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As for the splits: Liu explained that she felt awkward for being late, and it was the only logical thing to do in a moment of “neurodivergent panic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poppy Liu does the splits while holding onto LaKeith Stanfield at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The evening’s wild antics mixed with heady political philosophy mirrored the tone and pacing of \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> itself, which follows an all-woman shoplifting ring, the Velvet Gang, who resell designer clothes from high-end Bay Area stores to make ends meet and provide a community service of “fashion-forward (f)ilanthropy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boosters, Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie), get caught up in a rivalry with the elitist, foul-mouthed fashion mogul Christie Smith (Demi Moore), and eventually join forces with retail worker Violeta (Eiza Gonzalez) and Chinese garment worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) for an epic scheme that defies the laws of physics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988896\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x879.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x70.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x338.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x675.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x900.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Keke Palmer, Poppy Liu and Taylour Paige in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Boots Riley, who spent decades as a frontline community organizer and political rapper before becoming a filmmaker, has never been shy about the bold aims of his art: “We need a mass, militant radical labor movement,” he told KQED on the red carpet. And although worker organizing is an explicit theme in \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em>, Riley makes its union politics go down easy with skillful comedic pacing, technicolor visuals and the boosters’ runway-worthy looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gags don’t stop throughout the film’s taut 105-minute run time. In the opening scene, Corvette seemingly propositions a guy for sex by asking his shoe size and then flips it into a sales pitch for discounted footwear. Bolstered by a soundtrack of boings and whoops from Tune-Yards, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> excels in physical comedy. Corvette’s \u003cem>Tom and Jerry\u003c/em>-esque standoff with Christie Smith and her minions gets more bizarre at each turn until it culminates in a reveal as freaky as the one in Riley’s 2018 film \u003cem>Sorry to Bother You\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988897\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x974.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x374.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x748.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x998.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Keke Palmer star in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> is Riley’s sophomore feature, and his sci-fi imagination feels bigger here, as does his ambition to inject the story with references to Marxist philosophy. Dialectical materialism, a theory of conflict between opposing forces and its ability to drive change, underpins some of the wackiest elements of the movie. Some viewers might find the film’s monologues about it burdensome, but I left with the urge to watch the film at least three more times to truly unpack it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley, director of the movie ‘I Love Boosters,’ prepares to shake hands with someone at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whether you’ve taken poli-sci classes or not, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> makes you feel, on a visceral level, the power of ordinary people coming together against a powerful, exploitive few. The Oakland audience — which included notable artists like comedian W. Kamau Bell and actor Jamal Trulove — jeered at the film’s fake conservative news clips (one featured a low-income woman arguing for the right to pay more in rent) and cheered emphatically as picket signs went up on screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> gets its wide release on May 22, much hand-wringing about the morality of stealing will undoubtedly ensue. But whether you agree with the boosters’ tactics is beside the point. As LaKeith Stanfield put it in the post-screening Q&A, the film is really all about “this social issue that I think that we’re having trouble with, which is unity.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Poppy Liu doing the splits on the red carpet — not an elegant walkway, but a rug crammed inside an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> storefront full of sweaty reporters — wasn’t the only lovably chaotic moment at the West Coast premiere of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/boots-riley\">Boots Riley\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sffilm\">San Francisco International Film Festival\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987291/grand-lake-theatre-100-years-oakland\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a> Tuesday evening, there was also a marriage proposal during the after-screening Q&A; lots of oral sex jokes from LaKeith Stanfield (in the film, he plays a demon who uses his skills to nefarious ends); and, of course, many rants about the Marxist concept of \u003ca href=\"https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/a-brief-and-imperfect-explanation-of-dialectical-materialism\">dialectical materialism\u003c/a>. As for the splits: Liu explained that she felt awkward for being late, and it was the only logical thing to do in a moment of “neurodivergent panic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poppy Liu does the splits while holding onto LaKeith Stanfield at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The evening’s wild antics mixed with heady political philosophy mirrored the tone and pacing of \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> itself, which follows an all-woman shoplifting ring, the Velvet Gang, who resell designer clothes from high-end Bay Area stores to make ends meet and provide a community service of “fashion-forward (f)ilanthropy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boosters, Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie), get caught up in a rivalry with the elitist, foul-mouthed fashion mogul Christie Smith (Demi Moore), and eventually join forces with retail worker Violeta (Eiza Gonzalez) and Chinese garment worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) for an epic scheme that defies the laws of physics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988896\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x879.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x70.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x338.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x675.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x900.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Keke Palmer, Poppy Liu and Taylour Paige in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Boots Riley, who spent decades as a frontline community organizer and political rapper before becoming a filmmaker, has never been shy about the bold aims of his art: “We need a mass, militant radical labor movement,” he told KQED on the red carpet. And although worker organizing is an explicit theme in \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em>, Riley makes its union politics go down easy with skillful comedic pacing, technicolor visuals and the boosters’ runway-worthy looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gags don’t stop throughout the film’s taut 105-minute run time. In the opening scene, Corvette seemingly propositions a guy for sex by asking his shoe size and then flips it into a sales pitch for discounted footwear. Bolstered by a soundtrack of boings and whoops from Tune-Yards, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> excels in physical comedy. Corvette’s \u003cem>Tom and Jerry\u003c/em>-esque standoff with Christie Smith and her minions gets more bizarre at each turn until it culminates in a reveal as freaky as the one in Riley’s 2018 film \u003cem>Sorry to Bother You\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988897\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x974.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x374.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x748.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x998.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Keke Palmer star in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> is Riley’s sophomore feature, and his sci-fi imagination feels bigger here, as does his ambition to inject the story with references to Marxist philosophy. Dialectical materialism, a theory of conflict between opposing forces and its ability to drive change, underpins some of the wackiest elements of the movie. Some viewers might find the film’s monologues about it burdensome, but I left with the urge to watch the film at least three more times to truly unpack it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley, director of the movie ‘I Love Boosters,’ prepares to shake hands with someone at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whether you’ve taken poli-sci classes or not, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> makes you feel, on a visceral level, the power of ordinary people coming together against a powerful, exploitive few. The Oakland audience — which included notable artists like comedian W. Kamau Bell and actor Jamal Trulove — jeered at the film’s fake conservative news clips (one featured a low-income woman arguing for the right to pay more in rent) and cheered emphatically as picket signs went up on screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> gets its wide release on May 22, much hand-wringing about the morality of stealing will undoubtedly ensue. But whether you agree with the boosters’ tactics is beside the point. As LaKeith Stanfield put it in the post-screening Q&A, the film is really all about “this social issue that I think that we’re having trouble with, which is unity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "celebrating-oaklands-betti-ono-gallery-a-decade-long-cultural-anchor",
"title": "Celebrating Oakland’s Betti Ono Gallery, a Decade-Long Cultural Anchor",
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"headTitle": "Celebrating Oakland’s Betti Ono Gallery, a Decade-Long Cultural Anchor | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>From 2011 until 2021, the Betti Ono art gallery served as a community anchor in the heart of downtown Oakland. As a cultural incubator, it benefited a number of local and national creatives — myself included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside the expansive windows of 1427 Broadway, the concept of the traditional white box gallery was flipped on its head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Betti Ono showcased visual artists and musicians. It hosted joyous baby showers and somber vigils. It held lit parties and sultry poetry nights. It gave space to conversations about housing rights, and provided a home for multimedia pieces addressing the biggest social issues of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\">the \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> podcast\u003c/a>, it was the perfect venue for our first live event. The gallery, much like the podcast, was all about prioritizing art and community connections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a decade, some of the Bay Area’s most talented people frequented Betti Ono. In many ways, the people \u003cem>were\u003c/em> the art. Now, a documentary puts the significance of the gallery in its proper context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HC-asXWJ1vg&si=V1s6Qt3KoQRwCbXs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HC-asXWJ1vg&si=V1s6Qt3KoQRwCbXs\">\u003cem>Art and Everyday People: The Story of the Betti Ono Foundation\u003c/em>\u003c/a> charts the birth of Betti Ono, its impact and what’s next for the organization now, 15 years after its founding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The short documentary film, directed by former KQED reporter \u003ca href=\"https://www.arianaproehl.com/\">Ariana Proehl\u003c/a>, shows “all the beautiful people” who frequented the space. Proehl predicts that \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">the film’s free premiere this Wednesday at the New Parkway in Oakland\u003c/a> will be a much-needed reconvening of that community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be a really great reunion for Betti Ono,” Proehl tells me during a video call, adding that right now, “we need some reminders of our power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of the film’s power is found in its photo montages, poetically presented over a score by Oakland-based musician and educator \u003ca href=\"https://chanelleignant.com/\">Chanelle Ignant\u003c/a>, also formerly of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13810477']Each clip reveals a who’s-who of renowned artists, often smiling or sharing an embrace. Those include photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973477/photographer-brittsense-oakland-roots-coliseum\">Britt Sense\u003c/a>, singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/8355/8355\">Aisha Fukushima\u003c/a> and rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908051/rising-artist-ovrkast-makes-introspective-rap-for-cloudy-days\">Ovrkast.\u003c/a>, multitalented radio host \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878784/how-theater-prepared-this-artist-for-the-funeral-home\">Paris Warr\u003c/a>, augmented reality artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13958122/black-terminus-ar-says-new-tech-is-for-the-people\">Damien McDuffie\u003c/a>, cultural icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986932/emory-douglas-black-panthers-interview-aaacc-san-francisco\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>, visual artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909758/rightnowish-biglove-karen-and-malik-seneferu\">Karen and Malik Seneferu\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “\u003ca href=\"https://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/\">Stop Telling Women to Smile\u003c/a>” social campaign by \u003ca href=\"https://tlynnfaz.com/\">Tatyana Fazlalizadeh\u003c/a>, a visual artist who had a residency at Betti Ono, exemplifies the international reach of the gallery’s diaspora.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.notonemoregirl.com/\">#NotOneMoreGirl\u003c/a> initiative, a push to end gender-based violence on public transit and a response to the killing of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13837639/nia-wilson-and-the-war-on-black-women\">Nia Wilson\u003c/a>, underscores the gallery’s work locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Betti Ono’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bettiono.com/our-work-main/the-arts-and-civic-engagement-ace-youth-fellows\">Arts and Civic Engagement fellowship\u003c/a> (ACE), a space for youth to advance solutions to community issues, highlights the organization’s investment in the next generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988898\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard.png\" alt=\"An African American woman in a hat sitting while being interviewed. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1121\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-768x430.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-1536x861.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anyka Howard, founder of Betti Ono, discussing the gallery’s history and future. \u003ccite>(Ariana Proehl)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The film features conversations with muralist and printmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.jessicasabogal.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jessica Sabogal\u003c/a> and photographer \u003ca href=\"http://www.kierrajohnson.com/\">Kierra Jenaé Johnson\u003c/a>, both of whom explain how the space incubated them as young artists and pushed them further in their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing a larger context of Oakland in the 2010s are interviews with artist and curator \u003ca href=\"https://www.sh8peshiftyourlife.com/\">Zakiya Harris\u003c/a>, lyricist and educator \u003ca href=\"https://www.emceedodat.com/\">Davin “Do D.A.T.” Thompson\u003c/a> and journalist and author \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/earnold\">Eric K. Arnold\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three note that before Betti Ono, a rapidly changing downtown Oakland offered far too little space to the Black community largely responsible for the Town’s cultural currency. In the midst of those changes, Betti Ono founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.bettiono.com/team-anyka-howard\">Anyka Howard\u003c/a> returned to the Bay Area from Atlanta, bringing with her an appetite for community gatherings and artistic events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howard traces Betti Ono’s roots to 2010, when she started a weekly event called Smashbox Live, a “live arts experience that brings creative people together to network, collaborate, exchange ideas and also promote their practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea took off, but the she was forced to change the name after receiving a cease-and-desist letter. She settled on a name inspired by funk singer and songwriter \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/13/1080151853/game-was-her-middle-name-the-world-was-never-ready-for-betty-davis\">Betty Davis\u003c/a> and multitalented artist and activist \u003ca href=\"https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/yoko-ono-1719\">Yoko Ono\u003c/a>. The two women, Howard says in the film, represented “this notion of smashing the box and challenging the status quo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988899\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988899\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012.jpg\" alt=\"Eight people gather to take a photo inside of an art gallery. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artists gather for a photo during a 2012 exhibition titled ‘What is Buried Is Not Lost’ at Betti Ono gallery in downtown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Betti Ono)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the film, Howard opens up about her community work, and how it stems from generations of Black women committed to and caring for their people. As a child, Howard would accompany her great-grandmother as she visited the sick and infirm. She also watched her grandmother as she ran Richmond’s youth employment program, ensuring young people had summertime work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They weren’t waving flags,” Howard says in the film, discussing her family’s matriarchs. “They were just living in their truth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Betti Ono, Howard co-founded the \u003ca href=\"https://www.blacspace.coop/\">BlacSPACECooperative\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/oaklands-new-creative-neighborhoods-coalition-announces-first-meeting-2-1/\">the Oakland Creative Neighborhoods Coalition\u003c/a>. She pushed for cultural preservation, challenged city policy regarding arts funding and navigated instances of police scrutinizing large gatherings of people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988900\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988900\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp.jpg\" alt=\"A large gathering of African American women artists pose for a photo inside of a gallery.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1279\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-768x491.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-1536x982.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Betti Ono held over 60 exhibitions and public programs over the course of its 10-year run. \u003ccite>(Jon Crisp)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the gallery stood out amongst the changing face of Oakland by providing a space for creative communities to thrive, its backbone was that it was simply serving the people through art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s totally in line with what the Black Panthers were doing, what the Black Arts Movement was all about,” says Eric Arnold in the film. “This whole legacy of cultural arts in Oakland that goes back to the ’60s and ’70s, and really created a global movement that hasn’t stopped yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In making the film, Proehl looked closely at how Betti Ono served the people, herself included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A first-time filmmaker with a background in journalism and poetry, Proehl had wanted to make a film since the early 2000s, when she was enrolled as an ethnic studies student at UC Berkeley. She started off volunteering at the Women of Color Film Festival, an annual event at Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive. “I ended up becoming a co-director and co-curator,” says Proehl. “At that point in time, I was like, ‘Oh, I really wanna make a documentary.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But desire and a camcorder weren’t enough. “I didn’t have the confidence, or the know-how,” reflects Proehl. When Howard and the Betti Ono team reached out for help telling the story of the organization ahead of its 15th anniversary, Proehl took it as a sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It all culminates,” she says of her past work experience, informing this next step in her career. “I feel like I’m in my lane now, it feels really good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first move in that lane: telling the intimate story of one of the most significant spaces for artists in Oakland in the 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Getting to see a woman’s — a Black woman’s vision,” says Proehl, describing Howard’s trajectory from simply wanting to “have an art night” to opening her own gallery and holding space for so many community members, “that’s just a beautiful thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">Art & Everyday People: The Story of the Betti Ono Foundation\u003c/a>‘ premieres on Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. at the New Parkway Theater (474 24th St., Oakland). The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Anyka Howard and Ariana Proehl, hosted by Jada Imani.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>There will also be a post-screening reception at Night Heron, 1780 Telegraph Ave in Uptown Oakland. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more information \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">check here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>From 2011 until 2021, the Betti Ono art gallery served as a community anchor in the heart of downtown Oakland. As a cultural incubator, it benefited a number of local and national creatives — myself included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside the expansive windows of 1427 Broadway, the concept of the traditional white box gallery was flipped on its head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Betti Ono showcased visual artists and musicians. It hosted joyous baby showers and somber vigils. It held lit parties and sultry poetry nights. It gave space to conversations about housing rights, and provided a home for multimedia pieces addressing the biggest social issues of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When KQED launched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\">the \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> podcast\u003c/a>, it was the perfect venue for our first live event. The gallery, much like the podcast, was all about prioritizing art and community connections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a decade, some of the Bay Area’s most talented people frequented Betti Ono. In many ways, the people \u003cem>were\u003c/em> the art. Now, a documentary puts the significance of the gallery in its proper context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/HC-asXWJ1vg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/HC-asXWJ1vg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=HC-asXWJ1vg&si=V1s6Qt3KoQRwCbXs\">\u003cem>Art and Everyday People: The Story of the Betti Ono Foundation\u003c/em>\u003c/a> charts the birth of Betti Ono, its impact and what’s next for the organization now, 15 years after its founding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The short documentary film, directed by former KQED reporter \u003ca href=\"https://www.arianaproehl.com/\">Ariana Proehl\u003c/a>, shows “all the beautiful people” who frequented the space. Proehl predicts that \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">the film’s free premiere this Wednesday at the New Parkway in Oakland\u003c/a> will be a much-needed reconvening of that community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be a really great reunion for Betti Ono,” Proehl tells me during a video call, adding that right now, “we need some reminders of our power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of the film’s power is found in its photo montages, poetically presented over a score by Oakland-based musician and educator \u003ca href=\"https://chanelleignant.com/\">Chanelle Ignant\u003c/a>, also formerly of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Each clip reveals a who’s-who of renowned artists, often smiling or sharing an embrace. Those include photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973477/photographer-brittsense-oakland-roots-coliseum\">Britt Sense\u003c/a>, singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/8355/8355\">Aisha Fukushima\u003c/a> and rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908051/rising-artist-ovrkast-makes-introspective-rap-for-cloudy-days\">Ovrkast.\u003c/a>, multitalented radio host \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13878784/how-theater-prepared-this-artist-for-the-funeral-home\">Paris Warr\u003c/a>, augmented reality artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13958122/black-terminus-ar-says-new-tech-is-for-the-people\">Damien McDuffie\u003c/a>, cultural icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986932/emory-douglas-black-panthers-interview-aaacc-san-francisco\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>, visual artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909758/rightnowish-biglove-karen-and-malik-seneferu\">Karen and Malik Seneferu\u003c/a> and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “\u003ca href=\"https://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/\">Stop Telling Women to Smile\u003c/a>” social campaign by \u003ca href=\"https://tlynnfaz.com/\">Tatyana Fazlalizadeh\u003c/a>, a visual artist who had a residency at Betti Ono, exemplifies the international reach of the gallery’s diaspora.