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"title": "Hip-Hop Collective Family Not a Group Lives Up to Its Name",
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"content": "\u003cp>You can’t stop artists from coming together. Hit ’em with a global pandemic, gas prices that are through the roof, housing costs through the stratosphere and a long list of music venues that have closed down—whatever. \u003cem>Artists are going to be artist\u003c/em>s. They’re going to come together to create, and I’m all here for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, there’s a very large and extremely talented faction of lyricists, singers, DJs and musicians who are coming together, creating moments and memories, and having fun while doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday Night the 17-member collective known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CanQJz3PEDZ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Family Not A Group\u003c/a> is set to hit the stage, collectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910243\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910243\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n.jpg\" alt=\"The night Family Not a Group came together in New York.\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The night Family Not a Group came together in New York. \u003ccite>(Via Baghead)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They’re scheduled to perform at The Chapel, and the \u003ca href=\"https://thechapelsf.com/e/269265027947/?utm_source=fb1&utm_medium=shr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9 show\u003c/a> will be the ensemble’s first major performance in their hometown of San Francisco. The show will be headlined by two artists who aren’t officially in the collective, but they’re “family friends”—singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/astu.music/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Astu\u003c/a> and lyricists-slash-vocalist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jadaimani510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Imani\u003c/a>. They’ll be flanked by performances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baghead.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baghead\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aft.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Afterthought\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ozersf/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ozer, \u003c/a>who are just three of the 17-member conglomerate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with Baghead, Afterthought and Ozer, there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bae.areash/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ASH\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/serg.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Serg2x\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/everybodylovezmike/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Evans Jr.\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thejenset/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jenset\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maya_canales/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maya Canales\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/captain_cuadra/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grand-O\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maddamcyn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cynny\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/professagabel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Professa Gabel\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ap.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AP\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kaly_incognegreaux/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kaly Jay\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sayheykiid/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DJSAY\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shotbyjesstarantino/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JessTarantino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sunday.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SundaY\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/easweh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EaSWay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the camp is from the City, with some folks hailing from other areas of the Bay, but the team’s origin story starts at a show in the Big Apple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we went to New York, we performed at East Berlin,” Ozer tells me during a phone call. The crew did a show called “The Frisco Invasion” at the intimate, popular venue in The East Village. A couple things went wrong. Notably, the computer died before the show started and required someone to make an hour-long trek to get a replacement. But the show was good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t remember if it was the venue manager or the sound engineer, but they said we killed it,” Ozer reflects. “The next day we talked amongst ourselves and said we’ve got something special here… and that’s how Family Not a Group was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910246\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910246\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n.jpg\" alt=\"Family Not a Group members pose for a photo while rocking a show in San Francisco last year. \" width=\"480\" height=\"359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Family Not a Group members pose for a photo while rocking a show in San Francisco last year. \u003ccite>(Via Baghead)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before that show, the nucleus had been forming. The individual artists would constantly support one another, showing up to performances and appearing on each other’s projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Ozer’s latest album, \u003cem>Lost In Translation\u003c/em>, which dropped in July of last year, there are appearances from crew members Kaly Jay, EaSWay, Professa Gabel and more. [aside postid='arts_13908051']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project is a lyrical exploration into some of the darker moments in Ozer’s life, and how he and his loved ones have persevered. He speaks on an incident that led to his father’s incarceration, and references his mother’s attempt at taking her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the track “Purposeful,” the rapper from Bayview recites, “Shit, I got some skeleton in my footlocker / eye open, I know God not the only one watchin’. / Under fire, smoke in the air, we went through madness / hands full, it’s gettin’ hard to carry the baggage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>At the end of a track with Lex Culture, “All Falls Down,” Ozer shares an intimate voice note. “I recorded that the night my grandfather died,” Ozer tells me “That takes me back to that night—it was a real moment for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He plays with the concept of devils and angels in the song “D & A.” The track is a bit of a double-entendre, referring to humans’ genetic code and how we’re composed of both good and evil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ozer - Purposeful (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/YtD43HD7Lsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The etymology of the name “Ozer,” also has two paths: one is a biblical reference and the other is slang for moving drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a teenager he sat in a barbershop when one of his father’s friends walked in, asking if he was “Little O?” After confirming that he is indeed his father’s son, the man donned the name “Little Ozer” on him. Little Ozer went back to his father, telling him that he planned on taking his title, “He was like, ‘You know what that means?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His father explained that they called him Ozer because he used to push a lot of ounces. Then “Little Ozer” did more research on the name, and found that it also means “God’s Helper” in Hebrew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>“It has a bad meaning and a good meaning, which represents human life in general,” Ozer tells me in the same deep-raspy voice he uses to deliver his lyrics.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910247\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 360px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n.jpg\" alt=\"Ozer rocks the mic with his shirt off.\" width=\"360\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n.jpg 360w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n-160x284.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ozer rocks the mic with his shirt off. \u003ccite>(Ken IV)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Destined for this path, Ozer’s grandmother told him he’d be a preacher, but he said it was something he couldn’t foresee. Now as an MC he says he’s reaching people, and he’s looking to keep spreading the word this Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>The goal of Family Not a Group’s live shows is to “provide a memorable experience to everybody who comes to the show,” Ozer says. “It’s called ‘a family service,’ so it’s going to make you feel like family, and you’ll have a deeper connection to each artist that you see.”\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>The lineup is full of talented artists I’ve been following. Last year I did \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895377/rightnowish-baghead-cerealforthekids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a podcast interview\u003c/a> with Baghead, who along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cerealforthekids/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cereal For The Kids\u003c/a>, published a film and audio project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWmX3Y5GnP8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Dedicated To Those Who.”\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13892200/musicians-to-know-jada-imani-on-vibing-with-hawaiian-frogs-and-riffing-off-mac-dre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Imani\u003c/a> was the subject of an interview from January of last year. I’ve hosted separate events where both Astu and Afterthought (and the band he’s a part of, The Top Chefs) have performed.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>I’ve also seen performances by a few of the other members of Family Not a Group, but I’ve yet to see Ozer. Before I got off the phone, I let him know that we’ll cross paths in due time. But what I didn’t explicitly tell him is that his words have already reached me—without having seen him in person yet.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003cem>Family Not a Group presents “\u003ca href=\"https://thechapelsf.com/e/269265027947/?utm_source=fb1&utm_medium=shr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Family Service\u003c/a>” at The Chapel in San Francisco on March 9, with performances by Ozer, Astu, Jada Imani and Afterthought. \u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You can’t stop artists from coming together. Hit ’em with a global pandemic, gas prices that are through the roof, housing costs through the stratosphere and a long list of music venues that have closed down—whatever. \u003cem>Artists are going to be artist\u003c/em>s. They’re going to come together to create, and I’m all here for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, there’s a very large and extremely talented faction of lyricists, singers, DJs and musicians who are coming together, creating moments and memories, and having fun while doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday Night the 17-member collective known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CanQJz3PEDZ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Family Not A Group\u003c/a> is set to hit the stage, collectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910243\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910243\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n.jpg\" alt=\"The night Family Not a Group came together in New York.\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275101607_1137619633707634_4938611485133538895_n-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The night Family Not a Group came together in New York. \u003ccite>(Via Baghead)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They’re scheduled to perform at The Chapel, and the \u003ca href=\"https://thechapelsf.com/e/269265027947/?utm_source=fb1&utm_medium=shr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9 show\u003c/a> will be the ensemble’s first major performance in their hometown of San Francisco. The show will be headlined by two artists who aren’t officially in the collective, but they’re “family friends”—singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/astu.music/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Astu\u003c/a> and lyricists-slash-vocalist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jadaimani510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Imani\u003c/a>. They’ll be flanked by performances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baghead.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baghead\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aft.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Afterthought\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ozersf/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ozer, \u003c/a>who are just three of the 17-member conglomerate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with Baghead, Afterthought and Ozer, there’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bae.areash/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ASH\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/serg.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Serg2x\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/everybodylovezmike/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Evans Jr.\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thejenset/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jenset\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maya_canales/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maya Canales\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/captain_cuadra/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grand-O\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maddamcyn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cynny\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/professagabel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Professa Gabel\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ap.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AP\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kaly_incognegreaux/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kaly Jay\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sayheykiid/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DJSAY\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shotbyjesstarantino/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JessTarantino\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sunday.fng/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SundaY\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/easweh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EaSWay\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the camp is from the City, with some folks hailing from other areas of the Bay, but the team’s origin story starts at a show in the Big Apple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we went to New York, we performed at East Berlin,” Ozer tells me during a phone call. The crew did a show called “The Frisco Invasion” at the intimate, popular venue in The East Village. A couple things went wrong. Notably, the computer died before the show started and required someone to make an hour-long trek to get a replacement. But the show was good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t remember if it was the venue manager or the sound engineer, but they said we killed it,” Ozer reflects. “The next day we talked amongst ourselves and said we’ve got something special here… and that’s how Family Not a Group was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910246\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910246\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n.jpg\" alt=\"Family Not a Group members pose for a photo while rocking a show in San Francisco last year. \" width=\"480\" height=\"359\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/274938446_2055319477973887_2719572190814469886_n-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Family Not a Group members pose for a photo while rocking a show in San Francisco last year. \u003ccite>(Via Baghead)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before that show, the nucleus had been forming. The individual artists would constantly support one another, showing up to performances and appearing on each other’s projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Ozer’s latest album, \u003cem>Lost In Translation\u003c/em>, which dropped in July of last year, there are appearances from crew members Kaly Jay, EaSWay, Professa Gabel and more. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project is a lyrical exploration into some of the darker moments in Ozer’s life, and how he and his loved ones have persevered. He speaks on an incident that led to his father’s incarceration, and references his mother’s attempt at taking her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the track “Purposeful,” the rapper from Bayview recites, “Shit, I got some skeleton in my footlocker / eye open, I know God not the only one watchin’. / Under fire, smoke in the air, we went through madness / hands full, it’s gettin’ hard to carry the baggage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>At the end of a track with Lex Culture, “All Falls Down,” Ozer shares an intimate voice note. “I recorded that the night my grandfather died,” Ozer tells me “That takes me back to that night—it was a real moment for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He plays with the concept of devils and angels in the song “D & A.” The track is a bit of a double-entendre, referring to humans’ genetic code and how we’re composed of both good and evil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ozer - Purposeful (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/YtD43HD7Lsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The etymology of the name “Ozer,” also has two paths: one is a biblical reference and the other is slang for moving drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a teenager he sat in a barbershop when one of his father’s friends walked in, asking if he was “Little O?” After confirming that he is indeed his father’s son, the man donned the name “Little Ozer” on him. Little Ozer went back to his father, telling him that he planned on taking his title, “He was like, ‘You know what that means?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His father explained that they called him Ozer because he used to push a lot of ounces. Then “Little Ozer” did more research on the name, and found that it also means “God’s Helper” in Hebrew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>“It has a bad meaning and a good meaning, which represents human life in general,” Ozer tells me in the same deep-raspy voice he uses to deliver his lyrics.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910247\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 360px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n.jpg\" alt=\"Ozer rocks the mic with his shirt off.\" width=\"360\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n.jpg 360w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/275064560_152395647170136_2834243853751829814_n-160x284.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ozer rocks the mic with his shirt off. \u003ccite>(Ken IV)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Destined for this path, Ozer’s grandmother told him he’d be a preacher, but he said it was something he couldn’t foresee. Now as an MC he says he’s reaching people, and he’s looking to keep spreading the word this Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>The goal of Family Not a Group’s live shows is to “provide a memorable experience to everybody who comes to the show,” Ozer says. “It’s called ‘a family service,’ so it’s going to make you feel like family, and you’ll have a deeper connection to each artist that you see.”\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>The lineup is full of talented artists I’ve been following. Last year I did \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895377/rightnowish-baghead-cerealforthekids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a podcast interview\u003c/a> with Baghead, who along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cerealforthekids/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cereal For The Kids\u003c/a>, published a film and audio project called \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWmX3Y5GnP8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Dedicated To Those Who.”\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13892200/musicians-to-know-jada-imani-on-vibing-with-hawaiian-frogs-and-riffing-off-mac-dre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jada Imani\u003c/a> was the subject of an interview from January of last year. I’ve hosted separate events where both Astu and Afterthought (and the band he’s a part of, The Top Chefs) have performed.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>I’ve also seen performances by a few of the other members of Family Not a Group, but I’ve yet to see Ozer. Before I got off the phone, I let him know that we’ll cross paths in due time. But what I didn’t explicitly tell him is that his words have already reached me—without having seen him in person yet.\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003cem>Family Not a Group presents “\u003ca href=\"https://thechapelsf.com/e/269265027947/?utm_source=fb1&utm_medium=shr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Family Service\u003c/a>” at The Chapel in San Francisco on March 9, with performances by Ozer, Astu, Jada Imani and Afterthought. \u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "mc-hammer-oakland-redman-too-short-crips-louis-burrell-mc-serch-hit-e40",
"title": "MC Hammer ‘Will Beat Yo' Ass’—and Other Hard Tales of the MTV-Friendly Rapper",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last week, MC Hammer started trending on Twitter for a viral photo of Big Syke, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, Tupac and Hammer lined up together at the 1996 Grammys, in all of their ’90s finery. Hammer stood on the far right, arms neatly crossed behind his back, smiling while everyone else mean-mugged. The tweet read: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more out of place than Hammer was in this photo lol.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twitter did not hesitate to set the record straight about the Oakland legend, explaining in no uncertain terms that Hammer—despite his legendarily flappy pants, pop superstardom, and ability to win over your mom—did not come to play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/J_Ran85/status/1497067106818478090\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/KieseLaymon/status/1497222235651719202\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/SHARMONJONES/status/1497083798919561224\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/CerromeRussell/status/1497059859090579458\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Twitter explosion reflected the vast gulf between what hip-hop knows about MC Hammer and what mainstream pop culture \u003cem>thinks\u003c/em> it knows about MC Hammer. Because the Oakland rapper spent the early ’90s shuffling from side-to-side at the top of the charts, and filling commercial breaks with entreaties to buy \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eydWVvFV2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sneakers\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHp3xXBBDfk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taco Bell\u003c/a>, Hammer is too often treated like the Carlton Banks of hip-hop. But stories of Hammer’s more streetwise traits have been rife in both the East Bay and the wider hip-hop community for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those not in the know, here are interviews with five MCs that will put Hammer in a whole new light.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>MC Serch\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Serch of New York’s 3rd Bass has claimed repeatedly that MC Hammer put out a hit on the group over a lyric in their song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8sDxQhHkds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Cactus.\u003c/a>” The line in question—”The cactus turned Hammer’s mother out”—was purportedly a play on the title of 3rd Bass’ 1989 \u003cem>The Cactus Album\u003c/em> and Hammer’s record from the same year, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtpWTOk0Ghg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Turn This Mutha Out\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Serch told the \u003cem>Ed Lover Show\u003c/em> about receiving death threats from Hammer’s brother, Louis Burrell, in the middle of a flight to Los Angeles. “We’re in the air,” Serch says, “and Carmen Ashhurst-Watson, who was the president of Def Jam at the time, picks up the phone and hears someone say ‘Is 3rd Bass on their way to L.A.?’ And she goes ‘Yeah.’ And the voice says ‘Good. They’re dead. This is Louis Burrell.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQFlRUCp5r0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serch claims the $50,000 hit was confirmed by fellow Def Jam artist Eric B., and was supposed to be carried out by the Los Angeles crips. In a later interview, Serch said fear and anger over the incident has never left him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not good,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3B7KBrnqCI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told Vlad TV in 2018\u003c/a>. “I’ve been through 25 years of therapy three days a week. I am not good. I wish I could be good. But when somebody tries to kill you over a rap lyric? … Understand what it feels like to not know that you can turn a corner without someone trying to kill you for $50,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Redman\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Redman also made the mistake of dissing Hammer during an interlude on 1992’s \u003cem>Whut? Thee Album\u003c/em> titled “Funky Uncles.” “Everybody yelling ‘Hammertime! Hammertime!'” the track went. “He ain’t shit, mama ain’t shit, daddy ain’t shit, ain’t nobody shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman says he was subsequently chased out of Oakland by Hammer affiliates. (“We had to get the fuck out of here. They wasn’t playin’. We was almost boxed in,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fyqEYQQW2U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told Vlad TV in 2016\u003c/a>.) And in 1995, when both MCs were on set for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8VoRj9Vd4o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">final episode of \u003cem>Yo! MTV Raps\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Hammer approached Redman and reportedly said, “Red? I’m gonna tell you something. You’re young. But I don’t allow nobody to talk about my mama. You understand me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman later admitted that his response to Hammer was, “Yes, sir!” He elaborated: “I got the message. I heard about [Hammer] and I seen [his] work … I’m good, my brother. Because I’ve gotta come to the west coast and get money. I like it out there. I like the Bay Area. So fuck that, you’re right. I won’t talk about your mama.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman admits he learned his lesson. “That goddamn MC Hammer? Very serious about beef. Y’all motherfuckers laugh and y’all joke about Hammer? No, no, no, no … When anybody that talked shit came to the Bay Area, they was in for it. ‘Cause we seen it. I seen it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fyqEYQQW2U\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Too Short\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a 2018 interview, Too Short expressed respect for MC Hammer, having come up around the same time. “Hammer was a big dog,” Too Short said. “He got respect in the streets. He came from a respected crew. They handled business. Him and his brother Louis and the crew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the alleged hit Hammer put out on MC Serch, Too Short said the only part he didn’t believe was the $50,000—because Hammer would never have to pay for such services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without spending any money, he coulda told people to fuck [MC Serch] the fuck up,” Too Short said. “I know who Hammer was affiliated with and he wouldn’t have to pay to tell somebody to fuck somebody up. His people would just do it. We’re from Oakland. Like, he wouldn’t even have to say it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOHupZPsWD0\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>E-40 and Fat Joe\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a 2020 chat with E-40 for \u003cem>All Urban Central\u003c/em>, Fat Joe mentioned encountering Hammer one time in the Las Vegas airport. Joe said Hammer greeted him warmly, then proceeded to explain that he wasn’t to be trifled with. “He was like, ‘You know I get it poppin’ for real’,” Joe recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E-40 was in no way surprised by this news. “Well, he’s from Oakland for one,” the Vallejo rapper responded. “He’s from the Town. He’s highly respected and connected, you know what I mean? All the fixtures and factors know him, he knows them. He rocks it. He’s heavy. His brother’s gangsta … [Hammer] is far from a sucka. And Hammer’s physically fit. You know, he’ll put hands on you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuwwd7eb-lA\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>OutKast\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s possible that Big Boi puts it best here, and the most succinctly: “Hammer will beat yo’ ass.