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"bio": "Alan Chazaro is the author of \u003cem>This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album\u003c/em> (Black Lawrence Press, 2019), \u003cem>Piñata Theory\u003c/em> (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and \u003cem>Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge\u003c/em> (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and a former Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow at the University of San Francisco. He writes about sports, food, art, music, education, and culture while repping the Bay on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/alan_chazaro\">Twitter\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/alan_chazaro/?hl=en\">Instagram\u003c/a> at @alan_chazaro.",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>So it’s 1999, right, and I’m a teenager at a sweaty house party on High Street in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">East Oakland\u003c/a>. There in the living room of the small apartment, kids in Carolina blue velour sweatsuits and grey Gap hoodies are dancing to CDs playing on a home stereo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b8kTV4VtKA\">Couldn’t Be a Better Player\u003c/a>” comes on, the room \u003cem>erupts\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/128417476/lil-jon\">Lil Jon\u003c/a> track, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, has strings that marinate with a menacing bass line, creating a beat that says “I’m cool but don’t test me” – the same edgy-player mentality is reflected in the lyrics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the song rattles the living room, the kids in the center of the circle catch the beat, “hitting that shit,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932887/turf-dancing-oakland-street-dance\">fuckin’ with it\u003c/a>.” All the other partygoers, myself included, bounce with a frenetic cadence. Heads turn and fingers twist in the air, as people rep their neighborhoods with exaggerated mean mugs on their faces.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/hyphy\">hyphy\u003c/a> in its natural state, before it became the movement we know today. It might’ve been the first time I went dumb at a party.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It was definitely my first glimpse of what Lil Jon’s music can do to a function.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" class=\"wp-image-13932756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016. (Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his new memoir, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Only-Shout-So-You-Can-Hear-Me/Lil-Jon/9781668061473\">I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing), Lil Jon stresses that understanding his music doesn’t come from simply listening. In order to truly appreciate his art, he insists that his hyperactive rhythmic chanting needs to be physically experienced.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We didn’t rap,” writes the Grammy-award winning King of Crunk. Instead, Lil Jon says he and his collaborators the East Side Boyz brought people from all backgrounds into the the world of ATL nightlife. “You put on our music, you watch our videos, and you felt like you were right there in Atlanta, wilding the fuck out in the club.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Co-written by \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Paul-Cantor/271704775\">Paul Cantor\u003c/a>, the book is a detailed account of Lil Jon’s middle-class upbringing in Southwest Atlanta and his years pounding the pavement while laying the foundation for his meteoric musical career. It also delves into Lil Jon’s spiritual side and the ways he’s navigated trauma, specifically the death of his son \u003ca href=\"https://www.wabe.org/body-believed-to-be-lil-jons-son-d-j-young-is-found-in-pond-near-atlanta/\">Nathan Smith\u003c/a>, who tragically drowned in February of this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Born Jonathan Smith, the producer and entrepreneur grew up in the biggest house on his suburban cul-de-sac, where as a teen he threw raging parties. As he matured, he started hanging out in strip clubs. It was through the world of chicken wings and stripper poles, as well as the college students at the \u003ca href=\"https://discoveratlanta.com/stories/atlanta-university-center-the-epicenter-of-black-culture-and-academic-excellence/\">Atlanta University Center\u003c/a> and people attending \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jmE2J05OY\">Freaknik\u003c/a>, that Lil Jon found his target audience.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He bottled that influence in a sound that resonated well beyond Atlanta, and especially with teenagers in East Oakland. It even reached Oakland-born former Vice President Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And seriously,” writes Lil Jon, “who would have thought that when we recorded “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYH7_GzP4Tg\">Get Low\u003c/a>” — a song that talks about skeeting — I’d be \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWPCFA6c6A\">performing it two decades later at the DNC\u003c/a>?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1325\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg 1325w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-160x242.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-1018x1536.jpg 1018w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1325px) 100vw, 1325px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon‘s ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.’ (Simon and Schuster)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lil Jon’s resume is deep. He’s produced songs for the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, Ciara and T-Pain. He’s made multi-platinum selling music with the likes of Los Angeles pop group LMFAO and Miami mega-star Pitbull. In 1996, he worked on the Ghost Town DJ’s classic contribution to the culture, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRiwnmYjMg\">My Boo\u003c/a>.” Thirty years later, he produced \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/2Knrk6Q04i9itgxtTSguQN\">Something’s in the Water\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, the recent album by Vallejo rapper LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The book takes readers deep into Lil Jon’s musical composition, be it revealing the origins of the repetitive squeak in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZd2MEOvdQ4\">Some Cut\u003c/a>” by Lil Scrappy and Trillville or the story behind the beat for what’s still his best-known song, Usher’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85Kp8\">Yeah!\u003c/a>“\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But what stands out, especially to the now-grown-up kid from that East Oakland house party, is Lil Jon’s intersection with the Bay Area titans E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Too Short must have believed in me,” writes Lil Jon, explaining that he and the East Side Boyz had just released their first song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKy4LoslZPk\">Who You Wit\u003c/a>,” when they realized they’d signed a bad record deal. Enter Too Short. “He bought us out of that contract for $50,000,” Lil Jon recalls.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Short signed Lil Jon to his own label, Dangerous Music, a subsidiary of Jive Records. (The first track they recorded? “Couldn’t Be a Better Player.”) Short also brought Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz on their first tour, where they started working on their next hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpZvVyQN5o&list=RDczpZvVyQN5o&start_radio=1\">Bia Bia\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eventually, not wanting to hold Lil Jon and his crew back, Short offered to let them out of the contract. His only stipulation, writes Lil Jon, was repayment of the $50,000 Short paid for his first contract and “free beats for life.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>(Evidently, the deal is still on: Too Short dropped \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/5KkGgCCpS0Rz4mVlME9SKK\">Sir Too $hort, Vol. 2 (Drink & Smoke),\u003c/a>\u003c/em> with beats produced entirely by Lil Jon, this past July.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2113\" height=\"2113\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13925972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square.jpg 2113w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2113px) 100vw, 2113px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil’ Jon and E-40, pictured onstage together in 2006. From his home base in Atlanta, Lil Jon produced the hyphy era’s two biggest nationwide hits: E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” and Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” — just one of many close ties between Southern and Bay Area hip-hop. (John Shearer/WireImage for MTV.com)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After Short let him loose, Lil Jon launched his BME imprint under Warner Bros., which would soon pay dividends for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>. The two had already worked together on the songs “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MrehzJcLI&list=RDZ0MrehzJcLI&start_radio=1\">Rep Yo City\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f01LZ-KTd4&list=RD6f01LZ-KTd4&start_radio=1\">Anybody Can Get It\u003c/a>” when E-40 called Lil Jon, letting the producer know he was stepping away from Jive Records and interested in BME.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The decision was simple,” writes Lil Jon, “I was a fan of E-40.” The two began working on \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3VqKqWHOHYfZqttJ0WwQHl\">My Ghetto Report Card\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an album that would introduce hyphy to the mainstream, for better or for worse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I had already sold the culture of the South to the world,” says Lil Jon. “That became the blueprint for what I did with E-40. It was the same shit.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During one of the studio sessions, Lil Jon made a track with a bass line similar to Too Short’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>.” He intended to give the beat to 40, but Uncle Earl said it sounded too much like Short. So Lil Jon passed it along.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That song became “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBJtzEKetBM\">Blow The Whistle\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The biggest commercial hit of Too Short’s career, “Blow the Whistle” was accompanied by an instant-classic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">music video, filmed in Oakland\u003c/a>. Lil Jon agreed the track was good, but admits he didn’t foresee it becoming what it is today: a song readily played at pro sporting events all over the United States.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Blow the Whistle” got a second life 10 years after its release when it was interpolated in 2016’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6zD3L7H00&list=RD3W6zD3L7H00&start_radio=1\">For Free\u003c/a>” by DJ Khaled and Drake. It was revived again in 2020 when Saweetie sampled it for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qRc72BAjg\">Tap In\u003c/a>.” During the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl run, the song became \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eKY8MD7-ZHM\">their anthem\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6MrrVqUZE\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beyond its stories about the Bay Area, Lil Jon’s book is a turn of the millennium \u003cem>Forrest Gump\u003c/em>-esque tale of being just about everywhere and working with everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was an A&R for So So Def and Jermaine Dupri in the ’90s, he made the \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3BsR98sDCwtj85pILXfjDk\">Crunk Rock\u003c/a>\u003c/em> album in 2010, and he coined the defining phrase of 2014 with his vocal on DJ Snake’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUDVMiITOU\">Turn Down for What.\u003c/a>” In 2008 he founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/rapper-producer-lil-jon-starts-108532/\">a winery\u003c/a>, in 2024 he dropped a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235606461/rap-artist-lil-jons-latest-album-is-a-guided-meditation\">set of meditative recordings\u003c/a> and last year he became \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/lil-jon-54-wins-3rd-place-in-muscle-beach-fitness-competition-11802475\">a competitive body builder\u003c/a>. He was a character on \u003cem>Chappelle’s Show\u003c/em> and he sat alongside Donald Trump on \u003cem>Celebrity Apprentice\u003c/em>. In Las Vegas, he’s both DJed major EDM events and performed with Usher at Super Bowl LVIII.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And last year, during \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6MrrVqUZE\">an episode of \u003cem>Celebrity Family Feud\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Lil Jon stood next to his chosen kin: E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How does that happen?” Lil Jon writes in his book, bewilderedly reflecting on the their individual paths leading to a game show set.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was a kid from Southwest Atlanta who listened to Too Short in the 1980s and E-40 in the ’90s. He understood that they came from different backgrounds — Short a pimp rapper, E-40 a lyrical street hustler — but they combined forces and made timeless music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To this day we remain a trinity of close friends,” Lil Jon reflects. “You can’t write that. You cannot. You cannot dream or even imagine that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lil Jon’s memoir ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me’ is out Oct. 20, 2026. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So it’s 1999, right, and I’m a teenager at a sweaty house party on High Street in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">East Oakland\u003c/a>. There in the living room of the small apartment, kids in Carolina blue velour sweatsuits and grey Gap hoodies are dancing to CDs playing on a home stereo.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b8kTV4VtKA\">Couldn’t Be a Better Player\u003c/a>” comes on, the room \u003cem>erupts\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/128417476/lil-jon\">Lil Jon\u003c/a> track, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, has strings that marinate with a menacing bass line, creating a beat that says “I’m cool but don’t test me” – the same edgy-player mentality is reflected in the lyrics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As the song rattles the living room, the kids in the center of the circle catch the beat, “hitting that shit,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932887/turf-dancing-oakland-street-dance\">fuckin’ with it\u003c/a>.” All the other partygoers, myself included, bounce with a frenetic cadence. Heads turn and fingers twist in the air, as people rep their neighborhoods with exaggerated mean mugs on their faces.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As the song rattles the living room, the kids in the center of the circle catch the beat, “hitting that shit,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932887/turf-dancing-oakland-street-dance\">fuckin’ with it\u003c/a>.” All the other partygoers, myself included, bounce with a frenetic cadence. Heads turn and fingers twist in the air, as people rep their neighborhoods with exaggerated mean mugs on their faces.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/hyphy\">hyphy\u003c/a> in its natural state, before it became the movement we know today. It might’ve been the first time I went dumb at a party.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It was definitely my first glimpse of what Lil Jon’s music can do to a function.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/hyphy\">hyphy\u003c/a> in its natural state, before it became the movement we know today. It might’ve been the first time I went dumb at a party.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It was definitely my first glimpse of what Lil Jon’s music can do to a function.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" class=\"wp-image-13932756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" class=\"wp-image-13932756\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In his new memoir, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Only-Shout-So-You-Can-Hear-Me/Lil-Jon/9781668061473\">I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing), Lil Jon stresses that understanding his music doesn’t come from simply listening. In order to truly appreciate his art, he insists that his hyperactive rhythmic chanting needs to be physically experienced.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In his new memoir, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Only-Shout-So-You-Can-Hear-Me/Lil-Jon/9781668061473\">I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing), Lil Jon stresses that understanding his music doesn’t come from simply listening. In order to truly appreciate his art, he insists that his hyperactive rhythmic chanting needs to be physically experienced.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We didn’t rap,” writes the Grammy-award winning King of Crunk. Instead, Lil Jon says he and his collaborators the East Side Boyz brought people from all backgrounds into the the world of ATL nightlife. “You put on our music, you watch our videos, and you felt like you were right there in Atlanta, wilding the fuck out in the club.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We didn’t rap,” writes the Grammy-award winning King of Crunk. Instead, Lil Jon says he and his collaborators the East Side Boyz brought people from all backgrounds into the the world of ATL nightlife. “You put on our music, you watch our videos, and you felt like you were right there in Atlanta, wilding the fuck out in the club.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Co-written by \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Paul-Cantor/271704775\">Paul Cantor\u003c/a>, the book is a detailed account of Lil Jon’s middle-class upbringing in Southwest Atlanta and his years pounding the pavement while laying the foundation for his meteoric musical career. It also delves into Lil Jon’s spiritual side and the ways he’s navigated trauma, specifically the death of his son \u003ca href=\"https://www.wabe.org/body-believed-to-be-lil-jons-son-d-j-young-is-found-in-pond-near-atlanta/\">Nathan Smith\u003c/a>, who tragically drowned in February of this year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Co-written by \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Paul-Cantor/271704775\">Paul Cantor\u003c/a>, the book is a detailed account of Lil Jon’s middle-class upbringing in Southwest Atlanta and his years pounding the pavement while laying the foundation for his meteoric musical career. It also delves into Lil Jon’s spiritual side and the ways he’s navigated trauma, specifically the death of his son \u003ca href=\"https://www.wabe.org/body-believed-to-be-lil-jons-son-d-j-young-is-found-in-pond-near-atlanta/\">Nathan Smith\u003c/a>, who tragically drowned in February of this year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Born Jonathan Smith, the producer and entrepreneur grew up in the biggest house on his suburban cul-de-sac, where as a teen he threw raging parties. As he matured, he started hanging out in strip clubs. It was through the world of chicken wings and stripper poles, as well as the college students at the \u003ca href=\"https://discoveratlanta.com/stories/atlanta-university-center-the-epicenter-of-black-culture-and-academic-excellence/\">Atlanta University Center\u003c/a> and people attending \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jmE2J05OY\">Freaknik\u003c/a>, that Lil Jon found his target audience.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Born Jonathan Smith, the producer and entrepreneur grew up in the biggest house on his suburban cul-de-sac, where as a teen he threw raging parties. As he matured, he started hanging out in strip clubs. It was through the world of chicken wings and stripper poles, as well as the college students at the \u003ca href=\"https://discoveratlanta.com/stories/atlanta-university-center-the-epicenter-of-black-culture-and-academic-excellence/\">Atlanta University Center\u003c/a> and people attending \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jmE2J05OY\">Freaknik\u003c/a>, that Lil Jon found his target audience.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He bottled that influence in a sound that resonated well beyond Atlanta, and especially with teenagers in East Oakland. It even reached Oakland-born former Vice President Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And seriously,” writes Lil Jon, “who would have thought that when we recorded “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYH7_GzP4Tg\">Get Low\u003c/a>” — a song that talks about skeeting — I’d be \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWPCFA6c6A\">performing it two decades later at the DNC\u003c/a>?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“And seriously,” writes Lil Jon, “who would have thought that when we recorded “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYH7_GzP4Tg\">Get Low\u003c/a>” — a song that talks about skeeting — I’d be \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWPCFA6c6A\">performing it two decades later at the DNC\u003c/a>?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg 1325w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-160x242.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-1018x1536.jpg 1018w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon‘s ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.’\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Simon and Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lil Jon’s resume is deep. He’s produced songs for the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, Ciara and T-Pain. He’s made multi-platinum selling music with the likes of Los Angeles pop group LMFAO and Miami mega-star Pitbull. In 1996, he worked on the Ghost Town DJ’s classic contribution to the culture, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRiwnmYjMg\">My Boo\u003c/a>.” Thirty years later, he produced \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/2Knrk6Q04i9itgxtTSguQN\">Something’s in the Water\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, the recent album by Vallejo rapper LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Lil Jon’s resume is deep. He’s produced songs for the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, Ciara and T-Pain. He’s made multi-platinum selling music with the likes of Los Angeles pop group LMFAO and Miami mega-star Pitbull. In 1996, he worked on the Ghost Town DJ’s classic contribution to the culture, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRiwnmYjMg\">My Boo\u003c/a>.” Thirty years later, he produced \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/2Knrk6Q04i9itgxtTSguQN\">Something’s in the Water\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, the recent album by Vallejo rapper LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The book takes readers deep into Lil Jon’s musical composition, be it revealing the origins of the repetitive squeak in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZd2MEOvdQ4\">Some Cut\u003c/a>” by Lil Scrappy and Trillville or the story behind the beat for what’s still his best-known song, Usher’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85Kp8\">Yeah!\u003c/a>“\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The book takes readers deep into Lil Jon’s musical composition, be it revealing the origins of the repetitive squeak in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZd2MEOvdQ4\">Some Cut\u003c/a>” by Lil Scrappy and Trillville or the story behind the beat for what’s still his best-known song, Usher’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85Kp8\">Yeah!\u003c/a>“\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But what stands out, especially to the now-grown-up kid from that East Oakland house party, is Lil Jon’s intersection with the Bay Area titans E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Too Short must have believed in me,” writes Lil Jon, explaining that he and the East Side Boyz had just released their first song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKy4LoslZPk\">Who You Wit\u003c/a>,” when they realized they’d signed a bad record deal. Enter Too Short. “He bought us out of that contract for $50,000,” Lil Jon recalls.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Too Short must have believed in me,” writes Lil Jon, explaining that he and the East Side Boyz had just released their first song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKy4LoslZPk\">Who You Wit\u003c/a>,” when they realized they’d signed a bad record deal. Enter Too Short. “He bought us out of that contract for $50,000,” Lil Jon recalls.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Short signed Lil Jon to his own label, Dangerous Music, a subsidiary of Jive Records. (The first track they recorded? “Couldn’t Be a Better Player.”) Short also brought Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz on their first tour, where they started working on their next hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpZvVyQN5o&list=RDczpZvVyQN5o&start_radio=1\">Bia Bia\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Short signed Lil Jon to his own label, Dangerous Music, a subsidiary of Jive Records. (The first track they recorded? “Couldn’t Be a Better Player.”) Short also brought Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz on their first tour, where they started working on their next hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpZvVyQN5o&list=RDczpZvVyQN5o&start_radio=1\">Bia Bia\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Eventually, not wanting to hold Lil Jon and his crew back, Short offered to let them out of the contract. His only stipulation, writes Lil Jon, was repayment of the $50,000 Short paid for his first contract and “free beats for life.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>(Evidently, the deal is still on: Too Short dropped \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/5KkGgCCpS0Rz4mVlME9SKK\">Sir Too $hort, Vol. 2 (Drink & Smoke),\u003c/a>\u003c/em> with beats produced entirely by Lil Jon, this past July.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Eventually, not wanting to hold Lil Jon and his crew back, Short offered to let them out of the contract. His only stipulation, writes Lil Jon, was repayment of the $50,000 Short paid for his first contract and “free beats for life.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>(Evidently, the deal is still on: Too Short dropped \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/5KkGgCCpS0Rz4mVlME9SKK\">Sir Too $hort, Vol. 2 (Drink & Smoke),\u003c/a>\u003c/em> with beats produced entirely by Lil Jon, this past July.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After Short let him loose, Lil Jon launched his BME imprint under Warner Bros., which would soon pay dividends for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>. The two had already worked together on the songs “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MrehzJcLI&list=RDZ0MrehzJcLI&start_radio=1\">Rep Yo City\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f01LZ-KTd4&list=RD6f01LZ-KTd4&start_radio=1\">Anybody Can Get It\u003c/a>” when E-40 called Lil Jon, letting the producer know he was stepping away from Jive Records and interested in BME.