkRow\">expensive couches\u003c/a>.” In “Dear Winter,” he raps, “Eat some blueberries in the mornin’, a little raw spinach / If you don’t know nun’ about me, you know I’m gon’ get it…move like a beast do / pulp in my orange juice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, Larry June may be the first rapper to make “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/midnightorganicbrand/?hl=en\">Healthy & Organic\u003c/a>” his personal brand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929276\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956.jpg\" alt=\"Larry June raps into the microphone on a big festival stage. He's wearing a bucket hat, designer sunglasses and a bandana and is smiling.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1471382956-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larry June performs at 2023 Rolling Loud Los Angeles at Hollywood Park Grounds on March 4, 2023, in Inglewood, California. \u003ccite>(Photo by Timothy Norris/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But June isn’t the only Bay Area rapper advocating a healthy lifestyle. About eight years ago, “Don Toriano” Gordon of Fully Loaded decided to go vegan after \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/11/27/23943793/vegan-mob-san-francisco-black-owned\">a health scare\u003c/a> related to his previous street lifestyle. Eventually, Gordon launched Vegan Mob, a plant-based soul food and barbecue food truck that quickly emerged as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895209/vegan-mob-oakland-mission-sf-expansion-food-truck-toriano-gordon-senor-sisig-vegano\">one of the most popular Black-owned vegan businesses\u003c/a> in the Bay. Now, he’s writing songs about his new diet, too. “I don’t want that shit if it ain’t plant-based,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLo889RZnE\">raps\u003c/a> in “Vegan Mob.” “See you gnaw that pork and steak / Wonder why you ain’t in shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe the most outspoken member of this new wave is Jordan Gomes, aka Stunnaman02. Though Stunnaman had already had certified hits like “Big Steppin’” (which even has an official 49ers’ remix), his catchy 2024 ode to his love of leafy greens, “Eat a Salad,” is what put him in the pantheon of health-conscious Frisco rappers. In the song, Stunnaman extols the nutritious properties of fresh ingredients like “lemon, lime, honey … agave if you’re vegan.” To promote the single, he posted videos of himself performing custom verses that were essentially recipes for different salads he would prepare on camera — Asian chicken, watermelon and Tajin, and even a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5m343ILmGW/\">quinoa salad \u003c/a>\u003ci>soup\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, last month, Stunnaman released another healthy slap, “Veggies,” and shot the music video inside L.A. grocery stores, where he goes through the produce aisles naming the benefits of various fruits, vegetables and spices: “If I need the antioxidants, I nibble on cacao / Turmeric with the ginger it could really cleanse your bowels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980887\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980887\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"College students walk on the sidewalk in front of Cali's Sports Bar.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250829_HEALTHYEATS_GH-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entrance to Cali’s Sports Bar & Kitchen in Berkeley, which features Stunnaman02’s signature salad and dressing on its menu. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Stunnaman has parlayed his newfound status as a hip-hop health influencer into a burgeoning side hustle. In August, he created his own signature salad at Cali’s Sports Bar in Berkeley, in collaboration with owner Wilson Wong. Made with ingredients that don’t trigger the rapper’s eczema, the salad features a choice of grilled or fried chicken, a bed of romaine lettuce and arugula, sliced onions, a custom lemon-pepper hot honey vinaigrette and a side of vegan ranch, which he loves to drizzle on top with the dressing. Stunnaman also has his own \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/big02juice/\">juice brand\u003c/a>. And he collaborates with local restaurants like Square Pie Guys, which recently released a Stunnaman-inspired “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQDmVVgkX5q/\">salad pizza\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With his black mock neck polo and pulled-back dreads, Stunnaman has the energy of a celebrity trainer, complete with the catchy mantra (“We Still Winnin’!”). He says he’s been paying attention to nutrition since he was a kid — a response to struggles with his eczema and his weight. And as the first and last person in his family to be born and raised in San Francisco, he pushes more than just healthy living. He was raised to prize “knowledge of self,” one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa and a focus of John Muir Elementary’s African cultural enrichment program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the children my age [who went to John Muir], majority melanated children, we’re learning about not just the knowledge of self, but the history of Africa. We had to call all our elders ‘auntie’ or ‘uncle,’” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While attending St. Mary’s College, he traced his genealogy four generations back on his mother’s side, finding Narragansett Native American ancestry as well as Angolan by way of Cape Verde. After seeing a picture of his Native maternal great-grandfather, Stunnaman was pleased to find his ancestor was also Black, just like him. He credits his mother and grandmother for instilling that pride in him, breathing affirmations into his everyday life that he now pays forward in his raps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, Stunnaman believes he’s been “sent here from another dimension to restore the collective equilibrium through holistic methods,” as he puts it in the intro to “Eat a Salad.” Having been raised Christian, he also credits God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980885\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980885\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A fried chicken salad and a tray of chicken wings displayed on a counter.