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/__Eddie313/status/1497071531930832899\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s end with an apt word from the man himself…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last week, MC Hammer started trending on Twitter for a viral photo of Big Syke, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, Tupac and Hammer lined up together at the 1996 Grammys, in all of their ’90s finery. Hammer stood on the far right, arms neatly crossed behind his back, smiling while everyone else mean-mugged. The tweet read: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more out of place than Hammer was in this photo lol.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twitter did not hesitate to set the record straight about the Oakland legend, explaining in no uncertain terms that Hammer—despite his legendarily flappy pants, pop superstardom, and ability to win over your mom—did not come to play.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The Twitter explosion reflected the vast gulf between what hip-hop knows about MC Hammer and what mainstream pop culture \u003cem>thinks\u003c/em> it knows about MC Hammer. Because the Oakland rapper spent the early ’90s shuffling from side-to-side at the top of the charts, and filling commercial breaks with entreaties to buy \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eydWVvFV2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sneakers\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHp3xXBBDfk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taco Bell\u003c/a>, Hammer is too often treated like the Carlton Banks of hip-hop. But stories of Hammer’s more streetwise traits have been rife in both the East Bay and the wider hip-hop community for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those not in the know, here are interviews with five MCs that will put Hammer in a whole new light.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>MC Serch\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>MC Serch of New York’s 3rd Bass has claimed repeatedly that MC Hammer put out a hit on the group over a lyric in their song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8sDxQhHkds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Cactus.\u003c/a>” The line in question—”The cactus turned Hammer’s mother out”—was purportedly a play on the title of 3rd Bass’ 1989 \u003cem>The Cactus Album\u003c/em> and Hammer’s record from the same year, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtpWTOk0Ghg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Turn This Mutha Out\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Serch told the \u003cem>Ed Lover Show\u003c/em> about receiving death threats from Hammer’s brother, Louis Burrell, in the middle of a flight to Los Angeles. “We’re in the air,” Serch says, “and Carmen Ashhurst-Watson, who was the president of Def Jam at the time, picks up the phone and hears someone say ‘Is 3rd Bass on their way to L.A.?’ And she goes ‘Yeah.’ And the voice says ‘Good. They’re dead. This is Louis Burrell.'”\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/vQFlRUCp5r0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/vQFlRUCp5r0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Serch claims the $50,000 hit was confirmed by fellow Def Jam artist Eric B., and was supposed to be carried out by the Los Angeles crips. In a later interview, Serch said fear and anger over the incident has never left him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not good,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3B7KBrnqCI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told Vlad TV in 2018\u003c/a>. “I’ve been through 25 years of therapy three days a week. I am not good. I wish I could be good. But when somebody tries to kill you over a rap lyric? … Understand what it feels like to not know that you can turn a corner without someone trying to kill you for $50,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Redman\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Redman also made the mistake of dissing Hammer during an interlude on 1992’s \u003cem>Whut? Thee Album\u003c/em> titled “Funky Uncles.” “Everybody yelling ‘Hammertime! Hammertime!'” the track went. “He ain’t shit, mama ain’t shit, daddy ain’t shit, ain’t nobody shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman says he was subsequently chased out of Oakland by Hammer affiliates. (“We had to get the fuck out of here. They wasn’t playin’. We was almost boxed in,” he \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fyqEYQQW2U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told Vlad TV in 2016\u003c/a>.) And in 1995, when both MCs were on set for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8VoRj9Vd4o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">final episode of \u003cem>Yo! MTV Raps\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Hammer approached Redman and reportedly said, “Red? I’m gonna tell you something. You’re young. But I don’t allow nobody to talk about my mama. You understand me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman later admitted that his response to Hammer was, “Yes, sir!” He elaborated: “I got the message. I heard about [Hammer] and I seen [his] work … I’m good, my brother. Because I’ve gotta come to the west coast and get money. I like it out there. I like the Bay Area. So fuck that, you’re right. I won’t talk about your mama.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redman admits he learned his lesson. “That goddamn MC Hammer? Very serious about beef. Y’all motherfuckers laugh and y’all joke about Hammer? No, no, no, no … When anybody that talked shit came to the Bay Area, they was in for it. ‘Cause we seen it. I seen it.”\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/0fyqEYQQW2U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/0fyqEYQQW2U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Too Short\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a 2018 interview, Too Short expressed respect for MC Hammer, having come up around the same time. “Hammer was a big dog,” Too Short said. “He got respect in the streets. He came from a respected crew. They handled business. Him and his brother Louis and the crew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the alleged hit Hammer put out on MC Serch, Too Short said the only part he didn’t believe was the $50,000—because Hammer would never have to pay for such services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without spending any money, he coulda told people to fuck [MC Serch] the fuck up,” Too Short said. “I know who Hammer was affiliated with and he wouldn’t have to pay to tell somebody to fuck somebody up. His people would just do it. We’re from Oakland. Like, he wouldn’t even have to say it.”\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/aOHupZPsWD0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/aOHupZPsWD0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>E-40 and Fat Joe\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a 2020 chat with E-40 for \u003cem>All Urban Central\u003c/em>, Fat Joe mentioned encountering Hammer one time in the Las Vegas airport. Joe said Hammer greeted him warmly, then proceeded to explain that he wasn’t to be trifled with. “He was like, ‘You know I get it poppin’ for real’,” Joe recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E-40 was in no way surprised by this news. “Well, he’s from Oakland for one,” the Vallejo rapper responded. “He’s from the Town. He’s highly respected and connected, you know what I mean? All the fixtures and factors know him, he knows them. He rocks it. He’s heavy. His brother’s gangsta … [Hammer] is far from a sucka. And Hammer’s physically fit. You know, he’ll put hands on you.”\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/tuwwd7eb-lA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/tuwwd7eb-lA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>OutKast\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s possible that Big Boi puts it best here, and the most succinctly: “Hammer will beat yo’ ass.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Let’s end with an apt word from the man himself…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "These Oakland Artists Transformed their Greatest Pain into Purpose",
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"content": "\u003cp>As an artist and educator, Karega Bailey maintained a message of peace, hope and liberation. But after he lost his brother to gun violence in 2014, his grief tested him; he felt sick with revenge and hopelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turning to his faith, family and writing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.solandlove.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bailey\u003c/a>, who is the MC of \u003ca href=\"https://soldevelopment.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SOL Development\u003c/a>, an Oakland-based hip-hop, jazz and soul ensemble, eventually found his voice and purpose again. Crucial to that journey was connecting with \u003ca href=\"https://be-imaginative.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BE-IMAGINATIVE\u003c/a>, a collective dedicated to healing Black and brown communities through storytelling. In healing circles and musical experiences, Bailey and SOL Development channeled their grief and love into tangible support for mothers whose children have been taken by gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bailey’s story is at the center \u003ca href=\"https://www.whenthewatersgetdeep.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>When the Waters Get Deep\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, an award-winning short documentary that premieres on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7Oxr5knNkZ8SlryFZnq0g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED Arts YouTube channel\u003c/a>, Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6pm PST. But the 36-minute documentary is also the story of \u003ca href=\"https://www.solaurenmusic.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauren Adams\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mothermag.com/sol-affirmations-felicia-gangloff-bailey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Felicia Gangloff-Bailey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896788/a-new-kind-of-mothers-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brittany Tanner\u003c/a>—the members of SOL Development— and members of BE-IMAGINATIVE, as they embody a new vision for how art and music can reflect a community’s pain and work to heal its traumas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13909116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13909116\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Karega, sitting on floor, holds a family photo to the camera, as his parents sit on a couch behind him. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karega Bailey, sitting with parents Sharon Bailey and Calbert “Sonny” Johnson, shares a photograph of his brother, Kareem Johnson. \u003ccite>(Elie M. Khadra )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I no longer could withhold the observation of living the Black experience,” says Bailey in a scene from the documentary. “We understand the helicopters. We understand police brutality. But we also understand our light within, and what our response can be to these circumstances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>When the Waters Get Deep \u003c/i>won Best Short Documentary at the Oakland International Film Festival in 2020, and at the 2021 National Black Film Festival. The YouTube premiere will also include a new epilogue, and a live moderated chat with members of SOL Development, BE-IMAGINATIVE, and the filmmaking team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As an artist and educator, Karega Bailey maintained a message of peace, hope and liberation. But after he lost his brother to gun violence in 2014, his grief tested him; he felt sick with revenge and hopelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turning to his faith, family and writing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.solandlove.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bailey\u003c/a>, who is the MC of \u003ca href=\"https://soldevelopment.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SOL Development\u003c/a>, an Oakland-based hip-hop, jazz and soul ensemble, eventually found his voice and purpose again. Crucial to that journey was connecting with \u003ca href=\"https://be-imaginative.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BE-IMAGINATIVE\u003c/a>, a collective dedicated to healing Black and brown communities through storytelling. In healing circles and musical experiences, Bailey and SOL Development channeled their grief and love into tangible support for mothers whose children have been taken by gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bailey’s story is at the center \u003ca href=\"https://www.whenthewatersgetdeep.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>When the Waters Get Deep\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, an award-winning short documentary that premieres on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7Oxr5knNkZ8SlryFZnq0g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED Arts YouTube channel\u003c/a>, Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6pm PST. But the 36-minute documentary is also the story of \u003ca href=\"https://www.solaurenmusic.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauren Adams\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mothermag.com/sol-affirmations-felicia-gangloff-bailey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Felicia Gangloff-Bailey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896788/a-new-kind-of-mothers-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brittany Tanner\u003c/a>—the members of SOL Development— and members of BE-IMAGINATIVE, as they embody a new vision for how art and music can reflect a community’s pain and work to heal its traumas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13909116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13909116\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Karega, sitting on floor, holds a family photo to the camera, as his parents sit on a couch behind him. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/WWGD_Stills_5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karega Bailey, sitting with parents Sharon Bailey and Calbert “Sonny” Johnson, shares a photograph of his brother, Kareem Johnson. \u003ccite>(Elie M. Khadra )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I no longer could withhold the observation of living the Black experience,” says Bailey in a scene from the documentary. “We understand the helicopters. We understand police brutality. But we also understand our light within, and what our response can be to these circumstances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>When the Waters Get Deep \u003c/i>won Best Short Documentary at the Oakland International Film Festival in 2020, and at the 2021 National Black Film Festival. The YouTube premiere will also include a new epilogue, and a live moderated chat with members of SOL Development, BE-IMAGINATIVE, and the filmmaking team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Rihanna has brought the world many gifts. She’s an influential musician, actress, cosmetics and lingerie mogul, billionaire and national hero of her native Barbados.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now she’s poised to add another title to that list: parent. The global superstar is expecting her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Photos of the couple walking hand-in-hand in New York City are making the rounds on Twitter, with news of their announcement spreading like wildfire across social media and celebrity-focused media outlets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/CoutureIsBeyond/status/1488170065686114309\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The power couple’s exact relationship timeline is unclear, but they reportedly went official in the summer of 2020. They made their red carpet debut at the 2021 Met Gala in September, which made headlines while simultaneously being very casual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We weren’t even sure if we were going to go, so separately we were planning our looks just to be prepared,” Rihanna later told E! News. “We ended up getting ready together and going and I didn’t even realize we were on a carpet together until somebody said, ‘You’re making your debut,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, s––t.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A$AP Rocky spoke about their relationship in an interview with GQ in May 2021, in which he called Rihanna “the love of my life” and “the One.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked whether he was ready to be a father at some point, he said he thought he would be an “incredible, remarkably, overall amazing dad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have a very fly child,” he said. “Very.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Rihanna told Vogue in May 2020 that she wants to have three or four kids, and would do it on her own if she didn’t meet the right person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like society makes me want to feel like, ‘Oh, you got it wrong…’ They diminish you as a mother if there’s not a dad in your kids’ lives,” she said. “But the only thing that matters is happiness, that’s the only healthy relationship between a parent and a child. That’s the only thing that can raise a child truly, is love.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We weren’t even sure if we were going to go, so separately we were planning our looks just to be prepared,” Rihanna later told E! News. “We ended up getting ready together and going and I didn’t even realize we were on a carpet together until somebody said, ‘You’re making your debut,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, s––t.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A$AP Rocky spoke about their relationship in an interview with GQ in May 2021, in which he called Rihanna “the love of my life” and “the One.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked whether he was ready to be a father at some point, he said he thought he would be an “incredible, remarkably, overall amazing dad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have a very fly child,” he said. “Very.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Rihanna told Vogue in May 2020 that she wants to have three or four kids, and would do it on her own if she didn’t meet the right person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like society makes me want to feel like, ‘Oh, you got it wrong…’ They diminish you as a mother if there’s not a dad in your kids’ lives,” she said. “But the only thing that matters is happiness, that’s the only healthy relationship between a parent and a child. That’s the only thing that can raise a child truly, is love.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Elujay's Bright R&B Emerges From Two of the Hardest Years of His Life",
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"content": "\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://elujay.com/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elujay\u003c/a>‘s latest music videos, he appears through a grainy lens that calls to mind vintage footage of a ’70s rock star on his day off. Dressed in effortlessly cool ensembles of slouchy bellbottoms, silk scarves and crocheted hats, he’s hanging out in lush landscapes, spending time with beautiful friends or looking out tranquilly into the Pacific Ocean. You’d never guess that he’s in the process of slowly emerging from two of the darkest years of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/4XIQJ95bBKkckzNdWjGMnq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>\u003c/a> might be Elujay’s most thoughtfully composed project thus far, but the story behind his new album is not so sunny. The neo-soul singer and producer, originally from Oakland and now based in Los Angeles, had been on a career upswing when the pandemic swept the United States in 2020. Not only were his live shows canceled, but witnessing so much suffering paralyzed his creative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Why am I making music when there’s people just dying in the hospital?’ You know?” says the artist, born Ian Jackson, in a recent video interview from his L.A. home. “Like just reading all those numbers, it just effed me up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/aH5Xw4S43-E\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things got worse when Elujay himself contracted COVID-19, not once, but twice. During his second bout of illness, in the fall of 2020, he was bedridden for months. Vaccines weren’t available yet, and his throat was too sore to even think about singing. He barely even had the stamina to sit up at his desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It felt like a terminal disease,” he recalls with audible unease. “I lost a shit ton of weight, I was barely eating enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were other difficulties he doesn’t get into in great detail during our interview, including losing his grandmother. As frustrating as this period of forced stillness was, the grief and setbacks of the past two years also gave Elujay the chance to immerse himself in new sounds. A steady diet of Stevie Wonder, The Blackbyrds and Johnny Hammond had trained Elujay’s ear for writing smooth, groovy melodies that evoked a time when R&B was in constant dialogue with jazz and funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But during the pandemic, he started gravitating to stranger, less straightforwardly pretty music. Japanese psych-rock band \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgUeyEltec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fishmans\u003c/a>, which formed in the late ’80s, became one of his go-tos. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCOgvAIL3_U&t=533s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grouper\u003c/a>‘s ghostly indie folk, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/E2qLD9c3Gq4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Burial\u003c/a>‘s electronic dub and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/DWuAn6C8Mfc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Radiohead\u003c/a>‘s intricate art rock were in heavy rotation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/DVORzjPrnwg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These artists helped him tune into a different side of his creative self. “I’ve gotten a point in my artistry where I understand how to write a song. Now it’s all about breaking the rules a bit more and trying to do something a little unconventional,” Elujay says, adding that he mulled over a lot of the musical ideas on \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em> while hiking among redwoods around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>‘s 11 tracks, his growth is audible. The songwriting is confident and polished, yet there are sneaky surprises that skew the picture in ways that make you want to listen again. Take the syncopated drums on intro track “Hummingbird (quiet as Kept),” where Elujay tries to make sense of his life path while the pandemic exposes the ambient cruelty of American society. “You’re entitled to fulfill your own life / But you gotta answer on the day you die,” he sings softly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the cool thing about this album, as opposed to my other ones, is that it was definitely, like, 100% related to experience,” says the 25-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/o7cXhrAmP10\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other tracks, like “Ratrace,” directly allude to the way a COVID-era capitalistic hellscape warps our psychology (“It’s easier to dissociate” is one refrain), some songs on the project offer more of an escape. “Luvaroq,” featuring baroque indie-pop singer serpentwithfeet (who is about to go on tour with Björk), soothes with the gentle sway of reggae as Elujay lays on the charm. The singer says the Caribbean vibe is a nod to his Trinidadian roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the protests [of 2020] started happening, that’s kind of when I was really getting back into reggae again,” says Elujay. “I was trying to ease my nerves with relaxing music, and it was just nice to play throughout the house. I played it for four months straight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/fH9jutinVP8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elujay is back in good health, but the pandemic still shows no signs of ending. And though big arenas have largely gone on with business as usual, independent venues and artists have canceled events to protect performers, fans and staff from the omicron variant in recent months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elujay wants to get back to live performance this spring. In the meantime, he’s kept his music out there with Spotify playlist placements. You’ll find him on a popular one called “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2yvmlOdMYzV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Low-Key\u003c/a>” next to genre-bending, soul-adjacent acts like Khraungbin and Tirza. Brand collaborations have also gotten his name out well beyond the Bay: he scored the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CTr_oTOA9Zr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fall 2021 New York Fashion Week show\u003c/a> for \u003ca href=\"https://www.complex.com/style/tombogo-the-utilitarian-brand-capturing-j-balvin-kehlani-bad-bunny-attention-tommy-bogo-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tombogo\u003c/a>, an Oakland streetwear designer favored by J Balvin and other pop stars. But the constant flux of pandemic life is making Elujay recalculate and go inward once again. He wants to take more piano and voice lessons, and to lean into his visual talents (he co-directed the action-thriller music video for “Frequently,” which also appears on \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I’m in a student phase right now,” he says. “I want to be around people that teach me things. I don’t want to be the smartest one in the room.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://elujay.com/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elujay\u003c/a>‘s latest music videos, he appears through a grainy lens that calls to mind vintage footage of a ’70s rock star on his day off. Dressed in effortlessly cool ensembles of slouchy bellbottoms, silk scarves and crocheted hats, he’s hanging out in lush landscapes, spending time with beautiful friends or looking out tranquilly into the Pacific Ocean. You’d never guess that he’s in the process of slowly emerging from two of the darkest years of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/4XIQJ95bBKkckzNdWjGMnq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>\u003c/a> might be Elujay’s most thoughtfully composed project thus far, but the story behind his new album is not so sunny. The neo-soul singer and producer, originally from Oakland and now based in Los Angeles, had been on a career upswing when the pandemic swept the United States in 2020. Not only were his live shows canceled, but witnessing so much suffering paralyzed his creative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Why am I making music when there’s people just dying in the hospital?’ You know?” says the artist, born Ian Jackson, in a recent video interview from his L.A. home. “Like just reading all those numbers, it just effed me up.”\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/aH5Xw4S43-E'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/aH5Xw4S43-E'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Things got worse when Elujay himself contracted COVID-19, not once, but twice. During his second bout of illness, in the fall of 2020, he was bedridden for months. Vaccines weren’t available yet, and his throat was too sore to even think about singing. He barely even had the stamina to sit up at his desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It felt like a terminal disease,” he recalls with audible unease. “I lost a shit ton of weight, I was barely eating enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were other difficulties he doesn’t get into in great detail during our interview, including losing his grandmother. As frustrating as this period of forced stillness was, the grief and setbacks of the past two years also gave Elujay the chance to immerse himself in new sounds. A steady diet of Stevie Wonder, The Blackbyrds and Johnny Hammond had trained Elujay’s ear for writing smooth, groovy melodies that evoked a time when R&B was in constant dialogue with jazz and funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But during the pandemic, he started gravitating to stranger, less straightforwardly pretty music. Japanese psych-rock band \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgUeyEltec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fishmans\u003c/a>, which formed in the late ’80s, became one of his go-tos. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCOgvAIL3_U&t=533s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grouper\u003c/a>‘s ghostly indie folk, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/E2qLD9c3Gq4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Burial\u003c/a>‘s electronic dub and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/DWuAn6C8Mfc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Radiohead\u003c/a>‘s intricate art rock were in heavy rotation.