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After Short let him loose, Lil Jon launched his BME imprint under Warner Bros., which would soon pay dividends for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>. The two had already worked together on the songs “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MrehzJcLI&list=RDZ0MrehzJcLI&start_radio=1\">Rep Yo City\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f01LZ-KTd4&list=RD6f01LZ-KTd4&start_radio=1\">Anybody Can Get It\u003c/a>” when E-40 called Lil Jon, letting the producer know he was stepping away from Jive Records and interested in BME.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The decision was simple,” writes Lil Jon, “I was a fan of E-40.” The two began working on \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3VqKqWHOHYfZqttJ0WwQHl\">My Ghetto Report Card\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an album that would introduce hyphy to the mainstream, for better or for worse.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The decision was simple,” writes Lil Jon, “I was a fan of E-40.” The two began working on \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3VqKqWHOHYfZqttJ0WwQHl\">My Ghetto Report Card\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an album that would introduce hyphy to the mainstream, for better or for worse.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I had already sold the culture of the South to the world,” says Lil Jon. “That became the blueprint for what I did with E-40. It was the same shit.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During one of the studio sessions, Lil Jon made a track with a bass line similar to Too Short’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>.” He intended to give the beat to 40, but Uncle Earl said it sounded too much like Short. So Lil Jon passed it along.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During one of the studio sessions, Lil Jon made a track with a bass line similar to Too Short’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>.” He intended to give the beat to 40, but Uncle Earl said it sounded too much like Short. So Lil Jon passed it along.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That song became “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBJtzEKetBM\">Blow The Whistle\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The biggest commercial hit of Too Short’s career, “Blow the Whistle” was accompanied by an instant-classic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">music video, filmed in Oakland\u003c/a>. Lil Jon agreed the track was good, but admits he didn’t foresee it becoming what it is today: a song readily played at pro sporting events all over the United States.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The biggest commercial hit of Too Short’s career, “Blow the Whistle” was accompanied by an instant-classic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">music video, filmed in Oakland\u003c/a>. Lil Jon agreed the track was good, but admits he didn’t foresee it becoming what it is today: a song readily played at pro sporting events all over the United States.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Blow the Whistle” got a second life 10 years after its release when it was interpolated in 2016’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6zD3L7H00&list=RD3W6zD3L7H00&start_radio=1\">For Free\u003c/a>” by DJ Khaled and Drake. It was revived again in 2020 when Saweetie sampled it for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qRc72BAjg\">Tap In\u003c/a>.” During the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl run, the song became \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eKY8MD7-ZHM\">their anthem\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Beyond its stories about the Bay Area, Lil Jon’s book is a turn of the millennium \u003cem>Forrest Gump\u003c/em>-esque tale of being just about everywhere and working with everyone.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was an A&R for So So Def and Jermaine Dupri in the ’90s, he made the \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3BsR98sDCwtj85pILXfjDk\">Crunk Rock\u003c/a>\u003c/em> album in 2010, and he coined the defining phrase of 2014 with his vocal on DJ Snake’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUDVMiITOU\">Turn Down for What.\u003c/a>” In 2008 he founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/rapper-producer-lil-jon-starts-108532/\">a winery\u003c/a>, in 2024 he dropped a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235606461/rap-artist-lil-jons-latest-album-is-a-guided-meditation\">set of meditative recordings\u003c/a> and last year he became \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/lil-jon-54-wins-3rd-place-in-muscle-beach-fitness-competition-11802475\">a competitive body builder\u003c/a>. He was a character on \u003cem>Chappelle’s Show\u003c/em> and he sat alongside Donald Trump on \u003cem>Celebrity Apprentice\u003c/em>. In Las Vegas, he’s both DJed major EDM events and performed with Usher at Super Bowl LVIII.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And last year, during \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6MrrVqUZE\">an episode of \u003cem>Celebrity Family Feud\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Lil Jon stood next to his chosen kin: E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“How does that happen?” Lil Jon writes in his book, bewilderedly reflecting on the their individual paths leading to a game show set.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was a kid from Southwest Atlanta who listened to Too Short in the 1980s and E-40 in the ’90s. He understood that they came from different backgrounds — Short a pimp rapper, E-40 a lyrical street hustler — but they combined forces and made timeless music.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He was a kid from Southwest Atlanta who listened to Too Short in the 1980s and E-40 in the ’90s. He understood that they came from different backgrounds — Short a pimp rapper, E-40 a lyrical street hustler — but they combined forces and made timeless music.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To this day we remain a trinity of close friends,” Lil Jon reflects. “You can’t write that. You cannot. You cannot dream or even imagine that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lil Jon’s memoir ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me’ is out Oct. 20, 2026. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Atlanta rapper, producer and collaborator with Too Short and E-40 has a new memoir, ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>So it’s 1999, right, and I’m a teenager at a sweaty house party on High Street in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">East Oakland\u003c/a>. There in the living room of the small apartment, kids in Carolina blue velour sweatsuits and grey Gap hoodies are dancing to CDs playing on a home stereo.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b8kTV4VtKA\">Couldn’t Be a Better Player\u003c/a>” comes on, the room \u003cem>erupts\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/128417476/lil-jon\">Lil Jon\u003c/a> track, featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, has strings that marinate with a menacing bass line, creating a beat that says “I’m cool but don’t test me” – the same edgy-player mentality is reflected in the lyrics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As the song rattles the living room, the kids in the center of the circle catch the beat, “hitting that shit,” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932887/turf-dancing-oakland-street-dance\">fuckin’ with it\u003c/a>.” All the other partygoers, myself included, bounce with a frenetic cadence. Heads turn and fingers twist in the air, as people rep their neighborhoods with exaggerated mean mugs on their faces.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/hyphy\">hyphy\u003c/a> in its natural state, before it became the movement we know today. It might’ve been the first time I went dumb at a party.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>It was definitely my first glimpse of what Lil Jon’s music can do to a function.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Black man wearing sunglasses, a grey hoodie and blue jeans sits on a couch next to a black wall.\" class=\"wp-image-13932756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/GettyImages-509006782-scaled-e1691444783893-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon backstage before a DJ set at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco, 2016. (Kelly Sullivan/ Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his new memoir, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Only-Shout-So-You-Can-Hear-Me/Lil-Jon/9781668061473\">I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me\u003c/a>\u003c/em> (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing), Lil Jon stresses that understanding his music doesn’t come from simply listening. In order to truly appreciate his art, he insists that his hyperactive rhythmic chanting needs to be physically experienced.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We didn’t rap,” writes the Grammy-award winning King of Crunk. Instead, Lil Jon says he and his collaborators the East Side Boyz brought people from all backgrounds into the the world of ATL nightlife. “You put on our music, you watch our videos, and you felt like you were right there in Atlanta, wilding the fuck out in the club.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Co-written by \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Paul-Cantor/271704775\">Paul Cantor\u003c/a>, the book is a detailed account of Lil Jon’s middle-class upbringing in Southwest Atlanta and his years pounding the pavement while laying the foundation for his meteoric musical career. It also delves into Lil Jon’s spiritual side and the ways he’s navigated trauma, specifically the death of his son \u003ca href=\"https://www.wabe.org/body-believed-to-be-lil-jons-son-d-j-young-is-found-in-pond-near-atlanta/\">Nathan Smith\u003c/a>, who tragically drowned in February of this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Born Jonathan Smith, the producer and entrepreneur grew up in the biggest house on his suburban cul-de-sac, where as a teen he threw raging parties. As he matured, he started hanging out in strip clubs. It was through the world of chicken wings and stripper poles, as well as the college students at the \u003ca href=\"https://discoveratlanta.com/stories/atlanta-university-center-the-epicenter-of-black-culture-and-academic-excellence/\">Atlanta University Center\u003c/a> and people attending \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jmE2J05OY\">Freaknik\u003c/a>, that Lil Jon found his target audience.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He bottled that influence in a sound that resonated well beyond Atlanta, and especially with teenagers in East Oakland. It even reached Oakland-born former Vice President Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And seriously,” writes Lil Jon, “who would have thought that when we recorded “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYH7_GzP4Tg\">Get Low\u003c/a>” — a song that talks about skeeting — I’d be \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWPCFA6c6A\">performing it two decades later at the DNC\u003c/a>?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1325\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13994650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75.jpg 1325w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-160x242.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/i-only-shout-so-you-can-hear-me-9781668061473_hr-8e614e75-1018x1536.jpg 1018w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1325px) 100vw, 1325px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil Jon‘s ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me.’ (Simon and Schuster)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Lil Jon’s resume is deep. He’s produced songs for the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, Ciara and T-Pain. He’s made multi-platinum selling music with the likes of Los Angeles pop group LMFAO and Miami mega-star Pitbull. In 1996, he worked on the Ghost Town DJ’s classic contribution to the culture, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRiwnmYjMg\">My Boo\u003c/a>.” Thirty years later, he produced \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/2Knrk6Q04i9itgxtTSguQN\">Something’s in the Water\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, the recent album by Vallejo rapper LaRussell.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The book takes readers deep into Lil Jon’s musical composition, be it revealing the origins of the repetitive squeak in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZd2MEOvdQ4\">Some Cut\u003c/a>” by Lil Scrappy and Trillville or the story behind the beat for what’s still his best-known song, Usher’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85Kp8\">Yeah!\u003c/a>“\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But what stands out, especially to the now-grown-up kid from that East Oakland house party, is Lil Jon’s intersection with the Bay Area titans E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Too Short must have believed in me,” writes Lil Jon, explaining that he and the East Side Boyz had just released their first song, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKy4LoslZPk\">Who You Wit\u003c/a>,” when they realized they’d signed a bad record deal. Enter Too Short. “He bought us out of that contract for $50,000,” Lil Jon recalls.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Short signed Lil Jon to his own label, Dangerous Music, a subsidiary of Jive Records. (The first track they recorded? “Couldn’t Be a Better Player.”) Short also brought Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz on their first tour, where they started working on their next hit, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpZvVyQN5o&list=RDczpZvVyQN5o&start_radio=1\">Bia Bia\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Eventually, not wanting to hold Lil Jon and his crew back, Short offered to let them out of the contract. His only stipulation, writes Lil Jon, was repayment of the $50,000 Short paid for his first contract and “free beats for life.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>(Evidently, the deal is still on: Too Short dropped \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/5KkGgCCpS0Rz4mVlME9SKK\">Sir Too $hort, Vol. 2 (Drink & Smoke),\u003c/a>\u003c/em> with beats produced entirely by Lil Jon, this past July.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2113\" height=\"2113\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13925972\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square.jpg 2113w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-108987732-square-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2113px) 100vw, 2113px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lil’ Jon and E-40, pictured onstage together in 2006. From his home base in Atlanta, Lil Jon produced the hyphy era’s two biggest nationwide hits: E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” and Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” — just one of many close ties between Southern and Bay Area hip-hop. (John Shearer/WireImage for MTV.com)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After Short let him loose, Lil Jon launched his BME imprint under Warner Bros., which would soon pay dividends for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>. The two had already worked together on the songs “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MrehzJcLI&list=RDZ0MrehzJcLI&start_radio=1\">Rep Yo City\u003c/a>” and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f01LZ-KTd4&list=RD6f01LZ-KTd4&start_radio=1\">Anybody Can Get It\u003c/a>” when E-40 called Lil Jon, letting the producer know he was stepping away from Jive Records and interested in BME.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The decision was simple,” writes Lil Jon, “I was a fan of E-40.” The two began working on \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3VqKqWHOHYfZqttJ0WwQHl\">My Ghetto Report Card\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, an album that would introduce hyphy to the mainstream, for better or for worse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I had already sold the culture of the South to the world,” says Lil Jon. “That became the blueprint for what I did with E-40. It was the same shit.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During one of the studio sessions, Lil Jon made a track with a bass line similar to Too Short’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwVJTvOO4yY\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>.” He intended to give the beat to 40, but Uncle Earl said it sounded too much like Short. So Lil Jon passed it along.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That song became “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBJtzEKetBM\">Blow The Whistle\u003c/a>.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The biggest commercial hit of Too Short’s career, “Blow the Whistle” was accompanied by an instant-classic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">music video, filmed in Oakland\u003c/a>. Lil Jon agreed the track was good, but admits he didn’t foresee it becoming what it is today: a song readily played at pro sporting events all over the United States.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Blow the Whistle” got a second life 10 years after its release when it was interpolated in 2016’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6zD3L7H00&list=RD3W6zD3L7H00&start_radio=1\">For Free\u003c/a>” by DJ Khaled and Drake. It was revived again in 2020 when Saweetie sampled it for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qRc72BAjg\">Tap In\u003c/a>.” During the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl run, the song became \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eKY8MD7-ZHM\">their anthem\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\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/rz6MrrVqUZE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/rz6MrrVqUZE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beyond its stories about the Bay Area, Lil Jon’s book is a turn of the millennium \u003cem>Forrest Gump\u003c/em>-esque tale of being just about everywhere and working with everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was an A&R for So So Def and Jermaine Dupri in the ’90s, he made the \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/3BsR98sDCwtj85pILXfjDk\">Crunk Rock\u003c/a>\u003c/em> album in 2010, and he coined the defining phrase of 2014 with his vocal on DJ Snake’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUDVMiITOU\">Turn Down for What.\u003c/a>” In 2008 he founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/rapper-producer-lil-jon-starts-108532/\">a winery\u003c/a>, in 2024 he dropped a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235606461/rap-artist-lil-jons-latest-album-is-a-guided-meditation\">set of meditative recordings\u003c/a> and last year he became \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/lil-jon-54-wins-3rd-place-in-muscle-beach-fitness-competition-11802475\">a competitive body builder\u003c/a>. He was a character on \u003cem>Chappelle’s Show\u003c/em> and he sat alongside Donald Trump on \u003cem>Celebrity Apprentice\u003c/em>. In Las Vegas, he’s both DJed major EDM events and performed with Usher at Super Bowl LVIII.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And last year, during \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz6MrrVqUZE\">an episode of \u003cem>Celebrity Family Feud\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Lil Jon stood next to his chosen kin: E-40 and Too Short.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“How does that happen?” Lil Jon writes in his book, bewilderedly reflecting on the their individual paths leading to a game show set.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was a kid from Southwest Atlanta who listened to Too Short in the 1980s and E-40 in the ’90s. He understood that they came from different backgrounds — Short a pimp rapper, E-40 a lyrical street hustler — but they combined forces and made timeless music.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To this day we remain a trinity of close friends,” Lil Jon reflects. “You can’t write that. You cannot. You cannot dream or even imagine that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lil Jon’s memoir ‘I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me’ is out Oct. 20, 2026. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "too-short-at-60-senior-citizen-rappers-new-album-lil-jon",
"title": "Too Short, Going Strong at 60, Makes the Case for ‘Senior Citizen Rappers’",
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"headTitle": "Too Short, Going Strong at 60, Makes the Case for ‘Senior Citizen Rappers’ | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>At 60, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> is helping usher hip-hop into what he calls its senior citizen era. Just don’t expect him to rap like one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> hip-hop pioneer is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling homemade tapes\u003c/a> on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too Short is breaking the rule and challenging the culture’s elder statesmen to keep going with him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His latest proof is “Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,” his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/dnc-roll-call-lil-jon-dj-cassidy-35c00f31ebddf664cbfaa4b4b9eb370d\">Lil Jon\u003c/a>. It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">Blow the Whistle\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1989\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992201\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-768x764.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-1536x1528.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">‘Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,’ Too Short’s 23rd album, is produced by longtime Atlanta collaborator Lil Jon. (EMPIRE)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Too Short, whose catalog also includes classics like “The Ghetto” and “Life Is… Too $hort,” and who last year produced the Hollywood feature film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, says he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/nfl-honors-e40-too-short-bf1003db47c2c7bbda175a2c4b926106\">he and E-40 performed at the NFL Honors\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview this week, Too Short reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop’s age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of “Blow the Whistle” and why he has no plans to stop until “the wheels fall off.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You recently turned 60, but you’re still releasing albums, touring and influencing the culture. When you first started selling homemade tapes on the streets of Oakland, did you ever imagine you’d still be doing this more than four decades later?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, “Let people hear this music. We’re going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.” When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always “till the wheels fall off.” It was never, “Let’s do this for 30 or 40 years.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I’ll stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won’t allow me to stop recording. I’ve never taken a long break. I’ve continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it’s my job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why do you think you’ve remained relevant when so many careers have come and gone?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I truly love making music. It’s never felt like work. I could have stopped after “Blow the Whistle” and been like, “Story told.” But somebody’s got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this … is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Twenty years after its release, “Blow the Whistle” is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don’t think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he’s made a lot of songs we’ve loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that’s why I’m excited for people to hear what we’re still doing 30 years after we first worked together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg\" alt=\"Two Black men, one in white with dreadlocks and one in brown and bald, embrace and smile for the camera\" class=\"wp-image-13987147\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Too Short (right) with ‘Blow the Whistle’ producer Lil Jon at Rick Ross’ birthday party at Bongo’s on Feb. 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/lil-jon-music-artist-pond-georgia-9293200dd9936bffe5359c85314fa5dd\">who died in February.\u003c/a> What did that collaboration mean to you?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I’d be more than proud to be part of his son’s legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, “Slade’s legacy,” and I’m just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You and E-40 celebrated Bay Area hip-hop together during your 2020 Verzuz appearance. Fans still love seeing you two together. Would you ever team up again, whether for another Verzuz, a tour or something else?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We did one in 2020, but it wasn’t a battle. We had a good time. We did a lot of laughing, a lot of togetherness. I didn’t want to battle 40 then, and I don’t want to battle him now. That’s my best friend in hip-hop. I’d sign up for me and 40 against anybody. That’d be fun. They haven’t had two groups. … I put that out there: Who wants to battle Too Short and E-40 in Verzuz?\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At 60, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> is helping usher hip-hop into what he calls its senior citizen era. Just don’t expect him to rap like one.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> hip-hop pioneer is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling homemade tapes\u003c/a> on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too Short is breaking the rule and challenging the culture’s elder statesmen to keep going with him.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> hip-hop pioneer is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling homemade tapes\u003c/a> on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too Short is breaking the rule and challenging the culture’s elder statesmen to keep going with him.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His latest proof is “Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,” his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/dnc-roll-call-lil-jon-dj-cassidy-35c00f31ebddf664cbfaa4b4b9eb370d\">Lil Jon\u003c/a>. It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">Blow the Whistle\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His latest proof is “Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,” his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/dnc-roll-call-lil-jon-dj-cassidy-35c00f31ebddf664cbfaa4b4b9eb370d\">Lil Jon\u003c/a>. It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">Blow the Whistle\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992201\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-768x764.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-1536x1528.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">‘Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,’ Too Short’s 23rd album, is produced by longtime Atlanta collaborator Lil Jon.