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.notonemoregirl.com/\">#NotOneMoreGirl\u003c/a> initiative, a push to end gender-based violence on public transit and a response to the killing of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13837639/nia-wilson-and-the-war-on-black-women\">Nia Wilson\u003c/a>, underscores the gallery’s work locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Betti Ono’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bettiono.com/our-work-main/the-arts-and-civic-engagement-ace-youth-fellows\">Arts and Civic Engagement fellowship\u003c/a> (ACE), a space for youth to advance solutions to community issues, highlights the organization’s investment in the next generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988898\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard.png\" alt=\"An African American woman in a hat sitting while being interviewed. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1121\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-768x430.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Art-Everyday-People-Film-Still-Anyka-Howard-1536x861.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anyka Howard, founder of Betti Ono, discussing the gallery’s history and future. \u003ccite>(Ariana Proehl)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The film features conversations with muralist and printmaker \u003ca href=\"https://www.jessicasabogal.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jessica Sabogal\u003c/a> and photographer \u003ca href=\"http://www.kierrajohnson.com/\">Kierra Jenaé Johnson\u003c/a>, both of whom explain how the space incubated them as young artists and pushed them further in their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing a larger context of Oakland in the 2010s are interviews with artist and curator \u003ca href=\"https://www.sh8peshiftyourlife.com/\">Zakiya Harris\u003c/a>, lyricist and educator \u003ca href=\"https://www.emceedodat.com/\">Davin “Do D.A.T.” Thompson\u003c/a> and journalist and author \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/earnold\">Eric K. Arnold\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three note that before Betti Ono, a rapidly changing downtown Oakland offered far too little space to the Black community largely responsible for the Town’s cultural currency. In the midst of those changes, Betti Ono founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.bettiono.com/team-anyka-howard\">Anyka Howard\u003c/a> returned to the Bay Area from Atlanta, bringing with her an appetite for community gatherings and artistic events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howard traces Betti Ono’s roots to 2010, when she started a weekly event called Smashbox Live, a “live arts experience that brings creative people together to network, collaborate, exchange ideas and also promote their practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea took off, but the she was forced to change the name after receiving a cease-and-desist letter. She settled on a name inspired by funk singer and songwriter \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/13/1080151853/game-was-her-middle-name-the-world-was-never-ready-for-betty-davis\">Betty Davis\u003c/a> and multitalented artist and activist \u003ca href=\"https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/yoko-ono-1719\">Yoko Ono\u003c/a>. The two women, Howard says in the film, represented “this notion of smashing the box and challenging the status quo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988899\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988899\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012.jpg\" alt=\"Eight people gather to take a photo inside of an art gallery. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/What-is-Buried-Is-Not-Lost-Karen-and-Malik-Seneferu-Exhibition-at-Betti-Ono-2012-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artists gather for a photo during a 2012 exhibition titled ‘What is Buried Is Not Lost’ at Betti Ono gallery in downtown Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Betti Ono)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the film, Howard opens up about her community work, and how it stems from generations of Black women committed to and caring for their people. As a child, Howard would accompany her great-grandmother as she visited the sick and infirm. She also watched her grandmother as she ran Richmond’s youth employment program, ensuring young people had summertime work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They weren’t waving flags,” Howard says in the film, discussing her family’s matriarchs. “They were just living in their truth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Betti Ono, Howard co-founded the \u003ca href=\"https://www.blacspace.coop/\">BlacSPACECooperative\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/oaklands-new-creative-neighborhoods-coalition-announces-first-meeting-2-1/\">the Oakland Creative Neighborhoods Coalition\u003c/a>. She pushed for cultural preservation, challenged city policy regarding arts funding and navigated instances of police scrutinizing large gatherings of people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988900\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988900\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp.jpg\" alt=\"A large gathering of African American women artists pose for a photo inside of a gallery.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1279\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-768x491.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Brittani-Sensabaugh-Opening-1-Credit-Jon-Crisp-1536x982.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Betti Ono held over 60 exhibitions and public programs over the course of its 10-year run. \u003ccite>(Jon Crisp)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the gallery stood out amongst the changing face of Oakland by providing a space for creative communities to thrive, its backbone was that it was simply serving the people through art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s totally in line with what the Black Panthers were doing, what the Black Arts Movement was all about,” says Eric Arnold in the film. “This whole legacy of cultural arts in Oakland that goes back to the ’60s and ’70s, and really created a global movement that hasn’t stopped yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In making the film, Proehl looked closely at how Betti Ono served the people, herself included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A first-time filmmaker with a background in journalism and poetry, Proehl had wanted to make a film since the early 2000s, when she was enrolled as an ethnic studies student at UC Berkeley. She started off volunteering at the Women of Color Film Festival, an annual event at Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive. “I ended up becoming a co-director and co-curator,” says Proehl. “At that point in time, I was like, ‘Oh, I really wanna make a documentary.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But desire and a camcorder weren’t enough. “I didn’t have the confidence, or the know-how,” reflects Proehl. When Howard and the Betti Ono team reached out for help telling the story of the organization ahead of its 15th anniversary, Proehl took it as a sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It all culminates,” she says of her past work experience, informing this next step in her career. “I feel like I’m in my lane now, it feels really good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first move in that lane: telling the intimate story of one of the most significant spaces for artists in Oakland in the 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Getting to see a woman’s — a Black woman’s vision,” says Proehl, describing Howard’s trajectory from simply wanting to “have an art night” to opening her own gallery and holding space for so many community members, “that’s just a beautiful thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">Art & Everyday People: The Story of the Betti Ono Foundation\u003c/a>‘ premieres on Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. at the New Parkway Theater (474 24th St., Oakland). The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Anyka Howard and Ariana Proehl, hosted by Jada Imani.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>There will also be a post-screening reception at Night Heron, 1780 Telegraph Ave in Uptown Oakland. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more information \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/premiere-art-everyday-people-the-story-of-the-betti-ono-foundation-tickets-1986571180879\">check here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "pay-what-you-can-bay-area-restaurants-reems-bombera-masala-y-maiz-oakland-sf",
"title": "Bay Area Restaurants Will Allow Customers to ‘Pay What They Can’ — For One Day, Anyway",
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"headTitle": "Bay Area Restaurants Will Allow Customers to ‘Pay What They Can’ — For One Day, Anyway | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In many ways, Masala y Maiz, the globally acclaimed Mexico City restaurant, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987839/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots\">born in the Bay Area\u003c/a> — in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>, specifically, where chef-owners Norma Listman and Saqib Keval first met and fell in love. Since opening in 2017, the restaurant has made a name for itself not only for its forward-thinking Mexican, Indian and East African fusion cuisine but also its very Oakland brand of activist, egalitarian politics. Most famously, the restaurant frequently hosts “Paga Lo Que Puedas” — i.e., “Pay What You Can” — days, allowing customers from all socioeconomic backgrounds to enjoy a Michelin-starred meal they otherwise might not be able to afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=arts_13987839 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-1536x1024.jpg']This year, the restaurant is taking this movement global. Keval and Listman recently declared August 26, 2026, a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">global day of hospitality\u003c/a>,” and they’re calling on restaurants around the world to adopt the Pay What You Can model at least for that one day. Participating restaurants will simply serve their regular menus, allowing guests to order whatever they like — and pay however much they’re able to afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given Masala y Maiz’s Bay Area roots, it’s no surprise that four of the 33 restaurants worldwide that have signed up so far are located in the Bay: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> in San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bomberaoakland/\">Bombera\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/understoryoakland/\">Understory\u003c/a> in Oakland, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/valleyswim.club/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a> in Sonoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987862\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987862\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"In an outdoor courtyard, a man and woman in blue aprons prepare banana-leaf tamales in a large pot.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Norma Listman and Saqib Keval prepare tamales at an early iteration of their Mexico City restaurant, Masala y Maiz. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reem’s chef-owner Reem Assil, who has known Listman and Keval since Keval’s early days as a co-founder of the food justice group People’s Kitchen Collective, says signing up was “a no-brainer in this late-stage capitalism that’s just killing us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to do everything we can to push against the status quo,” she says. And by feeding people — for free, in some cases — restaurants wouldn’t just be making a symbolic gesture: “It’s something that materially impacts the community around you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay Area, there’s already some precedent for restaurants engaging in this kind of activism. Oakland’s Monster Pho has long hosted an annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968422/free-pho-oakland-monster-pho-seiji-oda\">free phở day\u003c/a>, for instance. And collective-owned Understory, another of the Pay What You Can event’s participants, offers a Pay What You Can dish — typically a warm, nourishing noodle soup — on its regular menu \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DQLE24kCVhR/\">all the time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, Assil herself started a “Man’oushe It Forward” program at her Mission District Arab bakery that allowed customers who had the means to subsidize a free meal for someone who needed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always a power to collective action,” Assil says of the Masala y Maiz initiative. “Hopefully people are inspired by this and \u003ca href=\"https://tally.so/r/2ELyKg\">sign up\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, part of the reason for announcing the event four months in advance, as Keval and Listman have, is that there’s still plenty of time for the movement to pick up momentum — and for the list of participating restaurants in the Bay Area to grow from four to 10, or 20, or even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988644\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988644\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of a chef in an khaki apron seated at the counter inside a restaurant.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bombera chef-owner Dominica Rice-Cisneros. \u003ccite>(Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Dominica Rice-Cisneros of Bombera, the Pay What You Can day is an opportunity for her restaurant to connect with its neighbors in Oakland’s Dimond District in a more approachable way. So many people in the neighborhood are working-class folks laboring in various sectors of the service industry, Rice-Cisneros explains. They’re Peet’s baristas, pizza-slingers at Cybelle’s and grocery-baggers at the Farmer Joe’s supermarket. They’re postal workers and auto mechanics. And while some of these neighbors have become occasional customers at Bombera, many others have stayed away, perhaps afraid that the food will be too “fancy” and that they won’t be able to afford it in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a shyness around it,” she says. “So I want to make sure that this is a risk-free chance for them to order something they would never really order, and not feel bad about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://resy.com/cities/oakland-ca/venues/bombera\">Reservations at Bombera\u003c/a> are normally released one month in advance, with a handful of seats set aside for walk-ins. It’ll be no different for the Aug. 28 Pay What You Can promotion, but Rice-Cisneros plans to give those neighborhood workers first dibs on snagging a table for themselves and for their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In gentrifying cities like Oakland — and Mexico City, for that matter — there are so many upscale restaurants that have a tenuous relationship with their surrounding neighborhoods, with wealthy out-of-towners forming much of their customer base. Adopting a “pay what you can” model, even for just a day, might help bridge some of that gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988645\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988645\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43.jpg\" alt='View of a restaurant courtyard decorated with festive banners. The name of the restaurant, \"Bombera,\" is visible on its facade.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bombera hopes to use the Pay What You Can promotion to reach out to workers at neighboring businesses in Oakland’s Dimond District. \u003ccite>(Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rice-Cisneros’ hope is that new customers might come in and see that it \u003ci>is\u003c/i> possible to come into her restaurant, order a quesadilla and an horchata, and have a nice sit-down dining experience for around $20 — that it isn’t always necessary to splurge on the duck carnitas mole and a bunch of cocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she’s thinking about adding an orange mole to the menu for that day only, just to make the meal extra special. And if everything goes well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think definitely it’s something I would love to continue doing once a year,” Rice-Cisneros says.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Masala y Maiz–organized “Pay What You Can” day will take place on August 26, 2026. See the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">\u003ci>event webpage\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for a full list of participating restaurants — or, if you’re an interested restaurant owner, to \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://tally.so/r/2ELyKg\">\u003ci>sign up\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> to participate.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "On August 26, a global movement from Mexico City arrives at Bay Area staples like Reem’s and Bombera.",
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"headline": "Bay Area Restaurants Will Allow Customers to ‘Pay What They Can’ — For One Day, Anyway",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In many ways, Masala y Maiz, the globally acclaimed Mexico City restaurant, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987839/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots\">born in the Bay Area\u003c/a> — in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>, specifically, where chef-owners Norma Listman and Saqib Keval first met and fell in love. Since opening in 2017, the restaurant has made a name for itself not only for its forward-thinking Mexican, Indian and East African fusion cuisine but also its very Oakland brand of activist, egalitarian politics. Most famously, the restaurant frequently hosts “Paga Lo Que Puedas” — i.e., “Pay What You Can” — days, allowing customers from all socioeconomic backgrounds to enjoy a Michelin-starred meal they otherwise might not be able to afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This year, the restaurant is taking this movement global. Keval and Listman recently declared August 26, 2026, a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">global day of hospitality\u003c/a>,” and they’re calling on restaurants around the world to adopt the Pay What You Can model at least for that one day. Participating restaurants will simply serve their regular menus, allowing guests to order whatever they like — and pay however much they’re able to afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given Masala y Maiz’s Bay Area roots, it’s no surprise that four of the 33 restaurants worldwide that have signed up so far are located in the Bay: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/\">Reem’s\u003c/a> in San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bomberaoakland/\">Bombera\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/understoryoakland/\">Understory\u003c/a> in Oakland, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/valleyswim.club/\">Valley Swim Club\u003c/a> in Sonoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987862\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987862\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"In an outdoor courtyard, a man and woman in blue aprons prepare banana-leaf tamales in a large pot.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/8_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Norma Listman and Saqib Keval prepare tamales at an early iteration of their Mexico City restaurant, Masala y Maiz. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reem’s chef-owner Reem Assil, who has known Listman and Keval since Keval’s early days as a co-founder of the food justice group People’s Kitchen Collective, says signing up was “a no-brainer in this late-stage capitalism that’s just killing us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to do everything we can to push against the status quo,” she says. And by feeding people — for free, in some cases — restaurants wouldn’t just be making a symbolic gesture: “It’s something that materially impacts the community around you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here in the Bay Area, there’s already some precedent for restaurants engaging in this kind of activism. Oakland’s Monster Pho has long hosted an annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13968422/free-pho-oakland-monster-pho-seiji-oda\">free phở day\u003c/a>, for instance. And collective-owned Understory, another of the Pay What You Can event’s participants, offers a Pay What You Can dish — typically a warm, nourishing noodle soup — on its regular menu \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DQLE24kCVhR/\">all the time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, Assil herself started a “Man’oushe It Forward” program at her Mission District Arab bakery that allowed customers who had the means to subsidize a free meal for someone who needed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always a power to collective action,” Assil says of the Masala y Maiz initiative. “Hopefully people are inspired by this and \u003ca href=\"https://tally.so/r/2ELyKg\">sign up\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, part of the reason for announcing the event four months in advance, as Keval and Listman have, is that there’s still plenty of time for the movement to pick up momentum — and for the list of participating restaurants in the Bay Area to grow from four to 10, or 20, or even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988644\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988644\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of a chef in an khaki apron seated at the counter inside a restaurant.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Oct2024-42-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bombera chef-owner Dominica Rice-Cisneros. \u003ccite>(Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Dominica Rice-Cisneros of Bombera, the Pay What You Can day is an opportunity for her restaurant to connect with its neighbors in Oakland’s Dimond District in a more approachable way. So many people in the neighborhood are working-class folks laboring in various sectors of the service industry, Rice-Cisneros explains. They’re Peet’s baristas, pizza-slingers at Cybelle’s and grocery-baggers at the Farmer Joe’s supermarket. They’re postal workers and auto mechanics. And while some of these neighbors have become occasional customers at Bombera, many others have stayed away, perhaps afraid that the food will be too “fancy” and that they won’t be able to afford it in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a shyness around it,” she says. “So I want to make sure that this is a risk-free chance for them to order something they would never really order, and not feel bad about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://resy.com/cities/oakland-ca/venues/bombera\">Reservations at Bombera\u003c/a> are normally released one month in advance, with a handful of seats set aside for walk-ins. It’ll be no different for the Aug. 28 Pay What You Can promotion, but Rice-Cisneros plans to give those neighborhood workers first dibs on snagging a table for themselves and for their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In gentrifying cities like Oakland — and Mexico City, for that matter — there are so many upscale restaurants that have a tenuous relationship with their surrounding neighborhoods, with wealthy out-of-towners forming much of their customer base. Adopting a “pay what you can” model, even for just a day, might help bridge some of that gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988645\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988645\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43.jpg\" alt='View of a restaurant courtyard decorated with festive banners. The name of the restaurant, \"Bombera,\" is visible on its facade.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Bombera-Jan2024-43-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bombera hopes to use the Pay What You Can promotion to reach out to workers at neighboring businesses in Oakland’s Dimond District. \u003ccite>(Clara Rice, courtesy of Bombera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rice-Cisneros’ hope is that new customers might come in and see that it \u003ci>is\u003c/i> possible to come into her restaurant, order a quesadilla and an horchata, and have a nice sit-down dining experience for around $20 — that it isn’t always necessary to splurge on the duck carnitas mole and a bunch of cocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she’s thinking about adding an orange mole to the menu for that day only, just to make the meal extra special. And if everything goes well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think definitely it’s something I would love to continue doing once a year,” Rice-Cisneros says.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Masala y Maiz–organized “Pay What You Can” day will take place on August 26, 2026. See the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pagaloquepuedas-paywhatyoucan.com/\">\u003ci>event webpage\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for a full list of participating restaurants — or, if you’re an interested restaurant owner, to \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://tally.so/r/2ELyKg\">\u003ci>sign up\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> to participate.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "west-oakland-tuesday-juice-week-pt-2",