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0016_GH-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “Stunna Salad” and “Winnin Wings” are both part of a menu collaboration between Stunnaman02 and Cali’s Sports Bar. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You might think that with its farmers market ethos, the Bay Area would have a long history of vegetable-themed rap. But prior to the recent trend, the last time I remember hearing a rap song about salad was Dead Prez’s 2001 anthem “Be Healthy,” which, somewhat cringily, rhymed “crouton” and “futon.” Before that, “healthy rap” mostly existed in the lines of rappers who claimed the Five Percent Nation and were taught to “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Eat_to_Live\">eat to live\u003c/a>” by Elijah Muhammad’s book series of the same name, which promotes vegetarianism and avoiding pork and processed foods. These teachings deeply influenced rappers like KRS-One, Rakim and Poor Righteous Teachers. In the ’90s, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Ham n Eggs” rails about the high-cholesterol soul food diets their grannies raised them on, and how difficult it was to make better food choices. It was my first time seeing that kind of health-focused pushback in hip-hop lyrics. But this was mostly all on the East Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Meanwhile, Berkeley and San Francisco were at the forefront of the natural food movement, going back to the hippie counterculture and “back to the land” movements of the ’70s. When Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971, it helped kick off a national farm-to-table movement that crowned Northern California the mecca of healthy food. Eating organic, biking and yoga all became part of the region’s political and moral identity. And the Black Panthers’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13867337/the-black-panther-partys-free-breakfast-program-a-50-year-old-blueprint\">Free Breakfast Program\u003c/a> emphasized the importance of children eating a healthy breakfast — especially if they lived in a low-income neighborhood. For whatever reason, though, not much of these food politics were reflected in the early years of Bay Area hip-hop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any case, Stunnaman, who’s 31, admits that he didn’t listen to much rap during its “Golden Age.” “No shade to no Frisco rappers, but I ain’t really listen to rap music until I was like eight or nine,” he says. Instead, he’d request the Disney Channel or Michael Jackson whenever he had the chance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, he pays homage: “If it wasn’t for RBL Posse, it wasn’t for Cellski, there would be no ‘Big Steppin’.’ What’s reflected in Stunnaman’s music, then, is a rich tapestry of his experience, and a community-minded focus. He really does want his people to eat healthier and take better care of themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slowly but surely, his message seems to be making a difference. On the day of our meeting, Stunnaman was getting ready to shoot a collab video with the popular food influencer Michael Torres, aka GrubwithMike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When his song ‘Eat a Salad’ came out, I thought [Stunnaman] was talking to me,” Torres says, explaining how he’d struggled with his weight — and how Stunnaman’s music helped inspire him to change his diet. Now, he says, “If I wasn’t doing foodie stuff, I’d damn near be a vegan. Like, I’d be super healthy, bro.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980883\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980883\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man, shirtless besides a blue and red superhero cape, poses with a fierce expression while holding a bowl of salad.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250822_STUNNAMAN02_-0001_GH-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stunnaman02 has made salad and personal fitness his personal brand — and a big part of his community-minded message. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The OGs are either locked up or they are unfortunately on drugs. With that being the case, we’ve got to help them,” Stunnaman says, pointing out the consequences of poor lifestyle decisions by some elders in the Black community. “That’s why we got Larry June. Because we’ve seen what it was. We’ve seen the product of when you don’t have any discipline with the intake of your vices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking of vices, when I finally sat down to try Stunnaman’s signature salad, I opted for the grilled chicken instead of the fried cutlets or wing combo I typically order, inspired by our conversation about making better choices. I poured the tangy, caper-flecked dressing all over my lettuce, dabbing a little ranch on there like Stunnaman suggested. With all that good health advice, it didn’t hurt to make it taste good too. Sometimes the medicine goes down better with a little song and dance on the side.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Rocky Rivera is a journalist, emcee, author and activist from San Francisco. She has released four albums through her label, Beatrock Music, and a ten-volume mixtape series with DJ Roza — her most recent album, \u003c/em>Long Kiss Goodnight\u003cem>, dropped in Sept. 2024. She released her first book, entitled \u003c/em>Snakeskin: Essays by Rocky Rivera\u003cem>, in 2021.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There’s multi-hyphenates, and then there’s Dr. Cameron Parker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the \u003ca href=\"https://gspp.berkeley.edu/directories/staff-administration/cameron-parker\">executive director of Student Affairs\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He’s also an author, actor, athlete and R&B singer who goes by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cashcampain/\">Cash Campain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of his work, in each of his roles, is relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain’s day job as a college administrator involves understanding what affects people’s emotions, and “why people feel certain ways in certain situations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain, who studied business at Marin’s Dominican University, has found his niche in monitoring student morale and keeping in contact with alumni. “That’s where I started looking in-depth at human behavior,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through that study, he’s learned a lot about himself — and it shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981889\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981889 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a white shirt and hat, standing on stage at a smokey venue. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raised in South Sacramento, Dr. Cameron ‘Cash Campain’ Parker has family roots in the Bay Area. He now performs all around the United States, including at The Masquerade in Atlanta, pictured. \u003ccite>(Francis \"DJ François\" Comerford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His knack for understanding humans is illustrated in his writing. His latest book, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, offers guidance to readers navigating toxic partnerships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pursuit of intimate connection, and the drama that often ensues, is also the focus of a web series he acted in, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Recklessbehaviortheseries?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacxVqilUdimIbZIxT7ehzV4BXuL2e4ceLyZqYfvXsF4JIeYI6oJAj_3ndYU_w_aem_N0NEhCofHVtEQfYd3iAlsQ\">Reckless Behavior: The Series\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships are also key to Campain’s music, particularly his latest album \u003ca href=\"https://ampl.ink/v0jwY\">\u003cem>Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the standout track “\u003ca href=\"https://audiomack.com/cash-campain/song/hannah-baker\">Hannah Baker\u003c/a>,” he addresses his relationship with himself, and issues of depression and suicidal thoughts. On “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/track/5QmkLqZSVPQaQjRE7mjZAn?si=1c04d66f4c00413b\">Hold Me Down\u003c/a>” (featuring Stoni, T. Carriér & 318Tae), he offers a taste of fun ’90s R&B. And on “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/track/4Rjpl1K2SWZiJXPfr7cAh9?si=9a651c1fdf424287\">Infinity\u003c/a>,” he sings over an acoustic guitar for what he calls “a real love song, mushy-gushy-type stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His various practices might seem different, but they aren’t too far apart, both practically and geographically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve literally done a show at Cornerstone in Berkeley on a Thursday night,” Campain tells me in a phone interview. “And then the next day we’re back up here on campus,” he says, referring to UC Berkeley, just a backpack’s throw away from the music venue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past summer, while other school administrators took vacations or picked up side gigs to make ends meet, Cash Campain stepped off campus and into his creative bag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May he dropped his fourth R&B album, and in June published his third book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981875 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA.jpg\" alt=\"Two men share an embrace while on stage during a hip-hop performance. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brothers Cash Campain and Caleborate share a moment on stage during a performance at Holy Diver in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Liv Styler)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also started a nonprofit, the No More Pain Foundation, with his brother, the well-known lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.caleborate.co/hgw10yrs\">Caleborate\u003c/a>. The two launch their collaborative work with a book drive on Oct. 18, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born seven years apart on the same exact day, May 22, Campain and Caleborate share a tight bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always thank God that he’s a rapper and I’m a singer,” says Campain. Because of this, the two work well together, experimenting with melodies and pushing musical boundaries. “It’s really just always been complimentary,” says Campain. “That’s how our parents raised us,” he says, repeating his parents’ sage advice: “No matter what, that’s your brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The duo, along with their sister and stepbrother, were raised in South Sacramento. As a kid Campain was interested in playing hoops and singing to impress his peers, but was introduced to entertainment by his father, actor and playwright \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-a-parker-2aa6226/\">William a Parker\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A thespian from California’s Central Valley, Parker would often travel for shows in Los Angeles and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/theater/theater-review-exhortations-but-no-excuses-as-a-marriage-comes-apart.html\">off-Broadway\u003c/a>. But the state’s capitol is where he earned his reputation. “He became well-known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/lifestyle/2003/01/12/intimate-portraits/50737388007/\">one of the biggest names in community theater\u003c/a> in Sacramento,” says Campain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for a young Cash Campain, it was the process of watching his father behind the scenes, after his parents separated, that proved to be most influential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the earliest memories I have about love and relationships,” says Campain, “I saw my dad going through heartbreak when I was like 11, 12 years old,” he says. “I saw him lose his family, and he was trying to rebuild his life.” Now a father himself, Campain looks at the conversations they had, and understands that “my dad was hurting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain unearths some of those memories in his latest book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981890 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw.png\" alt=\"A black and white book cover shows an extended palm in the midst of darkness. \" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw.png 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw-160x240.