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992201\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">‘Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,’ Too Short’s 23rd album, is produced by longtime Atlanta collaborator Lil Jon.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Too Short, whose catalog also includes classics like “The Ghetto” and “Life Is… Too $hort,” and who last year produced the Hollywood feature film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, says he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/nfl-honors-e40-too-short-bf1003db47c2c7bbda175a2c4b926106\">he and E-40 performed at the NFL Honors\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Too Short, whose catalog also includes classics like “The Ghetto” and “Life Is… Too $hort,” and who last year produced the Hollywood feature film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, says he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/nfl-honors-e40-too-short-bf1003db47c2c7bbda175a2c4b926106\">he and E-40 performed at the NFL Honors\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an interview this week, Too Short reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop’s age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of “Blow the Whistle” and why he has no plans to stop until “the wheels fall off.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In an interview this week, Too Short reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop’s age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of “Blow the Whistle” and why he has no plans to stop until “the wheels fall off.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"text": "You recently turned 60, but you’re still releasing albums, touring and influencing the culture. When you first started selling homemade tapes on the streets of Oakland, did you ever imagine you’d still be doing this more than four decades later?"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You recently turned 60, but you’re still releasing albums, touring and influencing the culture. When you first started selling homemade tapes on the streets of Oakland, did you ever imagine you’d still be doing this more than four decades later?\u003c/h4>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, “Let people hear this music. We’re going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.” When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always “till the wheels fall off.” It was never, “Let’s do this for 30 or 40 years.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, “Let people hear this music. We’re going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.” When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always “till the wheels fall off.” It was never, “Let’s do this for 30 or 40 years.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I’ve always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I’ll stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won’t allow me to stop recording. I’ve never taken a long break. I’ve continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it’s my job.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I’ve always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I’ll stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won’t allow me to stop recording. I’ve never taken a long break. I’ve continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it’s my job.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Why do you think you’ve remained relevant when so many careers have come and gone?"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why do you think you’ve remained relevant when so many careers have come and gone?\u003c/h4>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I truly love making music. It’s never felt like work. I could have stopped after “Blow the Whistle” and been like, “Story told.” But somebody’s got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I truly love making music. It’s never felt like work. I could have stopped after “Blow the Whistle” and been like, “Story told.” But somebody’s got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this … is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this … is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Twenty years after its release, “Blow the Whistle” is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Twenty years after its release, “Blow the Whistle” is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?\u003c/h4>\n",
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"\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Twenty years after its release, “Blow the Whistle” is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?\u003c/h4>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I don’t know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don’t think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he’s made a lot of songs we’ve loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that’s why I’m excited for people to hear what we’re still doing 30 years after we first worked together.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I don’t know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don’t think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he’s made a lot of songs we’ve loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that’s why I’m excited for people to hear what we’re still doing 30 years after we first worked together.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-1536x1021.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg\" alt=\"Two Black men, one in white with dreadlocks and one in brown and bald, embrace and smile for the camera\" class=\"wp-image-13987147\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Too Short (right) with ‘Blow the Whistle’ producer Lil Jon at Rick Ross’ birthday party at Bongo’s on Feb. 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg\" alt=\"Two Black men, one in white with dreadlocks and one in brown and bald, embrace and smile for the camera\" class=\"wp-image-13987147\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Too Short (right) with ‘Blow the Whistle’ producer Lil Jon at Rick Ross’ birthday party at Bongo’s on Feb. 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"text": "This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, who died in February. What did that collaboration mean to you?"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/lil-jon-music-artist-pond-georgia-9293200dd9936bffe5359c85314fa5dd\">who died in February.\u003c/a> What did that collaboration mean to you?\u003c/h4>\n",
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"\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/lil-jon-music-artist-pond-georgia-9293200dd9936bffe5359c85314fa5dd\">who died in February.\u003c/a> What did that collaboration mean to you?\u003c/h4>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I’d be more than proud to be part of his son’s legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, “Slade’s legacy,” and I’m just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I’d be more than proud to be part of his son’s legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, “Slade’s legacy,” and I’m just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "You and E-40 celebrated Bay Area hip-hop together during your 2020 Verzuz appearance. Fans still love seeing you two together. Would you ever team up again, whether for another Verzuz, a tour or something else?"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You and E-40 celebrated Bay Area hip-hop together during your 2020 Verzuz appearance. Fans still love seeing you two together. Would you ever team up again, whether for another Verzuz, a tour or something else?\u003c/h4>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>We did one in 2020, but it wasn’t a battle. We had a good time. We did a lot of laughing, a lot of togetherness. I didn’t want to battle 40 then, and I don’t want to battle him now. That’s my best friend in hip-hop. I’d sign up for me and 40 against anybody. That’d be fun. They haven’t had two groups. … I put that out there: Who wants to battle Too Short and E-40 in Verzuz?\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "‘Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40?’ asks Short, whose 23rd album drops Friday.",
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"title": "Too Short, Going Strong at 60, Makes the Case for ‘Senior Citizen Rappers’ | KQED",
"description": "‘Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40?’ asks Short, whose 23rd album drops Friday.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At 60, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> is helping usher hip-hop into what he calls its senior citizen era. Just don’t expect him to rap like one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> hip-hop pioneer is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">selling homemade tapes\u003c/a> on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too Short is breaking the rule and challenging the culture’s elder statesmen to keep going with him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His latest proof is “Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,” his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/dnc-roll-call-lil-jon-dj-cassidy-35c00f31ebddf664cbfaa4b4b9eb370d\">Lil Jon\u003c/a>. It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987115/too-short-blow-the-whistle-20-year-anniversary\">Blow the Whistle\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1989\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13992201\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-768x764.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Short.VOl2_-1536x1528.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">‘Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,’ Too Short’s 23rd album, is produced by longtime Atlanta collaborator Lil Jon. (EMPIRE)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Too Short, whose catalog also includes classics like “The Ghetto” and “Life Is… Too $hort,” and who last year produced the Hollywood feature film \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, says he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/nfl-honors-e40-too-short-bf1003db47c2c7bbda175a2c4b926106\">he and E-40 performed at the NFL Honors\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview this week, Too Short reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop’s age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of “Blow the Whistle” and why he has no plans to stop until “the wheels fall off.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You recently turned 60, but you’re still releasing albums, touring and influencing the culture. When you first started selling homemade tapes on the streets of Oakland, did you ever imagine you’d still be doing this more than four decades later?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, “Let people hear this music. We’re going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.” When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always “till the wheels fall off.” It was never, “Let’s do this for 30 or 40 years.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I’ll stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won’t allow me to stop recording. I’ve never taken a long break. I’ve continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it’s my job.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why do you think you’ve remained relevant when so many careers have come and gone?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I truly love making music. It’s never felt like work. I could have stopped after “Blow the Whistle” and been like, “Story told.” But somebody’s got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a>, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this … is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Twenty years after its release, “Blow the Whistle” is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don’t think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he’s made a lot of songs we’ve loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that’s why I’m excited for people to hear what we’re still doing 30 years after we first worked together.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg\" alt=\"Two Black men, one in white with dreadlocks and one in brown and bald, embrace and smile for the camera\" class=\"wp-image-13987147\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-2155222078-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Too Short (right) with ‘Blow the Whistle’ producer Lil Jon at Rick Ross’ birthday party at Bongo’s on Feb. 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/lil-jon-music-artist-pond-georgia-9293200dd9936bffe5359c85314fa5dd\">who died in February.\u003c/a> What did that collaboration mean to you?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I’d be more than proud to be part of his son’s legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, “Slade’s legacy,” and I’m just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You and E-40 celebrated Bay Area hip-hop together during your 2020 Verzuz appearance. Fans still love seeing you two together. Would you ever team up again, whether for another Verzuz, a tour or something else?\u003c/h4>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We did one in 2020, but it wasn’t a battle. We had a good time. We did a lot of laughing, a lot of togetherness. I didn’t want to battle 40 then, and I don’t want to battle him now. That’s my best friend in hip-hop. I’d sign up for me and 40 against anybody. That’d be fun. They haven’t had two groups. … I put that out there: Who wants to battle Too Short and E-40 in Verzuz?\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Blow the Whistle’ is 20 Years Old — and Keeps Going On and On",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>On March 3, 2006, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> dropped “Blow The Whistle,” an addictive comeback single from the Oakland legend that to this day is played at nearly every block party and club night in the Bay Area. Despite never cracking the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it’s had enough staying power to become a nationwide classic.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Here, in an excerpt from her upcoming book \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://sf-music-week.squarespace.com/calendar/music-book-club-studio-aurora-and-fault-radio-present-tamara-palmers-bay-area-rap-mixtape-book-release-party-and-movie-night\">Bay Area Rap Mixtape\u003c/a>\u003cem>, music writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.thetamarapalmer.com/\">Tamara Palmer\u003c/a> recalls the song’s video shoot in Oakland, and the new world it heralded. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/CBJtzEKetBM?si=NWSzz8Z7cLKoeCKS\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]F[/dropcap]our days after a riotous visit to San Quentin with KMEL and Messy Marv, I was on the phone with Too Short, conducting an interview about the Black Panthers for MTV News. At the end of the call, he invited me to the “Blow the Whistle” video shoot, taking place the next day in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d like to say that I responded with cool nonchalance. But according to the blog post I wrote when I got home, I said, “REALLY? CAN I?!?!?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, 20 years since its release in March 2006, “Blow The Whistle” is a beloved and iconic Bay Area party and sports anthem. Short’s catalog is deep, but “Blow The Whistle” is the song of his that most people know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Produced by Lil Jon, who once told me about bumping Too Short tracks while driving around in high school, “Blow The Whistle” was recorded in Atlanta and Miami and landed as part of a multi-year crunk hitmaking streak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987149\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A clapperboard at the video shoot for Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first day of the video shoot took place at Mingles Martini & Champagne Lounge, a nightclub near Jack London Square. As I stood in line and stared at the train tracks across the street, two kids behind me recalled witnessing a graphic killing outside the club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The environment outside Mingles on that early afternoon included a van of youngsters who pulled up, filmed a video to a short but rowdy song — something about “Dead! Beat! Dead! Beat!” — and then peeled off as fast as they came. The Team’s Clyde Carson passed out cans of his new Grapple (grape-apple) flavored Hyphy energy drink. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I finally got inside, I quickly met two women who I felt immediate care from, and for: legendary \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951122/d-ray-bay-area-hip-hop-photographer\">Bay Area rap photographer D-Ray\u003c/a> and rapper OOO (Omolara Odofin). The energy in the room was very masculine, to put it mildly, yet they both clocked my awkwardness and took me under their wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987152\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short (center) at the video shoot for ‘Blow the Whistle’ at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Director Bernard Gourley was fresh off of directing his childhood friend E-40’s brilliant “Tell Me When to Go” video, which was shot in black and white. The Turf Feinz were there, ready to dance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spent nine and a half hours inside Mingles, allowed to take photos without a flash. It was one of the most enjoyable observational experiences ever. At one point, I sat directly behind the camera, on the floor, as the main dance scenes were filmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are three secrets from the “Blow The Whistle” music video: Short wore a “Love Is for Suckers” shirt, the nightclub scene was filmed during the afternoon, and the “DJ” didn’t actually have any equipment in front of him — he was air DJing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=arts_13927349 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/that_s_my_word_____featured_image__3_-1536x864.png']So much has changed since that night in 2006. Following an accidental fatal shooting of a pregnant woman outside the club, and two additional incidents of gun violence in 2006, Mingles would permanently close six months later. Sadly, Gourley, the video’s director, died in a car accident in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet “Blow the Whistle” has endured, as well as some of its video’s stars. Last year, Kendrick Lamar incorporated the Turf Feinz into his 2025 Super Bowl performance in New Orleans — a true moment of Bay Area pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]B[/dropcap]y May of 2006, Short was sensitive to criticism that he’d co-opted hyphy culture, but he insisted that he had a more important goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to be a guiding light to these youngsters,” he told me, during an interview about the crunk and hyphy movements for Atlanta’s weekly paper \u003cem>Creative Loafing\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m like, ‘Man, don’t make the wrong decisions,’” he said. “‘Don’t sign stupid contracts, don’t let nobody else get your money and jack it off.’ I’m thinking like that. Don’t turn the hyphy into a dance that comes and goes. Turn this into a business that supports families and kids and generations. It’s somebody’s kids going to go to college because of crunk music. Somebody’s kids are gonna get a trust fund because of crunk, you know what I’m saying? Let’s do that with the hyphy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987150\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987150\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A young attendee at Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ video shoot at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the next five years — until Messy Marv leaked his number and it changed — I annoyed Short by texting him every time I reviewed a concert where the DJ played “Blow the Whistle” — Janet Jackson, say, or Bell Biv DeVoe. It’s still an out-of-town DJ’s way of checking in with the Bay and paying respect. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2013, I was visiting NYC when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10517260/growing-up-deprived-in-east-oakland\">Youth Uprising\u003c/a>’s Jacky Johnson invited me to Short’s guest appearance on \u003cem>Late Night with Jimmy Fallon\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short had a five-minute rehearsal of the song with The Roots before the show. Tuba Gooding Jr. took care of the bassline, and Black Thought freestyled over the top. Though the rehearsal was brief, Short and The Roots performed with the ease of longtime collaborators. “I never practice before the show,” Short said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re really not that short!” Fallon said to Short, as the show began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song brought the TV audience to its feet, a full seven years after “Blow the Whistle” dropped. And now, 20 years later, its relevance keeps going on and on. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book release party for Tamara Palmer’s ‘Bay Area Rap Mixtape’ takes place Sunday, March 1 at Studio Aurora (302 Valencia St., San Francisco). Admission is free; \u003ca href=\"https://sf-music-week.squarespace.com/calendar/music-book-club-studio-aurora-and-fault-radio-present-tamara-palmers-bay-area-rap-mixtape-book-release-party-and-movie-night\">more event details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>On March 3, 2006, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> dropped “Blow The Whistle,” an addictive comeback single from the Oakland legend that to this day is played at nearly every block party and club night in the Bay Area. Despite never cracking the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it’s had enough staying power to become a nationwide classic.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Here, in an excerpt from her upcoming book \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://sf-music-week.squarespace.com/calendar/music-book-club-studio-aurora-and-fault-radio-present-tamara-palmers-bay-area-rap-mixtape-book-release-party-and-movie-night\">Bay Area Rap Mixtape\u003c/a>\u003cem>, music writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.thetamarapalmer.com/\">Tamara Palmer\u003c/a> recalls the song’s video shoot in Oakland, and the new world it heralded. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/CBJtzEKetBM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/CBJtzEKetBM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>our days after a riotous visit to San Quentin with KMEL and Messy Marv, I was on the phone with Too Short, conducting an interview about the Black Panthers for MTV News. At the end of the call, he invited me to the “Blow the Whistle” video shoot, taking place the next day in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d like to say that I responded with cool nonchalance. But according to the blog post I wrote when I got home, I said, “REALLY? CAN I?!?!?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, 20 years since its release in March 2006, “Blow The Whistle” is a beloved and iconic Bay Area party and sports anthem. Short’s catalog is deep, but “Blow The Whistle” is the song of his that most people know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Produced by Lil Jon, who once told me about bumping Too Short tracks while driving around in high school, “Blow The Whistle” was recorded in Atlanta and Miami and landed as part of a multi-year crunk hitmaking streak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987149\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_208-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A clapperboard at the video shoot for Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first day of the video shoot took place at Mingles Martini & Champagne Lounge, a nightclub near Jack London Square. As I stood in line and stared at the train tracks across the street, two kids behind me recalled witnessing a graphic killing outside the club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The environment outside Mingles on that early afternoon included a van of youngsters who pulled up, filmed a video to a short but rowdy song — something about “Dead! Beat! Dead! Beat!” — and then peeled off as fast as they came. The Team’s Clyde Carson passed out cans of his new Grapple (grape-apple) flavored Hyphy energy drink. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I finally got inside, I quickly met two women who I felt immediate care from, and for: legendary \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951122/d-ray-bay-area-hip-hop-photographer\">Bay Area rap photographer D-Ray\u003c/a> and rapper OOO (Omolara Odofin). The energy in the room was very masculine, to put it mildly, yet they both clocked my awkwardness and took me under their wings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987152\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987152\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_192.1-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short (center) at the video shoot for ‘Blow the Whistle’ at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Director Bernard Gourley was fresh off of directing his childhood friend E-40’s brilliant “Tell Me When to Go” video, which was shot in black and white. The Turf Feinz were there, ready to dance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spent nine and a half hours inside Mingles, allowed to take photos without a flash. It was one of the most enjoyable observational experiences ever. At one point, I sat directly behind the camera, on the floor, as the main dance scenes were filmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are three secrets from the “Blow The Whistle” music video: Short wore a “Love Is for Suckers” shirt, the nightclub scene was filmed during the afternoon, and the “DJ” didn’t actually have any equipment in front of him — he was air DJing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So much has changed since that night in 2006. Following an accidental fatal shooting of a pregnant woman outside the club, and two additional incidents of gun violence in 2006, Mingles would permanently close six months later. Sadly, Gourley, the video’s director, died in a car accident in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet “Blow the Whistle” has endured, as well as some of its video’s stars. Last year, Kendrick Lamar incorporated the Turf Feinz into his 2025 Super Bowl performance in New Orleans — a true moment of Bay Area pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">B\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y May of 2006, Short was sensitive to criticism that he’d co-opted hyphy culture, but he insisted that he had a more important goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to be a guiding light to these youngsters,” he told me, during an interview about the crunk and hyphy movements for Atlanta’s weekly paper \u003cem>Creative Loafing\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m like, ‘Man, don’t make the wrong decisions,’” he said. “‘Don’t sign stupid contracts, don’t let nobody else get your money and jack it off.’ I’m thinking like that. Don’t turn the hyphy into a dance that comes and goes. Turn this into a business that supports families and kids and generations. It’s somebody’s kids going to go to college because of crunk music. Somebody’s kids are gonna get a trust fund because of crunk, you know what I’m saying? Let’s do that with the hyphy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987150\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987150\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/NY_254-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A young attendee at Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ video shoot at Mingles nightclub in Oakland in 2006. \u003ccite>(Tamara Palmer)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the next five years — until Messy Marv leaked his number and it changed — I annoyed Short by texting him every time I reviewed a concert where the DJ played “Blow the Whistle” — Janet Jackson, say, or Bell Biv DeVoe. It’s still an out-of-town DJ’s way of checking in with the Bay and paying respect. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2013, I was visiting NYC when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/10517260/growing-up-deprived-in-east-oakland\">Youth Uprising\u003c/a>’s Jacky Johnson invited me to Short’s guest appearance on \u003cem>Late Night with Jimmy Fallon\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short had a five-minute rehearsal of the song with The Roots before the show. Tuba Gooding Jr. took care of the bassline, and Black Thought freestyled over the top. Though the rehearsal was brief, Short and The Roots performed with the ease of longtime collaborators. “I never practice before the show,” Short said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re really not that short!” Fallon said to Short, as the show began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song brought the TV audience to its feet, a full seven years after “Blow the Whistle” dropped. And now, 20 years later, its relevance keeps going on and on. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A book release party for Tamara Palmer’s ‘Bay Area Rap Mixtape’ takes place Sunday, March 1 at Studio Aurora (302 Valencia St., San Francisco). Admission is free; \u003ca href=\"https://sf-music-week.squarespace.com/calendar/music-book-club-studio-aurora-and-fault-radio-present-tamara-palmers-bay-area-rap-mixtape-book-release-party-and-movie-night\">more event details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Rap legends \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-hort\">Too $hort\u003c/a> will bring Bay Area hip-hop flavor to the NFL Honors stage, performing during the league’s annual awards show Thursday night in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NFL Honors will be held at the Palace of Fine Arts and air at 6 p.m. PT on NBC and NFL Network, with streaming available on Peacock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13986188']Actor Jon Hamm will host the NFL Honors, which will celebrate the league’s top performances from the 2025 season and announce the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 and the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Presenters include Tiffany Haddish, Tracy Morgan, Druski, Rich Eisen and Madelyn Cline along with current and former NFL players such as Michael Strahan, Steve Young, Micah Parsons and Kurt Warner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Too $hort and E-40’s performance adds a distinct Bay Area presence to Super Bowl week festivities, bringing hometown hip-hop legends to one of the NFL’s most high-profile stages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a three decade-plus career, E-40 is known for his unorthodox rap flow, schooling listeners with life lessons through his street-wise perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Too $hort has solidified himself as a rap icon with hit songs like “Blow the Whistle,” “Shake That Monkey” and “The Ghetto.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Super Bowl, which is being held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday, features the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bad-bunny\">Bad Bunny\u003c/a> is the halftime performer.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13916721/sucka-free-history-with-dregs-one\">Dregs One\u003c/a> finally met \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> face-to-face this past February, during NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco, the two weren’t exactly strangers. Short, of course, is a Bay Area rap icon, now 22 albums deep in the game — and he’d definitely noticed Dregs’ work to tell the stories of the region’s hip-hop producers, graffiti artists and rap pioneers on his \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/historyofthebay/\">History of the Bay\u003c/a>\u003c/em> podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only fitting, then, that Too Short be the guest on the landmark 100th episode of \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em> — an appearance that Dregs tells KQED has been a longtime goal. Short’s been “very supportive since the beginning, in terms of commenting, sharing and engaging on social media,” allowing for what’s usually an hour- or hour-and-a-half-long conversation on the podcast to last for more than two hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13916721']It’s the culmination of a long road for \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em>, which began in early 2022 as short TikToks. Onscreen, Dregs would summarize entire careers or scenes in in 60 seconds or less. (The first two? Graffiti spot Psycho City and Tupac Shakur.) Some blew up with as many as half a million views, and six months later, the podcast was born — a way to stretch out beyond TikTok’s time limitations and hear from the artists themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Dregs is expanding yet again. Episode No. 101 will feature actor Danny Glover, and Dregs wants to host more actors, activists, journalists and musicians of different genres on \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d actually be interested in like, regular people. School teachers!” Dregs says. “I want to get this podcast to where it doesn’t really matter who I have on, the audience is strong enough to trust me to know that whatever story gets told will be interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13973907']It’s also been a time of literal expansion for the podcast, which recently moved to the office of record label EMPIRE, whose sponsorship comes with a small production team, including videographer Trevor Potter and production manager Jazmin Ontiveros. Having the support of EMPIRE’s CEO Ghazi Shami “really means a lot to me,” Dregs says. “This culture is important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while reporting on said culture can involve egos, beef and grudges, Dregs has enough street knowledge to sidestep them (“it’s really served me well by going out of my way to not be messy,” he says). He intersperses interviews of rappers like Philthy Rich, Messy Marv and LaRussell with graphic designers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZErUFFA8SR0\">Shemp\u003c/a> or personal injury billboard queen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc531VHZUN4\">Anh Phoong\u003c/a>. And, for October, he’s already planning a return of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931387/photos-history-of-the-bay-day-party-dregs-one-review\">\u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em> live event\u003c/a> at the Midway in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for what the podcast might look like another 100 episodes from now, Dregs says he just wants to continue pushing Bay Area culture to an international audience, “so they learn about the Bay and start appreciating it more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘History of the Bay’ drops new episodes weekly, and can be found on \u003ca href=\"https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/historyofthebay/\">podcast platforms\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrcnRVZo1Y9S-8xIlv8knxRcYwCqsu1OC\">YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"headline": "After 100 Episodes, ‘History of the Bay’ Expands Its Horizons",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13916721/sucka-free-history-with-dregs-one\">Dregs One\u003c/a> finally met \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a> face-to-face this past February, during NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco, the two weren’t exactly strangers. Short, of course, is a Bay Area rap icon, now 22 albums deep in the game — and he’d definitely noticed Dregs’ work to tell the stories of the region’s hip-hop producers, graffiti artists and rap pioneers on his \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/historyofthebay/\">History of the Bay\u003c/a>\u003c/em> podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only fitting, then, that Too Short be the guest on the landmark 100th episode of \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em> — an appearance that Dregs tells KQED has been a longtime goal. Short’s been “very supportive since the beginning, in terms of commenting, sharing and engaging on social media,” allowing for what’s usually an hour- or hour-and-a-half-long conversation on the podcast to last for more than two hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s the culmination of a long road for \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em>, which began in early 2022 as short TikToks. Onscreen, Dregs would summarize entire careers or scenes in in 60 seconds or less. (The first two? Graffiti spot Psycho City and Tupac Shakur.) Some blew up with as many as half a million views, and six months later, the podcast was born — a way to stretch out beyond TikTok’s time limitations and hear from the artists themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Dregs is expanding yet again. Episode No. 101 will feature actor Danny Glover, and Dregs wants to host more actors, activists, journalists and musicians of different genres on \u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d actually be interested in like, regular people. School teachers!” Dregs says. “I want to get this podcast to where it doesn’t really matter who I have on, the audience is strong enough to trust me to know that whatever story gets told will be interesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s also been a time of literal expansion for the podcast, which recently moved to the office of record label EMPIRE, whose sponsorship comes with a small production team, including videographer Trevor Potter and production manager Jazmin Ontiveros. Having the support of EMPIRE’s CEO Ghazi Shami “really means a lot to me,” Dregs says. “This culture is important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while reporting on said culture can involve egos, beef and grudges, Dregs has enough street knowledge to sidestep them (“it’s really served me well by going out of my way to not be messy,” he says). He intersperses interviews of rappers like Philthy Rich, Messy Marv and LaRussell with graphic designers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZErUFFA8SR0\">Shemp\u003c/a> or personal injury billboard queen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc531VHZUN4\">Anh Phoong\u003c/a>. And, for October, he’s already planning a return of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931387/photos-history-of-the-bay-day-party-dregs-one-review\">\u003cem>History of the Bay\u003c/em> live event\u003c/a> at the Midway in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for what the podcast might look like another 100 episodes from now, Dregs says he just wants to continue pushing Bay Area culture to an international audience, “so they learn about the Bay and start appreciating it more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘History of the Bay’ drops new episodes weekly, and can be found on \u003ca href=\"https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/historyofthebay/\">podcast platforms\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrcnRVZo1Y9S-8xIlv8knxRcYwCqsu1OC\">YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "freaky-tales-movie-easter-eggs-locations-cameos-oakland",
"title": "The 27 Best ‘Freaky Tales’ Easter Eggs and Cameos for Oakland Locals",
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"content": "\u003cp>The new Pedro Pascal movie \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em> is a wild, over-the-top love letter to Oakland. It involves four interconnected stories, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">most of which actually happened in the East Bay in 1987\u003c/a>. And it’s packed with landmarks, cameos and easter eggs for Oakland locals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, then, are 27 local references and hidden details in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, listed from A to Z.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Be warned: This glossary contains spoilers!\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973918\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1496\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1920x1436.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ji-young Yoo, as Tina, stares down Nazi skinheads outside the Grand Lake Theatre in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ Co-star Jack Champion wears a T-shirt for Corrupted Morals, the underground East Bay punk band which counted Primus’ Larry LaLonde and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong as onetime members. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxriXHNuLcg\">Bitch Fight\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The character Tina can be seen wearing a T-shirt of this all-women punk band, which \u003ca href=\"https://razorcake.org/bitch-fight-all-we-wanted-was-everything-part-3-by-michelle-cruz-gonzales/\">moved from Tuolumne\u003c/a> to the Bay Area in 1987. Drummer Michelle Cruz Gonzales would later join Kamala & the Karnivores, drum for Spitboy and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=777\">write a memoir\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101908540/remembering-la-filmmaker-david-lynch-and-his-lynchian-legacy\">Blue Velvet\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not so much a local reference, but filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden like to honor this David Lynch classic by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DFEy3kWJ01B/?img_index=1\">sneaking references to it in their films\u003c/a>. It’s mentioned in passing in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/colonialdonuts/\">Colonial Donuts\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen on the clerk’s T-shirt in the video rental store, Colonial Donuts is an Oakland institution that abides by the three magic words: Open 24 Hours. With multiple locations, the beloved donut shop is just about the only thing “colonial” that Bay Area folks agree on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973921\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973921\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Dominique Thorne and Normani as Danger Zone’s Barbie and Entice in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Danger Zone\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stars of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ second chapter are Danger Zone, who perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” onstage with Too Short at Oakland hotspot Sweet Jimmie’s. The female rap duo of Barbie and Entice made their debut with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMjOBASvbc\">Jailbait\u003c/a>,” a warning to underage girls about predatory men. Too Short then brought them in the studio for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSYngzHOsY\">Don’t Fight the Feelin’\u003c/a>,” and history was made. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Read the full backstory on Danger Zone here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/07/12/dicks-restaurant-gets-a-fresh-start-from-son-of-loyal-customer/\">Dick’s Restaurant\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A handful of scenes in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> were filmed at this now-boarded up San Leandro diner and adjoining sports lounge, which originally opened in 1969. This is not the restaurant’s first starring role — it also provided the setting for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt8AdNwTTUI\">Radiohead’s “High & Dry” U.S. music video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/el-cerrito\">The El Cerrito Hills\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Where evil lives. In \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, the house of the Nazis is also where multiple scenes take place with Angus Cloud, Oakland’s son, in his final role. In real life, the house where filming took place is in the hills of El Cerrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973916\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"830\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-800x332.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1020x423.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-160x66.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-768x319.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1536x637.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1920x797.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis, as Sleepy Floyd, celebrates after his 29-point quarter at Giant Burger in Oakland in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1sVoWIhUKg\">Sleepy Floyd\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Warriors point guard is played by Jay Ellis in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, but watch closely and you’ll see the real Sleepy Floyd make a cameo at a post-game hangout. (There’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/u1sVoWIhUKg?feature=shared&t=140\">a famous call by announcer Greg Papa\u003c/a> that shows up later in the film, too.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">Freddy B\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Too Short’s early rap partner is represented in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> as the character “Lenny G.” The rapper Stunnaman02, who plays Lenny, says that he tried to find Freddy B to get pointers for the role, but was unsuccessful. Too Short and Freddy B \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20160610000914/https://eastbayexpress.com/CultureSpyBlog/archives/2016/03/28/too-horts-30th-anniversary-show-couldnt-have-been-long-enough\">last appeared together onstage in 2016\u003c/a>, and according to reports, Freddy B is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/lifestyle/from-drugs-prison-to-christian-missionary/article_fe8f3629-9338-5159-9b6c-22d9b247a425.html\">now a mission director\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://localwiki.org/oakland/Giant_Burger\">1/4 lb. Giant Burger\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This Oakland institution — the one at Dimond and Macarthur — provides the after-hours meetup spot where Sleepy Floyd celebrates his record-breaking playoff performance with fans. (Hanging out among the people after a game \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIVF0KkEOU\">is a thing\u003c/a> for pro athletes from the Town.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">924 Gilman St. in Berkeley on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/924-gilman\">924 Gilman\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The venerable all-ages, all-volunteer punk club in Berkeley is the star of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ first chapter. And, because the filmmakers worked with Gilman volunteers past and present, they got a lot of details right: the basketball hoop, Big Wheels in the pit, the “Animal Liberation” graffiti, the “Meese is a Pig” poster. Gilman regulars like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">George Hated\u003c/a> are portrayed in the film, and logos of bands like Soup, Christ on Parade, Crummy Musicians, MDC and Sewer Trout can be seen. The set re-creation of the club was filmed in \u003ca href=\"https://maps.app.goo.gl/d5hGHvyxTieJZD4H9\">a warehouse in East Oakland\u003c/a>, not actually at Gilman — but the \u003cem>feeling\u003c/em> is accurate, which is hard to do when depicting a regional punk scene in a Hollywood film. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Read about the real-life Nazi beatdown at Gilman here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grand-lake-theatre\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen in several scenes, with the marquee advertising 1987 films \u003cem>The Lost Boys\u003c/em> and Elaine May’s famous flop \u003cem>Ishtar\u003c/em>. Host to the local premiere in March of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, the Grand Lake needs no introduction — it’s part of every Oaklander’s formative memories and serves as one of the Bay’s last remaining movie palaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13973907']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899154/sunami-review-san-jose-drain-gulch-show\">Gulch\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz hardcore band, now broken up, portrays the headlining band at Gilman after the Nazi brawl. (In reality, the band that played after the fight was \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg\">MDC\u003c/a>.) Credited as “924 Gilman Band,” Gulch is shown playing songs by Black Flag and Negative Approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812623/tom-hanks-talks-trump-weinstein-and-america-at-city-arts-lectures\">Tom Hanks\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers have been trying to keep this cameo quiet, but the cat is out of the bag. Hanks, who \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/mYjw3B6K9qw?feature=shared&t=471\">worked as a concession vendor at the Oakland Coliseum when he was 14\u003c/a>, goes deep on nerdy film knowledge for a scene in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> involving VHS rentals, and that’s all we’ll say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972041\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30%E2%80%AFPM.png\" alt=\"Still shot from the 'Freaky Tales' trailer shows a "Late Night Video" storefront next to a braiding salon.\" width=\"2880\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM.png 2880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-800x417.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1020x531.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-160x83.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-768x400.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1536x800.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-2048x1067.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1920x1000.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Telegraph Avenue, as seen in the ‘Freaky Tales’ trailer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972017/freaky-tales-trailer-oakland-too-short-pedro-pascal\">Jasmine African Hair Braiding\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This Telegraph Avenue standby is seen adjacent to a video rental store in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. The video store itself is in the former location of \u003ca href=\"https://hillsshoes1724.weebly.com/\">Hill’s Shoes\u003c/a>, which sold fine footwear to generations of Oakland residents for nearly 100 years before closing in 2020. (Also seen is the nearby sex shop \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858579/rightnowish-nenna-joiners-inclusive-sex-toys-at-feelmore-adult-gallery-in-oakland\">Feelmore Adult Gallery\u003c/a>, which — oops — didn’t exist in 1987.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnHz8_BoUg\">Jewdriver\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, as the skinheads are getting ready to go out on the town, music reminiscent of the Nazi punk band Skrewdriver plays. But it’s not Skrewdriver — hilariously, it’s Jewdriver, the parody band from Oakland that wrote Jewish-themed lyrics to Skrewdriver’s racist songs. (Nazis getting beaten up \u003cem>and\u003c/em> denied sync royalties? Right on.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3trBd6nsZ4\">Kamala and the Karnivores\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This band’s logo is seen on the back of Tina’s jacket in a diner scene. The band’s namesake, \u003ca href=\"https://newnoisemagazine.com/column/east-bay-punk-kamala-lyn-parks/\">Kamala Parks\u003c/a>, cofounded 924 Gilman, drummed for several bands, booked many other bands’ tours and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjlhlqcCTjM\">is too nice\u003c/a>. Kamala, drummer Michelle and singer Ivy all met with the \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> film crew and actors on set.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959712/a-place-to-call-home-documentary-la-pena-cultural-center-murals\">La Peña Cultural Center\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s not pictured in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, but it’s mentioned in one scene as the host of a hip-hop open mic, which have been a staple of the long-running community space. La Peña \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lapenaculturalcenter/\">celebrates its 50th anniversary\u003c/a> this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loard’s ice cream parlor on Coolidge and Macarthur. \u003ccite>(Flickr/Anomalous A)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loards.com/\">Loard’s Ice Cream Parlor\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sure, there are other Loard’s locations. But the film crew restored the classic look of the now-shuttered Dimond location on Coolidge and MacArthur for \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, to great effect. When it appeared onscreen at its Grand Lake premiere, it elicited gasps and cheers from the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13836150/the-power-of-taking-up-space-at-marshawn-lynchs-oakland-rideout\">Marshawn Lynch\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yep, that’s Beastmode driving an AC Transit bus in a quick cameo for \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966077/inside-the-trial-that-overturned-californias-same-sex-marriage-ban-proposition-8-mike-johnson-lgbtq-rights\">The Mormon Temple\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen on the hill in a quick cut to Lake Merritt, this East Oakland landmark has been a shining beacon (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/master/1289408-Capital-Tax-Capital-Tax/image/SW1hZ2U6MjIwMTI5ODQ=\">photo shoot location\u003c/a>) to generations. Notably, the Mormon church excluded its Black members from priesthood ordinances in the temple until a 1978 reversal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis as Sleepy Floyd in ‘Freaky Tales,’ surrounded by other actors in a scene filmed at the Oakland Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13965624/oakland-as-last-game-songs-played-coliseum\">The Oakland Coliseum\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The glorious concrete landmark provides the backdrop to a TV commercial for a new age mind-healing program called Psytopics. Director Ryan Fleck explained that Psytopics was based on “these weird spiritual centers that were all over the Bay Area” in 1987. “I just remember lo-fi commercials selling you this kind of spiritual wish fulfillment on television,” he said. The Oakland Arena, next door, can be seen in certain scenes as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13239750/the-definitive-documentary-on-east-bay-punk-is-coming-pit-warning\">Operation Ivy\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The band that all but defined Gilman in the late 1980s is shown playing two songs in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, and guitarist Lint has a cameo in the film. The members of Operation Ivy also had some say in who got to portray them: the L.A. band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aphidsmusic\">Aphids\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.corbettredford.com/\">Corbett Redford\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The mustachioed director of the East Bay punk documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://eastbaypunk.com/\">Turn It Around\u003c/a>\u003c/em> is seen briefly in the movie’s opening scene — a nice nod, considering his documentary provided a roadmap for the Nazi brawl depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ first chapter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973909\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Parish in downtown Oakland on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mc-hammer-shoots-lets-get-it-started-at-sweet-jimmies\">Sweet Jimmie’s\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The site of the thrilling scene where Too Short and Danger Zone perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” and \u003cem>the\u003c/em> place to be in Oakland in the ’80s and ’90s. As Luenell put it at the \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> premiere, “Sweet Jimmie’s was the hub — the music, the dancing, the food, the fellowship. It was \u003cem>everything\u003c/em>.” Now known as the New Parish, the nightclub on San Pablo Avenue actually didn’t host rap shows in 1987, and certainly not Too Short shows. David “Sweets” Ward, the son of owner “Sweet Jimmie” Ward, says his dad was opposed to the profanity common in rap. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mc-hammer-shoots-lets-get-it-started-at-sweet-jimmies\">MC Hammer recorded a music video at the club in 1988\u003c/a>, but of course, Hammer never swore in his songs.) Fun fact: because Saturday nights at Sweet Jimmie’s were broadcast live on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877570/a-tribute-to-soul-beat-tv-the-black-owned-network-of-east-oakland\">Soul Beat\u003c/a>, kids at home could watch their parents on TV, partying in real time. The club closed in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>He narrates the movie. He’s portrayed by the rapper Symba. He’s an executive producer, and his nearly 10-minute song from 1987 provided the movie’s title. The day of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ release, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909460/movie-freaky-tales-is-a-love-letter-to-1980s-oakland\">came onto KQED Forum to discuss the film\u003c/a>. And yes, he’s got a cameo.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tower-of-power\">Tower of Power\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s music from Bay Area icons (Sly Stone, Metallica), punk bands (the Avengers, Black Flag) and ’80s freestyle artists (Stevie B, Pebbles) in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. This one’s special, though. How can you be mad when you hear “So Very Hard to Go” in the movie theater?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.yeastiegirlz.com/our-story\">Yeastie Girlz\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The character Tina wears a T-shirt of this Berkeley-based feminist acapella rap group, whose 7” made such an underground splash that Pearl Jam’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxVpql6_JxrwEdAnCU5GUc1y87dwKcroda\">Eddie Vedder sang one of its songs onstage\u003c/a>; their song “You Suck” was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0xTqwKMOyk\">sampled by TV Girl\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "The 27 Best ‘Freaky Tales’ Easter Eggs and Cameos for Oakland Locals | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The new Pedro Pascal movie \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Freaky Tales\u003c/a>\u003c/em> is a wild, over-the-top love letter to Oakland. It involves four interconnected stories, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">most of which actually happened in the East Bay in 1987\u003c/a>. And it’s packed with landmarks, cameos and easter eggs for Oakland locals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, then, are 27 local references and hidden details in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, listed from A to Z.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Be warned: This glossary contains spoilers!\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973918\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1496\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/TinaEtAl-EXT-Theater-1920x1436.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ji-young Yoo, as Tina, stares down Nazi skinheads outside the Grand Lake Theatre in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ Co-star Jack Champion wears a T-shirt for Corrupted Morals, the underground East Bay punk band which counted Primus’ Larry LaLonde and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong as onetime members. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxriXHNuLcg\">Bitch Fight\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The character Tina can be seen wearing a T-shirt of this all-women punk band, which \u003ca href=\"https://razorcake.org/bitch-fight-all-we-wanted-was-everything-part-3-by-michelle-cruz-gonzales/\">moved from Tuolumne\u003c/a> to the Bay Area in 1987. Drummer Michelle Cruz Gonzales would later join Kamala & the Karnivores, drum for Spitboy and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=777\">write a memoir\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101908540/remembering-la-filmmaker-david-lynch-and-his-lynchian-legacy\">Blue Velvet\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not so much a local reference, but filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden like to honor this David Lynch classic by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DFEy3kWJ01B/?img_index=1\">sneaking references to it in their films\u003c/a>. It’s mentioned in passing in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/colonialdonuts/\">Colonial Donuts\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen on the clerk’s T-shirt in the video rental store, Colonial Donuts is an Oakland institution that abides by the three magic words: Open 24 Hours. With multiple locations, the beloved donut shop is just about the only thing “colonial” that Bay Area folks agree on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973921\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973921\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Dominique Thorne and Normani as Danger Zone’s Barbie and Entice in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Danger Zone\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stars of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ second chapter are Danger Zone, who perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” onstage with Too Short at Oakland hotspot Sweet Jimmie’s. The female rap duo of Barbie and Entice made their debut with “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMjOBASvbc\">Jailbait\u003c/a>,” a warning to underage girls about predatory men. Too Short then brought them in the studio for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSYngzHOsY\">Don’t Fight the Feelin’\u003c/a>,” and history was made. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Read the full backstory on Danger Zone here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/07/12/dicks-restaurant-gets-a-fresh-start-from-son-of-loyal-customer/\">Dick’s Restaurant\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A handful of scenes in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> were filmed at this now-boarded up San Leandro diner and adjoining sports lounge, which originally opened in 1969. This is not the restaurant’s first starring role — it also provided the setting for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt8AdNwTTUI\">Radiohead’s “High & Dry” U.S. music video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/el-cerrito\">The El Cerrito Hills\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Where evil lives. In \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, the house of the Nazis is also where multiple scenes take place with Angus Cloud, Oakland’s son, in his final role. In real life, the house where filming took place is in the hills of El Cerrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973916\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"830\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-800x332.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1020x423.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-160x66.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-768x319.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1536x637.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyGiantBurger-1920x797.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis, as Sleepy Floyd, celebrates after his 29-point quarter at Giant Burger in Oakland in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1sVoWIhUKg\">Sleepy Floyd\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Warriors point guard is played by Jay Ellis in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, but watch closely and you’ll see the real Sleepy Floyd make a cameo at a post-game hangout. (There’s \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/u1sVoWIhUKg?feature=shared&t=140\">a famous call by announcer Greg Papa\u003c/a> that shows up later in the film, too.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">Freddy B\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Too Short’s early rap partner is represented in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> as the character “Lenny G.” The rapper Stunnaman02, who plays Lenny, says that he tried to find Freddy B to get pointers for the role, but was unsuccessful. Too Short and Freddy B \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20160610000914/https://eastbayexpress.com/CultureSpyBlog/archives/2016/03/28/too-horts-30th-anniversary-show-couldnt-have-been-long-enough\">last appeared together onstage in 2016\u003c/a>, and according to reports, Freddy B is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailyrepublic.com/lifestyle/from-drugs-prison-to-christian-missionary/article_fe8f3629-9338-5159-9b6c-22d9b247a425.html\">now a mission director\u003c/a> at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://localwiki.org/oakland/Giant_Burger\">1/4 lb. Giant Burger\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This Oakland institution — the one at Dimond and Macarthur — provides the after-hours meetup spot where Sleepy Floyd celebrates his record-breaking playoff performance with fans. (Hanging out among the people after a game \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIVF0KkEOU\">is a thing\u003c/a> for pro athletes from the Town.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">924 Gilman St. in Berkeley on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/924-gilman\">924 Gilman\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The venerable all-ages, all-volunteer punk club in Berkeley is the star of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ first chapter. And, because the filmmakers worked with Gilman volunteers past and present, they got a lot of details right: the basketball hoop, Big Wheels in the pit, the “Animal Liberation” graffiti, the “Meese is a Pig” poster. Gilman regulars like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">George Hated\u003c/a> are portrayed in the film, and logos of bands like Soup, Christ on Parade, Crummy Musicians, MDC and Sewer Trout can be seen. The set re-creation of the club was filmed in \u003ca href=\"https://maps.app.goo.gl/d5hGHvyxTieJZD4H9\">a warehouse in East Oakland\u003c/a>, not actually at Gilman — but the \u003cem>feeling\u003c/em> is accurate, which is hard to do when depicting a regional punk scene in a Hollywood film. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973907/freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland\">Read about the real-life Nazi beatdown at Gilman here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grand-lake-theatre\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen in several scenes, with the marquee advertising 1987 films \u003cem>The Lost Boys\u003c/em> and Elaine May’s famous flop \u003cem>Ishtar\u003c/em>. Host to the local premiere in March of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, the Grand Lake needs no introduction — it’s part of every Oaklander’s formative memories and serves as one of the Bay’s last remaining movie palaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899154/sunami-review-san-jose-drain-gulch-show\">Gulch\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Santa Cruz hardcore band, now broken up, portrays the headlining band at Gilman after the Nazi brawl. (In reality, the band that played after the fight was \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg\">MDC\u003c/a>.) Credited as “924 Gilman Band,” Gulch is shown playing songs by Black Flag and Negative Approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812623/tom-hanks-talks-trump-weinstein-and-america-at-city-arts-lectures\">Tom Hanks\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers have been trying to keep this cameo quiet, but the cat is out of the bag. Hanks, who \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/mYjw3B6K9qw?feature=shared&t=471\">worked as a concession vendor at the Oakland Coliseum when he was 14\u003c/a>, goes deep on nerdy film knowledge for a scene in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> involving VHS rentals, and that’s all we’ll say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972041\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30%E2%80%AFPM.png\" alt=\"Still shot from the 'Freaky Tales' trailer shows a "Late Night Video" storefront next to a braiding salon.\" width=\"2880\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM.png 2880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-800x417.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1020x531.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-160x83.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-768x400.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1536x800.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-2048x1067.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1920x1000.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Telegraph Avenue, as seen in the ‘Freaky Tales’ trailer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972017/freaky-tales-trailer-oakland-too-short-pedro-pascal\">Jasmine African Hair Braiding\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This Telegraph Avenue standby is seen adjacent to a video rental store in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. The video store itself is in the former location of \u003ca href=\"https://hillsshoes1724.weebly.com/\">Hill’s Shoes\u003c/a>, which sold fine footwear to generations of Oakland residents for nearly 100 years before closing in 2020. (Also seen is the nearby sex shop \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858579/rightnowish-nenna-joiners-inclusive-sex-toys-at-feelmore-adult-gallery-in-oakland\">Feelmore Adult Gallery\u003c/a>, which — oops — didn’t exist in 1987.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnHz8_BoUg\">Jewdriver\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, as the skinheads are getting ready to go out on the town, music reminiscent of the Nazi punk band Skrewdriver plays. But it’s not Skrewdriver — hilariously, it’s Jewdriver, the parody band from Oakland that wrote Jewish-themed lyrics to Skrewdriver’s racist songs. (Nazis getting beaten up \u003cem>and\u003c/em> denied sync royalties? Right on.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3trBd6nsZ4\">Kamala and the Karnivores\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This band’s logo is seen on the back of Tina’s jacket in a diner scene. The band’s namesake, \u003ca href=\"https://newnoisemagazine.com/column/east-bay-punk-kamala-lyn-parks/\">Kamala Parks\u003c/a>, cofounded 924 Gilman, drummed for several bands, booked many other bands’ tours and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjlhlqcCTjM\">is too nice\u003c/a>. Kamala, drummer Michelle and singer Ivy all met with the \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> film crew and actors on set.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959712/a-place-to-call-home-documentary-la-pena-cultural-center-murals\">La Peña Cultural Center\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s not pictured in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, but it’s mentioned in one scene as the host of a hip-hop open mic, which have been a staple of the long-running community space. La Peña \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lapenaculturalcenter/\">celebrates its 50th anniversary\u003c/a> this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13974106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Loards-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loard’s ice cream parlor on Coolidge and Macarthur. \u003ccite>(Flickr/Anomalous A)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loards.com/\">Loard’s Ice Cream Parlor\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sure, there are other Loard’s locations. But the film crew restored the classic look of the now-shuttered Dimond location on Coolidge and MacArthur for \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, to great effect. When it appeared onscreen at its Grand Lake premiere, it elicited gasps and cheers from the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13836150/the-power-of-taking-up-space-at-marshawn-lynchs-oakland-rideout\">Marshawn Lynch\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yep, that’s Beastmode driving an AC Transit bus in a quick cameo for \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966077/inside-the-trial-that-overturned-californias-same-sex-marriage-ban-proposition-8-mike-johnson-lgbtq-rights\">The Mormon Temple\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seen on the hill in a quick cut to Lake Merritt, this East Oakland landmark has been a shining beacon (and \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/master/1289408-Capital-Tax-Capital-Tax/image/SW1hZ2U6MjIwMTI5ODQ=\">photo shoot location\u003c/a>) to generations. Notably, the Mormon church excluded its Black members from priesthood ordinances in the temple until a 1978 reversal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis as Sleepy Floyd in ‘Freaky Tales,’ surrounded by other actors in a scene filmed at the Oakland Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13965624/oakland-as-last-game-songs-played-coliseum\">The Oakland Coliseum\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The glorious concrete landmark provides the backdrop to a TV commercial for a new age mind-healing program called Psytopics. Director Ryan Fleck explained that Psytopics was based on “these weird spiritual centers that were all over the Bay Area” in 1987. “I just remember lo-fi commercials selling you this kind of spiritual wish fulfillment on television,” he said. The Oakland Arena, next door, can be seen in certain scenes as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13239750/the-definitive-documentary-on-east-bay-punk-is-coming-pit-warning\">Operation Ivy\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The band that all but defined Gilman in the late 1980s is shown playing two songs in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, and guitarist Lint has a cameo in the film. The members of Operation Ivy also had some say in who got to portray them: the L.A. band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/aphidsmusic\">Aphids\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.corbettredford.com/\">Corbett Redford\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The mustachioed director of the East Bay punk documentary \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://eastbaypunk.com/\">Turn It Around\u003c/a>\u003c/em> is seen briefly in the movie’s opening scene — a nice nod, considering his documentary provided a roadmap for the Nazi brawl depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ first chapter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973909\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/230401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Parish in downtown Oakland on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mc-hammer-shoots-lets-get-it-started-at-sweet-jimmies\">Sweet Jimmie’s\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The site of the thrilling scene where Too Short and Danger Zone perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” and \u003cem>the\u003c/em> place to be in Oakland in the ’80s and ’90s. As Luenell put it at the \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> premiere, “Sweet Jimmie’s was the hub — the music, the dancing, the food, the fellowship. It was \u003cem>everything\u003c/em>.” Now known as the New Parish, the nightclub on San Pablo Avenue actually didn’t host rap shows in 1987, and certainly not Too Short shows. David “Sweets” Ward, the son of owner “Sweet Jimmie” Ward, says his dad was opposed to the profanity common in rap. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mc-hammer-shoots-lets-get-it-started-at-sweet-jimmies\">MC Hammer recorded a music video at the club in 1988\u003c/a>, but of course, Hammer never swore in his songs.) Fun fact: because Saturday nights at Sweet Jimmie’s were broadcast live on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877570/a-tribute-to-soul-beat-tv-the-black-owned-network-of-east-oakland\">Soul Beat\u003c/a>, kids at home could watch their parents on TV, partying in real time. The club closed in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>He narrates the movie. He’s portrayed by the rapper Symba. He’s an executive producer, and his nearly 10-minute song from 1987 provided the movie’s title. The day of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ release, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909460/movie-freaky-tales-is-a-love-letter-to-1980s-oakland\">came onto KQED Forum to discuss the film\u003c/a>. And yes, he’s got a cameo.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tower-of-power\">Tower of Power\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s music from Bay Area icons (Sly Stone, Metallica), punk bands (the Avengers, Black Flag) and ’80s freestyle artists (Stevie B, Pebbles) in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. This one’s special, though. How can you be mad when you hear “So Very Hard to Go” in the movie theater?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.yeastiegirlz.com/our-story\">Yeastie Girlz\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The character Tina wears a T-shirt of this Berkeley-based feminist acapella rap group, whose 7” made such an underground splash that Pearl Jam’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxVpql6_JxrwEdAnCU5GUc1y87dwKcroda\">Eddie Vedder sang one of its songs onstage\u003c/a>; their song “You Suck” was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0xTqwKMOyk\">sampled by TV Girl\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "freaky-tales-true-stories-pedro-pascal-too-short-924-gilman-oakland",
"title": "The Real-Life Tales Behind ‘Freaky Tales’",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was not your usual Wednesday night at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grand-lake-theatre\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside Oakland’s movie palace in March, Hollywood actors made their way down the red carpet. Rap legends and punk OGs mingled beneath the marquee. Fans got on their tiptoes behind the line of TV cameras, jockeying for a glimpse of the film’s star, Pedro Pascal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Premieres at the Grand Lake are always exciting, but they’re extra special when the movie is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974034/freaky-tales-movie-easter-eggs-locations-cameos-oakland\">filmed and set in Oakland\u003c/a>. \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, from screenwriting and directing team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (\u003cem>Half Nelson, Captain Marvel\u003c/em>), is a revenge-fantasy flick that takes place in the year 1987. It’s filmed at Oakland landmarks, including the Oakland Coliseum, Giant Burger and the old Loard’s ice cream parlor on Coolidge and MacArthur. Marshawn Lynch and Rancid’s Tim Armstrong make cameos, as does Oakland rap icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, who narrates and helped produce the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans crowd the sidewalk for the ‘Freaky Tales’ special screening at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedro Pascal poses on the red carpet before the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s full, in other words, of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974034/freaky-tales-movie-easter-eggs-locations-cameos-oakland\">people and locations that carry name recognition for locals\u003c/a>. But nationally, Oakland has never quite received proper credit for its contributions to American culture at large. As rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921058/watch-rising-oakland-rap-star-symbas-tiny-desk-concert\">Symba\u003c/a>, who plays Too Short in the film, remarked on the red carpet, “People get their curations, their whole make-up, from things that we created here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, then, is a movie about a town with a permanent underdog complex — and, fittingly, it’s told through different chapters, interconnected by Pascal’s performance as a hitman, that have underdogs as their heroes. A ragtag bunch of pacifist punk rockers beats up a crew of Nazi skinheads. Two teenage girls in a rap battle rip to shreds a rapper known for objectifying women. A basketball point guard comes alive for a mind-blowing fourth quarter in a historic comeback win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The freakiest thing of all? These are events that really happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis as Sleepy Floyd in ‘Freaky Tales,’ surrounded by other actors in a scene outside the Oakland Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, the events depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> involved people who are still around to witness what likely seemed impossible 38 years ago: a Hollywood movie with Oakland as its true star. Here are some of their real-life tales.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Punching Nazis: A punk love story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first chapter of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> follows young couple Tina (Ji-young Yoo) and Lucid (Jack Champion) as they navigate an increasing menace to their home-base punk collective of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/924-gilman\">924 Gilman\u003c/a>: neo-Nazi skinheads, who barge into shows, knock people to the ground, assault girls and women and destroy band equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After taking a vote led by security guard Greg (LeQuan Antonio Bennett), the punks decide to fight back. During an Operation Ivy show at the Berkeley club, the Nazi skinheads return, but this time they’re met by a wall of punks armed with bats, chains and trash can lids. Battered in the ensuing brawl, the defeated Nazis pile into their smashed and dented pickup truck and drive away to the El Cerrito hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1920x1439.