\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/DVORzjPrnwg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/DVORzjPrnwg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>These artists helped him tune into a different side of his creative self. “I’ve gotten a point in my artistry where I understand how to write a song. Now it’s all about breaking the rules a bit more and trying to do something a little unconventional,” Elujay says, adding that he mulled over a lot of the musical ideas on \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em> while hiking among redwoods around the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>‘s 11 tracks, his growth is audible. The songwriting is confident and polished, yet there are sneaky surprises that skew the picture in ways that make you want to listen again. Take the syncopated drums on intro track “Hummingbird (quiet as Kept),” where Elujay tries to make sense of his life path while the pandemic exposes the ambient cruelty of American society. “You’re entitled to fulfill your own life / But you gotta answer on the day you die,” he sings softly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the cool thing about this album, as opposed to my other ones, is that it was definitely, like, 100% related to experience,” says the 25-year-old.\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/o7cXhrAmP10'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/o7cXhrAmP10'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>While other tracks, like “Ratrace,” directly allude to the way a COVID-era capitalistic hellscape warps our psychology (“It’s easier to dissociate” is one refrain), some songs on the project offer more of an escape. “Luvaroq,” featuring baroque indie-pop singer serpentwithfeet (who is about to go on tour with Björk), soothes with the gentle sway of reggae as Elujay lays on the charm. The singer says the Caribbean vibe is a nod to his Trinidadian roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the protests [of 2020] started happening, that’s kind of when I was really getting back into reggae again,” says Elujay. “I was trying to ease my nerves with relaxing music, and it was just nice to play throughout the house. I played it for four months straight.”\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/fH9jutinVP8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/fH9jutinVP8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Elujay is back in good health, but the pandemic still shows no signs of ending. And though big arenas have largely gone on with business as usual, independent venues and artists have canceled events to protect performers, fans and staff from the omicron variant in recent months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elujay wants to get back to live performance this spring. In the meantime, he’s kept his music out there with Spotify playlist placements. You’ll find him on a popular one called “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2yvmlOdMYzV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Low-Key\u003c/a>” next to genre-bending, soul-adjacent acts like Khraungbin and Tirza. Brand collaborations have also gotten his name out well beyond the Bay: he scored the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CTr_oTOA9Zr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fall 2021 New York Fashion Week show\u003c/a> for \u003ca href=\"https://www.complex.com/style/tombogo-the-utilitarian-brand-capturing-j-balvin-kehlani-bad-bunny-attention-tommy-bogo-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tombogo\u003c/a>, an Oakland streetwear designer favored by J Balvin and other pop stars. But the constant flux of pandemic life is making Elujay recalculate and go inward once again. He wants to take more piano and voice lessons, and to lean into his visual talents (he co-directed the action-thriller music video for “Frequently,” which also appears on \u003cem>Circmvnt\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I’m in a student phase right now,” he says. “I want to be around people that teach me things. I don’t want to be the smartest one in the room.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nside Bar Shiru, a Tokyo-inspired cocktail lounge in uptown Oakland, an Aretha Franklin vinyl is spinning. Founded by a pair of jazz aficionados, the dimly lit establishment features a collection of records so extensive you’d need a library ladder to reach every shelf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the perfect place to meet Ovrkast., a 23-year-old lyricist and producer whose recording studio is around the corner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s in the farthest nook, buried inside Questlove’s memoir, \u003cem>Mo’ Meta Blues\u003c/em>. Despite the buzzing environment around him, he’s strictly focused on the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Questlove] is a genius,” he tells me. The book is just one source of current inspiration for the open-minded artist, who says he has been reading widely and taking daily hikes to start his mornings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A self-taught musician who bounced around Oakland Unified School District as a teen, he’s been making a name for himself and reaching beyond the Bay to collaborate with notable rappers with impressive cult followings, including L.A.’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/33dOfY6ZAjM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Earl Sweatshirt\u003c/a>, Charlotte’s MAVI, and Cincinnati’s \u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/uck-ft-pink-siifu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pink Siifu\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Ovrkast. released his anticipated debut album, \u003cem>Try Again. \u003c/em>Then the pandemic hit. Still, he’s been able to accumulate over 18,000 followers on social media and has topped a million streams on Spotify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=373791841/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the ongoing pandemic has significantly reduced his ability to tour and organically collaborate with new artists, Ovrkast. has used the detour as a way to cultivate personal and creative growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I dropped \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> and the pandemic happened, it was kind of a blessing because people were forced to sit down with it and actually listen,” he says. “That was basically me coming to understand that art is a real process and I need to be patient. It’s not just lyrical or instrumental. It’s about the whole human experience. I’m still growing and changing as a young adult, and this album is a reflection of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than being discouraged by quarantine, the emerging artist found motivation to engage with his craft in new ways. Within a year, he put out multiple drum kits (which are basically collections of sounds for music producers) and beat tapes (most recently \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/ovrkast/early-autumn-school-clothes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Early Autumn School Clothes\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which he initially distributed via USB stick). Then he delivered 2021’s \u003cem>Try Again (Deluxe)\u003c/em>, one of last year’s best rap contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original version of \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> is a certified head-nodder, and the deluxe package includes “Love Somebody,” a standout addition that gives a heartwarming ode to his newborn nephew. The revamped album also adds a throwback-style extension to the end of “Outro (It’s Time)”—implementing a “hidden-track” method that extends the song by an extra 90 seconds of empty noise before transitioning into the three bonus songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/VYA152-3qSA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On both versions of the project, his raps drift along like dreamy hues floating over muffled instrumentals, evoking an impromptu jazz session. The gentle production intentionally omits any of the rattling bass or aggressive punchlines that many East Oakland rappers are famous for. The result is an elegantly curated and textured portrait of a young artist who is capable of giving listeners “\u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/2-minute-bars-ft-mavi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2 Minute Bars\u003c/a>” of rhythm-assisted poetry and personal musings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1184897953&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would just listen to everything and mimic whatever I could discover,” Ovrkast. says of his younger days. “After school, I’d be making beats everyday. Once I heard the results, people liked it and I started grinding out. Some of my friends came by and we started rapping as a group called Kinfolk. That was my first roots on the microphone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lists Knxwledge., Odd Future, Capital Steez, Flying Lotus and mixtape sites like DatPiff as early influences. But he doesn’t force himself into any category, either. It’s precisely this degree of alternative mindset, weirdness and vulnerability that draws me—and his sizable group of listeners—back for more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ovrkast. exudes a refreshing sense of humility and unguarded authenticity with lines like “[I] love keeping quiet ’til I throw a beat to it” on “Uck” or “All praise to the shit I don’t know, different ages / Tryna learn this shit is how it goes, flippin’ pages” on “AllPraise.” In a time when social media-fueled narcissism dominates our screens, Ovrkast. stands out as a free-spirited wanderer driven by quiet, internal contemplation—something he says originated from his youth and is reflected in his stage name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always loved rain and Oakland hoodie weather,” he says. “When it was raining I could just be inside, drawing, looking up music. That’s where the idea of Ovrkast. came from. I cherish that feeling. That combination of rain, music and calmness all go together. It helped me with my anxiety.” [aside postid='arts_13907735']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From start to finish, \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> delivers bars with cool restraint and understated insight. Even when it’s hype, it seems laidback. The album is reflective of a sound and style that has been associated with a new wave of rap that \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/mavi-is-making-introverted-rap-for-black-liberation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pitchfork writer Sheldon Pearce called “introverted.”\u003c/a> It’s hip-hop that lingers beneath the surface and operates on intuition, self-empowerment and free association rather than braggadocious claims or capitalistic assertions of materialism. It’s an audio experience that feels more amoebic than linear—more inward than outward—and doesn’t slap from speakers as much as it soothes and spills freely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13908076\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13908076\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ovrkast. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile reflecting on his experiences, Ovrkast. makes sure to credit mentors like his music production teacher, Mr. Holiday—who first introduced him to a recording studio at Bunche Academy in West Oakland, which Ovrkast. attended for two years. He also mentions like-minded Oakland rappers \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nimsins/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nimsins\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://demahjiae.bandcamp.com/album/and-such-is-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demahjiae\u003c/a>, who have similarly deviated from the prescribed sound path of regional rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Mr. Holiday] would see me at lunchtime and ask if I wanted to make music,” he recalls. “That’s where I first started making beats and found an underground world of instrumentals. It wasn’t until I graduated that I realized the gravity of a dream I had to make an album and be among the other artists I listened to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of Ovrkast.’s album is self-produced, and he isn’t backed by any label. Though he stumbled through it all, he was never afraid to “try again” and experiment with the unknown. Lately, that means he’s been learning how to play drums and piano to incorporate new instruments into upcoming work. For him, growth as a person and musician are part of a simultaneous process that requires mindfulness, practice and a long-term outlook that allows for adaptation. But for now, Ovrkast. should relish the “\u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/church-ft-demahjiae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Church\u003c/a>”—the title of one of my favorite tracks—that he has built for himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[\u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em>] was really my third real time trying to make an album,” he admits. “I wasn’t focused and was teetering. Once I let go of trying to force something, I just let it float around. That’s when I felt most confident and could give a snapshot of my life in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a perfectly timed opportunity for listeners to re-engage with his music, which emphasizes how we don’t always need to be flawless—especially as we enter a new year.\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\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>nside Bar Shiru, a Tokyo-inspired cocktail lounge in uptown Oakland, an Aretha Franklin vinyl is spinning. Founded by a pair of jazz aficionados, the dimly lit establishment features a collection of records so extensive you’d need a library ladder to reach every shelf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the perfect place to meet Ovrkast., a 23-year-old lyricist and producer whose recording studio is around the corner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s in the farthest nook, buried inside Questlove’s memoir, \u003cem>Mo’ Meta Blues\u003c/em>. Despite the buzzing environment around him, he’s strictly focused on the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Questlove] is a genius,” he tells me. The book is just one source of current inspiration for the open-minded artist, who says he has been reading widely and taking daily hikes to start his mornings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A self-taught musician who bounced around Oakland Unified School District as a teen, he’s been making a name for himself and reaching beyond the Bay to collaborate with notable rappers with impressive cult followings, including L.A.’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/33dOfY6ZAjM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Earl Sweatshirt\u003c/a>, Charlotte’s MAVI, and Cincinnati’s \u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/uck-ft-pink-siifu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pink Siifu\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Ovrkast. released his anticipated debut album, \u003cem>Try Again. \u003c/em>Then the pandemic hit. Still, he’s been able to accumulate over 18,000 followers on social media and has topped a million streams on Spotify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=373791841/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the ongoing pandemic has significantly reduced his ability to tour and organically collaborate with new artists, Ovrkast. has used the detour as a way to cultivate personal and creative growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I dropped \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> and the pandemic happened, it was kind of a blessing because people were forced to sit down with it and actually listen,” he says. “That was basically me coming to understand that art is a real process and I need to be patient. It’s not just lyrical or instrumental. It’s about the whole human experience. I’m still growing and changing as a young adult, and this album is a reflection of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than being discouraged by quarantine, the emerging artist found motivation to engage with his craft in new ways. Within a year, he put out multiple drum kits (which are basically collections of sounds for music producers) and beat tapes (most recently \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/ovrkast/early-autumn-school-clothes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Early Autumn School Clothes\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which he initially distributed via USB stick). Then he delivered 2021’s \u003cem>Try Again (Deluxe)\u003c/em>, one of last year’s best rap contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original version of \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> is a certified head-nodder, and the deluxe package includes “Love Somebody,” a standout addition that gives a heartwarming ode to his newborn nephew. The revamped album also adds a throwback-style extension to the end of “Outro (It’s Time)”—implementing a “hidden-track” method that extends the song by an extra 90 seconds of empty noise before transitioning into the three bonus songs.\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/VYA152-3qSA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/VYA152-3qSA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>On both versions of the project, his raps drift along like dreamy hues floating over muffled instrumentals, evoking an impromptu jazz session. The gentle production intentionally omits any of the rattling bass or aggressive punchlines that many East Oakland rappers are famous for. The result is an elegantly curated and textured portrait of a young artist who is capable of giving listeners “\u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/2-minute-bars-ft-mavi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2 Minute Bars\u003c/a>” of rhythm-assisted poetry and personal musings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1184897953&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would just listen to everything and mimic whatever I could discover,” Ovrkast. says of his younger days. “After school, I’d be making beats everyday. Once I heard the results, people liked it and I started grinding out. Some of my friends came by and we started rapping as a group called Kinfolk. That was my first roots on the microphone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lists Knxwledge., Odd Future, Capital Steez, Flying Lotus and mixtape sites like DatPiff as early influences. But he doesn’t force himself into any category, either. It’s precisely this degree of alternative mindset, weirdness and vulnerability that draws me—and his sizable group of listeners—back for more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ovrkast. exudes a refreshing sense of humility and unguarded authenticity with lines like “[I] love keeping quiet ’til I throw a beat to it” on “Uck” or “All praise to the shit I don’t know, different ages / Tryna learn this shit is how it goes, flippin’ pages” on “AllPraise.” In a time when social media-fueled narcissism dominates our screens, Ovrkast. stands out as a free-spirited wanderer driven by quiet, internal contemplation—something he says originated from his youth and is reflected in his stage name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always loved rain and Oakland hoodie weather,” he says. “When it was raining I could just be inside, drawing, looking up music. That’s where the idea of Ovrkast. came from. I cherish that feeling. That combination of rain, music and calmness all go together. It helped me with my anxiety.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From start to finish, \u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em> delivers bars with cool restraint and understated insight. Even when it’s hype, it seems laidback. The album is reflective of a sound and style that has been associated with a new wave of rap that \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/mavi-is-making-introverted-rap-for-black-liberation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pitchfork writer Sheldon Pearce called “introverted.”\u003c/a> It’s hip-hop that lingers beneath the surface and operates on intuition, self-empowerment and free association rather than braggadocious claims or capitalistic assertions of materialism. It’s an audio experience that feels more amoebic than linear—more inward than outward—and doesn’t slap from speakers as much as it soothes and spills freely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13908076\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13908076\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/image2-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ovrkast. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hile reflecting on his experiences, Ovrkast. makes sure to credit mentors like his music production teacher, Mr. Holiday—who first introduced him to a recording studio at Bunche Academy in West Oakland, which Ovrkast. attended for two years. He also mentions like-minded Oakland rappers \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nimsins/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nimsins\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://demahjiae.bandcamp.com/album/and-such-is-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demahjiae\u003c/a>, who have similarly deviated from the prescribed sound path of regional rap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Mr. Holiday] would see me at lunchtime and ask if I wanted to make music,” he recalls. “That’s where I first started making beats and found an underground world of instrumentals. It wasn’t until I graduated that I realized the gravity of a dream I had to make an album and be among the other artists I listened to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of Ovrkast.’s album is self-produced, and he isn’t backed by any label. Though he stumbled through it all, he was never afraid to “try again” and experiment with the unknown. Lately, that means he’s been learning how to play drums and piano to incorporate new instruments into upcoming work. For him, growth as a person and musician are part of a simultaneous process that requires mindfulness, practice and a long-term outlook that allows for adaptation. But for now, Ovrkast. should relish the “\u003ca href=\"https://itsovrkast.bandcamp.com/track/church-ft-demahjiae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Church\u003c/a>”—the title of one of my favorite tracks—that he has built for himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[\u003cem>Try Again\u003c/em>] was really my third real time trying to make an album,” he admits. “I wasn’t focused and was teetering. Once I let go of trying to force something, I just let it float around. That’s when I felt most confident and could give a snapshot of my life in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a perfectly timed opportunity for listeners to re-engage with his music, which emphasizes how we don’t always need to be flawless—especially as we enter a new year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In Bay Area hip-hop, where San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and Vallejo reign supreme, a producer from San Jose united the region and became a key architect of one of its most notable musical movements: hyphy. The party-centric subgenre became the Bay Area’s signature sound in the 2000s, and wouldn’t have been possible without Traxamillion’s uptempo, bass-heavy production on essential tracks like Keak Da Sneak’s “Super Hyphy,” The Jacka’s “Glamorous Lifestyle” and Traxamillion’s own “Sideshow,” featuring Too $hort and Mistah F.A.B. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion, born Sultan Banks, died at the age of 42 on Jan. 2 at his aunt’s home in Santa Clara, where he was receiving in-home care for nasopharyngeal cancer. He is survived by his 19-year-old son Elijah Banks, his father Darryl Cudgel and countless friends and collaborators from the Bay Area hip-hop community, where he was a key figure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my loss—it’s every rapper, it’s everybody in the Bay—it’s all our loss,” says Too $hort. “It’s a family, it goes generations. And he was a real member of that family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really left his impact on the culture, on the music we listen to, what we like, our style of music. You know, the whole hyphy movement,” says Keak Da Sneak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rest in heaven, man, Trax, we love you,” he continues. “You’ll always be in our hearts, you’ll never be forgotten. We made history together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13907708\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-800x1200.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of hip-hop producer Traxamillion, who died Jan. 2, 2022 at 42 years old.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13907708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-800x1200.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1020x1530.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-160x240.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1365x2048.jpeg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1920x2880.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-scaled.jpeg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traxamillion. \u003ccite>(Kevin Allen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A San Jose prodigy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in San Jose from the age of nine, Traxamillion began making beats at 12 years old on a keyboard his grandmother gave him for Christmas. “I used to listen to the radio all the time and just play the songs on the radio,” he said in 2016 during a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-_ZsLFIwmM\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">music workshop for youth at the San Jose Public Library\u003c/a>. “That’s how I really learned how to make beats. I felt like I was able to get a peek inside [the artists’] mind and how they did this.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion was just 14 when he showed up to a backyard MC battle in San Jose and promptly blew away the competition, according to Demone Carter, now a co-host of the rap podcast \u003cem>Dad Bod Rap Pod\u003c/em>. Soon after, Traxamillion recorded a diss track in his bedroom to another rapper in town, then showed up to school with hand-dubbed cassette tapes of the song, and handed all 20 or 30 of them out to fellow classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know he is renowned as a producer, but his rap chops are fuckin’ incredible. He had the rhythm, and the cadence, and the voice,” says Carter. “You could hear the musicality in his raps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Traxamillion was producing and rapping alongside Carter and Jesse Jones in a group called Lackadaisical, heavily inspired by Oakland’s Souls of Mischief and fellow San Jose crew The Dereliks. One of the few hip-hop groups in San Jose at the time, Lackadaisical played pep rallies, art galleries and downtown clubs, and recorded an EP that Traxamillion co-produced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were super young, didn’t have any production equipment, and he was making pause-loop tapes that we would rap to,” says Carter. “Even then, he had a vision. He wanted to go somewhere with the music—as we all did at that time, but you could tell, internally, he had it, and he wasn’t afraid to own it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/eumCos1fh5Y\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Lackadaisical disbanded, Traxamillion set his sights beyond the underground scene. With an eye toward the millennial success of producers like The Neptunes, Traxamillion bought new equipment and evolved his production style, combining the high-energy Latin freestyle he’d heard growing up among San Jose’s immigrant communities with the futuristic knock of Timbaland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back in the hyphy movement, one of the main conversations going on was, ‘We need to be able to compete on a national level.’ A lot of other regions had their producers, and we had ours, but there had been a lull in the Bay Area,” remembers fellow hip-hop producer Trackademicks, who came up with Traxamillion in the early 2000s. “It was time for new folks. … Traxamillion was kind of the big breakout for the hyphy movement.” \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A key architect of hyphy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One night at a party in San Jose, Traxamillion watched people doing a new dance with a particular manic energy. “So I was tryin’ to figure out a beat that went with that while they was in the room dancin’,” \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/mu/podcast/episode-30-super-hyphy-with-guest-traxamillion/id1369624840?i=1000416187793\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Traxamillion told \u003cem>Dad Bod Rap Pod\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' citation='Keak Da Sneak']“He really left his impact on the culture, on the music we listen to, what we like, our style of music. You know, the whole hyphy movement.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knew the beat was special, so he waited outside the stage door after a Keak da Sneak show and passed him a CD. Keak nodded and continued to his van. A few months later, in 2005, Keak’s recording of “Super Hyphy” became Traxamillion’s first hit—and a tectonic shift for Bay Area hip-hop. The song not only coalesced new, frenetic musical ideas bubbling in the region, it coined an entire era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I first met Keak, he told me, ‘Man, your beats and my voice—it’s a marriage,’” \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2022/01/rip-bay-genius-producer-traxamillion-read-our-profile-from-2006/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Traxamillion told \u003cem>San Francisco Bay Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 2006. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/w7zd6fVCORE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Super Hyphy” hit No. 40 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart, and took a local movement to the national stage. Propelled by Traxamillion’s production–along with that of Rick Rock, The Mekanix, Droop-E, Sean T and others–hyphy became the West Coast’s answer to Atlanta’s crunk sound that dominated the airwaves at the time. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hyphy movement birthed huge songs—E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go,” Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself,” Mistah F.A.B.’s “N.E.W. Oakland”—but “Super Hyphy” was, indisputably, its namesake anthem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact of that song—that song will never die,” says Keak Da Sneak, adding that he and Traxamillion continued to work together throughout the years and have unreleased music in the pipeline. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We always had fun doing music,” he says. “We would get in there and it would turn into something, you know what I mean. A lot of people don’t just got that ability to always come up with something good. This is a chemistry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Traxamillion the composer created sonic adventures that exemplified Bay Area culture,” Mistah F.A.B. says via text message. “I will forever be in debt for what he did, not only for me personally but his role in the elevation and recognition of my region. Stanley to Sultan, thank you for being a friend … way deeper than music.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/h4d7UwaNrIQ\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A lasting legacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion’s mid-2000s reign continued with The Jacka’s “Glamorous Lifestyle,” and his 2006 album \u003cem>The Slapp Addict\u003c/em>—with vocals from Turf Talk, Zion I, Too $hort, Keak Da Sneak, Mistah F.A.B. and his own raps—is considered hyphy music canon. But his output never slowed. His 2016 album, \u003cem>The Tech Boom\u003c/em>, put the spotlight on his hometown, San Jose. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a legend in San Jose,” says friend and former manager Kevin “K9” Pringle, adding that Traxamillion would also make sure people outside of the city knew where he was from. “During the hyphy days everyone assumed he was from Oakland, and he would always correct them. ‘No, I’m from San Jose.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/bPbgNHDpgAY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through that connection to Pringle, a bond that formed around 2002, Traxamillion met Kevin Allen, formerly known as Erk Tha Jerk. “I called him the Timbaland of the Bay,” says Allen, explaining that Traxamillion was someone who could add a certain sauce to any given project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While recording his 2009 hit “Right Here,” Allen says Traxamillion engineered the session and contributed additional vocals. “We turned a joke into a song,” Allen reflects. “I came back the next day and he added so many layers and textures and harmonies to it, it was like OK—it’s a hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion was an organized and professional producer who worked on everything from R&B tracks to an album inspired by video game sounds, but nothing spoke more to his brand than the slaps he made during the hyphy movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' citation='Mistah F.A.B.']“I will forever be in debt for what he did, not only for me personally but his role in the elevation and recognition of my region.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re from the Bay, Trax probably did one of the biggest songs for your city,” says manager PK, noting how impressive that was for anyone—let alone someone from San Jose. Listing popular songs Traxamillion produced for The Jacka, Dem Hoodstarz and San Quinn, PK says, “There weren’t a lot of songs on the radio from the Bay before he started doing what he was doing. It was like, if you want to get on the radio, ‘I need to get with Trax, I need to make a slap.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion’s last release was his 2021 album \u003cem>Sirens\u003c/em>, which featured over a dozen up-and-coming women rappers and singers. “He spoke about how women are kind of dominating rap music right now, really doing our thing,” says Qing Qi, one of the featured artists on the album. “He was like, ‘I need to get all the talented women from the Bay Area and put them together.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qing Qi grew up listening to Traxamillion’s productions, and was nervous when she got to the studio. But she quickly found that he was a generous collaborator. “After I was done [recording], he was going crazy,” she says of their song together, “Big D.” “He was like, ‘Play it back, play it back! That’s a hit!’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/rsMhenbNtjE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a male-dominated rap scene, Qing Qi appreciated the way Traxamillion used his influence to break down gender barriers. It was an endeavor he wanted to continue. “It’s just so much more of a lane that he could have curated,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion continued to branch out and work with national acts. In 2020 he produced City Girls’ “Broke N—-s” featuring Yo Gotti, and last year he was the maestro on E-40’s track “I Stand On That” featuring Joyner Lucas and T.I. PK says that Houston’s Paul Wall also has a forthcoming project entirely produced by Traxamillion and well-known Bay Area producer RobLo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though his profile continued to grow, over the years Traxamillion kept one foot rooted in his community, working as a mentor to younger artists and high school students. “People were drawn to him and loved his music,” says PK. “He was really a better person than a producer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Traxamillion’s passing, the Bay Area mourns the loss of a great. But Traxamillion’s music and influence will endure well beyond this region for years to come. “The hyphy movement will never die if you dissect and listen to the beats,” says Too $hort. “And Trax was instrumental to that evolution. I don’t know who turned me on to Traxamillion, but once they did there was no turning back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In Bay Area hip-hop, where San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and Vallejo reign supreme, a producer from San Jose united the region and became a key architect of one of its most notable musical movements: hyphy. The party-centric subgenre became the Bay Area’s signature sound in the 2000s, and wouldn’t have been possible without Traxamillion’s uptempo, bass-heavy production on essential tracks like Keak Da Sneak’s “Super Hyphy,” The Jacka’s “Glamorous Lifestyle” and Traxamillion’s own “Sideshow,” featuring Too $hort and Mistah F.A.B. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion, born Sultan Banks, died at the age of 42 on Jan. 2 at his aunt’s home in Santa Clara, where he was receiving in-home care for nasopharyngeal cancer. He is survived by his 19-year-old son Elijah Banks, his father Darryl Cudgel and countless friends and collaborators from the Bay Area hip-hop community, where he was a key figure. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my loss—it’s every rapper, it’s everybody in the Bay—it’s all our loss,” says Too $hort. “It’s a family, it goes generations. And he was a real member of that family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really left his impact on the culture, on the music we listen to, what we like, our style of music. You know, the whole hyphy movement,” says Keak Da Sneak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rest in heaven, man, Trax, we love you,” he continues. “You’ll always be in our hearts, you’ll never be forgotten. We made history together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13907708\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-800x1200.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of hip-hop producer Traxamillion, who died Jan. 2, 2022 at 42 years old.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13907708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-800x1200.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1020x1530.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-160x240.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1365x2048.jpeg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-1920x2880.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/01/IMG_1281-scaled.jpeg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traxamillion. \u003ccite>(Kevin Allen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A San Jose prodigy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in San Jose from the age of nine, Traxamillion began making beats at 12 years old on a keyboard his grandmother gave him for Christmas. “I used to listen to the radio all the time and just play the songs on the radio,” he said in 2016 during a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-_ZsLFIwmM\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">music workshop for youth at the San Jose Public Library\u003c/a>. “That’s how I really learned how to make beats. I felt like I was able to get a peek inside [the artists’] mind and how they did this.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion was just 14 when he showed up to a backyard MC battle in San Jose and promptly blew away the competition, according to Demone Carter, now a co-host of the rap podcast \u003cem>Dad Bod Rap Pod\u003c/em>. Soon after, Traxamillion recorded a diss track in his bedroom to another rapper in town, then showed up to school with hand-dubbed cassette tapes of the song, and handed all 20 or 30 of them out to fellow classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know he is renowned as a producer, but his rap chops are fuckin’ incredible. He had the rhythm, and the cadence, and the voice,” says Carter. “You could hear the musicality in his raps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Traxamillion was producing and rapping alongside Carter and Jesse Jones in a group called Lackadaisical, heavily inspired by Oakland’s Souls of Mischief and fellow San Jose crew The Dereliks. One of the few hip-hop groups in San Jose at the time, Lackadaisical played pep rallies, art galleries and downtown clubs, and recorded an EP that Traxamillion co-produced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were super young, didn’t have any production equipment, and he was making pause-loop tapes that we would rap to,” says Carter. “Even then, he had a vision. He wanted to go somewhere with the music—as we all did at that time, but you could tell, internally, he had it, and he wasn’t afraid to own it.” \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/eumCos1fh5Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/eumCos1fh5Y'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>After Lackadaisical disbanded, Traxamillion set his sights beyond the underground scene. With an eye toward the millennial success of producers like The Neptunes, Traxamillion bought new equipment and evolved his production style, combining the high-energy Latin freestyle he’d heard growing up among San Jose’s immigrant communities with the futuristic knock of Timbaland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back in the hyphy movement, one of the main conversations going on was, ‘We need to be able to compete on a national level.’ A lot of other regions had their producers, and we had ours, but there had been a lull in the Bay Area,” remembers fellow hip-hop producer Trackademicks, who came up with Traxamillion in the early 2000s. “It was time for new folks. … Traxamillion was kind of the big breakout for the hyphy movement.” \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A key architect of hyphy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One night at a party in San Jose, Traxamillion watched people doing a new dance with a particular manic energy. “So I was tryin’ to figure out a beat that went with that while they was in the room dancin’,” \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/mu/podcast/episode-30-super-hyphy-with-guest-traxamillion/id1369624840?i=1000416187793\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Traxamillion told \u003cem>Dad Bod Rap Pod\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knew the beat was special, so he waited outside the stage door after a Keak da Sneak show and passed him a CD. Keak nodded and continued to his van. A few months later, in 2005, Keak’s recording of “Super Hyphy” became Traxamillion’s first hit—and a tectonic shift for Bay Area hip-hop. The song not only coalesced new, frenetic musical ideas bubbling in the region, it coined an entire era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I first met Keak, he told me, ‘Man, your beats and my voice—it’s a marriage,’” \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2022/01/rip-bay-genius-producer-traxamillion-read-our-profile-from-2006/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Traxamillion told \u003cem>San Francisco Bay Guardian\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 2006. \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/w7zd6fVCORE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/w7zd6fVCORE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“Super Hyphy” hit No. 40 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart, and took a local movement to the national stage. Propelled by Traxamillion’s production–along with that of Rick Rock, The Mekanix, Droop-E, Sean T and others–hyphy became the West Coast’s answer to Atlanta’s crunk sound that dominated the airwaves at the time. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hyphy movement birthed huge songs—E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go,” Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself,” Mistah F.A.B.’s “N.E.W. Oakland”—but “Super Hyphy” was, indisputably, its namesake anthem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact of that song—that song will never die,” says Keak Da Sneak, adding that he and Traxamillion continued to work together throughout the years and have unreleased music in the pipeline. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We always had fun doing music,” he says. “We would get in there and it would turn into something, you know what I mean. A lot of people don’t just got that ability to always come up with something good. This is a chemistry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Traxamillion the composer created sonic adventures that exemplified Bay Area culture,” Mistah F.A.B. says via text message. “I will forever be in debt for what he did, not only for me personally but his role in the elevation and recognition of my region. Stanley to Sultan, thank you for being a friend … way deeper than music.” \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/h4d7UwaNrIQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/h4d7UwaNrIQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>A lasting legacy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion’s mid-2000s reign continued with The Jacka’s “Glamorous Lifestyle,” and his 2006 album \u003cem>The Slapp Addict\u003c/em>—with vocals from Turf Talk, Zion I, Too $hort, Keak Da Sneak, Mistah F.A.B. and his own raps—is considered hyphy music canon. But his output never slowed. His 2016 album, \u003cem>The Tech Boom\u003c/em>, put the spotlight on his hometown, San Jose. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a legend in San Jose,” says friend and former manager Kevin “K9” Pringle, adding that Traxamillion would also make sure people outside of the city knew where he was from. “During the hyphy days everyone assumed he was from Oakland, and he would always correct them. ‘No, I’m from San Jose.’”\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/bPbgNHDpgAY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/bPbgNHDpgAY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Through that connection to Pringle, a bond that formed around 2002, Traxamillion met Kevin Allen, formerly known as Erk Tha Jerk. “I called him the Timbaland of the Bay,” says Allen, explaining that Traxamillion was someone who could add a certain sauce to any given project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While recording his 2009 hit “Right Here,” Allen says Traxamillion engineered the session and contributed additional vocals. “We turned a joke into a song,” Allen reflects. “I came back the next day and he added so many layers and textures and harmonies to it, it was like OK—it’s a hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion was an organized and professional producer who worked on everything from R&B tracks to an album inspired by video game sounds, but nothing spoke more to his brand than the slaps he made during the hyphy movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re from the Bay, Trax probably did one of the biggest songs for your city,” says manager PK, noting how impressive that was for anyone—let alone someone from San Jose. Listing popular songs Traxamillion produced for The Jacka, Dem Hoodstarz and San Quinn, PK says, “There weren’t a lot of songs on the radio from the Bay before he started doing what he was doing. It was like, if you want to get on the radio, ‘I need to get with Trax, I need to make a slap.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion’s last release was his 2021 album \u003cem>Sirens\u003c/em>, which featured over a dozen up-and-coming women rappers and singers. “He spoke about how women are kind of dominating rap music right now, really doing our thing,” says Qing Qi, one of the featured artists on the album. “He was like, ‘I need to get all the talented women from the Bay Area and put them together.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qing Qi grew up listening to Traxamillion’s productions, and was nervous when she got to the studio. But she quickly found that he was a generous collaborator. “After I was done [recording], he was going crazy,” she says of their song together, “Big D.” “He was like, ‘Play it back, play it back! That’s a hit!’”\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/rsMhenbNtjE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/rsMhenbNtjE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In a male-dominated rap scene, Qing Qi appreciated the way Traxamillion used his influence to break down gender barriers. It was an endeavor he wanted to continue. “It’s just so much more of a lane that he could have curated,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traxamillion continued to branch out and work with national acts. In 2020 he produced City Girls’ “Broke N—-s” featuring Yo Gotti, and last year he was the maestro on E-40’s track “I Stand On That” featuring Joyner Lucas and T.I. PK says that Houston’s Paul Wall also has a forthcoming project entirely produced by Traxamillion and well-known Bay Area producer RobLo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though his profile continued to grow, over the years Traxamillion kept one foot rooted in his community, working as a mentor to younger artists and high school students. “People were drawn to him and loved his music,” says PK. “He was really a better person than a producer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Traxamillion’s passing, the Bay Area mourns the loss of a great. But Traxamillion’s music and influence will endure well beyond this region for years to come. “The hyphy movement will never die if you dissect and listen to the beats,” says Too $hort. “And Trax was instrumental to that evolution. I don’t know who turned me on to Traxamillion, but once they did there was no turning back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The 10 Best Bay Area Albums of 2021",
"headTitle": "The 10 Best Bay Area Albums of 2021 | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>There was no return to normal in 2021. In a weird, in-between year, many of us were grateful to gather again in homes, concert halls and dive bars for some much-needed spiritual sustenance. Yet the pandemic has forced us to constantly calculate risk and make adjustments to how we move about the world, and the best music of the year helped us navigate this time of buffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED Arts & Culture looked back on the year in Bay Area music, we saw that the most compelling albums helped us contemplate our relationships to ourselves and our communities. We saw lyricists and instrumentalists reaching new heights of their powers, in terms of both craft and concept. They asked questions instead of speaking in absolutes, and nudged us towards empathy, understanding, catharsis and even joy.\u003cem>—Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/4QUyonrAyfrMvsQOn8xrBb?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ian Kelly, \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> (Jamla Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ironically, sunning in the aura of your authentic self often requires a symbolic death. \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> is Oakland rapper Ian Kelly’s sophomore album and it shines. With a narrative blend of catchy hooks and metaphors for days, the project chronicles the passing of Kelly’s former rap moniker. Be sure to listen on repeat to catch the wordplay. He spits, “Too many questions with no question marks / You’s a mark if you can’t spit your heart inside of this art” on my personal favorite, “Make Room.” On the standout track “Soul of a Man,” he proclaims, “Life after death / So my time spent is a pit stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With unexpected sample flips and features by Reuben Vincent, GQ and Heather Victory, \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> is a testament to rebirth. Not many local rappers stepped into 2021 with such audacity, but Kelly stays humble. He’s signed to Jamla Records (9th Wonder’s independent record label) and is part of rap group Grand Nationxl, so the future looks bright for this agile lyricist.\u003cem>—Maddy Clifford\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2034859009/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>hawak, \u003cem>nước\u003c/em> (Zegema Beach Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>nước\u003c/em> is a multifaceted Vietnamese word: It means “water” most commonly, but can sometimes mean “country” or “nation.” It’s a slippery meaning appropriate for the title for hawak’s debut album, a screamo tone-poem exploring the liminality of refugees, immigrants and their children. It channels the pain of living an unstable, contradictory identity—“You ask yourself / Mày là ai?” (Who are you?) singer Tomm Nguyen shouts at the climax of one track. But the album isn’t content to wallow in Asian American existential despair without charting a way out. All the navel-gazing exploration of identity finally leads outward to a renewed faith in community in the last track: “We’re here with you! / We’ll stay with you! / We’re still with you!”\u003cem>—Adesh Thapliyal\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5e5PRCyX77IfDVxTQF0vUZ?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Miko Marks & the Resurrectors, \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em> (Redtone Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area isn’t Nashville, but our country music artists possess a soulfulness and political consciousness that stand out in a culturally homogenous industry. In fact, country’s exclusionary gatekeepers almost cost Miko Marks her career in the 2000s. At the time, labels loved her sound but told her in euphemistic terms that she wasn’t a fit for a record deal, likely because of the color of her skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undeterred, Miko Marks & the Resurrectors made a fierce comeback in 2021 with \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em>, her first full-length release in 13 years. The foot-stomping, piano-driven opening track, “Ancestors,” grounds Marks in a courageous lineage as she prepares to speak truth to power. Her observations are clear-eyed as ever on “Good Night America,” an acoustic, slide-guitar eulogy for the American dream that indicts the nation’s hypocrisy. The folk ballad “Travel Light” burns slow like a smoldering campfire, and the gospel-steeped “Mercy” offers a prayer for strength. On \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em>, Marks brings out tenderness and grief with the sheer emotion of her voice and lyrics, and gives us spiritual resolve to continue the fight for justice.\u003cem>—Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3444209659/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keshav Batish, \u003cem>Binaries in Cycle\u003c/em> (Woven Strands Productions)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the scion of a celebrated musical clan, Keshav Batish is making his own way in the family business. Son of Mumbai-born sitar and tabla virtuoso Ashwin Batish, whose parents were both renowned musicians in North Indian classical music and beyond, the Santa Cruz-raised drummer and composer makes a dazzling debut with \u003cem>Binaries in Cycle\u003c/em>. While focusing on Batish’s intricately constructed originals drawing on his jazz and Hindustani musical training, the album includes two ringers, Ornette Coleman’s bouncy, rarely played tune “Police People” and Thelonious Monk’s standard “We See.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s the pieces he designed for the quartet that consistently impress. The opening, nearly 13-minute title track is a quicksilver odyssey that feints, darts and spins around his crisp and supple cymbal work; “Gayatri” is stately and incantatory. Recorded August 2020 as part of the \u003cem>Mondays with Kuumbwa\u003c/em> virtual performance series, the album features pianist Lucas Hahn and bassist Aron Caceres, Batish’s musical collaborators since junior high, and Israeli-born alto saxophonist Shay Salhov, a more recent connection who’s a generation older than his bandmates. Heady and gutsy, pensive and joyous, Indian and American, Batish’s music embraces duality as a path to a highly personal sound that promises discoveries to come.\u003cem>—Andrew Gilbert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5jowai2DVaDn3cgxigARdy?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Destroy Boys, \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em> (Hopeless Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With October’s \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em>, Destroy Boys offered up 13 tracks of cathartic, angst-combating, middle-finger-pointing post-punk. The trio’s third album didn’t just signal their graduation from teen maybes to young contenders, it ignited an already faithful fanbase into a downright fervent one. And for good reason. \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em> fearlessly combines punk rock defiance with riot grrrl snottiness, and centers it all with empathetic lyrics and stirring melodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each song offers an unfiltered, visceral glimpse into the real-life strains and struggles of frontwoman Alexia Roditis. “Drink” is about breaking addiction cycles. “Locker Room Bully” pushes back against social media toxicity. “For What” challenges police brutality. And halfway through the album is a 50-second spoken word interlude about living with anxiety. For the first time, the band also included two Spanish language songs—“Lo peor” and “Te llevo conmigo”—to honor Roditis’ Argentinian heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On “Escape,” the band declares: “I don’t see anyone asking anyone of any other profession, except for artists, what their plan B is … You know, I could really do without hearing that question ever again.” After \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em>, they shouldn’t have to.\u003cem>—Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1IW9NLcYGgPBr2RRL0HML2?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stunnaman02, \u003cem>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/em> (EMPIRE)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Years from now, when we look talk about “coming out of quarantine,” we’ll get to that part in the conversation where we discuss the songs of the era. That’s when someone will mention Stunnaman02’s “Big Steppin,” and chances are they’ll \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfweekly.com/music/the-rise-of-big-steppin-stunnaman02s-viral-dance/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hit the dance\u003c/a> that accompanies it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track has been played in clubs and brunches, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0-23jajj0w&ab_channel=Stunnaman02%26QuakeBeatz-Topic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">remixed for the 49ers\u003c/a>. The Warriors have even danced to it on the court. Beyond the motivational lyrics and uptempo beat, it’s the dance that has really carried the song. (For 170 consecutive days, Stunnaman02 posted videos of himself “Big Steppin’” everywhere from the East Bay Hills to Hawai’i.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many artists flood the market with album after album, Stunnaman02 dropped two projects this year. “Big Steppin’” was featured on the QuakeBeatz-produced album \u003cem>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/em>. Admittedly, the lead single tends to overshadow the rest of the track list, but songs like “Buzzin’” and “Chimmy Wit It” featuring Gunna Goes Global slap nonetheless. Yet it’s “Big Steppin’” that this album will be known for. And if we’re discussing music that came out of the Bay Area in 2021, it’s mandatory that this track is mentioned.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3221812617/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/license_id=1640/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bachelor, \u003cem>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/em> (Polyvinyl Record Co.)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If only more of 2021 lived up to the experience of listening to this album. Both intimate and expansive, \u003ci>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/i> has a track for every mood. Full of pent-up energy? Sing along to “Stay in the Car.” Need four minutes of dreamy introspection? Skip over to “Aurora.” The story behind Bachelor (Bay Area native Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner) and their first release is one of long-term musical admiration, culminating in a two-week recording spree in January 2020. Written before lockdown and released mid-pandemic, \u003ci>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/i> is anything but dated. Duterte and Kempner’s songs about ecological collapse, queer love and the endless scroll of online life alternately shimmer and yelp, their warn and easy harmonies providing evidence of a musical collaboration I didn’t realize I was desperate to hear.\u003cem>—Sarah Hotchkiss\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1aKVy5l48Zu3In3M0SbDEe?