"title": "How Tuesday and Her Daughters Made West Oakland’s New Viral Anthem",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/west_oaklandtuesday/\">Tuesday\u003c/a> walked into the recording booth and yelled, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a>, bitch!,” she didn’t know she’d make a viral anthem that would get the attention of SZA, G Herbo, Tyla and other music royalty. Nor did she realize that she’d soon perform at the Oakland Arena — once with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a> and Mozzy, and a second time during Mike Epps’ We Them One’s Comedy Tour this past weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started with a recording session at a Richmond studio that one of Tuesday’s daughters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/waytoospoiled/\">Juice\u003c/a>, booked to celebrate her 24th birthday. Juice invited her sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stacy.sister/\">RaiDawg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/productofoakland/\">Lul Asia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theehotone/\">Theehotone\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lina._baby._/\">Pinaa\u003c/a> to record verses, and they decided to get their mom on the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than Lul Asia, none of them had made music before. But the family had plenty of experience freestyling and singing karaoke together in their living room. They found a beat on YouTube, hyped each other up and laid down verses on what would become “Juice Week pt. 2.” Once RaiDawg posted Tuesday’s verse on TikTok, her video racked up 3.3 million views and attracted fans from Oakland to London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s evocative lyrics about vacation sex — “Me and my man / We on an island, hoe / Ocean breeze / Palm trees / Back shots / On the balcony” — now soundtrack hundreds of thousands of TikToks and Reels, including many from travel influencers showing off luxurious trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kehlani\">Kehlani\u003c/a>, whose 2016 song “Gangsta” is sampled on the “Juice Week pt. 2” beat, rapped the lyrics on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards and told Tuesday to get in touch. It’s been a whirlwind for a family that’s now figuring out how to navigate the entertainment industry. KQED Arts & Culture joined Tuesday, Juice, Lul Asia, Theehotone, RaiDawg and Pinaa on a video call to get the inside story of their viral moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/aZQhLX8U200?si=qge3r2trcCDeyBk6\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nastia Voynovskaya: \u003c/b>Juice, why did you decide to go to the studio for your birthday? Had you done music before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It was something that I had been trying to do for the last couple years. I never made music before, but we always like to freestyle and stuff when we’re together because, you know, we’re all sisters and we’re all family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You guys party with your mom, that’s awesome.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>She lit!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Yeah and then also I feel like the big thing is that our brother, Sammybaandz, had passed away in January. That made us a lot closer, and that was a big reason we wanted to invite my mom to the studio just to be able to have fun with her and try to take our minds off everything we’ve been going through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m sorry for your loss. Juice, for the song, what was the directive you gave everyone in the studio? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>We all came together and agreed on a beat, and everybody wrote their verse. I was the only one freestyling. None of us took it seriously. I was just happy to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do social media stuff as well, so I vlogged the whole process of us creating the song, going viral and all of our performances and stuff like that. It was more so just for fun. Like everybody was being themselves. The lyrics are definitely like, you could tell a little personality from them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/sQ0LkFALO5g?si=gWw0A8jMnaASA7y7\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday, I want to hear more about your verse. I checked out your Instagram. It seems like you’re a world traveler, which really comes through in that part of the song. Tell me about how you wrote it. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Well, I went with them for music therapy, just to take my mind off of everything. And when we were in there, Nay [Theehotone] was just like, oh, just go in to write a verse about what we like about men. And then I just sat down and wrote it out right there in the studio. Definitely didn’t think that it was going to go viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was there an island you had been to recently that inspired the lyrics? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I go to so many islands, it’s my favorite. I go somewhere almost every other month. I’ve been to almost all of the islands in the Caribbean. I’m just missing Barbados and St. Martin right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you guys think it is about the song that resonated with so many people? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I think it’s just our vibes are so lit. And I feel like with Tuesday’s part, it’s very catchy. A lot of people traveling nowadays, that’s a really big thing to show status in this day and age. So I definitely think the traveling part is what is connecting to a lot of people for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> I also think it’s the genuineness of how we were just in the studio being ourselves, having a good time, having fun, and you can feel that energy through the song. [aside postid='arts_13988509']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>It’s not a lot of stuff that comes out of Oakland. So for this to be going as viral, everybody is appreciating the fact that we’re putting Oakland on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The song’s been shared by some pretty big names in music. Who have you been excited about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Once SZA posted it, I was like, oh my God — I could have just passed out right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure SZA and when G Herbo and [his fiancee] Taina did it. Natalie [Nunn] posted it, Tyla, Mariah the Scientist was in a video with the song. It’s just been fun. Blueface was on stream and he was randomly singing the song when he was playing with his kids. I just love all of it, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Has anyone DMed you guys to collaborate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>A few people have, and we’re still looking into our next options and everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/Cs17FsnG-Ks?si=WuOIHmNzczrFaIgK\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>And then you guys performed at the Oakland Arena. How was the show last weekend with Mike Epps? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It’s crazy seeing all the flashes and everybody singing the song and knowing the lyrics. All of this happened within literally a month and a half. I’m very grateful for it. Honestly it was a little nerve-racking, but it’s fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> When I go on the stage, I try to just have that mindset of like, I’m just going out here having fun with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday:\u003c/b> I really like the adrenaline of it all. Just having fun and just making sure that, you know, the crowd is knowing that we appreciate them. I be always trying to get the crowd interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The music video turned out so well. Tell me about that video shoot and getting the whole neighborhood out for you guys.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>We really just messaged people, like Hyphy Burger and things like that. And once we reached out to them, they were just so open to having us, and people were open to coming out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Behind the scenes of the ‘Juice Week pt. 2’ music video at Hyphy Burger in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lul Asia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You had cars, dancers and stuff. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I knew we were gonna bring out a lot of people because of how viral the song was, but I was really surprised how a lot of the media was coming out. That was my first time experiencing a media rush where it was NorCal Next Up and his crew, and people like that who keep tabs on up-and-coming artists. Thizzler posted us and they had people out there. Being in content creation and stuff, it’s just really nice to be recognized by bigger creators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Then you guys also performed at Mistah F.A.B.’s club, Dezi’s. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>He’s been supporting us so much. He’s the reason why we’ve done both Oakland Arena shows, and he just always been very supportive through this whole process and mentoring us. Our mom part went viral, but he’s pushing that the whole song is amazing, and making sure that everyone gets to do their verse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/ZkMbzcFxLRY?si=cQEyOt0Sq-_VXZK2\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Now that you guys have this viral moment, where do you wanna take this? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I wanna keep doing music for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RaiDawg:\u003c/b> Yeah, me too, a little bit, but I’m more on the content creator side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I feel like I reside with RaiDawg. It’s really fun, but I feel like when it starts to be pressure, like people are expecting stuff… I definitely want to keep making the content and building the platform. And just having fun, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Nay had to hop off, but she brought up that she wants to continue doing music. And she also wants to start a podcast because she loves talking about the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I definitely wanna keep creating music, and I’m also working on writing a book. So that’s my next step, getting a book out there and doing some public speaking hopefully. It’s a book about how to go through the grieving process when losing your kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I think that’s going to resonate with a lot of people.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pinaa: \u003c/b>I want to continue making music too. I feel like it’s very fun, very energetic. I like the rush of it. I like having a good time and being goofy in the studio, just having a fun time with family. [aside postid='arts_13988094']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s been your favorite thing to come out of this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I think being able to perform for my city where I’ve grown up. I went to the arena and watched other people perform, never thinking I would be on that stage — that has been the most amazing experience thus far. Even if we did make another song, blow it up and we traveled around the world, I don’t think nothing will top that specific moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>Getting the recognition, when people actually are recognizing us and calling us by our names on the song and singing our parts. Seeing even celebrities know our song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are you guys getting recognized when you’re just out and about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure when we’re at our events, and at the post office the other day too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Yeah, it’s crazy, like I just don’t even run outside no more without getting dressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are you hearing from people from West Oakland specifically? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Literally, I feel like every time I go somewhere and there’s someone from West Oakland, or even just Oakland, the first thing they say when they recognize me is, “West Oakland, bitch!” They’re excited and they want to represent where they’re from.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "‘Juice Week pt. 2’ got this family two stadium shows and co-signs from SZA, Kehlani and other music royalty.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/west_oaklandtuesday/\">Tuesday\u003c/a> walked into the recording booth and yelled, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a>, bitch!,” she didn’t know she’d make a viral anthem that would get the attention of SZA, G Herbo, Tyla and other music royalty. Nor did she realize that she’d soon perform at the Oakland Arena — once with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a> and Mozzy, and a second time during Mike Epps’ We Them One’s Comedy Tour this past weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started with a recording session at a Richmond studio that one of Tuesday’s daughters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/waytoospoiled/\">Juice\u003c/a>, booked to celebrate her 24th birthday. Juice invited her sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stacy.sister/\">RaiDawg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/productofoakland/\">Lul Asia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theehotone/\">Theehotone\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lina._baby._/\">Pinaa\u003c/a> to record verses, and they decided to get their mom on the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than Lul Asia, none of them had made music before. But the family had plenty of experience freestyling and singing karaoke together in their living room. They found a beat on YouTube, hyped each other up and laid down verses on what would become “Juice Week pt. 2.” Once RaiDawg posted Tuesday’s verse on TikTok, her video racked up 3.3 million views and attracted fans from Oakland to London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s evocative lyrics about vacation sex — “Me and my man / We on an island, hoe / Ocean breeze / Palm trees / Back shots / On the balcony” — now soundtrack hundreds of thousands of TikToks and Reels, including many from travel influencers showing off luxurious trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kehlani\">Kehlani\u003c/a>, whose 2016 song “Gangsta” is sampled on the “Juice Week pt. 2” beat, rapped the lyrics on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards and told Tuesday to get in touch. It’s been a whirlwind for a family that’s now figuring out how to navigate the entertainment industry. KQED Arts & Culture joined Tuesday, Juice, Lul Asia, Theehotone, RaiDawg and Pinaa on a video call to get the inside story of their viral moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\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/aZQhLX8U200'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/aZQhLX8U200'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Nastia Voynovskaya: \u003c/b>Juice, why did you decide to go to the studio for your birthday? Had you done music before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It was something that I had been trying to do for the last couple years. I never made music before, but we always like to freestyle and stuff when we’re together because, you know, we’re all sisters and we’re all family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You guys party with your mom, that’s awesome.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>She lit!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Yeah and then also I feel like the big thing is that our brother, Sammybaandz, had passed away in January. That made us a lot closer, and that was a big reason we wanted to invite my mom to the studio just to be able to have fun with her and try to take our minds off everything we’ve been going through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m sorry for your loss. Juice, for the song, what was the directive you gave everyone in the studio? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>We all came together and agreed on a beat, and everybody wrote their verse. I was the only one freestyling. None of us took it seriously. I was just happy to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do social media stuff as well, so I vlogged the whole process of us creating the song, going viral and all of our performances and stuff like that. It was more so just for fun. Like everybody was being themselves. The lyrics are definitely like, you could tell a little personality from them.\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/sQ0LkFALO5g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/sQ0LkFALO5g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday, I want to hear more about your verse. I checked out your Instagram. It seems like you’re a world traveler, which really comes through in that part of the song. Tell me about how you wrote it. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Well, I went with them for music therapy, just to take my mind off of everything. And when we were in there, Nay [Theehotone] was just like, oh, just go in to write a verse about what we like about men. And then I just sat down and wrote it out right there in the studio. Definitely didn’t think that it was going to go viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was there an island you had been to recently that inspired the lyrics? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I go to so many islands, it’s my favorite. I go somewhere almost every other month. I’ve been to almost all of the islands in the Caribbean. I’m just missing Barbados and St. Martin right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you guys think it is about the song that resonated with so many people? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I think it’s just our vibes are so lit. And I feel like with Tuesday’s part, it’s very catchy. A lot of people traveling nowadays, that’s a really big thing to show status in this day and age. So I definitely think the traveling part is what is connecting to a lot of people for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> I also think it’s the genuineness of how we were just in the studio being ourselves, having a good time, having fun, and you can feel that energy through the song. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>It’s not a lot of stuff that comes out of Oakland. So for this to be going as viral, everybody is appreciating the fact that we’re putting Oakland on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The song’s been shared by some pretty big names in music. Who have you been excited about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Once SZA posted it, I was like, oh my God — I could have just passed out right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure SZA and when G Herbo and [his fiancee] Taina did it. Natalie [Nunn] posted it, Tyla, Mariah the Scientist was in a video with the song. It’s just been fun. Blueface was on stream and he was randomly singing the song when he was playing with his kids. I just love all of it, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Has anyone DMed you guys to collaborate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>A few people have, and we’re still looking into our next options and everything.\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/Cs17FsnG-Ks'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Cs17FsnG-Ks'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>And then you guys performed at the Oakland Arena. How was the show last weekend with Mike Epps? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It’s crazy seeing all the flashes and everybody singing the song and knowing the lyrics. All of this happened within literally a month and a half. I’m very grateful for it. Honestly it was a little nerve-racking, but it’s fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> When I go on the stage, I try to just have that mindset of like, I’m just going out here having fun with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday:\u003c/b> I really like the adrenaline of it all. Just having fun and just making sure that, you know, the crowd is knowing that we appreciate them. I be always trying to get the crowd interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The music video turned out so well. Tell me about that video shoot and getting the whole neighborhood out for you guys.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>We really just messaged people, like Hyphy Burger and things like that. And once we reached out to them, they were just so open to having us, and people were open to coming out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Behind the scenes of the ‘Juice Week pt. 2’ music video at Hyphy Burger in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lul Asia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You had cars, dancers and stuff. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I knew we were gonna bring out a lot of people because of how viral the song was, but I was really surprised how a lot of the media was coming out. That was my first time experiencing a media rush where it was NorCal Next Up and his crew, and people like that who keep tabs on up-and-coming artists. Thizzler posted us and they had people out there. Being in content creation and stuff, it’s just really nice to be recognized by bigger creators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Then you guys also performed at Mistah F.A.B.’s club, Dezi’s. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>He’s been supporting us so much. He’s the reason why we’ve done both Oakland Arena shows, and he just always been very supportive through this whole process and mentoring us. Our mom part went viral, but he’s pushing that the whole song is amazing, and making sure that everyone gets to do their verse.\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/ZkMbzcFxLRY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZkMbzcFxLRY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Now that you guys have this viral moment, where do you wanna take this? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I wanna keep doing music for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RaiDawg:\u003c/b> Yeah, me too, a little bit, but I’m more on the content creator side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I feel like I reside with RaiDawg. It’s really fun, but I feel like when it starts to be pressure, like people are expecting stuff… I definitely want to keep making the content and building the platform. And just having fun, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Nay had to hop off, but she brought up that she wants to continue doing music. And she also wants to start a podcast because she loves talking about the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I definitely wanna keep creating music, and I’m also working on writing a book. So that’s my next step, getting a book out there and doing some public speaking hopefully. It’s a book about how to go through the grieving process when losing your kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I think that’s going to resonate with a lot of people.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pinaa: \u003c/b>I want to continue making music too. I feel like it’s very fun, very energetic. I like the rush of it. I like having a good time and being goofy in the studio, just having a fun time with family. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s been your favorite thing to come out of this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I think being able to perform for my city where I’ve grown up. I went to the arena and watched other people perform, never thinking I would be on that stage — that has been the most amazing experience thus far. Even if we did make another song, blow it up and we traveled around the world, I don’t think nothing will top that specific moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>Getting the recognition, when people actually are recognizing us and calling us by our names on the song and singing our parts. Seeing even celebrities know our song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are you guys getting recognized when you’re just out and about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure when we’re at our events, and at the post office the other day too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Yeah, it’s crazy, like I just don’t even run outside no more without getting dressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are you hearing from people from West Oakland specifically? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Literally, I feel like every time I go somewhere and there’s someone from West Oakland, or even just Oakland, the first thing they say when they recognize me is, “West Oakland, bitch!” They’re excited and they want to represent where they’re from.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Obsessed With the Artemis II Crew? There’s a Party for That in Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cp>Are you a human who has spent every day this month obsessing about the four humans currently aboard the Artemis II, taking all kinds of new footage of our planet — and the moon — from deep space? \u003cem>Same.\u003c/em> Rejoice then, for a celebration in honor of this heartwarming 10-day mission is happening at Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center this Friday, April 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13988312']If you’re not yet on board with all things Artemis II, here are five cool facts to know about the mission so far:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>1. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch are the first people to fly to the moon since 1972.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2. Six days into their mission, the foursome managed to get 248,655 miles away from Earth — the furthest that any astronaut has ever gone before — and doesn’t that just sound really, really nice right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew.jpg\" alt=\"Two white men, a white woman and a Black man stand in a line smiling, all wearing matching blue jumpsuits and aviator sunglasses on tarmac on a sunny day.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover ahead of the Artemis II launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. \u003ccite>(Miguel J. Rodriguez CARRILLO / AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>3. Their mission is to test the systems on the Orion spacecraft (which is named Integrity) to make sure it’s safe for future flights to the moon. They are also making detailed observations about the surface of the moon, as well as conducting research on the effects of radiation and microgravity on the human body in deep space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4. As Integrity passed behind the moon, the astronauts lost all contact with Earth for more than 40 minutes. When President Trump called the crew to ask what that period of radio silence was like, Glover replied “I must say, it was actually quite nice.” (Relatable.