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Nazi skinheads approaches punk club 924 Gilman in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 1987, skinheads caused trouble at punk shows around the country, including at 924 Gilman in Berkeley, pictured. \u003ccite>(Murray Bowles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Minus a few details, the chapter is remarkably true to real-life events. Fleck and Boden had a good roadmap: the fight is recalled at length in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13239750/the-definitive-documentary-on-east-bay-punk-is-coming-pit-warning\">the East Bay punk documentary \u003cem>Turn It Around\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, directed by Gilman alum Corbett Redford, who came on as a technical advisor for the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Greg” in the film is based on George Stephens, a.k.a. George Hated, who in 1987 lived in West Oakland, sang in the band The Hated and served as head of security at Gilman. In an interview, Stephens, now 57, recalled walking out to the sidewalk that night and seeing Nondo, his friend who was also working security, lying in the gutter outside the front door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13974034']“And there were three Nazis standing over him, one holding a bat. So I grabbed the bat out of the guy’s hands and hit the three of them, got Nondo up, and got him inside,” Stephens said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On any other night, that might have been the end of it. But just like in the film, the punks at Gilman had vowed to fight, and emptied into the street. Even Dave Dictor, the singer of “peace-punk” band MDC, who were headlining that night, joined in wielding an aluminum crutch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More people came out, and it turned into an absolute mess,” said Stephens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">George Stephens today, pictured in Alameda on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kamala Parks, who co-founded Gilman and drummed in several bands, remembered the nuanced deliberations about retaliating against Nazis among volunteers at the club, whose door rules stated “No Fighting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks who had previously taken a more pacifist standpoint had been convinced to fight back, mainly because skinhead violence had gotten more pronounced,” she said. (Parks herself had been punched in the face by a skinhead during a previous melee across town.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the brawl outside Gilman, the punks had won. They even chased the Nazis across the street and smashed up their pickup truck before the skinheads sped away, fleeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1025px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1025\" height=\"1319\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg 1025w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-800x1029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-1020x1313.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-768x988.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1025px) 100vw, 1025px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Clockwise from upper left) Kamala Parks drums with Cringer at 924 Gilman in 1990; the flyer for the show at Gilman on the night of the Nazi brawl, May 17, 1987; George Hated sings with the Hated at Gilman in 1992; rules posted at Gilman’s front door. \u003ccite>(Murray Bowles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My heart was pounding right out of my chest,” Dave Dictor, MDC’s singer, recalled in \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29363293-mdc\">his 2016 autobiography\u003c/a>. “Right after the battle it was time to get on stage and sing, but I was too numb to be able to change gears to talk about it from the stage. As I remember, we just plowed through the set.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those mixed emotions were real, Parks said. “There was euphoria, but there’s dread, because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You don’t know if they’re going to come back with a bigger group of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973991\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13973991 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Parks today, pictured in downtown Oakland on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Parks stayed on edge for a few weeks afterward. Amazingly, the Nazis never came back to Gilman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Stephens points out, though, they never went away for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, we live in America,” Stephens said. “It’s not surprising that the Proud Boys are back. That fringe has never really gone away in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">924 Gilman St. in Berkeley on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>You want a bit of danger, step into my zone\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Ryan will tell you, he’s been pitching me a version of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> for literally 15 years,” said Anna Boden, the film’s co-writer and co-director, in an interview. Her filmmaking partner, Ryan Fleck, grew up in Oakland; Boden in Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And he grew up listening to Too Short’s music and I did not. And so I was listening to Too Short’s music for the first time as a grown woman. And it was, like, a \u003cem>very\u003c/em> different experience for me than it was for Ryan,” she said of Short’s explicit and often misogynist subject material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1208px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973969\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1208\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB.jpg 1208w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-800x396.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-1020x505.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-768x380.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1208px) 100vw, 1208px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short on the cover of his single ‘Freaky Tales,’ circa 1988; at right, Short’s early rap partner Freddy B in 1992. \u003ccite>(Dangerous Music/Serious Sounds)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But one song stuck out for Boden. In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSYngzHOsY\">Don’t Fight the Feelin’\u003c/a>” from the 1989 album \u003cem>Life Is… Too Short\u003c/em>, Short trades verses with a female rap duo called Danger Zone, who insult his bankroll, poke fun at his bad breath and make repeated references to his size below the belt: “Do they call you Short because of your height or your width? / Diss me boy, I’ll hang your balls from a cliff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boden knew she had found her entry to the story. “Hearing him allow himself to be taken down by these young women was kind of mind-blowing to me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the film, Barbie and Entice from Danger Zone are approached by Lenny G (the rapper Stunnaman02, in a role based on Short’s early rap partner \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">Freddy B\u003c/a>) to battle Short onstage at the Town’s hottest nightclub, Sweet Jimmie’s. Dubious of the proposition, but tired of being mistreated at their day job scooping ice cream, they accept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973921\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973921\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Dominique Thorne and Normani as Danger Zone’s Barbie and Entice in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The song unfolds in a thrilling scene, verse for verse, with actor and rapper Symba portraying Short’s hunched gait and coy taunting. (Symba asked Short for pointers, “and he sent me four videos, and was like, ‘Just embody this, and you’ll be alright,’” he said.) Danger Zone, meanwhile, keep coming back with heat, and win over the crowd. By the end, Short daps up the girls, conceding a draw, if not defeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reality, “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” came together in the studio, not on stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Tamra Goins is a talent agent in L.A. But in 1987, she was Entice — the 15-year-old East Oakland girl who linked up with her cousin, Bailey Brown, to form Danger Zone. They’d met Short through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934715/kimmie-fresh-real-freaky-tales-oakland\">the female rap pioneer Kimmie Fresh\u003c/a> years before recording “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” she said in an interview. Danger Zone had even been signed to Short’s Dangerous Music label, which released their song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMjOBASvbc\">Jailbait\u003c/a>,” a blunt warning to underage girls about predatory men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 944px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"808\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone.jpg 944w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-800x685.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-160x137.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-768x657.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fifteen-year-old cousins Bailey Brown and Tamra Goins, a.k.a. Barbie and Entice of Danger Zone, pictured in 1988. \u003ccite>(Dangerous Music)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Short’s manager, Randy Austin, pitched the concept for “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” to be included on Short’s next full-length album, Goins was hesitant, just like her character in the movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re terrified, right? Because one, we’re kids. Two, Short was known to call people head doctors. I think I was still a virgin! So we just were terrified of what he could possibly say,” Goins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laying down the track at engineer Al Eaton’s One Little Indian studio in Richmond — essentially Eaton’s living room — Goins and Brown came for Short so viciously that the men present, like rappers Spice 1 and Rappin’ 4-Tay, kept laughing and ruining the take. “They’re running out of the house, cracking up, laughing,” said Goins. “We can’t even get through it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Co-director Ryan Fleck high-fives Tamra Goins, a.k.a. Entice from Danger Zone, ahead of the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Short was similarly unprepared for Danger Zone’s verses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We made the song, I did my two verses. And it was supposed to be about an old dude pullin’ up in his car flirting with these young girls,” Short explained on Nick Cannon’s \u003cem>We Playin’ Spades\u003c/em> podcast. “My verse was kinda nice. And they came back rippin’ me to shreds!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13934715']Short was rattled, but “I went home and listened to it, and I was like, ‘Damn, this is kind of cool … let me go back and talk a lotta shit about \u003cem>them\u003c/em>, and it’ll be a crazy song!’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After redoing his verses to match Danger Zone’s venom and adding Rappin’ 4-Tay to the track, the song grew to a ridiculous length of over 8 minutes. \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#kimmie-fresh-answers-too-shorts-freaky-tales-with-the-girls-story\">Kimmie Fresh had released her own eight-minute diss track to Short\u003c/a>, but this was men and women on the same song, a battle of the sexes on wax. Short knew it was gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973963\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973963\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-800x485.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1020x619.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-768x466.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1536x932.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1920x1164.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danger Zone’s Tamra Goins (Entice) at far left, and Bailey Brown (Barbie) third from left, in a group photo of the cast and crew of ‘Freaky Tales’ at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the song’s legendary status, Danger Zone never performed “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” live onstage with Short, as depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. (Goins and Short have done the song without Brown a handful of times at cruises and sorority events.) Brown, who later traveled the world as a dancer for MC Hammer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@getaroundwithbaileybrown\">currently lives in Ghana\u003c/a> most of the year, scriptwriting and producing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 53, Goins is proud of the song’s longevity among fans like Shaquille O’Neal, who lovingly \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/APrhXcftYPs?feature=shared&t=204\">goaded her into performing it on \u003cem>Sway’s Universe\u003c/em> in 2011\u003c/a>. But it comes with a dash of concern for her former 15-year-old self, rapping so brazenly amid the older pimps and players that inspired “Jailbait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I’ll look back at the lyrics and I go, ‘Oh!’” she said. “I’m a mom now. I’ll be like, ‘And why was your name \u003cem>Entice\u003c/em>?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1427px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1427\" height=\"1884\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987.jpg 1427w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-800x1056.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-1020x1347.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-160x211.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-768x1014.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-1163x1536.jpg 1163w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1427px) 100vw, 1427px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Golden State Warriors’ Eric ‘Sleepy’ Floyd drives to the basket past Los Angeles Lakers’ James Worthy during their playoff game at the Oakland Arena on May 10, 1987. Floyd scored an NBA playoff record-setting 29 points in the fourth quarter, 12 field goals in the same quarter and 39 points in a half, to lead the Warriors to a 129-121 victory over the Lakers. \u003ccite>(Gary Reyes/Oakland Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A warrior in more ways than one\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ final chapter revolves around a story so well-known that it’s in the record books. In Game 4 of the 1987 NBA playoffs, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/warriors\">Warriors\u003c/a> were down 3-0 against the Lakers and trailed 102-88 going into the fourth quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of nowhere, Eric “Sleepy” Floyd roared into action, scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Warriors to victory. Game announcer Greg Papa, baffled and slightly hoarse, was moved to exclaim, “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/u1sVoWIhUKg?feature=shared&t=135\">Sleepy Floyd is Superman!\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It still stands today as the NBA postseason record for the most points scored by a player in a single quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973835\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric ‘Sleepy’ Floyd enters the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside the Grand Lake last month, Sleepy Floyd seemed surprised and humbled that his achievement is now part of a Hollywood film. Calling \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> “a love song to Oakland,” the point guard, now 65 and living in his home state of North Carolina, remarked that “just to have it centered around that game, truly I’m just blessed and honored to be a part of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floyd, who in the same matchup against the Lakers also set the record for the most points scored in a half of a playoff game with 39, is portrayed in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> by Jay Ellis (\u003cem>Insecure, Top Gun: Maverick\u003c/em>). Without giving away too much, Sleepy Floyd becomes the star of the film’s climax, diverging drastically from real-life events, complete with supernatural samurai skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They made me look a lot cooler than I actually am,” Floyd said with a chuckle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973842\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973842\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ‘Freaky Tales’ cast, with Pedro Pascal and Jay Ellis at center, pose on the red carpet ahead of the Oakland premiere at the Grand Lake Theater on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Gilman punks’ beatdown, Danger Zone’s dominance, Sleepy Floyd’s fireworks — \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> makes clear to a nationwide moviegoing audience what Oakland has always known about itself: this is a place of amazing people, events and stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about Oakland on the red carpet at the Grand Lake premiere, Pedro Pascal put it simply: “It’s the raddest city in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Freaky Tales’ opens in wide release on Friday, April 4. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "‘Freaky Tales’ Is Based on These Crazy-But-True Stories From Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was not your usual Wednesday night at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grand-lake-theatre\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside Oakland’s movie palace in March, Hollywood actors made their way down the red carpet. Rap legends and punk OGs mingled beneath the marquee. Fans got on their tiptoes behind the line of TV cameras, jockeying for a glimpse of the film’s star, Pedro Pascal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Premieres at the Grand Lake are always exciting, but they’re extra special when the movie is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974034/freaky-tales-movie-easter-eggs-locations-cameos-oakland\">filmed and set in Oakland\u003c/a>. \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, from screenwriting and directing team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (\u003cem>Half Nelson, Captain Marvel\u003c/em>), is a revenge-fantasy flick that takes place in the year 1987. It’s filmed at Oakland landmarks, including the Oakland Coliseum, Giant Burger and the old Loard’s ice cream parlor on Coolidge and MacArthur. Marshawn Lynch and Rancid’s Tim Armstrong make cameos, as does Oakland rap icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, who narrates and helped produce the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-114-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans crowd the sidewalk for the ‘Freaky Tales’ special screening at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-73-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedro Pascal poses on the red carpet before the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s full, in other words, of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974034/freaky-tales-movie-easter-eggs-locations-cameos-oakland\">people and locations that carry name recognition for locals\u003c/a>. But nationally, Oakland has never quite received proper credit for its contributions to American culture at large. As rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921058/watch-rising-oakland-rap-star-symbas-tiny-desk-concert\">Symba\u003c/a>, who plays Too Short in the film, remarked on the red carpet, “People get their curations, their whole make-up, from things that we created here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, then, is a movie about a town with a permanent underdog complex — and, fittingly, it’s told through different chapters, interconnected by Pascal’s performance as a hitman, that have underdogs as their heroes. A ragtag bunch of pacifist punk rockers beats up a crew of Nazi skinheads. Two teenage girls in a rap battle rip to shreds a rapper known for objectifying women. A basketball point guard comes alive for a mind-blowing fourth quarter in a historic comeback win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The freakiest thing of all? These are events that really happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_01151RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jay Ellis as Sleepy Floyd in ‘Freaky Tales,’ surrounded by other actors in a scene outside the Oakland Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, the events depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> involved people who are still around to witness what likely seemed impossible 38 years ago: a Hollywood movie with Oakland as its true star. Here are some of their real-life tales.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Punching Nazis: A punk love story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first chapter of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> follows young couple Tina (Ji-young Yoo) and Lucid (Jack Champion) as they navigate an increasing menace to their home-base punk collective of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/924-gilman\">924 Gilman\u003c/a>: neo-Nazi skinheads, who barge into shows, knock people to the ground, assault girls and women and destroy band equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After taking a vote led by security guard Greg (LeQuan Antonio Bennett), the punks decide to fight back. During an Operation Ivy show at the Berkeley club, the Nazi skinheads return, but this time they’re met by a wall of punks armed with bats, chains and trash can lids. Battered in the ensuing brawl, the defeated Nazis pile into their smashed and dented pickup truck and drive away to the El Cerrito hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SkinheadLineup-1920x1439.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Nazi skinheads approaches punk club 924 Gilman in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GILMAN-143-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 1987, skinheads caused trouble at punk shows around the country, including at 924 Gilman in Berkeley, pictured. \u003ccite>(Murray Bowles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Minus a few details, the chapter is remarkably true to real-life events. Fleck and Boden had a good roadmap: the fight is recalled at length in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13239750/the-definitive-documentary-on-east-bay-punk-is-coming-pit-warning\">the East Bay punk documentary \u003cem>Turn It Around\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, directed by Gilman alum Corbett Redford, who came on as a technical advisor for the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Greg” in the film is based on George Stephens, a.k.a. George Hated, who in 1987 lived in West Oakland, sang in the band The Hated and served as head of security at Gilman. In an interview, Stephens, now 57, recalled walking out to the sidewalk that night and seeing Nondo, his friend who was also working security, lying in the gutter outside the front door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“And there were three Nazis standing over him, one holding a bat. So I grabbed the bat out of the guy’s hands and hit the three of them, got Nondo up, and got him inside,” Stephens said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On any other night, that might have been the end of it. But just like in the film, the punks at Gilman had vowed to fight, and emptied into the street. Even Dave Dictor, the singer of “peace-punk” band MDC, who were headlining that night, joined in wielding an aluminum crutch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More people came out, and it turned into an absolute mess,” said Stephens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-07-KQED-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">George Stephens today, pictured in Alameda on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kamala Parks, who co-founded Gilman and drummed in several bands, remembered the nuanced deliberations about retaliating against Nazis among volunteers at the club, whose door rules stated “No Fighting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks who had previously taken a more pacifist standpoint had been convinced to fight back, mainly because skinhead violence had gotten more pronounced,” she said. (Parks herself had been punched in the face by a skinhead during a previous melee across town.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the brawl outside Gilman, the punks had won. They even chased the Nazis across the street and smashed up their pickup truck before the skinheads sped away, fleeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1025px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1025\" height=\"1319\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_.jpg 1025w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-800x1029.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-1020x1313.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Kamla.Flyer_.George.Rules_-768x988.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1025px) 100vw, 1025px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Clockwise from upper left) Kamala Parks drums with Cringer at 924 Gilman in 1990; the flyer for the show at Gilman on the night of the Nazi brawl, May 17, 1987; George Hated sings with the Hated at Gilman in 1992; rules posted at Gilman’s front door. \u003ccite>(Murray Bowles)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My heart was pounding right out of my chest,” Dave Dictor, MDC’s singer, recalled in \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29363293-mdc\">his 2016 autobiography\u003c/a>. “Right after the battle it was time to get on stage and sing, but I was too numb to be able to change gears to talk about it from the stage. As I remember, we just plowed through the set.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those mixed emotions were real, Parks said. “There was euphoria, but there’s dread, because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You don’t know if they’re going to come back with a bigger group of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973991\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13973991 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-05-KQED-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Parks today, pictured in downtown Oakland on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Parks stayed on edge for a few weeks afterward. Amazingly, the Nazis never came back to Gilman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Stephens points out, though, they never went away for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, we live in America,” Stephens said. “It’s not surprising that the Proud Boys are back. That fringe has never really gone away in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250401-VARIOUS-FREAKY-TALES-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">924 Gilman St. in Berkeley on April 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>You want a bit of danger, step into my zone\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Ryan will tell you, he’s been pitching me a version of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> for literally 15 years,” said Anna Boden, the film’s co-writer and co-director, in an interview. Her filmmaking partner, Ryan Fleck, grew up in Oakland; Boden in Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And he grew up listening to Too Short’s music and I did not. And so I was listening to Too Short’s music for the first time as a grown woman. And it was, like, a \u003cem>very\u003c/em> different experience for me than it was for Ryan,” she said of Short’s explicit and often misogynist subject material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973969\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1208px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973969\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1208\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB.jpg 1208w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-800x396.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-1020x505.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Short.FreddyB-768x380.