KQED’s Arts & Culture desk brings daily, in-depth cultural commentary and coverage of the Bay Area with a mission to enrich lives and inspire participation. Who We Are
The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant
Go to Cafe Colma for delicious kare-kare and halo-halo at 3 a.m.
Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness
The new series, based on creator Richard Gadd's one-man show, depicts queer sexuality as something that happens TO people.
East Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’
With a new show, a collective of Oakland's top-tier lens artists invites viewers to see beauty in the mundane.
nic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’
The fashionista, playwright, chef, thespian and 'master of fun' discusses her many artistic endeavors.
High Schoolers Give TLDR Versions of Rightnowish Episodes
The Drumbeat of Home: How Loco Bloco Keeps One Family Tethered to the Mission
As rehearsals heat up for this year's Carnaval, one 15-year-old dancer calls Loco Bloco 'like family.'
A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book
Ivan McClellan’s ‘Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture’ puts Black cowboys — male and female — front and center.
Funding for KQED Arts & Culture is provided by:
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Akonadi Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Yogen and Peggy Dalal, Diane B. Wilsey, the William and Gretchen Kimball Fund, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.
window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={"attachmentsReducer":{"audio_0":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_0","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"}}},"audio_1":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_1","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"}}},"audio_2":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_2","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"}}},"audio_3":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_3","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"}}},"audio_4":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_4","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"}}},"placeholder":{"type":"attachments","id":"placeholder","imgSizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-160x96.jpg","width":160,"height":96,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-800x478.jpg","width":800,"height":478,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1020x610.jpg","width":1020,"height":610,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-lrg":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1920x1148.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-med":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1180x705.jpg","width":1180,"height":705,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-sm":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-960x574.jpg","width":960,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xxsmall":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-240x143.jpg","width":240,"height":143,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xsmall":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-375x224.jpg","width":375,"height":224,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"small":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-520x311.jpg","width":520,"height":311,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xlarge":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1180x705.jpg","width":1180,"height":705,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1920x1148.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-32x32.jpg","width":32,"height":32,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-50x50.jpg","width":50,"height":50,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-64x64.jpg","width":64,"height":64,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-96x96.jpg","width":96,"height":96,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-128x128.jpg","width":128,"height":128,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"detail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-e1514998105161.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148}}},"arts_13956689":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956689","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956689","found":true},"title":"Cafe Colma - Eating Food - crop","publishDate":1714083434,"status":"inherit","parent":13956683,"modified":1714083554,"caption":"Located inside Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, Cafe Colma serves tasty Filipino dishes 24/7.","credit":"Raynato Castro","altTag":"Illustration of three men devouring halo-halo and other Filipino food at a diner counter.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-Food-crop.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956677":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956677","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956677","found":true},"title":"Richard Gadd as Donny in ‘Baby Reindeer.’","publishDate":1714079840,"status":"inherit","parent":13956676,"modified":1714080483,"caption":"Richard Gadd as Donny in ‘Baby Reindeer.’ ","credit":"Netflix","altTag":"A sheepish looking white man stands behind the bar of a pub.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-800x600.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-1020x765.jpg","width":1020,"height":765,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-160x120.jpg","width":160,"height":120,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-768x576.jpg","width":768,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-1536x1152.jpg","width":1536,"height":1152,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"2048x2048":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-2048x1536.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-1920x1440.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/br_101_unit_00558_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00558_rt-9cf2bc89853de0c5f82249a34d888111d499ea98-scaled-e1714080428799.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956621":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956621","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956621","found":true},"title":"People gather outside of an event at the Oakland Photo Workshop headquarters in Oakland's Chinatown.","publishDate":1713993873,"status":"inherit","parent":13956615,"modified":1713995612,"caption":"People gather outside of an event at the Oakland Photo Workshop headquarters in Oakland's Chinatown. ","credit":"Malcolm Wallace","altTag":"People gather outside of an event at the Oakland Photo Workshop headquarters in Oakland's Chinatown.","description":"People gather outside of an event at the Oakland Photo Workshop headquarters in Oakland's Chinatown. ","imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-768x512.jpg","width":768,"height":512,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"2048x2048":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-2048x1365.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-127-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956394":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956394","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956394","found":true},"title":"Screenshot 2024-04-23 at 11.20.49 AM","publishDate":1713896671,"status":"inherit","parent":13956388,"modified":1713921985,"caption":"nic feliciano aka Coco Machete poses at one of her favorite spots, Berkley's salvage yard, Urban Ore.","credit":"Kate Buenconsejo","altTag":"a woman wearing glasses with black hair and bangs strikes a pose with her hands shaped as finger guns toward the camera. in the background is construction materials like wooden planks and barrels found at a recycling depot.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-800x532.png","width":800,"height":532,"mimeType":"image/png"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-1020x678.png","width":1020,"height":678,"mimeType":"image/png"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-160x106.png","width":160,"height":106,"mimeType":"image/png"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-768x511.png","width":768,"height":511,"mimeType":"image/png"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-672x372.png","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/png"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM-1038x576.png","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/png"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-23-at-11.20.49 AM.png","width":1146,"height":762}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956630":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956630","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956630","found":true},"title":"YAB x RN","publishDate":1713996109,"status":"inherit","parent":13956528,"modified":1713996239,"caption":"From left to right (Rightnowish editor, Chris Hambrick. Youth Advisory Board members Maceo, Lyric, and Vanessa at KQED's HQ. ","credit":null,"altTag":null,"description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN-800x720.png","width":800,"height":720,"mimeType":"image/png"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN-160x144.png","width":160,"height":144,"mimeType":"image/png"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN-768x691.png","width":768,"height":691,"mimeType":"image/png"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN-672x372.png","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/png"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN-915x576.png","width":915,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/png"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/YAB-x-RN.png","width":915,"height":823}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956570":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956570","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956570","found":true},"title":"240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED","publishDate":1713977046,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1713991606,"caption":"Jediah Pratt (center), 15, tries on dance shoes during practice with Loco Bloco at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, during preparations for their performance in Carnaval.","credit":"Beth LaBerge/KQED","altTag":"A young woman in black T-shirt and red dyed hair works on a costume, framed by two legs in green shoes.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg","width":768,"height":512,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-54-BL-KQED.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956173":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956173","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956173","found":true},"title":"Adonis.rev","publishDate":1713398436,"status":"inherit","parent":13956068,"modified":1713398496,"caption":"Adonis is a DJ, deep sea fisher and martial artist.","credit":"Courtesy Adonis","altTag":"A person poses on one knee, looking directly at the camera with their right arm stretch forward toward the photographer.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-800x756.jpg","width":800,"height":756,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-1020x964.jpg","width":1020,"height":964,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-160x151.jpg","width":160,"height":151,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-768x726.jpg","width":768,"height":726,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Adonis.rev_.jpg","width":1143,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13955973":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13955973","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13955973","found":true},"title":"Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154","publishDate":1713204077,"status":"inherit","parent":13955969,"modified":1713209168,"caption":"Jamea Richmond-Edwards, 'This Water Runs Deep,' 2022; Mixed media and collage on canvas with sound.","credit":"Courtesy the artist and Kravets Wehby Gallery; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art","altTag":"A colorful painting hangs on a wall in a gallery","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-800x534.jpg","width":800,"height":534,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-1020x681.jpg","width":1020,"height":681,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-768x513.jpg","width":768,"height":513,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-1536x1025.jpg","width":1536,"height":1025,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"2048x2048":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-2048x1367.jpg","width":2048,"height":1367,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-1920x1281.jpg","width":1920,"height":1281,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Richmond-EdwardJ_2022_Great_Migration_154-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1708}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13955793":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13955793","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13955793","found":true},"title":"Judee-Sill-August-1971-(Credit--Greenwich-Entertainment)_2000","publishDate":1712852235,"status":"inherit","parent":13955781,"modified":1712852313,"caption":"Judee Sill in August 1971.","credit":"Greenwich Entertainment","altTag":"Person with long hair and blue eyeshadow set against flowering bush","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-800x546.jpg","width":800,"height":546,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1020x696.jpg","width":1020,"height":696,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-160x109.jpg","width":160,"height":109,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-768x524.jpg","width":768,"height":524,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1536x1048.jpg","width":1536,"height":1048,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1920x1309.jpg","width":1920,"height":1309,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Sill-August-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000.jpg","width":2000,"height":1364}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13955736":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13955736","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13955736","found":true},"title":"Beyonce.Oasis.16x9","publishDate":1712773170,"status":"inherit","parent":13955679,"modified":1712773325,"caption":"Bionka Simone performs Beyoncé’s 'Texas Hold 'Em' at Oasis in San Francisco on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The show drew a sold-out crowd of drag fans and members of the Beyhive as an all-Black cast celebrated the release of Beyoncé’s new album, 'Cowboy Carter.'","credit":"Juliana Yamada/KQED","altTag":"A woman in a white sequined dress and cowboy hat kneels on one leg on a catwalk, surrounded by the audience and lit in red","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Beyonce.Oasis_.16x9.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956605":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956605","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956605","found":true},"title":"Keary Hines, Prairie View, Texas.","publishDate":1713984965,"status":"inherit","parent":13956604,"modified":1713985975,"caption":"Keary Hines, Prairie View, Texas.","credit":"Ivan McClellan","altTag":"A Black cowboy leads two brown horses across an empty field.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-800x597.jpg","width":800,"height":597,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-1020x761.jpg","width":1020,"height":761,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-160x119.jpg","width":160,"height":119,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-768x573.jpg","width":768,"height":573,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-1536x1146.jpg","width":1536,"height":1146,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"2048x2048":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-2048x1527.jpg","width":2048,"height":1527,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-1920x1432.jpg","width":1920,"height":1432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/ivan_mcclellan_01_custom-ba4635b4cf1d3f4c9834cf0e9f86f7fb626a5caa-scaled-e1713985807901.jpg","width":1920,"height":1432}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956507":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956507","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956507","found":true},"title":"GWN_3-7-24_010","publishDate":1713912876,"status":"inherit","parent":13956493,"modified":1713918320,"caption":"Installation view of 'Musical Chairs' at Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco. Dorothea Tanning's painting 'Musical Chairs,' 1951 is at left.","credit":"Glen Cheriton","altTag":"Framed abstract painting on wall, wicker hair with human-like arms and legs in front of it","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-768x512.jpg","width":768,"height":512,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/GWN_3-7-24_010.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956500":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956500","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956500","found":true},"title":"Fox_Nakai_Diaspora Dinner_.00_00_57_22","publishDate":1713912419,"status":"inherit","parent":13956497,"modified":1713912633,"caption":"The packed house at last year's Diaspora Dinner, which MoAD hosted at the Southeast Community Center in the Bayview.","credit":"Fox Nakai, courtesy of MoAD","altTag":"The crowded dining room at an elegant gala. The text projected onto a screen reads, \"Diaspora Dinner.\"","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Fox_Nakai_Diaspora-Dinner_.00_00_57_22.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956333":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956333","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956333","found":true},"title":"tru gourmet lead","publishDate":1713818602,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1713819753,"caption":"Tru Gourmet is one of the many Bay Area food businesses specializing in dim sum — but perhaps the only one to set up its bamboo steamers at a farmers market.","credit":"Courtesy of Olivia Liu","altTag":"Three different types of dumplings in a bamboo steamer, with a pair of chopsticks in a red paper sleeve resting on top.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-800x550.jpg","width":800,"height":550,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-1020x701.jpg","width":1020,"height":701,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-160x110.jpg","width":160,"height":110,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-768x528.jpg","width":768,"height":528,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-1536x1056.jpg","width":1536,"height":1056,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-lead.jpg","width":1920,"height":1320}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13956152":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13956152","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13956152","found":true},"title":"RapperFood_COVER","publishDate":1713389846,"status":"inherit","parent":13955802,"modified":1713390313,"caption":"In the history of Bay Area rap, food has always been a strong reference point — a metaphorical kitchen for creative exchange.","credit":"Torre / @torre.pentel","altTag":"Illustration of the rapper Larry June in an SF Giants cap, holding a crab cracker in one hand and a fork in the other. In front of him is a whole lobster on a plate.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/RapperFood_COVER.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13952262":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13952262","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13952262","found":true},"title":"ISP.impact.MAIN","publishDate":1707897078,"status":"inherit","parent":13952260,"modified":1707897388,"caption":"The Invisibl Skratch Piklz' cultural impact over the past 40 years has been felt around the globe. The crew is pictured here backstage in San Francisco in 2017.","credit":"Courtesy Shortkut","altTag":null,"description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.impact.MAIN_.jpg","width":1080,"height":608}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13952226":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13952226","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13952226","found":true},"title":"ISP.all3.MMMwShortkut","publishDate":1707885634,"status":"inherit","parent":13952208,"modified":1707886423,"caption":"The Invisibl Skratch Piklz' lineup of Mix Master Mike, Qbert and Shortkut.","credit":"Courtesy Alex Aquino","altTag":null,"description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-800x545.jpg","width":800,"height":545,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-1020x694.jpg","width":1020,"height":694,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-160x109.jpg","width":160,"height":109,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-768x523.jpg","width":768,"height":523,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-1536x1046.jpg","width":1536,"height":1046,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.all3_.MMMwShortkut.jpg","width":1745,"height":1188}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13951421":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13951421","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13951421","found":true},"title":"Jan 2024-1","publishDate":1706825208,"status":"inherit","parent":13950520,"modified":1706825208,"caption":null,"credit":null,"altTag":null,"description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Jan-2024-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13937666":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13937666","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13937666","found":true},"title":"Nov 2024","publishDate":1699304034,"status":"inherit","parent":13937270,"modified":1699304034,"caption":null,"credit":null,"altTag":null,"description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/Nov-2024.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"arts_13933547":{"type":"attachments","id":"arts_13933547","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"arts","id":"13933547","found":true},"title":"Eva Moore, an actress playing a bartender in 1903. Mother Thompson was the real thing, but no photos of her survive today.","publishDate":1692657062,"status":"inherit","parent":13932525,"modified":1692657140,"caption":"Eva Moore, an actress playing a bartender in 1903. Mother Thompson was the real thing, but no photos of her survive today.","credit":"The Print Collector/ Print Collector/ Getty Images","altTag":"A woman dressed in a Victorian white lace dress and black choker raises a beer mug high in the air, while smiling.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-800x450.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-1020x574.jpg","width":1020,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-160x90.jpg","width":160,"height":90,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium_large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-768x432.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-1536x864.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/September-2023-Option-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false}},"audioPlayerReducer":{"postId":"stream_live"},"authorsReducer":{"ltsai":{"type":"authors","id":"11743","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11743","found":true},"name":"Luke Tsai","firstName":"Luke","lastName":"Tsai","slug":"ltsai","email":"ltsai@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Food Editor","bio":"Luke Tsai is KQED's food editor and resident stinky tofu connoisseur. Prior to KQED, he was an editor at Eater SF, \u003cem>San Francisco \u003c/em>magazine, and the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>, and his work has also appeared in TASTE, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, and the \u003cem>Best Food Writing\u003c/em> anthology. When he isn't writing or editing, you'll find him eating most everything he can get his hands on.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d1ff591a3047b143a0e23cf7f28fcac0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"theluketsai","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"arts","roles":["administrator"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"food","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Luke Tsai | KQED","description":"Food Editor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d1ff591a3047b143a0e23cf7f28fcac0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d1ff591a3047b143a0e23cf7f28fcac0?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/ltsai"},"rcastro":{"type":"authors","id":"11907","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11907","found":true},"name":"Raynato Castro","firstName":"Raynato","lastName":"Castro","slug":"rcastro","email":"rcastrodds@gmail.com","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09976336176dd6a8edb95255611bea20?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Raynato Castro | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09976336176dd6a8edb95255611bea20?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09976336176dd6a8edb95255611bea20?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/rcastro"},"byline_arts_13956554":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_arts_13956554","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_arts_13956554","name":"Binnie Kenvin","isLoading":false},"kqedarts":{"type":"authors","id":"92","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"92","found":true},"name":"KQED Arts","firstName":"KQED","lastName":"Arts","slug":"kqedarts","email":"arts@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Staff","bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/321c9ebfeb7736f9e55366a6d3399ab0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/kqed_arts/","linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"pop","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["author"]},{"site":"food","roles":["contributor"]}],"headData":{"title":"KQED Arts | KQED","description":"KQED Staff","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/321c9ebfeb7736f9e55366a6d3399ab0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/321c9ebfeb7736f9e55366a6d3399ab0?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/kqedarts"},"ogpenn":{"type":"authors","id":"11491","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11491","found":true},"name":"Pendarvis Harshaw","firstName":"Pendarvis","lastName":"Harshaw","slug":"ogpenn","email":"ogpenn@gmail.com","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Columnist and Host, Rightnowish","bio":"Pendarvis Harshaw is the host of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/rightnowish\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>\u003c/a> on KQED-FM, a columnist at KQED Arts, and the author of \u003ci>OG Told Me,\u003c/i> a memoir about growing up in Oakland.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"ogpenn","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["author"]},{"site":"hiphop","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Pendarvis Harshaw | KQED","description":"Columnist and Host, Rightnowish","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/ogpenn"},"mmedina":{"type":"authors","id":"11528","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11528","found":true},"name":"Marisol Medina-Cadena","firstName":"Marisol","lastName":"Medina-Cadena","slug":"mmedina","email":"mmedina@KQED.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news","arts"],"title":"Producer, Rightnowish Podcast","bio":"Marisol Medina-Cadena is a radio reporter and podcast producer. Before working at KQED, she produced for PBS member station, KCET, in Los Angeles. In 2017, Marisol won an Emmy Award for her work on the televised documentary, \u003cem>City Rising\u003c/em>, examining California's affordable housing crisis and the historical roots of gentrification.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6c3db46a1cabb5e1fe9a365b5f4e681e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"marisolreports","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["author","edit_others_posts"]}],"headData":{"title":"Marisol Medina-Cadena | KQED","description":"Producer, Rightnowish Podcast","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6c3db46a1cabb5e1fe9a365b5f4e681e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6c3db46a1cabb5e1fe9a365b5f4e681e?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/mmedina"},"chambrick":{"type":"authors","id":"11832","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11832","found":true},"name":"Chris Hambrick","firstName":"Chris","lastName":"Hambrick","slug":"chambrick","email":"chambrick@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c4a3663ebbd3a21fa35ef06a1236ce8a?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"podcasts","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Chris Hambrick | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c4a3663ebbd3a21fa35ef06a1236ce8a?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c4a3663ebbd3a21fa35ef06a1236ce8a?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/chambrick"},"shotchkiss":{"type":"authors","id":"61","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"61","found":true},"name":"Sarah Hotchkiss","firstName":"Sarah","lastName":"Hotchkiss","slug":"shotchkiss","email":"shotchkiss@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Senior Associate Editor","bio":"Sarah Hotchkiss is a San Francisco \u003ca href=\"http://www.sarahhotchkiss.com\">artist\u003c/a> and arts writer. In 2019, she received the Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation grant for visual art journalism and in 2020 she received a Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California award for excellence in arts and culture reporting.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca38c7f54590856cd4947d26274f8a90?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"sahotchkiss","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"arts","roles":["Contributor","administrator"]},{"site":"artschool","roles":["administrator"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"pop","roles":["administrator"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"spark","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"checkplease","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Sarah Hotchkiss | KQED","description":"Senior Associate Editor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca38c7f54590856cd4947d26274f8a90?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca38c7f54590856cd4947d26274f8a90?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/shotchkiss"},"ralexandra":{"type":"authors","id":"11242","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11242","found":true},"name":"Rae Alexandra","firstName":"Rae","lastName":"Alexandra","slug":"ralexandra","email":"ralexandra@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Staff Writer","bio":"Rae Alexandra is Staff Writer for KQED Arts & Culture, and the creator/author of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/program/rebel-girls-from-bay-area-history\">Rebel Girls From Bay Area History\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bizarrebayarea\">Bizarre Bay Area\u003c/a> series. Born and raised in Wales, she started her career in London, as a music journalist for uproarious rock ’n’ roll magazine, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kerrang.com/features/an-oral-history-of-alternative-tentacles-40-years-of-keeping-punk-alive/\">Kerrang!\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. In America, she got her start at alt-weeklies including \u003ca href=\"https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/ArticleArchives?author=2127078&excludeCategoryType=Blog\">\u003cem>SF Weekly\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.villagevoice.com/author/raealexandra/\">\u003cem>Village Voice\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and freelanced for a great many other publications. Her undying love for San Francisco has, more recently, turned her into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bayareahistory/\">a history nerd\u003c/a>. In 2023, Rae was awarded an SPJ Excellence in Journalism Award for Arts & Culture.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5ef3d663d9adae1345d06932a3951de?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"raemondjjjj","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"pop","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Rae Alexandra | KQED","description":"Staff Writer","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5ef3d663d9adae1345d06932a3951de?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5ef3d663d9adae1345d06932a3951de?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/ralexandra"},"aproehl":{"type":"authors","id":"11296","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11296","found":true},"name":"Ariana Proehl","firstName":"Ariana","lastName":"Proehl","slug":"aproehl","email":"aproehl@KQED.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"Culture Reporter, KQED","bio":"Ariana Proehl is a Culture Reporter and Host.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c96b24567eb5bb3a4f8bb295ed53e232?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"ArianaProehl","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["author"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"education","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"forum","roles":["administrator"]}],"headData":{"title":"Ariana Proehl | KQED","description":"Culture Reporter, KQED","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c96b24567eb5bb3a4f8bb295ed53e232?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c96b24567eb5bb3a4f8bb295ed53e232?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/aproehl"},"byline_arts_13956493":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_arts_13956493","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_arts_13956493","name":"Max Blue","isLoading":false},"byline_arts_13956326":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_arts_13956326","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_arts_13956326","name":"Nadege Mulamba","isLoading":false},"achazaro":{"type":"authors","id":"11748","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11748","found":true},"name":"Alan Chazaro","firstName":"Alan","lastName":"Chazaro","slug":"achazaro","email":"agchazaro@gmail.com","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Food Writer and Reporter","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.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ea8b6dd970fc5c29e7a188e7d5861df7?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"alan_chazaro","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Alan Chazaro | KQED","description":"Food Writer and Reporter","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ea8b6dd970fc5c29e7a188e7d5861df7?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ea8b6dd970fc5c29e7a188e7d5861df7?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/achazaro"},"earnold":{"type":"authors","id":"11839","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11839","found":true},"name":"Eric Arnold","firstName":"Eric","lastName":"Arnold","slug":"earnold","email":"earnold@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"Contributing Editor, 'That's My Word'","bio":"Eric Arnold has covered hip-hop locally and nationally for over 30 years. Formerly the managing editor of \u003cem>4080\u003c/em> and columnist for \u003cem>The Source\u003c/em>, he chronicled hyphy’s rise and fall, co-curated the Oakland Museum of California’s first hip-hop exhibit in 2018 and won a 2022 Northern California Emmy Award for a mini-documentary on Oakland’s Boogaloo dance culture. He is a contributing editor for \u003cem>That’s My Word\u003c/em>, KQED's series on the history of Bay Area hip-hop.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ede45b04898456ad0893a2811e78b0a2?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"hiphop","roles":["contributor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Eric Arnold | KQED","description":"Contributing Editor, 'That's My Word'","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ede45b04898456ad0893a2811e78b0a2?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ede45b04898456ad0893a2811e78b0a2?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/earnold"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"firebase":{"requesting":{},"requested":{},"timestamps":{},"data":{},"ordered":{},"auth":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"authError":null,"profile":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"listeners":{"byId":{},"allIds":[]},"isInitializing":false,"errors":[]},"navBarReducer":{"navBarId":"home","fullView":true,"showPlayer":true},"navMenuReducer":{"menus":[{"key":"menu1","items":[{"name":"News","link":"/","type":"title"},{"name":"Politics","link":"/politics"},{"name":"Science","link":"/science"},{"name":"Education","link":"/educationnews"},{"name":"Housing","link":"/housing"},{"name":"Immigration","link":"/immigration"},{"name":"Criminal Justice","link":"/criminaljustice"},{"name":"Silicon Valley","link":"/siliconvalley"},{"name":"Forum","link":"/forum"},{"name":"The California Report","link":"/californiareport"}]},{"key":"menu2","items":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","link":"/arts","type":"title"},{"name":"Critics’ Picks","link":"/thedolist"},{"name":"Cultural Commentary","link":"/artscommentary"},{"name":"Food & Drink","link":"/food"},{"name":"Bay Area Hip-Hop","link":"/bayareahiphop"},{"name":"Rebel Girls","link":"/rebelgirls"},{"name":"Arts Video","link":"/artsvideos"}]},{"key":"menu3","items":[{"name":"Podcasts","link":"/podcasts","type":"title"},{"name":"Bay Curious","link":"/podcasts/baycurious"},{"name":"Rightnowish","link":"/podcasts/rightnowish"},{"name":"The Bay","link":"/podcasts/thebay"},{"name":"On Our Watch","link":"/podcasts/onourwatch"},{"name":"Mindshift","link":"/podcasts/mindshift"},{"name":"Consider This","link":"/podcasts/considerthis"},{"name":"Political Breakdown","link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown"}]},{"key":"menu4","items":[{"name":"Live Radio","link":"/radio","type":"title"},{"name":"TV","link":"/tv","type":"title"},{"name":"Events","link":"/events","type":"title"},{"name":"For Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{"root-site_kqedarts":{"type":"pages","id":"root-site_22299","meta":{"index":"pages_1591205160","site":"root-site","id":"22299","score":0},"slug":"kqedarts","title":"Arts & Culture","headTitle":"Arts & Culture | KQED","pagePath":"kqedarts","pageMeta":{"sticky":false,"WpPageTemplate":"page-landing-editorial","adSlotOverride":"300x250_arts","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include"},"headData":{"title":"Bay Area Arts and Culture | KQED","description":"Discover the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature, cultural commentary, and criticism through KQED's daily in-depth coverage.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Bay Area Arts and Culture | KQED","socialDescription":"Discover the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature, cultural commentary, and criticism through KQED's daily in-depth coverage.","canonicalUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/arts","imageData":{"ogImageSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","width":1200,"height":630},"twImageSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"},"twitterCard":"summary_large_image"}},"labelTerm":{"site":""},"publishDate":1681251591,"content":"\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-header\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-columns\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[{"blockName":"kqed/header","attrs":{"title":"Arts & Culture","type":"serif-masthead-1"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-header\">\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-header\">\u003c/div>\n"]},{"blockName":"kqed/columns","attrs":{"heading":"top story"},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"kqed/column","attrs":{"heading":"","colSpan":"8","colSpanTablet":"6"},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardEditorial1","query":"posts?tag=featured-arts&queryId=7135290ab2","useSSR":true},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]}],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">",null,"\u003c/div>\n"]},{"blockName":"kqed/column","attrs":{"heading":"More arts stories","colSpan":"4","colSpanTablet":"6"},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardMostViewedNumberless","query":"posts/arts,forum?category=arts&queryId=e5ca918ab2","featureQuery":"posts?tag=featured-arts&queryId=e5ca918ab2","useSSR":false},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]}],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">",null,"\u003c/div>\n"]}],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-columns\">\n\n\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-columns\">",null,"\n\n",null,"\u003c/div>\n"]},{"blockName":"kqed/email-signup","attrs":{"newsletterSlug":"arts"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardSeriesShowcase","query":"posts?program=rightnowish&queryId=6c2502488c","title":"Rightnowish","sectionUrl":"/podcasts/rightnowish","buttonText":"More from Rightnowish","seeMore":false},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardSeriesShowcase","query":"posts/food,arts?tag=editorspick&queryId=53ed0f75d9","title":"Editors’ Picks","sectionUrl":"/artseditorspicks","buttonText":"More Editors’ Picks","seeMore":false},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/section-overview","attrs":{"html":"Let’s be friends! Get daily Arts & Culture updates by following us on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kqedarts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/kqedarts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KQEDarts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter\u003c/a>, or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13883176/hey-bay-area-have-a-story-to-share-we-want-to-listen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact us\u003c/a>."},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n"]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardSeriesShowcase","query":"posts/?tag=thedolist&queryId=2a5e4d56a6","title":"The Do List","sectionUrl":"/thedolist","buttonText":"More from The Do List"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardSeriesShowcase","query":"posts/bayareabites,arts,food?category=food&queryId=faa58b2855","title":"Food","sectionUrl":"/food","buttonText":"More from Food"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/ad","attrs":{"adType":"inHouse"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardsRecent","query":"posts/arts?tag=tmw-latest&queryId=88787c95c6","title":"That’s My Word","sectionUrl":"/bayareahiphop","buttonText":"More Bay Area Hip Hop"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/section-overview","attrs":{"html":"KQED’s Arts & Culture desk brings daily, in-depth cultural commentary and coverage of the Bay Area with a mission to enrich lives and inspire participation.\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"/arts/staff\">Who We Are\u003c/a>"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n","innerContent":["\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n"]},{"blockName":"kqed/ad","attrs":[],"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardSeriesShowcase","query":"posts?tag=rebelgirls&queryId=10b31cf65ee","title":"Rebel Girls From Bay Area History","sectionUrl":"/rebelgirls","buttonText":"More about Rebel Girls From Bay Area History"},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/post-list","attrs":{"layout":"cardTextHeavyLarge","query":"posts/arts?&queryId=11f821d2269","title":"More Arts","seeMore":true},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]},{"blockName":"kqed/funding-credits","attrs":{"text":"Funding for KQED Arts & Culture is provided by:\u003cbr>\u003cbr>The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Akonadi Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Yogen and Peggy Dalal, Diane B. Wilsey, the William and Gretchen Kimball Fund, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED."},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[]}],"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711145205,"format":"standard","path":"/arts","redirect":{"type":"internal","url":"/arts"},"audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-header\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-columns\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-column\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-kqed-section-overview\">\u003c/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"label":"root-site","isLoading":false}},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"arts_13956683":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956683","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956683","score":null,"sort":[1714084178000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"late-night-filipino-food-24-hour-cafe-colma-lucky-chances","title":"The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant","publishDate":1714084178,"format":"aside","headTitle":"The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956692\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956692\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of three men devouring halo-halo and other Filipino food at a diner counter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Located inside Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, Cafe Colma serves tasty Filipino dishes 24/7. \u003ccite>(Raynato Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week’s guest artist is local dentist (and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915387/amateur-bbq-competition-comic-dentist-pleasant-hill\">\u003ci>barbecue champion\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>) Raynato Castro.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally speaking, there are two types of people in the Bay Area. Those who have never been to our region’s only 24-hour Filipino restaurant. And those for whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.luckychances.com/dining.aspx\">Cafe Colma\u003c/a> — the frenetic, perpetually crowded diner located inside the Lucky Chances Casino — is nothing short of a local icon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it this way: Ever since we started this project, I’ve been jonesing for the kind of nostalgic late-night diner that I grew up loving on the East Coast. You know the kind, with the laminated placemat menus, the milkshakes and Monte Cristos, and endless 24-hour breakfast options that hit just right at 2 a.m. Who knew the closest thing to capturing that vibe would be this Filipino casino cafe?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any proper diner, Cafe Colma is the place you’d go for brunch with your mom and your siblings, or where the entire extended family might swing by after picking someone up from SFO. It’s also the last stop you’d make after a long night of dancing and/or drunken foolishness — for local Filipinos, that might be after the Asian rave lets out at Temple Nightclub (which is closing soon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/soma-nightclub-permanently-close-19398549.php\">R.I.P.\u003c/a>). It’s no coincidence that the lines at the restaurant hit their peak at around 2 or 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was only about a 15-minute wait when we rolled in at around 11 o’clock on a recent Friday night, which gave us time to walk around the card room proper, with its bright lights, solemn pai gow tables and 90% Asian crowd. Every so often, a bleary-eyed poker player would turn around and inhale several spoonfuls of fried rice from the little wheeled cart placed next to the table for that purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viewed in that light, the existence of Cafe Colma is purely practical: fuel to keep the most degenerate gamblers going deep into the night. But if we came in expecting a meal of cheap, okay-enough carbs, what we found instead was surprisingly homey and comforting food — and, honestly, the most enjoyable Filipino meal we’d had in months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956693\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956693\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4.jpg\" alt=\"In a brightly lit casino room, players sit around a card table. One is eating fried rice off of a little cart behind him.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can eat garlic fried rice while you’re gambling. \u003ccite>(Raynato Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The menu is equal parts Chinese, Filipino and diner-style American, so whether you’re craving pancakes, prime rib or stir-fried bitter melon with scrambled eggs, Cafe Colma has got you covered. At its heart, though, this is a Filipino spot. When we ordered way too much from that section of the menu, we were rewarded with hit after hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The be-all and end-all is the kare-kare, a version of the classic oxtail and peanut sauce dish that tasted like someone’s grandma made it. The oxtails and beef tripe were impossibly tender and savory, bathed in a creamy peanut sauce that’s spiked with salty, pungent bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) for extra oomph. If you’re a lover of soft, squishy foods — of picking up bones and sucking them clean — this is your Platonic ideal of a dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13955884,arts_13956218,arts_13953224']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Filipino food is a perfect late-night food because it’s cuisine that understands how to use vinegar to cut into a heavy meal of fried meats. All told, we must have had at least three or four different vinegars on the table. There was a pink one to dress the tokwa’t baboy, a very Filipino “salad” of sorts, made up of boiled pig ears and fried tofu. And then two different vinegar-based sauces for the crispy pata — a positively prehistoric-looking pork leg with the kind of thick, impeccably crunchy skin that every serious pork lover craves. We made quick work of the pata with our bare hands, but the sauces were what made the dish: the bright and spicy vinegar spiked with chilies and raw garlic, and the thicker one that was earthy and slightly sweet, made with pork liver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we couldn’t leave without trying two of Cafe Colma’s most famous signatures — first, its buttery silogs, or garlic rice breakfast plates, served with fried eggs and your choice of meat. We opted for a surf-and-turf combination of bangus (aka milkfish) and pork chop, and both were fried to juicy, full-flavored perfection. Finally, to finish, who could resist the siren call of ube ice cream–topped halo-halo served in big sundae cups, especially when offered to us after midnight? “You’d better make that two orders,” we said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I used to be one of those food purists who believed that there was some objective measure of deliciousness you could use to judge restaurants, and that nothing else particularly mattered — not the atmosphere or the service or the time of day. But look: There are other Filipino restaurants that serve fried pork and garlic rice that’s better, or at least as good, as Cafe Colma’s. But sitting there at the counter as we spooned up the last bits of red bean and condensed milk from our halo-halo, a little drunk on nostalgia and the prospect of hitting a lucky run at the blackjack table, that prospect was hard to imagine.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.luckychances.com/dining.aspx\">\u003ci>Cafe Colma\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 24/7 inside \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/luckychancescasino/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Lucky Chances Casino\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> at 1700 Hillside Blvd. in Colma.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Go to Cafe Colma for delicious kare-kare and halo-halo at 3 a.m.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1714084560,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":14,"wordCount":999},"headData":{"title":"Cafe Colma Is the 24-Hour Filipino Restaurant at Lucky Chances Casino | KQED","description":"Go to Cafe Colma for delicious kare-kare and halo-halo at 3 a.m.","ogTitle":"The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Cafe Colma Is the 24-Hour Filipino Restaurant at Lucky Chances Casino %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino Restaurant","datePublished":"2024-04-25T22:29:38.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-25T22:36:00.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"The Midnight Diners","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners","sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-13956683","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956683/late-night-filipino-food-24-hour-cafe-colma-lucky-chances","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956692\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956692\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of three men devouring halo-halo and other Filipino food at a diner counter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Cafe-Colma-Eating-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Located inside Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, Cafe Colma serves tasty Filipino dishes 24/7. \u003ccite>(Raynato Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. This week’s guest artist is local dentist (and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915387/amateur-bbq-competition-comic-dentist-pleasant-hill\">\u003ci>barbecue champion\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>) Raynato Castro.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally speaking, there are two types of people in the Bay Area. Those who have never been to our region’s only 24-hour Filipino restaurant. And those for whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.luckychances.com/dining.aspx\">Cafe Colma\u003c/a> — the frenetic, perpetually crowded diner located inside the Lucky Chances Casino — is nothing short of a local icon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it this way: Ever since we started this project, I’ve been jonesing for the kind of nostalgic late-night diner that I grew up loving on the East Coast. You know the kind, with the laminated placemat menus, the milkshakes and Monte Cristos, and endless 24-hour breakfast options that hit just right at 2 a.m. Who knew the closest thing to capturing that vibe would be this Filipino casino cafe?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any proper diner, Cafe Colma is the place you’d go for brunch with your mom and your siblings, or where the entire extended family might swing by after picking someone up from SFO. It’s also the last stop you’d make after a long night of dancing and/or drunken foolishness — for local Filipinos, that might be after the Asian rave lets out at Temple Nightclub (which is closing soon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/soma-nightclub-permanently-close-19398549.php\">R.I.P.\u003c/a>). It’s no coincidence that the lines at the restaurant hit their peak at around 2 or 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was only about a 15-minute wait when we rolled in at around 11 o’clock on a recent Friday night, which gave us time to walk around the card room proper, with its bright lights, solemn pai gow tables and 90% Asian crowd. Every so often, a bleary-eyed poker player would turn around and inhale several spoonfuls of fried rice from the little wheeled cart placed next to the table for that purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viewed in that light, the existence of Cafe Colma is purely practical: fuel to keep the most degenerate gamblers going deep into the night. But if we came in expecting a meal of cheap, okay-enough carbs, what we found instead was surprisingly homey and comforting food — and, honestly, the most enjoyable Filipino meal we’d had in months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956693\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956693\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4.jpg\" alt=\"In a brightly lit casino room, players sit around a card table. One is eating fried rice off of a little cart behind him.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Lucky-Chances-Card-Room-v4-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can eat garlic fried rice while you’re gambling. \u003ccite>(Raynato Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The menu is equal parts Chinese, Filipino and diner-style American, so whether you’re craving pancakes, prime rib or stir-fried bitter melon with scrambled eggs, Cafe Colma has got you covered. At its heart, though, this is a Filipino spot. When we ordered way too much from that section of the menu, we were rewarded with hit after hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The be-all and end-all is the kare-kare, a version of the classic oxtail and peanut sauce dish that tasted like someone’s grandma made it. The oxtails and beef tripe were impossibly tender and savory, bathed in a creamy peanut sauce that’s spiked with salty, pungent bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) for extra oomph. If you’re a lover of soft, squishy foods — of picking up bones and sucking them clean — this is your Platonic ideal of a dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13955884,arts_13956218,arts_13953224","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Filipino food is a perfect late-night food because it’s cuisine that understands how to use vinegar to cut into a heavy meal of fried meats. All told, we must have had at least three or four different vinegars on the table. There was a pink one to dress the tokwa’t baboy, a very Filipino “salad” of sorts, made up of boiled pig ears and fried tofu. And then two different vinegar-based sauces for the crispy pata — a positively prehistoric-looking pork leg with the kind of thick, impeccably crunchy skin that every serious pork lover craves. We made quick work of the pata with our bare hands, but the sauces were what made the dish: the bright and spicy vinegar spiked with chilies and raw garlic, and the thicker one that was earthy and slightly sweet, made with pork liver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, we couldn’t leave without trying two of Cafe Colma’s most famous signatures — first, its buttery silogs, or garlic rice breakfast plates, served with fried eggs and your choice of meat. We opted for a surf-and-turf combination of bangus (aka milkfish) and pork chop, and both were fried to juicy, full-flavored perfection. Finally, to finish, who could resist the siren call of ube ice cream–topped halo-halo served in big sundae cups, especially when offered to us after midnight? “You’d better make that two orders,” we said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I used to be one of those food purists who believed that there was some objective measure of deliciousness you could use to judge restaurants, and that nothing else particularly mattered — not the atmosphere or the service or the time of day. But look: There are other Filipino restaurants that serve fried pork and garlic rice that’s better, or at least as good, as Cafe Colma’s. But sitting there at the counter as we spooned up the last bits of red bean and condensed milk from our halo-halo, a little drunk on nostalgia and the prospect of hitting a lucky run at the blackjack table, that prospect was hard to imagine.