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>5. Earlier this week, the astronauts received an audio message from Apollo 8 pilot Jim Lovell, who successfully got the catastrophically damaged Apollo 13 home in 1970. The message was relayed posthumously: Lovell died in August 2025. “When Frank Borman, Bill Anders and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity’s first up-close look at the moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world,” Lovell said. “I’m proud to pass that torch on to you … Don’t forget to enjoy the view.” (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By far the most emotional moment of Integrity’s journey so far happened on April 6. The astronauts called mission control to request that a bright crater on the moon be named after Wiseman’s late wife Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 46. The footage went viral and, for several hours, the internet basically turned into a ball of mush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s extremely popular TikTok-er \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel\">Reb Masel\u003c/a>, capturing the mood perfectly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel/video/7625759776772853022\" data-video-id=\"7625759776772853022\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@rebmasel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@rebmasel\u003c/a>Carroll, now a bright spot on our Moon, because four people, who traveled farther from Earth than any human has ever been in the 4.5-billion-year history of our planet, loved someone so much, they carried her the whole way there.\u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - reb for the rebrand\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7625759795073141534?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – reb for the rebrand\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The splashdown party at Chabot this Friday is designed to coincide with Artemis II’s return to Earth. The space center will be screening the crew’s arrival off the coast of San Diego, so fans can watch together and celebrate with snacks and drinks. Scientists and engineers from NASA’s Ames Research Center will be in attendance to hang out and answer questions. We suspect most of them will be about Carroll.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://chabotspace.org/calendar/artemis-ii-splashdown-party/\">The Artemis II Splashdown Party\u003c/a> takes place at Chabot Space & Science Center (10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland) on April 10, 2026, 10 a.m—6 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Are you a human who has spent every day this month obsessing about the four humans currently aboard the Artemis II, taking all kinds of new footage of our planet — and the moon — from deep space? \u003cem>Same.\u003c/em> Rejoice then, for a celebration in honor of this heartwarming 10-day mission is happening at Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center this Friday, April 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If you’re not yet on board with all things Artemis II, here are five cool facts to know about the mission so far:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>1. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch are the first people to fly to the moon since 1972.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2. Six days into their mission, the foursome managed to get 248,655 miles away from Earth — the furthest that any astronaut has ever gone before — and doesn’t that just sound really, really nice right now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew.jpg\" alt=\"Two white men, a white woman and a Black man stand in a line smiling, all wearing matching blue jumpsuits and aviator sunglasses on tarmac on a sunny day.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/artemis-ii-crew-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover ahead of the Artemis II launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. \u003ccite>(Miguel J. Rodriguez CARRILLO / AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>3. Their mission is to test the systems on the Orion spacecraft (which is named Integrity) to make sure it’s safe for future flights to the moon. They are also making detailed observations about the surface of the moon, as well as conducting research on the effects of radiation and microgravity on the human body in deep space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4. As Integrity passed behind the moon, the astronauts lost all contact with Earth for more than 40 minutes. When President Trump called the crew to ask what that period of radio silence was like, Glover replied “I must say, it was actually quite nice.” (Relatable.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>5. Earlier this week, the astronauts received an audio message from Apollo 8 pilot Jim Lovell, who successfully got the catastrophically damaged Apollo 13 home in 1970. The message was relayed posthumously: Lovell died in August 2025. “When Frank Borman, Bill Anders and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity’s first up-close look at the moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world,” Lovell said. “I’m proud to pass that torch on to you … Don’t forget to enjoy the view.” (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By far the most emotional moment of Integrity’s journey so far happened on April 6. The astronauts called mission control to request that a bright crater on the moon be named after Wiseman’s late wife Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 46. The footage went viral and, for several hours, the internet basically turned into a ball of mush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s extremely popular TikTok-er \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel\">Reb Masel\u003c/a>, capturing the mood perfectly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel/video/7625759776772853022\" data-video-id=\"7625759776772853022\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@rebmasel\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@rebmasel\u003c/a>Carroll, now a bright spot on our Moon, because four people, who traveled farther from Earth than any human has ever been in the 4.5-billion-year history of our planet, loved someone so much, they carried her the whole way there.\u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - reb for the rebrand\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7625759795073141534?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – reb for the rebrand\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The splashdown party at Chabot this Friday is designed to coincide with Artemis II’s return to Earth. The space center will be screening the crew’s arrival off the coast of San Diego, so fans can watch together and celebrate with snacks and drinks. Scientists and engineers from NASA’s Ames Research Center will be in attendance to hang out and answer questions. We suspect most of them will be about Carroll.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://chabotspace.org/calendar/artemis-ii-splashdown-party/\">The Artemis II Splashdown Party\u003c/a> takes place at Chabot Space & Science Center (10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland) on April 10, 2026, 10 a.m—6 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For many listeners, Bay Area rap from the late ’80s and early ’90s calls to mind the dark synths and trunk-blapping bass of mobb music. The popular Northern California subgenre was born out of poverty-induced turf conflicts and dreams of riches, producing timeless classics like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">Too Short\u003c/a>’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Born to Mack\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890437/e-40-and-too-horts-verzuz-battle-a-treasure-trove-of-bay-area-hip-hop-culture\">E-40\u003c/a>’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though nuanced and laced with hood wisdom, much of hip-hop from that period focused on pimping, hustling and territorial claims. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s groundbreaking, then, that during the same time, an aberrant, free-spirited rapper from the East Coast would arrive in Oakland and forever change the rap scene with his boundless expressions of joy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Afrosurrealist galaxy traveler with a microphone and a Sharpie? Gregory Jacobs — better known as Digital Underground frontman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896288/remembering-shock-g-the-funky-digital-underground-frontman-who-shaped-oakland-rap\">Shock G\u003c/a>, or his alter ego, Humpty Hump. His platinum-selling rap collective gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929233/tupac-shakur-street-oakland-tupac-shakur-way\">Tupac Shakur\u003c/a> his start and made classic hits like “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBsjggc5jHM\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Humpty Dance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” “Kiss You Back” and “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P6N8r1kUTM\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Freaks of the Industry\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” His place in Bay Area rap’s Hall of Game is unquestionable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896258\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-800x500.jpg\" alt=\"Shock G of Digital Underground performs during the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2010 in Atlanta. Shock G died Thursday at age 57.\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G of Digital Underground performs during the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2010 in Atlanta. \u003ccite>(Taylor Hill/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet, there’s another dimension to Shock G — who passed away in 2021 at 57 years old — that doesn’t often get the same adoration as his music. In addition to his prowess as a lyricist, producer and pianist, Shock G was an accomplished visual artist who created enough work to fill a museum.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The majority of Digital Underground’s projects involve Shock G’s visual contributions in some form — whether through photo collages or hand-drawn illustrations credited to an alias. And many more of his drawings and low-brow doodles still exist in privately stored boxes and notebooks, in the care of his friends and family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A descendant of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839952/its-that-naughty-feeling-george-clinton-on-funks-enduring-appeal\">Parliament-Funkadelic\u003c/a>’s unconventional sensibilities, Shock G was among the earliest key figures \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who gave Bay Area rap \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">its humor\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13920746/bay-area-rap-cmon-its-different\">its distinctive weirdness\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And he paved the way for multi-hyphenated rap experimentalists like Tyler, the Creator, Tierra Whack and Lil B to thrive in generations that followed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929951\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929951\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-800x739.jpg\" alt=\"a Black man is eating an album cover in a colorful, Afrosurrealist drawing\" width=\"800\" height=\"739\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-800x739.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1020x942.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-160x148.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-768x709.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1536x1419.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-2048x1892.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1920x1774.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s visual artistry was influenced by P-Funk, comic books, graffiti and more. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It makes it easier when someone comes with the full package: producer, writer, artist, storyboards,” says Atron Gregory, Shock G’s friend and Tupac’s former manager. “He could give you everything. That’s pretty rare. Very rare at that time. Now there’s more people who do it.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The origins of an experimental artist\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Born in New York City and later raised in Tampa, Florida, Shock G grew up drawing, reading comic books and attending comic conventions from an early age. Gregory says that Shock G’s mother, Shirley Kraft, always encouraged her son’s gifts for visual art. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was never any pushback against it,” he tells me over Zoom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an adolescent, Shock G’s multifaceted creativity was evident. He was awarded “Most Talented” for his drumming abilities in junior high, and eventually began spinning records in the early ’80s. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By age 16, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2021/05/01/we-lost-another-legend-friends-family-say-goodbye-to-shock-g-in-tampa/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he DJed regularly on the air under the name Gregory Racker\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and formed the Tampa group the Master Blasters\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Through it all, he incessantly sketched his thoughts as visual freestyles.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When we were in New York as kids, we used to draw our own comic books,” says Kent Racker, Shock’s younger brother, who lives in the Bay Area. “When we were in Tampa, he almost got a syndicated comic strip out called \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looney Dap\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It was about this kid getting in trouble and doing weird stuff. That almost got published.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man in his 50s poses in a room with musical equipment - guitars and speakers - and holds up a painting by his late brother, Shock G. The painting is an abstract, atom-like design of colorful orbs floating through a blue background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a painting by Shock G at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. Gregory Jacobs, rapper and producer for Digital Underground, performed as Shock G and Humpty Hump and was a visual artist, creating album covers for the group and original art pieces. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G and his family eventually moved to the East Bay, where he would make a name for himself after forming Digital Underground in 1987 with Chopmaster J and Kenny K. (The collective’s membership changed with every album, but Shock G remained a constant.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Upon meeting Shock for the first time, it was obvious to Money B — DU’s co-lead MC and Shock’s longtime ride-or-die — that Shock was creating his own wave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930426\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Shock G and the members of Digital Underground at a house party in the '90s.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G.jpeg 1461w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G (far right) was known for his flamboyant self-expression. He painted a new fake nose for each Digital Underground show, where he dressed as his alter ego, Humpty Hump. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Money B)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I realized he was an artist from day one,” remembers Money B. The two ran in similar circles: In 1988, Shock G was promoting an early Digital Underground single, “Underwater Rimes,” and Money was performing at the same East Bay clubs with future DU member DJ Fuze. Right away, Money says, Shock stood out: “He was wearing a beret and these sweatpants with something drawn on them. He wore tassels.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Money B was instantly fascinated. “Underwater Rimes” featured Shock G blissfully rhyming as “a deep-sea gangster, underwater prankster” over aquatic sound effects, and his artwork for it featured sea creatures in hip-hop clothes, talking slick. Fittingly, the surrealist track came out with “Your Life’s a Cartoon” as the B-side. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You could tell he had an originality about himself,” Money B says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929950\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"a cartoonish octopus wearing hip-hop gear like sunglasses and an 80s Kangol hat\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s illustration for the Digital Underground singles “Underwater Rimes” and “Your Life’s A Cartoon” showcase his effervescent artistry. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Shock G’s expansive visual style\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G’s raunchy humor was on full display on Digital Underground’s canonical 1990 album \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sex Packets\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which sold over a million copies. And it extended to his visual art from that period, too. He even designed condom wrappers that Tommy Boy Records gave away to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rap/c/isX90bFrjLA?pli=1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">promote\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the record\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A pamphlet went out to San Francisco strip clubs and peep shows,” Money B recalls. “He drew the invitation to the original [album release] party. Everything had art attached to it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock’s avant-garde approach was also evident on stage. For each show, he would custom-paint a plastic nose for his Humpty Hump getup and give it away to a fan at the end of the night. His quirky, exuberant fashion and alter egos were also \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a precursor to the far-fetched costumery \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that would later define\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> beloved Bay Area rappers like Mac Dre, who during the hyphy movement dressed up as a genie, a fictional president and a tennis pro\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896267\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of The HUmpty Dance single\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s cartoony illustrations laced Digital Underground’s album covers and inserts. \u003ccite>(Tommy Boy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This kind of rebellious, form-bending aesthetic evolved throughout Shock G’s career. For 1991’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release, \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he provided a “Customer I.Q. Quiz” in the top corner of the album cover. Answers for a multiple-choice question about what “E.P.” means included “EXTRA POOR,” “EXTENDED PHILOSOPHY,” and “ERECT P_NIS.” Later, in the early aughts, Shock introduced an illustration series called \u003cem>Assholes\u003c/em> that starred fictional characters based on anuses (yes, actual assholes).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No matter the subject, though, Shock’s illustrations linked him to an Afrosurrealist, funky artistic lineage that went back decades. At various points in his life, he openly credited Parliament-Funkadelic’s album cover artist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/arts/music/pedro-bell-dead.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedro Bell, whose strangely cosmic, erotic illustrations \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">were a major inspiration of his.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Part of my huge affection for P-Funk is the humor. It’s not so militant,” Shock said on the Netflix series \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hip-Hop Evolution\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “It’s just like… ‘Dance your way out of your constrictions.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G never actively promoted his artwork, instead lasering in on his rap ambitions. But along with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13927692/del-funky-homosapien-no-need-for-alarm-30-years-anniversary\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del the Funky Homosapien\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who also has a background in visual art, Shock was part of the first wave of Bay Area rappers who helped to define what it meant to be a weird, versatile, poly-skilled artist. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“In the late ’80s, there were maybe three people doing art like him,” Gregory says. “He wanted to be accepted as a rapper. That’s why you’ll see [his art is signed with aliases] Rackadelic and Staying Busy Productions [instead of Shock G]. He separated all that to make sure he was accepted as a rapper and had success there.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930485\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The poster for Digital Underground's 'This Is an E.P. Release' features carnival-esque caricatures of all the bandmates, including Tupac Shakur.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a Digital Underground poster featuring the ‘This Is an E.P. Release’ album art at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tupac’s caricature in \u003cem>This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/em>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Digital Underground’s heartbeat, Shock G put his playful touch on everything — and often communicated through exaggerated drawings rather than words.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“He wasn’t drawing pictures that were realistic. He would accentuate your main features. Huge freckles, big lips,” Money B says. “[He drew] Tupac’s big ol’ nose and rigid cheekbone. Some people took offense to how they were drawn, but they didn’t get it. [If] he didn’t like you, he might draw some crazy pictures.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A perennial jokester, Shock’s cartoonish ways weren’t used solely for mockery; they could also serve as a language for love, unity and representation. Perhaps no other Digital Underground project displays this more poetically than the gold-certified \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which features the single “Same Song” — famous for being Tupac’s first published track. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tupac began his journey with Digital Underground in 1989 when he\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/weed-and-white-women-shock-g-from-oaklands-digital-underground-1/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> signed to their underground label, TNT Records\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It’s likely that without Shock G’s clairvoyance, the version of Tupac we know today may not have arrived as quickly as he did — or, at the very least, the future icon wouldn’t have been given such a momentous debut opportunity in front of a national audience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930488\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-800x508.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white photo features a young Shock G rapping in a long fur coat and fur hat. Tupac stands next to him shirtless and holding up artwork, the content of which is not fully visible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-800x508.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G and 2Pac of Digital Underground perform at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana in July 1990. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock and Tupac’s friendship is forever illustrated on \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The cover features Shock’s hand-drawn portrait of the entire DU squad, himself included, with one arm lovingly wrapped around a young Tupac’s shoulders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the new Hulu \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">documentary \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dear Mama\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Tupac praises Shock G for giving him his earliest validation as a rap artist: “Shock G made sure people saw me as a member of the group. And because he did that, it gave me the courage and the confidence to really just do what I wanted. That’s the best thing one human being can do for another.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to Shock G, Tupac finally saw himself — literally and figuratively — as a successful musician.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930495\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930495\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"One of Shock G's drawings features olives climbing out of a martini glass. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a drawing on a greeting card created by Shock G at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Unseen artwork and Shock G’s final act\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are countless Shock G visuals that the public has never seen: The zany machinations he would invent on the fly while sitting on a tour bus, hanging backstage or out late at night with his crew. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A napkin at a burger joint was a canvas to be filled with heartfelt messages for his closest kin. A cardboard box at a party, in his hands, could mutate into a comic strip panel for nonsensical humor. The back of a receipt evolved into a map drawn for a friend before a road trip. Even the inside lining of his jackets became surfaces he could stylize, converting them into wearable artwork that he would later give away to fans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G continued making visual art into his last years, often making custom holiday cards for friends and family members, says his brother, Kent Racker. The MC also experimented with abstract, acrylic canvases after moving to Topanga in Southern California as he grew older. Unfortunately, his artistic evolution was cut short. Shock G died of an accidental drug overdose in Tampa, where he spent the end of his life, on April 22, 2021.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930427\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Shock G and George Clinton smile at each other, wearing formal attire. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G and George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic attend the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 42nd annual legislative conference at the Washington Convention Center on September 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. \u003ccite>(Monica Morgan/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Racker imagines that, had he lived, Shock G could be painting large-scale murals. “But he wasn’t concerned about the promotion of people knowing about [his art while he was alive]. He was just in tune with being able to create a beautiful representation of DU as an artist.