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1208px) 100vw, 1208px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Too Short on the cover of his single ‘Freaky Tales,’ circa 1988; at right, Short’s early rap partner Freddy B in 1992. \u003ccite>(Dangerous Music/Serious Sounds)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But one song stuck out for Boden. In “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSYngzHOsY\">Don’t Fight the Feelin’\u003c/a>” from the 1989 album \u003cem>Life Is… Too Short\u003c/em>, Short trades verses with a female rap duo called Danger Zone, who insult his bankroll, poke fun at his bad breath and make repeated references to his size below the belt: “Do they call you Short because of your height or your width? / Diss me boy, I’ll hang your balls from a cliff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boden knew she had found her entry to the story. “Hearing him allow himself to be taken down by these young women was kind of mind-blowing to me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the film, Barbie and Entice from Danger Zone are approached by Lenny G (the rapper Stunnaman02, in a role based on Short’s early rap partner \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#too-short-and-freddy-b-start-making-handmade-tapes\">Freddy B\u003c/a>) to battle Short onstage at the Town’s hottest nightclub, Sweet Jimmie’s. Dubious of the proposition, but tired of being mistreated at their day job scooping ice cream, they accept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973921\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973921\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/FT_00825RC2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Dominique Thorne and Normani as Danger Zone’s Barbie and Entice in a scene from ‘Freaky Tales.’ \u003ccite>(Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The song unfolds in a thrilling scene, verse for verse, with actor and rapper Symba portraying Short’s hunched gait and coy taunting. (Symba asked Short for pointers, “and he sent me four videos, and was like, ‘Just embody this, and you’ll be alright,’” he said.) Danger Zone, meanwhile, keep coming back with heat, and win over the crowd. By the end, Short daps up the girls, conceding a draw, if not defeat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reality, “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” came together in the studio, not on stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Tamra Goins is a talent agent in L.A. But in 1987, she was Entice — the 15-year-old East Oakland girl who linked up with her cousin, Bailey Brown, to form Danger Zone. They’d met Short through \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934715/kimmie-fresh-real-freaky-tales-oakland\">the female rap pioneer Kimmie Fresh\u003c/a> years before recording “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” she said in an interview. Danger Zone had even been signed to Short’s Dangerous Music label, which released their song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMjOBASvbc\">Jailbait\u003c/a>,” a blunt warning to underage girls about predatory men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 944px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"808\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone.jpg 944w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-800x685.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-160x137.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/DangerZone-768x657.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fifteen-year-old cousins Bailey Brown and Tamra Goins, a.k.a. Barbie and Entice of Danger Zone, pictured in 1988. \u003ccite>(Dangerous Music)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Short’s manager, Randy Austin, pitched the concept for “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” to be included on Short’s next full-length album, Goins was hesitant, just like her character in the movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re terrified, right? Because one, we’re kids. Two, Short was known to call people head doctors. I think I was still a virgin! So we just were terrified of what he could possibly say,” Goins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laying down the track at engineer Al Eaton’s One Little Indian studio in Richmond — essentially Eaton’s living room — Goins and Brown came for Short so viciously that the men present, like rappers Spice 1 and Rappin’ 4-Tay, kept laughing and ruining the take. “They’re running out of the house, cracking up, laughing,” said Goins. “We can’t even get through it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-33-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Co-director Ryan Fleck high-fives Tamra Goins, a.k.a. Entice from Danger Zone, ahead of the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Short was similarly unprepared for Danger Zone’s verses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We made the song, I did my two verses. And it was supposed to be about an old dude pullin’ up in his car flirting with these young girls,” Short explained on Nick Cannon’s \u003cem>We Playin’ Spades\u003c/em> podcast. “My verse was kinda nice. And they came back rippin’ me to shreds!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Short was rattled, but “I went home and listened to it, and I was like, ‘Damn, this is kind of cool … let me go back and talk a lotta shit about \u003cem>them\u003c/em>, and it’ll be a crazy song!’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After redoing his verses to match Danger Zone’s venom and adding Rappin’ 4-Tay to the track, the song grew to a ridiculous length of over 8 minutes. \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#kimmie-fresh-answers-too-shorts-freaky-tales-with-the-girls-story\">Kimmie Fresh had released her own eight-minute diss track to Short\u003c/a>, but this was men and women on the same song, a battle of the sexes on wax. Short knew it was gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973963\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973963\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-800x485.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1020x619.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-768x466.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1536x932.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/GettyImages-1943659116-1920x1164.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danger Zone’s Tamra Goins (Entice) at far left, and Bailey Brown (Barbie) third from left, in a group photo of the cast and crew of ‘Freaky Tales’ at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024. \u003ccite>(Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the song’s legendary status, Danger Zone never performed “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” live onstage with Short, as depicted in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>. (Goins and Short have done the song without Brown a handful of times at cruises and sorority events.) Brown, who later traveled the world as a dancer for MC Hammer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@getaroundwithbaileybrown\">currently lives in Ghana\u003c/a> most of the year, scriptwriting and producing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 53, Goins is proud of the song’s longevity among fans like Shaquille O’Neal, who lovingly \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/APrhXcftYPs?feature=shared&t=204\">goaded her into performing it on \u003cem>Sway’s Universe\u003c/em> in 2011\u003c/a>. But it comes with a dash of concern for her former 15-year-old self, rapping so brazenly amid the older pimps and players that inspired “Jailbait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I’ll look back at the lyrics and I go, ‘Oh!’” she said. “I’m a mom now. I’ll be like, ‘And why was your name \u003cem>Entice\u003c/em>?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1427px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1427\" height=\"1884\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987.jpg 1427w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-800x1056.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-1020x1347.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-160x211.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-768x1014.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/SleepyFloyd.May101987-1163x1536.jpg 1163w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1427px) 100vw, 1427px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Golden State Warriors’ Eric ‘Sleepy’ Floyd drives to the basket past Los Angeles Lakers’ James Worthy during their playoff game at the Oakland Arena on May 10, 1987. Floyd scored an NBA playoff record-setting 29 points in the fourth quarter, 12 field goals in the same quarter and 39 points in a half, to lead the Warriors to a 129-121 victory over the Lakers. \u003ccite>(Gary Reyes/Oakland Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A warrior in more ways than one\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>’ final chapter revolves around a story so well-known that it’s in the record books. In Game 4 of the 1987 NBA playoffs, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/warriors\">Warriors\u003c/a> were down 3-0 against the Lakers and trailed 102-88 going into the fourth quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of nowhere, Eric “Sleepy” Floyd roared into action, scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Warriors to victory. Game announcer Greg Papa, baffled and slightly hoarse, was moved to exclaim, “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/u1sVoWIhUKg?feature=shared&t=135\">Sleepy Floyd is Superman!\u003c/a>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It still stands today as the NBA postseason record for the most points scored by a player in a single quarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973835\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-7-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric ‘Sleepy’ Floyd enters the ‘Freaky Tales’ premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside the Grand Lake last month, Sleepy Floyd seemed surprised and humbled that his achievement is now part of a Hollywood film. Calling \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> “a love song to Oakland,” the point guard, now 65 and living in his home state of North Carolina, remarked that “just to have it centered around that game, truly I’m just blessed and honored to be a part of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Floyd, who in the same matchup against the Lakers also set the record for the most points scored in a half of a playoff game with 39, is portrayed in \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> by Jay Ellis (\u003cem>Insecure, Top Gun: Maverick\u003c/em>). Without giving away too much, Sleepy Floyd becomes the star of the film’s climax, diverging drastically from real-life events, complete with supernatural samurai skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They made me look a lot cooler than I actually am,” Floyd said with a chuckle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973842\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973842\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/20250319_FREAKYTALES_GC-110-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ‘Freaky Tales’ cast, with Pedro Pascal and Jay Ellis at center, pose on the red carpet ahead of the Oakland premiere at the Grand Lake Theater on March 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Gilman punks’ beatdown, Danger Zone’s dominance, Sleepy Floyd’s fireworks — \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> makes clear to a nationwide moviegoing audience what Oakland has always known about itself: this is a place of amazing people, events and stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about Oakland on the red carpet at the Grand Lake premiere, Pedro Pascal put it simply: “It’s the raddest city in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Freaky Tales’ opens in wide release on Friday, April 4. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball jersey and cap holds a baseball glove in his hand\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day stands on field before a game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 5, 2015 in Oakland, California. In the wake of the A’s departure from Oakland, the East Bay-raised rock star has since switched his allegiance to the Oakland Ballers, joining rapper Too Short as an investor in the franchise. \u003ccite>(Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6233qjZSTuE\">posted an video\u003c/a> from the Rogers Center in Toronto, showing the East Bay-raised rock star spray painting over the stadium’s Oakland A’s logo with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C-JvddatdD3/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oakland Ballers logo\u003c/a>. The video, in a way, foreshadowed this week’s news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Ballers have announced that Armstrong, along with pioneering Oakland rapper and entrepreneur Too Short, are now investors in the Ballers. They join a long list of fans who also own a portion of the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/landing/index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ballers\u003c/a>, a second-year professional baseball franchise that plays in the independent Pioneer League, hosts their home games at West Oakland’s Raimondi Park. Last year, over the course of 48 home games, the team attracted more than 92,000 fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13960687']Ahead of the inaugural season, the team’s founders, Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman, opened the doors to potential investors. They hoped that local sports fans who’ve been dismayed by other franchises leaving Oakland would show up — and they did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2,200 people raised over $1.2 million dollars in support of the team. The Ballers are back at it this year, looking to raise $2 million. With the social collateral that Armstrong and Too Short bring, the team is well on its way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re delighted that Too $hort and Billie Joe Armstrong will be joining our ownership group, along with thousands of Oakland fan owners,” said Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman in\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/news/2025/03/too-short-billie-joe-armstrong-owner-community-invest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a statement\u003c/a>. “These two local legends were real supporters in our first season, and it’s great to now have them on board in a more formal capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://x.com/OaklandBallers/status/1809772352051507422\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/billie-joe-armstrong-too-short-oakland-ballers-1236155122/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter\u003c/a>, \u003c/em>Armstrong said that “after the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Too Short echoed his sentiments, telling the publication, “If I can’t brag on a big-league franchise I can brag on being a Baller.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11988883']The Ballers other co-founder, Carmel, said, “This isn’t a case of celebrities coming in to save the day. It’s a local team, and Billie Joe and Too $hort are just some better-known locals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong himself showed up to a ballers game last year in West Oakland, the neighborhood that inspired the Green Day song “Welcome to Paradise.” He is also an investor in the soccer club the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/\">Oakland Roots\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first game of the Oakland Ballers’ second season is scheduled for\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/sports/bsb/2025/schedule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> May 20\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball jersey and cap holds a baseball glove in his hand\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/bj.as_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day stands on field before a game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 5, 2015 in Oakland, California. In the wake of the A’s departure from Oakland, the East Bay-raised rock star has since switched his allegiance to the Oakland Ballers, joining rapper Too Short as an investor in the franchise. \u003ccite>(Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6233qjZSTuE\">posted an video\u003c/a> from the Rogers Center in Toronto, showing the East Bay-raised rock star spray painting over the stadium’s Oakland A’s logo with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C-JvddatdD3/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oakland Ballers logo\u003c/a>. The video, in a way, foreshadowed this week’s news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Ballers have announced that Armstrong, along with pioneering Oakland rapper and entrepreneur Too Short, are now investors in the Ballers. They join a long list of fans who also own a portion of the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/landing/index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ballers\u003c/a>, a second-year professional baseball franchise that plays in the independent Pioneer League, hosts their home games at West Oakland’s Raimondi Park. Last year, over the course of 48 home games, the team attracted more than 92,000 fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ahead of the inaugural season, the team’s founders, Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman, opened the doors to potential investors. They hoped that local sports fans who’ve been dismayed by other franchises leaving Oakland would show up — and they did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2,200 people raised over $1.2 million dollars in support of the team. The Ballers are back at it this year, looking to raise $2 million. With the social collateral that Armstrong and Too Short bring, the team is well on its way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re delighted that Too $hort and Billie Joe Armstrong will be joining our ownership group, along with thousands of Oakland fan owners,” said Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman in\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/news/2025/03/too-short-billie-joe-armstrong-owner-community-invest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> a statement\u003c/a>. “These two local legends were real supporters in our first season, and it’s great to now have them on board in a more formal capacity.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>In an interview with \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/billie-joe-armstrong-too-short-oakland-ballers-1236155122/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter\u003c/a>, \u003c/em>Armstrong said that “after the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Too Short echoed his sentiments, telling the publication, “If I can’t brag on a big-league franchise I can brag on being a Baller.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Ballers other co-founder, Carmel, said, “This isn’t a case of celebrities coming in to save the day. It’s a local team, and Billie Joe and Too $hort are just some better-known locals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong himself showed up to a ballers game last year in West Oakland, the neighborhood that inspired the Green Day song “Welcome to Paradise.” He is also an investor in the soccer club the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandrootssc.com/\">Oakland Roots\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first game of the Oakland Ballers’ second season is scheduled for\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandballers.com/sports/bsb/2025/schedule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> May 20\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ever since everyone’s favorite internet daddy Pedro Pascal \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jemmawei/status/1592971050899292162\">was first spotted\u003c/a> filming near the Fox Theater in late 2022, Bay Area movie lovers have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922548/too-short-way-oakland-street-renamed\">buzzing with anticipation\u003c/a> for the Oakland-shot film \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Named after Oakland legend (and executive producer) Too Short’s 1987 hit single, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> drew so much excitement at last year’s Sundance Festival, organizers had to \u003ca href=\"https://flipscreened.com/2024/07/22/sundance-2024-review-freaky-tales/\">add a second screening\u003c/a> to the schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, more fuel to fan the flames: Lionsgate just dropped the official trailer, which is full of Easter eggs for Oakland locals from the opening shot — an “East Bay Mix” mixtape getting popped into a car’s cassette deck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13922548']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>“The underdog believes he can do the impossible,” Pascal’s voiceover narration says. “Defeat the bully. Sell enough mixtapes to get out of the hood …”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cue the record scratch, as Too Short’s unmistakeable voice cuts in: “Now hold up, we’ve got to take it from the top.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2e8SYmofZM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who was raised in the East Bay), the duo behind \u003cem>Captain Marvel\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> is set in Oakland in 1987 and looks to be firmly rooted in ’80s Bay Area hustle culture. The trailer is packed with local landmarks and references: the Mormon temple lit up at night. Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub, now known as the New Parish. Warriors legend Sleepy Floyd (who famously scored a record-setting 29 points in a fourth quarter playoff upset against the Lakers) sword-fighting (!) against Nazis (!!) outside punk club 924 Gilman (!!!).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while Late Night Video, the Telegraph Avenue video store where several pivotal scenes take place, isn’t real, the storefront is located right next door to a hair salon called \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/jazmine-african-hair-braiding-oakland\">Jasmine African Hair Braiding\u003c/a>, which very much is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972041\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30%E2%80%AFPM.png\" alt=\"Still shot from the 'Freaky Tales' trailer shows a "Late Night Video" storefront next to a braiding salon.\" width=\"2880\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM.png 2880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-800x417.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1020x531.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-160x83.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-768x400.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1536x800.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-2048x1067.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1920x1000.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Telegraph Avenue, as seen in the ‘Freaky Tales’ trailer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to Pascal, who plays a debt collector, \u003cem>Freaky Friday\u003c/em> also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis and the singer Normani, and it’s the last film in which the charismatic Oakland actor Angus Cloud appeared before he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932485/tributes-angus-cloud-euphoria-oakland-osa-kehlani-zendaya-kev-choice-jwalt\">died tragically in 2023\u003c/a>. Oakland icons Tom Hanks and Too Short himself also make cameos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t every day a story like this hit The Town,” Too Short’s narrator says toward the end of the trailer. Audiences will have a chance to see it for themselves on April 4, when the movie hits theaters nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ever since everyone’s favorite internet daddy Pedro Pascal \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jemmawei/status/1592971050899292162\">was first spotted\u003c/a> filming near the Fox Theater in late 2022, Bay Area movie lovers have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922548/too-short-way-oakland-street-renamed\">buzzing with anticipation\u003c/a> for the Oakland-shot film \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Named after Oakland legend (and executive producer) Too Short’s 1987 hit single, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> drew so much excitement at last year’s Sundance Festival, organizers had to \u003ca href=\"https://flipscreened.com/2024/07/22/sundance-2024-review-freaky-tales/\">add a second screening\u003c/a> to the schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, more fuel to fan the flames: Lionsgate just dropped the official trailer, which is full of Easter eggs for Oakland locals from the opening shot — an “East Bay Mix” mixtape getting popped into a car’s cassette deck.\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>“The underdog believes he can do the impossible,” Pascal’s voiceover narration says. “Defeat the bully. Sell enough mixtapes to get out of the hood …”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cue the record scratch, as Too Short’s unmistakeable voice cuts in: “Now hold up, we’ve got to take it from the top.”\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/-2e8SYmofZM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-2e8SYmofZM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who was raised in the East Bay), the duo behind \u003cem>Captain Marvel\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> is set in Oakland in 1987 and looks to be firmly rooted in ’80s Bay Area hustle culture. The trailer is packed with local landmarks and references: the Mormon temple lit up at night. Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub, now known as the New Parish. Warriors legend Sleepy Floyd (who famously scored a record-setting 29 points in a fourth quarter playoff upset against the Lakers) sword-fighting (!) against Nazis (!!) outside punk club 924 Gilman (!!!).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while Late Night Video, the Telegraph Avenue video store where several pivotal scenes take place, isn’t real, the storefront is located right next door to a hair salon called \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/jazmine-african-hair-braiding-oakland\">Jasmine African Hair Braiding\u003c/a>, which very much is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13972041\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13972041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30%E2%80%AFPM.png\" alt=\"Still shot from the 'Freaky Tales' trailer shows a "Late Night Video" storefront next to a braiding salon.\" width=\"2880\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM.png 2880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-800x417.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1020x531.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-160x83.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-768x400.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1536x800.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-2048x1067.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-18-at-1.48.30 PM-1920x1000.