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.luckychances.com/dining.aspx\">\u003ci>Cafe Colma\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 24/7 inside \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/luckychancescasino/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Lucky Chances Casino\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> at 1700 Hillside Blvd. in Colma.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956683/late-night-filipino-food-24-hour-cafe-colma-lucky-chances","authors":["11743","11907"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_12276"],"tags":["arts_10278","arts_14183","arts_1297","arts_8805","arts_21928"],"featImg":"arts_13956689","label":"source_arts_13956683"},"arts_13956676":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956676","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956676","score":null,"sort":[1714081090000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"baby-reindeer-netflix-review-problematic-abuse-lgbt-queerness","title":"Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness","publishDate":1714081090,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":137,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Note: You can’t really talk about this series without discussing a major revelation that occurs in episode four of its seven-episode season. So be warned: Spoilers ahead. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a reason that the first scene in the first episode of \u003cem>Baby Reindeer,\u003c/em> now streaming on Netflix, plays like it’s a classic setup to a joke: \u003cem>Woman walks into a bar.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creator and star Richard Gadd is setting our expectations exactly where he wants them set; he needs us to think that the story he’ll tell us over the next seven episodes will conform to the narrative contours of dark comedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13955549']He’s already tipped us off that the comedy in question will be dark indeed, via a framing device that opens the show: We see his character Donny Dunn filing a police report that he’s being stalked by a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cut to six months earlier: Martha enters the pub where Donny tends bar. Everything that follows is meant to place us inside Donny’s head. As he tells us about her, we can’t help but see her as he does: A sad, fat, pitiable middle-aged woman who’s clearly lying about her life. She’s not the high-powered lawyer she says she is — if she were, surely she could afford to buy a drink. And why would she spend all those potentially billable hours bellied up at Donny’s bar whenever he’s working a shift? And why would she proceed to send him thousands of unhinged text messages and stalk him, his girlfriend, and his family?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right, we think. We know what we’re in for: \u003cem>Baby Reindeer \u003c/em>is the story of one hapless young man getting cruelly stalked by a mentally ill woman, who, it turns out, has a history, and a criminal record, for doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafm1gB6SCM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, it’s a true story. True-ish, anyway, as \u003cem>Baby Reindee\u003c/em>r is based on Gadd’s autobiographical one-man show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13954225']But Gadd soon complicates our understanding of events. It turns out Donny is a struggling would-be comedian; we watch a series of his cringeworthy sets before sparse, stone-faced audiences. He seems depressed and friendless — his work colleagues at the bar are hostile louts; he’s living with his ex-girlfriend’s mother on the outskirts of London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus there’s the nagging fact that while Donny may not actively \u003cem>encourage \u003c/em>Martha’s fawning attention, he is awfully passive about shutting down her determination that they could get together, even as she grows more insistent, and more threatening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, as the cop asks him at the start of the first episode. Why did he let it all go on for six months before filing a formal complaint?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/25/br_101_unit_00683_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00683_rt-1--9d5299c1b3002fe7610a6ea4c77f371792b6bd3f.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A smiling white woman sits at the edge of a pub bar.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Gunning as Martha.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>The rug-pull\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The answer to that question is what \u003cem>Baby Reindeer \u003c/em>is truly about. It’s where the conventional and familiar trappings of dark comedy and psychological thriller fall away to reveal the show’s true, beating heart: Sexual abuse, and its lingering aftermath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t until episode four that we learn that five years before Martha entered his life, Donny met a successful television writer named Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill) who gave him career advice, promised to set him up with opportunities, and supplied him with drugs. During those sessions, while Donny was helpless to stop him, Darrien would sexually abuse him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13954702']This, the series proceeds to argue — far too tidily — is the answer to everything. It’s why Donny became the depressed, self-loathing man we’ve come to know. It’s why his comedy career stalled. It’s why he’s since chosen to degrade himself by having meaningless sex with both men and women, doing more drugs, and by developing an interest in “extreme” pornography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also, of course — or so the show would have us believe — why he was so disarmed and flattered by the attention Martha gave him, which seems (compared to the drug-filled sexual cesspits he once frequented) pure and wholesome and, not for nothing, reassuringly straight. At one point Donny guiltily admits to us that, at his very lowest point, he even started to find Martha — imagine that! a \u003cem>fat \u003c/em>woman! — sexually arousing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"npr-pull-quote\">\n\u003ch2>The series repeatedly and clumsily conflates the horror of abuse with the simple fact of queer sexuality.\u003c/h2>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>It’s this aspect of \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> — Gadd/Donny’s ultimate willingness to confront his abuse and explore its aftereffects — which has earned the show its most fulsome praise from critics and audiences. But in practice, the series repeatedly and clumsily conflates the horror of abuse with the simple fact of queer sexuality. Purely for dramatic purposes, \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> implies that Donny’s sexuality conforms to the laws of cause (the abuse) and effect (queerness). Worse, it does so in a way that seems specifically designed to reassure those audiences who believe queerness is something that happens \u003cem>to \u003c/em>people, something that can be triggered from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Catching queerness like a cold\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Let me be clear: \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> is not making any kind of broad sexual/political case that same-sex abuse leads its victims to experience same-sex desire. Neither is it saying that all putatively straight men who get sexually abused by other men will henceforth be attracted to trans women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13953601']But it does want us to believe — in fact it entirely \u003cem>depends \u003c/em>upon us believing — that \u003cem>Donny\u003c/em>, for one, experienced same-sex desire only after his abuse — desire it goes out of its way to depict as filthy and degrading. It does, too, want us to believe that \u003cem>Donny \u003c/em>failed to make any romantic connections with women or men after his abuse — until he met Teri (Nava Mau) on a trans dating site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gadd himself identifies as bisexual, which makes it all the more puzzling and frustrating that, again and again, the series takes absurd pains to present Donny as someone who is not at all like the kinds of queer folk who (shudder!) willingly have sex with each other and (shock horror!) use recreational drugs and (gasp!) watch porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rest assured, straight audiences: Donny’s queer sexuality was something forced upon him — a fact that his stoic father (Mark Lewis Jones) understands and underscores because, as he tearfully explains to his son, “I grew up in the Catholic Church.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a jaw-dropping scene, but not for the reason it wants to be. It’s meant as a moment of startling honesty and searing empathy between father and son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It plays like a tasteless, homophobic joke.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Sticking the dismount\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>For all its queasy discomfort with, and prissy diffidence about queer sexuality, there is one thing \u003cem>Baby Reindee\u003c/em>r gets absolutely, hauntingly right: Its ending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the series concludes, Martha has been jailed for stalking Donny. In a thinner, less resonant series, our hero would take this as an unalloyed victory, as vindication. But smartly, Gadd shows us a Donny who has acknowledged his abuse but has only begun to effectively deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Donny, instead, wallows. He walks the streets, playing Martha’s tender/terrifying voicemails in his headphones. He sets out to confront his abuser, only to cave and accept a job working for him. He shambles through his life alone, until he enters a pub (\u003cem>Man walks into a bar\u003c/em>) and realizes he can’t pay for his drink. The handsome bartender comps him out of pity, just as Donny did to Martha in the first episode. The end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… OK, that pity-drink callback at the very end is a bit on-the-nose, but the series’ refusal to afford Donny a clear, uncomplicated, once-and-for-all victory is a smart one. Had the series ended with a sense of triumph and finality, it would have been dramatically satisfying but emotionally dishonest. Human psychology is more complex than that, and the damage done by abuse more insidious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13953497']When we leave him, Donny is still trapped by his past, because he hasn’t yet done the work he needs to do. He still believes he deserves to be trapped, defined, by what happened to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the series plants the seeds for the change that we know is coming: When he’s alone in that room of his, he’s turning his experience into the one-man show that will become \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em>. It’s that process of transmutation and creation that will ultimately allow him to process his abuse and turn it into something that engages with the wider world, and grant him the ability, finally, to heal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe, in the process, he will manage to move past finding other queer folk and fat people disgusting. \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> suggests that Richard Gadd hasn’t quite managed to do that, yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I’m holding out hope for Donny.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The new series, based on creator Richard Gadd's one-man show, depicts queer sexuality as something that happens TO people.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1714081090,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":31,"wordCount":1560},"headData":{"title":"A Queer Analysis of Dark Netflix Series, ‘Baby Reindeer’ | KQED","description":"The new series, based on creator Richard Gadd's one-man show, depicts queer sexuality as something that happens TO people.","ogTitle":"Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"A Queer Analysis of Dark Netflix Series, ‘Baby Reindeer’ %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of Queerness","datePublished":"2024-04-25T21:38:10.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-25T21:38:10.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"1247130712","nprHtmlLink":"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/25/1247130712/baby-reindeer-review-netflix","nprRetrievedStory":"1","nprPubDate":"2024-04-25T11:32:00-04:00","nprStoryDate":"2024-04-25T11:32:00-04:00","nprLastModifiedDate":"2024-04-25T11:32:00-04:00","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956676/baby-reindeer-netflix-review-problematic-abuse-lgbt-queerness","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Note: You can’t really talk about this series without discussing a major revelation that occurs in episode four of its seven-episode season. So be warned: Spoilers ahead. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a reason that the first scene in the first episode of \u003cem>Baby Reindeer,\u003c/em> now streaming on Netflix, plays like it’s a classic setup to a joke: \u003cem>Woman walks into a bar.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creator and star Richard Gadd is setting our expectations exactly where he wants them set; he needs us to think that the story he’ll tell us over the next seven episodes will conform to the narrative contours of dark comedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13955549","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He’s already tipped us off that the comedy in question will be dark indeed, via a framing device that opens the show: We see his character Donny Dunn filing a police report that he’s being stalked by a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cut to six months earlier: Martha enters the pub where Donny tends bar. Everything that follows is meant to place us inside Donny’s head. As he tells us about her, we can’t help but see her as he does: A sad, fat, pitiable middle-aged woman who’s clearly lying about her life. She’s not the high-powered lawyer she says she is — if she were, surely she could afford to buy a drink. And why would she spend all those potentially billable hours bellied up at Donny’s bar whenever he’s working a shift? And why would she proceed to send him thousands of unhinged text messages and stalk him, his girlfriend, and his family?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right, we think. We know what we’re in for: \u003cem>Baby Reindeer \u003c/em>is the story of one hapless young man getting cruelly stalked by a mentally ill woman, who, it turns out, has a history, and a criminal record, for doing so.\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/eafm1gB6SCM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/eafm1gB6SCM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Moreover, it’s a true story. True-ish, anyway, as \u003cem>Baby Reindee\u003c/em>r is based on Gadd’s autobiographical one-man show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13954225","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But Gadd soon complicates our understanding of events. It turns out Donny is a struggling would-be comedian; we watch a series of his cringeworthy sets before sparse, stone-faced audiences. He seems depressed and friendless — his work colleagues at the bar are hostile louts; he’s living with his ex-girlfriend’s mother on the outskirts of London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus there’s the nagging fact that while Donny may not actively \u003cem>encourage \u003c/em>Martha’s fawning attention, he is awfully passive about shutting down her determination that they could get together, even as she grows more insistent, and more threatening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, as the cop asks him at the start of the first episode. Why did he let it all go on for six months before filing a formal complaint?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/25/br_101_unit_00683_rt.jpg-br_101_unit_00683_rt-1--9d5299c1b3002fe7610a6ea4c77f371792b6bd3f.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A smiling white woman sits at the edge of a pub bar.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Gunning as Martha.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>The rug-pull\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The answer to that question is what \u003cem>Baby Reindeer \u003c/em>is truly about. It’s where the conventional and familiar trappings of dark comedy and psychological thriller fall away to reveal the show’s true, beating heart: Sexual abuse, and its lingering aftermath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t until episode four that we learn that five years before Martha entered his life, Donny met a successful television writer named Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill) who gave him career advice, promised to set him up with opportunities, and supplied him with drugs. During those sessions, while Donny was helpless to stop him, Darrien would sexually abuse him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13954702","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This, the series proceeds to argue — far too tidily — is the answer to everything. It’s why Donny became the depressed, self-loathing man we’ve come to know. It’s why his comedy career stalled. It’s why he’s since chosen to degrade himself by having meaningless sex with both men and women, doing more drugs, and by developing an interest in “extreme” pornography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also, of course — or so the show would have us believe — why he was so disarmed and flattered by the attention Martha gave him, which seems (compared to the drug-filled sexual cesspits he once frequented) pure and wholesome and, not for nothing, reassuringly straight. At one point Donny guiltily admits to us that, at his very lowest point, he even started to find Martha — imagine that! a \u003cem>fat \u003c/em>woman! — sexually arousing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"npr-pull-quote\">\n\u003ch2>The series repeatedly and clumsily conflates the horror of abuse with the simple fact of queer sexuality.\u003c/h2>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>It’s this aspect of \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> — Gadd/Donny’s ultimate willingness to confront his abuse and explore its aftereffects — which has earned the show its most fulsome praise from critics and audiences. But in practice, the series repeatedly and clumsily conflates the horror of abuse with the simple fact of queer sexuality. Purely for dramatic purposes, \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> implies that Donny’s sexuality conforms to the laws of cause (the abuse) and effect (queerness). Worse, it does so in a way that seems specifically designed to reassure those audiences who believe queerness is something that happens \u003cem>to \u003c/em>people, something that can be triggered from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Catching queerness like a cold\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Let me be clear: \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> is not making any kind of broad sexual/political case that same-sex abuse leads its victims to experience same-sex desire. Neither is it saying that all putatively straight men who get sexually abused by other men will henceforth be attracted to trans women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13953601","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But it does want us to believe — in fact it entirely \u003cem>depends \u003c/em>upon us believing — that \u003cem>Donny\u003c/em>, for one, experienced same-sex desire only after his abuse — desire it goes out of its way to depict as filthy and degrading. It does, too, want us to believe that \u003cem>Donny \u003c/em>failed to make any romantic connections with women or men after his abuse — until he met Teri (Nava Mau) on a trans dating site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gadd himself identifies as bisexual, which makes it all the more puzzling and frustrating that, again and again, the series takes absurd pains to present Donny as someone who is not at all like the kinds of queer folk who (shudder!) willingly have sex with each other and (shock horror!) use recreational drugs and (gasp!) watch porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rest assured, straight audiences: Donny’s queer sexuality was something forced upon him — a fact that his stoic father (Mark Lewis Jones) understands and underscores because, as he tearfully explains to his son, “I grew up in the Catholic Church.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a jaw-dropping scene, but not for the reason it wants to be. It’s meant as a moment of startling honesty and searing empathy between father and son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It plays like a tasteless, homophobic joke.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Sticking the dismount\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>For all its queasy discomfort with, and prissy diffidence about queer sexuality, there is one thing \u003cem>Baby Reindee\u003c/em>r gets absolutely, hauntingly right: Its ending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the series concludes, Martha has been jailed for stalking Donny. In a thinner, less resonant series, our hero would take this as an unalloyed victory, as vindication. But smartly, Gadd shows us a Donny who has acknowledged his abuse but has only begun to effectively deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Donny, instead, wallows. He walks the streets, playing Martha’s tender/terrifying voicemails in his headphones. He sets out to confront his abuser, only to cave and accept a job working for him. He shambles through his life alone, until he enters a pub (\u003cem>Man walks into a bar\u003c/em>) and realizes he can’t pay for his drink. The handsome bartender comps him out of pity, just as Donny did to Martha in the first episode. The end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… OK, that pity-drink callback at the very end is a bit on-the-nose, but the series’ refusal to afford Donny a clear, uncomplicated, once-and-for-all victory is a smart one. Had the series ended with a sense of triumph and finality, it would have been dramatically satisfying but emotionally dishonest. Human psychology is more complex than that, and the damage done by abuse more insidious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13953497","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When we leave him, Donny is still trapped by his past, because he hasn’t yet done the work he needs to do. He still believes he deserves to be trapped, defined, by what happened to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the series plants the seeds for the change that we know is coming: When he’s alone in that room of his, he’s turning his experience into the one-man show that will become \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em>. It’s that process of transmutation and creation that will ultimately allow him to process his abuse and turn it into something that engages with the wider world, and grant him the ability, finally, to heal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe, in the process, he will manage to move past finding other queer folk and fat people disgusting. \u003cem>Baby Reindeer\u003c/em> suggests that Richard Gadd hasn’t quite managed to do that, yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I’m holding out hope for Donny.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956676/baby-reindeer-netflix-review-problematic-abuse-lgbt-queerness","authors":["92"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_75","arts_990"],"tags":["arts_3226","arts_3324","arts_769"],"affiliates":["arts_137"],"featImg":"arts_13956677","label":"arts_137"},"arts_13956615":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956615","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956615","score":null,"sort":[1714072236000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"east-bay-street-photographers-want-you-to-take-notice","title":"East Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’","publishDate":1714072236,"format":"standard","headTitle":"East Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’ | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>When photographers come together to show their work, the stories flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s sure to be the case at the Oakland Photo Workshop on Friday, May 3, as \u003ca style=\"color: #41a62a\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/camerasandcoffeeclub/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Cameras + Coffee Club\u003c/a> and the\u003ca class=\"x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n xd10rxx x1sy0etr x17r0tee x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz notranslate _a6hd\" role=\"link\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastbayphotocollective/\"> \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastbayphotocollective/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Photo Collective\u003c/a> host “NOTICE,” a showcase featuring work by top-tier Bay Area street photographers who belong to the Oakland Street Photography Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to celebrating the visual art mounted on the walls of the community gallery space in Oakland’s Chinatown, the event will see the group releasing a new zine and partying to the sounds of a DJ set from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ovrkast/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OVRKAST\u003c/a>..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A social media post describing the show explains, “Through the lens of talented photographers, ‘NOTICE’ prompts us to reconsider our perspectives and appreciate the intricate details that often elude our attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956624 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a bucket hat and dress shirt hold up a printed photo of themselves. \" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An attendee at an East Bay Photo Collective event called “Swaptastic,” holds up a printed portrait of themselves. \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On display that evening will be the artwork of photographers\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rough_thesis/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pablocirca/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pablo circa\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ruffdraft/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brandon Ruffin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ariel_mason_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ariel Mason\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bradleyfowl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bradley Fowl\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elbooi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elvin Catley\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tareweezy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tare Sang\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rudimarr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rudi Tcruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dre.wick/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Demondre Ward \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/00hsh00t/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kristian Salum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rough_thesis/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Najee Tobin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, whose art will also be showing, is part of the East Bay Photo Collective’s gallery team. A Vallejo-raised artist who focuses on portrait photography with elements of fine art, Tobin says the group’s work is an important part of the landscape for local photographers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956623 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The five members of the East Bay Photo Collective pose for a photograph. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The East Bay Photo Collective (left to right: Jenny Sampson, Anita Gay, Najee Tobin, Jyoti Liggin, and Vince Donavan ). \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s an easygoing, supportive space where you’re allowed to experiment,” Tobin says of the collective, pointing out the frequent barriers to entry — financial or otherwise — when it comes to doing photography in academia or the world of fine art. ” They just want to see the work, that’s what’s important to me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Bay Photo Collective hosts workshops on specific photography topics throughout the year. The group also holds an annual gear sale, where cameras and accessories are donated, cleaned up and sold for a low price to aspiring photographers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956622 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a black and white photo of a woman standing in a gallery looking at framed images mounted on a wall. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aja Cooper, daughter of the late photographer Raymond Cooper, takes a look at her dad’s work. \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month the collective held a closing reception for an exhibition that featured photos from the archives of Raymond Cooper, the late Oakland photographer whose images of the Town during the ’70s and ’80s were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953013/raymond-cooper-oakland-photography-1970s-east-bay-photo-collective\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rescued from a trash can in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see a lot of my friends and fellow photographers in his archives,” says Tobin, reflecting on the event and Cooper’s work. “It was nice to see somebody celebrated for doing what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘NOTICE,’ a show highlighting the work of the Oakland Street Photography Collective, takes place on Friday, May 3, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Photo Workshop (312 8th Street, Oakland).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"With a new show, a collective of Oakland's top-tier lens artists invites viewers to see beauty in the mundane.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1714072236,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":13,"wordCount":514},"headData":{"title":"East Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’ | KQED","description":"With a new show, a collective of Oakland's top-tier lens artists invites viewers to see beauty in the mundane.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"East Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’","datePublished":"2024-04-25T19:10:36.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-25T19:10:36.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-13956615","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956615/east-bay-street-photographers-want-you-to-take-notice","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When photographers come together to show their work, the stories flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s sure to be the case at the Oakland Photo Workshop on Friday, May 3, as \u003ca style=\"color: #41a62a\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/camerasandcoffeeclub/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Cameras + Coffee Club\u003c/a> and the\u003ca class=\"x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n xd10rxx x1sy0etr x17r0tee x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz notranslate _a6hd\" role=\"link\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastbayphotocollective/\"> \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastbayphotocollective/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Photo Collective\u003c/a> host “NOTICE,” a showcase featuring work by top-tier Bay Area street photographers who belong to the Oakland Street Photography Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to celebrating the visual art mounted on the walls of the community gallery space in Oakland’s Chinatown, the event will see the group releasing a new zine and partying to the sounds of a DJ set from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ovrkast/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OVRKAST\u003c/a>..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A social media post describing the show explains, “Through the lens of talented photographers, ‘NOTICE’ prompts us to reconsider our perspectives and appreciate the intricate details that often elude our attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956624 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a bucket hat and dress shirt hold up a printed photo of themselves. \" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EB-34-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An attendee at an East Bay Photo Collective event called “Swaptastic,” holds up a printed portrait of themselves. \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On display that evening will be the artwork of photographers\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rough_thesis/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pablocirca/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pablo circa\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ruffdraft/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brandon Ruffin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ariel_mason_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ariel Mason\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bradleyfowl/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bradley Fowl\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elbooi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elvin Catley\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tareweezy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tare Sang\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rudimarr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rudi Tcruz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dre.wick/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Demondre Ward \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/00hsh00t/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kristian Salum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rough_thesis/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Najee Tobin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, whose art will also be showing, is part of the East Bay Photo Collective’s gallery team. A Vallejo-raised artist who focuses on portrait photography with elements of fine art, Tobin says the group’s work is an important part of the landscape for local photographers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956623 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The five members of the East Bay Photo Collective pose for a photograph. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-141-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The East Bay Photo Collective (left to right: Jenny Sampson, Anita Gay, Najee Tobin, Jyoti Liggin, and Vince Donavan ). \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s an easygoing, supportive space where you’re allowed to experiment,” Tobin says of the collective, pointing out the frequent barriers to entry — financial or otherwise — when it comes to doing photography in academia or the world of fine art. ” They just want to see the work, that’s what’s important to me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Bay Photo Collective hosts workshops on specific photography topics throughout the year. The group also holds an annual gear sale, where cameras and accessories are donated, cleaned up and sold for a low price to aspiring photographers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956622 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a black and white photo of a woman standing in a gallery looking at framed images mounted on a wall. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/EBCO-FEB-24-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aja Cooper, daughter of the late photographer Raymond Cooper, takes a look at her dad’s work. \u003ccite>(Malcolm Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month the collective held a closing reception for an exhibition that featured photos from the archives of Raymond Cooper, the late Oakland photographer whose images of the Town during the ’70s and ’80s were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953013/raymond-cooper-oakland-photography-1970s-east-bay-photo-collective\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rescued from a trash can in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see a lot of my friends and fellow photographers in his archives,” says Tobin, reflecting on the event and Cooper’s work. “It was nice to see somebody celebrated for doing what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘NOTICE,’ a show highlighting the work of the Oakland Street Photography Collective, takes place on Friday, May 3, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Photo Workshop (312 8th Street, Oakland).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956615/east-bay-street-photographers-want-you-to-take-notice","authors":["11491"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_820","arts_11374","arts_8167","arts_10278","arts_1143","arts_822","arts_585"],"featImg":"arts_13956621","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13956388":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956388","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956388","score":null,"sort":[1714039226000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"nic-feliciano-is-blessed-with-the-curse-of-an-overactive-creative-mind","title":"nic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’","publishDate":1714039226,"format":"audio","headTitle":"nic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’ | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8720,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>nic feliciano will find a way to creatively express herself, no matter what.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>feliciano (who also goes by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cocomachetz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coco Machete\u003c/a>) contains multitudes. She’s a fashionista who currently resides in Berkeley, but was born in the Philippines and spent her teenage years in Southern California. After moving to the East Bay for school two decades ago, she’s grown into a playwright, chef, thespian and — as she says — “a master of fun.” She’s also a former MC and member of the Bay Area-based hip-hop group \u003ca href=\"https://hottuboakland.bandcamp.com/album/3-the-hard-way\">HOTTUB\u003c/a>, which made Miami Bass–inspired rap songs from roughly 2006 to 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to her work, there are two important things to understand: first, she incorporates her Filipina identity into everything she creates. Second, her “work” isn’t really work at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956529 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-800x1207.jpg\" alt=\"A woman poses in a squat stance with her left hand holding her chin. She wears neon green clogs, black tights and a zebra print skirt. In the background are shelves holding recycled water jugs and plastic pots.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-800x1207.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1020x1538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-768x1158.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1018x1536.jpg 1018w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1358x2048.jpg 1358w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1920x2896.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-scaled.jpg 1697w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">nic feliciano is a writer, performer and cook based in Berkeley by way of the Philippines. \u003ccite>(Kate Buenconsejo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>feliciano proudly maintains flexible daytime employment to pay her bills, while letting her creative juices flow during the evening hours. This separation allows her to stay inspired, penning funny sketches that she performs as a part of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grannycartgangstas?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==\">Grannycart Gangstas\u003c/a> act at \u003ca href=\"https://www.bindlestiffstudio.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blindlestiff Studio\u003c/a> in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>feliciano’s creations go beyond the stage. She’s currently writing a comic book in which she gives a modern spin on the mythological creature from Filipino folklore, the Manananggal. The storyline sheds light on the exploitation that workers in the Philippines face working as contractors for Big Tech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, we talk about how the Bay Area has assisted feliciano’s artistic endeavors, from rapping over bass-heavy hip-hop beats in the early 2000s to forging a “creative family of misfit Filipino kids who didn’t follow the path.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC8148943076\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Host:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey what’s up Rightnowish listeners. I’m your host, Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For this episode, we hear from cook, slash writer, slash actor, slash musician and all around funny person, nic feliciano, who goes by the moniker Coco Machete. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At age 10, nic, along with her mother and sister, left the Philippines and settled in Orange County. Itching to find like-minded folks, nic eventually left SoCal and moved to Berkeley for community college… and she’s been here ever since. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As y’all may know, juggling day jobs and side gigs to pay the bills comes with the territory of being an artist in the Bay. But for nic, she’s not pressed to let how she pays the rent define her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano, Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The true art and what I do is just kind of like surviving. Like my mom to me is an artist because of- she’s never picked up a paintbrush in her life. But like, the way she moves through life and the way she like, makes shit happen and the way she like, figures this out over that or whatever. Like, damn, that’s like such art to me!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish producer Marisol Medina-Cadena and I dive into the splendor that is nic’s mind, and discuss how she honors Filipino brilliance in all that she does. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That and more right after this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we spoke on the phone a while ago, you said something that just really crystallized your creative practice for me. You said you were in your “expansive era.” I feel like that expression really speaks volumes about where you’re at with your relationship to artmaking. So what does your expansive area look like? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s more of just a consciousness whenever I can… if I try- if I have a moment to like meditate on something, it’s just asking for guidance in terms of like how I- how this experience can make me a little bit more expansive and a little bit more able to hold more empathy, more love. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If I forget to remind myself that I’m in that space right now, it’s very easy for everything to knock it down, and feel tired and unaligned. And so I’m kind of using that as a way to stay the course and create some stamina… trying to come from as much love as I can in these crazy times because it’s harder and harder. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that you have a day job outside of your creative practice. And maybe there’s overlap but they’re not really contingent on each other. How do you structure your life in a way that you have the passion and the desire to still make art outside of, like what pays your bills? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I always like, kind of gave myself a hard time about that and been like, what’s wrong with you? Like, why wouldn’t you want to go all in on your art and like, really be about it, live it or whatnot? And I think that for me, not depending on it financially has always sustained it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think I just am one of those people who were blessed or cursed with an overactive creative mind that is constantly feeling the need to like express and release or whatever. But I realized that every time it got to a point where it was time to take it serious, or even like the idea of living off of my art, or like any of that, I feel like — personally, like it kind of kills it a little bit and it doesn’t feel super aligned. I’m not super inspired by it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s just about like finding work that’s not going to keep me there, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like beyond the hours that I need to be. And my brain doesn’t get going until the nighttime anyway. So like, I take advantage of like whatever time, you know, I have outside of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so, I’m grateful, I feel grateful that my day jobs haven’t completely, like, overshadowed my my creative work. You know, how I pay my bills is kind of like the smallest part of my identity. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s just… no to careers and no to making art a career either, I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Balance. It sounds like balance. And also making sure that you work within what’s best for you. You said your night hours, you know, being at home. You know yourself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m trying you know, it’s the journey. It’s part of the ride! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Diving into your artistic endeavors. You’re on the cusp of finishing your first comic book, so I hear. And it’s a sci-fi thriller based on Filipino folklore?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, gosh!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please tell me about the inspiration for this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This has been in the works for quite a while. Inspired by a PBS documentary called The Cleaners, which was about a third party company in the Philippines that was being hired by, like, the Googles, the Facebooks, all that kind of stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, when something gets flagged on any of these platforms, they’re going to these workers — oftentimes, you know, in the Global South: Philippines, India, and a human is processing these images and they’re deciding whether to delete or to keep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re getting PTSD. They’re like processing 8,000 images a day, you know, just like constant, just the worst images you can imagine!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of my favorite folkloric creatures in Filipino folklore is this creature called the manananggal. And it’s oftentimes a femme creature. They stay in the trees, they’re kind of vampiric or what have you. And their top half comes off, and that’s what goes flying around at night looking for food, primarily victims or whatnot. They’re known to suck the life through belly buttons.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Typically, it’s represented as a scary thing that, you know, growing up, if you didn’t, like, go to sleep right away, they’d be like, “oh, the Manananggal is going to come get you.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I’ve like, gotten older and whatnot, I’m just like, well, like, what if it actually was like a creature that, like, went out and did stuff for justice, you know what I mean? I just, like, made up all this stuff in my head. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So anyway, I wrote this short one act play that was from the perspective of this Manananggalgal who didn’t realize they were a Manananggal until they were exploited super hard at work. They snap. And they go and kill, like, all the CEOs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank god Bindlestiff Studios, shout out to Bindlestiff Studios over there in the SOMA, 6th and Howard. The only place for Filipino and Filippinx performing arts, like, they put this play up. It’s pretty ridiculous, but I’m obsessed with this world, like… it’s kind of like the prequel to this piece that I wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so I feel like — comic book, that’s a good way to kind of… not so much lighten it, but like not make it so realistic. The fact that it’s not the real thing, I think feels sort of liberating to tell the story in the way that it is in my head, without it being too, like, real. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m really excited about it, and it’s taken a while, but I’m glad we’ve taken our time because I’ve been collaborating with this incredible illustrator Corpser. Shout out Corpser from Bulacan, in the Philippines. He and I have been going back and forth and he’s illustrated the whole thing and he snapped on the illustration. Neither of us had done this before, but oh man, like, with his vision and my crazy, gross world building. It’s nasty and I can’t wait to share it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ve spoken a lot about Bindlestiff, can you tell us what drew you to that space? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s just my mom, my sister and I here in the U.S., everybody else is back in Manila.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sound design: birds chirping]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have like 25 cousins back home that I when I’m there, like everyone’s around and just kind of really missing like that sense of home, or what have you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so this thing happens to me every time I go back and forth where my reality gets really shook up. Like, I can’t tell what’s real. I feel a lot of guilt of living here and not being a part of what my family back home has to go through to survive, you know what I mean? It’s very- our lives are very different, and jumping back and forth is kind of a challenging thing for me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so I remember being on the bus on my way home from work, and I saw that Bindlestiff- I was in their mailing list somehow, and I saw that they were auditioning for Tagalog speaking actors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, “Oh, maybe… that’s scary, I don’t know.” And then a month later, I see it again. And so I was like, “Okay, they’re still looking. Obviously it’s been a month. Like, maybe this is a sign I should just go and just do it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the grace of God, I somehow still remember, like the Tagalog Pledge of Allegiance from school! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Giggles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I pulled up and I did the best pledge of allegiance with feelings that I could like a fool, and sang my little song, and I guess they were down because they called me back! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From that point on, I’ve never said no to anything Bindlestiff-related again. It’s just 30 years, volunteer-run. Beyond just the theater space, the amount of work that they do in the SOMA neighborhood, like over the pandemic, their artistic director, Irene, ran a program where a bunch of, like, actors were volunteering- everyone, like, delivering groceries to the elders around there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s put so much purpose to my art. I’ve had to reverse engineer my, even my own knowledge of, like, Philippine history and pre-colonial history. Like, I wouldn’t have probably learned that there, but coming here and being around other people in diaspora and learning about how other cultures have looked inward to be able to, like, get through our experiences out here — I feel like, in some sense, we owe it to really center like those who are still living in the land and the and the realities that they face every day and support their art. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like Bindlestiff does a really good job doing that. Like, they’re in direct communication with the community here and always trying to, like, bridge that- that ocean, you know, those thousands and thousands of miles ya know? So it feels good. I’m so grateful to have found them and create a- like a creative family of misfit Filipino kids who didn’t follow the path. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re a part of a crew called Granny Cart Gangstas. What does that entail?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Granny Cart Gangstas is an open-door \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> comedy troupe — mostly Asian American, femme, multi-gender folks — who have been around for ten years, thank you very much. We just celebrated our ten-year anniversary last year. Basically, yeah, we- we’re a sketch comedy troupe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our two founders, Aureen and Ava, came up with the name because they’re always riding around with their granny cart, getting on the bus with it, you know, like as you see all around town. People move when it’s time to roll the granny cart full of laundry or groceries or whatever. It’s like, okay! So that’s kind of what inspired the name. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We do 2 to 3 week shows once a year at Bindlestiff. We all write all our own material. And we- when it’s time to put it up. Oh, man. It’s a hoot. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Video Clip, Granny Cart Gangstas: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good evening. I am Lauren Goodman, and welcome to \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quarantine Now\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Our top story is about the “Adobo Hoes,” a retired roller derby squad. They are leading the way in roller skating security escort tactics. Now being adopted around the San Francisco Bay Area to protect Asian American seniors. The community at large is now reporting feeling more confident and more secure with the hoes working the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before you got into theater, you were part of a group called HOTTUB…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, we’re going there. You were involved in Oakland’s underground music scene — a lot of warehouse parties. Tell me about that music and how that era really shaped your perspective on life today? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Exhales breath]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That era was wild, number one. Proved to be unsustainable. It started mid-2000s, like 2006 and we’re pretty active all the way to 2013. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was so much reaction to, kind of like now, like to what was going on there. That was, like, the tail end of the, kind of like, Bush era. Oh my gosh, Occupy- like the Occupy Movement. So there was a lot of just like tension, especially in the East Bay, where the, the, the trickle of like what was going on in San Francisco hadn’t quite made it over there, but you could still start to feel it. And there was just a real sort of tension there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I think out of that came just a very confrontational time, I would say. There wasn’t a lot of, like, femme acts at the time when we were, when, when we were performing. And so it’s three girls to the front, you know, it was, like, rough! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In that vein of like being you said confrontational, loud, using your voice to claim space on stage. Sonically, what did your set sound like? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My gosh, a battle. Like our producers Jaysonic, Funky Finger Mark. We would bring out an MPC drum machine and a ASR ten sampler keyboard. Those were like our two things. They didn’t have, like, didn’t use laptops, nothing. And these are, like, really textured, heavy sounds that are going straight into sound systems. And then three girl MC chanting banshees like wild women. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music: “Shoot the Lights Out” by HOTTUB]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looking at my Casio it’s about that time\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m ’bout to pick it up stat on my hustle and grind\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got nothin in my pocket but motha-fuckin’ fuck it\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can get a fat loan if you can co-sign it\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But who cares!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I ain’t tripin’ I ain’t tryin to trick for the man\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just to get a couple grand in my hand…\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The original concept of HOTTUB was, was going to be like Tagalog-Miami bass-type stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was always represent- you know, representing my, my shit. And so when I would write raps in Tagalog, lucky for us, we’re here in the Bay area with hella Filipinos. So every so often, like someone would be like “Yo!!!!” you know, and really like kind of recognizing. And that’s always, like, such a gift. But even though it feels like screaming in the void, like I- it just, feels great! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out, oh!!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out, whoa!!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>I’m so glad that I was able to come up creatively during that time because it never felt like there was so much to lose, because it was already coming from nothing. It was like so beyond DIY, you know, like… There was no fear in what we wanted to say. And we could just confront, like, every issue- You know, creating like this, like safe space for like, femme energy to kind of aggressively take over! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music: “M.A.N.B.I.T.C.H” by HOTTUB]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t disrespect\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You gotta come correct\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m tired of your nasty-ass…\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>It really was so empowering to- to be doing this with two of my best friends, you know, Jen and Amber shout out. Just making the most noise and just trying to, like, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Yells]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> get it out! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Definitely formative. And it, it it it gave me the guts to do things that are creative and to actually allow yourself to express, like, some of the stuff that’s going on in, in our minds takes so much guts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m so grateful for that time in my life. And I’m also so grateful that I’ve recovered. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s out. It’s done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">M. A. N. B. I. T. C. H.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know what it is,\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s written all over your face!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just hearing you talk, there’s like this throughline between the comic book, the band HOTTUB, the work you do with Bindlestiff, of like centering Filipino culture. Is there like a thesis or like mission statement behind that, or is that just who you are? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think about this all the time. I think it’s just who I’ve always been. The very first day of school, of American school, ten years old, Orange County of all places. It was just so clear that I was not… of here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so many times that my creative mind and like this idea of trying to reconcile, you know, my- my existence here to home. Like I still think Philippines is home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was five years old when the Philippine Revolution happened. So in 1986, the Filipino people banded together, got the support of the military, and ousted Ferdinand Marcos, who was dictator for like, the last 26 years or whatever. And so I kind of feel like I’m a kid of revolution. Like, I understand that there is… that people can really get together and like, do something great, like, I believe in it, I seen it happen with my own eyes. And I feel like coming here, there’s always just been this sense of, like, refusing to be erased. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The last question that we have for you is: being in your expansive era now, and all the personal values you have for yourself. What do you need from, like, the art scene or your peers or art spaces to do the kind of work you want to do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Watching how — especially here in the Bay Area — watching how artists come together to like, really fight for what they believe in, and really, like, put their necks on the line and really support certain movements, like it’s fired up right now. And I think that, you know, what we can all do for each other is provide ways that we can build our stamina, because I really think that’s what we’re gonna need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the more of that we use our art as leverage and as power, and the more that we understand how powerful we are together… I think that’s probably my greatest ask for myself and our community. It’s like, figure out ways to build stamina because we’re really gonna need it for the long haul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Credits music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Big thank you nic feliciano for dropping by the KQED stu’ to talk about the important things and for making us laugh through it all. You can find her on instagram @cocomachetez. That’s spelled c-o-c-o-m-a-c-h-e-t-e-z. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From May 16th through June 1st, nic will be taking part in an original production at Bindlestiff Studios called Dark Heart. Be sure to check that out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw. Marisol Medina-Cadena produced this episode. Chris Hambrick held it down for edits on this one. Christopher Beale engineered this joint. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The music you heard was courtesy of HOTTUB and Audio Network.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team is also supported by Jen Chien, Ugur Dursun, Holly Kernan, Cesar Saldaña and Katie Sprenger. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you all for listening! For longtime fans of the show, y’all know how we roll. But if you’re new here, welcome! We’re glad to have you, it’s our honor to introduce you to Bay Area culture keepers and change makers you may not have the privilege of knowing… yet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, if you enjoy what we’re doing at Rightnowish, please share the podcast with a friend or a coworker. Subscribe and rate the podcast on whatever platform you choose. Every little action goes a long way. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, y’all be easy! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peace.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The fashionista, playwright, chef, thespian and 'master of fun' discusses her many artistic endeavors.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1714070065,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":118,"wordCount":4185},"headData":{"title":"nic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’ | KQED","description":"nic feliciano (who also goes by Coco Machete) contains multitudes. She's a fashionista who currently resides in the East Bay, but was born in the Philippines and raised in Southern California. After moving to Berkeley for school two decades ago, she's grown into a playwright, comedian, chef and thespian. She's also a former MC and member of the Bay Area-based hip-hop group, HOTTUB, which made Miami-boom bass inspired rap songs from about 2006 to 2013.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialDescription":"nic feliciano (who also goes by Coco Machete) contains multitudes. She's a fashionista who currently resides in the East Bay, but was born in the Philippines and raised in Southern California. After moving to Berkeley for school two decades ago, she's grown into a playwright, comedian, chef and thespian. She's also a former MC and member of the Bay Area-based hip-hop group, HOTTUB, which made Miami-boom bass inspired rap songs from about 2006 to 2013.","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"nic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’","datePublished":"2024-04-25T10:00:26.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-25T18:34:25.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC8148943076.mp3?updated=1714006490","sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-13956388","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956388/nic-feliciano-is-blessed-with-the-curse-of-an-overactive-creative-mind","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>nic feliciano will find a way to creatively express herself, no matter what.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>feliciano (who also goes by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cocomachetz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coco Machete\u003c/a>) contains multitudes. She’s a fashionista who currently resides in Berkeley, but was born in the Philippines and spent her teenage years in Southern California. After moving to the East Bay for school two decades ago, she’s grown into a playwright, chef, thespian and — as she says — “a master of fun.” She’s also a former MC and member of the Bay Area-based hip-hop group \u003ca href=\"https://hottuboakland.bandcamp.com/album/3-the-hard-way\">HOTTUB\u003c/a>, which made Miami Bass–inspired rap songs from roughly 2006 to 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to her work, there are two important things to understand: first, she incorporates her Filipina identity into everything she creates. Second, her “work” isn’t really work at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956529 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-800x1207.jpg\" alt=\"A woman poses in a squat stance with her left hand holding her chin. She wears neon green clogs, black tights and a zebra print skirt. In the background are shelves holding recycled water jugs and plastic pots.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-800x1207.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1020x1538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-768x1158.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1018x1536.jpg 1018w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1358x2048.jpg 1358w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-1920x2896.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/coco-machete-2-scaled.jpg 1697w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">nic feliciano is a writer, performer and cook based in Berkeley by way of the Philippines. \u003ccite>(Kate Buenconsejo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>feliciano proudly maintains flexible daytime employment to pay her bills, while letting her creative juices flow during the evening hours. This separation allows her to stay inspired, penning funny sketches that she performs as a part of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/grannycartgangstas?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==\">Grannycart Gangstas\u003c/a> act at \u003ca href=\"https://www.bindlestiffstudio.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blindlestiff Studio\u003c/a> in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>feliciano’s creations go beyond the stage. She’s currently writing a comic book in which she gives a modern spin on the mythological creature from Filipino folklore, the Manananggal. The storyline sheds light on the exploitation that workers in the Philippines face working as contractors for Big Tech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, we talk about how the Bay Area has assisted feliciano’s artistic endeavors, from rapping over bass-heavy hip-hop beats in the early 2000s to forging a “creative family of misfit Filipino kids who didn’t follow the path.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC8148943076\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Host:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey what’s up Rightnowish listeners. I’m your host, Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For this episode, we hear from cook, slash writer, slash actor, slash musician and all around funny person, nic feliciano, who goes by the moniker Coco Machete. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At age 10, nic, along with her mother and sister, left the Philippines and settled in Orange County. Itching to find like-minded folks, nic eventually left SoCal and moved to Berkeley for community college… and she’s been here ever since. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As y’all may know, juggling day jobs and side gigs to pay the bills comes with the territory of being an artist in the Bay. But for nic, she’s not pressed to let how she pays the rent define her.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano, Guest: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The true art and what I do is just kind of like surviving. Like my mom to me is an artist because of- she’s never picked up a paintbrush in her life. But like, the way she moves through life and the way she like, makes shit happen and the way she like, figures this out over that or whatever. Like, damn, that’s like such art to me!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish producer Marisol Medina-Cadena and I dive into the splendor that is nic’s mind, and discuss how she honors Filipino brilliance in all that she does. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That and more right after this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Ad break]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we spoke on the phone a while ago, you said something that just really crystallized your creative practice for me. You said you were in your “expansive era.” I feel like that expression really speaks volumes about where you’re at with your relationship to artmaking. So what does your expansive area look like? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s more of just a consciousness whenever I can… if I try- if I have a moment to like meditate on something, it’s just asking for guidance in terms of like how I- how this experience can make me a little bit more expansive and a little bit more able to hold more empathy, more love. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If I forget to remind myself that I’m in that space right now, it’s very easy for everything to knock it down, and feel tired and unaligned. And so I’m kind of using that as a way to stay the course and create some stamina… trying to come from as much love as I can in these crazy times because it’s harder and harder. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know that you have a day job outside of your creative practice. And maybe there’s overlap but they’re not really contingent on each other. How do you structure your life in a way that you have the passion and the desire to still make art outside of, like what pays your bills? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I always like, kind of gave myself a hard time about that and been like, what’s wrong with you? Like, why wouldn’t you want to go all in on your art and like, really be about it, live it or whatnot? And I think that for me, not depending on it financially has always sustained it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think I just am one of those people who were blessed or cursed with an overactive creative mind that is constantly feeling the need to like express and release or whatever. But I realized that every time it got to a point where it was time to take it serious, or even like the idea of living off of my art, or like any of that, I feel like — personally, like it kind of kills it a little bit and it doesn’t feel super aligned. I’m not super inspired by it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s just about like finding work that’s not going to keep me there, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like beyond the hours that I need to be. And my brain doesn’t get going until the nighttime anyway. So like, I take advantage of like whatever time, you know, I have outside of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so, I’m grateful, I feel grateful that my day jobs haven’t completely, like, overshadowed my my creative work. You know, how I pay my bills is kind of like the smallest part of my identity. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s just… no to careers and no to making art a career either, I don’t know. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Balance. It sounds like balance. And also making sure that you work within what’s best for you. You said your night hours, you know, being at home. You know yourself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m trying you know, it’s the journey. It’s part of the ride! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Diving into your artistic endeavors. You’re on the cusp of finishing your first comic book, so I hear. And it’s a sci-fi thriller based on Filipino folklore?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, gosh!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please tell me about the inspiration for this. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This has been in the works for quite a while. Inspired by a PBS documentary called The Cleaners, which was about a third party company in the Philippines that was being hired by, like, the Googles, the Facebooks, all that kind of stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Basically, when something gets flagged on any of these platforms, they’re going to these workers — oftentimes, you know, in the Global South: Philippines, India, and a human is processing these images and they’re deciding whether to delete or to keep. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They’re getting PTSD. They’re like processing 8,000 images a day, you know, just like constant, just the worst images you can imagine!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of my favorite folkloric creatures in Filipino folklore is this creature called the manananggal. And it’s oftentimes a femme creature. They stay in the trees, they’re kind of vampiric or what have you. And their top half comes off, and that’s what goes flying around at night looking for food, primarily victims or whatnot. They’re known to suck the life through belly buttons.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Typically, it’s represented as a scary thing that, you know, growing up, if you didn’t, like, go to sleep right away, they’d be like, “oh, the Manananggal is going to come get you.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I’ve like, gotten older and whatnot, I’m just like, well, like, what if it actually was like a creature that, like, went out and did stuff for justice, you know what I mean? I just, like, made up all this stuff in my head. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So anyway, I wrote this short one act play that was from the perspective of this Manananggalgal who didn’t realize they were a Manananggal until they were exploited super hard at work. They snap. And they go and kill, like, all the CEOs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank god Bindlestiff Studios, shout out to Bindlestiff Studios over there in the SOMA, 6th and Howard. The only place for Filipino and Filippinx performing arts, like, they put this play up. It’s pretty ridiculous, but I’m obsessed with this world, like… it’s kind of like the prequel to this piece that I wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so I feel like — comic book, that’s a good way to kind of… not so much lighten it, but like not make it so realistic. The fact that it’s not the real thing, I think feels sort of liberating to tell the story in the way that it is in my head, without it being too, like, real. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I’m really excited about it, and it’s taken a while, but I’m glad we’ve taken our time because I’ve been collaborating with this incredible illustrator Corpser. Shout out Corpser from Bulacan, in the Philippines. He and I have been going back and forth and he’s illustrated the whole thing and he snapped on the illustration. Neither of us had done this before, but oh man, like, with his vision and my crazy, gross world building. It’s nasty and I can’t wait to share it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’ve spoken a lot about Bindlestiff, can you tell us what drew you to that space? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s just my mom, my sister and I here in the U.S., everybody else is back in Manila.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Sound design: birds chirping]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have like 25 cousins back home that I when I’m there, like everyone’s around and just kind of really missing like that sense of home, or what have you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so this thing happens to me every time I go back and forth where my reality gets really shook up. Like, I can’t tell what’s real. I feel a lot of guilt of living here and not being a part of what my family back home has to go through to survive, you know what I mean? It’s very- our lives are very different, and jumping back and forth is kind of a challenging thing for me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so I remember being on the bus on my way home from work, and I saw that Bindlestiff- I was in their mailing list somehow, and I saw that they were auditioning for Tagalog speaking actors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, “Oh, maybe… that’s scary, I don’t know.” And then a month later, I see it again. And so I was like, “Okay, they’re still looking. Obviously it’s been a month. Like, maybe this is a sign I should just go and just do it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the grace of God, I somehow still remember, like the Tagalog Pledge of Allegiance from school! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Giggles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I pulled up and I did the best pledge of allegiance with feelings that I could like a fool, and sang my little song, and I guess they were down because they called me back! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From that point on, I’ve never said no to anything Bindlestiff-related again. It’s just 30 years, volunteer-run. Beyond just the theater space, the amount of work that they do in the SOMA neighborhood, like over the pandemic, their artistic director, Irene, ran a program where a bunch of, like, actors were volunteering- everyone, like, delivering groceries to the elders around there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s put so much purpose to my art. I’ve had to reverse engineer my, even my own knowledge of, like, Philippine history and pre-colonial history. Like, I wouldn’t have probably learned that there, but coming here and being around other people in diaspora and learning about how other cultures have looked inward to be able to, like, get through our experiences out here — I feel like, in some sense, we owe it to really center like those who are still living in the land and the and the realities that they face every day and support their art. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I feel like Bindlestiff does a really good job doing that. Like, they’re in direct communication with the community here and always trying to, like, bridge that- that ocean, you know, those thousands and thousands of miles ya know? So it feels good. I’m so grateful to have found them and create a- like a creative family of misfit Filipino kids who didn’t follow the path. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You’re a part of a crew called Granny Cart Gangstas. What does that entail?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, Granny Cart Gangstas is an open-door \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> comedy troupe — mostly Asian American, femme, multi-gender folks — who have been around for ten years, thank you very much. We just celebrated our ten-year anniversary last year. Basically, yeah, we- we’re a sketch comedy troupe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our two founders, Aureen and Ava, came up with the name because they’re always riding around with their granny cart, getting on the bus with it, you know, like as you see all around town. People move when it’s time to roll the granny cart full of laundry or groceries or whatever. It’s like, okay! So that’s kind of what inspired the name. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We do 2 to 3 week shows once a year at Bindlestiff. We all write all our own material. And we- when it’s time to put it up. Oh, man. It’s a hoot. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Video Clip, Granny Cart Gangstas: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Good evening. I am Lauren Goodman, and welcome to \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quarantine Now\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Our top story is about the “Adobo Hoes,” a retired roller derby squad. They are leading the way in roller skating security escort tactics. Now being adopted around the San Francisco Bay Area to protect Asian American seniors. The community at large is now reporting feeling more confident and more secure with the hoes working the streets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before you got into theater, you were part of a group called HOTTUB…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh my gosh.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yeah, we’re going there. You were involved in Oakland’s underground music scene — a lot of warehouse parties. Tell me about that music and how that era really shaped your perspective on life today? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Exhales breath]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That era was wild, number one. Proved to be unsustainable. It started mid-2000s, like 2006 and we’re pretty active all the way to 2013. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There was so much reaction to, kind of like now, like to what was going on there. That was, like, the tail end of the, kind of like, Bush era. Oh my gosh, Occupy- like the Occupy Movement. So there was a lot of just like tension, especially in the East Bay, where the, the, the trickle of like what was going on in San Francisco hadn’t quite made it over there, but you could still start to feel it. And there was just a real sort of tension there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I think out of that came just a very confrontational time, I would say. There wasn’t a lot of, like, femme acts at the time when we were, when, when we were performing. And so it’s three girls to the front, you know, it was, like, rough! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In that vein of like being you said confrontational, loud, using your voice to claim space on stage. Sonically, what did your set sound like? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My gosh, a battle. Like our producers Jaysonic, Funky Finger Mark. We would bring out an MPC drum machine and a ASR ten sampler keyboard. Those were like our two things. They didn’t have, like, didn’t use laptops, nothing. And these are, like, really textured, heavy sounds that are going straight into sound systems. And then three girl MC chanting banshees like wild women. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music: “Shoot the Lights Out” by HOTTUB]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looking at my Casio it’s about that time\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m ’bout to pick it up stat on my hustle and grind\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I got nothin in my pocket but motha-fuckin’ fuck it\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can get a fat loan if you can co-sign it\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But who cares!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I ain’t tripin’ I ain’t tryin to trick for the man\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just to get a couple grand in my hand…\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The original concept of HOTTUB was, was going to be like Tagalog-Miami bass-type stuff. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was always represent- you know, representing my, my shit. And so when I would write raps in Tagalog, lucky for us, we’re here in the Bay area with hella Filipinos. So every so often, like someone would be like “Yo!!!!” you know, and really like kind of recognizing. And that’s always, like, such a gift. But even though it feels like screaming in the void, like I- it just, feels great! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out, oh!!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shoot the lights out shoot the lights out, whoa!!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>I’m so glad that I was able to come up creatively during that time because it never felt like there was so much to lose, because it was already coming from nothing. It was like so beyond DIY, you know, like… There was no fear in what we wanted to say. And we could just confront, like, every issue- You know, creating like this, like safe space for like, femme energy to kind of aggressively take over! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music: “M.A.N.B.I.T.C.H” by HOTTUB]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Don’t disrespect\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You gotta come correct\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m tired of your nasty-ass…\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>It really was so empowering to- to be doing this with two of my best friends, you know, Jen and Amber shout out. Just making the most noise and just trying to, like, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Yells]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> get it out! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Definitely formative. And it, it it it gave me the guts to do things that are creative and to actually allow yourself to express, like, some of the stuff that’s going on in, in our minds takes so much guts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m so grateful for that time in my life. And I’m also so grateful that I’ve recovered. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s out. It’s done. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">M. A. N. B. I. T. C. H.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We know what it is,\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s written all over your face!\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just hearing you talk, there’s like this throughline between the comic book, the band HOTTUB, the work you do with Bindlestiff, of like centering Filipino culture. Is there like a thesis or like mission statement behind that, or is that just who you are? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think about this all the time. I think it’s just who I’ve always been. The very first day of school, of American school, ten years old, Orange County of all places. It was just so clear that I was not… of here. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so many times that my creative mind and like this idea of trying to reconcile, you know, my- my existence here to home. Like I still think Philippines is home. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was five years old when the Philippine Revolution happened. So in 1986, the Filipino people banded together, got the support of the military, and ousted Ferdinand Marcos, who was dictator for like, the last 26 years or whatever. And so I kind of feel like I’m a kid of revolution. Like, I understand that there is… that people can really get together and like, do something great, like, I believe in it, I seen it happen with my own eyes. And I feel like coming here, there’s always just been this sense of, like, refusing to be erased. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Marisol Medina-Cadena:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The last question that we have for you is: being in your expansive era now, and all the personal values you have for yourself. What do you need from, like, the art scene or your peers or art spaces to do the kind of work you want to do? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>nic feliciano: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Watching how — especially here in the Bay Area — watching how artists come together to like, really fight for what they believe in, and really, like, put their necks on the line and really support certain movements, like it’s fired up right now. And I think that, you know, what we can all do for each other is provide ways that we can build our stamina, because I really think that’s what we’re gonna need. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the more of that we use our art as leverage and as power, and the more that we understand how powerful we are together… I think that’s probably my greatest ask for myself and our community. It’s like, figure out ways to build stamina because we’re really gonna need it for the long haul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Credits music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Big thank you nic feliciano for dropping by the KQED stu’ to talk about the important things and for making us laugh through it all. You can find her on instagram @cocomachetez. That’s spelled c-o-c-o-m-a-c-h-e-t-e-z. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From May 16th through June 1st, nic will be taking part in an original production at Bindlestiff Studios called Dark Heart. Be sure to check that out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw. Marisol Medina-Cadena produced this episode. Chris Hambrick held it down for edits on this one. Christopher Beale engineered this joint. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The music you heard was courtesy of HOTTUB and Audio Network.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team is also supported by Jen Chien, Ugur Dursun, Holly Kernan, Cesar Saldaña and Katie Sprenger. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you all for listening! For longtime fans of the show, y’all know how we roll. But if you’re new here, welcome! We’re glad to have you, it’s our honor to introduce you to Bay Area culture keepers and change makers you may not have the privilege of knowing… yet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, if you enjoy what we’re doing at Rightnowish, please share the podcast with a friend or a coworker. Subscribe and rate the podcast on whatever platform you choose. Every little action goes a long way. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, y’all be easy! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peace.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956388/nic-feliciano-is-blessed-with-the-curse-of-an-overactive-creative-mind","authors":["11491","11528"],"programs":["arts_8720"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_73","arts_968","arts_835","arts_69","arts_1003"],"tags":["arts_820","arts_549","arts_7584","arts_1942","arts_10278","arts_2855","arts_831","arts_1072"],"featImg":"arts_13956394","label":"arts_8720"},"arts_13956528":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956528","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956528","score":null,"sort":[1713996484000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"rightnowish-youth-takeover-post","title":"High Schoolers Give TLDR Versions of Rightnowish Episodes","publishDate":1713996484,"format":"aside","headTitle":"High Schoolers Give TLDR Versions of Rightnowish Episodes | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8720,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish celebrates our fourth anniversary on the air this year – it also marks our first collaboration with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/youth-advisory-board\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Youth Advisory Board\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As part of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Youth Takeover\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Rightnowish producers served as mentors for four Bay Area high school students who crafted social media content together and brought us behind the scenes of their creative process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team strongly believes in the intergenerational sharing of knowledge, so when asked to join this project, we were immediately interested. Through nurturing future mediamakers, we can prepare them for their prospective careers in journalism and follow through on our mission to inform, inspire, and innovate. For the last few months, we’ve worked with YAB members Jeanette, Lyric, Maceo, and Vanessa and met with them to bring their ideas to life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956530\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956530 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Youth Advisory Board members Vanessa, Jeanette and Maceo have a meet and greet with Rightnowish editor Chris Hambrick. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our meetings began with getting to know these young journalists and their unique interests and finding ways to translate these into our work. Pulling from their passion and experiences in filmmaking and video production, we focused on creating promotional content for Rightnowish episodes in their own voice with the goal of drawing in a youth audience. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">YAB members were in control of the pieces they made, choosing their own structure and style and highlighting the episodes’ topics they were most interested in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Check out KQED Youth Advisory Board members’ videos on\u003c/span>\u003c/i> \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kqedarts/?hl=en\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Arts Instagram page\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> throughout Youth Takeover – April 22 to 26, 2024 – and hear about their experience directly from them below.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quick Q&A with Rightnowish YAB Members: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What was your creative process in drafting these social videos?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: My creative process is usually watching other videos with the same themes to gain inspiration. I also like to do deep dives on my subject to get a sense of their personalities and aesthetics. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My team partner and I first took time to brainstorm what we wanted to say and what kind of feel we wanted our video to have. After that, we would write up a few versions of a script\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: An A/V script was always beneficial to have as a roadmap. Here, I was able to outline what I was going to say based on the Rightnowish podcast episode I was focusing on and what visuals were going to be on screen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Overall, what ultimately enabled us to come up with the creative content in our vertical videos was the collaboration of our ideas and the combined effort we put into our video planning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/-Ow6OgCtmoE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What did you learn about feedback from this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: I learned a lot about feedback towards media creation and editing, the processes that content goes through before being posted, and the collaboration of collective feedback in improvising and completing a video project. Receiving comments on our scripts gave me insight of how I can give feedback towards others and how I can take feedback to better my own work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: I learned that there are many different rounds of feedback needed for even a one minute video. These elevated our video to a higher level each time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: I learned to always pay attention to major and minor details, even if that’s just checking the weather. I also learned that adding aspects like captions can elevate your video and make it visually cool. It’s all about managing your time and making a social video that’s entertaining, and to do that, I learned to consider new factors that I never had before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned that not all feedback should be taken offensively and that being open to different perspectives can push you towards your better self.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8A4qm1KNjA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What have you gained from this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have learned to work with a team and to commit not just to myself, but to others. It has also helped me with my editing skills. Being able to experience being a part of Rightnowish, I have felt more confident in myself and my abilities. I no longer doubt myself or my work because I know it is appreciated and respected.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: I have gained a lot of experience in creating media that appeals to a general social media audience. We crafted every aspect of our videos to grab the viewer’s attention and provide them with informative content that encompasses the subject of the video.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: I was able to improve my communication and editing skills as well as my knowledge regarding Bay Area culture because of Rightnowish. Faces that I didn’t know before, I know now. Being able to hear these new stories about people living in the Bay is super cool and interesting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: I have gained valuable experience productively collaborating with others to create content I’m proud of.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOvhQ5j2FTQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How might this apply to your future career interests?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I will be able to use my portfolio from Rightnowish on my resume. It will showcase that I have been interested and involved with mediamaking from a young age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: This gave me extremely valuable experience and exposure in the career of media creation. I learned how to create media with a team and help each other improve our own work in the process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: This definitely introduced me to the basics of media creation and what is expected of me. I’m thinking about being a movie editor, so this exposed me to what it would be like. I truly appreciate this opportunity for allowing me to understand what it’s like to create content, especially when it comes to the editing process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: This experience gave me an insight into what it would be like to work for a big media company like KQED. I hope to one day be a feature film director and screenwriter, so I will be working in the entertainment industry in the future. I will take the knowledge I learned as a KQED Youth Advisory Board member with me as I look for jobs in media in the future.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956535 size-large\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Youth Advisory Board members, Vanessa, Maceo and Lyric working with Rightnowish editor Chris Hambrick at the last in-person meeting. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1714001464,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":29,"wordCount":1123},"headData":{"title":"High Schoolers Give TLDR Versions of Rightnowish Episodes | KQED","description":"Rightnowish celebrates our fourth anniversary on the air this year – it also marks our first collaboration with the KQED Youth Advisory Board. As part of KQED Youth Takeover, Rightnowish producers served as mentors for four Bay Area high school students who crafted social media content together and brought us behind the scenes of their creative process. The Rightnowish team strongly believes in the intergenerational sharing of knowledge, so when asked to join this project, we were immediately interested. Through nurturing future mediamakers, we can prepare them for their prospective careers in journalism and follow through on our mission to","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"High Schoolers Give TLDR Versions of Rightnowish Episodes","datePublished":"2024-04-24T22:08:04.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-24T23:31:04.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-13956528","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956528/rightnowish-youth-takeover-post","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish celebrates our fourth anniversary on the air this year – it also marks our first collaboration with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/youth-advisory-board\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Youth Advisory Board\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As part of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Youth Takeover\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Rightnowish producers served as mentors for four Bay Area high school students who crafted social media content together and brought us behind the scenes of their creative process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team strongly believes in the intergenerational sharing of knowledge, so when asked to join this project, we were immediately interested. Through nurturing future mediamakers, we can prepare them for their prospective careers in journalism and follow through on our mission to inform, inspire, and innovate. For the last few months, we’ve worked with YAB members Jeanette, Lyric, Maceo, and Vanessa and met with them to bring their ideas to life. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956530\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956530 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/First-Mtg-1.9-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Youth Advisory Board members Vanessa, Jeanette and Maceo have a meet and greet with Rightnowish editor Chris Hambrick. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our meetings began with getting to know these young journalists and their unique interests and finding ways to translate these into our work. Pulling from their passion and experiences in filmmaking and video production, we focused on creating promotional content for Rightnowish episodes in their own voice with the goal of drawing in a youth audience. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">YAB members were in control of the pieces they made, choosing their own structure and style and highlighting the episodes’ topics they were most interested in. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Check out KQED Youth Advisory Board members’ videos on\u003c/span>\u003c/i> \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kqedarts/?hl=en\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED Arts Instagram page\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> throughout Youth Takeover – April 22 to 26, 2024 – and hear about their experience directly from them below.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quick Q&A with Rightnowish YAB Members: \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What was your creative process in drafting these social videos?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: My creative process is usually watching other videos with the same themes to gain inspiration. I also like to do deep dives on my subject to get a sense of their personalities and aesthetics. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My team partner and I first took time to brainstorm what we wanted to say and what kind of feel we wanted our video to have. After that, we would write up a few versions of a script\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: An A/V script was always beneficial to have as a roadmap. Here, I was able to outline what I was going to say based on the Rightnowish podcast episode I was focusing on and what visuals were going to be on screen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Overall, what ultimately enabled us to come up with the creative content in our vertical videos was the collaboration of our ideas and the combined effort we put into our video planning.\u003c/span>\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/-Ow6OgCtmoE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-Ow6OgCtmoE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>What did you learn about feedback from this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: I learned a lot about feedback towards media creation and editing, the processes that content goes through before being posted, and the collaboration of collective feedback in improvising and completing a video project. Receiving comments on our scripts gave me insight of how I can give feedback towards others and how I can take feedback to better my own work.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: I learned that there are many different rounds of feedback needed for even a one minute video. These elevated our video to a higher level each time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: I learned to always pay attention to major and minor details, even if that’s just checking the weather. I also learned that adding aspects like captions can elevate your video and make it visually cool. It’s all about managing your time and making a social video that’s entertaining, and to do that, I learned to consider new factors that I never had before.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned that not all feedback should be taken offensively and that being open to different perspectives can push you towards your better self.\u003c/span>\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/G8A4qm1KNjA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/G8A4qm1KNjA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>What have you gained from this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have learned to work with a team and to commit not just to myself, but to others. It has also helped me with my editing skills. Being able to experience being a part of Rightnowish, I have felt more confident in myself and my abilities. I no longer doubt myself or my work because I know it is appreciated and respected.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: I have gained a lot of experience in creating media that appeals to a general social media audience. We crafted every aspect of our videos to grab the viewer’s attention and provide them with informative content that encompasses the subject of the video.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: I was able to improve my communication and editing skills as well as my knowledge regarding Bay Area culture because of Rightnowish. Faces that I didn’t know before, I know now. Being able to hear these new stories about people living in the Bay is super cool and interesting.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: I have gained valuable experience productively collaborating with others to create content I’m proud of.\u003c/span>\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/ZOvhQ5j2FTQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZOvhQ5j2FTQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>How might this apply to your future career interests?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lyric: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I will be able to use my portfolio from Rightnowish on my resume. It will showcase that I have been interested and involved with mediamaking from a young age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maceo: This gave me extremely valuable experience and exposure in the career of media creation. I learned how to create media with a team and help each other improve our own work in the process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jeanette: This definitely introduced me to the basics of media creation and what is expected of me. I’m thinking about being a movie editor, so this exposed me to what it would be like. I truly appreciate this opportunity for allowing me to understand what it’s like to create content, especially when it comes to the editing process. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanessa: This experience gave me an insight into what it would be like to work for a big media company like KQED. I hope to one day be a feature film director and screenwriter, so I will be working in the entertainment industry in the future. I will take the knowledge I learned as a KQED Youth Advisory Board member with me as I look for jobs in media in the future.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956535 size-large\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/last-mtg-4.2-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Youth Advisory Board members, Vanessa, Maceo and Lyric working with Rightnowish editor Chris Hambrick at the last in-person meeting. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>=\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956528/rightnowish-youth-takeover-post","authors":["11832"],"programs":["arts_8720"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835"],"tags":["arts_4533"],"collections":["arts_22112"],"featImg":"arts_13956630","label":"arts_8720"},"arts_13956554":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956554","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956554","score":null,"sort":[1713993863000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"loco-bloco-mission-district-carnaval-jediah-pratt","title":"The Drumbeat of Home: How Loco Bloco Keeps One Family Tethered to the Mission","publishDate":1713993863,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The Drumbeat of Home: How Loco Bloco Keeps One Family Tethered to the Mission | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">Youth Takeover\u003c/a>. Throughout the week of April 22-26, we’re publishing content by high school students from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The booming sounds can be heard in the Mission District all the way down the block. From inside a brightly painted building on 24th Street, upstairs at the Brava Theater Center, 20 drummers pound out a rhythm for nearly three dozen dancers, shaking the floor as they move. \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot-160x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"190\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13956328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a typical weeknight rehearsal for \u003ca href=\"https://www.locoblocosf.org/\">Loco Bloco\u003c/a>, whose performers are currently working for hours on end to master intricate choreography and complex drum patterns for their performance at San Francisco’s massive \u003ca href=\"https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/\">Carnaval celebration\u003c/a> in May. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A donations-based organization offering free dance and music classes to young people, Loco Bloco primarily serves the Latin and Afro-Latino communities in the Bay Area. Since its founding in 1994, Loco Bloco has influenced countless young participants, giving them a sense of community, stability and core values.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956568\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Antonio ‘Tico’ Dos Santos leads a Loco Bloco drum lesson at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A prime example of this is 15-year-old dancer Jediah Pratt, who began dancing with Loco Bloco when she was just 6 years old. When asked about the benefits of the program, she emphasizes the group’s tight-knit bond, and how much it means to her and her family since moving out of San Francisco with its rising costs. Now living an hour away, she says the program has kept her connected to the city where her family lived for generations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956565\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt (center right), 15, practices with a Loco Bloco dance group lead by artistic director Mayela Carrasco at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jediah’s family has a long history with Loco Bloco. Her mother Ramona was introduced to the program by one of its founders, Jose Carrasco, when she was 11, and would watch rehearsals from the sidelines after school before joining in herself as a drummer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many years later, when Jediah was just 5, she saw the group perform — feathers, floats, colors and all — and begged her mom to join. In first grade, her wish came true, and she dutifully showed up to rehearsals, rain or shine. (Once, when a family member died, she remembers wanting to go to Loco Bloco rehearsal instead of their funeral.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, stands outside Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, before dance practice with the group Loco Bloco to prepare for Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“She’s grown up with Loco Bloco, which I think is a beautiful thing,” says Ramona of her daughter. “I’ve asked over and over again, ‘Is this what you really want to do? Because you’re really good at it.’” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, the closeness and familial bond of the program gave Jediah and her family a sense of stability after moving to Concord due to high costs and inflation. It was a difficult time, and her new home and school were vastly different from San Francisco. Yet Jediah and her three siblings still attended Loco Bloco every Monday and Wednesday. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loco Bloco managing director Jose Carrasco leads a drum group during practice at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Jediah is really the best,” said Jose Carrasco, now Loco Bloco’s managing director. “She has really developed into a beautiful artist, and through the years I’ve watched her blossom.” Jediah helps out with the younger kids and their stilts lessons, Carrasco is quick to point out, while Ramona spends her time drumming and volunteering for the program. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, Jediah’s family moved to Fairfield, an hour away from San Francisco without traffic, where her routine and environment changed once again. She began high school in Fairfield this year, which she described as rough. She didn’t know anybody at first, and went to a school with thousands of kids and “fights every day on the schoolyard.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956567\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, talks with friends during Loco Bloco dance practice at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, every Monday and Wednesday at 5 p.m., Ramona drives the family down I-80 and through the city’s traffic to Loco Bloco, where Jediah and her siblings dance and drum for hours. They don’t get back home until 11 p.m. While it may sound strenuous, when asked about it, Jediah says, “I feel like everybody is kind of like family. Everyone knows everyone, and we’re always there for each other, looking out for each other.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this year’s Carnaval, Jediah is one of just two teens dancing with the adults. Though the rehearsals and dances are difficult, the hardest part of preparing for Carnaval is the costumes, she says. Each year the dancers are given costumes to decorate with rhinestones or other accouterments and make their own. Jediah recalls staying up until one a.m. the night before last year’s Carnaval, trying to finish her outfit and falling asleep with the hot glue gun in hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956563\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956563\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, helps stilt walkers for the group Loco Bloco practice outside Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Jediah continues to navigate the challenges of adjusting to a new environment and the demands of high school life, her dedication to Loco Bloco remains a testament to the power of community and art. Through Loco Bloco, she not only hones her skills as an artist but also cultivates resilience, perseverance, and a sense of belonging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the upcoming Carnaval performance, there’ll be drums, dancing and colorful costumes — and for Jediah, there’ll also be the enduring impact of cultural expression and the bonds forged through shared experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Loco Bloco performs as part of this year’s San Francisco’s Carnaval, running May 25–26 in the Mission District. \u003ca href=\"https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Binnie Kenvin is a Junior at University High School. She is passionate about screenwriting, dancing and playing bass, and loves to hang out with her three dogs. In the future she hopes to be a screenwriter. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"As rehearsals heat up for this year's Carnaval, one 15-year-old dancer calls Loco Bloco 'like family.' ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713993991,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":19,"wordCount":1122},"headData":{"title":"The Drumbeat of Home: How Loco Bloco Keeps One Family Tethered to the Mission | KQED","description":"As rehearsals heat up for this year's Carnaval, one 15-year-old dancer calls Loco Bloco 'like family.' ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Drumbeat of Home: How Loco Bloco Keeps One Family Tethered to the Mission","datePublished":"2024-04-24T21:24:23.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-24T21:26:31.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"WpOldSlug":"the-drumbeat-of-home-how-loco-bloco-keeps-one-family-tethered-to-the-mission","nprByline":"Binnie Kenvin","nprStoryId":"kqed-13956554","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956554/loco-bloco-mission-district-carnaval-jediah-pratt","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">Youth Takeover\u003c/a>. Throughout the week of April 22-26, we’re publishing content by high school students from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The booming sounds can be heard in the Mission District all the way down the block. From inside a brightly painted building on 24th Street, upstairs at the Brava Theater Center, 20 drummers pound out a rhythm for nearly three dozen dancers, shaking the floor as they move. \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot-160x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"190\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13956328\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Binnie.headshot.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a typical weeknight rehearsal for \u003ca href=\"https://www.locoblocosf.org/\">Loco Bloco\u003c/a>, whose performers are currently working for hours on end to master intricate choreography and complex drum patterns for their performance at San Francisco’s massive \u003ca href=\"https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/\">Carnaval celebration\u003c/a> in May. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A donations-based organization offering free dance and music classes to young people, Loco Bloco primarily serves the Latin and Afro-Latino communities in the Bay Area. Since its founding in 1994, Loco Bloco has influenced countless young participants, giving them a sense of community, stability and core values.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956568\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-44-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Antonio ‘Tico’ Dos Santos leads a Loco Bloco drum lesson at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A prime example of this is 15-year-old dancer Jediah Pratt, who began dancing with Loco Bloco when she was just 6 years old. When asked about the benefits of the program, she emphasizes the group’s tight-knit bond, and how much it means to her and her family since moving out of San Francisco with its rising costs. Now living an hour away, she says the program has kept her connected to the city where her family lived for generations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956565\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-31-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt (center right), 15, practices with a Loco Bloco dance group lead by artistic director Mayela Carrasco at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jediah’s family has a long history with Loco Bloco. Her mother Ramona was introduced to the program by one of its founders, Jose Carrasco, when she was 11, and would watch rehearsals from the sidelines after school before joining in herself as a drummer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many years later, when Jediah was just 5, she saw the group perform — feathers, floats, colors and all — and begged her mom to join. In first grade, her wish came true, and she dutifully showed up to rehearsals, rain or shine. (Once, when a family member died, she remembers wanting to go to Loco Bloco rehearsal instead of their funeral.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, stands outside Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, before dance practice with the group Loco Bloco to prepare for Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“She’s grown up with Loco Bloco, which I think is a beautiful thing,” says Ramona of her daughter. “I’ve asked over and over again, ‘Is this what you really want to do? Because you’re really good at it.’” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, the closeness and familial bond of the program gave Jediah and her family a sense of stability after moving to Concord due to high costs and inflation. It was a difficult time, and her new home and school were vastly different from San Francisco. Yet Jediah and her three siblings still attended Loco Bloco every Monday and Wednesday. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-48-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loco Bloco managing director Jose Carrasco leads a drum group during practice at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Jediah is really the best,” said Jose Carrasco, now Loco Bloco’s managing director. “She has really developed into a beautiful artist, and through the years I’ve watched her blossom.” Jediah helps out with the younger kids and their stilts lessons, Carrasco is quick to point out, while Ramona spends her time drumming and volunteering for the program. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, Jediah’s family moved to Fairfield, an hour away from San Francisco without traffic, where her routine and environment changed once again. She began high school in Fairfield this year, which she described as rough. She didn’t know anybody at first, and went to a school with thousands of kids and “fights every day on the schoolyard.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956567\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-35-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, talks with friends during Loco Bloco dance practice at Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024, to prepare for their performance in Carnaval. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, every Monday and Wednesday at 5 p.m., Ramona drives the family down I-80 and through the city’s traffic to Loco Bloco, where Jediah and her siblings dance and drum for hours. They don’t get back home until 11 p.m. While it may sound strenuous, when asked about it, Jediah says, “I feel like everybody is kind of like family. Everyone knows everyone, and we’re always there for each other, looking out for each other.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this year’s Carnaval, Jediah is one of just two teens dancing with the adults. Though the rehearsals and dances are difficult, the hardest part of preparing for Carnaval is the costumes, she says. Each year the dancers are given costumes to decorate with rhinestones or other accouterments and make their own. Jediah recalls staying up until one a.m. the night before last year’s Carnaval, trying to finish her outfit and falling asleep with the hot glue gun in hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956563\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956563\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240422-LOCOBLOCO-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jediah Pratt, 15, helps stilt walkers for the group Loco Bloco practice outside Brava Theater in San Francisco on April 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Jediah continues to navigate the challenges of adjusting to a new environment and the demands of high school life, her dedication to Loco Bloco remains a testament to the power of community and art. Through Loco Bloco, she not only hones her skills as an artist but also cultivates resilience, perseverance, and a sense of belonging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the upcoming Carnaval performance, there’ll be drums, dancing and colorful costumes — and for Jediah, there’ll also be the enduring impact of cultural expression and the bonds forged through shared experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Loco Bloco performs as part of this year’s San Francisco’s Carnaval, running May 25–26 in the Mission District. \u003ca href=\"https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Binnie Kenvin is a Junior at University High School. She is passionate about screenwriting, dancing and playing bass, and loves to hang out with her three dogs. In the future she hopes to be a screenwriter. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956554/loco-bloco-mission-district-carnaval-jediah-pratt","authors":["byline_arts_13956554"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_966","arts_76","arts_11615","arts_69","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_10278","arts_1257","arts_1146","arts_4533"],"featImg":"arts_13956570","label":"arts"},"arts_13956068":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956068","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956068","score":null,"sort":[1713434440000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"deep-sea-fishing-filipino-roots-and-belonging-where-we-are","title":"Deep Sea Fishing, Filipino Roots and Belonging ‘Where We Are’","publishDate":1713434440,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Deep Sea Fishing, Filipino Roots and Belonging ‘Where We Are’ | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8720,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp> \u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like all good sailing stories, Adonis’ love for the ocean begins with a shipwreck followed by a face-to-face meeting with a huge eel. It involves the search for personal identity and the need to pad pockets with paper. Just like many other aspects of Adonis’ life, it centers community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adonis is a DJ who is immersed in downtown Oakland’s nightlife scene. They currently work with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clubablunt510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Club A.B.L.U.N.T. \u003c/a>(Asian Black Latinx Uniting with Native Tribes) throwing parties that center queer folks at venues around Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956076\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956076 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47%E2%80%AFPM-800x1191.png\" alt=\"Adonis stands behind a set of turntables while DJing at an event in Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1191\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-800x1191.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-160x238.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-768x1143.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM.png 982w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adonis stands behind a set of turntables while DJing at an event in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adonis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they’re not on the turntables, Adonis spends significant portions of their summers doing deep-sea commercial fishing in Alaska. Adonis sees it as a way to pay bills, build community, and learn more about their Filipino roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adopted from Cebu City as a child and raised in Maine, Adonis’ quest to learn more about their heritage has taken them across oceans and seas. They’ve taken trips to visit the Philippines, and have studied the Filipino martial art of \u003ca href=\"https://www.eskabodaan.net/\">Eskabo Daan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week we discuss how it all intertwines — the search for self, love of community, deep sea fishing and appreciation of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956077 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18%E2%80%AFPM-800x1023.png\" alt=\"A pile of fish appear in the foreground of a photo of two people in a boat on a body of water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1023\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-800x1023.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-1020x1304.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-768x982.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-1201x1536.png 1201w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM.png 1234w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adonis and a friend bundled up on a cold but successful day of deep sea fishing in Alaska. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adonis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1228855841\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Welcome to Rightnowish, it’s your host, Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, we all know that one person who has a damn good life story to tell. You know, that one person who has seen some wild things and has had some extraordinary experiences, someone like today’s guest. Their name is Adonis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis is a deep sea diver, a nightclub DJ, a commercial fisherman, and a highly-trained martial artIst, plus they also have a day job. Still, through all of these experiences, they have the ability to find community anywhere, be it in a sea of people in a crowded club or literally in the middle of the ocean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to the Bay Area, Adonis has participated in collectives that have been influential in Oakland’s vibrant, queer nightlife. Each one brings much-needed representation and exposure for queer, BIPOC DJs and performers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis told me some amazing stories about exploration, friendship, and getting connected to the roots of their Filipino identity. I invite you all to enjoy this ride, right after this message.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You have this wonderful story of your fascination with the ocean and the seafaring creatures of the world. Where does it all begin? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis, Guest:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I really think a big part of this story, for me, is being an adoptee. Uh, my parents were from Maine, or, and they live there now. And so I went to Maine, and I started to be a bit rebellious, they might say. And so there was a punk scene in Maine, it got me traveling around. I had lived in Guatemala in Quetzaltenango. I was going to this school called Proyecto Lingüístico de Quetzalteco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There had been a post online. It was called riseup.net, which is what all the anarchists use. It was encrypted, uh, encrypted email. And so there was a group that I had been in at the time, which was for women and trans women and non binary folks to connect around shared interests of travel, punk, whatever, music. And so, there was a call out that there was an anarchist sailing meetup in, uh, Rio Dulce, in Guatemala. I wasn’t on the internet like that, so I reached out on my little computer, actually probably I had a library computer, and tried to figure out who was going from our crews.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were two spots and, or maybe three spots, and me and a couple friends, who also used to live here in Oakland, we all, we grabbed those spots out of many people ‘cause of our charisma and good looks, I imagine. And so we all got down to Guatemala, however we got down there, and, uh, jumped onto, into these workshops. People had brought their boats, there was people from Spain, people from Canada,\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I really got to see the ocean in a very specific way through sailing. And we were going from Rio Dulce to the Las Islas de la Bahia in Honduras. I forget which one. I think it was Utila. And the boat just fell apart in the storm. Like, the tiller, which is how you control the rudder of the boat, just snapped off. Everything just fell apart and we had to limp back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they were like, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Like, this was supposed to be really cool for you.” And I was so seasick. This was the first, I was like throwing up everywhere. I couldn’t keep food down. It was four days of just trying to get to this place that was not far away. And I, we got back to land and like, “We understand if you want to get off,” and I just looked at them and I was like, ‘That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You said you had come in contact with an eel..\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right, so eventually, we finally made it to Utila. We had to go back, because we were eventually going to go up to Cuba and I think this was 2012. And, um, from where, where I’m from, if you’re in Maine, if you are in the ocean, it’s probably because you fell in and you’ll maybe die there. You just don’t do that. There’s a lot of sailors there. They’re like, “No, no, no, we don’t go swimming here, that’s how you die.” And so I had that in my head, that’s what would happen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We get to the Bay Islands and they’re like, oh, we’re going scuba or not scuba diving, uh, “We’re going snorkeling.” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I was like, ‘That sounds boring.’ And they’re like, “Oh no, we just crossed this really razor sharp reef over here in our flippers walking backwards. And then you jump in and it’s really beautiful.” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, uh, they finally convinced me. I put on these flippers and so I flopped in, and the reef is just this like, It felt iridescent. The sun was coming through the water. There was just colors everywhere, fish flying around my face. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, I looked down and there’s this emerald pile of something on the ground. I’m like, ‘What is that?’ I knew I could dive a little bit. And so, I dove down as deep as I could. And I got close enough and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a moray eel.’ It was a, like, 15 to 20-foot long moray eel and it had a head that was maybe the size of my own head and it was opening its mouth up and down, up and down with these razor sharp teeth and I was so enamored with this beautiful thing in front of me. I just put my face into it and I stared at it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t even know how long I had been down there for. So we go back up, and they’re like, “What the hell are you doing down there?” And I was like, ‘Did you guys see that?’ They were like, “Yeah, and that thing could bite you. Like, you just don’t do that.” But I was so enthralled, and I was like, I can’t stop. And so for the days that we were there still repairing our boats, every day I went down there to just look at things. And from that day forward, um, my life became sailboats. And then after that, I would sail for about four years, having my own vessel, um, going up to Alaska and fishing up there, uh, going, taking other people’s boats to Cuba back in the day and helping people get down to Panama, going through Panama canal, all over. So that’s really how it all began. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could almost seem conflicting to some, where it’s like, wait, you fell in love with the eel specifically, the fish, and then you in turn become a hunter and later become a fisherman. And what, what’s the connection between the two? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was on these boats with these really amazing women who were sailors, and they all sailed together. They would go to different parts of the world, meet back up, and these women were like, I was like, ‘what do you guys do for work?’ And they were like, “Oh, we are commercial fishermen in Alaska.” And I was like, ‘So I can just go up there and make thousands of dollars salmon fishing?’ And they were like, “This is the best kept secret. You should come up there and we’ll help you get a job.”\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So these women actually helped place me into these positions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know Native folks, and I know a couple of like, uh, Black folks, even that came up from Oakland in the 70s that fished up there. But people who were actually running boats or crew, it’s very rare to see people of color up there. And so there’s a whole lineage of Filipinos that were up there in this cannery, which I now fish for. There’s actually a little hut that’s called San Paquita and Caul and that’s where all the Filipinos would hang out at. Um, and it’s still there to this day, and there’s graffiti all over it in this old cannery. And it also has this very huge connection to my life and understanding my own identity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was adopted from Cebu City.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t feel like I had this connection, right? I was like, oh, I don’t know how to speak these languages. I don’t know what my people were doing. I don’t feel connected to my bloodline. And so to have that all tied back together with, I mean, our people were sailors, how did we get there?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can look at the Bajau people. Those people are spearfishing. They make their own goggles, they were making their own flippers out of whatever they had around, and they were diving down there for 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 minutes getting food. And they’re still more or less nomadic people that live on boats in the Philippines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I was doing these things, I was like, ‘Oh, this is what my people did. Oh, I can sail. Oh, I know how to fish,’ like, these are skills and talents that live in my blood. And so I created that, like, art from that, just even, like, the art of sailing, knowing how to sail well, and knowing how to fish well, and knowing how to create lures, and knowing how to cast nets. That lives in my body and so I get to express it. Even though I’m not in the Philippines, it was beautiful to feel like I could integrate my mind and body into skills that I feel my people were amazing at. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That common thread of things that are, that have been present in your ancestors showing up through you through multiple ways, you have a wide array of talents and fishing is just one of them\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and you’re deeply involved in the community and a number of different groups. I wanted to bring the discussion to the work that you do in Oakland in the nightlife and, and your involvement in it. And so if we could get a little bit of background on yourself as a DJ, tell me about that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was cool about that is that I met this person, and we decided to make art together. And so we created We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For. And\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I started working here as a wardrobe stylist and set design, um, when I came to the Bay Area. And so, I would use those skills I was learning in the commercial world, in the commercial industries, and bring it to We Are the Ones, which was highlighting the narratives of, um, Black and brown trans folks in the bay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the three to five years that We Are The Ones was organizing together, um, we just had some really beautiful parties, a lot of amazing people came through who are now, like, doing really well out here in nightlife. And so now I’m with Club ABlunt, which stands for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Asian, Black, Latinos, United with Native Tribes. And that was a collective that my very good friend, Melanique Robichaud, or Black, she started with these other women in the 90s, in the early 90s. And so once We Are The Ones went its direction and a few of us went another direction, and so it’s now me and, uh, Aura and DJ Brown Amy and Black who are working together to do a very similar, similar thing. it just feels like we’re now out of the underground and we’re, we’ve been at the Oakland museum at the, I’m going to be representing then at the SF library.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve been able to pull much bigger, uh, artists as well. People want it. Like, we had Susie Analog at Counterpulse for Oakland Pride and so it’s been really beautiful to feel united on a, on a more global front.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So much about Oakland in general, specifically downtown Oakland, the nightlife scene-how would you describe what’s going on right now in Oakland’s queer nightlife scene for folks of color?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, so I feel like I took off a year and a half from going out, and I was like, okay, I’m gonna work on some other projects. It’s been really beautiful to reintegrate into nightlife because, and especially into queer and gay nightlife, which is something that I hadn’t really done. I was creating those events for people, and now I’m going to other people’s events at bars that I really had never spent time in. So, like, I mean, The Port’s about to close down, or like, going to the White Horse, or going to Fluid, which is a new place that’s doing really well. It’s really beautiful and seeing that just proliferate. Because a lot of the times I’m like, ‘SF actually doesn’t really care about us.’ SF feels really gatekeep-y and it’s just pulling all this talent from other parts of the world when there’s so much talent here in the Bay. It’s so nice to see this talent in Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m noticing this common thread of community and it brings me to wonder, like, when you think of the concept of belonging, what comes to mind?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I guess, as an adoptee, again, I didn’t feel like I belonged. But I feel like I just had to kind of alter my mindset. And be like, I do belong, and I can be here with you, can you be here with me? And when we ask these questions, and I think we really have to look internally and accept ourselves and love ourselves, to know that if anything, we belong where we are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And no one can take that away from you. They can try, and they will and it gets violent, but no- I think that’s why we even choose to fight back, is because we understand we belong. And that’s why I do the work that I do, or even just be kind to people because I’m like, ‘You belong and your life should also be filled with ease and grace.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I think about, you said like, it’s a way of fighting, you literally are trained in martial arts as well. And even through that further community, further sense of belonging, maybe we could start with, um, what led you to martial arts and then we could talk about belonging in that as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean I danced for a very long time in my life. I played instruments and I think all of those things are connected to the soul of just, you know, being Cebuano, being Visayan, and so I was like, ‘I’m gonna find another art,’ and so I chose-I was like, oh, I’ll try martial arts. So I went on the internet. There wasn’t many places I found, but one stood out, which was called Eskabodan. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I first walked in, I knew it was a place I belonged to. The school was doing really well at the time on Polk Street and so I stayed. I still train with Grandmaster Kastor today, and he is also a legend. I mean, and now I’m training for my second degree black belt. And I also am assisting him in teaching when we travel to Europe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been really beautiful to feel another, another type of community here that is very Filipino and very rooted in a Filipino art and very rooted in martial arts. It’s like dancing and it’s a total meditation, which makes me feel really calm and it makes me feel confident.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so when I’m in a place that I think at one point that I would have felt nervous about being in, for my own safety of my body or emotional safety or whatever. I can remind myself that I can be calm and I can remember that I do belong here and that I don’t really have to be afraid.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was in Paris actually, coming back from a seminar that we were teaching and, uh, some young kid ripped, tried to rip my necklace off of my, off of my body. And I have never had to use any of my skills that way. And I just remember my knee jerk reaction was to grab them, twist, twist their wrists in a certain way, and then I saw, I saw it. I saw all the openings. I saw where I could have caused this person harm, or taken them out in a certain way. And all I did was I just like, put them on the ground.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> [laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, ‘That’s mine. Please give it back,’ and he did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, time felt like it slowed down, and I was like, oh, this is what I do this for. I do this so I can protect myself, and I can also protect my friends, and I can be confident in the world, which is what I feel like a lot of the work that I’ve done in general is about. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s beautiful, because I’m watching my daughter do martial arts now and I’m like, ‘I wonder will this actually sink in,’ you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It really sinks in. And once it sinks in, it feels like, you can only learn, it’s, it’s like a lesson in life. There’s always more to learn, but the stuff that you learn is priceless and it will always be with you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The folks who raised you, your parents, what do they think of your journey, of all the skills that you’ve acquired, all the places that you’ve been, this person that you’ve become? Do they appreciate all of that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They do. They’ve always loved me and told me that I was doing a great job. You know, so I was raised by white people, and so I feel like they have this thing where they’re like, “You can do whatever you want in the world.” And so I was told that and, you know, I actually really appreciate that from them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean a lot of my friends, they were told that they were basically demons and-for being queer or gay or being trans or whatever and just demonized for their beliefs or kicked out of their house. My parents would never have done that to me. I didn’t even know parents were like that ‘cause my parents weren’t like that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now just through the traditions that I practice and the ways that I view the world. I understand, even though they’re not my birth parents, but both my birth parents and my adoptive parents are the most important things-that they, one my birth parents brought me into the world and then these people raised me. Now I appreciate them, and they have, and what I realize is that they have always loved and appreciated me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All of the things that you do from the martial arts to the fishing, DJing, community building, if there were a way to succinctly tie them all together, how would you explain what the common thread is?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I believe as an artist I have this very specific desire to live in a very specific way. And at first it was the thrill of traveling and then the thrill of creating art, and then the thrill of learning, and then the, uh, and just having this lust for experience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I want other people to be able to experience life this way if they want to. I have allowed myself to do that, and I also believe that you should do that. And so, when we get together, what does that look like? Or, like, let’s talk about it, let’s sing about it, let’s write about it, let’s draw about it, let’s what, how do we feel alive? There’s something there that is, like, about living to me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems to be the thread of my life right now is that, you know, you have one life, but there are many lives to be lived within it and you are another example of that. And so, yeah, thank you. Thank you for that reminder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Seriously, thank you.Thank you, thank you, thank you. Big shoutout to Adonis, I appreciate your wisdom and it’s extremely clear that your many experiences have shaped your ability to find and build community wherever you go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more info on queer nightlife in Oakland, Club ABLUNT’s instagram account is clubablunt510. That’s spelled like club A-B-L-U-N-T, and that’s 510 as in the area code.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis can be found on Instagram at bodegavendetta It’s spelled B-O-D-E-G-A V-E-N-D-E-T-T-A.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw. It was produced by Sheree Bishop and Marisol Medina-Cadena. Chris Hambrick is our editor. Brendan Willard is our engineer\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team is also supported by Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldaña, Ugur Dursun and Holly Kernan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production. Until next time, peace!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Adonis is a DJ who blends together a search for self, deep sea fishing and the love of community.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713483138,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":69,"wordCount":4189},"headData":{"title":"Deep Sea Fishing, Filipino Roots and Belonging ‘Where We Are’ | KQED","description":"Like all good sailing stories, Adonis' love for the ocean begins with a shipwreck followed by a face-to-face meeting with a huge eel. It involves the search for personal identity and the need to pad pockets with paper. Just like many other aspects of Adonis' life, it centers community.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialDescription":"Like all good sailing stories, Adonis' love for the ocean begins with a shipwreck followed by a face-to-face meeting with a huge eel. It involves the search for personal identity and the need to pad pockets with paper. Just like many other aspects of Adonis' life, it centers community.","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Deep Sea Fishing, Filipino Roots and Belonging ‘Where We Are’","datePublished":"2024-04-18T10:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-18T23:32:18.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC1228855841.mp3?updated=1713389171","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956068/deep-sea-fishing-filipino-roots-and-belonging-where-we-are","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like all good sailing stories, Adonis’ love for the ocean begins with a shipwreck followed by a face-to-face meeting with a huge eel. It involves the search for personal identity and the need to pad pockets with paper. Just like many other aspects of Adonis’ life, it centers community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adonis is a DJ who is immersed in downtown Oakland’s nightlife scene. They currently work with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clubablunt510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Club A.B.L.U.N.T. \u003c/a>(Asian Black Latinx Uniting with Native Tribes) throwing parties that center queer folks at venues around Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956076\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956076 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47%E2%80%AFPM-800x1191.png\" alt=\"Adonis stands behind a set of turntables while DJing at an event in Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1191\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-800x1191.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-160x238.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM-768x1143.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.18.47 PM.png 982w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adonis stands behind a set of turntables while DJing at an event in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adonis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When they’re not on the turntables, Adonis spends significant portions of their summers doing deep-sea commercial fishing in Alaska. Adonis sees it as a way to pay bills, build community, and learn more about their Filipino roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adopted from Cebu City as a child and raised in Maine, Adonis’ quest to learn more about their heritage has taken them across oceans and seas. They’ve taken trips to visit the Philippines, and have studied the Filipino martial art of \u003ca href=\"https://www.eskabodaan.net/\">Eskabo Daan\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week we discuss how it all intertwines — the search for self, love of community, deep sea fishing and appreciation of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13956077 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18%E2%80%AFPM-800x1023.png\" alt=\"A pile of fish appear in the foreground of a photo of two people in a boat on a body of water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1023\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-800x1023.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-1020x1304.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-768x982.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM-1201x1536.png 1201w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-16-at-12.19.18 PM.png 1234w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adonis and a friend bundled up on a cold but successful day of deep sea fishing in Alaska. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adonis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC1228855841\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw, Host: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Welcome to Rightnowish, it’s your host, Pendarvis Harshaw. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, we all know that one person who has a damn good life story to tell. You know, that one person who has seen some wild things and has had some extraordinary experiences, someone like today’s guest. Their name is Adonis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis is a deep sea diver, a nightclub DJ, a commercial fisherman, and a highly-trained martial artIst, plus they also have a day job. Still, through all of these experiences, they have the ability to find community anywhere, be it in a sea of people in a crowded club or literally in the middle of the ocean. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to the Bay Area, Adonis has participated in collectives that have been influential in Oakland’s vibrant, queer nightlife. Each one brings much-needed representation and exposure for queer, BIPOC DJs and performers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis told me some amazing stories about exploration, friendship, and getting connected to the roots of their Filipino identity. I invite you all to enjoy this ride, right after this message.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pendarvis Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You have this wonderful story of your fascination with the ocean and the seafaring creatures of the world. Where does it all begin? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis, Guest:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I really think a big part of this story, for me, is being an adoptee. Uh, my parents were from Maine, or, and they live there now. And so I went to Maine, and I started to be a bit rebellious, they might say. And so there was a punk scene in Maine, it got me traveling around. I had lived in Guatemala in Quetzaltenango. I was going to this school called Proyecto Lingüístico de Quetzalteco.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There had been a post online. It was called riseup.net, which is what all the anarchists use. It was encrypted, uh, encrypted email. And so there was a group that I had been in at the time, which was for women and trans women and non binary folks to connect around shared interests of travel, punk, whatever, music. And so, there was a call out that there was an anarchist sailing meetup in, uh, Rio Dulce, in Guatemala. I wasn’t on the internet like that, so I reached out on my little computer, actually probably I had a library computer, and tried to figure out who was going from our crews.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were two spots and, or maybe three spots, and me and a couple friends, who also used to live here in Oakland, we all, we grabbed those spots out of many people ‘cause of our charisma and good looks, I imagine. And so we all got down to Guatemala, however we got down there, and, uh, jumped onto, into these workshops. People had brought their boats, there was people from Spain, people from Canada,\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I really got to see the ocean in a very specific way through sailing. And we were going from Rio Dulce to the Las Islas de la Bahia in Honduras. I forget which one. I think it was Utila. And the boat just fell apart in the storm. Like, the tiller, which is how you control the rudder of the boat, just snapped off. Everything just fell apart and we had to limp back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And they were like, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Like, this was supposed to be really cool for you.” And I was so seasick. This was the first, I was like throwing up everywhere. I couldn’t keep food down. It was four days of just trying to get to this place that was not far away. And I, we got back to land and like, “We understand if you want to get off,” and I just looked at them and I was like, ‘That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You said you had come in contact with an eel..\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right, so eventually, we finally made it to Utila. We had to go back, because we were eventually going to go up to Cuba and I think this was 2012. And, um, from where, where I’m from, if you’re in Maine, if you are in the ocean, it’s probably because you fell in and you’ll maybe die there. You just don’t do that. There’s a lot of sailors there. They’re like, “No, no, no, we don’t go swimming here, that’s how you die.” And so I had that in my head, that’s what would happen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We get to the Bay Islands and they’re like, oh, we’re going scuba or not scuba diving, uh, “We’re going snorkeling.” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I was like, ‘That sounds boring.’ And they’re like, “Oh no, we just crossed this really razor sharp reef over here in our flippers walking backwards. And then you jump in and it’s really beautiful.” \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, uh, they finally convinced me. I put on these flippers and so I flopped in, and the reef is just this like, It felt iridescent. The sun was coming through the water. There was just colors everywhere, fish flying around my face. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Um, I looked down and there’s this emerald pile of something on the ground. I’m like, ‘What is that?’ I knew I could dive a little bit. And so, I dove down as deep as I could. And I got close enough and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a moray eel.’ It was a, like, 15 to 20-foot long moray eel and it had a head that was maybe the size of my own head and it was opening its mouth up and down, up and down with these razor sharp teeth and I was so enamored with this beautiful thing in front of me. I just put my face into it and I stared at it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I don’t even know how long I had been down there for. So we go back up, and they’re like, “What the hell are you doing down there?” And I was like, ‘Did you guys see that?’ They were like, “Yeah, and that thing could bite you. Like, you just don’t do that.” But I was so enthralled, and I was like, I can’t stop. And so for the days that we were there still repairing our boats, every day I went down there to just look at things. And from that day forward, um, my life became sailboats. And then after that, I would sail for about four years, having my own vessel, um, going up to Alaska and fishing up there, uh, going, taking other people’s boats to Cuba back in the day and helping people get down to Panama, going through Panama canal, all over. So that’s really how it all began. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It could almost seem conflicting to some, where it’s like, wait, you fell in love with the eel specifically, the fish, and then you in turn become a hunter and later become a fisherman. And what, what’s the connection between the two? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was on these boats with these really amazing women who were sailors, and they all sailed together. They would go to different parts of the world, meet back up, and these women were like, I was like, ‘what do you guys do for work?’ And they were like, “Oh, we are commercial fishermen in Alaska.” And I was like, ‘So I can just go up there and make thousands of dollars salmon fishing?’ And they were like, “This is the best kept secret. You should come up there and we’ll help you get a job.”\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So these women actually helped place me into these positions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know Native folks, and I know a couple of like, uh, Black folks, even that came up from Oakland in the 70s that fished up there. But people who were actually running boats or crew, it’s very rare to see people of color up there. And so there’s a whole lineage of Filipinos that were up there in this cannery, which I now fish for. There’s actually a little hut that’s called San Paquita and Caul and that’s where all the Filipinos would hang out at. Um, and it’s still there to this day, and there’s graffiti all over it in this old cannery. And it also has this very huge connection to my life and understanding my own identity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was adopted from Cebu City.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t feel like I had this connection, right? I was like, oh, I don’t know how to speak these languages. I don’t know what my people were doing. I don’t feel connected to my bloodline. And so to have that all tied back together with, I mean, our people were sailors, how did we get there?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can look at the Bajau people. Those people are spearfishing. They make their own goggles, they were making their own flippers out of whatever they had around, and they were diving down there for 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 minutes getting food. And they’re still more or less nomadic people that live on boats in the Philippines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I was doing these things, I was like, ‘Oh, this is what my people did. Oh, I can sail. Oh, I know how to fish,’ like, these are skills and talents that live in my blood. And so I created that, like, art from that, just even, like, the art of sailing, knowing how to sail well, and knowing how to fish well, and knowing how to create lures, and knowing how to cast nets. That lives in my body and so I get to express it. Even though I’m not in the Philippines, it was beautiful to feel like I could integrate my mind and body into skills that I feel my people were amazing at. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That common thread of things that are, that have been present in your ancestors showing up through you through multiple ways, you have a wide array of talents and fishing is just one of them\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and you’re deeply involved in the community and a number of different groups. I wanted to bring the discussion to the work that you do in Oakland in the nightlife and, and your involvement in it. And so if we could get a little bit of background on yourself as a DJ, tell me about that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was cool about that is that I met this person, and we decided to make art together. And so we created We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For. And\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I started working here as a wardrobe stylist and set design, um, when I came to the Bay Area. And so, I would use those skills I was learning in the commercial world, in the commercial industries, and bring it to We Are the Ones, which was highlighting the narratives of, um, Black and brown trans folks in the bay. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the three to five years that We Are The Ones was organizing together, um, we just had some really beautiful parties, a lot of amazing people came through who are now, like, doing really well out here in nightlife. And so now I’m with Club ABlunt, which stands for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[chuckles]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Asian, Black, Latinos, United with Native Tribes. And that was a collective that my very good friend, Melanique Robichaud, or Black, she started with these other women in the 90s, in the early 90s. And so once We Are The Ones went its direction and a few of us went another direction, and so it’s now me and, uh, Aura and DJ Brown Amy and Black who are working together to do a very similar, similar thing. it just feels like we’re now out of the underground and we’re, we’ve been at the Oakland museum at the, I’m going to be representing then at the SF library.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ve been able to pull much bigger, uh, artists as well. People want it. Like, we had Susie Analog at Counterpulse for Oakland Pride and so it’s been really beautiful to feel united on a, on a more global front.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So much about Oakland in general, specifically downtown Oakland, the nightlife scene-how would you describe what’s going on right now in Oakland’s queer nightlife scene for folks of color?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, so I feel like I took off a year and a half from going out, and I was like, okay, I’m gonna work on some other projects. It’s been really beautiful to reintegrate into nightlife because, and especially into queer and gay nightlife, which is something that I hadn’t really done. I was creating those events for people, and now I’m going to other people’s events at bars that I really had never spent time in. So, like, I mean, The Port’s about to close down, or like, going to the White Horse, or going to Fluid, which is a new place that’s doing really well. It’s really beautiful and seeing that just proliferate. Because a lot of the times I’m like, ‘SF actually doesn’t really care about us.’ SF feels really gatekeep-y and it’s just pulling all this talent from other parts of the world when there’s so much talent here in the Bay. It’s so nice to see this talent in Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m noticing this common thread of community and it brings me to wonder, like, when you think of the concept of belonging, what comes to mind?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I guess, as an adoptee, again, I didn’t feel like I belonged. But I feel like I just had to kind of alter my mindset. And be like, I do belong, and I can be here with you, can you be here with me? And when we ask these questions, and I think we really have to look internally and accept ourselves and love ourselves, to know that if anything, we belong where we are.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And no one can take that away from you. They can try, and they will and it gets violent, but no- I think that’s why we even choose to fight back, is because we understand we belong. And that’s why I do the work that I do, or even just be kind to people because I’m like, ‘You belong and your life should also be filled with ease and grace.’\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I think about, you said like, it’s a way of fighting, you literally are trained in martial arts as well. And even through that further community, further sense of belonging, maybe we could start with, um, what led you to martial arts and then we could talk about belonging in that as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean I danced for a very long time in my life. I played instruments and I think all of those things are connected to the soul of just, you know, being Cebuano, being Visayan, and so I was like, ‘I’m gonna find another art,’ and so I chose-I was like, oh, I’ll try martial arts. So I went on the internet. There wasn’t many places I found, but one stood out, which was called Eskabodan. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I first walked in, I knew it was a place I belonged to. The school was doing really well at the time on Polk Street and so I stayed. I still train with Grandmaster Kastor today, and he is also a legend. I mean, and now I’m training for my second degree black belt. And I also am assisting him in teaching when we travel to Europe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been really beautiful to feel another, another type of community here that is very Filipino and very rooted in a Filipino art and very rooted in martial arts. It’s like dancing and it’s a total meditation, which makes me feel really calm and it makes me feel confident.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And so when I’m in a place that I think at one point that I would have felt nervous about being in, for my own safety of my body or emotional safety or whatever. I can remind myself that I can be calm and I can remember that I do belong here and that I don’t really have to be afraid.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was in Paris actually, coming back from a seminar that we were teaching and, uh, some young kid ripped, tried to rip my necklace off of my, off of my body. And I have never had to use any of my skills that way. And I just remember my knee jerk reaction was to grab them, twist, twist their wrists in a certain way, and then I saw, I saw it. I saw all the openings. I saw where I could have caused this person harm, or taken them out in a certain way. And all I did was I just like, put them on the ground.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> [laughs] \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I was like, ‘That’s mine. Please give it back,’ and he did. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like, time felt like it slowed down, and I was like, oh, this is what I do this for. I do this so I can protect myself, and I can also protect my friends, and I can be confident in the world, which is what I feel like a lot of the work that I’ve done in general is about. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s beautiful, because I’m watching my daughter do martial arts now and I’m like, ‘I wonder will this actually sink in,’ you know? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It really sinks in. And once it sinks in, it feels like, you can only learn, it’s, it’s like a lesson in life. There’s always more to learn, but the stuff that you learn is priceless and it will always be with you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The folks who raised you, your parents, what do they think of your journey, of all the skills that you’ve acquired, all the places that you’ve been, this person that you’ve become? Do they appreciate all of that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> They do. They’ve always loved me and told me that I was doing a great job. You know, so I was raised by white people, and so I feel like they have this thing where they’re like, “You can do whatever you want in the world.” And so I was told that and, you know, I actually really appreciate that from them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I mean a lot of my friends, they were told that they were basically demons and-for being queer or gay or being trans or whatever and just demonized for their beliefs or kicked out of their house. My parents would never have done that to me. I didn’t even know parents were like that ‘cause my parents weren’t like that. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now just through the traditions that I practice and the ways that I view the world. I understand, even though they’re not my birth parents, but both my birth parents and my adoptive parents are the most important things-that they, one my birth parents brought me into the world and then these people raised me. Now I appreciate them, and they have, and what I realize is that they have always loved and appreciated me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All of the things that you do from the martial arts to the fishing, DJing, community building, if there were a way to succinctly tie them all together, how would you explain what the common thread is?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adonis:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I believe as an artist I have this very specific desire to live in a very specific way. And at first it was the thrill of traveling and then the thrill of creating art, and then the thrill of learning, and then the, uh, and just having this lust for experience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I want other people to be able to experience life this way if they want to. I have allowed myself to do that, and I also believe that you should do that. And so, when we get together, what does that look like? Or, like, let’s talk about it, let’s sing about it, let’s write about it, let’s draw about it, let’s what, how do we feel alive? There’s something there that is, like, about living to me. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[Music]\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems to be the thread of my life right now is that, you know, you have one life, but there are many lives to be lived within it and you are another example of that. And so, yeah, thank you. Thank you for that reminder.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pen Harshaw: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Seriously, thank you.Thank you, thank you, thank you. Big shoutout to Adonis, I appreciate your wisdom and it’s extremely clear that your many experiences have shaped your ability to find and build community wherever you go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more info on queer nightlife in Oakland, Club ABLUNT’s instagram account is clubablunt510. That’s spelled like club A-B-L-U-N-T, and that’s 510 as in the area code.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adonis can be found on Instagram at bodegavendetta It’s spelled B-O-D-E-G-A V-E-N-D-E-T-T-A.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw. It was produced by Sheree Bishop and Marisol Medina-Cadena. Chris Hambrick is our editor. Brendan Willard is our engineer\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rightnowish team is also supported by Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldaña, Ugur Dursun and Holly Kernan.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rightnowish is a KQED production. Until next time, peace!