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness,’ a book by Cameron ‘Cash Campain’ Parker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the author)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“About 50% of Jamie’s background comes from my actual childhood,” says Campain of the book’s fictional protagonist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through the character of Jamie, Campain creates a world that’s relatable to anyone who’s experienced turbulent relationships. Although Jamie’s experience is romantic in nature, the story’s lessons can apply to family members experiencing depression, newly remarried parents or anyone learning to accept an unexpected sibling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the book, Campain digs deep into why relationships of all sorts become dysfunctional, by identifying harmful dynamics “that chip away at emotional safety, self-worth, and mental well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, he says, is ultimately about “recognizing toxic behavior.” Or, as he calls it in the book, “TUM — toxic, unhealthy, manipulative behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once recognized, he asks a series of questions: what effect can it have on you? Where do you go from there? How do you not let it control you? Have you developed behaviors not based in trauma that help you get back to the best version of yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To answer for himself, he had to look inward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to look at my own life,” says Campain, explaining that these questions led him down a path of looking at relationships, doing research, going to therapy and “just kind of collecting a whole bunch of notes,” he says matter-of-factly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, he’s sharing these notes in the form of music and literature; as well as through conversations with students on UC Berkeley’s campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cash Campain’s book ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness\u003c/a>’ is available \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">here\u003c/a>. His latest album ‘\u003ca href=\"https://ampl.ink/v0jwY\">Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II\u003c/a>’ can be found on on all streaming platforms. Campain and his brother Caleborate will host a book drive on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s multi-hyphenates, and then there’s Dr. Cameron Parker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the \u003ca href=\"https://gspp.berkeley.edu/directories/staff-administration/cameron-parker\">executive director of Student Affairs\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He’s also an author, actor, athlete and R&B singer who goes by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cashcampain/\">Cash Campain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of his work, in each of his roles, is relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain’s day job as a college administrator involves understanding what affects people’s emotions, and “why people feel certain ways in certain situations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain, who studied business at Marin’s Dominican University, has found his niche in monitoring student morale and keeping in contact with alumni. “That’s where I started looking in-depth at human behavior,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through that study, he’s learned a lot about himself — and it shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981889\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981889 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a white shirt and hat, standing on stage at a smokey venue. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/boJP7gvg-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raised in South Sacramento, Dr. Cameron ‘Cash Campain’ Parker has family roots in the Bay Area. He now performs all around the United States, including at The Masquerade in Atlanta, pictured. \u003ccite>(Francis \"DJ François\" Comerford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His knack for understanding humans is illustrated in his writing. His latest book, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, offers guidance to readers navigating toxic partnerships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pursuit of intimate connection, and the drama that often ensues, is also the focus of a web series he acted in, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Recklessbehaviortheseries?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacxVqilUdimIbZIxT7ehzV4BXuL2e4ceLyZqYfvXsF4JIeYI6oJAj_3ndYU_w_aem_N0NEhCofHVtEQfYd3iAlsQ\">Reckless Behavior: The Series\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships are also key to Campain’s music, particularly his latest album \u003ca href=\"https://ampl.ink/v0jwY\">\u003cem>Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the standout track “\u003ca href=\"https://audiomack.com/cash-campain/song/hannah-baker\">Hannah Baker\u003c/a>,” he addresses his relationship with himself, and issues of depression and suicidal thoughts. On “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/track/5QmkLqZSVPQaQjRE7mjZAn?si=1c04d66f4c00413b\">Hold Me Down\u003c/a>” (featuring Stoni, T. Carriér & 318Tae), he offers a taste of fun ’90s R&B. And on “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/track/4Rjpl1K2SWZiJXPfr7cAh9?si=9a651c1fdf424287\">Infinity\u003c/a>,” he sings over an acoustic guitar for what he calls “a real love song, mushy-gushy-type stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His various practices might seem different, but they aren’t too far apart, both practically and geographically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve literally done a show at Cornerstone in Berkeley on a Thursday night,” Campain tells me in a phone interview. “And then the next day we’re back up here on campus,” he says, referring to UC Berkeley, just a backpack’s throw away from the music venue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past summer, while other school administrators took vacations or picked up side gigs to make ends meet, Cash Campain stepped off campus and into his creative bag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May he dropped his fourth R&B album, and in June published his third book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981875 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA.jpg\" alt=\"Two men share an embrace while on stage during a hip-hop performance. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/MraAAPKA-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brothers Cash Campain and Caleborate share a moment on stage during a performance at Holy Diver in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Liv Styler)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also started a nonprofit, the No More Pain Foundation, with his brother, the well-known lyricist \u003ca href=\"https://www.caleborate.co/hgw10yrs\">Caleborate\u003c/a>. The two launch their collaborative work with a book drive on Oct. 18, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born seven years apart on the same exact day, May 22, Campain and Caleborate share a tight bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always thank God that he’s a rapper and I’m a singer,” says Campain. Because of this, the two work well together, experimenting with melodies and pushing musical boundaries. “It’s really just always been complimentary,” says Campain. “That’s how our parents raised us,” he says, repeating his parents’ sage advice: “No matter what, that’s your brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The duo, along with their sister and stepbrother, were raised in South Sacramento. As a kid Campain was interested in playing hoops and singing to impress his peers, but was introduced to entertainment by his father, actor and playwright \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-a-parker-2aa6226/\">William a Parker\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A thespian from California’s Central Valley, Parker would often travel for shows in Los Angeles and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/theater/theater-review-exhortations-but-no-excuses-as-a-marriage-comes-apart.html\">off-Broadway\u003c/a>. But the state’s capitol is where he earned his reputation. “He became well-known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.recordnet.com/story/lifestyle/2003/01/12/intimate-portraits/50737388007/\">one of the biggest names in community theater\u003c/a> in Sacramento,” says Campain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for a young Cash Campain, it was the process of watching his father behind the scenes, after his parents separated, that proved to be most influential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the earliest memories I have about love and relationships,” says Campain, “I saw my dad going through heartbreak when I was like 11, 12 years old,” he says. “I saw him lose his family, and he was trying to rebuild his life.” Now a father himself, Campain looks at the conversations they had, and understands that “my dad was hurting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campain unearths some of those memories in his latest book.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981890 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw.png\" alt=\"A black and white book cover shows an extended palm in the midst of darkness. \" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw.png 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/qlPMdLBw-160x240.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness,’ a book by Cameron ‘Cash Campain’ Parker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the author)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“About 50% of Jamie’s background comes from my actual childhood,” says Campain of the book’s fictional protagonist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through the character of Jamie, Campain creates a world that’s relatable to anyone who’s experienced turbulent relationships. Although Jamie’s experience is romantic in nature, the story’s lessons can apply to family members experiencing depression, newly remarried parents or anyone learning to accept an unexpected sibling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the book, Campain digs deep into why relationships of all sorts become dysfunctional, by identifying harmful dynamics “that chip away at emotional safety, self-worth, and mental well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, he says, is ultimately about “recognizing toxic behavior.” Or, as he calls it in the book, “TUM — toxic, unhealthy, manipulative behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once recognized, he asks a series of questions: what effect can it have on you? Where do you go from there? How do you not let it control you? Have you developed behaviors not based in trauma that help you get back to the best version of yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To answer for himself, he had to look inward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to look at my own life,” says Campain, explaining that these questions led him down a path of looking at relationships, doing research, going to therapy and “just kind of collecting a whole bunch of notes,” he says matter-of-factly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, he’s sharing these notes in the form of music and literature; as well as through conversations with students on UC Berkeley’s campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cash Campain’s book ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">Jamie Heals: The Journey Back to Wholeness\u003c/a>’ is available \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1300286563\">here\u003c/a>. His latest album ‘\u003ca href=\"https://ampl.ink/v0jwY\">Valley Hi Heartbreak, Vol. II\u003c/a>’ can be found on on all streaming platforms. Campain and his brother Caleborate will host a book drive on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 2 p.m.–5 p.m. at Chestnut Market in Alameda. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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>",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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