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Racker’s estimation can’t be far off. In later interviews, Shock G hinted at wanting to try new things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930486\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Kent Racker poses in a room decorated with Digital Underground gold plaques, guitars and other musical memorabilia. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, stands in his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023, wearing a t-shirt with art made by Shock G. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I wanna get out there and mix it up a little more,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/23192620\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G told journalist Tamara Palmer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2011. “I wanna have fun and just make anything. It ain’t gotta be Eddie [Humpty Hump] Humphrey. It ain’t gotta be Shock G.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Palmer initially met Shock G for an MTV interview in 2004 and kept in touch. She says he ran his own website, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://shock-g.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock-G.com\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and would often post “highly illustrated” work, including a comic strip at one point. (The site is still active but became a fan site domain after his passing).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They were just made-up characters,” says Palmer. “There was no deeper meaning to it, I don’t think. He provided very surprising comic relief.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eventually, Palmer witnessed his artistry firsthand at a mutual friend’s house party, where they doodled together for fun. “[The art we made together was] cheeky, super cheeky. I glued a flier to the lower corner of a wooden tray and he turned it into a bar scene with a male fish flirting with the female fish. It was like a big wink,” says Palmer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929947\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-800x620.png\" alt=\"a surreal sketch and collage on carboard, including fishes drinking at a bar\" width=\"800\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-800x620.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1020x791.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-160x124.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-768x595.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1536x1191.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-2048x1588.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1920x1489.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s sketches were cartoonish, playful and spontaneous. This collaborative piece was made with Tamara Palmer at a house party. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Late in his career, along with painting, Shock G veered further into jazz — with Gregory, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/11/22/shock-gs-jazz-piano-the-digital-underground-frontmans-musicianship-will-be-featured-in-posthumous-album/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he recorded a solo jazz piano album, the posthumously released \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Piano Man\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As an illustrator and piano player, that was unheard of back then,” Gregory adds. “Nowadays, Roddy Rich and Tyler, the Creator, they have these pianos. Shock went to see [Roddy’s] show in 2018, and the manager came up to tell Shock that [Roddy] is the only rapper to play the piano.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gregory smirks while sharing this, knowing that Shock mastered the instrument many moons ago. Add to that the immeasurable amounts of unshared, custom artwork in Shock G’s collection, and you have a once-in-a-generation creative mind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You gotta think, when we’re touring and on buses, he would draw something every day. Idle time was never idle time [for him]. He was creating something. Even on a napkin or a note, it was artsy,” Money B shares.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gregory estimates that “95% has probably been unseen.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A '90s color photo features Shock G performing on stage in his white fur getup and his brother, Kent, rapping alongside him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a photo of himself and his brother performing with Digital Underground in Philadelphia at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All told, Shock G may have been one of the Bay Area’s most prolific, subversive visual artists — a visionary who bent the lines of human geometry with the “Humpty Dance” and on the page with his out-of-this-world drawings. And according to his brother, it couldn’t have happened anywhere except Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It would not have happened back East. The style at the time, we always laugh and joke at ourselves about being hippies,” Racker says. “He probably could have come up as a rapper in New York, or anywhere, because of his musicality and being around hip-hop when it was forming. We had that foundation. But coming out to the Bay Area and California, it really amplified and illustrated his aesthetic in the work, and he just kept drawing and creating a visual world.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For many listeners, Bay Area rap from the late ’80s and early ’90s calls to mind the dark synths and trunk-blapping bass of mobb music. The popular Northern California subgenre was born out of poverty-induced turf conflicts and dreams of riches, producing timeless classics like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922616/too-short-way-street-sign-unveiled-oakland\">Too Short\u003c/a>’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Born to Mack\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890437/e-40-and-too-horts-verzuz-battle-a-treasure-trove-of-bay-area-hip-hop-culture\">E-40\u003c/a>’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though nuanced and laced with hood wisdom, much of hip-hop from that period focused on pimping, hustling and territorial claims. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s groundbreaking, then, that during the same time, an aberrant, free-spirited rapper from the East Coast would arrive in Oakland and forever change the rap scene with his boundless expressions of joy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Afrosurrealist galaxy traveler with a microphone and a Sharpie? Gregory Jacobs — better known as Digital Underground frontman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896288/remembering-shock-g-the-funky-digital-underground-frontman-who-shaped-oakland-rap\">Shock G\u003c/a>, or his alter ego, Humpty Hump. His platinum-selling rap collective gave \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929233/tupac-shakur-street-oakland-tupac-shakur-way\">Tupac Shakur\u003c/a> his start and made classic hits like “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBsjggc5jHM\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Humpty Dance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” “Kiss You Back” and “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P6N8r1kUTM\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Freaks of the Industry\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” His place in Bay Area rap’s Hall of Game is unquestionable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896258\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-800x500.jpg\" alt=\"Shock G of Digital Underground performs during the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2010 in Atlanta. Shock G died Thursday at age 57.\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG-1536x960.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ShockG.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G of Digital Underground performs during the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2010 in Atlanta. \u003ccite>(Taylor Hill/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet, there’s another dimension to Shock G — who passed away in 2021 at 57 years old — that doesn’t often get the same adoration as his music. In addition to his prowess as a lyricist, producer and pianist, Shock G was an accomplished visual artist who created enough work to fill a museum.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The majority of Digital Underground’s projects involve Shock G’s visual contributions in some form — whether through photo collages or hand-drawn illustrations credited to an alias. And many more of his drawings and low-brow doodles still exist in privately stored boxes and notebooks, in the care of his friends and family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A descendant of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839952/its-that-naughty-feeling-george-clinton-on-funks-enduring-appeal\">Parliament-Funkadelic\u003c/a>’s unconventional sensibilities, Shock G was among the earliest key figures \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who gave Bay Area rap \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">its humor\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13920746/bay-area-rap-cmon-its-different\">its distinctive weirdness\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And he paved the way for multi-hyphenated rap experimentalists like Tyler, the Creator, Tierra Whack and Lil B to thrive in generations that followed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929951\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929951\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-800x739.jpg\" alt=\"a Black man is eating an album cover in a colorful, Afrosurrealist drawing\" width=\"800\" height=\"739\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-800x739.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1020x942.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-160x148.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-768x709.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1536x1419.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-2048x1892.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-Art-1920x1774.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s visual artistry was influenced by P-Funk, comic books, graffiti and more. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It makes it easier when someone comes with the full package: producer, writer, artist, storyboards,” says Atron Gregory, Shock G’s friend and Tupac’s former manager. “He could give you everything. That’s pretty rare. Very rare at that time. Now there’s more people who do it.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The origins of an experimental artist\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Born in New York City and later raised in Tampa, Florida, Shock G grew up drawing, reading comic books and attending comic conventions from an early age. Gregory says that Shock G’s mother, Shirley Kraft, always encouraged her son’s gifts for visual art. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There was never any pushback against it,” he tells me over Zoom.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As an adolescent, Shock G’s multifaceted creativity was evident. He was awarded “Most Talented” for his drumming abilities in junior high, and eventually began spinning records in the early ’80s. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By age 16, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2021/05/01/we-lost-another-legend-friends-family-say-goodbye-to-shock-g-in-tampa/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he DJed regularly on the air under the name Gregory Racker\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and formed the Tampa group the Master Blasters\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Through it all, he incessantly sketched his thoughts as visual freestyles.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When we were in New York as kids, we used to draw our own comic books,” says Kent Racker, Shock’s younger brother, who lives in the Bay Area. “When we were in Tampa, he almost got a syndicated comic strip out called \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looney Dap\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It was about this kid getting in trouble and doing weird stuff. That almost got published.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man in his 50s poses in a room with musical equipment - guitars and speakers - and holds up a painting by his late brother, Shock G. The painting is an abstract, atom-like design of colorful orbs floating through a blue background. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66279_230613-KentRackerShockG-09-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a painting by Shock G at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. Gregory Jacobs, rapper and producer for Digital Underground, performed as Shock G and Humpty Hump and was a visual artist, creating album covers for the group and original art pieces. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G and his family eventually moved to the East Bay, where he would make a name for himself after forming Digital Underground in 1987 with Chopmaster J and Kenny K. (The collective’s membership changed with every album, but Shock G remained a constant.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Upon meeting Shock for the first time, it was obvious to Money B — DU’s co-lead MC and Shock’s longtime ride-or-die — that Shock was creating his own wave.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930426\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Shock G and the members of Digital Underground at a house party in the '90s.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Shock-G.jpeg 1461w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G (far right) was known for his flamboyant self-expression. He painted a new fake nose for each Digital Underground show, where he dressed as his alter ego, Humpty Hump. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Money B)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I realized he was an artist from day one,” remembers Money B. The two ran in similar circles: In 1988, Shock G was promoting an early Digital Underground single, “Underwater Rimes,” and Money was performing at the same East Bay clubs with future DU member DJ Fuze. Right away, Money says, Shock stood out: “He was wearing a beret and these sweatpants with something drawn on them. He wore tassels.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Money B was instantly fascinated. “Underwater Rimes” featured Shock G blissfully rhyming as “a deep-sea gangster, underwater prankster” over aquatic sound effects, and his artwork for it featured sea creatures in hip-hop clothes, talking slick. Fittingly, the surrealist track came out with “Your Life’s a Cartoon” as the B-side. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You could tell he had an originality about himself,” Money B says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929950\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-800x533.jpeg\" alt=\"a cartoonish octopus wearing hip-hop gear like sunglasses and an 80s Kangol hat\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Shock-4-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s illustration for the Digital Underground singles “Underwater Rimes” and “Your Life’s A Cartoon” showcase his effervescent artistry. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Shock G’s expansive visual style\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G’s raunchy humor was on full display on Digital Underground’s canonical 1990 album \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sex Packets\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which sold over a million copies. And it extended to his visual art from that period, too. He even designed condom wrappers that Tommy Boy Records gave away to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rap/c/isX90bFrjLA?pli=1\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">promote\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the record\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A pamphlet went out to San Francisco strip clubs and peep shows,” Money B recalls. “He drew the invitation to the original [album release] party. Everything had art attached to it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock’s avant-garde approach was also evident on stage. For each show, he would custom-paint a plastic nose for his Humpty Hump getup and give it away to a fan at the end of the night. His quirky, exuberant fashion and alter egos were also \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a precursor to the far-fetched costumery \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that would later define\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> beloved Bay Area rappers like Mac Dre, who during the hyphy movement dressed up as a genie, a fictional president and a tennis pro\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896267\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of The HUmpty Dance single\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/R-42681-1333303548.jpeg-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s cartoony illustrations laced Digital Underground’s album covers and inserts. \u003ccite>(Tommy Boy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This kind of rebellious, form-bending aesthetic evolved throughout Shock G’s career. For 1991’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release, \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he provided a “Customer I.Q. Quiz” in the top corner of the album cover. Answers for a multiple-choice question about what “E.P.” means included “EXTRA POOR,” “EXTENDED PHILOSOPHY,” and “ERECT P_NIS.” Later, in the early aughts, Shock introduced an illustration series called \u003cem>Assholes\u003c/em> that starred fictional characters based on anuses (yes, actual assholes).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No matter the subject, though, Shock’s illustrations linked him to an Afrosurrealist, funky artistic lineage that went back decades. At various points in his life, he openly credited Parliament-Funkadelic’s album cover artist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/arts/music/pedro-bell-dead.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedro Bell, whose strangely cosmic, erotic illustrations \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">were a major inspiration of his.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Part of my huge affection for P-Funk is the humor. It’s not so militant,” Shock said on the Netflix series \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hip-Hop Evolution\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “It’s just like… ‘Dance your way out of your constrictions.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G never actively promoted his artwork, instead lasering in on his rap ambitions. But along with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13927692/del-funky-homosapien-no-need-for-alarm-30-years-anniversary\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del the Funky Homosapien\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who also has a background in visual art, Shock was part of the first wave of Bay Area rappers who helped to define what it meant to be a weird, versatile, poly-skilled artist. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“In the late ’80s, there were maybe three people doing art like him,” Gregory says. “He wanted to be accepted as a rapper. That’s why you’ll see [his art is signed with aliases] Rackadelic and Staying Busy Productions [instead of Shock G]. He separated all that to make sure he was accepted as a rapper and had success there.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930485\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The poster for Digital Underground's 'This Is an E.P. Release' features carnival-esque caricatures of all the bandmates, including Tupac Shakur.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66270_230613-KentRackerShockG-04-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a Digital Underground poster featuring the ‘This Is an E.P. Release’ album art at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tupac’s caricature in \u003cem>This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/em>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Digital Underground’s heartbeat, Shock G put his playful touch on everything — and often communicated through exaggerated drawings rather than words.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“He wasn’t drawing pictures that were realistic. He would accentuate your main features. Huge freckles, big lips,” Money B says. “[He drew] Tupac’s big ol’ nose and rigid cheekbone. Some people took offense to how they were drawn, but they didn’t get it. [If] he didn’t like you, he might draw some crazy pictures.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A perennial jokester, Shock’s cartoonish ways weren’t used solely for mockery; they could also serve as a language for love, unity and representation. Perhaps no other Digital Underground project displays this more poetically than the gold-certified \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which features the single “Same Song” — famous for being Tupac’s first published track. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tupac began his journey with Digital Underground in 1989 when he\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/weed-and-white-women-shock-g-from-oaklands-digital-underground-1/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> signed to their underground label, TNT Records\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It’s likely that without Shock G’s clairvoyance, the version of Tupac we know today may not have arrived as quickly as he did — or, at the very least, the future icon wouldn’t have been given such a momentous debut opportunity in front of a national audience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930488\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-800x508.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white photo features a young Shock G rapping in a long fur coat and fur hat. Tupac stands next to him shirtless and holding up artwork, the content of which is not fully visible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-800x508.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1298436200-scaled-e1686772243132.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G and 2Pac of Digital Underground perform at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana in July 1990. \u003ccite>(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock and Tupac’s friendship is forever illustrated on \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Is an E.P. Release\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The cover features Shock’s hand-drawn portrait of the entire DU squad, himself included, with one arm lovingly wrapped around a young Tupac’s shoulders.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the new Hulu \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">documentary \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dear Mama\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Tupac praises Shock G for giving him his earliest validation as a rap artist: “Shock G made sure people saw me as a member of the group. And because he did that, it gave me the courage and the confidence to really just do what I wanted. That’s the best thing one human being can do for another.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to Shock G, Tupac finally saw himself — literally and figuratively — as a successful musician.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930495\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930495\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"One of Shock G's drawings features olives climbing out of a martini glass. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66281_230613-KentRackerShockG-15-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a drawing on a greeting card created by Shock G at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Unseen artwork and Shock G’s final act\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are countless Shock G visuals that the public has never seen: The zany machinations he would invent on the fly while sitting on a tour bus, hanging backstage or out late at night with his crew. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A napkin at a burger joint was a canvas to be filled with heartfelt messages for his closest kin. A cardboard box at a party, in his hands, could mutate into a comic strip panel for nonsensical humor. The back of a receipt evolved into a map drawn for a friend before a road trip. Even the inside lining of his jackets became surfaces he could stylize, converting them into wearable artwork that he would later give away to fans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G continued making visual art into his last years, often making custom holiday cards for friends and family members, says his brother, Kent Racker. The MC also experimented with abstract, acrylic canvases after moving to Topanga in Southern California as he grew older. Unfortunately, his artistic evolution was cut short. Shock G died of an accidental drug overdose in Tampa, where he spent the end of his life, on April 22, 2021.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930427\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Shock G and George Clinton smile at each other, wearing formal attire. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-152563908.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G and George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic attend the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 42nd annual legislative conference at the Washington Convention Center on September 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. \u003ccite>(Monica Morgan/WireImage)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Racker imagines that, had he lived, Shock G could be painting large-scale murals. “But he wasn’t concerned about the promotion of people knowing about [his art while he was alive]. He was just in tune with being able to create a beautiful representation of DU as an artist.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Racker’s estimation can’t be far off. In later interviews, Shock G hinted at wanting to try new things.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930486\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Kent Racker poses in a room decorated with Digital Underground gold plaques, guitars and other musical memorabilia. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66288_230613-KentRackerShockG-19-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, stands in his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023, wearing a t-shirt with art made by Shock G. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I wanna get out there and mix it up a little more,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/23192620\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock G told journalist Tamara Palmer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2011. “I wanna have fun and just make anything. It ain’t gotta be Eddie [Humpty Hump] Humphrey. It ain’t gotta be Shock G.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Palmer initially met Shock G for an MTV interview in 2004 and kept in touch. She says he ran his own website, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://shock-g.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shock-G.com\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and would often post “highly illustrated” work, including a comic strip at one point. (The site is still active but became a fan site domain after his passing).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They were just made-up characters,” says Palmer. “There was no deeper meaning to it, I don’t think. He provided very surprising comic relief.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eventually, Palmer witnessed his artistry firsthand at a mutual friend’s house party, where they doodled together for fun. “[The art we made together was] cheeky, super cheeky. I glued a flier to the lower corner of a wooden tray and he turned it into a bar scene with a male fish flirting with the female fish. It was like a big wink,” says Palmer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929947\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-800x620.png\" alt=\"a surreal sketch and collage on carboard, including fishes drinking at a bar\" width=\"800\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-800x620.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1020x791.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-160x124.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-768x595.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1536x1191.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-2048x1588.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Original-Shock-1920x1489.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shock G’s sketches were cartoonish, playful and spontaneous. This collaborative piece was made with Tamara Palmer at a house party. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Late in his career, along with painting, Shock G veered further into jazz — with Gregory, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/11/22/shock-gs-jazz-piano-the-digital-underground-frontmans-musicianship-will-be-featured-in-posthumous-album/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he recorded a solo jazz piano album, the posthumously released \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Piano Man\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As an illustrator and piano player, that was unheard of back then,” Gregory adds. “Nowadays, Roddy Rich and Tyler, the Creator, they have these pianos. Shock went to see [Roddy’s] show in 2018, and the manager came up to tell Shock that [Roddy] is the only rapper to play the piano.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gregory smirks while sharing this, knowing that Shock mastered the instrument many moons ago. Add to that the immeasurable amounts of unshared, custom artwork in Shock G’s collection, and you have a once-in-a-generation creative mind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“You gotta think, when we’re touring and on buses, he would draw something every day. Idle time was never idle time [for him]. He was creating something. Even on a napkin or a note, it was artsy,” Money B shares.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gregory estimates that “95% has probably been unseen.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930497\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930497\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A '90s color photo features Shock G performing on stage in his white fur getup and his brother, Kent, rapping alongside him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/RS66271_230613-KentRackerShockG-07-BL-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Racker, the brother of the late Gregory Jacobs, known as Shock G, holds a photo of himself and his brother performing with Digital Underground in Philadelphia at his home in Oakland on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All told, Shock G may have been one of the Bay Area’s most prolific, subversive visual artists — a visionary who bent the lines of human geometry with the “Humpty Dance” and on the page with his out-of-this-world drawings. And according to his brother, it couldn’t have happened anywhere except Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It would not have happened back East. The style at the time, we always laugh and joke at ourselves about being hippies,” Racker says. “He probably could have come up as a rapper in New York, or anywhere, because of his musicality and being around hip-hop when it was forming. We had that foundation. But coming out to the Bay Area and California, it really amplified and illustrated his aesthetic in the work, and he just kept drawing and creating a visual world.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Anita Lofton and Veronica Savage have made noise in the Bay for more than a decade with their bands Sistas In The Pit and The Hail Marys – notable not just for their energy, but for the ways their identities intersect with their music. The two women are proudly Black, fiercely punk, unapologetically raw and have recently coalesced (along with drummer Q) into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blackgoldsun1/\">Black Gold Sun\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After watching the 2024 election results, Anita paused all her other projects and, as “an act of public service,” decided to start a Black girl punk band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew the communities I belong to would be grieving — sad, devastated, overwhelmed,” she tells KQED via email. “I wanted to build a safe space for us. A place to rage, to dance, to scream and to let it all out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This weekend, Black Gold Sun will perform in another space designed to let it all out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.dollfest.net/home\">Doll Fest\u003c/a>, the two-day festival dedicated to femme-fronted bands from across the country. This year’s event will be held at Oakland’s California Ballroom on March 28 and 29, with a \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/doll-fest-vol-ii-pre-party-w-skip-the-needle-2026-03-27-ivy-room-albany-5b86b9\">pre-party\u003c/a> on March 27 at the female-owned Ivy Room in Albany. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"903\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987971\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly-160x144.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly-768x694.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minneapolis punk trio VIAL plays this year’s Doll Fest. \u003ccite>(Katy Kelly)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now in its second year, the homegrown festival is dedicated to smashing the patriarchy, amplifying feminine power through music. In addition to local groups at the vanguard such as Black Gold Sun, this year’s headliners include Minneapolis bratpunk trio \u003ca href=\"https://www.vialband.com/\">VIAL\u003c/a> and Fat Wreck Chords’ \u003ca href=\"https://badcopbadcopmusic.com/\">Bad Cop Bad Cop\u003c/a>. Also on the lineup are Denver beatmaker and MC \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wheelchairsportscamp/\">Wheelchair Sportscamp\u003c/a>, trans alt-hip-hop artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.itsdamag3.com/\">DAMAG3\u003c/a>, and nine-piece all-female ska band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/colectivosabinas/\">El Colectivo Sabinas\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anything that uplifts, empowers, or highlights women’s creativity is a yes for me. The current state of the world is doing a number on women, and I want to contribute to their joy,” says Anita, who plays guitar and sings for Black Gold Sun. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doll Fest founder Maria Chaos was similarly fed up with the status quo, and grew determined to create the change she wanted to see in punk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I became really tired of watching old white man bands hogging the stages and making these empty promises of tokenized statements,” she tells KQED via email. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">All-female ska band El Colectivo Sabinas. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Maria stepped up to the plate and built Doll Fest from the ground up alongside general manager and art director Freya Hausman, who until recently was the general manager of the Bay Area record label Alternative Tentacles. The two booked femme-led bands across the punk spectrum – from riot grrrl legends to ska-punk and alt-rock – \u003ca href=\"https://thebadcopy.com/interviews/maria-chaos-shares-the-birth-of-doll-fest-how-its-a-response-the-experience-of-booking-her-first-festival/\">prioritizing\u003c/a> a group’s enjoyment, draw and morals relative to the fest’s local audience and ethos. The inaugural Doll Fest took over Cornerstone in Berkeley, a city chosen for its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/doll-fest-amps-up-for-2-day-takeover-in-berkeley-we-want-people-to-feel-like-this-was-made-for-them/\">history of radical art and activism\u003c/a>, with headliners Tsunami Bomb and Naked Aggression. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veronica, Black Gold Sun’s bassist, has exclusively played in all-female bands, and performed at multiple women-focused events. “Punk music has always been about challenges, rebellion, DIY culture. This festival gives space for female-fronted bands to be seen and heard, and for folks to experience a range of styles and messages that can keep the scene fresh and energized,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The energy is contagious – and expansive. Doll Fest has grown to include multiple auxiliary events including a comedy night, boxing meet-up, a vinyl compilation, multiple fundraisers, and a two-day festival in Mexico City headlined by legendary L.A. punk Alice Bag. “Before anyone asks, no this is not going to be Vans Warped Tour 2.0,” Maria adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having bands come from other areas to the Bay Area can be quite costly or difficult,” she continues. “This is a family, a community. If they can’t come to us then I want to go to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE3G38gLO4s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doll Fest has a nationwide community of supporters. Just a few months after the first Doll Fest, Maria was at Florida’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/thefestfl/\">Fest\u003c/a> and spoke with many people who knew about her event. “They thought it was so cool and had been yearning for an event like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DP6kJbwEdIO/\">Doll Fest benefit show\u003c/a> in November featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935330/frightwig-40th-anniversary-album-san-francisco-punk-rock-riot-grrrl\">San Francisco OGs Frightwig\u003c/a>, a performer recalled becoming jaded with life and music. “[She said] this event had given her a spark that she hadn’t felt in years,” Maria remembered. “I was in tears at one point…because the room felt like you were walking into a giant hug.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black Gold Sun’s Anita Lofton considers a femme-focused festival to be a powerful acknowledgment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plain and simple truth is that seeing something makes it possible,” she says. “When you see women performing punk music, you know it’s real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987974\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Cop Bad Cop, from Southern California, play this weekend’s Doll Fest. \u003ccite>(So Finch Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like any production, putting on Doll Fest comes with logistical and emotional challenges. Maria says she experiences stress, imposter syndrome, and sometimes fears that she’s letting her team down. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, “hearing about how this event brings a type of joy to peoples’ lives…fuel[s] the fire,” Maria says. “I’ll keep doing these until I die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Doll Fest takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29, at the California Ballroom (1726 Franklin St. Oakland). A pre-party gets underway Friday, March 27, at the Ivy Room. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dollfest.net/\">\u003ci>Tickets and more details here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Anita Lofton and Veronica Savage have made noise in the Bay for more than a decade with their bands Sistas In The Pit and The Hail Marys – notable not just for their energy, but for the ways their identities intersect with their music. The two women are proudly Black, fiercely punk, unapologetically raw and have recently coalesced (along with drummer Q) into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blackgoldsun1/\">Black Gold Sun\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After watching the 2024 election results, Anita paused all her other projects and, as “an act of public service,” decided to start a Black girl punk band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew the communities I belong to would be grieving — sad, devastated, overwhelmed,” she tells KQED via email. “I wanted to build a safe space for us. A place to rage, to dance, to scream and to let it all out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This weekend, Black Gold Sun will perform in another space designed to let it all out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.dollfest.net/home\">Doll Fest\u003c/a>, the two-day festival dedicated to femme-fronted bands from across the country. This year’s event will be held at Oakland’s California Ballroom on March 28 and 29, with a \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/doll-fest-vol-ii-pre-party-w-skip-the-needle-2026-03-27-ivy-room-albany-5b86b9\">pre-party\u003c/a> on March 27 at the female-owned Ivy Room in Albany. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"903\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987971\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly-160x144.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/vial_by_katy_kelly-768x694.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minneapolis punk trio VIAL plays this year’s Doll Fest. \u003ccite>(Katy Kelly)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now in its second year, the homegrown festival is dedicated to smashing the patriarchy, amplifying feminine power through music. In addition to local groups at the vanguard such as Black Gold Sun, this year’s headliners include Minneapolis bratpunk trio \u003ca href=\"https://www.vialband.com/\">VIAL\u003c/a> and Fat Wreck Chords’ \u003ca href=\"https://badcopbadcopmusic.com/\">Bad Cop Bad Cop\u003c/a>. Also on the lineup are Denver beatmaker and MC \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wheelchairsportscamp/\">Wheelchair Sportscamp\u003c/a>, trans alt-hip-hop artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.itsdamag3.com/\">DAMAG3\u003c/a>, and nine-piece all-female ska band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/colectivosabinas/\">El Colectivo Sabinas\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anything that uplifts, empowers, or highlights women’s creativity is a yes for me. The current state of the world is doing a number on women, and I want to contribute to their joy,” says Anita, who plays guitar and sings for Black Gold Sun. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doll Fest founder Maria Chaos was similarly fed up with the status quo, and grew determined to create the change she wanted to see in punk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I became really tired of watching old white man bands hogging the stages and making these empty promises of tokenized statements,” she tells KQED via email. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/421523652_921050173114647_7186941386879221908_n-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">All-female ska band El Colectivo Sabinas. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Maria stepped up to the plate and built Doll Fest from the ground up alongside general manager and art director Freya Hausman, who until recently was the general manager of the Bay Area record label Alternative Tentacles. The two booked femme-led bands across the punk spectrum – from riot grrrl legends to ska-punk and alt-rock – \u003ca href=\"https://thebadcopy.com/interviews/maria-chaos-shares-the-birth-of-doll-fest-how-its-a-response-the-experience-of-booking-her-first-festival/\">prioritizing\u003c/a> a group’s enjoyment, draw and morals relative to the fest’s local audience and ethos. The inaugural Doll Fest took over Cornerstone in Berkeley, a city chosen for its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/doll-fest-amps-up-for-2-day-takeover-in-berkeley-we-want-people-to-feel-like-this-was-made-for-them/\">history of radical art and activism\u003c/a>, with headliners Tsunami Bomb and Naked Aggression. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veronica, Black Gold Sun’s bassist, has exclusively played in all-female bands, and performed at multiple women-focused events. “Punk music has always been about challenges, rebellion, DIY culture. This festival gives space for female-fronted bands to be seen and heard, and for folks to experience a range of styles and messages that can keep the scene fresh and energized,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The energy is contagious – and expansive. Doll Fest has grown to include multiple auxiliary events including a comedy night, boxing meet-up, a vinyl compilation, multiple fundraisers, and a two-day festival in Mexico City headlined by legendary L.A. punk Alice Bag. “Before anyone asks, no this is not going to be Vans Warped Tour 2.0,” Maria adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having bands come from other areas to the Bay Area can be quite costly or difficult,” she continues. “This is a family, a community. If they can’t come to us then I want to go to them.”\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/mE3G38gLO4s'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mE3G38gLO4s'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Doll Fest has a nationwide community of supporters. Just a few months after the first Doll Fest, Maria was at Florida’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/thefestfl/\">Fest\u003c/a> and spoke with many people who knew about her event. “They thought it was so cool and had been yearning for an event like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DP6kJbwEdIO/\">Doll Fest benefit show\u003c/a> in November featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935330/frightwig-40th-anniversary-album-san-francisco-punk-rock-riot-grrrl\">San Francisco OGs Frightwig\u003c/a>, a performer recalled becoming jaded with life and music. “[She said] this event had given her a spark that she hadn’t felt in years,” Maria remembered. “I was in tears at one point…because the room felt like you were walking into a giant hug.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black Gold Sun’s Anita Lofton considers a femme-focused festival to be a powerful acknowledgment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plain and simple truth is that seeing something makes it possible,” she says. “When you see women performing punk music, you know it’s real.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987974\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/BCBC-portrait-4784_credit_SoFinchPhotography-2025-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Cop Bad Cop, from Southern California, play this weekend’s Doll Fest. \u003ccite>(So Finch Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like any production, putting on Doll Fest comes with logistical and emotional challenges. Maria says she experiences stress, imposter syndrome, and sometimes fears that she’s letting her team down. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, “hearing about how this event brings a type of joy to peoples’ lives…fuel[s] the fire,” Maria says. “I’ll keep doing these until I die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Doll Fest takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29, at the California Ballroom (1726 Franklin St. Oakland). A pre-party gets underway Friday, March 27, at the Ivy Room. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dollfest.net/\">\u003ci>Tickets and more details here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "masala-y-maiz-mexico-city-restaurant-oakland-bay-area-roots",
"title": "How One of Mexico City’s Most Acclaimed Restaurants Began in Oakland",
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"headTitle": "How One of Mexico City’s Most Acclaimed Restaurants Began in Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen you first enter Masala y Maiz — a Michelin-starred renegade of a restaurant in Mexico City that has been profiled on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” — you wouldn’t necessarily know that Oakland is at the heart of its soulful appeal. The concrete, brutalist design of the space denotes an air of Mexican modernism that’s unlike anything you’d find in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet according to chef and co-owner Saqib Keval, a Northern California–raised son of Ethiopian and Kenyan immigrants of Indian descent, Oakland is central to the restaurant’s ethos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restaurant feels like an extension of Oakland at times, in terms of the music, politics, culture, vibe,” says Keval, who opened Masala y Maiz with his wife Norma Listman in 2017. “It feels like an embassy. Oakland is a place we miss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area activists may remember Keval as one of the co-founders of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/peopleskitchencollective/\">People’s Kitchen Collective\u003c/a> (PKC), among Oakland’s most prominent food justice organizations. Listman, meanwhile, was born and raised in Texcoco, Mexico, before she migrated to the Bay in the ’90s to work as a multidisciplinary artist and, eventually, a chef, cutting her teeth at esteemed Oakland restaurants like Tamarindo, Bay Wolf and Camino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987860\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant.jpg\" alt=\"Two chefs in blue aprons pose in front a restaurant, underneath massive cement columns.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keval and Listman stand in front of the current iteration of Masala y Maiz in Mexico City’s historic centro, where the restaurant relocated in 2024. \u003ccite>(Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I have Oakland tattooed on my leg,” she says. “We hold a romantic idea of the Bay, of Oakland, when we lived there. I was in the Bay for 18 years. I was there during the dot-com boom in ’99. A lot of our communities left because it was impossible to keep going. The restaurants we worked at closed because it wasn’t sustainable. [But] my mentors are still there, and that’s where I came into food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s grassroots influences, along with Listman’s leftist upbringing in Mexico and Keval’s anti-colonial literary acumen from his days at Humboldt State University, are unmistakably baked into Masala y Maiz’s philosophies of collectivism, equity and universal workers rights. A few times a year, the restaurant hosts an “Eat What You Want, Pay What You Can” day, inviting anyone — particularly locals combating the rising cost of living in \u003ca href=\"https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-gentrification-continues-to-change-mexico-city\">a gentrified Mexico City\u003c/a> — to enjoy a Michelin-starred meal, even if all they can afford to pay for it with is \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250825-pay-what-you-can-for-a-michelin-starred-meal\">a piece of original artwork\u003c/a>. The restaurant’s regular menus often feature large, bilingual phrases (“white supremacy is terrorism”; “que vive la lucha femenista”) based on current events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987864\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987864\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of dishes on a black tabletop — included is a fried whole fish, head-on shrimp, and salad.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An impressive spread of dishes at Masa y Maiz. \u003ccite>(Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The messaging isn’t only for show. In 2018, the restaurant boldly \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mexico-city-restaurant-20180512-story.html\">challenged Mexico City’s government officials, citing corruption and bribery\u003c/a> — and somehow came out unscathed. Then, in 2021, the couple rejected a nomination from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, calling out the foundation’s culture of exploitation and sexism. On Instagram, Masala y Maiz expressed gratitude for the recognition but didn’t yield, sharing a graphic of their invitation with a simple declaration overlaid above it: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfYu1rL7oT/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=128bcd38-88bd-4ee8-a174-fd802ac4baae\">Gracias, no gracias\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant has also proven to be far more transcendentally savory than any political statement could ever be on its own. That is to say, the food at Masala y Maiz reflects Oakland’s famously eclectic flavors, too, in its borderless mezcla of dishes: an edible tapestry of Mexican, Indian and East African ingredients. The paratha quesadilla, which uses Indian flatbread in place of traditional corn tortillas, is gooed together with a blend of Oaxacan and mountain cheeses, and served with a side of salsa machaar and herb salad. For the uttapam gordita, a thick South Indian dosa is topped with shredded barbacoa, butternut squash, asparagus and housemade salsa verde. And the esquites makai pakka is a Kenyan remix of Mexico’s beloved street corn dish — a stir of corn kernels, coconut milk, East African masala, in-house mayo and crumbled cotija cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987857\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt='Jars of spices labeled with blue tape, including dried guajillo chiles, gunpowder pudi, \"Black Power cardamom,\" methi, and maiz morado.