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>LaRussell, \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em> (Good Compenny/Corite)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some rappers brag about success. On \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906706/the-year-larussell-called-his-shot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LaRussell\u003c/a> discusses it, analyzes it, computes it. In a steady stream of one-liners containing more truth than comedy, the Vallejo rapper has his eyes open to the world, not surprised by his success so much as gratified at the results of putting in the work. “Look at how it panned out,” he raps on the E-40 flip “Sprinkle Me,” “They offer you a seat when you stand out / Got a handful without a handout.” (The boss himself drops in for an anointing guest verse.) As the album title suggests, LaRussell puts on for his town, not least with his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Compenny video series\u003c/a>, which showcases young Bay Area talent. Like his peers, LaRussell is still hungry; across \u003cem>Cook Together\u003c/em>, his voice occasionally cracks in desperation. But it growls with determination, too. This is grown rap from a young star in the making.\u003cem>—Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3334000261/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Joel St. Julien, \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em> (Land and Sea)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a time of national reckoning, Haitian-American composer and sound artist Joel St. Julien gives listeners the gift of compassion. On his 2021 release \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em>, the San Francisco-based artist’s instrumental music takes listeners on a healing journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With its ambient sounds and lush synthesizers, St. Julien’s music pulls us into the present, much like meditation. On the first track, “Empathy I” the song’s sonic synths and bouncy tempos echo the rumblings of unresolved conflict. On track six, “Where I am,” the rich sounds and soothing tones convey catharsis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like therapy, \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em> invokes a contemplative state, and St. Julien’s compositions become the catalyst for introspection, emotional examination, and resolution.\u003cem>—Juli Fraga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=769359718/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kevin Allen, \u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em> (Grand Nationxl)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em> tells a lot of different stories about Bay Area hip-hop in 2021. For starters, it represents the fully-formed rebirth of erstwhile hyphy rapper Erk Tha Jerk as Kevin Allen. Next, it shows Allen as a master orchestrator who thoughtfully positions a cadre of ascendant artists. Among them is Ian Kelly, who hops on the jazz-inflected “Radio Raheem.” Guapdad 4000, who made noise well outside the Bay with his album \u003cem>1176\u003c/em>, is on the masterful canvas of “Unwind.” Jane Handcock, who was prominently featured on both Dame D.O.L.L.A.’s underrated \u003cem>Different On Levels The Lord Allowed\u003c/em> and on Snoop Dogg’s star-studded \u003cem>The Algorithm\u003c/em>, elevates both “Childish” and “Oh, The Irony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the through line here is Allen. He started working on his solo album last year, before realizing that there was a legitimate collective brewing in the studio. His group Grand Nationxl’s fantastic \u003cem>Twice on Sunday\u003c/em> was born instead. Now on \u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em>, the crew is back to help prop up their leader, and Allen is a sage-like presence we don’t have enough of in Bay Area rap these days. “What’s the point of having tools if you lack the screws?” he raps on album opener “Franklin Saint,” one of the many grateful moments filled with poise and commitment to what he’s building in the present. Now the challenge is to maintain longevity with it all, and with Allen at the helm, all the elements are in place.\u003cem>—Adrian Spinelli\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There was no return to normal in 2021. In a weird, in-between year, many of us were grateful to gather again in homes, concert halls and dive bars for some much-needed spiritual sustenance. Yet the pandemic has forced us to constantly calculate risk and make adjustments to how we move about the world, and the best music of the year helped us navigate this time of buffering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED Arts & Culture looked back on the year in Bay Area music, we saw that the most compelling albums helped us contemplate our relationships to ourselves and our communities. We saw lyricists and instrumentalists reaching new heights of their powers, in terms of both craft and concept. They asked questions instead of speaking in absolutes, and nudged us towards empathy, understanding, catharsis and even joy.\u003cem>—Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/4QUyonrAyfrMvsQOn8xrBb?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ian Kelly, \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> (Jamla Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ironically, sunning in the aura of your authentic self often requires a symbolic death. \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> is Oakland rapper Ian Kelly’s sophomore album and it shines. With a narrative blend of catchy hooks and metaphors for days, the project chronicles the passing of Kelly’s former rap moniker. Be sure to listen on repeat to catch the wordplay. He spits, “Too many questions with no question marks / You’s a mark if you can’t spit your heart inside of this art” on my personal favorite, “Make Room.” On the standout track “Soul of a Man,” he proclaims, “Life after death / So my time spent is a pit stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With unexpected sample flips and features by Reuben Vincent, GQ and Heather Victory, \u003cem>Kells is D.E.A.D.\u003c/em> is a testament to rebirth. Not many local rappers stepped into 2021 with such audacity, but Kelly stays humble. He’s signed to Jamla Records (9th Wonder’s independent record label) and is part of rap group Grand Nationxl, so the future looks bright for this agile lyricist.\u003cem>—Maddy Clifford\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2034859009/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>hawak, \u003cem>nước\u003c/em> (Zegema Beach Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>nước\u003c/em> is a multifaceted Vietnamese word: It means “water” most commonly, but can sometimes mean “country” or “nation.” It’s a slippery meaning appropriate for the title for hawak’s debut album, a screamo tone-poem exploring the liminality of refugees, immigrants and their children. It channels the pain of living an unstable, contradictory identity—“You ask yourself / Mày là ai?” (Who are you?) singer Tomm Nguyen shouts at the climax of one track. But the album isn’t content to wallow in Asian American existential despair without charting a way out. All the navel-gazing exploration of identity finally leads outward to a renewed faith in community in the last track: “We’re here with you! / We’ll stay with you! / We’re still with you!”\u003cem>—Adesh Thapliyal\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5e5PRCyX77IfDVxTQF0vUZ?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Miko Marks & the Resurrectors, \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em> (Redtone Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area isn’t Nashville, but our country music artists possess a soulfulness and political consciousness that stand out in a culturally homogenous industry. In fact, country’s exclusionary gatekeepers almost cost Miko Marks her career in the 2000s. At the time, labels loved her sound but told her in euphemistic terms that she wasn’t a fit for a record deal, likely because of the color of her skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undeterred, Miko Marks & the Resurrectors made a fierce comeback in 2021 with \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em>, her first full-length release in 13 years. The foot-stomping, piano-driven opening track, “Ancestors,” grounds Marks in a courageous lineage as she prepares to speak truth to power. Her observations are clear-eyed as ever on “Good Night America,” an acoustic, slide-guitar eulogy for the American dream that indicts the nation’s hypocrisy. The folk ballad “Travel Light” burns slow like a smoldering campfire, and the gospel-steeped “Mercy” offers a prayer for strength. On \u003cem>Our Country\u003c/em>, Marks brings out tenderness and grief with the sheer emotion of her voice and lyrics, and gives us spiritual resolve to continue the fight for justice.\u003cem>—Nastia Voynovskaya\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3444209659/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keshav Batish, \u003cem>Binaries in Cycle\u003c/em> (Woven Strands Productions)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the scion of a celebrated musical clan, Keshav Batish is making his own way in the family business. Son of Mumbai-born sitar and tabla virtuoso Ashwin Batish, whose parents were both renowned musicians in North Indian classical music and beyond, the Santa Cruz-raised drummer and composer makes a dazzling debut with \u003cem>Binaries in Cycle\u003c/em>. While focusing on Batish’s intricately constructed originals drawing on his jazz and Hindustani musical training, the album includes two ringers, Ornette Coleman’s bouncy, rarely played tune “Police People” and Thelonious Monk’s standard “We See.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s the pieces he designed for the quartet that consistently impress. The opening, nearly 13-minute title track is a quicksilver odyssey that feints, darts and spins around his crisp and supple cymbal work; “Gayatri” is stately and incantatory. Recorded August 2020 as part of the \u003cem>Mondays with Kuumbwa\u003c/em> virtual performance series, the album features pianist Lucas Hahn and bassist Aron Caceres, Batish’s musical collaborators since junior high, and Israeli-born alto saxophonist Shay Salhov, a more recent connection who’s a generation older than his bandmates. Heady and gutsy, pensive and joyous, Indian and American, Batish’s music embraces duality as a path to a highly personal sound that promises discoveries to come.\u003cem>—Andrew Gilbert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5jowai2DVaDn3cgxigARdy?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Destroy Boys, \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em> (Hopeless Records)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With October’s \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em>, Destroy Boys offered up 13 tracks of cathartic, angst-combating, middle-finger-pointing post-punk. The trio’s third album didn’t just signal their graduation from teen maybes to young contenders, it ignited an already faithful fanbase into a downright fervent one. And for good reason. \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em> fearlessly combines punk rock defiance with riot grrrl snottiness, and centers it all with empathetic lyrics and stirring melodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each song offers an unfiltered, visceral glimpse into the real-life strains and struggles of frontwoman Alexia Roditis. “Drink” is about breaking addiction cycles. “Locker Room Bully” pushes back against social media toxicity. “For What” challenges police brutality. And halfway through the album is a 50-second spoken word interlude about living with anxiety. For the first time, the band also included two Spanish language songs—“Lo peor” and “Te llevo conmigo”—to honor Roditis’ Argentinian heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On “Escape,” the band declares: “I don’t see anyone asking anyone of any other profession, except for artists, what their plan B is … You know, I could really do without hearing that question ever again.” After \u003cem>Open Mouth, Open Heart\u003c/em>, they shouldn’t have to.\u003cem>—Rae Alexandra\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1IW9NLcYGgPBr2RRL0HML2?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stunnaman02, \u003cem>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/em> (EMPIRE)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Years from now, when we look talk about “coming out of quarantine,” we’ll get to that part in the conversation where we discuss the songs of the era. That’s when someone will mention Stunnaman02’s “Big Steppin,” and chances are they’ll \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfweekly.com/music/the-rise-of-big-steppin-stunnaman02s-viral-dance/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hit the dance\u003c/a> that accompanies it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track has been played in clubs and brunches, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0-23jajj0w&ab_channel=Stunnaman02%26QuakeBeatz-Topic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">remixed for the 49ers\u003c/a>. The Warriors have even danced to it on the court. Beyond the motivational lyrics and uptempo beat, it’s the dance that has really carried the song. (For 170 consecutive days, Stunnaman02 posted videos of himself “Big Steppin’” everywhere from the East Bay Hills to Hawai’i.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many artists flood the market with album after album, Stunnaman02 dropped two projects this year. “Big Steppin’” was featured on the QuakeBeatz-produced album \u003cem>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/em>. Admittedly, the lead single tends to overshadow the rest of the track list, but songs like “Buzzin’” and “Chimmy Wit It” featuring Gunna Goes Global slap nonetheless. Yet it’s “Big Steppin’” that this album will be known for. And if we’re discussing music that came out of the Bay Area in 2021, it’s mandatory that this track is mentioned.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3221812617/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/license_id=1640/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bachelor, \u003cem>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/em> (Polyvinyl Record Co.)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If only more of 2021 lived up to the experience of listening to this album. Both intimate and expansive, \u003ci>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/i> has a track for every mood. Full of pent-up energy? Sing along to “Stay in the Car.” Need four minutes of dreamy introspection? Skip over to “Aurora.” The story behind Bachelor (Bay Area native Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner) and their first release is one of long-term musical admiration, culminating in a two-week recording spree in January 2020. Written before lockdown and released mid-pandemic, \u003ci>Doomin’ Sun\u003c/i> is anything but dated. Duterte and Kempner’s songs about ecological collapse, queer love and the endless scroll of online life alternately shimmer and yelp, their warn and easy harmonies providing evidence of a musical collaboration I didn’t realize I was desperate to hear.\u003cem>—Sarah Hotchkiss\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1aKVy5l48Zu3In3M0SbDEe?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>LaRussell, \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em> (Good Compenny/Corite)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some rappers brag about success. On \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906706/the-year-larussell-called-his-shot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LaRussell\u003c/a> discusses it, analyzes it, computes it. In a steady stream of one-liners containing more truth than comedy, the Vallejo rapper has his eyes open to the world, not surprised by his success so much as gratified at the results of putting in the work. “Look at how it panned out,” he raps on the E-40 flip “Sprinkle Me,” “They offer you a seat when you stand out / Got a handful without a handout.” (The boss himself drops in for an anointing guest verse.) As the album title suggests, LaRussell puts on for his town, not least with his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Compenny video series\u003c/a>, which showcases young Bay Area talent. Like his peers, LaRussell is still hungry; across \u003cem>Cook Together\u003c/em>, his voice occasionally cracks in desperation. But it growls with determination, too. This is grown rap from a young star in the making.\u003cem>—Gabe Meline\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3334000261/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Joel St. Julien, \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em> (Land and Sea)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a time of national reckoning, Haitian-American composer and sound artist Joel St. Julien gives listeners the gift of compassion. On his 2021 release \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em>, the San Francisco-based artist’s instrumental music takes listeners on a healing journey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With its ambient sounds and lush synthesizers, St. Julien’s music pulls us into the present, much like meditation. On the first track, “Empathy I” the song’s sonic synths and bouncy tempos echo the rumblings of unresolved conflict. On track six, “Where I am,” the rich sounds and soothing tones convey catharsis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like therapy, \u003cem>Empathy\u003c/em> invokes a contemplative state, and St. Julien’s compositions become the catalyst for introspection, emotional examination, and resolution.\u003cem>—Juli Fraga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=769359718/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kevin Allen, \u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em> (Grand Nationxl)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em> tells a lot of different stories about Bay Area hip-hop in 2021. For starters, it represents the fully-formed rebirth of erstwhile hyphy rapper Erk Tha Jerk as Kevin Allen. Next, it shows Allen as a master orchestrator who thoughtfully positions a cadre of ascendant artists. Among them is Ian Kelly, who hops on the jazz-inflected “Radio Raheem.” Guapdad 4000, who made noise well outside the Bay with his album \u003cem>1176\u003c/em>, is on the masterful canvas of “Unwind.” Jane Handcock, who was prominently featured on both Dame D.O.L.L.A.’s underrated \u003cem>Different On Levels The Lord Allowed\u003c/em> and on Snoop Dogg’s star-studded \u003cem>The Algorithm\u003c/em>, elevates both “Childish” and “Oh, The Irony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the through line here is Allen. He started working on his solo album last year, before realizing that there was a legitimate collective brewing in the studio. His group Grand Nationxl’s fantastic \u003cem>Twice on Sunday\u003c/em> was born instead. Now on \u003cem>Nothing Lasts Forever\u003c/em>, the crew is back to help prop up their leader, and Allen is a sage-like presence we don’t have enough of in Bay Area rap these days. “What’s the point of having tools if you lack the screws?” he raps on album opener “Franklin Saint,” one of the many grateful moments filled with poise and commitment to what he’s building in the present. Now the challenge is to maintain longevity with it all, and with Allen at the helm, all the elements are in place.\u003cem>—Adrian Spinelli\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Year LaRussell Called His Shot",
"headTitle": "The Year LaRussell Called His Shot | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906893\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell poses looking off camera in a stoic expression, the photo is black and white.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell. \u003ccite>(Joshua Lee Kennedy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“V\u003c/span>ALLEJO! Stand the fuck up!,” read the first sentence of a Jan. 27 \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/larussellgc/status/1354585740760338439?s=21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweet\u003c/a> from Vallejo rapper LaRussell. “We bringing trophies home this year! I don’t always win but I always take the risk, they never cheer for you until it go over the fence,” he concluded, referencing his own lyrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attached was a video of LaRussell behind a microphone, gassing an instrumental, one of many videos he’s posted this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this video was different. This was his Babe Ruth moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaRussell metaphorically stood at home plate, calling his shot as he pointed toward the center-field fence. And then he proceeded to knock the cover off the ball. Again and again, all throughout 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaRussell went on to drop three albums this year, and built a heck of a fanbase along the way. In January, he had about 4,000 followers on Instagram. He’s sitting at nearly 75,000 as of this article. One of his most noted songs, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk8L-CoNk2k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Do That Lil Dance You Be Doing\u003c/a>,” has accumulated nearly 30,000 views since it dropped last December. He and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodCompenny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Compenny\u003c/a> team have posted over 200 videos of LaRussell and other Northern California artists performing in their studio over the past year, and they’ve been widely shared; one video \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umsClQ6jeAU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">featuring Shanté singing Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind”\u003c/a> was reposted by Snoop Dogg back in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umsClQ6jeAU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something major has happened just about every month of 2021 for LaRussell and Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, LaRussell had a meeting and took photos with music mogul \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1420181940393504771?s=20\">L.A. Reid\u003c/a>. In August, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1429139523695349761?s=20\">KMEL\u003c/a>, the cornerstone hip-hop station in Northern California, played LaRussell’s tracks “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VIsKi7AcBM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Who’s Counting\u003c/a>,” and later followed up with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQebKQ2LHJ4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Talk Bout It\u003c/a>.” The next month, LaRussell was in New York, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohbFe8JsAh0\">spittin’ bars on one of the top hip-hop shows in the world, The Breakfast Club\u003c/a>. In October, he appeared alongside P-Lo and E-40, representing three generations of Bay Area hip-hop, on the song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjZ2FRWLdY\">Again\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1457065271798157324?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Too $hort\u003c/a> pulled up to LaRussell’s crib and took photos with his family. Shortly after, LaRussell rocked the stage at a show with the godfather of independent rap music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in late November, LaRussell announced that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1463579177609691138?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he’s selling shares of his catalog\u003c/a> to fans who want to build wealth as he ascends in notoriety. Meaning that people can buy an opportunity to receive royalties from his songs, earning passive income as his music is streamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an unheard of move for a budding artist. But as he often says, \u003ci>it’s different\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906728\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell (far right) stands with his family and Too $hort as they pose for a photo in front of the Good Compenny logo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell (far right) stands with his family and Too $hort as they pose for a photo in front of the Good Compenny logo. \u003ccite>(LaRussell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">W\u003c/span>hile all this momentum was still building, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I wrote a column\u003c/a> about LaRussell and the Good Compenny team, highlighting his talent and the team’s unique approach to putting on others while growing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The article was published a day before he hit send on that tweet. Little did I know I was capturing the North Vallejo Bambino predicting the home run—or rather, the run from home he’d have this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite what seems like a meteoric rise, earlier this year LaRussell posted\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd75Gmo_4PM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a video\u003c/a> of him rapping from 10 years ago, back when he was known as Tota Shakur—evidence that his success didn’t come overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd75Gmo_4PM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to the lyrics in his most recent music, and you’ll catch on to some of his common sayings, like “the flow is water” and “hopped in my bag,” along with one of the more notable laughs this side of Jadakiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s the lines where he talks about his career being organic, getting it out the mud, building it from the ground up and clearly stating that his mom, dad and other family members and friends have supported his climb—that’s what stands out to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing this support system in person was one of the highlights of watching LaRussell’s ascension this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October, he hosted an event with a sliding-scale ticket price at Izzy’s Event Center on Georgia Street in Vallejo. I stood stage left watching LaRussell rap his ass off with one mic and some instrumentals, not rapping over his own vocals like so many rappers do. At one point I checked my watch and confirmed that he had been spitting for over an hour straight. Plus he was cracking jokes, dancing, doing call-and-response, and taking requests from people in the crowd who know his catalog by song name and project title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-800x429.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell performing in Vallejo, in front of a crowd of people who are holding their phones with the lights on, creating a cool illusions in the smokey room. \" width=\"800\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-800x429.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-1020x547.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-160x86.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-768x412.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performing at Izzy’s Event Center in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The ceiling was low and it was hot as a firefighter’s armpits in that joint, but he was rocking. Body odor and the scent of the smoke machine were overpowered by the smell of the platter of food on the table behind me. (The catering had come compliments of his dad, standing not too far from the food.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side of the stage, a couple of women bounced to the music with LaRussell’s mom. One in particular gigged a lil harder when LaRussell rapped, “go auntie, go auntie, go.” She got on stage, and sure enough, it was his actual auntie. [aside postID='arts_13920004']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t just family in the building feeling themselves like yee—there were fans, longtime friends and more. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/itsTOPE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tope\u003c/a>, the producer behind one of LaRussell’s 2021 albums, \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em>, came from Oregon for the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two other artists who had big years were there, too. East Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/firstnameian/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a>, who dropped \u003ci>K.E.L.L.S. Is Dead\u003c/i> in January, was in the back. Not too far from him stood \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stunnaman02/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a>, who dropped the album \u003ci>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/i> a few days into 2021. That project features the smash hit “Big Steppin’,” a song that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taken over the Bay Area this year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between numerous guest appearances on other projects and dropping multiple videos, Ian Kelly found time to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew72hosrGcc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record a cold set of bars\u003c/a> with the Good Compenny crew earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with over 170 consecutive days of the #BigSteppinChallenge, filmed with folks from here to Hawaii, Stunnaman02 and LaRussell found time to take a bike ride and record \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1428161363138863114?s=20\">some music\u003c/a> as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-27_FP-pLU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the food LaRussell’s pop cooked to the way artists and community were cooking together, I saw what was going on. There’s a culture of mutual support naturally brewing here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t tell who I don’t know at my shows,” LaRussell tells me during a phone call earlier this month. “I’m hugging everybody and chopping it up with everybody, you feel me?” He says even folks who are new to the fold get a taste of that love. “I feel like a lot of my fans ain’t fans,” LaRussell tells me. “It’s very internal, especially how I navigate and run my career. I’m so accessible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the success is putting him and his family in circles that most people never access. He tells me about his mom meeting Too $hort and his pops meeting L.A. Reid, as well as taking the crew and family along with him on his trip to New York for the Breakfast Club appearance. “It’s becoming our new norm,” he says. “The norm that you never expected to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key to not getting overwhelmed by this success, he says, is “fucking with the energy and moving accordingly.” LaRussell says that when things first started taking off, he was overwhelmed, jumping at everything. Now he’s taking time and running his own plays. And his latest play is a rare one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell performing at The New Parish in Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performing at The New Parish in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He’s selling shares of his catalog to people to help them build wealth as he grows as an artist. “When I make a song, there’s a 100% revenue being made,” says LaRussell, an independent artist. “I’m like fuck it, I don’t even need to make \u003ci>this\u003c/i>\u003cem> much\u003c/em>. So, let me give some to the (people) who support my music and stream it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He breaks it down like this: Imagine if you would’ve invested in Jay-Z’s music in the ’90s, and now he’s Shawn Carter. Boom, you win at life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then LaRussell introduces me to the idea of “one billion stream songs,” tracks of his like “Do That Lil Dance You Be Doing’,” that could very likely one day see a million, or even a billion streams. “Just 1% of that song can change your life,” says LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk8L-CoNk2k\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s selling shares for $250-$1,000. He’s adamant about it being for fans, saying that he’s been contacted by investment firms and he’s given then a firm “no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s had to deal with some naysayers, but that comes with being innovative. And the system isn’t new. He says he’s been dividing dividends with his own team and they’ve had no issues. “It’s only an issue when (potential investors) come in with malicious intent,” says LaRussell, noting that he personally sources the offers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I talk to these people. I’m telling them what this is. This isn’t a get-rich-quick investment. Don’t give me no money if you don’t love my music and want to support me,” LaRussell tells me. “This is about building community wealth. In the span of my career, I’m probably going to change the lives of thousands of people, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There he is, standing at home plate, pointing even further into the distance and calling his shot once again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohbFe8JsAh0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>aRussell tells me that the highlight of his 2021 campaign was easily the Breakfast Club appearance. It’s not just that he got to speak his piece on a major platform, but the fact that when he picked up his daughter from school a short while later, one of the kids recognized him from that appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not really in the game until you do certain things,” LaRussell tells me, gearing up for another sports metaphor. “You’re not great in the league until you win a ring or get MVP. And Breakfast Club, for a nigga like me, from Vallejo, that was like my ring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing that in a few weeks, the calendar will flip and it’ll be a new season, I ask the Croc-sporting lyricist: what’s next?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He answers with a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are all the things people accomplish in a year? How about a career? How many albums? Award shows? Platforms?” he asks, semi-rhetorically. His initial goal was to do all that within the next year. He thought about it, and now wants to do it in three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know, it’s one of those things that’s not really obtainable,” LaRussell says in a rare grounded tone. “But it’s like, when you shoot for that type of goal, you can only end up better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words: the 2022 season starts soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Vallejo rapper's Babe Ruth moment came in January—and it's been home run after home run ever since.",
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"description": "The Vallejo rapper's Babe Ruth moment came in January—and it's been home run after home run ever since.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906893\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell poses looking off camera in a stoic expression, the photo is black and white.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.MAIN_-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell. \u003ccite>(Joshua Lee Kennedy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“V\u003c/span>ALLEJO! Stand the fuck up!,” read the first sentence of a Jan. 27 \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/larussellgc/status/1354585740760338439?s=21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweet\u003c/a> from Vallejo rapper LaRussell. “We bringing trophies home this year! I don’t always win but I always take the risk, they never cheer for you until it go over the fence,” he concluded, referencing his own lyrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attached was a video of LaRussell behind a microphone, gassing an instrumental, one of many videos he’s posted this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this video was different. This was his Babe Ruth moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaRussell metaphorically stood at home plate, calling his shot as he pointed toward the center-field fence. And then he proceeded to knock the cover off the ball. Again and again, all throughout 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaRussell went on to drop three albums this year, and built a heck of a fanbase along the way. In January, he had about 4,000 followers on Instagram. He’s sitting at nearly 75,000 as of this article. One of his most noted songs, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk8L-CoNk2k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Do That Lil Dance You Be Doing\u003c/a>,” has accumulated nearly 30,000 views since it dropped last December. He and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodCompenny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Compenny\u003c/a> team have posted over 200 videos of LaRussell and other Northern California artists performing in their studio over the past year, and they’ve been widely shared; one video \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umsClQ6jeAU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">featuring Shanté singing Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind”\u003c/a> was reposted by Snoop Dogg back in March.\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/umsClQ6jeAU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/umsClQ6jeAU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Something major has happened just about every month of 2021 for LaRussell and Co.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, LaRussell had a meeting and took photos with music mogul \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1420181940393504771?s=20\">L.A. Reid\u003c/a>. In August, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1429139523695349761?s=20\">KMEL\u003c/a>, the cornerstone hip-hop station in Northern California, played LaRussell’s tracks “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VIsKi7AcBM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Who’s Counting\u003c/a>,” and later followed up with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQebKQ2LHJ4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Talk Bout It\u003c/a>.” The next month, LaRussell was in New York, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohbFe8JsAh0\">spittin’ bars on one of the top hip-hop shows in the world, The Breakfast Club\u003c/a>. In October, he appeared alongside P-Lo and E-40, representing three generations of Bay Area hip-hop, on the song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjZ2FRWLdY\">Again\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1457065271798157324?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Too $hort\u003c/a> pulled up to LaRussell’s crib and took photos with his family. Shortly after, LaRussell rocked the stage at a show with the godfather of independent rap music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in late November, LaRussell announced that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1463579177609691138?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he’s selling shares of his catalog\u003c/a> to fans who want to build wealth as he ascends in notoriety. Meaning that people can buy an opportunity to receive royalties from his songs, earning passive income as his music is streamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an unheard of move for a budding artist. But as he often says, \u003ci>it’s different\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906728\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906728\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell (far right) stands with his family and Too $hort as they pose for a photo in front of the Good Compenny logo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/FDnb7SpXEAUGDTB.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell (far right) stands with his family and Too $hort as they pose for a photo in front of the Good Compenny logo. \u003ccite>(LaRussell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">W\u003c/span>hile all this momentum was still building, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891732/from-vallejo-an-intimate-video-series-putting-on-for-the-bay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I wrote a column\u003c/a> about LaRussell and the Good Compenny team, highlighting his talent and the team’s unique approach to putting on others while growing themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The article was published a day before he hit send on that tweet. Little did I know I was capturing the North Vallejo Bambino predicting the home run—or rather, the run from home he’d have this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite what seems like a meteoric rise, earlier this year LaRussell posted\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd75Gmo_4PM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a video\u003c/a> of him rapping from 10 years ago, back when he was known as Tota Shakur—evidence that his success didn’t come overnight.\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/Pd75Gmo_4PM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Pd75Gmo_4PM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Listen to the lyrics in his most recent music, and you’ll catch on to some of his common sayings, like “the flow is water” and “hopped in my bag,” along with one of the more notable laughs this side of Jadakiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s the lines where he talks about his career being organic, getting it out the mud, building it from the ground up and clearly stating that his mom, dad and other family members and friends have supported his climb—that’s what stands out to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing this support system in person was one of the highlights of watching LaRussell’s ascension this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October, he hosted an event with a sliding-scale ticket price at Izzy’s Event Center on Georgia Street in Vallejo. I stood stage left watching LaRussell rap his ass off with one mic and some instrumentals, not rapping over his own vocals like so many rappers do. At one point I checked my watch and confirmed that he had been spitting for over an hour straight. Plus he was cracking jokes, dancing, doing call-and-response, and taking requests from people in the crowd who know his catalog by song name and project title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-800x429.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell performing in Vallejo, in front of a crowd of people who are holding their phones with the lights on, creating a cool illusions in the smokey room. \" width=\"800\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-800x429.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-1020x547.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-160x86.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell-768x412.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LaRussell.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performing at Izzy’s Event Center in Vallejo. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The ceiling was low and it was hot as a firefighter’s armpits in that joint, but he was rocking. Body odor and the scent of the smoke machine were overpowered by the smell of the platter of food on the table behind me. (The catering had come compliments of his dad, standing not too far from the food.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other side of the stage, a couple of women bounced to the music with LaRussell’s mom. One in particular gigged a lil harder when LaRussell rapped, “go auntie, go auntie, go.” She got on stage, and sure enough, it was his actual auntie. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t just family in the building feeling themselves like yee—there were fans, longtime friends and more. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/itsTOPE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tope\u003c/a>, the producer behind one of LaRussell’s 2021 albums, \u003cem>Cook Together, Eat Together\u003c/em>, came from Oregon for the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two other artists who had big years were there, too. East Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/firstnameian/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a>, who dropped \u003ci>K.E.L.L.S. Is Dead\u003c/i> in January, was in the back. Not too far from him stood \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stunnaman02/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a>, who dropped the album \u003ci>I Gotta Feel It\u003c/i> a few days into 2021. That project features the smash hit “Big Steppin’,” a song that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taken over the Bay Area this year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between numerous guest appearances on other projects and dropping multiple videos, Ian Kelly found time to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew72hosrGcc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record a cold set of bars\u003c/a> with the Good Compenny crew earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with over 170 consecutive days of the #BigSteppinChallenge, filmed with folks from here to Hawaii, Stunnaman02 and LaRussell found time to take a bike ride and record \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LaRussellGC/status/1428161363138863114?s=20\">some music\u003c/a> as well.\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/6-27_FP-pLU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6-27_FP-pLU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>From the food LaRussell’s pop cooked to the way artists and community were cooking together, I saw what was going on. There’s a culture of mutual support naturally brewing here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t tell who I don’t know at my shows,” LaRussell tells me during a phone call earlier this month. “I’m hugging everybody and chopping it up with everybody, you feel me?” He says even folks who are new to the fold get a taste of that love. “I feel like a lot of my fans ain’t fans,” LaRussell tells me. “It’s very internal, especially how I navigate and run my career. I’m so accessible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the success is putting him and his family in circles that most people never access. He tells me about his mom meeting Too $hort and his pops meeting L.A. Reid, as well as taking the crew and family along with him on his trip to New York for the Breakfast Club appearance. “It’s becoming our new norm,” he says. “The norm that you never expected to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key to not getting overwhelmed by this success, he says, is “fucking with the energy and moving accordingly.” LaRussell says that when things first started taking off, he was overwhelmed, jumping at everything. Now he’s taking time and running his own plays. And his latest play is a rare one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"LaRussell performing at The New Parish in Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/DSC01906.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaRussell performing at The New Parish in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He’s selling shares of his catalog to people to help them build wealth as he grows as an artist. “When I make a song, there’s a 100% revenue being made,” says LaRussell, an independent artist. “I’m like fuck it, I don’t even need to make \u003ci>this\u003c/i>\u003cem> much\u003c/em>. So, let me give some to the (people) who support my music and stream it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He breaks it down like this: Imagine if you would’ve invested in Jay-Z’s music in the ’90s, and now he’s Shawn Carter. Boom, you win at life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then LaRussell introduces me to the idea of “one billion stream songs,” tracks of his like “Do That Lil Dance You Be Doing’,” that could very likely one day see a million, or even a billion streams. “Just 1% of that song can change your life,” says LaRussell.\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/zk8L-CoNk2k'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/zk8L-CoNk2k'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>He’s selling shares for $250-$1,000. He’s adamant about it being for fans, saying that he’s been contacted by investment firms and he’s given then a firm “no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s had to deal with some naysayers, but that comes with being innovative. And the system isn’t new. He says he’s been dividing dividends with his own team and they’ve had no issues. “It’s only an issue when (potential investors) come in with malicious intent,” says LaRussell, noting that he personally sources the offers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I talk to these people. I’m telling them what this is. This isn’t a get-rich-quick investment. Don’t give me no money if you don’t love my music and want to support me,” LaRussell tells me. “This is about building community wealth. In the span of my career, I’m probably going to change the lives of thousands of people, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There he is, standing at home plate, pointing even further into the distance and calling his shot once again.\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/ohbFe8JsAh0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ohbFe8JsAh0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>aRussell tells me that the highlight of his 2021 campaign was easily the Breakfast Club appearance. It’s not just that he got to speak his piece on a major platform, but the fact that when he picked up his daughter from school a short while later, one of the kids recognized him from that appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not really in the game until you do certain things,” LaRussell tells me, gearing up for another sports metaphor. “You’re not great in the league until you win a ring or get MVP. And Breakfast Club, for a nigga like me, from Vallejo, that was like my ring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing that in a few weeks, the calendar will flip and it’ll be a new season, I ask the Croc-sporting lyricist: what’s next?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He answers with a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are all the things people accomplish in a year? How about a career? How many albums? Award shows? Platforms?” he asks, semi-rhetorically. His initial goal was to do all that within the next year. He thought about it, and now wants to do it in three months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know, it’s one of those things that’s not really obtainable,” LaRussell says in a rare grounded tone. “But it’s like, when you shoot for that type of goal, you can only end up better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words: the 2022 season starts soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "in-hip-hop-and-academia-mystic-defines-her-own-success-story",
"title": "In Hip-Hop and Academia, Mystic Defines Her Own Success Story",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ystic sits in her backyard on the kind of warm, autumn afternoon that makes people remark at how good it is to live in Oakland, California. Dappled light shines through a lush canopy of persimmon, fig and guava trees. Her pet lovebird chirps in the distance, and she’s snacking on almonds between Zoom calls with young musicians she mentors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the veteran hip-hop artist’s little oasis, away from the unruliness of the city, where she ponders the changing seasons of life, love and art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a good time for reflection. The recent loss of her longtime close friend and Digital Underground collaborator, Shock G, shook her deeply. That, and the grief of living during a global pandemic, prompted her to listen inward and ask herself what would fulfill her soul right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, shouldn’t we be doing what we love? Isn’t it the time now?” she asks in her naturally poetic cadence, lowering her voice into a near-whisper. Then, she starts to get louder and more passionate, as if proclaiming a manifesto: “If we’re artists, and art is part of our healing journey, then we should all be making art right now, right? There should be art flooding our speakers and our museums and our buildings, right? Public art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for \u003ca href=\"http://mysticworldwide.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mystic\u003c/a>, one of the roles of hip-hop as a public art form is to bring traumas out of darkness and into the light, where they can be examined and processed—maybe even let go—in communion with others. That’s the power of her classic album \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, whose 20th anniversary Mystic is celebrating this year. She recently took ownership of the master recordings and put out a \u003ca href=\"https://anchor.fm/thatgirlmystic/episodes/ep-e1529j3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">podcast series\u003c/a> looking back at its creation. Now, she’s gearing up for a vinyl rerelease in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' citation='Mystic on owning her masters']“I think the benefit of owning that means nobody else gets to sell my trauma. Nobody else gets to sell my healing.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the outside, it might look like Mystic is recommitting to her art after years of focusing on her other loves: academia and teaching. After \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> was released to great acclaim, she walked away from a record deal and took a different path that brought her to UC Berkeley and, eventually, the University of Oxford for her master’s degree in education. For years, she spent more time in kindergarten classrooms than on stage in front of fans. But to Mystic, these multiple pursuits are all part of one continuous quest to create, express and be of service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes life to make art,” she texts me after one of our conversations. “There are times of input and times of output. I take my time for input, and that includes healing, living, loving, working with children, school and community. When my art is ready to be born, that is output. That is all 😉.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s easy to see why \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> put Mystic, born Mandolyn Ludlum, on the precipice of major music industry success when it came out in 2001. The vulnerability and candor in her lyrics are magnetic as she zooms from sharp observations to intimate, personal confessions. She navigates a confusing labyrinth of pressures—both from an oppressive social order and within her own community—and carves out space for compassion and love for her people. Twenty years before the #MeToo movement and conversations about mental health became mainstream, Mystic rapped about losing her father to a drug overdose and surviving sexual abuse. She gave voice to struggles shrouded in stigma and shame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of what I hear back then is this fierce commitment to attempt to live and attempt to heal,” she says of her own recordings. “And so when I listen back to that and I read those lyrics, I just I want to tell her, ‘I love you.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1184030260/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With its jazzy undertones and West Coast swing, \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em> offers life-affirming moments of free-spirited fun and sexuality, too. Mystic’s delivery is smooth yet earnest, and she comes across as a warm, approachable, wise friend. It’s no wonder the album earned comparisons to \u003cem>The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill\u003c/em>—although to equate the work of two politically outspoken Gen X women in hip-hop would be an oversimplification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With production from Zion I’s Amp Live, Hieroglyphics’ A-Plus, Shock G and several others, \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em> is the result of a collaborative underground hip-hop scene that strived to push the boundaries of the craft. After living all over the West Coast, Mystic immersed herself in that community when she and her mom settled down in Oakland in 1989, the summer before her sophomore year of high school. (A-Plus was their neighbor across the street.) In her teens and 20s, she honed her skills at cyphers at friends’ houses, where they would rhyme, cook and drink beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were young and we were free, and it was the end of the decimation of communities from crack cocaine in the ’80s and Reaganomics,” she recalls. “There were still a lot of things going on and a lot of loss. But we were happy, you know. We were creating culture, creating hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906496\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906496\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-800x476.jpg\" alt=\"An archival film photo from the 1990s featuring a crew of hip-hop artists partying and laughing.\" width=\"800\" height=\"476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-800x476.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-1020x606.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-160x95.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-768x457.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic and her Digital Underground family in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mystic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the ’90s, Mystic developed her stage presence at warehouse parties and open mics, where she’d rhyme alongside revered underground acts like Souls of Mischief. As she ascended to bigger stages, she opened for OutKast and Leaders of the New School, Busta Rhymes’ first group. Her lyrical prowess earned her respect, and eventually she became a member of Digital Underground (she first appears on their 1998 album \u003cem>Who Got the Gravy?\u003c/em>). \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, her solo debut, is as multifaceted as life in Oakland at the turn of the millennium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he power, vulnerability and self-awareness Mystic projected on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> propelled her to great heights. She was nominated for a Grammy and a BET Award, and the music video for the lead single, “The Life,” was on TV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/pqw8tVLYhVI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1990s, major labels signed a number of Bay Area artists, and West Coast hip-hop emerged as a commercial force. But the early-2000s era of illegal downloads caused chaos in the industry. Labels were merging and changing ownership, laying off staff and shelving artists’ work. The rerelease of \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom \u003c/em>was one such casualty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic originally released the album on the independent label Good Vibe, which had a joint venture deal with Jcor. When Jcor went out of business, Mystic and her Good Vibe team signed to DreamWorks. A rerelease was in the pipeline. It was supposed to introduce her to an even bigger audience—the first single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMINrw4aFSI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Breathe (Better Days)\u003c/a>” produced by Kanye West and featuring Donell Jones, had been on the radio, and physical copies were sold in Japan. But the U.S. rollout kept getting stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2004, Universal Music Group bought DreamWorks and absorbed it into Interscope, and her album was still in limbo. Mystic broke the emergency glass and hired a lawyer to get her out of her contract. And though she continued to create (she recorded the first track from her 2014 album \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> after George Bush was declared winner of the 2004 election), Mystic set out on a new path towards higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody was trying to figure out what was wrong with me,” she says. “My accountant, my lawyer, the label—everybody is like, ‘What is she doing,’ right? Because everything in front of her right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic knew she had to heed an internal calling. “I just felt like in order to not hate what I love, which is my art, that it was important for me to step back,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until 2019, after she finished her master’s degree, that Mystic discovered she owned the masters for \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>. And while artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/arts/music/taylor-swift-rerecord-fearless.