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956068/deep-sea-fishing-filipino-roots-and-belonging-where-we-are","authors":["11491","11528"],"programs":["arts_8720"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_2852","arts_10278","arts_3226","arts_1143","arts_12080"],"featImg":"arts_13956173","label":"arts_8720"},"arts_13955969":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13955969","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13955969","score":null,"sort":[1713212390000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"a-movement-in-every-direction-bampfa-the-great-migration-review","title":"BAMPFA’s Great Migration Show Brings Nuance to a History Shared by Millions","publishDate":1713212390,"format":"standard","headTitle":"BAMPFA’s Great Migration Show Brings Nuance to a History Shared by Millions | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>My mother was six years old when her family migrated west from Tallahassee, Florida in 1954. She was one of approximately six million Black people who moved out of the American South to Western, Northern and Midwestern states in the era known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration\">the Great Migration\u003c/a>. My grandfather, a physician who had limited opportunities in the Jim Crow South, moved the family to Porterville, California in the Central Valley. They lived in Palo Alto for five or so years before ultimately settling in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those facts of my family’s migration story were front of mind as I walked through the new exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://bampfa.org/program/movement-every-direction-legacies-great-migration\">\u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, on view at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive through Sept. 22, 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Translating this epic American story of the Great Migration, which has so many facets and truths (and warranted \u003ca href=\"http://warmth.isabelwilkerson.com/\">622 pages from scholar Isabel Wilkerson\u003c/a>), into a walkable, visual experience is a feat. \u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction\u003c/i>, which was co-organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art and features 12 artists, beautifully showcases how this is a shared history for millions, with very intricate, individual stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13955970 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-800x288.jpg\" alt=\"Charcoal drawing depicting various Black people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-800x288.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1020x367.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-160x58.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-768x276.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1536x552.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-2048x736.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1920x690.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Pruitt, ‘A Song for Travelers,’ 2022; Charcoal, conté, and pastel on paper, mounted onto four aluminum panels. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adam Reich)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Robert Pruitt’s large-scale charcoal drawing \u003ci>A Song for Travelers\u003c/i> (2022) feels emblematic of that intricacy — both in the craft of the piece and the story it tells. Pruitt draws inspiration from his personal archive (a family reunion photo from the 1970s) and the historical archive of his hometown Houston to depict a community of past and present-day figures offering gifts to a traveler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer you look at this piece, the more detail is revealed. Noticing each gift elicits the bright-eyed feel of answering the question “Where’s Waldo?” It’s a feast for the eyes and the spirit, as one can imagine sitting in the traveler’s seat, receiving the support of the ancestors and community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13955972 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two woven textiles hang on a white wall\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akea Brionne, ‘School Children’ (left) and ‘Porch Sittin’ (right) from the series ‘An Ode To (You)’all,’ 2022; Jacquard tapestry, poly-fil, rhinestones. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The intricacy of stories is also evident in the detailed stitching of Akea Brionne’s tapestries for her installation \u003ci>An Ode to (You)’all\u003c/i> (2022), which reflects on Black maternal family structures through the lives of her great-grandmother and great-aunts. The textiles are eye-catching. By transforming old family photographs into jacquard weavings, which she bedazzles with sparkly embellishments, Akea Brionne honors the women who helped her family move north from Mississippi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some artists, like Torkwase Dyson, take a more abstract approach to the topic. Dyson, who researched plantation economies and Black liberation theory for her piece \u003ci>Way Over There Inside Me (A Festival of Inches)\u003c/i> (2022), says the abstract sculpture reflects how Black people “bend space to have life” throughout history. Dyson’s trapezoidal shapes, made of smoky glass, steel and aluminum, indeed invoke a number of musings about space, place and time; I was reminded of sci-fi-like portals to other locations or dimensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13955974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-800x446.jpg\" alt=\"Trapezoidal figures connected by bent metal bars displayed in the corner of a musuem.\" width=\"800\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-800x446.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1020x568.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-768x428.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1536x855.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-2048x1140.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1920x1069.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Torkwase Dyson, ‘Way Over There Inside Me (A Festival of Inches),’ 2022; Painted steel, glass, painted aluminum, dry-erase marker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition is anchored by some big names (that were, admittedly, the first to catch my eye when the exhibition was announced). Carrie Mae Weems, Theaster Gates and Mark Bradford all contribute powerful new works. I never miss an opportunity to see Bradford’s work and his mural-sized installation – which duplicates a 1913 “WANTED” ad inviting Black families to join a Jim Crow-free settlement in New Mexico – doesn’t disappoint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weems’s video installation, titled \u003ci>Leave! Leave Now!\u003c/i> (2022), is simultaneously haunting and gorgeous. In it, Weems narrates what she knows of her grandfather’s journey to Chicago after he was presumed dead following an attack by a white mob in 1936. She also asks questions about the things she doesn’t know: “What was those early years like for you? When did you become a union organizer?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13955971\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white digital image floats in front of a slightly open red curtain\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Mae Weems, ‘Leave! Leave Now!,’ 2022; Single-channel digital video (color, sound) installation with mixed media, 25 min. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leaving the exhibition, I too felt moved to ask more questions about my family’s migration story. I called my mother, realizing I’d never heard the specific reason they landed in Porterville first. “My father got a resident physician job at Porterville State Hospital [now Porterville Developmental Center] and the job came with a house,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I won’t be surprised if other Black Californians are prompted to reflect on how and when their family members first arrived in the state after experiencing \u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction\u003c/i>. In fact, they’re invited to, via an interactive component where visitors can record memories about their family’s migration story to join a growing archive. (The program notes that more than 300,000 Black people arrived in the Bay Area during the Great Migration.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For everyone who visits, the show and archive are a reminder of how strong the Black American spirit is — and how it continuously strives, in both life and in art.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration’ is on view through Sept. 22, 2024 at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2155 Center St.). \u003ca href=\"https://bampfa.org/program/movement-every-direction-legacies-great-migration\">Find more details and information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"‘A Movement in Every Direction’ presents intricate, individual family stories in work by 12 artists.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713462723,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":15,"wordCount":1024},"headData":{"title":"BAMPFA Show Tells Stories of the Great Migration Through Art | KQED","description":"‘A Movement in Every Direction’ presents intricate, individual family stories in work by 12 artists.","ogTitle":"BAMPFA’s Great Migration Show Brings Nuance to a History Shared by Millions","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"BAMPFA’s Great Migration Show Brings Nuance to a History Shared by Millions","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"BAMPFA Show Tells Stories of the Great Migration Through Art %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"BAMPFA’s Great Migration Show Brings Nuance to a History Shared by Millions","datePublished":"2024-04-15T20:19:50.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-18T17:52:03.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13955969/a-movement-in-every-direction-bampfa-the-great-migration-review","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>My mother was six years old when her family migrated west from Tallahassee, Florida in 1954. She was one of approximately six million Black people who moved out of the American South to Western, Northern and Midwestern states in the era known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration\">the Great Migration\u003c/a>. My grandfather, a physician who had limited opportunities in the Jim Crow South, moved the family to Porterville, California in the Central Valley. They lived in Palo Alto for five or so years before ultimately settling in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those facts of my family’s migration story were front of mind as I walked through the new exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://bampfa.org/program/movement-every-direction-legacies-great-migration\">\u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, on view at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive through Sept. 22, 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Translating this epic American story of the Great Migration, which has so many facets and truths (and warranted \u003ca href=\"http://warmth.isabelwilkerson.com/\">622 pages from scholar Isabel Wilkerson\u003c/a>), into a walkable, visual experience is a feat. \u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction\u003c/i>, which was co-organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art and features 12 artists, beautifully showcases how this is a shared history for millions, with very intricate, individual stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13955970 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-800x288.jpg\" alt=\"Charcoal drawing depicting various Black people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-800x288.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1020x367.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-160x58.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-768x276.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1536x552.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-2048x736.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/A-Song-for-Travelers-final-1920x690.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Pruitt, ‘A Song for Travelers,’ 2022; Charcoal, conté, and pastel on paper, mounted onto four aluminum panels. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Adam Reich)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Robert Pruitt’s large-scale charcoal drawing \u003ci>A Song for Travelers\u003c/i> (2022) feels emblematic of that intricacy — both in the craft of the piece and the story it tells. Pruitt draws inspiration from his personal archive (a family reunion photo from the 1970s) and the historical archive of his hometown Houston to depict a community of past and present-day figures offering gifts to a traveler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The longer you look at this piece, the more detail is revealed. Noticing each gift elicits the bright-eyed feel of answering the question “Where’s Waldo?” It’s a feast for the eyes and the spirit, as one can imagine sitting in the traveler’s seat, receiving the support of the ancestors and community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955972\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13955972 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Two woven textiles hang on a white wall\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_Great_Migration_207_o3-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akea Brionne, ‘School Children’ (left) and ‘Porch Sittin’ (right) from the series ‘An Ode To (You)’all,’ 2022; Jacquard tapestry, poly-fil, rhinestones. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The intricacy of stories is also evident in the detailed stitching of Akea Brionne’s tapestries for her installation \u003ci>An Ode to (You)’all\u003c/i> (2022), which reflects on Black maternal family structures through the lives of her great-grandmother and great-aunts. The textiles are eye-catching. By transforming old family photographs into jacquard weavings, which she bedazzles with sparkly embellishments, Akea Brionne honors the women who helped her family move north from Mississippi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some artists, like Torkwase Dyson, take a more abstract approach to the topic. Dyson, who researched plantation economies and Black liberation theory for her piece \u003ci>Way Over There Inside Me (A Festival of Inches)\u003c/i> (2022), says the abstract sculpture reflects how Black people “bend space to have life” throughout history. Dyson’s trapezoidal shapes, made of smoky glass, steel and aluminum, indeed invoke a number of musings about space, place and time; I was reminded of sci-fi-like portals to other locations or dimensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955974\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13955974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-800x446.jpg\" alt=\"Trapezoidal figures connected by bent metal bars displayed in the corner of a musuem.\" width=\"800\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-800x446.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1020x568.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-768x428.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1536x855.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-2048x1140.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DysonT_Install_04-1920x1069.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Torkwase Dyson, ‘Way Over There Inside Me (A Festival of Inches),’ 2022; Painted steel, glass, painted aluminum, dry-erase marker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition is anchored by some big names (that were, admittedly, the first to catch my eye when the exhibition was announced). Carrie Mae Weems, Theaster Gates and Mark Bradford all contribute powerful new works. I never miss an opportunity to see Bradford’s work and his mural-sized installation – which duplicates a 1913 “WANTED” ad inviting Black families to join a Jim Crow-free settlement in New Mexico – doesn’t disappoint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weems’s video installation, titled \u003ci>Leave! Leave Now!\u003c/i> (2022), is simultaneously haunting and gorgeous. In it, Weems narrates what she knows of her grandfather’s journey to Chicago after he was presumed dead following an attack by a white mob in 1936. She also asks questions about the things she doesn’t know: “What was those early years like for you? When did you become a union organizer?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955971\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13955971\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white digital image floats in front of a slightly open red curtain\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2022_TGM_MMA_321_o3-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Mae Weems, ‘Leave! Leave Now!,’ 2022; Single-channel digital video (color, sound) installation with mixed media, 25 min. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Photo by Mitro Hood, courtesy of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Baltimore Museum of Art)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leaving the exhibition, I too felt moved to ask more questions about my family’s migration story. I called my mother, realizing I’d never heard the specific reason they landed in Porterville first. “My father got a resident physician job at Porterville State Hospital [now Porterville Developmental Center] and the job came with a house,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I won’t be surprised if other Black Californians are prompted to reflect on how and when their family members first arrived in the state after experiencing \u003ci>A Movement in Every Direction\u003c/i>. In fact, they’re invited to, via an interactive component where visitors can record memories about their family’s migration story to join a growing archive. (The program notes that more than 300,000 Black people arrived in the Bay Area during the Great Migration.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For everyone who visits, the show and archive are a reminder of how strong the Black American spirit is — and how it continuously strives, in both life and in art.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration’ is on view through Sept. 22, 2024 at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2155 Center St.). \u003ca href=\"https://bampfa.org/program/movement-every-direction-legacies-great-migration\">Find more details and information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13955969/a-movement-in-every-direction-bampfa-the-great-migration-review","authors":["11296"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_2227","arts_10342","arts_10278","arts_13952","arts_769","arts_585"],"featImg":"arts_13955973","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13955781":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13955781","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13955781","score":null,"sort":[1712859198000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"judee-sill-genius-lost-angel-documentary-review","title":"A Judee Sill Documentary Ensures Her Musical Genius Won't Be Forgotten","publishDate":1712859198,"format":"standard","headTitle":"A Judee Sill Documentary Ensures Her Musical Genius Won’t Be Forgotten | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>Unlike many of the famous people interviewed in the documentary \u003ci>Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill\u003c/i>, I can’t remember exactly when I first heard Sill’s music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know it was decades after the 1971 release of her self-titled debut album, released by David Geffen’s brand-new Asylum Records. It was definitely long after her death, in 1979, by overdose. As someone who wasn’t alive in the ’60s and ’70s, I placed Sill’s music into my mental filing cabinet alongside contemporaries and label-mates like Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne, as if it had always been there. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, she took up far more of my mental space than that crowd. Sill’s “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/kTAesI73E1U?feature=shared\">Jesus Was a Cross Maker\u003c/a>” became my go-to example of a baffling yet perfect breakup song. At low points, I listened to “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/kyPhvHEtRuw?feature=shared\">The Kiss\u003c/a>,” from her 1973 sophomore album, on repeat. Her haunting voice, sliding through strange tempo shifts and baroque-inspired compositions, still sends shivers down my spine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955794\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Person with eyes closed singing into mic with rose-colored glasses\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1366\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1536x1049.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1920x1311.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An undated photo of Judee Sill singing. \u003ccite>(Greenwich Entertainment)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I didn’t understand then, and what \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> explains patiently, admirably, is just how short-lived Sill’s career was, and how far she had fallen from the heights she hoped to achieve as “the world’s greatest living songwriter” before her death at age 35. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the strange landscape of endlessly available streaming music, songs are now often loosed from albums, free-floating from any connection to era or location. This can lead to a transcendent form of time travel, like when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM18Wuw3Tns\">modern artists cover Sill’s work\u003c/a> in front of massive cheering crowds. But it can also obscure significant biographical facts and musical context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i>, directed by Andy Brown and Brian Lindstrom, carefully stitches Judee Sill’s life and music back together. It’s a story that follows a familiar music industry arc, but still holds surprises. We learn that it was in reform school, for instance, that Sill gained her “gospel licks” as the church organist. And that she arrived in reform school after she was arrested, at age 18, as a “teen-age housewife who joined three friends in staging over a dozen robberies ‘just for kicks’” (according to the San Fernando \u003ci>Valley Times\u003c/i>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSYc-cLZUEs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sill showed early musical aptitude, learning to harmonize with herself on a piano as a young girl at her father’s Oakland bar. After his death, Sill’s mother married a Disney animator and moved the family to Los Angeles. By Sill’s accounts, it was a chaotic and abusive household she couldn’t wait to escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We hear from family, friends, lovers and musicians who came up with Sill in Los Angeles piano bars and folk music haunts. (Many of those musicians found extraordinary success.) We see bits of her songwriting, her drawings and diaries. Animations illustrate some of her more occult and religious themes — she credited divine inspiration for her songs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the most excellent parts of \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> arrive in Sill’s own voice. It’s a relief when various star-studded covers melt into Sill’s original versions. Her singing is so crystalline it’s utterly heartbreaking: pure beauty coming out of all that pain, loss and addiction. In the final years of her life she went through numerous surgeries after a car accident; she fell back into hard drugs after doctors wouldn’t prescribe her painkillers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955795\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment.jpg\" alt=\"Billboard with album cover and information set against blue sky\" width=\"900\" height=\"611\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955795\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment.jpg 900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-768x521.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The billboard Asylum Records rented in November 1971 for the release of Judee Sill’s debut album. In the documentary, Sill says she rented a car to sit across the street and just look at it. \u003ccite>(Greenwich Entertainment)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beyond the songs, we also hear her tell parts of her own story. At one point, a recorded interview shows her striving, thankful for what she has, but restless. Also a treat: her deadpan on-stage banter (when her audience was receptive), in which Sill frames her songs with tidbits of biography I’m sure listeners believed were wildly embellished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> doesn’t bother with the precise dates of performances or arrive at a definitive answer to why Asylum dropped Sill after just two albums. Linda Ronstadt offers perhaps the final word on that matter. “There wasn’t anybody out to get her,” Ronstadt says. “She just didn’t deliver the goods that would have resonated in that culture in that time.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Total precision is not the goal of \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i>, which relies much on 50-year-old memories. But this film does achieve what it ardently sets out to do: introduce Sill to those who are ready to experience the resonance of her music in the present moment. Footage of countless YouTube covers of “The Kiss” scrolls past, and the talking heads offer up an idea of valiantly living on through one’s art. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m sure Judee Sill would agree. I just wish she was here to tell us so.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill’ begins streaming on Amazon and Apple TV on April 12, 2024. It comes to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/\">4 Star\u003c/a> (2200 Clement St., San Francisco) April 16—17 with live pre-show music from \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/lost-angel-the-genius-of-judee-sill-730-pm-62pdl\">Silverware\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/lost-angel-the-genius-of-judee-sill-730-pm\">Free Key Choir\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The short life and career of the ’70s singer-songwriter are carefully stitched together in ‘Lost Angel.’","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713462800,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":16,"wordCount":928},"headData":{"title":"A Judee Sill Documentary Ensures Her Musical Genius Won't Be Forgotten | KQED","description":"The short life and career of the ’70s singer-songwriter are carefully stitched together in ‘Lost Angel.’","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"A Judee Sill Documentary Ensures Her Musical Genius Won't Be Forgotten","datePublished":"2024-04-11T18:13:18.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-18T17:53:20.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13955781/judee-sill-genius-lost-angel-documentary-review","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Unlike many of the famous people interviewed in the documentary \u003ci>Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill\u003c/i>, I can’t remember exactly when I first heard Sill’s music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know it was decades after the 1971 release of her self-titled debut album, released by David Geffen’s brand-new Asylum Records. It was definitely long after her death, in 1979, by overdose. As someone who wasn’t alive in the ’60s and ’70s, I placed Sill’s music into my mental filing cabinet alongside contemporaries and label-mates like Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne, as if it had always been there. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, she took up far more of my mental space than that crowd. Sill’s “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/kTAesI73E1U?feature=shared\">Jesus Was a Cross Maker\u003c/a>” became my go-to example of a baffling yet perfect breakup song. At low points, I listened to “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/kyPhvHEtRuw?feature=shared\">The Kiss\u003c/a>,” from her 1973 sophomore album, on repeat. Her haunting voice, sliding through strange tempo shifts and baroque-inspired compositions, still sends shivers down my spine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955794\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Person with eyes closed singing into mic with rose-colored glasses\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1366\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1536x1049.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Judee-Singing-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment_2000-1920x1311.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An undated photo of Judee Sill singing. \u003ccite>(Greenwich Entertainment)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I didn’t understand then, and what \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> explains patiently, admirably, is just how short-lived Sill’s career was, and how far she had fallen from the heights she hoped to achieve as “the world’s greatest living songwriter” before her death at age 35. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the strange landscape of endlessly available streaming music, songs are now often loosed from albums, free-floating from any connection to era or location. This can lead to a transcendent form of time travel, like when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM18Wuw3Tns\">modern artists cover Sill’s work\u003c/a> in front of massive cheering crowds. But it can also obscure significant biographical facts and musical context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i>, directed by Andy Brown and Brian Lindstrom, carefully stitches Judee Sill’s life and music back together. It’s a story that follows a familiar music industry arc, but still holds surprises. We learn that it was in reform school, for instance, that Sill gained her “gospel licks” as the church organist. And that she arrived in reform school after she was arrested, at age 18, as a “teen-age housewife who joined three friends in staging over a dozen robberies ‘just for kicks’” (according to the San Fernando \u003ci>Valley Times\u003c/i>).\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/FSYc-cLZUEs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/FSYc-cLZUEs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Sill showed early musical aptitude, learning to harmonize with herself on a piano as a young girl at her father’s Oakland bar. After his death, Sill’s mother married a Disney animator and moved the family to Los Angeles. By Sill’s accounts, it was a chaotic and abusive household she couldn’t wait to escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We hear from family, friends, lovers and musicians who came up with Sill in Los Angeles piano bars and folk music haunts. (Many of those musicians found extraordinary success.) We see bits of her songwriting, her drawings and diaries. Animations illustrate some of her more occult and religious themes — she credited divine inspiration for her songs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the most excellent parts of \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> arrive in Sill’s own voice. It’s a relief when various star-studded covers melt into Sill’s original versions. Her singing is so crystalline it’s utterly heartbreaking: pure beauty coming out of all that pain, loss and addiction. In the final years of her life she went through numerous surgeries after a car accident; she fell back into hard drugs after doctors wouldn’t prescribe her painkillers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955795\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment.jpg\" alt=\"Billboard with album cover and information set against blue sky\" width=\"900\" height=\"611\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955795\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment.jpg 900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Photo-4-Asylum-Billboard-November-1971-Credit-Greenwich-Entertainment-768x521.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The billboard Asylum Records rented in November 1971 for the release of Judee Sill’s debut album. In the documentary, Sill says she rented a car to sit across the street and just look at it. \u003ccite>(Greenwich Entertainment)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beyond the songs, we also hear her tell parts of her own story. At one point, a recorded interview shows her striving, thankful for what she has, but restless. Also a treat: her deadpan on-stage banter (when her audience was receptive), in which Sill frames her songs with tidbits of biography I’m sure listeners believed were wildly embellished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i> doesn’t bother with the precise dates of performances or arrive at a definitive answer to why Asylum dropped Sill after just two albums. Linda Ronstadt offers perhaps the final word on that matter. “There wasn’t anybody out to get her,” Ronstadt says. “She just didn’t deliver the goods that would have resonated in that culture in that time.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Total precision is not the goal of \u003ci>Lost Angel\u003c/i>, which relies much on 50-year-old memories. But this film does achieve what it ardently sets out to do: introduce Sill to those who are ready to experience the resonance of her music in the present moment. Footage of countless YouTube covers of “The Kiss” scrolls past, and the talking heads offer up an idea of valiantly living on through one’s art. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m sure Judee Sill would agree. I just wish she was here to tell us so.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill’ begins streaming on Amazon and Apple TV on April 12, 2024. It comes to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/\">4 Star\u003c/a> (2200 Clement St., San Francisco) April 16—17 with live pre-show music from \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/lost-angel-the-genius-of-judee-sill-730-pm-62pdl\">Silverware\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.4-star-movies.com/calendar-of-events/lost-angel-the-genius-of-judee-sill-730-pm\">Free Key Choir\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13955781/judee-sill-genius-lost-angel-documentary-review","authors":["61"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_74","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_21958","arts_10342","arts_10278","arts_977","arts_769"],"featImg":"arts_13955793","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13955679":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13955679","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13955679","score":null,"sort":[1712792950000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"beyonce-election-year-politics-drag-oasis-nightclub-san-francisco-cowboy-carter","title":"Beyoncé Fans Reflect on Election Year Concerns at San Francisco Drag Show","publishDate":1712792950,"format":"aside","headTitle":"Beyoncé Fans Reflect on Election Year Concerns at San Francisco Drag Show | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-Beyonce%CC%81Fans-JY-050_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a white sequined dress and cowboy hat kneels on one leg on a catwalk, surrounded by the audience and lit in red\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bionka Simone performs Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ at Oasis in San Francisco on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The show drew a sold-out crowd of drag fans and members of the Beyhive as an all-Black cast celebrated the release of Beyoncé’s new album, ‘Cowboy Carter.’ \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/beyonce\">Beyoncé\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>Cowboy Carter\u003c/em> galloped into the national psyche in all of its flag-waving, countrified glory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering Beyoncé’s status as an artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/20366/six-beyonce-pieces-by-women-of-color-that-you-should-read-right-now\">unafraid to invoke political imagery in both her music and her visuals\u003c/a> — not to mention the way this album has turned into a battleground over who “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905263/from-beyonce-to-lil-hardin-my-black-country-celebrates-the-undersung-black-history-and-future-of-country-music\">owns country\u003c/a>”— it’s unsurprising that many of her fans consider themselves politically conscious, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We at KQED set out to ask Beyoncé fans at San Francisco’s Oasis nightclub, directly before a Beyoncé-themed drag show, about the state of America and the issues with which they’re most concerned in this election year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955649\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955649\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A trio of tattooed and flamboyant people, including two in cowboy hats, smile and line up before a pink and red mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Lance Derick, Joshua Carrasco and James Aceves. Carrasco, who is a pediatric resident at UCSF, says access to healthcare and health insurance is a huge factor in his voting decisions. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joshua Carrasco came to the Beyoncé party with two friends, having arrived in San Francisco from Texas almost a year ago. As a pediatric resident at UCSF, Carrasco says he’s concerned about the links between poor health, underfunded education and a lack of affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to queer communities, housing is such an important social determinate of health that I think is undervalued within the San Francisco area,” Carrasco said. “A lot of the Props that were voted on [in the last election] went in a direction that I was not anticipating. I think San Francisco flaunts itself as progressive, but I think in action, it’s less progressive than I had anticipated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955643\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman wearing a wide brimmed black hat and leather jacket stands with a shorter woman wearing her hair in braids and a short skirt. They are standing before a pink and red mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annika Gabriel (L) and Gabby Huckabee (R). Both expressed concern about the age of the presidential candidates, as well as concern for their friends of color. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Asked how she’s feeling about the 2024 election, Annika Gabriel said simply: “I’m real worried about my trans friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Gabriel’s side was Gabby Huckabee, who said she is “upset for my Muslim friends [and] for my friends of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13955021']Huckabee continued, “It’s very upsetting to me that out of everyone they could have possibly chosen for both parties, [Biden and Trump] are the two they still have come up with. I’m not optimistic for the future. I’m still going to vote for Joe Biden. Because I’m very clearly opposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html\">Donald Trump grabbing people by the pussy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955645\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-003-KQED-e1712693509298.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man smiles broadly in front of a neon-lit O sign at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron McCall has the environment at the forefront of his mind during this election year. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite not feeling enthusiastic about either presidential candidate, Aaron McCall was another attendee determined to make a difference in whichever way he can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we are choosing people to vote for, it is not a moral statement and it’s not a statement of who we like,” the climate charity worker emphasized. “It is a statement of who we’re going to work with and who’s going to work with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Republicans have actively said they are going to target and attack queer [folks] and people of color,” McCall continued, “and they’re going to destroy the environment in the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-008-KQED-e1712695709640.jpg\" alt=\"A slender white man in a Beyonce t-shirt, an Arabic man wearing a blue shirt and an Asian woman in a black leather jacket stand with arms around each other outside a nightclub.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Sean Dante Remigio, Mahmoud Dabbah and Mara Lee. Dabbah isn’t happy with President Biden’s support of Israel and feels there isn’t much difference between Biden and Trump. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahmoud Dabbah, a Palestinian who has lived in America for three years, believes Biden’s ability to get reelected will be greatly impacted by the president’s support of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza\">Israel’s military actions in Gaza.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see that clearly. I think the whole world is pissed off,” Dabbah said. “This war is horrible and the U.S. is a big part of it. I hope it stops soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13940030']Asked if he worries about the consequences of another Trump presidency, Dabbah stated: “After what I saw from Biden, I don’t care anymore. It’s all the same for me as an immigrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabbah’s friend Sean Dante Remigio agreed. “It feels very much a losing game either way,” he said. “I mean, it’s not even choosing between a lesser of two evils. There is no choice. That is the conflict.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1402px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955702\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM.png\" alt=\"Two young people of color stand side by side inside a nightclub with thoughtful expressions on their faces.\" width=\"1402\" height=\"936\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM.png 1402w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-800x534.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-1020x681.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-768x513.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1402px) 100vw, 1402px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L) Rogue and (R) Stephane are both concerned about houselessness and access to healthcare in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Remigio’s thoughts were echoed by Rogue and Stephane. (Both declined to give last names.) Though the friends remain concerned with housing and healthcare in San Francisco, they don’t see an upcoming face-off between Trump and Biden offering real solutions to the nation’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like the options are not great,” Stephane, an international student, said. “Even if I was allowed to vote, I would need better options. I don’t really care about either of the candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah,” Rogue laughed, “it’s like: Poo-Poo or Pee-Pee!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two white women, one with a ponytail, one with cropped purple hair, stand close together, smiling warmly at each other. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Married couple Sunny and Reece Johnson are politically disillusioned — one more so than the other. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Also disillusioned with the election are Sunny and Reece Johnson, who’ve been happily married for 11 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will tell you that I have stopped thinking about [the election] because it’s distressing,” Reece said. “I do feel very unmotivated to vote, because I’m so burned out on the drama.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would never \u003cem>not\u003c/em> vote, though,” Sunny interjected. “Never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reece shrugged. “I would like to say that I would never not vote, but I’m so disenchanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-024-KQED-e1712707940654.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen strikes a pose in black lingerie and red dressing gown, next to a wooden fence decorated with lights.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xochitl the Queen poses on the roof deck of Oasis shortly before performing on April 5, 2024. Xochitl works in deportation defense at USF Law and uses her drag to make political statements. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One fan who wishes she could vote is drag queen Xochitl. Shortly before her performance as auburn-haired temptress Jolene, Xochitl said she is “low-key scared” about the upcoming election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My future as a performer, as an artist, as an immigrant and as a member of this society is at risk, depending on who wins,” she said. “They say we have a choice, but it’s an illusion of a choice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a DACA recipient, Xochitl is not eligible to vote, but strives to make a difference through her job at USF Law. She also utilizes performance to express herself politically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I make my voice heard by doing art, doing drag,” Xochitl explained. “My drag is inherently political. I’ve done numbers on stage where I burn the American flag as protest, as part of my work in deportation defense. I express my fear about drag bans through my art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955646\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-006-KQED-e1712693763217.jpg\" alt=\"A person with glasses and short dark haircut, stands hands in pockets in front of a pink and red mural. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dani Arevalos says their biggest concern as a member of the LGBTQ+ community is being respected and acknowledged as a person. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like many people we spoke with at Oasis, LGBTQ issues are front and center for Dani Arevalos, who feels dehumanized by recent attacks on gender nonconforming people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking to the future, my biggest concern is being respected as a human being,” Arevalos said. “I come from the Latin community, and also being LGBTQ … Honestly two very different communities [with] the same issue of being oppressed. I think going forward, being respected and being acknowledged [will help us] to move forward as a nation together.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"At Oasis nightclub, fans expressed concerns about housing, climate change, Gaza, LGBTQ rights and more.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712945992,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":30,"wordCount":1376},"headData":{"title":"Beyoncé Fans Reflect on Election Year Concerns at San Francisco Drag Show | KQED","description":"At Oasis nightclub, fans expressed concerns about housing, climate change, Gaza, LGBTQ rights and more.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Beyoncé Fans Reflect on Election Year Concerns at San Francisco Drag Show","datePublished":"2024-04-10T23:49:10.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-12T18:19:52.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13955679/beyonce-election-year-politics-drag-oasis-nightclub-san-francisco-cowboy-carter","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-Beyonce%CC%81Fans-JY-050_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a white sequined dress and cowboy hat kneels on one leg on a catwalk, surrounded by the audience and lit in red\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BeyoncéFans-JY-050_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bionka Simone performs Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ at Oasis in San Francisco on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The show drew a sold-out crowd of drag fans and members of the Beyhive as an all-Black cast celebrated the release of Beyoncé’s new album, ‘Cowboy Carter.’ \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/beyonce\">Beyoncé\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>Cowboy Carter\u003c/em> galloped into the national psyche in all of its flag-waving, countrified glory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering Beyoncé’s status as an artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/20366/six-beyonce-pieces-by-women-of-color-that-you-should-read-right-now\">unafraid to invoke political imagery in both her music and her visuals\u003c/a> — not to mention the way this album has turned into a battleground over who “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905263/from-beyonce-to-lil-hardin-my-black-country-celebrates-the-undersung-black-history-and-future-of-country-music\">owns country\u003c/a>”— it’s unsurprising that many of her fans consider themselves politically conscious, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We at KQED set out to ask Beyoncé fans at San Francisco’s Oasis nightclub, directly before a Beyoncé-themed drag show, about the state of America and the issues with which they’re most concerned in this election year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955649\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955649\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A trio of tattooed and flamboyant people, including two in cowboy hats, smile and line up before a pink and red mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-014-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Lance Derick, Joshua Carrasco and James Aceves. Carrasco, who is a pediatric resident at UCSF, says access to healthcare and health insurance is a huge factor in his voting decisions. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joshua Carrasco came to the Beyoncé party with two friends, having arrived in San Francisco from Texas almost a year ago. As a pediatric resident at UCSF, Carrasco says he’s concerned about the links between poor health, underfunded education and a lack of affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to queer communities, housing is such an important social determinate of health that I think is undervalued within the San Francisco area,” Carrasco said. “A lot of the Props that were voted on [in the last election] went in a direction that I was not anticipating. I think San Francisco flaunts itself as progressive, but I think in action, it’s less progressive than I had anticipated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955643\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman wearing a wide brimmed black hat and leather jacket stands with a shorter woman wearing her hair in braids and a short skirt. They are standing before a pink and red mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-001-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annika Gabriel (L) and Gabby Huckabee (R). Both expressed concern about the age of the presidential candidates, as well as concern for their friends of color. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Asked how she’s feeling about the 2024 election, Annika Gabriel said simply: “I’m real worried about my trans friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Gabriel’s side was Gabby Huckabee, who said she is “upset for my Muslim friends [and] for my friends of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13955021","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Huckabee continued, “It’s very upsetting to me that out of everyone they could have possibly chosen for both parties, [Biden and Trump] are the two they still have come up with. I’m not optimistic for the future. I’m still going to vote for Joe Biden. Because I’m very clearly opposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html\">Donald Trump grabbing people by the pussy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955645\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-003-KQED-e1712693509298.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man smiles broadly in front of a neon-lit O sign at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron McCall has the environment at the forefront of his mind during this election year. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite not feeling enthusiastic about either presidential candidate, Aaron McCall was another attendee determined to make a difference in whichever way he can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we are choosing people to vote for, it is not a moral statement and it’s not a statement of who we like,” the climate charity worker emphasized. “It is a statement of who we’re going to work with and who’s going to work with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Republicans have actively said they are going to target and attack queer [folks] and people of color,” McCall continued, “and they’re going to destroy the environment in the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-008-KQED-e1712695709640.jpg\" alt=\"A slender white man in a Beyonce t-shirt, an Arabic man wearing a blue shirt and an Asian woman in a black leather jacket stand with arms around each other outside a nightclub.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Sean Dante Remigio, Mahmoud Dabbah and Mara Lee. Dabbah isn’t happy with President Biden’s support of Israel and feels there isn’t much difference between Biden and Trump. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahmoud Dabbah, a Palestinian who has lived in America for three years, believes Biden’s ability to get reelected will be greatly impacted by the president’s support of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza\">Israel’s military actions in Gaza.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see that clearly. I think the whole world is pissed off,” Dabbah said. “This war is horrible and the U.S. is a big part of it. I hope it stops soon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13940030","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Asked if he worries about the consequences of another Trump presidency, Dabbah stated: “After what I saw from Biden, I don’t care anymore. It’s all the same for me as an immigrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabbah’s friend Sean Dante Remigio agreed. “It feels very much a losing game either way,” he said. “I mean, it’s not even choosing between a lesser of two evils. There is no choice. That is the conflict.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1402px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955702\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM.png\" alt=\"Two young people of color stand side by side inside a nightclub with thoughtful expressions on their faces.\" width=\"1402\" height=\"936\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM.png 1402w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-800x534.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-1020x681.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-4.57.48-PM-768x513.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1402px) 100vw, 1402px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L) Rogue and (R) Stephane are both concerned about houselessness and access to healthcare in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Remigio’s thoughts were echoed by Rogue and Stephane. (Both declined to give last names.) Though the friends remain concerned with housing and healthcare in San Francisco, they don’t see an upcoming face-off between Trump and Biden offering real solutions to the nation’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like the options are not great,” Stephane, an international student, said. “Even if I was allowed to vote, I would need better options. I don’t really care about either of the candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah,” Rogue laughed, “it’s like: Poo-Poo or Pee-Pee!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two white women, one with a ponytail, one with cropped purple hair, stand close together, smiling warmly at each other. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCÉFANS-JY-009-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Married couple Sunny and Reece Johnson are politically disillusioned — one more so than the other. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Also disillusioned with the election are Sunny and Reece Johnson, who’ve been happily married for 11 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I will tell you that I have stopped thinking about [the election] because it’s distressing,” Reece said. “I do feel very unmotivated to vote, because I’m so burned out on the drama.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would never \u003cem>not\u003c/em> vote, though,” Sunny interjected. “Never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reece shrugged. “I would like to say that I would never not vote, but I’m so disenchanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-024-KQED-e1712707940654.jpg\" alt=\"A drag queen strikes a pose in black lingerie and red dressing gown, next to a wooden fence decorated with lights.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xochitl the Queen poses on the roof deck of Oasis shortly before performing on April 5, 2024. Xochitl works in deportation defense at USF Law and uses her drag to make political statements. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One fan who wishes she could vote is drag queen Xochitl. Shortly before her performance as auburn-haired temptress Jolene, Xochitl said she is “low-key scared” about the upcoming election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My future as a performer, as an artist, as an immigrant and as a member of this society is at risk, depending on who wins,” she said. “They say we have a choice, but it’s an illusion of a choice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a DACA recipient, Xochitl is not eligible to vote, but strives to make a difference through her job at USF Law. She also utilizes performance to express herself politically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I make my voice heard by doing art, doing drag,” Xochitl explained. “My drag is inherently political. I’ve done numbers on stage where I burn the American flag as protest, as part of my work in deportation defense. I express my fear about drag bans through my art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13955646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13955646\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/240405-BEYONCE%CC%81FANS-JY-006-KQED-e1712693763217.jpg\" alt=\"A person with glasses and short dark haircut, stands hands in pockets in front of a pink and red mural. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dani Arevalos says their biggest concern as a member of the LGBTQ+ community is being respected and acknowledged as a person. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/ KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like many people we spoke with at Oasis, LGBTQ issues are front and center for Dani Arevalos, who feels dehumanized by recent attacks on gender nonconforming people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Looking to the future, my biggest concern is being respected as a human being,” Arevalos said. “I come from the Latin community, and also being LGBTQ … Honestly two very different communities [with] the same issue of being oppressed. I think going forward, being respected and being acknowledged [will help us] to move forward as a nation together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13955679/beyonce-election-year-politics-drag-oasis-nightclub-san-francisco-cowboy-carter","authors":["11242"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_11615"],"tags":["arts_1686","arts_1556","arts_10342","arts_10278","arts_3226","arts_10555","arts_5826"],"featImg":"arts_13955736","label":"arts"},"arts_13956604":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956604","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956604","score":null,"sort":[1713986477000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"black-cowboys-book-review-eight-seconds-rodeo-culture-ivan-mcclellan-photography","title":"A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book","publishDate":1713986477,"format":"standard","headTitle":"A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>As a child growing up in Kansas City, Ivan McClellan would sing the national anthem at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanroyal.com/rodeo/\">American Royal\u003c/a> rodeo with a youth choir. Those performances are some of his fondest memories, but they’re also bittersweet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13939278']That’s because just about everybody else around him was white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t a place that we felt like we belonged,” McClellan told \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> host \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1018429547/a-martinez\">A Martínez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learning about Black rodeos as an adult came as a revelation to him. McClellan spent nearly a decade documenting this unique culture all across the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_03_sq-acafa9119030ddf411da2cab26a000dc19d00146.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two young Black men seen in a wooded area at dusk, standing on the backs of two horses.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodney & RJ, McCalla, Ala.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His forthcoming photobook, \u003ca href=\"https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eight-seconds-miss-rosen/1144643838?ean=9788862088121\">\u003cem>Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, out April 30, features highlights from that journey. The title refers to the minimum amount of time a rider has to stay on a horse or other livestock in order to register a score during a competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this beauty and energy and environment just stuck to me,” McClellan said about his first encounter with a Black rodeo. “I saw thousands of Black cowboys and they were doing the Cupid Shuffle in the desert and they were cooking turkey legs. And there were Black folks dressed like traditional cowboys. There were also Black folks riding their horses in Jordans and women riding with their braids blowing behind them and their hands with long acrylic nails clutching the reins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_06_custom-d85e2c1b239ef70972128b1ddd896e5162adf770.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two Black men on horses race at high speeds around a sandy arena.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"930\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Riders pass a baton during a Pony Express relay race in Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That event, \u003ca href=\"https://www.greencountryok.com/event/roy-leblanc-okmulgee-invitational-rodeo-%26-festival/69/\">the Roy Leblanc Invitational Rodeo in Oklahoma\u003c/a>, is one McClellan has come to dub “the Super Bowl of Black rodeos.” It is the oldest of its kind in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13955021']He began posting his photographs of the event online. As his social media audience grew, McClellan was soon traveling the country in search of similar happenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are Black cowboys pretty much everywhere. I mean, there are Black cowboys here in Portland, Ore., where I live, which I think is the last place that I would have expected to find them,” said McClellan, who now runs his own rodeo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I went all the way to Oklahoma to realize that there were cowboys up the road from me who have been there for four generations … You’d be hard pressed to find a part of America where there wasn’t at least some some portion of this culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_07_custom-0da721f05dccc9141ff2052b7e9719d3d118157d.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A Black woman in a cowboy hat, shirt and jeans poses inside an industrial enclosure.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"891\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jadayia Kursh, Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a narrative largely shunned by Hollywood and the broader mass culture, where the cowboy is consistently portrayed as a white male, be it John Wayne, Val Kilmer or on TV series like \u003cem>Bonanza\u003c/em> (1959-73) and \u003cem>Gunsmoke\u003c/em> (1955-75).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up until a few years ago, “I really thought that term [cowboy] was a joke when applied to a Black person,” McClellan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the term was once a pejorative for African Americans working on ranches and farms, while white cowboys were known as “cowhands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_08_custom-f5fa59efb45a4fb53276ba52a59684a8cc36fcc9.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A Black man lies flat along a horse's back, his hat flying off behind him, as he struggles to stay on the bucking horse.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"891\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Liddell, Las Vegas, Nevada.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But ultimately, cowboy became “a shorthand for our noblest ideals,” McClellan said. “A lot of these things our popular culture is hesitant to attribute to a Black person. So I think to have a cowboy rushing in, saving the day with a black face just didn’t jibe with the stories that Hollywood was trying to tell. I think it’s erasure. I think it’s at best, laziness, at worst, very intentional and malicious. But I’m excited to see that transforming before my eyes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyoncé’s recent country-influenced album \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9XHMK3nWr4\">\u003cem>Cowboy Carter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is the latest iteration of that push for change in popular culture. Lil Nas X challenged the country genre in 2018 with his song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qovpFAGrQ\">Old Town Road.\u003c/a>” It became a viral hit after sparking widespread conversations \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710021098/lil-nas-x-country-musics-unlikely-son-sparks-conversation-on-genre-and-race\">about genre gatekeeping and Black musicians’ place within country culture\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_09_custom-d069a736f1be991e2c90579b2e603ca412549042.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two young Black men in full cowboy regalia stand behind a fence in a large warehouse, watching the distance intently. An older Black man stands at their side doing the same.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"894\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bull Riders, Rosenberg, Texas.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a perfect alley-oop. And Beyoncé is hanging on the rim right now,” said McClellan. “Beyoncé is not only revealing Black cowboy culture, but she’s transforming country music forever and tearing down genres in a way that that I don’t think has ever been done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13939314']For McClellan, there’s now one place where he keeps returning over and over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as cultural impact, there’s nothing like the Roy LeBlanc Invitational Rodeo,” he said. “On the second weekend in August at about 8 p.m. when the sun is going down, everything is gold and all the athletes are filing into the arena for the grand entry. And that is where I like to take photos more than anywhere else on the entire planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_04_custom-6997682f2f6e5a0d922046c6178e1759c11b9ebd.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A young Black woman in a fringed red shirt and black cowboy hat decorated with a tiara sits on horseback comfortably holding reins.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"930\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodeo Queen, Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The broadcast version of this story was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/896256272/lilly-quiroz\">\u003cem>Lilly Quiroz\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The digital version was edited by Obed Manuel.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Ivan McClellan’s ‘Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture’ puts Black cowboys — male and female — front and center.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713994287,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":21,"wordCount":842},"headData":{"title":"‘Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture’ Spotlights Black Cowboys | KQED","description":"Ivan McClellan’s ‘Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture’ puts Black cowboys — male and female — front and center.","ogTitle":"A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"‘Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture’ Spotlights Black Cowboys %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"A Photographer Documented Black Cowboys Across the U.S. for a New Book","datePublished":"2024-04-24T19:21:17.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-24T21:31:27.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"1246716227","nprHtmlLink":"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246716227/black-cowboy-culture-ivan-mcclellan-photographer-8-seconds-book","nprRetrievedStory":"1","nprPubDate":"2024-04-24T05:00:45-04:00","nprStoryDate":"2024-04-24T05:00:45-04:00","nprLastModifiedDate":"2024-04-24T08:35:59-04:00","nprAudio":"https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2024/04/20240424_me_a_photographer_documented_black_cowboys_across_the_us_for_a_new_book.mp3?d=409&size=6559496&e=1246716227&t=progseg&seg=2&p=3","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956604/black-cowboys-book-review-eight-seconds-rodeo-culture-ivan-mcclellan-photography","audioUrl":"https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2024/04/20240424_me_a_photographer_documented_black_cowboys_across_the_us_for_a_new_book.mp3?d=409&size=6559496&e=1246716227&t=progseg&seg=2&p=3","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As a child growing up in Kansas City, Ivan McClellan would sing the national anthem at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanroyal.com/rodeo/\">American Royal\u003c/a> rodeo with a youth choir. Those performances are some of his fondest memories, but they’re also bittersweet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13939278","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s because just about everybody else around him was white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t a place that we felt like we belonged,” McClellan told \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> host \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1018429547/a-martinez\">A Martínez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learning about Black rodeos as an adult came as a revelation to him. McClellan spent nearly a decade documenting this unique culture all across the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_03_sq-acafa9119030ddf411da2cab26a000dc19d00146.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two young Black men seen in a wooded area at dusk, standing on the backs of two horses.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodney & RJ, McCalla, Ala.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His forthcoming photobook, \u003ca href=\"https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eight-seconds-miss-rosen/1144643838?ean=9788862088121\">\u003cem>Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, out April 30, features highlights from that journey. The title refers to the minimum amount of time a rider has to stay on a horse or other livestock in order to register a score during a competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of this beauty and energy and environment just stuck to me,” McClellan said about his first encounter with a Black rodeo. “I saw thousands of Black cowboys and they were doing the Cupid Shuffle in the desert and they were cooking turkey legs. And there were Black folks dressed like traditional cowboys. There were also Black folks riding their horses in Jordans and women riding with their braids blowing behind them and their hands with long acrylic nails clutching the reins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_06_custom-d85e2c1b239ef70972128b1ddd896e5162adf770.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two Black men on horses race at high speeds around a sandy arena.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"930\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Riders pass a baton during a Pony Express relay race in Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That event, \u003ca href=\"https://www.greencountryok.com/event/roy-leblanc-okmulgee-invitational-rodeo-%26-festival/69/\">the Roy Leblanc Invitational Rodeo in Oklahoma\u003c/a>, is one McClellan has come to dub “the Super Bowl of Black rodeos.” It is the oldest of its kind in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13955021","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He began posting his photographs of the event online. As his social media audience grew, McClellan was soon traveling the country in search of similar happenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are Black cowboys pretty much everywhere. I mean, there are Black cowboys here in Portland, Ore., where I live, which I think is the last place that I would have expected to find them,” said McClellan, who now runs his own rodeo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I went all the way to Oklahoma to realize that there were cowboys up the road from me who have been there for four generations … You’d be hard pressed to find a part of America where there wasn’t at least some some portion of this culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_07_custom-0da721f05dccc9141ff2052b7e9719d3d118157d.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A Black woman in a cowboy hat, shirt and jeans poses inside an industrial enclosure.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"891\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jadayia Kursh, Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s a narrative largely shunned by Hollywood and the broader mass culture, where the cowboy is consistently portrayed as a white male, be it John Wayne, Val Kilmer or on TV series like \u003cem>Bonanza\u003c/em> (1959-73) and \u003cem>Gunsmoke\u003c/em> (1955-75).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up until a few years ago, “I really thought that term [cowboy] was a joke when applied to a Black person,” McClellan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the term was once a pejorative for African Americans working on ranches and farms, while white cowboys were known as “cowhands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_08_custom-f5fa59efb45a4fb53276ba52a59684a8cc36fcc9.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A Black man lies flat along a horse's back, his hat flying off behind him, as he struggles to stay on the bucking horse.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"891\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick Liddell, Las Vegas, Nevada.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But ultimately, cowboy became “a shorthand for our noblest ideals,” McClellan said. “A lot of these things our popular culture is hesitant to attribute to a Black person. So I think to have a cowboy rushing in, saving the day with a black face just didn’t jibe with the stories that Hollywood was trying to tell. I think it’s erasure. I think it’s at best, laziness, at worst, very intentional and malicious. But I’m excited to see that transforming before my eyes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyoncé’s recent country-influenced album \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9XHMK3nWr4\">\u003cem>Cowboy Carter\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is the latest iteration of that push for change in popular culture. Lil Nas X challenged the country genre in 2018 with his song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qovpFAGrQ\">Old Town Road.\u003c/a>” It became a viral hit after sparking widespread conversations \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710021098/lil-nas-x-country-musics-unlikely-son-sparks-conversation-on-genre-and-race\">about genre gatekeeping and Black musicians’ place within country culture\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_09_custom-d069a736f1be991e2c90579b2e603ca412549042.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"Two young Black men in full cowboy regalia stand behind a fence in a large warehouse, watching the distance intently. An older Black man stands at their side doing the same.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"894\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bull Riders, Rosenberg, Texas.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a perfect alley-oop. And Beyoncé is hanging on the rim right now,” said McClellan. “Beyoncé is not only revealing Black cowboy culture, but she’s transforming country music forever and tearing down genres in a way that that I don’t think has ever been done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13939314","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For McClellan, there’s now one place where he keeps returning over and over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as cultural impact, there’s nothing like the Roy LeBlanc Invitational Rodeo,” he said. “On the second weekend in August at about 8 p.m. when the sun is going down, everything is gold and all the athletes are filing into the arena for the grand entry. And that is where I like to take photos more than anywhere else on the entire planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/04/23/ivan_mcclellan_04_custom-6997682f2f6e5a0d922046c6178e1759c11b9ebd.jpg?s=1200&c=75&f=jpeg\" alt=\"A young Black woman in a fringed red shirt and black cowboy hat decorated with a tiara sits on horseback comfortably holding reins.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"930\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rodeo Queen, Okmulgee, Okla.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The broadcast version of this story was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/896256272/lilly-quiroz\">\u003cem>Lilly Quiroz\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. The digital version was edited by Obed Manuel.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956604/black-cowboys-book-review-eight-seconds-rodeo-culture-ivan-mcclellan-photography","authors":["92"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_73","arts_835"],"tags":["arts_1050","arts_22110","arts_822","arts_22111","arts_585"],"affiliates":["arts_137"],"featImg":"arts_13956605","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13956493":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956493","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956493","score":null,"sort":[1713970852000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"musical-chairs-dorothea-tanning-gallery-wendi-norris-surrealism","title":"Dorothea Tanning’s Surrealism Invites Us to Sit With Uncertainty","publishDate":1713970852,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Dorothea Tanning’s Surrealism Invites Us to Sit With Uncertainty | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":140,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>“Please don’t ask me to explain them,” Dorothea Tanning \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92LvYigLMLc\">once said\u003c/a> of her paintings. “I just don’t think it’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanning, who died in 2012 at the age of 101, had a career in the arts that spanned several movements, but Surrealism was always close to her heart. She was working as a commercial artist in New York when the Museum of Modern Art mounted its influential 1936 exhibition \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2823\">Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a show that had a lasting impact on the young painter’s aesthetic interests and style. She would become known, for the next seven decades, for her figurative paintings, which often portrayed women and girls navigating labyrinths of doorways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13956354']Tanning’s love of Surrealism was also personal. Her introduction to the circle of émigré Surrealists in New York segued into a 30-year marriage to the German painter and sculptor Max Ernst. Tanning too experimented with sculpture, as well as writing fiction and \u003ca href=\"https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/dorothea-tanning\">poetry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a 2018 retrospective that traveled from Madrid’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/dorothea-tanning\">Museo Reina Sofía\u003c/a> to London’s Tate Modern, Tanning’s latest posthumous exhibition is \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gallerywendinorris.com/exhibitions-collection/dorothea-tanning-musical-chairs\">Musical Chairs\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, at Gallery Wendi Norris in San Francisco. The show, which includes a handful of works by Tanning alongside real chairs (not made by Tanning), centers on the exhibition’s namesake, a painting that’s on view for the first time in the United States in over 70 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 1951 canvas shows a female figure bent in a contortionist’s pose as she slides off the red velvet upholstery of a tilting chair. The background is a torrent of yellow and green fabric, another chair partially obscured. While essentially Surrealist, the picture also boasts elements of Futurism — a movement that preceded Surrealism and prioritized capturing a sense of motion — and even Cubism, the crumpled fabric evoking a sense of fractured space. Perpetual motion and shifting vantages would remain hallmarks of the painter’s career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy.jpeg\" alt=\"Painting of two figures pushing against central door with hands and feet\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956509\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy.jpeg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dorothea Tanning, ‘Door 84,’ 1984; oil on canvas with found door. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Destina Foundation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The broad range of influences on Tanning’s practice are even more apparent in the juxtaposition of \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em> with \u003cem>Door 84\u003c/em>, which Tanning painted 33 years later in 1984. The piece consists of two canvases bisected by a wooden door protruding vertically from the wall. Each canvas contains a colorful, expressionistic rendering of a female figure straining to keep the door closed from either side. The diptych merges assemblage, an Abstract Expressionist painting style and Pop sensibilities, something like a hybrid of Jasper Johns, Joan Mitchell and Lisa Yuskavage. Clearly, in the decades after \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em>, Tanning incorporated even more artistic influences into her repertoire, synthesizing them all through a Surrealist lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to these major works, the exhibition consists of three smaller, early pieces — one painting and two ink drawings — as well as a rare portfolio of seven lithographs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two small drawings, of women in ball gowns, show Tanning’s segue from commercial illustration into fine art painting. In the oil-on-canvas \u003cem>Fatala\u003c/em>, she has arrived. A waifish woman embraces a door which is also the cover of a book, her hand slipping through the hole where the doorknob ought to be. The inside pages are revealed to contain wigs and tassels, all easily confusable for each other. Looking at the painting is necessarily disorienting, and makes you wonder what actually setting foot in such a landscape would be like, until you remember that, for the Surrealists, these eerie, dream-like settings already were examinations of the strangeness of lived experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956510\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril.jpg\" alt=\"Two images, one a painting of woman reaching hand through doorknob, the other print of a woman hanging upside down\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956510\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril.jpg 1780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-800x575.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-1020x733.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-1536x1105.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1780px) 100vw, 1780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Dorothea Tanning, ‘Fatala,’ 1947, oil on canvas, 10 x 7 inches; R: ‘Septième péril (Seventh Peril)’ from ‘Les 7 périls spectraux,’ 1950, color lithographs on paper. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In partnership with contemporary design gallery \u003ca href=\"https://www.thefutureperfect.com/\">The Future Perfect\u003c/a>, Tanning’s work here has been paired with a selection of chairs by five designers and design studios. The assortment is fittingly whimsical, including a woven wicker seat that itself resembles a seated figure, and a wooden construction similar to an easel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inclusion of chairs in the exhibition alludes to Tanning’s own mid-career divergence into sculpture. In the 1970s, while living in Paris, she created what today might be called an “immersive” installation. \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view/132/\">Hôtel du Pavot, Chambre 202\u003c/a>\u003c/em> was a hotel room filled with life-sized dolls bursting through the walls and melting into the furniture, like one of her own paintings brought to life. \u003cem>Chambre 202\u003c/em> had more to do with psychological interiority than interior design, bringing the surreal into reality. Here, the chairs pad an otherwise spare exhibition, but the depth of Tanning’s works more than make up for their small number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The metaphor of musical chairs also extends to Tanning herself. She occupied several artistic roles during her long lifetime, and uncertainty was perhaps her only constant. In the epigraph to Tanning’s first poetry collection, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/table-content\">A Table of Content\u003c/a>\u003c/em> she wrote, “It’s hard to be always the same person.” Her \u003ca href=\"https://50wattsbooks.com/products/chasm-a-weekend\">only novel\u003c/a> was about a masquerade ball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13956215']Tanning’s apparent persistent, personal bewilderment — unable to explain her work, unsure of who she was — is reflective of the radical uncertainty foundational to the Surrealist sensibility. For these artists, Surrealism was not about disorientation but rather the embrace of cognitive dissonance, something realer than real in the context of postwar life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Tanning \u003ca href=\"https://bombmagazine.org/articles/1990/10/01/dorothea-tanning/\">resisted a feminist interpretation\u003c/a> of her art, her female subjects seem to oscillate between being at the mercy of the surreal and assuming agency in their navigation of it. Tanning was a woman always on the move, reconfiguring her conceptual position and stylistic approach to best suit her ongoing exploration of the unknown. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe that’s the point. The only constant is change; the only sure thing is that which is unsure, unfixed and unreal. \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em> invites us to sit with that uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.gallerywendinorris.com/exhibitions-collection/dorothea-tanning-musical-chairs\">Musical Chairs\u003c/a>’ is on view at Gallery Wendi Norris (436 Jackson St., San Francisco) through May 4, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"‘Musical Chairs’ pairs evocative work by the late painter with whimsical, high-design chairs. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713925797,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":17,"wordCount":1065},"headData":{"title":"Dorothea Tanning’s Surrealism Invites Us to Sit With Uncertainty | KQED","description":"‘Musical Chairs’ pairs evocative work by the late painter with whimsical, high-design chairs. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Dorothea Tanning’s Surrealism Invites Us to Sit With Uncertainty","datePublished":"2024-04-24T15:00:52.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-24T02:29:57.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Max Blue","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956493/musical-chairs-dorothea-tanning-gallery-wendi-norris-surrealism","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Please don’t ask me to explain them,” Dorothea Tanning \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92LvYigLMLc\">once said\u003c/a> of her paintings. “I just don’t think it’s possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanning, who died in 2012 at the age of 101, had a career in the arts that spanned several movements, but Surrealism was always close to her heart. She was working as a commercial artist in New York when the Museum of Modern Art mounted its influential 1936 exhibition \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2823\">Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, a show that had a lasting impact on the young painter’s aesthetic interests and style. She would become known, for the next seven decades, for her figurative paintings, which often portrayed women and girls navigating labyrinths of doorways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13956354","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Tanning’s love of Surrealism was also personal. Her introduction to the circle of émigré Surrealists in New York segued into a 30-year marriage to the German painter and sculptor Max Ernst. Tanning too experimented with sculpture, as well as writing fiction and \u003ca href=\"https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/dorothea-tanning\">poetry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a 2018 retrospective that traveled from Madrid’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/dorothea-tanning\">Museo Reina Sofía\u003c/a> to London’s Tate Modern, Tanning’s latest posthumous exhibition is \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gallerywendinorris.com/exhibitions-collection/dorothea-tanning-musical-chairs\">Musical Chairs\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, at Gallery Wendi Norris in San Francisco. The show, which includes a handful of works by Tanning alongside real chairs (not made by Tanning), centers on the exhibition’s namesake, a painting that’s on view for the first time in the United States in over 70 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 1951 canvas shows a female figure bent in a contortionist’s pose as she slides off the red velvet upholstery of a tilting chair. The background is a torrent of yellow and green fabric, another chair partially obscured. While essentially Surrealist, the picture also boasts elements of Futurism — a movement that preceded Surrealism and prioritized capturing a sense of motion — and even Cubism, the crumpled fabric evoking a sense of fractured space. Perpetual motion and shifting vantages would remain hallmarks of the painter’s career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy.jpeg\" alt=\"Painting of two figures pushing against central door with hands and feet\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956509\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy.jpeg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Door-84-UNCROPPED-copy-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dorothea Tanning, ‘Door 84,’ 1984; oil on canvas with found door. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Destina Foundation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The broad range of influences on Tanning’s practice are even more apparent in the juxtaposition of \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em> with \u003cem>Door 84\u003c/em>, which Tanning painted 33 years later in 1984. The piece consists of two canvases bisected by a wooden door protruding vertically from the wall. Each canvas contains a colorful, expressionistic rendering of a female figure straining to keep the door closed from either side. The diptych merges assemblage, an Abstract Expressionist painting style and Pop sensibilities, something like a hybrid of Jasper Johns, Joan Mitchell and Lisa Yuskavage. Clearly, in the decades after \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em>, Tanning incorporated even more artistic influences into her repertoire, synthesizing them all through a Surrealist lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to these major works, the exhibition consists of three smaller, early pieces — one painting and two ink drawings — as well as a rare portfolio of seven lithographs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two small drawings, of women in ball gowns, show Tanning’s segue from commercial illustration into fine art painting. In the oil-on-canvas \u003cem>Fatala\u003c/em>, she has arrived. A waifish woman embraces a door which is also the cover of a book, her hand slipping through the hole where the doorknob ought to be. The inside pages are revealed to contain wigs and tassels, all easily confusable for each other. Looking at the painting is necessarily disorienting, and makes you wonder what actually setting foot in such a landscape would be like, until you remember that, for the Surrealists, these eerie, dream-like settings already were examinations of the strangeness of lived experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956510\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril.jpg\" alt=\"Two images, one a painting of woman reaching hand through doorknob, the other print of a woman hanging upside down\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956510\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril.jpg 1780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-800x575.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-1020x733.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-768x552.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DT0007-FatalaPeril-1536x1105.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1780px) 100vw, 1780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Dorothea Tanning, ‘Fatala,’ 1947, oil on canvas, 10 x 7 inches; R: ‘Septième péril (Seventh Peril)’ from ‘Les 7 périls spectraux,’ 1950, color lithographs on paper. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In partnership with contemporary design gallery \u003ca href=\"https://www.thefutureperfect.com/\">The Future Perfect\u003c/a>, Tanning’s work here has been paired with a selection of chairs by five designers and design studios. The assortment is fittingly whimsical, including a woven wicker seat that itself resembles a seated figure, and a wooden construction similar to an easel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inclusion of chairs in the exhibition alludes to Tanning’s own mid-career divergence into sculpture. In the 1970s, while living in Paris, she created what today might be called an “immersive” installation. \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view/132/\">Hôtel du Pavot, Chambre 202\u003c/a>\u003c/em> was a hotel room filled with life-sized dolls bursting through the walls and melting into the furniture, like one of her own paintings brought to life. \u003cem>Chambre 202\u003c/em> had more to do with psychological interiority than interior design, bringing the surreal into reality. Here, the chairs pad an otherwise spare exhibition, but the depth of Tanning’s works more than make up for their small number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The metaphor of musical chairs also extends to Tanning herself. She occupied several artistic roles during her long lifetime, and uncertainty was perhaps her only constant. In the epigraph to Tanning’s first poetry collection, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/table-content\">A Table of Content\u003c/a>\u003c/em> she wrote, “It’s hard to be always the same person.” Her \u003ca href=\"https://50wattsbooks.com/products/chasm-a-weekend\">only novel\u003c/a> was about a masquerade ball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13956215","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Tanning’s apparent persistent, personal bewilderment — unable to explain her work, unsure of who she was — is reflective of the radical uncertainty foundational to the Surrealist sensibility. For these artists, Surrealism was not about disorientation but rather the embrace of cognitive dissonance, something realer than real in the context of postwar life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Tanning \u003ca href=\"https://bombmagazine.org/articles/1990/10/01/dorothea-tanning/\">resisted a feminist interpretation\u003c/a> of her art, her female subjects seem to oscillate between being at the mercy of the surreal and assuming agency in their navigation of it. Tanning was a woman always on the move, reconfiguring her conceptual position and stylistic approach to best suit her ongoing exploration of the unknown. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And maybe that’s the point. The only constant is change; the only sure thing is that which is unsure, unfixed and unreal. \u003cem>Musical Chairs\u003c/em> invites us to sit with that uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.gallerywendinorris.com/exhibitions-collection/dorothea-tanning-musical-chairs\">Musical Chairs\u003c/a>’ is on view at Gallery Wendi Norris (436 Jackson St., San Francisco) through May 4, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956493/musical-chairs-dorothea-tanning-gallery-wendi-norris-surrealism","authors":["byline_arts_13956493"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_10278","arts_769","arts_585"],"featImg":"arts_13956507","label":"arts_140"},"arts_13956497":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956497","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956497","score":null,"sort":[1713913256000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"moad-diaspora-dinner-high-on-the-hog-jessica-harris-sf","title":"MoAD Hosts ‘High on the Hog’ Author for a Blowout Dinner","publishDate":1713913256,"format":"standard","headTitle":"MoAD Hosts ‘High on the Hog’ Author for a Blowout Dinner | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Long before Netflix released \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i>, its award-winning food docu-series based on Dr. Jessica B. Harris’ book of the same name, Harris herself was already a living legend. Food historian, author of a dozen classic cookbooks and unofficial poet laureate of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/strongblacklead/status/1400544874047307776?lang=en\">yams\u003c/a>, okra and black-eyed peas, Harris literally wrote the book on how diasporic African foodways shaped America. When the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture was planning its new cafeteria a few years back, Harris was the one the museum tapped to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/dining/african-american-museum-sweet-home-cafe.html\">help conceptualize the menu\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956501\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956501\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of an African American woman in glasses seated inside an elegant restaurant.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1366x2048.jpg 1366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Jessica B. Harris is this year’s featured speaker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dr. Jessica B. Harris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And so, when San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora had to pick a featured speaker for this year’s splashy “\u003ca href=\"https://www.moadsf.org/event/diaspora-dinner-2024\">Diaspora Dinner\u003c/a>,” the museum’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930013/moad-diaspora-dinner-bay-area-black-women-chefs-intergenerational-sf-bayview\">signature fundraising event\u003c/a>, inviting Harris was a no-brainer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, May 4, Harris will take the stage at MoAD for a conversation about the history of diasporic African food, moderated by chef Adrian Lipscombe. The talk will be the highlight of a blowout dinner featuring dishes from Harris’s cookbooks — all cooked under the supervision of MoAD chef-in-residence \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923936/moad-new-chef-in-residence-jocelyn-jackson-peoples-kitchen-collective\">Jocelyn Jackson\u003c/a>, who calls Harris “an incredible icon” to the Black community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Harris, one of the main reasons she decided to write \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i> in the first place was because in her cookbooks, “the headnotes for the recipes kept getting longer and longer, which indicated that there was more to be said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has seen a late-career revival after producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger optioned the \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i> for Netflix\u003ci>, \u003c/i>introducing her work to a new generation. Like the book that inspired it, the show (which recently released a second season) takes viewers on a journey from the open-air markets of Benin, in West Africa, to the rice fields of South Carolina, the barbecue pits of Texas and beyond. It’s a culinary history that’s intertwined with the suffering that enslaved Africans faced — but also their resilience and ingenuity in maintaining their connection to Africa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923936,arts_13930013']The menu for MoAD’s Diaspora Dinner will also reflect that journey. While Jackson is keeping most of it a secret, she says one dish she plans to serve is acaraje, a Brazilian black-eyed pea fritter that’s usually stuffed with smoked shellfish and fried in palm oil. As Harris notes, it’s a dish that traces its roots back to southwestern Nigeria, where they eat a white bean fritter called akara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bean has changed, but the oil remains red palm oil,” Harris explains. “There’s a lot of history in that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Harris’s vision of the future of food and community for the African diaspora is refreshingly hopeful. She sees young, Black fine-dining chefs using their training to find new ways to connect to their cultures, and she says, “Change is the most wonderful thing about food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956503\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956503\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD.jpg\" alt=\"Fried plantains topped with pumpkin seeds.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dish of fried plantains from last year’s Diaspora Dinner. \u003ccite>(Tinashe Chidarikire, courtesy of MoAD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even as she acknowledges the way that a city like San Francisco has seen a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952984/reparations-commentary\">tremendous exodus\u003c/a> of its Black population, Harris urges us to take an even broader view: “Yes, it’s displacement — but it is such a slim displacement in proportion to the ultimate displacement, which was the one from the African continent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will find ways to come together,” she says. “The communing of sitting at or around a table is cardinal to our existence — I think that is not going to be diminished. It may evolve, but it’s there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>MoAD’s annual \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.moadsf.org/event/diaspora-dinner-2024\">\u003ci>Diaspora Dinner\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will take place at the museum (685 Mission St., San Francisco) and the adjacent St. Regis Hotel on Saturday, May 4, from 6–9 p.m. General admission tickets are sold out at this time, but a handful of VIP tickets, which include a private meet-and-greet, are still available.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Food historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris is one of America’s foremost experts on diasporic African cuisine.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713913828,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":13,"wordCount":710},"headData":{"title":"MoAD's Diaspora Dinner Stars ‘High on the Hog’ Author | KQED","description":"Food historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris is one of America’s foremost experts on diasporic African cuisine.","ogTitle":"MoAD Hosts ‘High on the Hog’ Author for a Blowout Dinner","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"MoAD Hosts ‘High on the Hog’ Author for a Blowout Dinner","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"MoAD's Diaspora Dinner Stars ‘High on the Hog’ Author %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"MoAD Hosts ‘High on the Hog’ Author for a Blowout Dinner","datePublished":"2024-04-23T23:00:56.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-23T23:10:28.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Food","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/food","sticky":false,"nprStoryId":"kqed-13956497","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956497/moad-diaspora-dinner-high-on-the-hog-jessica-harris-sf","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Long before Netflix released \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i>, its award-winning food docu-series based on Dr. Jessica B. Harris’ book of the same name, Harris herself was already a living legend. Food historian, author of a dozen classic cookbooks and unofficial poet laureate of \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/strongblacklead/status/1400544874047307776?lang=en\">yams\u003c/a>, okra and black-eyed peas, Harris literally wrote the book on how diasporic African foodways shaped America. When the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture was planning its new cafeteria a few years back, Harris was the one the museum tapped to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/dining/african-american-museum-sweet-home-cafe.html\">help conceptualize the menu\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956501\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956501\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of an African American woman in glasses seated inside an elegant restaurant.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DrHarris-headshot-1366x2048.jpg 1366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Jessica B. Harris is this year’s featured speaker. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dr. Jessica B. Harris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And so, when San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora had to pick a featured speaker for this year’s splashy “\u003ca href=\"https://www.moadsf.org/event/diaspora-dinner-2024\">Diaspora Dinner\u003c/a>,” the museum’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930013/moad-diaspora-dinner-bay-area-black-women-chefs-intergenerational-sf-bayview\">signature fundraising event\u003c/a>, inviting Harris was a no-brainer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, May 4, Harris will take the stage at MoAD for a conversation about the history of diasporic African food, moderated by chef Adrian Lipscombe. The talk will be the highlight of a blowout dinner featuring dishes from Harris’s cookbooks — all cooked under the supervision of MoAD chef-in-residence \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923936/moad-new-chef-in-residence-jocelyn-jackson-peoples-kitchen-collective\">Jocelyn Jackson\u003c/a>, who calls Harris “an incredible icon” to the Black community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Harris, one of the main reasons she decided to write \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i> in the first place was because in her cookbooks, “the headnotes for the recipes kept getting longer and longer, which indicated that there was more to be said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has seen a late-career revival after producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger optioned the \u003ci>High on the Hog\u003c/i> for Netflix\u003ci>, \u003c/i>introducing her work to a new generation. Like the book that inspired it, the show (which recently released a second season) takes viewers on a journey from the open-air markets of Benin, in West Africa, to the rice fields of South Carolina, the barbecue pits of Texas and beyond. It’s a culinary history that’s intertwined with the suffering that enslaved Africans faced — but also their resilience and ingenuity in maintaining their connection to Africa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13923936,arts_13930013","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The menu for MoAD’s Diaspora Dinner will also reflect that journey. While Jackson is keeping most of it a secret, she says one dish she plans to serve is acaraje, a Brazilian black-eyed pea fritter that’s usually stuffed with smoked shellfish and fried in palm oil. As Harris notes, it’s a dish that traces its roots back to southwestern Nigeria, where they eat a white bean fritter called akara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bean has changed, but the oil remains red palm oil,” Harris explains. “There’s a lot of history in that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Harris’s vision of the future of food and community for the African diaspora is refreshingly hopeful. She sees young, Black fine-dining chefs using their training to find new ways to connect to their cultures, and she says, “Change is the most wonderful thing about food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956503\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956503\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD.jpg\" alt=\"Fried plantains topped with pumpkin seeds.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/2023-6-7_Diaspora-Dinner-38_Tinashe-Chidarikire-courtesy-of-MoAD-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dish of fried plantains from last year’s Diaspora Dinner. \u003ccite>(Tinashe Chidarikire, courtesy of MoAD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even as she acknowledges the way that a city like San Francisco has seen a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952984/reparations-commentary\">tremendous exodus\u003c/a> of its Black population, Harris urges us to take an even broader view: “Yes, it’s displacement — but it is such a slim displacement in proportion to the ultimate displacement, which was the one from the African continent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will find ways to come together,” she says. “The communing of sitting at or around a table is cardinal to our existence — I think that is not going to be diminished. It may evolve, but it’s there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>MoAD’s annual \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.moadsf.org/event/diaspora-dinner-2024\">\u003ci>Diaspora Dinner\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will take place at the museum (685 Mission St., San Francisco) and the adjacent St. Regis Hotel on Saturday, May 4, from 6–9 p.m. General admission tickets are sold out at this time, but a handful of VIP tickets, which include a private meet-and-greet, are still available.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956497/moad-diaspora-dinner-high-on-the-hog-jessica-harris-sf","authors":["11743"],"programs":["arts_140"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_12276"],"tags":["arts_2438","arts_1297","arts_1987","arts_1146","arts_14729","arts_585"],"featImg":"arts_13956500","label":"source_arts_13956497"},"arts_13956326":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13956326","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13956326","score":null,"sort":[1713884513000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"tru-gourmet-dim-sum-farmers-market-oakland","title":"How a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets","publishDate":1713884513,"format":"standard","headTitle":"How a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note:\u003c/strong> This story is part of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">Youth Takeover\u003c/a>. Throughout the week of April 22-26, we’re publishing content by high school students from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since I was five years old, one of my favorite traditions has been going to the Grand Lake Farmers Market with my dad every Saturday morning. \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Nadege.headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The market has been open since 1998 near the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland, and it’s the perfect place to find almost anything you can think of — organic produce, fresh flowers and hot meals cooked to order while you wait. When I came with my dad, we’d order fresh gaufres from the Belgian waffle vendor, then browse the ripe nectarines and strawberries that were in season. Sometimes, we’d get rotisserie chicken and potatoes for lunch from one of the food trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I even tried dim sum for the first time. One Saturday we noticed a stand called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/trugourmet\">Tru Gourmet\u003c/a> that sold all kinds of steamed dumplings and buns. We ordered dumplings and crispy chicken wings, which turned out to be our favorite. Then we found somewhere near the booth to eat it all standing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was about 10 years ago. As it turns out, Tru Gourmet is still around, setting up its stand at the Grand Lake Farmers Market — and \u003ca href=\"http://trugourmet.com/locations/\">two other farmers markets around the Bay Area\u003c/a> — every week. When I visited their tent on a recent Saturday, the line was so long that it almost crossed in front of the vendor next door. Inside, the cooks were busy heating the dumplings in bamboo steamers. Everything smelled so good, it was hard to choose. When I finally bit into a savory scallion pancake and delighted in the softness of a juicy pork bun, I urged my dad to order seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop.jpg\" alt='A display showing different kinds of dim sum available, all arranged in bamboo steamers. A sign on the table reads, \"Cash Only.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A display of the different kinds of dim sum available at Tru Gourmet’s Grand Lake Farmers Market stand on a recent Saturday. \u003ccite>(Nadege Mulamba)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I realize now is that it isn’t very typical for dim sum to be sold at a farmers market — in fact, Tru Gourmet seems to be the only business doing it regularly here in the Bay Area. It made me curious: What made these chefs decide to set up their business outdoors instead of selling their dumplings inside a more traditional dim sum restaurant? And why doesn’t it seem like very many others are doing it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had the opportunity to interview the owner, Olivia Liu, who shared her story of how the business started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KQED: When did you start this business? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Liu\u003c/b>: Tru Gourmet started with my mom, Cathy Tsui, back in August 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wow, almost sixteen years! Why did you want to create dim sum at the farmers market? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mother and I had a weekly tradition of dining on dim sum and visiting our local farmers markets, which gave us the idea to combine those two and start a family business. Dim sum translates into “touch of the heart.” Our goal is to touch your heart with handcrafted dim sum made from our hearts. [At Tru Gourmet,] you will find traditional dumplings one might see at popular dim sum houses and modern-day creations that aim to expand one’s view of dim sum, like black truffle shrimp dumplings or spiny lobster dumplings. We also have vegan dumplings such as our kale dumpling and bok choy dumpling, and seasonal [specials] like our asparagus dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are proud to source most of our produce from the farmers markets we attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Did you know of any other businesses that were selling dim sum at farmers markets at that time?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2008, we could have been the only ones. We have never seen [any other] dim sum at any farmers market, but it is common in food festivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956335\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956335\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo.jpg\" alt=\"A young woman in a white chef's jacket serves dim sum to a guest at a fancy gala.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">True Gourmet’s Olivia Liu serves dim sum at an event at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito. \u003ccite>(Andria Lo, courtesy of Headlands Center for the Arts)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>About 10 years ago, my dad and I actually had chicken wings at your Grand Lake market stand. They were so good, and I was sad that you only seemed to sell them once every two months. Do you guys still sell those?