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Telegraph Avenue, as seen in the ‘Freaky Tales’ trailer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to Pascal, who plays a debt collector, \u003cem>Freaky Friday\u003c/em> also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis and the singer Normani, and it’s the last film in which the charismatic Oakland actor Angus Cloud appeared before he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932485/tributes-angus-cloud-euphoria-oakland-osa-kehlani-zendaya-kev-choice-jwalt\">died tragically in 2023\u003c/a>. Oakland icons Tom Hanks and Too Short himself also make cameos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t every day a story like this hit The Town,” Too Short’s narrator says toward the end of the trailer. Audiences will have a chance to see it for themselves on April 4, when the movie hits theaters nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "At NBA All-Star Weekend, True Bay Area Culture Thrived — If You Knew Where to Find It",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of basketball fanatics snaked around San Francisco’s Chinatown, awaiting the limited edition release of Nike’s Kobe Bryant “Year of the Snake” sneakers. Red and gold lanterns dangled above the narrow streets — where the city’s Lunar New Year parade would commence just days later — providing a natural and calculated backdrop for the shoe behemoth’s latest Asian-inspired drop. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To celebrate the moment, a nearby mural was unveiled by local artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tdk\">TDK Vogue\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/twinwallsmuralcompany/?hl=en\">Twin Walls\u003c/a>, depicting the late Bryant surrounded by Asian children, a black mamba and Chinese iconography. This clash of a global corporation and the multicultural, street-level talent of the Bay served as a bold reminder of the Bay Area’s vibrantly diverse, creatively imbued enclaves and intersections — just in time for NBA All-Star Weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spanning three days, the annual showcase of the most skilled basketballers in the world completely took over the Bay Area this past weekend, with hundreds of high-profile events scattered throughout greater San Francisco and Oakland. It provided no shortage of after-hours shenanigans that showcased the most eccentric — and most embarrassing — elements of today’s Bay Area culture in a series of concerts, parties and “activations” for fans visiting from around the globe (the NBA reported 34 nations in attendance at the weekend’s games).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971951\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kobe Bryant tribute mural titled ‘Mamba Mentality’ at Willie ‘Woo Woo’ Wong Playground in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The mural was completed by Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong of Twin Walls, TDK Vogue and Joseph Lopez for a Nike event held during NBA All-Star Weekend. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The weekend kicked off with the Rising Stars Game on Friday, which saw the NBA’s youngest talents going head-to-head against each other, with the victors facing off against the league’s most established stars in Sunday’s big game. Vallejo’s own rising star, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/larussell\">LaRussell\u003c/a>, stole the show with a halftime performance of a previously unreleased song based on All- Star Weekend. “I used to watch All-Star from the house, now we here” he announced to the crowd, before performing an acoustic version of “GT Coupe” from his extensive catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, LaRussell was a major force throughout the weekend, popping up as a guest at Jordan Brand-sponsored events, and delivering a cathartic, out-of-body live performance for a VIP crowd at Stephen Curry’s Club Thirty — the 11-time All-Star’s pop-up lounge hosted at Splash, a mega sports bar that just opened next door to Chase Center. With appearances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/saweetie\">Saweetie\u003c/a>, Too Short, P-Lo, Money B of Digital Underground, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mistah-fab\">Mistah F.A.B.\u003c/a> and Richie Rich, LaRussell lifted the predominantly Bay Area crowd with live-band renditions of regional anthems, including 2Pac’s “I Get Around,” P-Lo’s “Put Me On Something,” Mistah F.A.B.’s “N.E.W Oakland” and Mac Dre’s “Get Stupid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest of the weekend contained Bay Area Easter eggs and overt hat-tips alike to the region’s unique sound and history. Visuals of the Bay’s iconic bridges and architecture flashed on the arena jumbotron while Bay Area classics from Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” blared from the stadium-capacity speakers. Subtle touches, like ongoing audio clips of Too $hort instructing referees to “blow the whistle” during Saturday’s Three-Point Contest, added to the thoughtful incorporation of Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saweetie performs during the 74th NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center on Feb. 16, 2025 in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Sunday’s marquee game, a skit by onetime Bay Area resident Katt Williams about the Golden Gate Bridge set a comedic tone. E-40 and hall-of-famers Chris Mullin and Barry Bonds followed by introducing Raphael Saadiq for a pregame performance of Bay Area music, including covers of rock legends Metallica, Steve Miller, Santana and the Doobie Brothers. Oakland R&B legends En Vogue joined Saweetie, Too Short and E-40 for the halftime show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t all as smoothly executed as a Steph Curry layup in the paint; there were plenty of hollow moments and figurative air balls, too. The weekend’s most-publicized events and primetime headliners hinged on \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2025/02/why-is-sfs-nba-all-star-weekend-musical-lineup-so-meh/\">sauceless “meh” celebrities like Flo Rida and the Chainsmokers\u003c/a> rather than utilizing the Bay’s rich plentitude of local, fan-favorite artistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This meant the best happenings transpired off-site, often by invitation from local figures and entities who made a genuine effort to appease the Bay Area audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13971701'] A Marshawn Lynch event in Alameda featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913821/endeavors-agency-oakland-assan-jethmal-rozz-nash\">Hueman\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957194/seiji-oda-bay-area-rap-lo-fi-minimalist-hyphy\">Seiji Oda\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13920049/sydney-welchs-photography-features-the-latest-wave-of-bay-area-talent\">Sydney Welch\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june\">Larry June\u003c/a>’s (free) sold-out show at August Hall with his latest collaborators, \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/larry-june-2-chainz-the-alchemist-life-is-beautiful/\">2Chainz and the Alchemist\u003c/a>. San Francisco designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929529/sewing-new-life-into-levis-jeans\">Paolo Cui\u003c/a>’s involvement with Nike Tech Fleece to make customized, Japanese sashiko-sewn gear for NBA All-Stars like Victor Wembanyama. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936639/jubo-iguanas-filipino-burrito-juborrito-collaboration-san-jose\">Jubo Clothing\u003c/a>’s “For The Soil” drop. Filmmakers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928650/pens-pals-putting-on-for-tehran-in-the-bay\">Mohammad Gorjestani\u003c/a> and rappers like P-Lo (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">just released an album with the Golden State Warriors\u003c/a>) appearing at the Union and Jordan Brand sneaker release party at the St. Joseph’s Art Society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the quick-thrill moments of seeing a towering NBA legend like Tracy McGrady casually strolling past you on the street, the weekend’s magic was most palpable outside of the high-altitude stratosphere. Those priced out of the arena populated smaller experiences and All-Star themed parties at satellite venues, helping the Bay Area’s endlessly divergent culture to stand out. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971952\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans line up for an NBA All-Star Weekend event at Foot Locker in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Finding genuine community in a time of perilous, unyielding, AI-boosted capitalism feels harder than ever. For every community-centered, person-to-person interaction I had with local clothing designers, artists and advocates, I received an invitation from a faceless PR account for a brand-sponsored champagne tasting or corporate-funded afterparty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its worst, NBA All-Star in the Bay Area felt like “a big-ass commercial” (as my colleague \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969956/nba-all-star-game-different-bay-area-oakland-san-francisco\">Pendarvis Harshaw pointed out\u003c/a> during Saturday’s Dunk Contest). Picture a high-culture experience nefariously mixed with big-business interests, plus influencers like Mr. Beast and Kai Cenat, and packaged as sports entertainment. It’s harder than ever in our world to tell what’s for profit and what’s for poetry. Who does it for the love of the game of basketball, and who’s doing it to play the game of networking and market share? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I congratulated a local friend in the arts community who’d just finished a big brand sneaker collab for All-Star Weekend in their hometown of San Francisco, they responded with a somber reality: “Meh this was kinda wack… but I’m sure [visitors] can watch the influencers play.” As a voracious consumer of the NBA, and its constellation of stars and brand identities, to hear a trusted community member say their work was undervalued, even dismissed, gave me pause. That feeling was amplified throughout All-Star weekend, and that’s part of what we navigate daily as Bay Area people. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971950\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hoopbus, a basketball nonprofit, appeared at Bay Area schools and hosted free community events during NBA All-Star Weekend. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But it still felt hella good to see people come together like a giant regional family, proudly flaunting on a national stage our art, our spirit, our showmanship and our care for collective Bay Area success. I romped around in a newly released \u003ca href=\"https://www.lidshd.com/products/nba-all-star-nba-asg-x-grateful-dead-9forty-a-frame\">Grateful Dead All-Star snapback\u003c/a>, dapping people up in a city that felt more activated than I can remember in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a chance for us to show the industry what we have to offer,” LaRussell shared on stage. “Our light and our love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When stripped away of all the corporate elements, that’s exactly what we did, and continue to do, as a community: supply enough game and hustle to remain long after the NBA leaves town.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of basketball fanatics snaked around San Francisco’s Chinatown, awaiting the limited edition release of Nike’s Kobe Bryant “Year of the Snake” sneakers. Red and gold lanterns dangled above the narrow streets — where the city’s Lunar New Year parade would commence just days later — providing a natural and calculated backdrop for the shoe behemoth’s latest Asian-inspired drop. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To celebrate the moment, a nearby mural was unveiled by local artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tdk\">TDK Vogue\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/twinwallsmuralcompany/?hl=en\">Twin Walls\u003c/a>, depicting the late Bryant surrounded by Asian children, a black mamba and Chinese iconography. This clash of a global corporation and the multicultural, street-level talent of the Bay served as a bold reminder of the Bay Area’s vibrantly diverse, creatively imbued enclaves and intersections — just in time for NBA All-Star Weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spanning three days, the annual showcase of the most skilled basketballers in the world completely took over the Bay Area this past weekend, with hundreds of high-profile events scattered throughout greater San Francisco and Oakland. It provided no shortage of after-hours shenanigans that showcased the most eccentric — and most embarrassing — elements of today’s Bay Area culture in a series of concerts, parties and “activations” for fans visiting from around the globe (the NBA reported 34 nations in attendance at the weekend’s games).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971951\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.kobemural-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kobe Bryant tribute mural titled ‘Mamba Mentality’ at Willie ‘Woo Woo’ Wong Playground in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The mural was completed by Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong of Twin Walls, TDK Vogue and Joseph Lopez for a Nike event held during NBA All-Star Weekend. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The weekend kicked off with the Rising Stars Game on Friday, which saw the NBA’s youngest talents going head-to-head against each other, with the victors facing off against the league’s most established stars in Sunday’s big game. Vallejo’s own rising star, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/larussell\">LaRussell\u003c/a>, stole the show with a halftime performance of a previously unreleased song based on All- Star Weekend. “I used to watch All-Star from the house, now we here” he announced to the crowd, before performing an acoustic version of “GT Coupe” from his extensive catalog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, LaRussell was a major force throughout the weekend, popping up as a guest at Jordan Brand-sponsored events, and delivering a cathartic, out-of-body live performance for a VIP crowd at Stephen Curry’s Club Thirty — the 11-time All-Star’s pop-up lounge hosted at Splash, a mega sports bar that just opened next door to Chase Center. With appearances from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/saweetie\">Saweetie\u003c/a>, Too Short, P-Lo, Money B of Digital Underground, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mistah-fab\">Mistah F.A.B.\u003c/a> and Richie Rich, LaRussell lifted the predominantly Bay Area crowd with live-band renditions of regional anthems, including 2Pac’s “I Get Around,” P-Lo’s “Put Me On Something,” Mistah F.A.B.’s “N.E.W Oakland” and Mac Dre’s “Get Stupid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest of the weekend contained Bay Area Easter eggs and overt hat-tips alike to the region’s unique sound and history. Visuals of the Bay’s iconic bridges and architecture flashed on the arena jumbotron while Bay Area classics from Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” blared from the stadium-capacity speakers. Subtle touches, like ongoing audio clips of Too $hort instructing referees to “blow the whistle” during Saturday’s Three-Point Contest, added to the thoughtful incorporation of Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.saweetie-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saweetie performs during the 74th NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center on Feb. 16, 2025 in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Sunday’s marquee game, a skit by onetime Bay Area resident Katt Williams about the Golden Gate Bridge set a comedic tone. E-40 and hall-of-famers Chris Mullin and Barry Bonds followed by introducing Raphael Saadiq for a pregame performance of Bay Area music, including covers of rock legends Metallica, Steve Miller, Santana and the Doobie Brothers. Oakland R&B legends En Vogue joined Saweetie, Too Short and E-40 for the halftime show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t all as smoothly executed as a Steph Curry layup in the paint; there were plenty of hollow moments and figurative air balls, too. The weekend’s most-publicized events and primetime headliners hinged on \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2025/02/why-is-sfs-nba-all-star-weekend-musical-lineup-so-meh/\">sauceless “meh” celebrities like Flo Rida and the Chainsmokers\u003c/a> rather than utilizing the Bay’s rich plentitude of local, fan-favorite artistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This meant the best happenings transpired off-site, often by invitation from local figures and entities who made a genuine effort to appease the Bay Area audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> A Marshawn Lynch event in Alameda featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913821/endeavors-agency-oakland-assan-jethmal-rozz-nash\">Hueman\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13957194/seiji-oda-bay-area-rap-lo-fi-minimalist-hyphy\">Seiji Oda\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13920049/sydney-welchs-photography-features-the-latest-wave-of-bay-area-talent\">Sydney Welch\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june\">Larry June\u003c/a>’s (free) sold-out show at August Hall with his latest collaborators, \u003ca href=\"https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/larry-june-2-chainz-the-alchemist-life-is-beautiful/\">2Chainz and the Alchemist\u003c/a>. San Francisco designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929529/sewing-new-life-into-levis-jeans\">Paolo Cui\u003c/a>’s involvement with Nike Tech Fleece to make customized, Japanese sashiko-sewn gear for NBA All-Stars like Victor Wembanyama. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936639/jubo-iguanas-filipino-burrito-juborrito-collaboration-san-jose\">Jubo Clothing\u003c/a>’s “For The Soil” drop. Filmmakers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928650/pens-pals-putting-on-for-tehran-in-the-bay\">Mohammad Gorjestani\u003c/a> and rappers like P-Lo (who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971354/p-lo-for-the-soil-warriors-golden-state-entertainment-nba-all-star-weekend\">just released an album with the Golden State Warriors\u003c/a>) appearing at the Union and Jordan Brand sneaker release party at the St. Joseph’s Art Society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the quick-thrill moments of seeing a towering NBA legend like Tracy McGrady casually strolling past you on the street, the weekend’s magic was most palpable outside of the high-altitude stratosphere. Those priced out of the arena populated smaller experiences and All-Star themed parties at satellite venues, helping the Bay Area’s endlessly divergent culture to stand out. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971952\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.line_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans line up for an NBA All-Star Weekend event at Foot Locker in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Finding genuine community in a time of perilous, unyielding, AI-boosted capitalism feels harder than ever. For every community-centered, person-to-person interaction I had with local clothing designers, artists and advocates, I received an invitation from a faceless PR account for a brand-sponsored champagne tasting or corporate-funded afterparty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its worst, NBA All-Star in the Bay Area felt like “a big-ass commercial” (as my colleague \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969956/nba-all-star-game-different-bay-area-oakland-san-francisco\">Pendarvis Harshaw pointed out\u003c/a> during Saturday’s Dunk Contest). Picture a high-culture experience nefariously mixed with big-business interests, plus influencers like Mr. Beast and Kai Cenat, and packaged as sports entertainment. It’s harder than ever in our world to tell what’s for profit and what’s for poetry. Who does it for the love of the game of basketball, and who’s doing it to play the game of networking and market share? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I congratulated a local friend in the arts community who’d just finished a big brand sneaker collab for All-Star Weekend in their hometown of San Francisco, they responded with a somber reality: “Meh this was kinda wack… but I’m sure [visitors] can watch the influencers play.” As a voracious consumer of the NBA, and its constellation of stars and brand identities, to hear a trusted community member say their work was undervalued, even dismissed, gave me pause. That feeling was amplified throughout All-Star weekend, and that’s part of what we navigate daily as Bay Area people. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971950\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/NBAAllStar.bus_-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hoopbus, a basketball nonprofit, appeared at Bay Area schools and hosted free community events during NBA All-Star Weekend. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But it still felt hella good to see people come together like a giant regional family, proudly flaunting on a national stage our art, our spirit, our showmanship and our care for collective Bay Area success. I romped around in a newly released \u003ca href=\"https://www.lidshd.com/products/nba-all-star-nba-asg-x-grateful-dead-9forty-a-frame\">Grateful Dead All-Star snapback\u003c/a>, dapping people up in a city that felt more activated than I can remember in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a chance for us to show the industry what we have to offer,” LaRussell shared on stage. “Our light and our love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When stripped away of all the corporate elements, that’s exactly what we did, and continue to do, as a community: supply enough game and hustle to remain long after the NBA leaves town.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The city of Oakland is well known for punching above its weight when it comes to its influence on popular culture. In sports, entertainment, politics and more, the small town in the East Bay has produced numerous people who’ve left their mark on the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every once in a while, these stars descend from the cosmos and come together under one roof. This week offers just such an occasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, June 12 the nonprofit community-based organization \u003ca href=\"https://urbanpeacemovement.org/\">Urban Peace Movement\u003c/a> presents “\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thats-oakland-baby-tickets-908637157197?\">That’s Oakland, Baby!\u003c/a>”, a free town hall discussion with hip-hop icon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/too-short\">Too Short\u003c/a>, author and pop culture historian \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894159/from-oakland-to-black-girl-songbook-danyel-smith-stays-true-to-the-town\">Danyel Smith\u003c/a>, and legendary musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937961/tony-toni-tone-reunion-oakland-interview-paramount-theatre\">D’Wayne Wiggins\u003c/a> (of Tony! Toni! Toné!).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13959582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13959582\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Woman talking while sitting with laptop on knees in tall chair, man sits beside her on stage\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/IMG_0840-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Danyel Smith, on stage in San Francisco at The Battery, discussing her book, ‘Shine Bright: A Personal History of Black Women in Pop’ in June 2022. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The talented trio will discuss their individual journeys to stardom; all hail from East Oakland and represent a wide array of family and community experiences. They’ll also discuss the longstanding legacy of Oakland, covering the Town’s unique culture, deep musical history, the push toward innovation and the righteous fight for social justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their careers all three panelists have exhibited the indomitable spirit of resistance that’s ever-present in the people who come from the jewel of the East Bay. The conversation, taking place at the Oakland Tech’s auditorium, will be accompanied by a set from mix master \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/1djslowpoke/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DJ Slowpoke\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11690787/when-oakland-was-a-chocolate-city-a-brief-history-of-festival-at-the-lake\">Festival By the Lake\u003c/a> may be gone, but its spirit continues in the many free mini-festivals held around the shores of Lake Merritt. And an annual favorite, \u003ca href=\"https://urbanpeacemovement.org/event/town-up-tuesday-2024/\">Town Up Tuesday\u003c/a>, has booked its biggest headliner yet for Tuesday, May 21: Too Short. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How will a rap legend who routinely plays large arenas adapt to a lakeshore gazebo? It remains to be seen, but it’s completely free, so expect a huge crowd. Also performing are Town favorites \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934803/1100-himself-oakland-rapper-thizzler\">1100Himself\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925177/the-conscious-daughters-raps-sucka-free-thelma-and-louise-rewrote-the-rules\">Conscious Daughters\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCNlDgSQuLg\">Trunk Boiz\u003c/a> — a formidable lineup in its own right — but Too Short all but guarantees the biggest Town Up Tuesday yet. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13927349']Produced by the Oakland nonprofit Urban Peace Movement, Town Up Tuesday was conceived as a way to bring people together after the pandemic while simultaneously engaging young people with civic issues and upcoming elections. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The main message is about getting involved and paying attention to local issues that impact the everyday lives of people in Oakland and the Bay Area,” says Urban Peace Movement’s Nicole Lee. “Obviously we have a consequential election coming up in November, and we want people to be informed, and to pay attention to that election, especially at the local level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee herself grew up going to Festival By the Lake, and says she wants to help reinvigorate pride in Oakland — especially as San Francisco’s so-called doom-loop narrative migrates across the Bay to the Town. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11690787']As it turns out, Too Short agreed to perform in part because he feels the same way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s expressed to some of our team that he’s felt disheartened by the narrative about Oakland,” says Lee, “and how there are negative perceptions about Oakland that sometimes overshadow all the culture, creativity, innovation and social activism that comes from Oakland, and has had national and global impact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hosting Tuesday’s event are Mystic and DNas, and the rest of the lineup includes DJs Daghe & Emelle, plus Michael Sneed, 3Nise, the Animaniakz and Ms. Bria. (There’s two “surprise legendary artists” promised too.) There’s also double dutch sessions with Jump Squad 510, wellness services from Freedom Community Clinic, a kids’ area and more. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Town Up Tuesday is free, and takes place Tuesday, May 21, at the Edoff Memorial Bandstand on the northwestern shore of Lake Merritt. \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/urbanpeacemovement/posts/pfbid0WesdcR8QYmzriBXMM3FNZjYRzJzan8fERs7x2vUzJ2mLNWbJFzm1DboC7csW1HCnl\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
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},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"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/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
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