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taylor Swift\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/music/ashanti-to-re-record-debut-album-after-gaining-ownership-of-her-masters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ashanti\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.essence.com/entertainment/anita-baker-says-you-can-stream-her-music-again/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anita Baker\u003c/a> have had to fight to take ownership over their work, when Mystic went to Universal Music Group, it turned out all she had to do was ask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“DreamWorks took what they owned,” she says. “Good Vibe wanted to keep the songs I had done with other artists on the label. Nobody kept the \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> album. But I didn’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic in her backyard oasis. \u003ccite>(Nastia Voynovskaya/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Would Mystic’s story have unfolded differently if she had known? She doesn’t like to dwell on it. But she still makes sure to tell her mentees, “Contact the label who owns [your masters] or the people you know to own them. They may not own them anymore. I may have just gotten really lucky, right, and the universe did that. I don’t know. But go and ask.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic poured herself into the songs on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, and for years listeners have told her that the album has helped them heal from their own life struggles. There’s power in reclaiming something so personally meaningful—to have full control over where the music is licensed and how much she gets paid, and to guarantee the album makes its way onto whatever new streaming platform emerges in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The songs that I wrote about my father, about the trauma that I’ve been through, about trying to navigate who I was as a young Black woman who was on a healing journey—like, that’s mine,” she says. “And I think the benefit of owning that means nobody else gets to sell my trauma. Nobody else gets to sell my healing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ystic’s second album, \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em>, didn’t come until she was entering her second year at UC Berkeley, in 2014. An “untraditional” student now in her 30s, she was fully focused on getting a degree so she could be of service to children. After studying child development and cultural anthropology at Los Angeles Valley College—and a transformational trip to Haiti, where she learned about child exploitation in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake—she mapped out a new goal of creating an international arts program that would empower children of color across borders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music wasn’t top of mind until she attended Ananya Roy’s global poverty class. Roy was one of Cal’s star faculty—a professor with a contagious passion for social justice, whose lectures students would talk about in dining halls and in dorm rooms late at night. (She’s since moved on to become the inaugural director of UCLA’s Institute on Inequality and Democracy.) Mystic was moved when she heard Roy’s lecture about “insurgent architects,” people who work from within institutions to create progressive social change. Insurgent architects could even be artists, she remembers Roy telling the class. Even though there were hundreds of other students in the lecture hall, Mystic felt like Roy was speaking directly to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it hit her: “I can be a scholar and an artist and an educator and an activist.” Taking academia seriously didn’t mean she had to put down music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3617047025/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the lecture, Mystic emailed Roy a note and attached a few tracks. The professor liked what she heard and encouraged Mystic to keep making music. As she prepared to enter her second year at Berkeley, \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> was finally out in the world, 10 years after she recorded the first song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I released it on a Tuesday and I started a new semester on a Thursday,” Mystic remembers. A deepening of the themes on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em>, it features beautifully sung affirmations of Black love and resistance, with vibe-y inflections of jazz and soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as soon as Mystic got \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> out of her system, her mind was back on school. She was on a mission. “I graduated from college with a 4.0, right? I say that not to be like, ‘Oh, pop my collar.’ I say that as a representation of how I worked to internalize the knowledge, to be of service to children and the community.\u003ci>”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic_HieroDay_2013-0001-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mystic raps on stage at an outdoor festival.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic performed at Hiero Day in 2013 just days before starting her first semester at UC Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Eric Nelson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hat devotion to helping young people heal and grow through art comes from a profound place within Mystic. When she was a teenager, she dropped out of high school. Her teachers labeled her as gifted and talented, but she felt unchallenged and uninspired at Oakland High School. She longed for a creative outlet: she’d skip school and go to the public library to read books about the music business. Not only that, but she was suffering in silence after surviving a rape. She began to check out mentally—she had a natural love of learning but wasn’t in an environment that encouraged her to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her life as an educator, Mystic wants her students to have a different experience than she did, whether she’s teaching in a classroom, an after-school arts program or at San Quentin State Prison. “I don’t really care about your math or your English. I mean, I do,” she says. “But like, [I also care about] whether you ate. And whether your heart is broken today and whether you’re losing people in your community, whether there’s abuse in your home, everything that you are having to live through, particularly as a young child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' citation='Mystic']“Children are the most natural advocates for human rights and justice in the world.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic’s studies and travels endowed her with an international perspective on the related struggles of colonized people across the world. (While at Berkeley, she did a semester abroad in South Africa, where she studied post-apartheid education reforms.) After graduating from Berkeley in 2015 with a degree in independent studies, a self-directed major where she wrote a thesis on public policy, education and global poverty, she set off to Oxford to get a master’s degree in comparative and international education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My interest in education in an international sense is because the inequalities that exist right here in East Oakland also exist really everywhere else,” she says. “I ended up focusing on how elementary school educators of color are using culturally relevant arts education with students of color. And knowing personally, the arts are transformative. They save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ystic has spent much of the past decade in the “input” phase of her creative process. But in October 2020, after a summer of racial justice uprisings and just before the 2020 election, she decided to put out new track: “We Are the People (All Around the Word).” She wanted a protest song parents could sing with their children, a song for intergenerational activist spaces. It’s as much an indictment of racist power structures as it is a prayer for a world where the next generation can thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Children are the most natural advocates for human rights and justice in the world,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1586769193/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic won’t yet reveal what’s to come, but she’s been fully self-employed since September to focus on creating, cooking (another great love of hers), working with children and mentoring young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We live in a social media age and everything happens in front of the camera,” she says. “I still will always be the artist who’s like, it’s really awesome when nobody knows what you’re doing, and nobody has any expectations and you can just be in your sacred journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what does this part of the path look like, making hip-hop at 47? Especially in an industry inundated with young, male perspectives? Mystic approaches it with a growth mindset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still play with styles and I’m a master at what I do, but I’m always committed to, ‘How does that continue to develop?’” Mystic says. “And you talk about different things. I have seven godchildren. I have people with health issues that we don’t necessarily talk about, that happen when you get older: sister with fibroids, people with more cancer, people trying to determine, ‘Well, do I get to own a house?’ Our parents are getting older, right. And these are things we all think we know until we get there. And then when you get there, you go, ‘Oh, this is not really what I thought it was going to be.’” [aside postid='arts_13896288']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Confronting mortality has always been an element of hip-hop. Since the beginning, its most tremendous artists have come from neighborhoods where people become familiar with death and violence at too young an age. But with the deaths of Gen X hip-hop greats like Shock G, DMX and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899378/blackalicious-gift-of-gab-a-celebrated-mc-dies-at-age-50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gift of Gab\u003c/a> over the past year, health issues, aging and life’s precariousness are at the forefront of conversations among artists and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was born within a year of the birth of hip-hop,” Mystic says. “What we’re doing right now has never been done before. It will always be youth-driven. But what [does it] look like to be an artist in our 40s or in our 50s?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pauses her train of thought to enumerate hip-hop’s many elder statespeople enjoying thriving careers: MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, E-40, Too $hort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get there and you realize it’s a beautiful, full life,” she concludes, “if we’re blessed to have those opportunities. And particularly in our communities—with Black and Brown and Indigenous, economically vulnerable communities—it’s a lot of people who don’t live that long. And so in some ways, we’ve never seen what we’ve seen in hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1990, Shock G and Digital Underground famously rapped “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31A6RjOxE74&ab_channel=TommyBoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doowutchyalike\u003c/a>.” The time has come for Mystic, and all of us, to do what we love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ystic sits in her backyard on the kind of warm, autumn afternoon that makes people remark at how good it is to live in Oakland, California. Dappled light shines through a lush canopy of persimmon, fig and guava trees. Her pet lovebird chirps in the distance, and she’s snacking on almonds between Zoom calls with young musicians she mentors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the veteran hip-hop artist’s little oasis, away from the unruliness of the city, where she ponders the changing seasons of life, love and art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a good time for reflection. The recent loss of her longtime close friend and Digital Underground collaborator, Shock G, shook her deeply. That, and the grief of living during a global pandemic, prompted her to listen inward and ask herself what would fulfill her soul right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, shouldn’t we be doing what we love? Isn’t it the time now?” she asks in her naturally poetic cadence, lowering her voice into a near-whisper. Then, she starts to get louder and more passionate, as if proclaiming a manifesto: “If we’re artists, and art is part of our healing journey, then we should all be making art right now, right? There should be art flooding our speakers and our museums and our buildings, right? Public art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for \u003ca href=\"http://mysticworldwide.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mystic\u003c/a>, one of the roles of hip-hop as a public art form is to bring traumas out of darkness and into the light, where they can be examined and processed—maybe even let go—in communion with others. That’s the power of her classic album \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, whose 20th anniversary Mystic is celebrating this year. She recently took ownership of the master recordings and put out a \u003ca href=\"https://anchor.fm/thatgirlmystic/episodes/ep-e1529j3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">podcast series\u003c/a> looking back at its creation. Now, she’s gearing up for a vinyl rerelease in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the outside, it might look like Mystic is recommitting to her art after years of focusing on her other loves: academia and teaching. After \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> was released to great acclaim, she walked away from a record deal and took a different path that brought her to UC Berkeley and, eventually, the University of Oxford for her master’s degree in education. For years, she spent more time in kindergarten classrooms than on stage in front of fans. But to Mystic, these multiple pursuits are all part of one continuous quest to create, express and be of service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes life to make art,” she texts me after one of our conversations. “There are times of input and times of output. I take my time for input, and that includes healing, living, loving, working with children, school and community. When my art is ready to be born, that is output. That is all 😉.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>t’s easy to see why \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> put Mystic, born Mandolyn Ludlum, on the precipice of major music industry success when it came out in 2001. The vulnerability and candor in her lyrics are magnetic as she zooms from sharp observations to intimate, personal confessions. She navigates a confusing labyrinth of pressures—both from an oppressive social order and within her own community—and carves out space for compassion and love for her people. Twenty years before the #MeToo movement and conversations about mental health became mainstream, Mystic rapped about losing her father to a drug overdose and surviving sexual abuse. She gave voice to struggles shrouded in stigma and shame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of what I hear back then is this fierce commitment to attempt to live and attempt to heal,” she says of her own recordings. “And so when I listen back to that and I read those lyrics, I just I want to tell her, ‘I love you.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1184030260/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With its jazzy undertones and West Coast swing, \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em> offers life-affirming moments of free-spirited fun and sexuality, too. Mystic’s delivery is smooth yet earnest, and she comes across as a warm, approachable, wise friend. It’s no wonder the album earned comparisons to \u003cem>The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill\u003c/em>—although to equate the work of two politically outspoken Gen X women in hip-hop would be an oversimplification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With production from Zion I’s Amp Live, Hieroglyphics’ A-Plus, Shock G and several others, \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em> is the result of a collaborative underground hip-hop scene that strived to push the boundaries of the craft. After living all over the West Coast, Mystic immersed herself in that community when she and her mom settled down in Oakland in 1989, the summer before her sophomore year of high school. (A-Plus was their neighbor across the street.) In her teens and 20s, she honed her skills at cyphers at friends’ houses, where they would rhyme, cook and drink beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were young and we were free, and it was the end of the decimation of communities from crack cocaine in the ’80s and Reaganomics,” she recalls. “There were still a lot of things going on and a lot of loss. But we were happy, you know. We were creating culture, creating hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906496\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906496\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-800x476.jpg\" alt=\"An archival film photo from the 1990s featuring a crew of hip-hop artists partying and laughing.\" width=\"800\" height=\"476\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-800x476.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-1020x606.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-160x95.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew-768x457.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/du-crew.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic and her Digital Underground family in the 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mystic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the ’90s, Mystic developed her stage presence at warehouse parties and open mics, where she’d rhyme alongside revered underground acts like Souls of Mischief. As she ascended to bigger stages, she opened for OutKast and Leaders of the New School, Busta Rhymes’ first group. Her lyrical prowess earned her respect, and eventually she became a member of Digital Underground (she first appears on their 1998 album \u003cem>Who Got the Gravy?\u003c/em>). \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, her solo debut, is as multifaceted as life in Oakland at the turn of the millennium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he power, vulnerability and self-awareness Mystic projected on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> propelled her to great heights. She was nominated for a Grammy and a BET Award, and the music video for the lead single, “The Life,” was on TV.\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/pqw8tVLYhVI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pqw8tVLYhVI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In the 1990s, major labels signed a number of Bay Area artists, and West Coast hip-hop emerged as a commercial force. But the early-2000s era of illegal downloads caused chaos in the industry. Labels were merging and changing ownership, laying off staff and shelving artists’ work. The rerelease of \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom \u003c/em>was one such casualty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic originally released the album on the independent label Good Vibe, which had a joint venture deal with Jcor. When Jcor went out of business, Mystic and her Good Vibe team signed to DreamWorks. A rerelease was in the pipeline. It was supposed to introduce her to an even bigger audience—the first single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMINrw4aFSI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Breathe (Better Days)\u003c/a>” produced by Kanye West and featuring Donell Jones, had been on the radio, and physical copies were sold in Japan. But the U.S. rollout kept getting stalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2004, Universal Music Group bought DreamWorks and absorbed it into Interscope, and her album was still in limbo. Mystic broke the emergency glass and hired a lawyer to get her out of her contract. And though she continued to create (she recorded the first track from her 2014 album \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> after George Bush was declared winner of the 2004 election), Mystic set out on a new path towards higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody was trying to figure out what was wrong with me,” she says. “My accountant, my lawyer, the label—everybody is like, ‘What is she doing,’ right? Because everything in front of her right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic knew she had to heed an internal calling. “I just felt like in order to not hate what I love, which is my art, that it was important for me to step back,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until 2019, after she finished her master’s degree, that Mystic discovered she owned the masters for \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>. And while artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/arts/music/taylor-swift-rerecord-fearless.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taylor Swift\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/music/ashanti-to-re-record-debut-album-after-gaining-ownership-of-her-masters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ashanti\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.essence.com/entertainment/anita-baker-says-you-can-stream-her-music-again/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anita Baker\u003c/a> have had to fight to take ownership over their work, when Mystic went to Universal Music Group, it turned out all she had to do was ask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“DreamWorks took what they owned,” she says. “Good Vibe wanted to keep the songs I had done with other artists on the label. Nobody kept the \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em> album. But I didn’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic in her backyard oasis. \u003ccite>(Nastia Voynovskaya/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Would Mystic’s story have unfolded differently if she had known? She doesn’t like to dwell on it. But she still makes sure to tell her mentees, “Contact the label who owns [your masters] or the people you know to own them. They may not own them anymore. I may have just gotten really lucky, right, and the universe did that. I don’t know. But go and ask.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic poured herself into the songs on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom\u003c/em>, and for years listeners have told her that the album has helped them heal from their own life struggles. There’s power in reclaiming something so personally meaningful—to have full control over where the music is licensed and how much she gets paid, and to guarantee the album makes its way onto whatever new streaming platform emerges in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The songs that I wrote about my father, about the trauma that I’ve been through, about trying to navigate who I was as a young Black woman who was on a healing journey—like, that’s mine,” she says. “And I think the benefit of owning that means nobody else gets to sell my trauma. Nobody else gets to sell my healing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ystic’s second album, \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em>, didn’t come until she was entering her second year at UC Berkeley, in 2014. An “untraditional” student now in her 30s, she was fully focused on getting a degree so she could be of service to children. After studying child development and cultural anthropology at Los Angeles Valley College—and a transformational trip to Haiti, where she learned about child exploitation in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake—she mapped out a new goal of creating an international arts program that would empower children of color across borders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music wasn’t top of mind until she attended Ananya Roy’s global poverty class. Roy was one of Cal’s star faculty—a professor with a contagious passion for social justice, whose lectures students would talk about in dining halls and in dorm rooms late at night. (She’s since moved on to become the inaugural director of UCLA’s Institute on Inequality and Democracy.) Mystic was moved when she heard Roy’s lecture about “insurgent architects,” people who work from within institutions to create progressive social change. Insurgent architects could even be artists, she remembers Roy telling the class. Even though there were hundreds of other students in the lecture hall, Mystic felt like Roy was speaking directly to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then it hit her: “I can be a scholar and an artist and an educator and an activist.” Taking academia seriously didn’t mean she had to put down music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3617047025/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the lecture, Mystic emailed Roy a note and attached a few tracks. The professor liked what she heard and encouraged Mystic to keep making music. As she prepared to enter her second year at Berkeley, \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> was finally out in the world, 10 years after she recorded the first song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I released it on a Tuesday and I started a new semester on a Thursday,” Mystic remembers. A deepening of the themes on \u003cem>Cuts for Luck\u003c/em>, it features beautifully sung affirmations of Black love and resistance, with vibe-y inflections of jazz and soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as soon as Mystic got \u003cem>Beautiful Resistance\u003c/em> out of her system, her mind was back on school. She was on a mission. “I graduated from college with a 4.0, right? I say that not to be like, ‘Oh, pop my collar.’ I say that as a representation of how I worked to internalize the knowledge, to be of service to children and the community.\u003ci>”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Mystic_HieroDay_2013-0001-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mystic raps on stage at an outdoor festival.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mystic performed at Hiero Day in 2013 just days before starting her first semester at UC Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Eric Nelson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hat devotion to helping young people heal and grow through art comes from a profound place within Mystic. When she was a teenager, she dropped out of high school. Her teachers labeled her as gifted and talented, but she felt unchallenged and uninspired at Oakland High School. She longed for a creative outlet: she’d skip school and go to the public library to read books about the music business. Not only that, but she was suffering in silence after surviving a rape. She began to check out mentally—she had a natural love of learning but wasn’t in an environment that encouraged her to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her life as an educator, Mystic wants her students to have a different experience than she did, whether she’s teaching in a classroom, an after-school arts program or at San Quentin State Prison. “I don’t really care about your math or your English. I mean, I do,” she says. “But like, [I also care about] whether you ate. And whether your heart is broken today and whether you’re losing people in your community, whether there’s abuse in your home, everything that you are having to live through, particularly as a young child.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic’s studies and travels endowed her with an international perspective on the related struggles of colonized people across the world. (While at Berkeley, she did a semester abroad in South Africa, where she studied post-apartheid education reforms.) After graduating from Berkeley in 2015 with a degree in independent studies, a self-directed major where she wrote a thesis on public policy, education and global poverty, she set off to Oxford to get a master’s degree in comparative and international education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My interest in education in an international sense is because the inequalities that exist right here in East Oakland also exist really everywhere else,” she says. “I ended up focusing on how elementary school educators of color are using culturally relevant arts education with students of color. And knowing personally, the arts are transformative. They save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ystic has spent much of the past decade in the “input” phase of her creative process. But in October 2020, after a summer of racial justice uprisings and just before the 2020 election, she decided to put out new track: “We Are the People (All Around the Word).” She wanted a protest song parents could sing with their children, a song for intergenerational activist spaces. It’s as much an indictment of racist power structures as it is a prayer for a world where the next generation can thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Children are the most natural advocates for human rights and justice in the world,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1586769193/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mystic won’t yet reveal what’s to come, but she’s been fully self-employed since September to focus on creating, cooking (another great love of hers), working with children and mentoring young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We live in a social media age and everything happens in front of the camera,” she says. “I still will always be the artist who’s like, it’s really awesome when nobody knows what you’re doing, and nobody has any expectations and you can just be in your sacred journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what does this part of the path look like, making hip-hop at 47? Especially in an industry inundated with young, male perspectives? Mystic approaches it with a growth mindset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still play with styles and I’m a master at what I do, but I’m always committed to, ‘How does that continue to develop?’” Mystic says. “And you talk about different things. I have seven godchildren. I have people with health issues that we don’t necessarily talk about, that happen when you get older: sister with fibroids, people with more cancer, people trying to determine, ‘Well, do I get to own a house?’ Our parents are getting older, right. And these are things we all think we know until we get there. And then when you get there, you go, ‘Oh, this is not really what I thought it was going to be.’” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Confronting mortality has always been an element of hip-hop. Since the beginning, its most tremendous artists have come from neighborhoods where people become familiar with death and violence at too young an age. But with the deaths of Gen X hip-hop greats like Shock G, DMX and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899378/blackalicious-gift-of-gab-a-celebrated-mc-dies-at-age-50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gift of Gab\u003c/a> over the past year, health issues, aging and life’s precariousness are at the forefront of conversations among artists and fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was born within a year of the birth of hip-hop,” Mystic says. “What we’re doing right now has never been done before. It will always be youth-driven. But what [does it] look like to be an artist in our 40s or in our 50s?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pauses her train of thought to enumerate hip-hop’s many elder statespeople enjoying thriving careers: MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, E-40, Too $hort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get there and you realize it’s a beautiful, full life,” she concludes, “if we’re blessed to have those opportunities. And particularly in our communities—with Black and Brown and Indigenous, economically vulnerable communities—it’s a lot of people who don’t live that long. And so in some ways, we’ve never seen what we’ve seen in hip-hop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1990, Shock G and Digital Underground famously rapped “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31A6RjOxE74&ab_channel=TommyBoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doowutchyalike\u003c/a>.” The time has come for Mystic, and all of us, to do what we love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "PHOTOS: An Electric Return for Outside Lands with Tyler, the Creator and More",