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5-9z0xrCd0/\">spicy crispy chicken wings\u003c/a> are definitely popular, and we also make spicy crispy \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5a6fWNr0cl/\">salmon\u003c/a>. We rotate our special every week, which is why it’s only served once in a while. My mother made these wings for me as a child, and they were my absolute favorite! I knew we had to put them on the menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are there any challenges with making dim sum work at the farmers market? Do you have to change certain recipes to make it work?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We had never worked at a farmers market before, so we learned how to adapt and improve along the way. In our 15 years of business, we have learned ways to operate more efficiently and effectively, especially in setting up our booth.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have a commissary kitchen we work out of to prepare all of the dim sum. The dumplings are wrapped in the kitchen, and we steam everything fresh at the farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What is your favorite memory from running this business? Was there a specific customer that stood out to you? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s building relationships with my customers. So many regulars come every week and make my dim sum part of their weekly ritual. There have also been many regulars who moved away but make it a priority to stop by whenever they are visiting. Countless mothers ate my dim sum while pregnant, and I saw these babies grow up. Whenever a child wants my food for their birthday party, or if I cater a bar or bat mitzvah, quinceañera, holiday party or wedding, it feels so special to be included in their special day. Any time a first-time customer comes back after they try the dim sum to tell me how much they enjoyed it, it is one of my favorite things. The food industry is a labor of love, and it is incredibly gratifying to receive excellent feedback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One rainy winter day when I first joined the Grand Lake Farmers Market, one of my regular customers, Jefferson, brought me a cup of tea because he saw me shivering in the cold. It was a small gesture, but it meant so much to me, and I still remember it over 10 years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956336\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes.jpg\" alt=\"A stack of scallion pancakes on a white plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2379\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-800x991.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1020x1264.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-768x952.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1240x1536.jpg 1240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1653x2048.jpg 1653w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stack of crispy, savory scallion pancakes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Olivia Liu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That’s really sweet!\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, and during the wildfires, a customer named Linda gave me and my mother masks because she was concerned since we work outdoors. Knowing I am more than just a food vendor to these customers warms my heart. Being a part of this amazing community is such a special thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[People from] all walks of life enjoy my dim sum, from babies to their grandparents, people who have never had it or those with food sensitivities. We have vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, seafood and meat options. There is something for everyone. Everyone loves dim sum!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your favorite item on your menu? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A VIP client of mine hired me to cater her mother’s birthday dinner. She had requested that I make something with black truffles. That is when the black truffle shrimp dumpling was born. It is my personal favorite dumpling and has also become a favorite for many regulars. It’s special how we add black truffle to the shrimp filling, and we also add black truffle to the top of the dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the traditional shrimp dumpling might be [better] for you if you are a purist. Some would say the shrimp dumpling is how to tell if a dim sum house is good or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle.jpg\" alt=\"Two varieties of dim sum on a paper plate. One of them is topped with black truffle shavings.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tru Gourmet’s more modern, creative dim sum items include a shrimp dumpling that incorporates black truffles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Olivia Liu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s the best thing about selling at the farmers market? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love working at the farmers market! It’s such a wonderful community. Most of my customers are regulars who come every week, rain or shine. I appreciate their support. Even during the beginning of COVID, regulars came every week. It was because of them that I was able to stay in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have been in business for 15 years and hope for another 15 years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://trugourmet.com/\">\u003ci>Tru Gourmet Dim Sum\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open at the Grand Lake Farmers Market (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ci>You can also find them at the Marin Farmers Market (3501 Civic Center Dr., San Rafael) on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at the California Avenue Farmers Market (400 California Ave., Palo Alto) on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nNadege Mulamba is a senior at Oakland Technical High School enjoys listening to music, writing and baking in her free time. She is passionate about screenwriting and wants to major in film.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Tru Gourmet has been selling its pork buns and shrimp dumplings outdoors for more than 15 years.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713824467,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":35,"wordCount":1561},"headData":{"title":"How Tru Gourmet Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets | KQED","description":"Tru Gourmet has been selling its pork buns and shrimp dumplings outdoors for more than 15 years.","ogTitle":"How a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"How a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"How Tru Gourmet Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"How a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers Markets","datePublished":"2024-04-23T15:01:53.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-22T22:21:07.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Food","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/food","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Nadege Mulamba","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13956326/tru-gourmet-dim-sum-farmers-market-oakland","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note:\u003c/strong> This story is part of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/youthtakeover\">Youth Takeover\u003c/a>. Throughout the week of April 22-26, we’re publishing content by high school students from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since I was five years old, one of my favorite traditions has been going to the Grand Lake Farmers Market with my dad every Saturday morning. \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Nadege.headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The market has been open since 1998 near the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland, and it’s the perfect place to find almost anything you can think of — organic produce, fresh flowers and hot meals cooked to order while you wait. When I came with my dad, we’d order fresh gaufres from the Belgian waffle vendor, then browse the ripe nectarines and strawberries that were in season. Sometimes, we’d get rotisserie chicken and potatoes for lunch from one of the food trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I even tried dim sum for the first time. One Saturday we noticed a stand called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/trugourmet\">Tru Gourmet\u003c/a> that sold all kinds of steamed dumplings and buns. We ordered dumplings and crispy chicken wings, which turned out to be our favorite. Then we found somewhere near the booth to eat it all standing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was about 10 years ago. As it turns out, Tru Gourmet is still around, setting up its stand at the Grand Lake Farmers Market — and \u003ca href=\"http://trugourmet.com/locations/\">two other farmers markets around the Bay Area\u003c/a> — every week. When I visited their tent on a recent Saturday, the line was so long that it almost crossed in front of the vendor next door. Inside, the cooks were busy heating the dumplings in bamboo steamers. Everything smelled so good, it was hard to choose. When I finally bit into a savory scallion pancake and delighted in the softness of a juicy pork bun, I urged my dad to order seconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop.jpg\" alt='A display showing different kinds of dim sum available, all arranged in bamboo steamers. A sign on the table reads, \"Cash Only.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-stand-crop-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A display of the different kinds of dim sum available at Tru Gourmet’s Grand Lake Farmers Market stand on a recent Saturday. \u003ccite>(Nadege Mulamba)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What I realize now is that it isn’t very typical for dim sum to be sold at a farmers market — in fact, Tru Gourmet seems to be the only business doing it regularly here in the Bay Area. It made me curious: What made these chefs decide to set up their business outdoors instead of selling their dumplings inside a more traditional dim sum restaurant? And why doesn’t it seem like very many others are doing it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had the opportunity to interview the owner, Olivia Liu, who shared her story of how the business started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KQED: When did you start this business? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Liu\u003c/b>: Tru Gourmet started with my mom, Cathy Tsui, back in August 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wow, almost sixteen years! Why did you want to create dim sum at the farmers market? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mother and I had a weekly tradition of dining on dim sum and visiting our local farmers markets, which gave us the idea to combine those two and start a family business. Dim sum translates into “touch of the heart.” Our goal is to touch your heart with handcrafted dim sum made from our hearts. [At Tru Gourmet,] you will find traditional dumplings one might see at popular dim sum houses and modern-day creations that aim to expand one’s view of dim sum, like black truffle shrimp dumplings or spiny lobster dumplings. We also have vegan dumplings such as our kale dumpling and bok choy dumpling, and seasonal [specials] like our asparagus dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are proud to source most of our produce from the farmers markets we attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Did you know of any other businesses that were selling dim sum at farmers markets at that time?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2008, we could have been the only ones. We have never seen [any other] dim sum at any farmers market, but it is common in food festivals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956335\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956335\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo.jpg\" alt=\"A young woman in a white chef's jacket serves dim sum to a guest at a fancy gala.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-oivia-credit-andria-lo-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">True Gourmet’s Olivia Liu serves dim sum at an event at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito. \u003ccite>(Andria Lo, courtesy of Headlands Center for the Arts)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>About 10 years ago, my dad and I actually had chicken wings at your Grand Lake market stand. They were so good, and I was sad that you only seemed to sell them once every two months. Do you guys still sell those?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5-9z0xrCd0/\">spicy crispy chicken wings\u003c/a> are definitely popular, and we also make spicy crispy \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5a6fWNr0cl/\">salmon\u003c/a>. We rotate our special every week, which is why it’s only served once in a while. My mother made these wings for me as a child, and they were my absolute favorite! I knew we had to put them on the menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are there any challenges with making dim sum work at the farmers market? Do you have to change certain recipes to make it work?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We had never worked at a farmers market before, so we learned how to adapt and improve along the way. In our 15 years of business, we have learned ways to operate more efficiently and effectively, especially in setting up our booth.\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have a commissary kitchen we work out of to prepare all of the dim sum. The dumplings are wrapped in the kitchen, and we steam everything fresh at the farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What is your favorite memory from running this business? Was there a specific customer that stood out to you? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s building relationships with my customers. So many regulars come every week and make my dim sum part of their weekly ritual. There have also been many regulars who moved away but make it a priority to stop by whenever they are visiting. Countless mothers ate my dim sum while pregnant, and I saw these babies grow up. Whenever a child wants my food for their birthday party, or if I cater a bar or bat mitzvah, quinceañera, holiday party or wedding, it feels so special to be included in their special day. Any time a first-time customer comes back after they try the dim sum to tell me how much they enjoyed it, it is one of my favorite things. The food industry is a labor of love, and it is incredibly gratifying to receive excellent feedback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One rainy winter day when I first joined the Grand Lake Farmers Market, one of my regular customers, Jefferson, brought me a cup of tea because he saw me shivering in the cold. It was a small gesture, but it meant so much to me, and I still remember it over 10 years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956336\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes.jpg\" alt=\"A stack of scallion pancakes on a white plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2379\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-800x991.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1020x1264.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-768x952.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1240x1536.jpg 1240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-scallion-pancakes-1653x2048.jpg 1653w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A stack of crispy, savory scallion pancakes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Olivia Liu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That’s really sweet!\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, and during the wildfires, a customer named Linda gave me and my mother masks because she was concerned since we work outdoors. Knowing I am more than just a food vendor to these customers warms my heart. Being a part of this amazing community is such a special thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[People from] all walks of life enjoy my dim sum, from babies to their grandparents, people who have never had it or those with food sensitivities. We have vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, seafood and meat options. There is something for everyone. Everyone loves dim sum!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your favorite item on your menu? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A VIP client of mine hired me to cater her mother’s birthday dinner. She had requested that I make something with black truffles. That is when the black truffle shrimp dumpling was born. It is my personal favorite dumpling and has also become a favorite for many regulars. It’s special how we add black truffle to the shrimp filling, and we also add black truffle to the top of the dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the traditional shrimp dumpling might be [better] for you if you are a purist. Some would say the shrimp dumpling is how to tell if a dim sum house is good or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle.jpg\" alt=\"Two varieties of dim sum on a paper plate. One of them is topped with black truffle shavings.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/tru-gourmet-black-truffle-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tru Gourmet’s more modern, creative dim sum items include a shrimp dumpling that incorporates black truffles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Olivia Liu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s the best thing about selling at the farmers market? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love working at the farmers market! It’s such a wonderful community. Most of my customers are regulars who come every week, rain or shine. I appreciate their support. Even during the beginning of COVID, regulars came every week. It was because of them that I was able to stay in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have been in business for 15 years and hope for another 15 years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://trugourmet.com/\">\u003ci>Tru Gourmet Dim Sum\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open at the Grand Lake Farmers Market (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ci>You can also find them at the Marin Farmers Market (3501 Civic Center Dr., San Rafael) on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at the California Avenue Farmers Market (400 California Ave., Palo Alto) on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nNadege Mulamba is a senior at Oakland Technical High School enjoys listening to music, writing and baking in her free time. She is passionate about screenwriting and wants to major in film.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13956326/tru-gourmet-dim-sum-farmers-market-oakland","authors":["byline_arts_13956326"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_12276"],"tags":["arts_21727","arts_22099","arts_10278","arts_1297","arts_1785","arts_1143","arts_4533"],"featImg":"arts_13956333","label":"source_arts_13956326"},"arts_13955802":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13955802","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13955802","score":null,"sort":[1713390752000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june","title":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","publishDate":1713390752,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics) | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen conveying what it means to really be from the Bay Area, I often return to this simple yet revelatory \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mac-dre\">Mac Dre\u003c/a> lyric: “In the Bay Area, we dance a little different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether it’s in our music, political activism or technological contributions, there’s a certain out-of-box forwardness that tends to manifest from Bay Area minds — and a pride in how we approach everything with a savvy sprinkling of game, hustlership and top-tier ideation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same can be said for the Bay Area’s food scene, which ranks among the nation’s best and most imaginative. From sourdough bread to the eternal Mission-style burrito, the Bay’s foodmakers have often been ahead of the curve, helping to revolutionize menus nationwide with their fresh farm-to-table approach. To borrow from the great Mac, one could say that in the Bay Area, we \u003ci>eat\u003c/i> a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13907726,arts_13934248']\u003c/span>It’s no surprise, then, that in the history of local rap, food has always been a strong reference point — a metaphorical kitchen for creative exchange. An endless platter of well-seasoned slang. For decades, our rappers have delivered punchlines involving sauce, lasagna and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMah0rX6pGU\">lumpia\u003c/a>; dropped verses that generously reference \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBJR5L2nas\">desserts and bakeries\u003c/a>; and supplied entire songs about stacking bread, cheese and lettuce as lucrative sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-rap-shrimp-crab-17915372.php\">Food-loving Bay Area rappers\u003c/a> have always been bold when it comes to transmorphing culinary items and kitchen utensils into slang that others then appropriate and even misuse (see: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908052/food-doesnt-slap\">food doesn’t slap\u003c/a>”). Shock G once talked about getting busy in a Burger King bathroom and declared, “I like my oatmeal lumpy.” On “Dreganomics,” Mac Dre himself asked, “What’s spaghetti without the sauce?” We’ve got Suga T (sweet) and Spice 1 (hot). Berner founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cookiessf/?hl=en\">Cookies\u003c/a>. And just a few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a> dropped a whole series of viral videos centered on his latest single. His focus? \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@jayworrld/video/7340701934355254574\">Eating a salad\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a unifying ethos in Bay Area food and rap: \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GU3PmttyI\">Everybody eats\u003c/a>. So here’s a brief ode to some of our region’s most skilled vocabulary chefs and the tasteful ways they’ve reimagined the ingredients of language that are possible in a kitchen — and the recording studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956090\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper E-40 in sunglasses and a beige apron, holding a glass of red wine. In front of him are a burrito and a grilled cheese sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 might be the most prolific inventor of food-related slang words in the English language. He’s a head chef in the Bay Area’s rap kingdom. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>E-40: Green eggs, hams, candy yams, Spam, cheese, peanut butter and jam on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIBcRriUJY\">The Slap\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Digital scale, green eggs and hams / Yams, candy yams, Spam, damn! / Loaded, my cheese, peanut butter and jam / Sammich, mannish, me and my Hispanics / Vanish, talkin’ in codes like we from different planets.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it may sound like gibberish to the uninitiated, rest assured that \u003ca href=\"https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2013/12/food-rap-decoded-with-e-40-video\">99.99% of anything 40 Water vocalizes has a cleverly associative meaning\u003c/a>. For anyone who has listened to one of the more than 25 studio albums from Vallejo’s kingpin, you’ve surely heard him mention food — perhaps in a variety of languages (some real, some ingeniously invented). In addition to the smorgasbord he notes above in “The Slap,” he has pioneered rhymes across generations that give new meanings to Gouda, feta, mozzarella, lettuce, bread, sausage, salami, paninis, spaghetti, tacos and enchiladas — ad infinitum. Unsurprisingly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">Mr. Fonzarelli is an actual purveyor of foods and beverages\u003c/a>, with a line of products that includes malt liquor, ice cream and burritos; he even co-owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelumpiacompany/\">The Lumpia Company\u003c/a>. There’s no one with a bigger million-dollar mouthpiece who can distribute as much word candy (“S-L-A-N-G”) quite as flavorfully as the Goon With The Spoon himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andre Nickatina: TOGO’s #41 sandwich with the hot peppers on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FU1XdPE6lM\">Fa Show\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Baby don’t act dumb, I’m number 41, high stepper / TOGO’s sandwich with the hot peppers / At 90 degrees I might freeze, so when it’s hot I sport leather.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fillmore’s finest, and among \u003ca href=\"https://www.passionweiss.com/2016/11/17/andre-nickatina/\">the most criminally underrated San Francisco rappers in history\u003c/a>, Andre Nickatina has always had a penchant for the spicy, the flavorful, the extemporaneously saucy. From rapping about eating Cap’n Crunch around drug dealers to sarcastically handing out Baskin Robbins dollars to his enemies, Nicky Nicotine (formerly known as Dre Dog) raps about food as casually as any rapper would ever dare. Unlike many of today’s international rap personalities, who seem to only eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/6frbt9/why_are_rappers_obsessed_with_nobu_sushi/\">high-priced sushi conglomerates\u003c/a>, Nickatina is a Bay Area real one, electing to stay fed at a regional sandwich chain from San Jose. The enigmatic “number 41” on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.togos.com/menu/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwoPOwBhAeEiwAJuXRh69gJ2fS8J9qmnAKJEnCmI5720psTxEmhEmkgFAemWoe3auyNuuxExoCTm0QAvD_BwE\">Togo’s menu\u003c/a> has since been discontinued, but a spokesperson for the restaurant IDed it as a sirloin steak and mushroom sandwich that was introduced as a seasonal special back in 2002 — the same year “Fa Show” was released. There is no doubt it must’ve been fire, given its endorsement by a legend who knows how to professionally “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TXpoi-goE\">Break Bread\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956088\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Kamaiyah eating from a plate of chicken alfredo tucked under her arm. Next to her is a bottle of champagne.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamaiyah’s album covers often feature food, Hennessey and champagne — a reflection of the rapper’s saucy, bossy lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Kamaiyah: Champagne and chicken on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls2dMJ63tM\">Whatever Whenever\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Just drink champagne with all my chicken meals.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s fitting that East Oakland’s Kamaiyah — who cooked up the searingly hot single “How Does It Feel” on her transcendent debut, \u003ci>A Good Night in the Ghetto\u003c/i> — continued to double down on aspirational living and good eating with her sophomore release, \u003ci>Got It Made\u003c/i>. As always, the bodacious trapper rhymes over a synth-laced, floaty-spaceship soundscape while bragging about her California riches — and cuisine. The music video for “Whatever Whenever” features Kamaiyah roaming the untainted grounds of a Napa Valley-esque chateau. Her album covers over the years have also featured bags of potato chips, Hennessy and double-fisted bottles of champagne. It’s always bottoms up when Kamaiyah is on the track.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too $hort: Macaroni, steak and collard greens on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5B8cFskaw\">All My B*tches Are Gone\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Eat some shit up / macaroni, steak, collard greens, or whatever the fuck.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With over 35 years of classic albums like \u003ci>Cocktails\u003c/i> and \u003ci>Gettin’ It\u003c/i>, there’s no doubt that Short Dogg knows how to feed his multi-generational fanbase. He doesn’t shy away from straightforward lyrics — or having a large appetite for nefarious activities — and he has continued to make seasoned slaps for precisely 225,000 hours and counting (“get a calculator, do the math”). This OG’s plate of choice includes classic soul food staples served with a slab of steak. As the veteran unmistakably outlines on “This How We Eat”: “We make money, we eat, we feed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956087\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Larry June in an SF Giants cap, holding a crab cracker in one hand and a fork in the other. In front of him is a whole lobster on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besides establishing himself as the healthiest rapper in Bay Area lore, Larry June is also known for sporting vintage muscle cars and cracking lobsters in Sausalito as part of his luxurious lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Larry June: Crab legs on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luIhlZBrJos\">Lifetime Income\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“This not my girlfriend, we just eatin’ crab legs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you know Larry June, then you know he’s all about smoothies, green teas, organic juices and oranges (yee hee!). But just as buttery are his numerously silky references to luxury meals and late-night outings with a seemingly endless rotation of women friends. Without question, the Hunters Point rapper has one of the healthiest appetites of anyone around a microphone, regularly dropping rhymes about his organic sustenance. Since Uncle Larry makes a living off his out-of-pocket food references, he merits an honorable mention for dropping other absolute bangers like “I might write a motherfuckin’ smoothie book or somethin’ … Sell this shit for thirty dollars” and “Watermelon juice riding bikes with my latest chick / I don’t do the clubs that often, I got a check to get.” It’s fitting that \u003ca href=\"https://uproxx.com/music/larry-june-interview-san-francisco/\">he also co-owns Honeybear Boba in the Dogpatch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Iamsu!: Chicken strips and Moscato on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcxMU3uvLg\">Don’t Stop\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Keep it real I don’t brag though… / Chicken strips, no escargot / [sippin’] on the Moscato.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, this lyric is from a young, mixtape-era Iamsu! and might not reflect the current palate of the multi-platinum rapper and producer from Richmond. (In fact, that’s probably true of every rapper on this list, so take these lyrics with a grain of salt.) But when I first heard this song in my 20s, it’s a line that did — and still does — resonate for its unglamorized celebration of living on a low-budget microwaveable diet while maintaining a glimmer of high-life ambition. Personally, I’d take chicken strips over escargot nine out of ten times. And, from the sound of it, so would Suzy 6 Speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956086\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956086\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"The rapper P-Lo wiggles his fingers in delight over a plate of chicken wings sitting on a bed of dollar bills.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">P-Lo often raps about his love of chicken (chicken adobo, fried chicken, chicken wings), and his favorite food-related slang word is also “chicken” (as a stand in for “money”). \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>P-Lo: Chicken wings in the strip club on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ajtPhAQ1U\">Going To Work\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“In the strip club eating chicken wings.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13938479']\u003c/span>There may not be another rapper on this list with as much love for chicken wings as Pinole’s P-Lo. For starters, the lyricist and producer launched a transnational food tour, teaming up with Filipino restaurants around the U.S. and Canada to deliver collaborative one-off dishes, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935891/p-lo-senor-sisig-filipino-food-tour-oakland\">his own spicy sinigang wings at Señor Sisig in Oakland\u003c/a>. If that’s not enough, he has popped up on popular social media channels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodz/?hl=en\">Bay Area Foodz\u003c/a> as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJYkVcpM6E0\">he searches for the best wings around the Yay\u003c/a>. His songs are even featured on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwyzdhfrNCE/\">national commercials for Wingstop\u003c/a>. For P-Lo, it’s always time to bring back the bass — and taste.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Guap (formerly Guapdad 4000): Chicken adobo on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DaovaJgytE\">Chicken Adobo\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“How I fell in love with you it was beautiful / Like chicken adobo how you fill me up.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Black Filipino American rapper from West Oakland, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">food has always played a central role in his upbringing\u003c/a>. The anime-loving, Marvel comics fan grew up in a Filipino household eating champorado, and his songs have never shied away from references to his dual cultures. In what might be his most well-known song, Guap equates romantic satiation to filling up on a bowl of chicken adobo. His love of food goes beyond the booth — he recently spoke out on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950363/keith-lee-tiktok-oakland-sf-bay-area-struggles\">the recent Keith Lee fiasco\u003c/a>, and he also put together\u003ca href=\"https://trippin.world/guide/oaklands-top-food-joints-with-rapper-guapdad-4000\"> a map of his favorite places to eat around The Town\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cellski: Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar cheese on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6wFRZOd7n8\">Chedda\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Gotta get the cheddar, fuck the [federals].”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As most food mentions in Bay Area rap goes, Cellski’s mention of this quintessentially North American breakfast combo isn’t exactly a homage to the real ingredients, as much as it is a reference to his hustling. His 1998 \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/841568-Cellski-Canadian-Bacon-Hash-Browns/image/SW1hZ2U6NDg3ODMxNzk=\">album cover\u003c/a> for \u003ci>Canadian Bacon & Hash Browns \u003c/i>features a cartoon depiction of the rapper getting pulled over and arrested by a Canadian mountie, with an open trunk revealing pounds of medicinal herbs. Nonetheless, there’s a good chance that the veteran San Francisco spitter actually does like to carry Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar around — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922141/cellskis-big-mafi-burgers-come-with-a-side-of-sf-rap-history\">he’s a part-time foodie who runs his own burger pop-up, after all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956089\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Dru Down in gold sunglasses and a black trench coat, holding an ice cream cone in one hand and an ice cream sundae on the table in front of him.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a famous 1996 beef, Dru Down and the Luniz accused New Orleans rapper Master P (who started his musical career in the Bay Area) for stealing their concept of the “Ice Cream Man” — slang for a narcotics dealer. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dru Down: Ice cream on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNv2qAje-Q\">Ice Cream Man\u003c/a>” (with the Luniz)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Get your ice cream, ice cream / Not Ice-T, not Ice Cube, ice cream.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not intended for children, the classic 1993 anthem off Dru Down’s \u003ci>Fools From The Street \u003c/i>paints a startling picture of addiction and illicit drug distribution around Oakland in the wake of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs. Despite its unapologetic content, “Ice Cream Man” went on to establish an indisputably popular food motif in national rap music: ice cream as a stand-in for drug dealing. Since the production includes an audio sampling of an ice cream truck’s inimitable tune, listening to it evokes a sense of nostalgia for the frozen treat — and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">golden-era Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A brief look at some of the Bay Area’s most notoriously hungry rappers — and the foods they’ve lyricized about.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713412777,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":28,"wordCount":2211},"headData":{"title":"Bay Area Rappers and Food Lyrics | KQED","description":"A brief look at some of the Bay Area’s most notoriously hungry rappers — and the foods they’ve lyricized about.","ogTitle":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Bay Area Rappers and Food Lyrics %%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Here’s What Bay Area Rappers Are Eating (According to Their Lyrics)","datePublished":"2024-04-17T21:52:32.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-18T03:59:37.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Food","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/food","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen conveying what it means to really be from the Bay Area, I often return to this simple yet revelatory \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mac-dre\">Mac Dre\u003c/a> lyric: “In the Bay Area, we dance a little different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether it’s in our music, political activism or technological contributions, there’s a certain out-of-box forwardness that tends to manifest from Bay Area minds — and a pride in how we approach everything with a savvy sprinkling of game, hustlership and top-tier ideation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same can be said for the Bay Area’s food scene, which ranks among the nation’s best and most imaginative. From sourdough bread to the eternal Mission-style burrito, the Bay’s foodmakers have often been ahead of the curve, helping to revolutionize menus nationwide with their fresh farm-to-table approach. To borrow from the great Mac, one could say that in the Bay Area, we \u003ci>eat\u003c/i> a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13907726,arts_13934248","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>It’s no surprise, then, that in the history of local rap, food has always been a strong reference point — a metaphorical kitchen for creative exchange. An endless platter of well-seasoned slang. For decades, our rappers have delivered punchlines involving sauce, lasagna and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMah0rX6pGU\">lumpia\u003c/a>; dropped verses that generously reference \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBJR5L2nas\">desserts and bakeries\u003c/a>; and supplied entire songs about stacking bread, cheese and lettuce as lucrative sandwiches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-rap-shrimp-crab-17915372.php\">Food-loving Bay Area rappers\u003c/a> have always been bold when it comes to transmorphing culinary items and kitchen utensils into slang that others then appropriate and even misuse (see: “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908052/food-doesnt-slap\">food doesn’t slap\u003c/a>”). Shock G once talked about getting busy in a Burger King bathroom and declared, “I like my oatmeal lumpy.” On “Dreganomics,” Mac Dre himself asked, “What’s spaghetti without the sauce?” We’ve got Suga T (sweet) and Spice 1 (hot). Berner founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cookiessf/?hl=en\">Cookies\u003c/a>. And just a few weeks ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900085/stunnaman02-and-the-big-steppin-energy-in-the-room\">Stunnaman02\u003c/a> dropped a whole series of viral videos centered on his latest single. His focus? \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@jayworrld/video/7340701934355254574\">Eating a salad\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a unifying ethos in Bay Area food and rap: \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GU3PmttyI\">Everybody eats\u003c/a>. So here’s a brief ode to some of our region’s most skilled vocabulary chefs and the tasteful ways they’ve reimagined the ingredients of language that are possible in a kitchen — and the recording studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956090\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper E-40 in sunglasses and a beige apron, holding a glass of red wine. In front of him are a burrito and a grilled cheese sandwich.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/E40-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E-40 might be the most prolific inventor of food-related slang words in the English language. He’s a head chef in the Bay Area’s rap kingdom. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>E-40: Green eggs, hams, candy yams, Spam, cheese, peanut butter and jam on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIBcRriUJY\">The Slap\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Digital scale, green eggs and hams / Yams, candy yams, Spam, damn! / Loaded, my cheese, peanut butter and jam / Sammich, mannish, me and my Hispanics / Vanish, talkin’ in codes like we from different planets.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it may sound like gibberish to the uninitiated, rest assured that \u003ca href=\"https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2013/12/food-rap-decoded-with-e-40-video\">99.99% of anything 40 Water vocalizes has a cleverly associative meaning\u003c/a>. For anyone who has listened to one of the more than 25 studio albums from Vallejo’s kingpin, you’ve surely heard him mention food — perhaps in a variety of languages (some real, some ingeniously invented). In addition to the smorgasbord he notes above in “The Slap,” he has pioneered rhymes across generations that give new meanings to Gouda, feta, mozzarella, lettuce, bread, sausage, salami, paninis, spaghetti, tacos and enchiladas — ad infinitum. Unsurprisingly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">Mr. Fonzarelli is an actual purveyor of foods and beverages\u003c/a>, with a line of products that includes malt liquor, ice cream and burritos; he even co-owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelumpiacompany/\">The Lumpia Company\u003c/a>. There’s no one with a bigger million-dollar mouthpiece who can distribute as much word candy (“S-L-A-N-G”) quite as flavorfully as the Goon With The Spoon himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Andre Nickatina: TOGO’s #41 sandwich with the hot peppers on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FU1XdPE6lM\">Fa Show\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Baby don’t act dumb, I’m number 41, high stepper / TOGO’s sandwich with the hot peppers / At 90 degrees I might freeze, so when it’s hot I sport leather.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fillmore’s finest, and among \u003ca href=\"https://www.passionweiss.com/2016/11/17/andre-nickatina/\">the most criminally underrated San Francisco rappers in history\u003c/a>, Andre Nickatina has always had a penchant for the spicy, the flavorful, the extemporaneously saucy. From rapping about eating Cap’n Crunch around drug dealers to sarcastically handing out Baskin Robbins dollars to his enemies, Nicky Nicotine (formerly known as Dre Dog) raps about food as casually as any rapper would ever dare. Unlike many of today’s international rap personalities, who seem to only eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/6frbt9/why_are_rappers_obsessed_with_nobu_sushi/\">high-priced sushi conglomerates\u003c/a>, Nickatina is a Bay Area real one, electing to stay fed at a regional sandwich chain from San Jose. The enigmatic “number 41” on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.togos.com/menu/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwoPOwBhAeEiwAJuXRh69gJ2fS8J9qmnAKJEnCmI5720psTxEmhEmkgFAemWoe3auyNuuxExoCTm0QAvD_BwE\">Togo’s menu\u003c/a> has since been discontinued, but a spokesperson for the restaurant IDed it as a sirloin steak and mushroom sandwich that was introduced as a seasonal special back in 2002 — the same year “Fa Show” was released. There is no doubt it must’ve been fire, given its endorsement by a legend who knows how to professionally “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TXpoi-goE\">Break Bread\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956088\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Kamaiyah eating from a plate of chicken alfredo tucked under her arm. Next to her is a bottle of champagne.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/KAMAIYAH-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamaiyah’s album covers often feature food, Hennessey and champagne — a reflection of the rapper’s saucy, bossy lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Kamaiyah: Champagne and chicken on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls2dMJ63tM\">Whatever Whenever\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Just drink champagne with all my chicken meals.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s fitting that East Oakland’s Kamaiyah — who cooked up the searingly hot single “How Does It Feel” on her transcendent debut, \u003ci>A Good Night in the Ghetto\u003c/i> — continued to double down on aspirational living and good eating with her sophomore release, \u003ci>Got It Made\u003c/i>. As always, the bodacious trapper rhymes over a synth-laced, floaty-spaceship soundscape while bragging about her California riches — and cuisine. The music video for “Whatever Whenever” features Kamaiyah roaming the untainted grounds of a Napa Valley-esque chateau. Her album covers over the years have also featured bags of potato chips, Hennessy and double-fisted bottles of champagne. It’s always bottoms up when Kamaiyah is on the track.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Too $hort: Macaroni, steak and collard greens on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5B8cFskaw\">All My B*tches Are Gone\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Eat some shit up / macaroni, steak, collard greens, or whatever the fuck.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With over 35 years of classic albums like \u003ci>Cocktails\u003c/i> and \u003ci>Gettin’ It\u003c/i>, there’s no doubt that Short Dogg knows how to feed his multi-generational fanbase. He doesn’t shy away from straightforward lyrics — or having a large appetite for nefarious activities — and he has continued to make seasoned slaps for precisely 225,000 hours and counting (“get a calculator, do the math”). This OG’s plate of choice includes classic soul food staples served with a slab of steak. As the veteran unmistakably outlines on “This How We Eat”: “We make money, we eat, we feed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956087\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956087\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Larry June in an SF Giants cap, holding a crab cracker in one hand and a fork in the other. In front of him is a whole lobster on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/LARRY-JUNE-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besides establishing himself as the healthiest rapper in Bay Area lore, Larry June is also known for sporting vintage muscle cars and cracking lobsters in Sausalito as part of his luxurious lifestyle. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Larry June: Crab legs on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luIhlZBrJos\">Lifetime Income\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“This not my girlfriend, we just eatin’ crab legs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you know Larry June, then you know he’s all about smoothies, green teas, organic juices and oranges (yee hee!). But just as buttery are his numerously silky references to luxury meals and late-night outings with a seemingly endless rotation of women friends. Without question, the Hunters Point rapper has one of the healthiest appetites of anyone around a microphone, regularly dropping rhymes about his organic sustenance. Since Uncle Larry makes a living off his out-of-pocket food references, he merits an honorable mention for dropping other absolute bangers like “I might write a motherfuckin’ smoothie book or somethin’ … Sell this shit for thirty dollars” and “Watermelon juice riding bikes with my latest chick / I don’t do the clubs that often, I got a check to get.” It’s fitting that \u003ca href=\"https://uproxx.com/music/larry-june-interview-san-francisco/\">he also co-owns Honeybear Boba in the Dogpatch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Iamsu!: Chicken strips and Moscato on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcxMU3uvLg\">Don’t Stop\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Keep it real I don’t brag though… / Chicken strips, no escargot / [sippin’] on the Moscato.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, this lyric is from a young, mixtape-era Iamsu! and might not reflect the current palate of the multi-platinum rapper and producer from Richmond. (In fact, that’s probably true of every rapper on this list, so take these lyrics with a grain of salt.) But when I first heard this song in my 20s, it’s a line that did — and still does — resonate for its unglamorized celebration of living on a low-budget microwaveable diet while maintaining a glimmer of high-life ambition. Personally, I’d take chicken strips over escargot nine out of ten times. And, from the sound of it, so would Suzy 6 Speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956086\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956086\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"The rapper P-Lo wiggles his fingers in delight over a plate of chicken wings sitting on a bed of dollar bills.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/PLO-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">P-Lo often raps about his love of chicken (chicken adobo, fried chicken, chicken wings), and his favorite food-related slang word is also “chicken” (as a stand in for “money”). \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>P-Lo: Chicken wings in the strip club on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ajtPhAQ1U\">Going To Work\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“In the strip club eating chicken wings.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13938479","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>There may not be another rapper on this list with as much love for chicken wings as Pinole’s P-Lo. For starters, the lyricist and producer launched a transnational food tour, teaming up with Filipino restaurants around the U.S. and Canada to deliver collaborative one-off dishes, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935891/p-lo-senor-sisig-filipino-food-tour-oakland\">his own spicy sinigang wings at Señor Sisig in Oakland\u003c/a>. If that’s not enough, he has popped up on popular social media channels like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodz/?hl=en\">Bay Area Foodz\u003c/a> as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJYkVcpM6E0\">he searches for the best wings around the Yay\u003c/a>. His songs are even featured on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwyzdhfrNCE/\">national commercials for Wingstop\u003c/a>. For P-Lo, it’s always time to bring back the bass — and taste.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Guap (formerly Guapdad 4000): Chicken adobo on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DaovaJgytE\">Chicken Adobo\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“How I fell in love with you it was beautiful / Like chicken adobo how you fill me up.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Black Filipino American rapper from West Oakland, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">food has always played a central role in his upbringing\u003c/a>. The anime-loving, Marvel comics fan grew up in a Filipino household eating champorado, and his songs have never shied away from references to his dual cultures. In what might be his most well-known song, Guap equates romantic satiation to filling up on a bowl of chicken adobo. His love of food goes beyond the booth — he recently spoke out on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950363/keith-lee-tiktok-oakland-sf-bay-area-struggles\">the recent Keith Lee fiasco\u003c/a>, and he also put together\u003ca href=\"https://trippin.world/guide/oaklands-top-food-joints-with-rapper-guapdad-4000\"> a map of his favorite places to eat around The Town\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cellski: Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar cheese on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6wFRZOd7n8\">Chedda\u003c/a>”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Gotta get the cheddar, fuck the [federals].”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As most food mentions in Bay Area rap goes, Cellski’s mention of this quintessentially North American breakfast combo isn’t exactly a homage to the real ingredients, as much as it is a reference to his hustling. His 1998 \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/841568-Cellski-Canadian-Bacon-Hash-Browns/image/SW1hZ2U6NDg3ODMxNzk=\">album cover\u003c/a> for \u003ci>Canadian Bacon & Hash Browns \u003c/i>features a cartoon depiction of the rapper getting pulled over and arrested by a Canadian mountie, with an open trunk revealing pounds of medicinal herbs. Nonetheless, there’s a good chance that the veteran San Francisco spitter actually does like to carry Canadian bacon, hash browns and cheddar around — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922141/cellskis-big-mafi-burgers-come-with-a-side-of-sf-rap-history\">he’s a part-time foodie who runs his own burger pop-up, after all\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13956089\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13956089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the rapper Dru Down in gold sunglasses and a black trench coat, holding an ice cream cone in one hand and an ice cream sundae on the table in front of him.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/DRU-DOWN-Color-1-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a famous 1996 beef, Dru Down and the Luniz accused New Orleans rapper Master P (who started his musical career in the Bay Area) for stealing their concept of the “Ice Cream Man” — slang for a narcotics dealer. \u003ccite>(Torre / @torre.pentel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dru Down: Ice cream on “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNv2qAje-Q\">Ice Cream Man\u003c/a>” (with the Luniz)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“Get your ice cream, ice cream / Not Ice-T, not Ice Cube, ice cream.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not intended for children, the classic 1993 anthem off Dru Down’s \u003ci>Fools From The Street \u003c/i>paints a startling picture of addiction and illicit drug distribution around Oakland in the wake of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs. Despite its unapologetic content, “Ice Cream Man” went on to establish an indisputably popular food motif in national rap music: ice cream as a stand-in for drug dealing. Since the production includes an audio sampling of an ice cream truck’s inimitable tune, listening to it evokes a sense of nostalgia for the frozen treat — and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">golden-era Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13955802/bay-area-rappers-food-lyrics-illustrations-e-40-larry-june","authors":["11748"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_12276","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_21883","arts_5397","arts_1601","arts_10278","arts_1297","arts_3771","arts_831","arts_21738","arts_1558","arts_9337","arts_1143","arts_1803","arts_1146","arts_19942","arts_19347","arts_3478","arts_3800"],"featImg":"arts_13956152","label":"source_arts_13955802"},"arts_13952260":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13952260","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13952260","score":null,"sort":[1707929631000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"turntablism-invisibl-skratch-piklz-legacy-impact","title":"Turntablism’s Mightiest Heroes: The Legacy, Impact and Aesthetics of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz","publishDate":1707929631,"format":"aside","headTitle":"Turntablism’s Mightiest Heroes: The Legacy, Impact and Aesthetics of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952272\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ cultural impact over the past 40 years has been felt around the globe. The crew is pictured here backstage in San Francisco in 2017. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s story series on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On an overcast November day in Oakland, DJ Shortkut – a member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz DJ crew – was the featured performer on a boat cruise, as part of the DMC World DJ Finals festivities. The weather didn’t get too rough during the two-hour tour, which meandered out to the Bay Bridge and back to port at Jack London Square. The worst was some mildly choppy squalls into fierce headwinds. Because this wasn’t your average boat cruise – its attendees mainly consisted of DJs from all over the world in town for the DMC battle – the ship’s crew circled around Treasure Island for a bit, instead of heading further out into the open sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The calmer waters allowed Shortkut, who had been playing a vibrant set of mostly classic midtempo hip-hop, to show off his mixing and scratching skills a bit. As the boat headed back toward its East Bay dock, Shortkut unleashed an impressive display of scratching skills that lasted for a good five minutes. As the boat neared its mooring, the DJ called his peers to the turntables. What followed was an unforgettable, and super-fun, display of global turntablism at its best, as each DJ in succession laid down a wicked scratch segment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a shaved head stands at a table as a screen behind them shows the images of several people.