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Masala y Maiz is a reflection of the commonalities that can be found across different parts the Global South. Here, a medley of Indian and East African spices sit beside Mexican ingredients like corn and guajillo peppers. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Oakland’s past is reuniting with the restaurant’s present. This month, the duo is hosting a series of guest chefs from all over the map in honor of International Women’s Month. The series concludes on March 25 with a collaborative dinner featuring the Bay Area’s own Reem Assil and Nite Yun, who both got their starts cooking in Oakland. Yun is the Cambodian American chef behind \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lunette_cambodia/?hl=en\">Lunette\u003c/a>, a Khmer gem inside San Francisco’s Ferry Building; Assil is the Palestinian-Syrian culinary icon of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/?hl=en\">Reem’s California\u003c/a> fame. The Bay Area chefs will join Listman and Keval to create a one-night-only menu centered on their Cambodian, Palestinian, Indian and Mexican backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how, exactly, did this internationally renowned hot spot make it all the way down from the East Bay’s shores to the pedestrian-flooded Centro Historico of Mexico’s trending capital to begin with? As it turns out, it all originated as an Oakland love story.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Ghetto Gourmet’ and PKC — that’s Oakland, baby\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before landing in the Bay, Listman had already established herself in the Mexico City art scene. When she came to Oakland in the ’90s, she quickly felt aligned with the city’s unsugared realness, laissez-faire freedoms and artistic energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The art scene in Mexico City was very avant garde, very international; it was exhilarating. I felt the same way about Oakland,” she says. “I fell in love with the Bay because of that similarity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview.jpg\" alt=\"In a backyard garden setting, a woman holds out a glass while a bottle wine is poured.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During her time in the Bay Area, Listman brought her expertise and insights as a Mexican-born artist and foodmaker, helping to introduce mezcal to the region when it was relatively unknown. Alice Waters (right), the founder of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, attended one of her many events. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Norma Listman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Oakland of then was far from the Oakland it would later become. In the mid-to-late aughts, Listman was among the first in the Town to purvey artisanal mezcals, when the libation was more mystery than mainstream. She was invested in fashion, design and art. In 2007, she began working front of house in various Oakland restaurants, eventually finding her way into the kitchen. She independently experimented with food as “a medium to tell a larger story” with a project she titled The Salon Dinners. Listman recalls those times fondly, before tech billionaires and real estate conglomerates completely uprooted artists and storytellers in the region, leaving a profit-driven void in their wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Oakland, there was something called ‘Ghetto Gourmet,’” she says, describing an underground community of Oakland home chefs at the time, not to be confused with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11777049/why-berkeleys-gourmet-ghetto-is-a-problem-for-some\">Berkeley neighborhood nickname\u003c/a>. “People turned their houses into restaurants and began cooking their own food, and it was a really cool time in the Bay to have those experiences and to be experimental. I started doing some of that,” she says. “Where I grew up in Mexico, it’s common that some homes and garages and family dining rooms become restaurants to serve pozole or some other dish that the family matriarch does well. [My dinners] felt like a blend of that, in terms of food, but it was shot down by the health department. It lasted about a year and a half, and it was so cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Listman, these kinds of secretive, word-of-mouth happenings gave Oakland a certain magic in that era: “Everything felt more hidden. Back in the day, nothing was exposed, but if you knocked on a door, it would open, and then another door would appear behind that, and you’d find another world inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders.jpg\" alt=\"Three smiling people posing for a portrait in front of some kitchen cabinets\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Keval, Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik and Jocelyn Jackson. The trio co-founded the People’s Kitchen Collective in 2007. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During that same span, \u003ca href=\"https://edibleeastbay.com/2013/08/15/it-takes-a-grandmother/\">Keval was steadily building up PKC\u003c/a>, a political food program he co-founded in 2007, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923936/moad-new-chef-in-residence-jocelyn-jackson-peoples-kitchen-collective\">Jocelyn Jackson\u003c/a> and Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, in West Oakland. Keval’s evolving vision for the group was inspired by his involvement in Bay Area restaurants and food nonprofits like Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay Area and West Oakland’s People’s Grocery, where he helped start the \u003ca href=\"https://growingjusticeinstitute.wordpress.com/about/\">Growing Justice Institute\u003c/a>, an urban agriculture project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Keval’s time at PKC, the group held large-scale public meals at Lil Bobby Hutton Park and at urban farms. Keval developed connections with Black Panther Party elders and collaborated with the likes of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986932/emory-douglas-black-panthers-interview-aaacc-san-francisco\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>, who created the fliers for the Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program. “It was formative for me as an activist to understand the Black and Brown and South Asian history in the Bay. That was vital,” Keval says of those years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, his path would serendipitously intertwine with Listman’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987854\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987854\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc.jpg\" alt=\"A South Asian man holds a microphone as he addresses a gathering. His apron reads, "The People's Kitchen, OAKLAND."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1336\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the late aughts, Keval rallied communities in Oakland and beyond around issues of food justice. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The road to Mexico City goes through Old Oakland\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe no neighborhood in Oakland has retained as much of the clandestine enchantment that Listman recalls from the aughts as Old Oakland. In particular, the historic downtown neighborhood — crammed into a quaint, relatively sleepy four-block nook bordered by Highway 880, Broadway and West Oakland — has long been an overlooked bastion of delicious eats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In prior years, you’d find beloved gems like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">Miss Ollie’s\u003c/a>, the Afro-Caribbean staple with out-the-door lines, where Keval once worked. Today, the neighborhood is home to chef Anthony Salguero’s Popoca, a Salvadoran American powerhouse slanging woodfired pupusas, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936332/tchaka-haitian-restaurant-oakland\">T’chaka\u003c/a>, Oakland’s first and only Haitian joint (which, poetically, exists in the former Miss Ollie’s space). But arguably no other restaurant in Old Oakland has left more of an imprint than Cosecha. Until it shuttered in 2021, the Mexican eatery inside of Swan Market was one of the most influential restaurants in the Bay Area’s culinary landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coincidentally, Cosecha is also where Listman and Keval first met, around 2013. At that time, Listman was working with the restaurant to host mezcal tastings and community art events; Keval and PKC used Cosecha as a space to provide meals and build a shared foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987858\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987858\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha.jpg\" alt=\"Crowded communal tables inside a food hall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old Oakland’s now-shuttered Cosecha was an instrumental space for Keval and Listman, who used it as a venue to build community and inspire change. For a time, the restaurant hosted many of the People’s Kitchen Collective’s pay-what-you-can meals. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval/People's Kitchen Collective)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In terms of how they started dating? Listman tells it straight: “We never really engaged that much. We were busy in our own worlds.” That changed when the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco began a new residency program and recruited both Listman and PKC to collaborate. Listman smiles: “We worked together on that event, and since then we’ve never stopped working together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dominica Rice-Cisneros, Cosecha’s Mexican American chef-owner who currently runs Bombera in the Dimond District, knew the couple long before they were star chefs. Since hosting them in her own restaurant, Rice-Cisneros has gone on to eat at every version of Masala y Maiz (the restaurant has had different locations in Mexico City over the years).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider Masala y Maiz to be a Bay Area restaurant, even though they’re in Mexico City. They are an Oakland restaurant, to be exact. True Oakland,” says Rice-Cisneros. “It’s definitely international and could do well everywhere, but first and foremost, it’s Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987859\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue apron looking down in front of a restaurant kitchen, where a woman is prepping food.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keval drew inspiration from Bay Area restaurants like Cosecha, where he is pictured in this photo during his People’s Kitchen Collective years. Behind him, Cosecha chef Dominica Rice-Cisneros prepares a dish. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This week, Rice-Cisneros will be flying out to attend the International Women’s Month dinner that Listman is hosting along with Assil and Yun. It doesn’t get more Bay Area — in Mexico City — than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Rice-Cisneros doesn’t take any credit for uniting Listman and Keval, the couple is quick to point out Cosecha’s importance in their lives. “Masala y Maiz exists because of Dominica. We exist [as a couple] because of PKC,” Keval says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, Listman moved back to Mexico to research corn foodways. Unexpectedly, she was offered an on-the-spot chance to take over a dining space in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. She took the risk and invited Keval to join her. The result was Masala y Maiz: a combination of their families’ migratory lineages told through recipes. In that way, the restaurant is an expression of all of the parallels that Listman and Keval have found between the cuisines and cultures across Mexico, India, Kenya and the Global South at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987855\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib.jpg\" alt=\"A man and a woman, both in sunglasses, sit close together while the woman takes a selfie of the two of them with her phone.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 2017, Listman and Keval left the Bay Area, where they had met and began dating, with the shared vision of changing the restaurant industry together. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The restaurant’s stature has only grown over the years as it moved into larger spaces and solidified itself as a culinary destination and activist force in Mexico City. But even as the couple was building out their restaurant, the Bay Area was always close to their hearts — and the Bay hadn’t forgotten about them, either. Listman notes that her former mentor, the legendary Slanted Door chef Charles Phan (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13970535/charles-phan-the-innovative-chef-of-sfs-slanted-door-has-died\">passed away last year\u003c/a>), supplied Masala y Maiz with its inaugural set of silverware. Eight years later, it’s still the crown jewel of the restaurant’s collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b; font-weight: 400;\">[aside postID='arts_13960139,arts_13932089,arts_13912706']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For Listman, the Bay resonates in their work — but it’s not the only factor. “The Bay Area is a very revolutionary place with incredible political movements,” she says. “But it’s not the only thing. A lot of the movements in Mexico and in different communities inform what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keval is even more effusive in his praise of the Bay. “The thing about the restaurants in the Bay we worked at was that they showed us the possibilities of what a restaurant can be, and the authenticity of each person expressing who they are in their own way,” he says. “We learned what it means to do right by your employees and your team. We worked with chefs who cared, who worked alongside everyone else. That helped me form this idea of what a restaurant could be and how to critique patriarchy, capitalism and so forth. Oakland gave me space to try that out and tweak it and work on service and hospitality from a different point of view, one that was community-based and centered on dignity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987861\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987861\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"Two pairs of hands pressing down on banana leaves in a large pot.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Masala y Maiz, Listman and Keval combine culinary traditions from their respective backgrounds. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a fine dining industry where headlines about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/dining/rene-redzepi-noma-abuse-allegations.html\">institutions abusing their workers\u003c/a> are not uncommon, and in which high-end establishments have a reputation of being financially inaccessible to the working class, Masala y Maiz’s egalitarian for-the-people, by-the-people mantras are far from the norm. But they’re deeply rooted in the Bay’s insurgent ecosystem, where Listman and Keval were shaped and influenced for years while also carving out space for themselves, long before Masala y Maiz’s opened its proverbial doors to would-be diners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Keval puts it, “That’s who we are, and that’s a direct line to the Bay. That won’t ever stop being home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, is there anything more truly Oakland than feeding revolutions, building cross-communal solidarity, and inviting everyone to share in discourse amid today’s hetero-capitalist dystopia — all while eating some of the best meals of your life?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: An earlier version of this article credited chef Anthony Strong with providing Masala y Maiz’s first set of silverware. Strong was also a mentor to Listman, but Charles Phan of Slanted Door was the one who gifted them the silverware.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/masalaymaiz/\">\u003ci>Masala y Maiz\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (116 C. Artículo 123, Edificio Humboldt, Mexico City) is open every day from noon to 6 p.m., except on Tuesdays. On Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m., the restaurant will host its final International Women’s Month series dinner with chefs Reem Assil and Nite Yun. The communal meal will include a six-course collaborative tasting, with a welcome drink and tip included for $2,200 MXN, or roughly $115 USD, per person. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city/event/595460\">\u003ci>Tickets here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\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\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen you first enter Masala y Maiz — a Michelin-starred renegade of a restaurant in Mexico City that has been profiled on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” — you wouldn’t necessarily know that Oakland is at the heart of its soulful appeal. The concrete, brutalist design of the space denotes an air of Mexican modernism that’s unlike anything you’d find in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet according to chef and co-owner Saqib Keval, a Northern California–raised son of Ethiopian and Kenyan immigrants of Indian descent, Oakland is central to the restaurant’s ethos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restaurant feels like an extension of Oakland at times, in terms of the music, politics, culture, vibe,” says Keval, who opened Masala y Maiz with his wife Norma Listman in 2017. “It feels like an embassy. Oakland is a place we miss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area activists may remember Keval as one of the co-founders of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/peopleskitchencollective/\">People’s Kitchen Collective\u003c/a> (PKC), among Oakland’s most prominent food justice organizations. Listman, meanwhile, was born and raised in Texcoco, Mexico, before she migrated to the Bay in the ’90s to work as a multidisciplinary artist and, eventually, a chef, cutting her teeth at esteemed Oakland restaurants like Tamarindo, Bay Wolf and Camino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987860\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant.jpg\" alt=\"Two chefs in blue aprons pose in front a restaurant, underneath massive cement columns.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_OutsideRestaurant-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keval and Listman stand in front of the current iteration of Masala y Maiz in Mexico City’s historic centro, where the restaurant relocated in 2024. \u003ccite>(Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I have Oakland tattooed on my leg,” she says. “We hold a romantic idea of the Bay, of Oakland, when we lived there. I was in the Bay for 18 years. I was there during the dot-com boom in ’99. A lot of our communities left because it was impossible to keep going. The restaurants we worked at closed because it wasn’t sustainable. [But] my mentors are still there, and that’s where I came into food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s grassroots influences, along with Listman’s leftist upbringing in Mexico and Keval’s anti-colonial literary acumen from his days at Humboldt State University, are unmistakably baked into Masala y Maiz’s philosophies of collectivism, equity and universal workers rights. A few times a year, the restaurant hosts an “Eat What You Want, Pay What You Can” day, inviting anyone — particularly locals combating the rising cost of living in \u003ca href=\"https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-gentrification-continues-to-change-mexico-city\">a gentrified Mexico City\u003c/a> — to enjoy a Michelin-starred meal, even if all they can afford to pay for it with is \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250825-pay-what-you-can-for-a-michelin-starred-meal\">a piece of original artwork\u003c/a>. The restaurant’s regular menus often feature large, bilingual phrases (“white supremacy is terrorism”; “que vive la lucha femenista”) based on current events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987864\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987864\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of dishes on a black tabletop — included is a fried whole fish, head-on shrimp, and salad.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/Credit_Ana-Lorenzana_TableSpread-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An impressive spread of dishes at Masa y Maiz. \u003ccite>(Ana Lorenzana, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The messaging isn’t only for show. In 2018, the restaurant boldly \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mexico-city-restaurant-20180512-story.html\">challenged Mexico City’s government officials, citing corruption and bribery\u003c/a> — and somehow came out unscathed. Then, in 2021, the couple rejected a nomination from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, calling out the foundation’s culture of exploitation and sexism. On Instagram, Masala y Maiz expressed gratitude for the recognition but didn’t yield, sharing a graphic of their invitation with a simple declaration overlaid above it: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfYu1rL7oT/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=128bcd38-88bd-4ee8-a174-fd802ac4baae\">Gracias, no gracias\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant has also proven to be far more transcendentally savory than any political statement could ever be on its own. That is to say, the food at Masala y Maiz reflects Oakland’s famously eclectic flavors, too, in its borderless mezcla of dishes: an edible tapestry of Mexican, Indian and East African ingredients. The paratha quesadilla, which uses Indian flatbread in place of traditional corn tortillas, is gooed together with a blend of Oaxacan and mountain cheeses, and served with a side of salsa machaar and herb salad. For the uttapam gordita, a thick South Indian dosa is topped with shredded barbacoa, butternut squash, asparagus and housemade salsa verde. And the esquites makai pakka is a Kenyan remix of Mexico’s beloved street corn dish — a stir of corn kernels, coconut milk, East African masala, in-house mayo and crumbled cotija cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987857\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt='Jars of spices labeled with blue tape, including dried guajillo chiles, gunpowder pudi, \"Black Power cardamom,\" methi, and maiz morado.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/36_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Masala y Maiz is a reflection of the commonalities that can be found across different parts the Global South. Here, a medley of Indian and East African spices sit beside Mexican ingredients like corn and guajillo peppers. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Oakland’s past is reuniting with the restaurant’s present. This month, the duo is hosting a series of guest chefs from all over the map in honor of International Women’s Month. The series concludes on March 25 with a collaborative dinner featuring the Bay Area’s own Reem Assil and Nite Yun, who both got their starts cooking in Oakland. Yun is the Cambodian American chef behind \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lunette_cambodia/?hl=en\">Lunette\u003c/a>, a Khmer gem inside San Francisco’s Ferry Building; Assil is the Palestinian-Syrian culinary icon of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reemscalifornia/?hl=en\">Reem’s California\u003c/a> fame. The Bay Area chefs will join Listman and Keval to create a one-night-only menu centered on their Cambodian, Palestinian, Indian and Mexican backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how, exactly, did this internationally renowned hot spot make it all the way down from the East Bay’s shores to the pedestrian-flooded Centro Historico of Mexico’s trending capital to begin with? As it turns out, it all originated as an Oakland love story.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Ghetto Gourmet’ and PKC — that’s Oakland, baby\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before landing in the Bay, Listman had already established herself in the Mexico City art scene. When she came to Oakland in the ’90s, she quickly felt aligned with the city’s unsugared realness, laissez-faire freedoms and artistic energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The art scene in Mexico City was very avant garde, very international; it was exhilarating. I felt the same way about Oakland,” she says. “I fell in love with the Bay because of that similarity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987856\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview.jpg\" alt=\"In a backyard garden setting, a woman holds out a glass while a bottle wine is poured.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/MX14-700-preview-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During her time in the Bay Area, Listman brought her expertise and insights as a Mexican-born artist and foodmaker, helping to introduce mezcal to the region when it was relatively unknown. Alice Waters (right), the founder of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, attended one of her many events. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Norma Listman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Oakland of then was far from the Oakland it would later become. In the mid-to-late aughts, Listman was among the first in the Town to purvey artisanal mezcals, when the libation was more mystery than mainstream. She was invested in fashion, design and art. In 2007, she began working front of house in various Oakland restaurants, eventually finding her way into the kitchen. She independently experimented with food as “a medium to tell a larger story” with a project she titled The Salon Dinners. Listman recalls those times fondly, before tech billionaires and real estate conglomerates completely uprooted artists and storytellers in the region, leaving a profit-driven void in their wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In Oakland, there was something called ‘Ghetto Gourmet,’” she says, describing an underground community of Oakland home chefs at the time, not to be confused with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11777049/why-berkeleys-gourmet-ghetto-is-a-problem-for-some\">Berkeley neighborhood nickname\u003c/a>. “People turned their houses into restaurants and began cooking their own food, and it was a really cool time in the Bay to have those experiences and to be experimental. I started doing some of that,” she says. “Where I grew up in Mexico, it’s common that some homes and garages and family dining rooms become restaurants to serve pozole or some other dish that the family matriarch does well. [My dinners] felt like a blend of that, in terms of food, but it was shot down by the health department. It lasted about a year and a half, and it was so cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Listman, these kinds of secretive, word-of-mouth happenings gave Oakland a certain magic in that era: “Everything felt more hidden. Back in the day, nothing was exposed, but if you knocked on a door, it would open, and then another door would appear behind that, and you’d find another world inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders.jpg\" alt=\"Three smiling people posing for a portrait in front of some kitchen cabinets\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-founders-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Keval, Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik and Jocelyn Jackson. The trio co-founded the People’s Kitchen Collective in 2007. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During that same span, \u003ca href=\"https://edibleeastbay.com/2013/08/15/it-takes-a-grandmother/\">Keval was steadily building up PKC\u003c/a>, a political food program he co-founded in 2007, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923936/moad-new-chef-in-residence-jocelyn-jackson-peoples-kitchen-collective\">Jocelyn Jackson\u003c/a> and Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, in West Oakland. Keval’s evolving vision for the group was inspired by his involvement in Bay Area restaurants and food nonprofits like Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay Area and West Oakland’s People’s Grocery, where he helped start the \u003ca href=\"https://growingjusticeinstitute.wordpress.com/about/\">Growing Justice Institute\u003c/a>, an urban agriculture project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Keval’s time at PKC, the group held large-scale public meals at Lil Bobby Hutton Park and at urban farms. Keval developed connections with Black Panther Party elders and collaborated with the likes of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986932/emory-douglas-black-panthers-interview-aaacc-san-francisco\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>, who created the fliers for the Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program. “It was formative for me as an activist to understand the Black and Brown and South Asian history in the Bay. That was vital,” Keval says of those years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, his path would serendipitously intertwine with Listman’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987854\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987854\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc.jpg\" alt=\"A South Asian man holds a microphone as he addresses a gathering. His apron reads, "The People's Kitchen, OAKLAND."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1336\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/kaval-pkc-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the late aughts, Keval rallied communities in Oakland and beyond around issues of food justice. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>The road to Mexico City goes through Old Oakland\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe no neighborhood in Oakland has retained as much of the clandestine enchantment that Listman recalls from the aughts as Old Oakland. In particular, the historic downtown neighborhood — crammed into a quaint, relatively sleepy four-block nook bordered by Highway 880, Broadway and West Oakland — has long been an overlooked bastion of delicious eats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In prior years, you’d find beloved gems like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910410/miss-ollies-oakland-closing\">Miss Ollie’s\u003c/a>, the Afro-Caribbean staple with out-the-door lines, where Keval once worked. Today, the neighborhood is home to chef Anthony Salguero’s Popoca, a Salvadoran American powerhouse slanging woodfired pupusas, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936332/tchaka-haitian-restaurant-oakland\">T’chaka\u003c/a>, Oakland’s first and only Haitian joint (which, poetically, exists in the former Miss Ollie’s space). But arguably no other restaurant in Old Oakland has left more of an imprint than Cosecha. Until it shuttered in 2021, the Mexican eatery inside of Swan Market was one of the most influential restaurants in the Bay Area’s culinary landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coincidentally, Cosecha is also where Listman and Keval first met, around 2013. At that time, Listman was working with the restaurant to host mezcal tastings and community art events; Keval and PKC used Cosecha as a space to provide meals and build a shared foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987858\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987858\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha.jpg\" alt=\"Crowded communal tables inside a food hall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/pkc-at-cosecha-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old Oakland’s now-shuttered Cosecha was an instrumental space for Keval and Listman, who used it as a venue to build community and inspire change. For a time, the restaurant hosted many of the People’s Kitchen Collective’s pay-what-you-can meals. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval/People's Kitchen Collective)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In terms of how they started dating? Listman tells it straight: “We never really engaged that much. We were busy in our own worlds.” That changed when the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco began a new residency program and recruited both Listman and PKC to collaborate. Listman smiles: “We worked together on that event, and since then we’ve never stopped working together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dominica Rice-Cisneros, Cosecha’s Mexican American chef-owner who currently runs Bombera in the Dimond District, knew the couple long before they were star chefs. Since hosting them in her own restaurant, Rice-Cisneros has gone on to eat at every version of Masala y Maiz (the restaurant has had different locations in Mexico City over the years).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider Masala y Maiz to be a Bay Area restaurant, even though they’re in Mexico City. They are an Oakland restaurant, to be exact. True Oakland,” says Rice-Cisneros. “It’s definitely international and could do well everywhere, but first and foremost, it’s Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987859\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987859\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue apron looking down in front of a restaurant kitchen, where a woman is prepping food.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/PKC25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keval drew inspiration from Bay Area restaurants like Cosecha, where he is pictured in this photo during his People’s Kitchen Collective years. Behind him, Cosecha chef Dominica Rice-Cisneros prepares a dish. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This week, Rice-Cisneros will be flying out to attend the International Women’s Month dinner that Listman is hosting along with Assil and Yun. It doesn’t get more Bay Area — in Mexico City — than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Rice-Cisneros doesn’t take any credit for uniting Listman and Keval, the couple is quick to point out Cosecha’s importance in their lives. “Masala y Maiz exists because of Dominica. We exist [as a couple] because of PKC,” Keval says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, Listman moved back to Mexico to research corn foodways. Unexpectedly, she was offered an on-the-spot chance to take over a dining space in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. She took the risk and invited Keval to join her. The result was Masala y Maiz: a combination of their families’ migratory lineages told through recipes. In that way, the restaurant is an expression of all of the parallels that Listman and Keval have found between the cuisines and cultures across Mexico, India, Kenya and the Global South at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987855\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib.jpg\" alt=\"A man and a woman, both in sunglasses, sit close together while the woman takes a selfie of the two of them with her phone.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/norma-and-saqib-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 2017, Listman and Keval left the Bay Area, where they had met and began dating, with the shared vision of changing the restaurant industry together. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Saqib Keval)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The restaurant’s stature has only grown over the years as it moved into larger spaces and solidified itself as a culinary destination and activist force in Mexico City. But even as the couple was building out their restaurant, the Bay Area was always close to their hearts — and the Bay hadn’t forgotten about them, either. Listman notes that her former mentor, the legendary Slanted Door chef Charles Phan (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13970535/charles-phan-the-innovative-chef-of-sfs-slanted-door-has-died\">passed away last year\u003c/a>), supplied Masala y Maiz with its inaugural set of silverware. Eight years later, it’s still the crown jewel of the restaurant’s collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b; font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>For Listman, the Bay resonates in their work — but it’s not the only factor. “The Bay Area is a very revolutionary place with incredible political movements,” she says. “But it’s not the only thing. A lot of the movements in Mexico and in different communities inform what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keval is even more effusive in his praise of the Bay. “The thing about the restaurants in the Bay we worked at was that they showed us the possibilities of what a restaurant can be, and the authenticity of each person expressing who they are in their own way,” he says. “We learned what it means to do right by your employees and your team. We worked with chefs who cared, who worked alongside everyone else. That helped me form this idea of what a restaurant could be and how to critique patriarchy, capitalism and so forth. Oakland gave me space to try that out and tweak it and work on service and hospitality from a different point of view, one that was community-based and centered on dignity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987861\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987861\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg\" alt=\"Two pairs of hands pressing down on banana leaves in a large pot.\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/9_PhotoCredit-Sana-Javeri-Kadri-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Masala y Maiz, Listman and Keval combine culinary traditions from their respective backgrounds. \u003ccite>(Sana Javeri Kadri, courtesy of Masala y Maiz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a fine dining industry where headlines about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/dining/rene-redzepi-noma-abuse-allegations.html\">institutions abusing their workers\u003c/a> are not uncommon, and in which high-end establishments have a reputation of being financially inaccessible to the working class, Masala y Maiz’s egalitarian for-the-people, by-the-people mantras are far from the norm. But they’re deeply rooted in the Bay’s insurgent ecosystem, where Listman and Keval were shaped and influenced for years while also carving out space for themselves, long before Masala y Maiz’s opened its proverbial doors to would-be diners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Keval puts it, “That’s who we are, and that’s a direct line to the Bay. That won’t ever stop being home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, is there anything more truly Oakland than feeding revolutions, building cross-communal solidarity, and inviting everyone to share in discourse amid today’s hetero-capitalist dystopia — all while eating some of the best meals of your life?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: An earlier version of this article credited chef Anthony Strong with providing Masala y Maiz’s first set of silverware. Strong was also a mentor to Listman, but Charles Phan of Slanted Door was the one who gifted them the silverware.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/masalaymaiz/\">\u003ci>Masala y Maiz\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (116 C. Artículo 123, Edificio Humboldt, Mexico City) is open every day from noon to 6 p.m., except on Tuesdays. On Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m., the restaurant will host its final International Women’s Month series dinner with chefs Reem Assil and Nite Yun. The communal meal will include a six-course collaborative tasting, with a welcome drink and tip included for $2,200 MXN, or roughly $115 USD, per person. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/masala-y-maiz-mexico-city/event/595460\">\u003ci>Tickets here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was girls-to-the-front when \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mxka.mami/\">Mxka\u003c/a> took the stage last month at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986591/lovers-lane-mission-san-francisco-valentines-day-festival\">Lovers Lane\u003c/a> block party in San Francisco’s Mission district. At the annual Valentine’s Day celebration of Chicano culture, friends grinned and swayed arm-in-arm as Mxka’s honeyed voice soared over the rapid strum of her band’s acoustic guitars. Rosary necklace glinting in the sun and coquettish red dress billowing, she sang defiantly in Spanglish about a dude who underestimated her: “Las malas no caen tan fácil / come on, bro” (“Baddies don’t fall that easily / come on, bro”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raised in San Leandro, Mxka (pronounced Moka) is making waves with her distinctly Bay Area take on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034651/k-onda-april\">corridos tumbados\u003c/a>, the regional Mexican music style that hit the U.S. mainstream in recent years with the rise of Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano. While the genre’s largely male listenership tends to gravitate towards artists with hard, macho lyrics, Mxka’s romantic subject matter and R&B-inflected delivery is drawing an audience of women that haven’t seen themselves reflected in the music style they love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mexican-regional-music-women-becky-g-belinda-e4f45e10f12ee5e3706b735dae0e33a3\">very few women\u003c/a> that are in this space, let alone Black women,” Mxka says during a recent interview at EMPIRE’s studios in San Francisco as she’s getting ready for a video shoot for an acoustic version of her song “La Vuelta.” “I’ve been getting a lot of support after I was told that I wouldn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/Oe6UoP9klno?si=a0-bToxNqdq4-3pU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The child of a Mexican mother from Mexico City and a Black American father from Louisiana, Mxka identifies as Blaxican. She grew up immersed in the performing arts, trying out dance and theater before turning her efforts towards singing in Spanish. She eventually moved to LA and linked up with producer Stylolive, a frequent collaborator of fellow Bay Area corrido singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953430/oakland-delaciio-regional-mexican-music\">DELACiiO\u003c/a>. She and Stylolive worked together on \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/Pdwha8Fetvc?si=ZOtjK8SVrLPJ4PJY\">bilingual house and dance pop\u003c/a> before Mxka decided to go all in on Mexican regional music, with guitarist Zahid Ayala as her ace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Mxka’s new single, “Cómo Te Va?,” she pleads with an ex as lush strings swell under her yearning vocal runs. “It came obviously from a personal experience,” she says of the song, “where it was definitely like, ‘OK, maybe it was my fault that everything turned out the way it did. But if you are open to it, I’m here.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/snTlxetUUVo?si=A5G9t5KqMN3dRuGK\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mxka grew up immersed in Mexican culture and would frequently make trips back to her family’s hometown of Los Reyes La Paz. As for singing in Spanish, though, she faced a learning curve — not to mention the stigma of the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latino-no-sabo-kids-push-back-spanish-language-shaming-rcna105170\">no sabo kid\u003c/a>” label for children of immigrants who aren’t fluent. But Mxka took heart that one of Latin music’s greatest singers, Selena, also \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/anythingforselena/2021/02/10/spanglish-english\">struggled with the language\u003c/a> while proudly embracing her bicultural Tejana identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She just practiced, and look at her,” Mxka says. “So it’s like, if she can do it, I can do it, too. And so I hope to be the same [inspiration] for other kids that feel like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mxka records a music video with guitarist Zahid Ayala Ramirez at Empire in San Francisco on March 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mxka joins a growing wave of California artists helping to shape Mexican regional music, including San Bernadino-raised chart-toppers Fuerza Regida, whose corridos tumbados carry the high-octane energy of trap music, and San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963789/la-dona-los-altos-de-la-soledad\">La Doña\u003c/a>, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/PasQ1qT6MiQ?si=5vyz_t-vZ1qOnBqn\">Corrido Palestina\u003c/a>” captures the fire of protest movements. With her distinctively soft, soulful take on corridos, which she calls R&B tumbados, Mxka brings her own flavor to the growing scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially when you’re messing with traditional sounds, people are not always going to be super keen at first,” she says. “But I feel like in order to push the culture forward, we do have to try new things. I feel the California artists have definitely been doing that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mxka poses for a portrait in San Francisco on March 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mxka is now back in the Bay and signed to EMPIRE, the powerhouse San Francisco-based record label which now has a regional Mexican music division. She has a 12-song mixtape in the works, blending corridos, pop and Brazilian baile funk, which she expects to release in time for the summer season of beach trips and day parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of having to explain herself and her cultural influences, Mxka says she’s grateful to have the support of a team that gets her vision, and to immerse herself in her hometown’s bubbling creative scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a lot of exciting things happening in Oakland and San Francisco,” she says. “It’s starting to become this place where more things are happening in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was girls-to-the-front when \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mxka.mami/\">Mxka\u003c/a> took the stage last month at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986591/lovers-lane-mission-san-francisco-valentines-day-festival\">Lovers Lane\u003c/a> block party in San Francisco’s Mission district. At the annual Valentine’s Day celebration of Chicano culture, friends grinned and swayed arm-in-arm as Mxka’s honeyed voice soared over the rapid strum of her band’s acoustic guitars. Rosary necklace glinting in the sun and coquettish red dress billowing, she sang defiantly in Spanglish about a dude who underestimated her: “Las malas no caen tan fácil / come on, bro” (“Baddies don’t fall that easily / come on, bro”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raised in San Leandro, Mxka (pronounced Moka) is making waves with her distinctly Bay Area take on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034651/k-onda-april\">corridos tumbados\u003c/a>, the regional Mexican music style that hit the U.S. mainstream in recent years with the rise of Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano. While the genre’s largely male listenership tends to gravitate towards artists with hard, macho lyrics, Mxka’s romantic subject matter and R&B-inflected delivery is drawing an audience of women that haven’t seen themselves reflected in the music style they love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mexican-regional-music-women-becky-g-belinda-e4f45e10f12ee5e3706b735dae0e33a3\">very few women\u003c/a> that are in this space, let alone Black women,” Mxka says during a recent interview at EMPIRE’s studios in San Francisco as she’s getting ready for a video shoot for an acoustic version of her song “La Vuelta.” “I’ve been getting a lot of support after I was told that I wouldn’t.”\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/Oe6UoP9klno'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Oe6UoP9klno'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The child of a Mexican mother from Mexico City and a Black American father from Louisiana, Mxka identifies as Blaxican. She grew up immersed in the performing arts, trying out dance and theater before turning her efforts towards singing in Spanish. She eventually moved to LA and linked up with producer Stylolive, a frequent collaborator of fellow Bay Area corrido singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953430/oakland-delaciio-regional-mexican-music\">DELACiiO\u003c/a>. She and Stylolive worked together on \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/Pdwha8Fetvc?si=ZOtjK8SVrLPJ4PJY\">bilingual house and dance pop\u003c/a> before Mxka decided to go all in on Mexican regional music, with guitarist Zahid Ayala as her ace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Mxka’s new single, “Cómo Te Va?,” she pleads with an ex as lush strings swell under her yearning vocal runs. “It came obviously from a personal experience,” she says of the song, “where it was definitely like, ‘OK, maybe it was my fault that everything turned out the way it did. But if you are open to it, I’m here.’”\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/snTlxetUUVo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/snTlxetUUVo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Mxka grew up immersed in Mexican culture and would frequently make trips back to her family’s hometown of Los Reyes La Paz. As for singing in Spanish, though, she faced a learning curve — not to mention the stigma of the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latino-no-sabo-kids-push-back-spanish-language-shaming-rcna105170\">no sabo kid\u003c/a>” label for children of immigrants who aren’t fluent. But Mxka took heart that one of Latin music’s greatest singers, Selena, also \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/anythingforselena/2021/02/10/spanglish-english\">struggled with the language\u003c/a> while proudly embracing her bicultural Tejana identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She just practiced, and look at her,” Mxka says. “So it’s like, if she can do it, I can do it, too. And so I hope to be the same [inspiration] for other kids that feel like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mxka records a music video with guitarist Zahid Ayala Ramirez at Empire in San Francisco on March 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mxka joins a growing wave of California artists helping to shape Mexican regional music, including San Bernadino-raised chart-toppers Fuerza Regida, whose corridos tumbados carry the high-octane energy of trap music, and San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963789/la-dona-los-altos-de-la-soledad\">La Doña\u003c/a>, whose “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/PasQ1qT6MiQ?si=5vyz_t-vZ1qOnBqn\">Corrido Palestina\u003c/a>” captures the fire of protest movements. With her distinctively soft, soulful take on corridos, which she calls R&B tumbados, Mxka brings her own flavor to the growing scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially when you’re messing with traditional sounds, people are not always going to be super keen at first,” she says. “But I feel like in order to push the culture forward, we do have to try new things. I feel the California artists have definitely been doing that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/260309-MXKA-06-BL-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mxka poses for a portrait in San Francisco on March 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mxka is now back in the Bay and signed to EMPIRE, the powerhouse San Francisco-based record label which now has a regional Mexican music division. She has a 12-song mixtape in the works, blending corridos, pop and Brazilian baile funk, which she expects to release in time for the summer season of beach trips and day parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of having to explain herself and her cultural influences, Mxka says she’s grateful to have the support of a team that gets her vision, and to immerse herself in her hometown’s bubbling creative scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a lot of exciting things happening in Oakland and San Francisco,” she says. “It’s starting to become this place where more things are happening in the industry.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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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",
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"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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"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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"order": 9
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"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. ",
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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. ",
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"order": 18
},
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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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}
},
"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": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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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"
},
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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"
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"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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