"headTitle": "PHOTOS: An Electric Return for Outside Lands with Tyler, the Creator and More | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>“This really is beautiful,” Tyler, the Creator wondered out loud in the silence in between songs. “The fog came in, that shit was cute. And the trees,” he said, looking out into the thousands of faces jostling in the muddy grounds of Golden Gate Park on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was true: there was something especially beautiful about the scene set by the first day of Outside Lands. Sometime during Puerto Rican synthpop duo’s Buscabulla’s set the fog rolled in, like the Bay’s natural smoke machine. The haze wrapped around the glowing mushroom sculptures and windmill decor, giving everything an autumnal, Ren Faire look. This was the first time the festival, usually held in August, has taken place this late in the year, and even the park dressed appropriately for the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this special Halloween edition of Outside Lands, the festival continued its tilt away from its indie rock origins to its current big-tent incarnation, with acts as disparate as Glass Animals, Kaytranada and Sharon Van Etten sharing space in the lineup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s who impressed the most during the opening day of the festival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905521\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905521\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Flo Milli’s short but mighty raps\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I arrived to Flo Milli’s set after checking out Khruangbin, the Houston trio whose psychedelic, dub-inflected instrumental rock got an initially stiff and awkward audience reaction—this isn’t the Acid Test era of San Francisco anymore. The crowd at Flo Milli, however, was bouncing and screaming her tagline (“Ho, Flo Milli Shit, ho!”) over bass so deep that it made my ribcage vibrate like a tuning fork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flo Milli’s debut album, and so far, her only album, has exactly 30 minutes of music on it, so it was hard to imagine how she would fill up the 40 minutes of her allotted stage time. It turns out, she chose to perform a lean, 20 minute set with only her biggest hits. But, hey, it’s hard to complain when the crowd could sing every word of her schoolyard-taunt raps at the top of their lungs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905525\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Soul Rebels perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Soul Rebels brought NOLA to the Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This New Orleans eight-piece bass band was a surprise hit with festival-goers. Sure, they don’t have the Gold records or Billboard toppers, but who cares when they’re this good? They’re NOLA through and through: their set is accompanied by B-roll featuring the band posing in front of shotgun houses and shopping in the French Quarter. Everyone was dressed up in their best George Clinton funk outfits, and they played their original work mixed in with crowd-pleasing covers of Ice Cube and Thundercat. Though they’ve headlined their own tours for years, some fans know The Soul Rebels as a backing band \u003ca href=\"http://freshisthepodcast.com/breakin-recordz-8-the-soul-rebels/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">for other people’s concerts\u003c/a>. But at Outside Lands, they showed they can hold their own as a main act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EARTHGANG performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>EARTHGANG’s stripped-down set wowed without distractions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>No vocal backing track. No razzle-dazzle. Olu and Wowgr8, the duo behind EARTHGANG, kept it simple: a static logo on screen, one DJ and themselves. I admit, I wondered how these two minor stars managed to secure a prime-time slot on one of the big stages, but they made me swallow my words. By the end of the night, the word on the shuttle bus was that they had Friday’s best set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their recipe for success is simple: get the crowd hyped, get the music going hard, and then let their talent rip. I mean, these guys are the equivalent of kids who go on \u003cem>America’s Got Talent\u003c/em> and tear through “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the violin—they’re rap virtuosos who aren’t afraid to show it off. Triplet flow, double time, freestyle: EARTHGANG could switch it up on a dime, which they did on almost every track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They even premiered a new single, “Ghetto Gods,” and everyone can check it out via \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqG5_Hlkrmo\">surreptitious upload on YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905502\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905502\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">JPEGMAFIA performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>JPEGMafia didn’t water down his weirdness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last time I saw Peggy was at 2018’s Treasure Island Music Festival, where he played an early slot on a tiny stage to maybe 50 people. And those 50 people were really into it, thrashing and crashing their bodies into each other like football players on the line of scrimmage. At one point Peggy jumped off the stage, started moshing just as hard as his fans, and looked like he was about to fight one of them (his backstage team seemed to talk him out of it).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few more critically acclaimed albums later, and JPEGMafia’s gotten enough clout to score a prominent spot in Friday’s schedule. But even in the major leagues, Peggy’s punk-y, D.I.Y. ethos remains unchanged. If EARTHGANG’s set was stripped down, I’m not sure what to call JPEGMafia’s performance. There was literally nothing besides his MacBook and the man himself on stage. I mean, he had to walk to his laptop between every song to hit play on the next track. After his first song, a rough and unintelligible performance of “Jesus Forgive Me, I am a Thot,” he took a hard look at his computer screen and announced, a little sheepishly: “Sorry, everyone, I had two layers of autotune on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that Peggy’s experimental hip-hop needs an audio slip-up to sound harsh and dissonant. Parts of the audience kept on peeling off with every song, pushed away by the unfriendly sound (this is an artist, after all, that makes “\u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzjpka/jpegmafia-explains-why-he-makes-music-to-be-hated\">Music to be Hated\u003c/a>”). Who was left by the end of the set was the faithful Peggy fans, and for them, they wouldn’t have it any other way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905533\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905533\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tyler, the Creator embraced his evolution in a powerful closer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The less said about The Strokes, who played Outside Lands like they were their own cover band, the better. Tyler, the Creator was the better headliner of the night; he played a downscaled version of his critically \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/watch-tyler-the-creators-cinematic-lollapalooza-set.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">acclaimed Lollapalooza set from July\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like that earlier show, Tyler’s Outside Lands performance was a sentimental look back at his decade-long career, from his beginnings as an scrappy blogazine favorite to his current softboy pop star aesthetic. He dressed the Land’s End stage up in plastic rocks and projected pine trees to look like a lakeside pier, complete with prop speedboat rocking on fake water. It was all very reminiscent of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXJc2NYwHjw&ab_channel=SoulsOfMischiefVEVO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">93 ’Til Infinity\u003c/a>,” tapping into a Bay Area tradition of flexing on picturesque scenery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler was relaxed and casual during his set, chatting with his audience between tracks. “A lot of you found me through \u003cem>Call Me If You Get Lost\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Igor\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Flower Boy\u003c/em> … but [there was] a time where [people] were cancelling me in real life,” Tyler said, referring to his controversial and \u003ca href=\"https://genius.com/a/tyler-the-creator-says-his-2011-album-goblin-is-horrible-in-hindsight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">now partially disowned early work\u003c/a>. “Can I do songs from that album?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he went deeper into his back catalog, the scenery on stage got darker, from a sunny day to the evening to a starry night, and finally, during a performance of “She,” to a blank, pitch-black void. It’s a reflection of the complicated relationship that Tyler has with his past persona of a homophobic, misogynist edgelord—he acknowledges that it came from a dark place in his life, but he’s reluctant to distance himself from his breakout hits any further than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m ambivalent about this gambit, but I can acknowledge that Tyler’s stagecraft is setting a high bar. I mean, how many festival sets are artfully composed enough to allow a glimpse into an artist’s psyche? In the end, the sun rises on stage, and Tyler starts performing songs off his latest album, \u003cem>Call Me If You Get Lost\u003c/em>. The message is clear: whatever you think about his past, for Tyler at least, it’s a new day—a fresh start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905506\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khruangbin performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905505\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khruangbin performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905528\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Strokes perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905520\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905520\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905508\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madeline Kenney backstage at Outside Lands on Friday Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moses Sumney performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905513\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905513\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Van Etten performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905515\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905515\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905529\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905535\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905518\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905499\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Glass Animals perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905514\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "EARTHGANG wowed with virtuosic rapping; Nola funk band The Soul Rebels held their own. ",
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"title": "PHOTOS: An Electric Return for Outside Lands with Tyler, the Creator and More | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“This really is beautiful,” Tyler, the Creator wondered out loud in the silence in between songs. “The fog came in, that shit was cute. And the trees,” he said, looking out into the thousands of faces jostling in the muddy grounds of Golden Gate Park on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was true: there was something especially beautiful about the scene set by the first day of Outside Lands. Sometime during Puerto Rican synthpop duo’s Buscabulla’s set the fog rolled in, like the Bay’s natural smoke machine. The haze wrapped around the glowing mushroom sculptures and windmill decor, giving everything an autumnal, Ren Faire look. This was the first time the festival, usually held in August, has taken place this late in the year, and even the park dressed appropriately for the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this special Halloween edition of Outside Lands, the festival continued its tilt away from its indie rock origins to its current big-tent incarnation, with acts as disparate as Glass Animals, Kaytranada and Sharon Van Etten sharing space in the lineup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s who impressed the most during the opening day of the festival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905521\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905521\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-8-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Flo Milli’s short but mighty raps\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I arrived to Flo Milli’s set after checking out Khruangbin, the Houston trio whose psychedelic, dub-inflected instrumental rock got an initially stiff and awkward audience reaction—this isn’t the Acid Test era of San Francisco anymore. The crowd at Flo Milli, however, was bouncing and screaming her tagline (“Ho, Flo Milli Shit, ho!”) over bass so deep that it made my ribcage vibrate like a tuning fork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flo Milli’s debut album, and so far, her only album, has exactly 30 minutes of music on it, so it was hard to imagine how she would fill up the 40 minutes of her allotted stage time. It turns out, she chose to perform a lean, 20 minute set with only her biggest hits. But, hey, it’s hard to complain when the crowd could sing every word of her schoolyard-taunt raps at the top of their lungs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905525\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Soul-Rebels-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Soul Rebels perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Soul Rebels brought NOLA to the Bay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This New Orleans eight-piece bass band was a surprise hit with festival-goers. Sure, they don’t have the Gold records or Billboard toppers, but who cares when they’re this good? They’re NOLA through and through: their set is accompanied by B-roll featuring the band posing in front of shotgun houses and shopping in the French Quarter. Everyone was dressed up in their best George Clinton funk outfits, and they played their original work mixed in with crowd-pleasing covers of Ice Cube and Thundercat. Though they’ve headlined their own tours for years, some fans know The Soul Rebels as a backing band \u003ca href=\"http://freshisthepodcast.com/breakin-recordz-8-the-soul-rebels/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">for other people’s concerts\u003c/a>. But at Outside Lands, they showed they can hold their own as a main act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/EARTHGANG-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EARTHGANG performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>EARTHGANG’s stripped-down set wowed without distractions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>No vocal backing track. No razzle-dazzle. Olu and Wowgr8, the duo behind EARTHGANG, kept it simple: a static logo on screen, one DJ and themselves. I admit, I wondered how these two minor stars managed to secure a prime-time slot on one of the big stages, but they made me swallow my words. By the end of the night, the word on the shuttle bus was that they had Friday’s best set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their recipe for success is simple: get the crowd hyped, get the music going hard, and then let their talent rip. I mean, these guys are the equivalent of kids who go on \u003cem>America’s Got Talent\u003c/em> and tear through “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the violin—they’re rap virtuosos who aren’t afraid to show it off. Triplet flow, double time, freestyle: EARTHGANG could switch it up on a dime, which they did on almost every track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They even premiered a new single, “Ghetto Gods,” and everyone can check it out via \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqG5_Hlkrmo\">surreptitious upload on YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905502\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905502\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/JPEGMAFIA-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">JPEGMAFIA performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>JPEGMafia didn’t water down his weirdness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last time I saw Peggy was at 2018’s Treasure Island Music Festival, where he played an early slot on a tiny stage to maybe 50 people. And those 50 people were really into it, thrashing and crashing their bodies into each other like football players on the line of scrimmage. At one point Peggy jumped off the stage, started moshing just as hard as his fans, and looked like he was about to fight one of them (his backstage team seemed to talk him out of it).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few more critically acclaimed albums later, and JPEGMafia’s gotten enough clout to score a prominent spot in Friday’s schedule. But even in the major leagues, Peggy’s punk-y, D.I.Y. ethos remains unchanged. If EARTHGANG’s set was stripped down, I’m not sure what to call JPEGMafia’s performance. There was literally nothing besides his MacBook and the man himself on stage. I mean, he had to walk to his laptop between every song to hit play on the next track. After his first song, a rough and unintelligible performance of “Jesus Forgive Me, I am a Thot,” he took a hard look at his computer screen and announced, a little sheepishly: “Sorry, everyone, I had two layers of autotune on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that Peggy’s experimental hip-hop needs an audio slip-up to sound harsh and dissonant. Parts of the audience kept on peeling off with every song, pushed away by the unfriendly sound (this is an artist, after all, that makes “\u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzjpka/jpegmafia-explains-why-he-makes-music-to-be-hated\">Music to be Hated\u003c/a>”). Who was left by the end of the set was the faithful Peggy fans, and for them, they wouldn’t have it any other way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905533\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905533\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-9-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tyler, the Creator embraced his evolution in a powerful closer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The less said about The Strokes, who played Outside Lands like they were their own cover band, the better. Tyler, the Creator was the better headliner of the night; he played a downscaled version of his critically \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/watch-tyler-the-creators-cinematic-lollapalooza-set.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">acclaimed Lollapalooza set from July\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like that earlier show, Tyler’s Outside Lands performance was a sentimental look back at his decade-long career, from his beginnings as an scrappy blogazine favorite to his current softboy pop star aesthetic. He dressed the Land’s End stage up in plastic rocks and projected pine trees to look like a lakeside pier, complete with prop speedboat rocking on fake water. It was all very reminiscent of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXJc2NYwHjw&ab_channel=SoulsOfMischiefVEVO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">93 ’Til Infinity\u003c/a>,” tapping into a Bay Area tradition of flexing on picturesque scenery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tyler was relaxed and casual during his set, chatting with his audience between tracks. “A lot of you found me through \u003cem>Call Me If You Get Lost\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Igor\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Flower Boy\u003c/em> … but [there was] a time where [people] were cancelling me in real life,” Tyler said, referring to his controversial and \u003ca href=\"https://genius.com/a/tyler-the-creator-says-his-2011-album-goblin-is-horrible-in-hindsight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">now partially disowned early work\u003c/a>. “Can I do songs from that album?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he went deeper into his back catalog, the scenery on stage got darker, from a sunny day to the evening to a starry night, and finally, during a performance of “She,” to a blank, pitch-black void. It’s a reflection of the complicated relationship that Tyler has with his past persona of a homophobic, misogynist edgelord—he acknowledges that it came from a dark place in his life, but he’s reluctant to distance himself from his breakout hits any further than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m ambivalent about this gambit, but I can acknowledge that Tyler’s stagecraft is setting a high bar. I mean, how many festival sets are artfully composed enough to allow a glimpse into an artist’s psyche? In the end, the sun rises on stage, and Tyler starts performing songs off his latest album, \u003cem>Call Me If You Get Lost\u003c/em>. The message is clear: whatever you think about his past, for Tyler at least, it’s a new day—a fresh start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905506\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khruangbin performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905505\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Khruangbin-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khruangbin performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905528\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Strokes-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Strokes perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905520\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905520\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-7-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905508\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Madeline-Kenney-backstage-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madeline Kenney backstage at Outside Lands on Friday Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Moses-Sumney-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moses Sumney performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905513\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905513\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Sharon-Van-Etten-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Van Etten performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905515\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905515\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-copy-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905529\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-3-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905535\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Tyler-The-Creator-performs-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29.-11-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tyler, The Creator performs at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905518\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-4-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905499\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/Glass-Animals-perform-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct.-29-6-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Glass Animals perform at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct. 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905514\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/The-Crowd-at-Outside-Lands-on-Friday-Oct-29-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crowd at Outside Lands on Friday, Oct 29. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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On top of that, their contributions from that period have been largely overlooked in \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/chi_00005\">historical documentaries\u003c/a> and public memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, thanks to a group of young people who grew up on that same hallowed ground in Marin County, the tales of some of the Black workers at Marinship are being shared through beats and rhymes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://iamjahi.com/the-marinovators\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Marinovators\u003c/a>, a collection of a dozen teenagers working under the guidance of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mrjahiofficial/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MC Jahi\u003c/a>, recently released the album “\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/5eq0retGOvx5vmTf4PM9hN?autoplay=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Way Out Of No Way\u003c/a>,” which highlights the tales of African American laborers at Marinship like \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2018/08/14/rodessa-battle-a-marin-city-rosie-the-riveter-dies-at-97/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rodessa Battle,\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2018/07/24/marin-city-rosie-the-riveter-annie-small-dies-at-99/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Annie Small\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.com/2019-columns/2019/2/13/joseph-james-entertainer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joseph James. \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Marinovators- A Way Out of No Way [Official Lyric video]\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/pyQdXEpRQuA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These unsung heroes helped the fight abroad by constructing wartime ships, and championing civil rights on the home front. Broadway singer turned shipyard welder, Joseph James, notably spearheaded a legal battle against the segregated union at Marniship that denied equal benefits to Black workers. His lawsuit challenged the racial discrimination, and made its way to the California Supreme Court, laying the foundation for other discrimination cases. And it’s a story that get’s told on the album.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week we talk to five of the young artists who appear on the project, Khayree Mitchell (13), Dom Austin (14), Sarah Alexis Williams (15), Jaliyah Cook (12) and Rohan Ayyar (18), about what it means to be young culture keepers and historians using music and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xrlearn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual reality.\u003c/a> Plus, we talk about what should be done to publicly honor the workers at Marinship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
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},
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "WNYC"
},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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