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut performs with Invisibl Skratch Piklz during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It seemed appropriate for Shortkut to be leading the activities. Once a battle entrant in the DMCs himself and understudy to fellow Piklz Qbert, Apollo, and Mix Master Mike, Shortkut has become an accomplished master in his own right – most recently playing an opening set on LL Cool J’s star-studded Hip Hop 50 tour. The message to the younger DJs on the boat was clear: keep developing your skills and be a balanced DJ who can rise to any occasion – scratching and beat-juggling skills are nice, but rocking a party with impeccable selection while displaying your skills is even better.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Perfecting – and Teaching – the Art\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz first rose to prominence during the ’90s, winning multiple world DJ battle titles as a crew and individually while displaying innovative new techniques that elevated turntablism to unprecedented heights. After revolutionizing the artform and birthing scratch music as a genre, by the decade’s end, they had left an indelible mark on DJ culture and furthered its global reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952265\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Japan in 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Christie Zee, the organizer for 2023’s DMC World Battle, held in San Francisco, has worked off and on for the London-based organization since 1998. She first became aware of the Piklz from an old boyfriend’s copy of DJ Qbert’s \u003cem>Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik\u003c/em> mixtape – “It just had so much scratching and it was so fun,” she says. She recalls meeting the crew for the first time in 1999, at the DMC World Finals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really delicate, really careful about (saying) \u003cem>pioneer\u003c/em> versus \u003cem>legend\u003c/em>, but I do think they were pioneering, because of things they’ve innovated and presented and invented,” she says. “They didn’t invent the scratch, but they just progressed the hell out of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously they have titles under their belts,” says Rob Swift, a founding member of the X-Men/X-Ecutioners, the New York turntablists who famously battled the Piklz in 1996. “But for me, I would say their most pivotal contribution to DJing is teaching the art. Before the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, nobody was teaching. DJing was a secret art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952266\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952266\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-1020x691.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-1536x1041.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz with Japanese fans, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Swift – who’s been teaching a DJ course at the New School for Liberal Arts in New York since 2014 – speaks from experience. Within months of Qbert developing the crab scratch, Swift was using the technique in battles. He cites the instructional \u003cem>Turntable TV\u003c/em> series of video tutorials as not only an inspiration for the X-Men, but also for other DJs and even corporate entities. As a result, more people started DJing and the culture grew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before the Piklz, all of us had our own personal terminology for DJing. But the Piklz started (creating) terms that globally started to become accepted and become the consensus terms… Q started giving individual techniques specific names. In doing so, it made the art teachable, because you can’t teach someone by saying, yo, make it go \u003cem>wigga wigga wigga wigga\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now these guys are selling videos to kids in Japan, kids in Canada, kids across the country, kids in Europe that had no clue how to do this shit… Myself, (Roc) Raida, Mista Sinista, (Total) Eclipse, we were inspired by Q, and we started teaching how to juggle, and we made videotapes just like them.” Without the Picklz, he says, there wouldn’t be “the ripple effects of what we see now, of all these DJ schools, all of these people teaching on YouTube, all these online tutorials, all these companies designing gear with all these effects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1156\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-1020x670.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-1536x1009.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at Vestax headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to preview their signature mixer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Signature Models and Scratch Technique\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz also served as consultants to audio companies like Vestax and Ortofon to develop ISP-branded mixers and needles; more recently, Shortkut served as a brand ambassador for Serato’s vinyl emulation software. In a 2022 video tutorial for \u003cem>Wired\u003c/em>, the master turntablist demonstrates 15 levels of scratching, from the basic “baby scratch” to complex combos, rhythm and drum scratches, and the beat-juggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Shortkut, beat-juggling is “live manual remixing, basically, with two turntables and a mixer” utilizing two copies of the same record, or two different records. When done properly, the technique creates an entirely new beat using existing sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike estimates that he and Qbert have named hundreds of specific scratches. Among his original contributions is the “Tweaker,” which was developed accidentally, due to a power outage. “When you cut a turntable off, the sound still comes out of it” when the needle is left on the record. “You got to manually move the belt with your hand, which (makes) a totally way-out, dragging sound from the record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952268\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1186\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952268\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz, mid-routine in Seattle, 1994. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In live shows, Mike deploys an arsenal of sound banks with trees of various audio samples for different instruments. He often improvises his sets – rarely playing the same scratch solo twice. With all the scratches he’s invented, “If I’m performing live, it’s all about if I can remember it on the spot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert’s most ubiquitous scratch may be the crab, which uses the crossfader to chop the audio signal, similar to the transformer scratch. Unlike the transformer – performed with just thumb and forefinger – the crab utilizes a rapid tapping motion with the other three fingers, resulting in finer chops, like a triplet of 1/16th notes instead of quarter-notes. The crab can then be combined with other techniques like the stab, the tear, or the orbit to create an infinite number of scratch patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Q says the crab has nothing to do with crustaceans, actually. It was originally called the crepe, based off a food order he’d made in Lebanon. Except no one could pronounce the rolled r’s of a Lebanese accent correctly. Among the other scratches he’s named personally, “there’s like the hydro, the laser, the phaser, the swipe, oh man, let’s see, there’s the clover tear, the prism scratch. … there’s so many.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952274\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 749px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952274\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"749\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad.jpg 749w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad-160x205.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Vestax advertisement for the Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ signature mixer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>100mph Backsliding Turkey Kuts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz began developing tools for DJs with the original \u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em> vinyl record, which resampled various sound effects and verbal phrases, making them more scratch-friendly and accessible. Their imprint Dirt Style has released dozens of such records over the decades with names like \u003cem>Bionic Booger Breaks\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Buttcrack Breaks\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Scratch Fetishes of the Third Kind\u003c/em>. These records are sometimes credited to DJ Qbert, DJ Flare or Mix Master Mike, and sometimes credited to aliases like the Psychedelic Scratch Bastards, The Wax Fondler and Darth Fader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em> led to another innovation: the \u003cem>Scratchy Seal\u003c/em> series of skipless records. As Qbert explains, there’s a science behind this. “If you look at the turntable, it spins at 33 ⅓ — 33.33333 (revolutions) per minute. If you just make the BPM of the sound effect 33-point-dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee, the magic number, it’s all going to be repetitive. No matter where the needle jumps, it’s going to land on the same sound again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952264\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qbert and Mix Master Mike backstage at the 2023 DMC championships in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>How\u003c/em> the Piklz scratched also made a difference. According to crew member D-Styles, prior to the Piklz, “a lot of the scratch styles were straight ahead. It was very on the beat. ” He likens the Piklz’ approach to Bird and Dizzy’s excursions in the bebop era – “being ahead of the beat, or behind the beat, being more free with it, not so (much) in the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there were other DJ crews before the Piklz, Swift says, the idea of a turntable orchestra was uncharted territory. “One guy would take a horn hit, another guy would take drums, the other guy would take vocals. Nobody was doing that before the Piklz.” This became a common practice, and led to the introduction of team routines in major battles. Qbert remarks that he and the other Piklz have been doing synchronized routines for so long, the communication between them has become telepathic. “It’s just kind of like walking in step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1173\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952269\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qbert onstage with guitarist Buckethead at the Jazznojazz Festival in Zurich, 1995. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another advancement was the first all-scratching record, i.e. a musical composition consisting entirely of scratched sounds. The scratch music trend resulted in a slew of solo releases — many of them on the now-defunct Bomb Hip Hop label – as well as group albums from the X-Ecutioners, The Allies, and Birdy Nam Nam, and one-offs like El Stew, an alternative supergroup featuring guitarist Buckethead, ISP alumni DJ Disk and producer Eddie Def. After turntablism’s initial wave died down in the early 2000s, the Piklz continued to develop the genre, which Shortkut says has become its own culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a niche market,” Qbert says. “But I’m totally immersed in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952275\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at a Red Bull event. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s Just Some Human Shit, and It’s a Beautiful Thing’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On his solo albums, Qbert has frequently explored sci-fi themes, beginning with 1998’s \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em>, and continuing with 2014’s \u003cem>Extraterrestria\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Galaxxxian\u003c/em>, 2020’s \u003cem>Origins (Wave Twisters 0)\u003c/em>, and 2022’s \u003cem>Next Cosmos\u003c/em>. He’s imagined what scratch music from across the galaxy might sound like, evoking starships navigating irradiated asteroid belts, alien creatures scurrying across cratered landscapes, and underwater temples emanating immemorial chants over percussive beats, while turning Rakim and Too Short phrases into Zen mantras. He’s done all this by embracing the musical possibilities of the turntable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On what other equipment could you make the sounds go backwards and forwards and just do all these weird things with it? You know, with your hands,” he says. Unlike pressing buttons on a computer, “this is like fucking connected to your soul. It’s not like AI can do it. It’s just some human shit, and it’s a beautiful thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike served as the official DJ for the Beastie Boys from 1998 up until 2012, later joined Cypress Hill, and has toured with arena rock giants Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses, and Godsmack, playing to crowds of up to 50,000. His solo catalog has expanded the turntablism field into new arenas – literally. “I’ve always targeted the rock audience,” Mike says. “I’m not just hip-hop. I’m everything around it. The greatness is having to conquer uncharted territories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like to remain mysterious in that sense as far as being a mysterious artist and being unpredictable. I’m the risk taker, right? It’s therapeutic for me at this point, but it’s like I’m just taking it as a mission because nobody’s doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952267\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This philosophy extends from live shows to recordings. “Growing up, I was always listening to soundtrack music. Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone.” His goal in making records is to capture a cinematic sense, to make “a soundtrack that can live forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His newest release, 2023’s \u003cem>Opus X Magnum\u003c/em>, is a headphone album with arena sensibilities. Or vice-versa. There’s lots of subtle instrumental and sound effect-y passages, along with chest-pumping drums and serpentine basslines. The quieter moments are few, but precious. MMM’s Pikl heritage is evident in the way horns, keyboards and vocal phrases are scratched vicariously, resulting in twisty turns that keep your ears guessing what’s next. To the artist’s credit, \u003cem>Opus\u003c/em> does sound epically cinematic throughout, its constantly changing moods and textures suggesting perpetual motion and a full dose of adrenaline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D-Styles’ two solo albums, released 17 years apart, illustrate his artistic growth. 2002’s \u003cem>Phantazmagorea\u003c/em> delves into dark themes, with vocal phrases seemingly selected for shock value, along with recognizable scratched snippets from KRS-One and Stetsasonic. 2019’s \u003cem>Noises In the Right Order\u003c/em> – inspired by a residency at Low End Theory, a club night frequented by lo-fi producers – recalls DJ Shadow’s \u003cem>Endtroducing\u003c/em> and the trip-hop era, while still using found vocals as documentary. D-Styles says \u003cem>Noises\u003c/em> was about being “more musical and less technical.” There’s plenty of scratching, but the emphasis is on overall composition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 597px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952271\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016.jpg 597w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016-160x136.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at Hiero Day 2016 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Being a turntable composer, D-Styles maintains, means using scratching’s vocabulary as a musical language. “You look at it like an alphabet. You got chirps, you got flares, you got crabs, you got autobahns, you got Stewie’s, and all of that stuff. You can add swing to it, you could be ahead of the beat. Behind the beat. You can accent. There’s so much that goes into putting these combinations together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Many Styles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Apollo and Shortkut, meanwhile, joined forces with former ITF World Champion Vin Roc in 1999 to form Triple Threat, a DJ crew whose mission was to integrate turntablism into party-rocking live sets. “Just coming up as turntablists, we kind of like, created little monsters everywhere,” Apollo says. “All they would do is scratch in their bedrooms.” There’s more to DJing, he says, than just doing tricks and scratching and juggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Triple Threat released a well-received 2003 album, \u003cem>Many Styles\u003c/em>, which blended turntablist-oriented tracks with emcee features from Planet Asia, Black Thought, Souls of Mischief and Zion-I. The trio toured the United States and Asia regularly, and remained active up until the late 2010s. Apollo – who judged the DMC World Finals last year – still identifies as a Pikl, and says his focus nowadays is on upgrading his studio and reestablishing himself as a producer; he hopes to contribute some tracks to future ISP albums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1920\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952276\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut, at right, on the F.O.R.C.E. Tour with (L–R) DJ Z-Trip, LL Cool J and DJ Jazzy Jeff. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shortkut’s recorded output mainly consists of DJ mixtapes covering a wide variety of genres, but he did produce 2012’s “Twelve,” a funky, fun track with “Sesame Street”-esque vocal samples, for the Beat Junkies 45 Series, as well as 2017’s “Mini-Wheels,” a 7-inch single for Thud Rumble, and “Short Rugs,” a limited-edition slipmat designed for 45 rpm records and a 7-inch record with three skipless vinyl scratch tracks. He’s been an occasional headliner at DJ Platurn’s 45 Sessions party; playing all-vinyl sets, he says, helps him maintain his sanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a lengthy break following 2000’s “final” performance, Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles officially reformed as ISP for 2015’s \u003cem>The 13th Floor\u003c/em>, their first full-length release. “This was the first time as a scratch artist that I’ve felt able to do shows with the Piklz where people know the songs,” Shortkut says. The album’s moods range from dark to soulful to jazzy, and were intended to be templates for live performances that typically involve improvised scratch soloing over a structured song with defined instrumental parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952273\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952273\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Japan, making their ’13th Floor’ album in 2015. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of \u003cem>The 13th Floor\u003c/em>’s compositional elements were developed by D-Styles, who went on to become an online instructor at the Beat Junkies Institute of Sound in 2019. He notes the Piklz are more than halfway through their next, as-yet-untitled album — several tracks from which they previewed live during their recent DMC showcase in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My strength is, I’m always in the studio,” says D-Styles. “I always have these ideas, these sketches that I’ll try at home by myself. But I always have parts in mind, so if i have drums, I’ll be like, this is perfect for Shortkut. And then I have these keyboards, you know, these notes. So I’ll carry that side. And then I’ll give Q this (vocal) phrase. And I know he’ll know what to do with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Aesthetics That ‘Vibrate a Certain Way’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Qbert maintains he’s still a student, trying to learn new things after all these years. He keeps pushing himself to new levels because he doesn’t want to repeat what he’s already done. “You got to come unique and original, or else it’s like, fucking wack. Or it’s, \u003cem>ah… he did the same shit last time\u003c/em>, you know? I don’t want to hear that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1811px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1811\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952294\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_.jpg 1811w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-1020x338.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-1536x509.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1811px) 100vw, 1811px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sample of Qbert’s visual aesthetic from three full-length albums: ‘Extraterrestria,’ ‘Origins Wave Twisters 0,’ and ‘Next Cosmos in 5D.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most sublime aspect of the Piklz legacy may be their aesthetic, best described as part kung-fu, part sci-fi, part zany humor, yet firmly grounded in DJ culture and hip-hop expression. This is reflected in Mike and Q’s outsize personalities. “Those two in particular are very much outside of this Earth,” says Christie Z, noting that Mike’s custom Serato vinyl is covered in Zectarian language. (In 2017, Qbert joined Mike for a duo performance of MMM’s alienesque single “Channel Zecktar” live at the NAMM showcase.) Artists are sometimes kooky, she says, but she’s used to it by now. “That’s what they do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Mike sees himself as a glowing, ultramagnetic, cosmic antenna. “I would say, you know, my brain is like a super cerebral satellite dish that I’m just logging into the channels in my mind, and I call it the access to the interstellar network, my own interstellar network that’s going on in my head.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Qbert, “nowadays I work off of karma,” he says. Though he’s consulted for audio companies before, when he’s asked for input, he doesn’t insist on contractual agreements. “I’ll give you the honest truth.” If a mixer could be sleeker and more ergonomic, he’ll say so. He feels equipment makers could be more visionary and futuristic with their products. “They could put chromatherapy in these things, you know, they vibrate a certain way to make it heal you as a human.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all of Qbert’s zany sense of humor and embracing of otherworldliness, he’s remarkably down to earth at times. That is to say, his ideology isn’t illogical at all – just advanced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With any art, if you’re deep into it, you’re already touching infinity,” he says. “So you could do so many things in it that you haven’t done. And there’s freakin’ a bag of infinity left — that is never-ending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Skratch Piklz' innovations in scratch technique, education and battle tools have impacted the globe. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1708071864,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":46,"wordCount":3685},"headData":{"title":"Turntablism’s Mightiest Heroes: The Legacy, Impact and Aesthetics of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz | KQED","description":"The Skratch Piklz' innovations in scratch technique, education and battle tools have impacted the globe. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Turntablism’s Mightiest Heroes: The Legacy, Impact and Aesthetics of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz","datePublished":"2024-02-14T16:53:51.000Z","dateModified":"2024-02-16T08:24:24.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"That's My Word","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13952260/turntablism-invisibl-skratch-piklz-legacy-impact","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952272\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952272\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-backstage-in-SF-2017-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ cultural impact over the past 40 years has been felt around the globe. The crew is pictured here backstage in San Francisco in 2017. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s story series on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On an overcast November day in Oakland, DJ Shortkut – a member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz DJ crew – was the featured performer on a boat cruise, as part of the DMC World DJ Finals festivities. The weather didn’t get too rough during the two-hour tour, which meandered out to the Bay Bridge and back to port at Jack London Square. The worst was some mildly choppy squalls into fierce headwinds. Because this wasn’t your average boat cruise – its attendees mainly consisted of DJs from all over the world in town for the DMC battle – the ship’s crew circled around Treasure Island for a bit, instead of heading further out into the open sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The calmer waters allowed Shortkut, who had been playing a vibrant set of mostly classic midtempo hip-hop, to show off his mixing and scratching skills a bit. As the boat headed back toward its East Bay dock, Shortkut unleashed an impressive display of scratching skills that lasted for a good five minutes. As the boat neared its mooring, the DJ called his peers to the turntables. What followed was an unforgettable, and super-fun, display of global turntablism at its best, as each DJ in succession laid down a wicked scratch segment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a shaved head stands at a table as a screen behind them shows the images of several people.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut performs with Invisibl Skratch Piklz during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It seemed appropriate for Shortkut to be leading the activities. Once a battle entrant in the DMCs himself and understudy to fellow Piklz Qbert, Apollo, and Mix Master Mike, Shortkut has become an accomplished master in his own right – most recently playing an opening set on LL Cool J’s star-studded Hip Hop 50 tour. The message to the younger DJs on the boat was clear: keep developing your skills and be a balanced DJ who can rise to any occasion – scratching and beat-juggling skills are nice, but rocking a party with impeccable selection while displaying your skills is even better.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Perfecting – and Teaching – the Art\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz first rose to prominence during the ’90s, winning multiple world DJ battle titles as a crew and individually while displaying innovative new techniques that elevated turntablism to unprecedented heights. After revolutionizing the artform and birthing scratch music as a genre, by the decade’s end, they had left an indelible mark on DJ culture and furthered its global reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952265\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.decks_.93-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Japan in 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Christie Zee, the organizer for 2023’s DMC World Battle, held in San Francisco, has worked off and on for the London-based organization since 1998. She first became aware of the Piklz from an old boyfriend’s copy of DJ Qbert’s \u003cem>Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik\u003c/em> mixtape – “It just had so much scratching and it was so fun,” she says. She recalls meeting the crew for the first time in 1999, at the DMC World Finals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really delicate, really careful about (saying) \u003cem>pioneer\u003c/em> versus \u003cem>legend\u003c/em>, but I do think they were pioneering, because of things they’ve innovated and presented and invented,” she says. “They didn’t invent the scratch, but they just progressed the hell out of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously they have titles under their belts,” says Rob Swift, a founding member of the X-Men/X-Ecutioners, the New York turntablists who famously battled the Piklz in 1996. “But for me, I would say their most pivotal contribution to DJing is teaching the art. Before the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, nobody was teaching. DJing was a secret art.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952266\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952266\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-1020x691.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan2_-1536x1041.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz with Japanese fans, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Swift – who’s been teaching a DJ course at the New School for Liberal Arts in New York since 2014 – speaks from experience. Within months of Qbert developing the crab scratch, Swift was using the technique in battles. He cites the instructional \u003cem>Turntable TV\u003c/em> series of video tutorials as not only an inspiration for the X-Men, but also for other DJs and even corporate entities. As a result, more people started DJing and the culture grew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before the Piklz, all of us had our own personal terminology for DJing. But the Piklz started (creating) terms that globally started to become accepted and become the consensus terms… Q started giving individual techniques specific names. In doing so, it made the art teachable, because you can’t teach someone by saying, yo, make it go \u003cem>wigga wigga wigga wigga\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now these guys are selling videos to kids in Japan, kids in Canada, kids across the country, kids in Europe that had no clue how to do this shit… Myself, (Roc) Raida, Mista Sinista, (Total) Eclipse, we were inspired by Q, and we started teaching how to juggle, and we made videotapes just like them.” Without the Picklz, he says, there wouldn’t be “the ripple effects of what we see now, of all these DJ schools, all of these people teaching on YouTube, all these online tutorials, all these companies designing gear with all these effects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952270\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952270\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1156\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-1020x670.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Japan_.vestax-1536x1009.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at Vestax headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to preview their signature mixer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Signature Models and Scratch Technique\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz also served as consultants to audio companies like Vestax and Ortofon to develop ISP-branded mixers and needles; more recently, Shortkut served as a brand ambassador for Serato’s vinyl emulation software. In a 2022 video tutorial for \u003cem>Wired\u003c/em>, the master turntablist demonstrates 15 levels of scratching, from the basic “baby scratch” to complex combos, rhythm and drum scratches, and the beat-juggle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Shortkut, beat-juggling is “live manual remixing, basically, with two turntables and a mixer” utilizing two copies of the same record, or two different records. When done properly, the technique creates an entirely new beat using existing sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike estimates that he and Qbert have named hundreds of specific scratches. Among his original contributions is the “Tweaker,” which was developed accidentally, due to a power outage. “When you cut a turntable off, the sound still comes out of it” when the needle is left on the record. “You got to manually move the belt with your hand, which (makes) a totally way-out, dragging sound from the record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952268\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1186\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952268\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.3fromsideshortkut-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz, mid-routine in Seattle, 1994. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In live shows, Mike deploys an arsenal of sound banks with trees of various audio samples for different instruments. He often improvises his sets – rarely playing the same scratch solo twice. With all the scratches he’s invented, “If I’m performing live, it’s all about if I can remember it on the spot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert’s most ubiquitous scratch may be the crab, which uses the crossfader to chop the audio signal, similar to the transformer scratch. Unlike the transformer – performed with just thumb and forefinger – the crab utilizes a rapid tapping motion with the other three fingers, resulting in finer chops, like a triplet of 1/16th notes instead of quarter-notes. The crab can then be combined with other techniques like the stab, the tear, or the orbit to create an infinite number of scratch patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Q says the crab has nothing to do with crustaceans, actually. It was originally called the crepe, based off a food order he’d made in Lebanon. Except no one could pronounce the rolled r’s of a Lebanese accent correctly. Among the other scratches he’s named personally, “there’s like the hydro, the laser, the phaser, the swipe, oh man, let’s see, there’s the clover tear, the prism scratch. … there’s so many.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952274\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 749px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952274\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"749\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad.jpg 749w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/1996-Vestax-ISP-ad-160x205.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Vestax advertisement for the Invisibl Skratch Piklz’ signature mixer. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>100mph Backsliding Turkey Kuts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Piklz began developing tools for DJs with the original \u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em> vinyl record, which resampled various sound effects and verbal phrases, making them more scratch-friendly and accessible. Their imprint Dirt Style has released dozens of such records over the decades with names like \u003cem>Bionic Booger Breaks\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Buttcrack Breaks\u003c/em>, or \u003cem>Scratch Fetishes of the Third Kind\u003c/em>. These records are sometimes credited to DJ Qbert, DJ Flare or Mix Master Mike, and sometimes credited to aliases like the Psychedelic Scratch Bastards, The Wax Fondler and Darth Fader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em> led to another innovation: the \u003cem>Scratchy Seal\u003c/em> series of skipless records. As Qbert explains, there’s a science behind this. “If you look at the turntable, it spins at 33 ⅓ — 33.33333 (revolutions) per minute. If you just make the BPM of the sound effect 33-point-dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee, the magic number, it’s all going to be repetitive. No matter where the needle jumps, it’s going to land on the same sound again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952264\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_MMM_best_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qbert and Mix Master Mike backstage at the 2023 DMC championships in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>How\u003c/em> the Piklz scratched also made a difference. According to crew member D-Styles, prior to the Piklz, “a lot of the scratch styles were straight ahead. It was very on the beat. ” He likens the Piklz’ approach to Bird and Dizzy’s excursions in the bebop era – “being ahead of the beat, or behind the beat, being more free with it, not so (much) in the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there were other DJ crews before the Piklz, Swift says, the idea of a turntable orchestra was uncharted territory. “One guy would take a horn hit, another guy would take drums, the other guy would take vocals. Nobody was doing that before the Piklz.” This became a common practice, and led to the introduction of team routines in major battles. Qbert remarks that he and the other Piklz have been doing synchronized routines for so long, the communication between them has become telepathic. “It’s just kind of like walking in step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1173\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952269\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.buckethead-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qbert onstage with guitarist Buckethead at the Jazznojazz Festival in Zurich, 1995. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another advancement was the first all-scratching record, i.e. a musical composition consisting entirely of scratched sounds. The scratch music trend resulted in a slew of solo releases — many of them on the now-defunct Bomb Hip Hop label – as well as group albums from the X-Ecutioners, The Allies, and Birdy Nam Nam, and one-offs like El Stew, an alternative supergroup featuring guitarist Buckethead, ISP alumni DJ Disk and producer Eddie Def. After turntablism’s initial wave died down in the early 2000s, the Piklz continued to develop the genre, which Shortkut says has become its own culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a niche market,” Qbert says. “But I’m totally immersed in it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952275\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/IMG_2459-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at a Red Bull event. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s Just Some Human Shit, and It’s a Beautiful Thing’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On his solo albums, Qbert has frequently explored sci-fi themes, beginning with 1998’s \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em>, and continuing with 2014’s \u003cem>Extraterrestria\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Galaxxxian\u003c/em>, 2020’s \u003cem>Origins (Wave Twisters 0)\u003c/em>, and 2022’s \u003cem>Next Cosmos\u003c/em>. He’s imagined what scratch music from across the galaxy might sound like, evoking starships navigating irradiated asteroid belts, alien creatures scurrying across cratered landscapes, and underwater temples emanating immemorial chants over percussive beats, while turning Rakim and Too Short phrases into Zen mantras. He’s done all this by embracing the musical possibilities of the turntable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On what other equipment could you make the sounds go backwards and forwards and just do all these weird things with it? You know, with your hands,” he says. Unlike pressing buttons on a computer, “this is like fucking connected to your soul. It’s not like AI can do it. It’s just some human shit, and it’s a beautiful thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike served as the official DJ for the Beastie Boys from 1998 up until 2012, later joined Cypress Hill, and has toured with arena rock giants Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses, and Godsmack, playing to crowds of up to 50,000. His solo catalog has expanded the turntablism field into new arenas – literally. “I’ve always targeted the rock audience,” Mike says. “I’m not just hip-hop. I’m everything around it. The greatness is having to conquer uncharted territories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like to remain mysterious in that sense as far as being a mysterious artist and being unpredictable. I’m the risk taker, right? It’s therapeutic for me at this point, but it’s like I’m just taking it as a mission because nobody’s doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952267\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMMonthedecks-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This philosophy extends from live shows to recordings. “Growing up, I was always listening to soundtrack music. Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone.” His goal in making records is to capture a cinematic sense, to make “a soundtrack that can live forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His newest release, 2023’s \u003cem>Opus X Magnum\u003c/em>, is a headphone album with arena sensibilities. Or vice-versa. There’s lots of subtle instrumental and sound effect-y passages, along with chest-pumping drums and serpentine basslines. The quieter moments are few, but precious. MMM’s Pikl heritage is evident in the way horns, keyboards and vocal phrases are scratched vicariously, resulting in twisty turns that keep your ears guessing what’s next. To the artist’s credit, \u003cem>Opus\u003c/em> does sound epically cinematic throughout, its constantly changing moods and textures suggesting perpetual motion and a full dose of adrenaline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D-Styles’ two solo albums, released 17 years apart, illustrate his artistic growth. 2002’s \u003cem>Phantazmagorea\u003c/em> delves into dark themes, with vocal phrases seemingly selected for shock value, along with recognizable scratched snippets from KRS-One and Stetsasonic. 2019’s \u003cem>Noises In the Right Order\u003c/em> – inspired by a residency at Low End Theory, a club night frequented by lo-fi producers – recalls DJ Shadow’s \u003cem>Endtroducing\u003c/em> and the trip-hop era, while still using found vocals as documentary. D-Styles says \u003cem>Noises\u003c/em> was about being “more musical and less technical.” There’s plenty of scratching, but the emphasis is on overall composition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952271\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 597px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952271\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016.jpg 597w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-at-HEIRO-DAY-2016-160x136.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at Hiero Day 2016 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Being a turntable composer, D-Styles maintains, means using scratching’s vocabulary as a musical language. “You look at it like an alphabet. You got chirps, you got flares, you got crabs, you got autobahns, you got Stewie’s, and all of that stuff. You can add swing to it, you could be ahead of the beat. Behind the beat. You can accent. There’s so much that goes into putting these combinations together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Many Styles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Apollo and Shortkut, meanwhile, joined forces with former ITF World Champion Vin Roc in 1999 to form Triple Threat, a DJ crew whose mission was to integrate turntablism into party-rocking live sets. “Just coming up as turntablists, we kind of like, created little monsters everywhere,” Apollo says. “All they would do is scratch in their bedrooms.” There’s more to DJing, he says, than just doing tricks and scratching and juggling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Triple Threat released a well-received 2003 album, \u003cem>Many Styles\u003c/em>, which blended turntablist-oriented tracks with emcee features from Planet Asia, Black Thought, Souls of Mischief and Zion-I. The trio toured the United States and Asia regularly, and remained active up until the late 2010s. Apollo – who judged the DMC World Finals last year – still identifies as a Pikl, and says his focus nowadays is on upgrading his studio and reestablishing himself as a producer; he hopes to contribute some tracks to future ISP albums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1920\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952276\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/LLCoolJ.Ztrip_.shortkut-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut, at right, on the F.O.R.C.E. Tour with (L–R) DJ Z-Trip, LL Cool J and DJ Jazzy Jeff. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shortkut’s recorded output mainly consists of DJ mixtapes covering a wide variety of genres, but he did produce 2012’s “Twelve,” a funky, fun track with “Sesame Street”-esque vocal samples, for the Beat Junkies 45 Series, as well as 2017’s “Mini-Wheels,” a 7-inch single for Thud Rumble, and “Short Rugs,” a limited-edition slipmat designed for 45 rpm records and a 7-inch record with three skipless vinyl scratch tracks. He’s been an occasional headliner at DJ Platurn’s 45 Sessions party; playing all-vinyl sets, he says, helps him maintain his sanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a lengthy break following 2000’s “final” performance, Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles officially reformed as ISP for 2015’s \u003cem>The 13th Floor\u003c/em>, their first full-length release. “This was the first time as a scratch artist that I’ve felt able to do shows with the Piklz where people know the songs,” Shortkut says. The album’s moods range from dark to soulful to jazzy, and were intended to be templates for live performances that typically involve improvised scratch soloing over a structured song with defined instrumental parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952273\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952273\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-making-of-The-13th-Floor-album-Japan-2015-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Japan, making their ’13th Floor’ album in 2015. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of \u003cem>The 13th Floor\u003c/em>’s compositional elements were developed by D-Styles, who went on to become an online instructor at the Beat Junkies Institute of Sound in 2019. He notes the Piklz are more than halfway through their next, as-yet-untitled album — several tracks from which they previewed live during their recent DMC showcase in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My strength is, I’m always in the studio,” says D-Styles. “I always have these ideas, these sketches that I’ll try at home by myself. But I always have parts in mind, so if i have drums, I’ll be like, this is perfect for Shortkut. And then I have these keyboards, you know, these notes. So I’ll carry that side. And then I’ll give Q this (vocal) phrase. And I know he’ll know what to do with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Aesthetics That ‘Vibrate a Certain Way’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Qbert maintains he’s still a student, trying to learn new things after all these years. He keeps pushing himself to new levels because he doesn’t want to repeat what he’s already done. “You got to come unique and original, or else it’s like, fucking wack. Or it’s, \u003cem>ah… he did the same shit last time\u003c/em>, you know? I don’t want to hear that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1811px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1811\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952294\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_.jpg 1811w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-1020x338.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Qbert_.LPs_-1536x509.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1811px) 100vw, 1811px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sample of Qbert’s visual aesthetic from three full-length albums: ‘Extraterrestria,’ ‘Origins Wave Twisters 0,’ and ‘Next Cosmos in 5D.’\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most sublime aspect of the Piklz legacy may be their aesthetic, best described as part kung-fu, part sci-fi, part zany humor, yet firmly grounded in DJ culture and hip-hop expression. This is reflected in Mike and Q’s outsize personalities. “Those two in particular are very much outside of this Earth,” says Christie Z, noting that Mike’s custom Serato vinyl is covered in Zectarian language. (In 2017, Qbert joined Mike for a duo performance of MMM’s alienesque single “Channel Zecktar” live at the NAMM showcase.) Artists are sometimes kooky, she says, but she’s used to it by now. “That’s what they do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Mike sees himself as a glowing, ultramagnetic, cosmic antenna. “I would say, you know, my brain is like a super cerebral satellite dish that I’m just logging into the channels in my mind, and I call it the access to the interstellar network, my own interstellar network that’s going on in my head.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Qbert, “nowadays I work off of karma,” he says. Though he’s consulted for audio companies before, when he’s asked for input, he doesn’t insist on contractual agreements. “I’ll give you the honest truth.” If a mixer could be sleeker and more ergonomic, he’ll say so. He feels equipment makers could be more visionary and futuristic with their products. “They could put chromatherapy in these things, you know, they vibrate a certain way to make it heal you as a human.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all of Qbert’s zany sense of humor and embracing of otherworldliness, he’s remarkably down to earth at times. That is to say, his ideology isn’t illogical at all – just advanced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With any art, if you’re deep into it, you’re already touching infinity,” he says. “So you could do so many things in it that you haven’t done. And there’s freakin’ a bag of infinity left — that is never-ending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13952260/turntablism-invisibl-skratch-piklz-legacy-impact","authors":["11839"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_2854","arts_21712","arts_2852","arts_17218","arts_21940","arts_1146","arts_19347","arts_21711"],"featImg":"arts_13952262","label":"source_arts_13952260"},"arts_13952208":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13952208","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13952208","score":null,"sort":[1707929580000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"invisibl-skratch-piklz-filipino-djs-daly-city-san-francisco-turntablism-history","title":"How The Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put San Francisco Turntablism on the DJ Map","publishDate":1707929580,"format":"standard","headTitle":"How The Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put San Francisco Turntablism on the DJ Map | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s story series on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday night in San Francisco, a couple thousand fans of DJ culture crammed into the cavernous main room of a nightclub in Hunters Point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside The Midway, it was elbow room-only from the stage to the back patio; many of those in the crowd were DJs themselves. The scene recalled the late ’90s-early 2000s glory days of the Bay Area, when turntablism seemed destined to become the Next Big Thing, and DJ nights dominated SF’s club scene. No one was there to dance; it wasn’t that kind of party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap stands at a table under fluorescent lighting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Qbert performs with Invisibl Skratch Piklz during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The occasion was the DMC World Championship DJ Battle Finals, with some of the best DJs in the world competing against each other. But there was another attraction too: live showcases by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and Mix Master Mike, the legendary DJs who transformed the Bay Area into a turntablist Mecca during a seminal era for local hip-hop. DMC event organizer Christie Zee put the proceedings into their proper context: “You can’t have a battle in the Bay without the Skratch Piklz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As midnight approached, the lights dimmed, and the Piklz – Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles – were announced to cheers that echoed throughout the high-ceilinged room. The Piklz opened with the 2015 ISP track “Fresh Out of FVCKs,” with its ominous electric organ melody that transitions into repeating melodic chords. A snare drum beat came in, followed by a rhythmically scratched snippet of a stuttering vocal phrase. The electric organ chords shifted into a chopped melody as the snare dropped out, then returned. And that’s all before the mind-bending scratch solos that followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Piklz proceeded to display their musicality, keeping their technical acumen within the groove pocket with synchronized timing. As is customary with the Piklz, each played the part of a specific instrumentalist: D-Styles as the keyboardist, Shortkut as the drummer, and Qbert as the scratch soloist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952244\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike at the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A live version of “Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts” – a song from D-Styles’ 2019 album \u003cem>Noises In the Right Order\u003c/em> – and several unreleased ISP songs showed that \u003ca href=\"https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/jazzglossary/g/ghost_note.html\">ghost notes\u003c/a> aren’t just associated with jazz music. The turntable trio used the spaces between to impart a sense of presence and feel, a minimalist approach that allowed their scratches, cuts and juggles to resonate with maximum impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would have been a hard act to follow for anyone but Mix Master Mike. The ISP co-founder, who’s been a solo artist since 1995 or so, has a gigantic stage presence and skills to match. A one-man musical blender, MMM unleashed a maelstrom of sonic fury, with bone-crunching drums, an entire range of musical and vocal phrases, and precise turntable cuts that deconstructed the individual pieces of a live performance — only to reconstruct all the fragments into an emotionally-thrilling pastiche. After his set, when Mike was celebrated with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the honor was clearly well-deserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Invisible Skratch Piklz were celebrating, too – 2023 marks their 30th anniversary – and it’s safe to say no Bay Area crew has done more to advance the DJ artform. Along with New York’s X-Ecutioners and LA’s Beat Junkies, ISP have defined the term turntablist, carving out a cultural niche that rests on a hip-hop foundation but exists in its own space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937759\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937759\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People stand in a crowd leaning on a barrier indoors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd watches finalists compete during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Piklz have counted many firsts. As hip-hop’s relationship with the DJ has flipped from essential to inconsequential, they’ve maintained the DJ tradition for future generations, and extended its global reach. Over the past four decades, they’ve gone from students of the scratch to wizened masters of turntable music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And like most cultural icons, their backstory is involved, multilayered and fascinating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1528px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1528\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_.jpg 1528w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-768x519.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1528px) 100vw, 1528px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A young Qbert at a community hall mobile DJ dance party. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Garage Party Era\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Invisibl Skratch Piklz story begins in what former ISP manager Alex Aquino calls the “pre-hip-hop era” of the late ’70s-early ’80s, when youth-oriented street dance intersected with pioneering mobile DJ crews and a Filipino-American tradition of garage parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was before breakdancing,” Aquino says. He recalls being 6 or 7 and seeing strutters, poppers and elements of DJ culture – including the Filipino mobile DJ crews who established a scene built around vinyl records, large stereo systems and frequent dance parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those Filipino DJs was Apollo Novicio, a.k.a. DJ Apollo, a founding member of ISP who spent his early childhood roaming around the Mission District. By the time he reached middle school, his family had relocated to Daly City – where he likely attended some of the same parties as Aquino. “Back in the day, they’d have garage parties and there would be a DJ in the corner of the garage, set up on a washing machine and dryer and stuff like that. And at the parties, they would have popping and locking circles. Strutting, popping and locking. Breakdancing wasn’t even here yet, really. This was, I’d say, early ’80s, and that was pretty much my first exposure to the DJing and dancing element of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1004px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1004\" height=\"674\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952292\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty.png 1004w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-800x537.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-768x516.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1004px) 100vw, 1004px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Setup for a typical mobile DJ party in the early 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1982, Aquino remembers, a New York transplant named Oscar Sop had introduced B-boying and fat laces to the neighborhood, becoming one of the Bay Area’s first breakdancers. Meanwhile, the DJ crews were becoming more professional, and getting hired for weddings, quinceaneras, traditional Filipino celebrations and the occasional school dance party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo recalls “doing the strutting, popping, locking thing before B-boying got here.” Back then, “I didn’t even know it was hip-hop. I was such a young age. I’m like, just doing it and like, later on find out, oh, this is a hip-hop culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to dancing being popular among Filipino youth, he remembers DJ groups proliferating at local high schools. “It was just kind of like the thing to do,” he says. “All the kids would form DJ groups.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know how to explain (why), but there was a lot of Filipino mobile disc jockey groups,” says DJ Apollo. ”Back in the seventies, my older brothers and sisters, they used to collect music and listen to music. Everybody had to go to the record store and buy vinyl.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952212\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1030px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952212\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1030\" height=\"778\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty.jpg 1030w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-768x580.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mobile DJ party in 1991. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dr. Oliver Wang, author of \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dukeupress.edu/legions-of-boom\">Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area\u003c/a>\u003c/em> and a professor of sociology at CSU Long Beach, explains that “the mobile DJ scene that the Piklz’ members got their start in wasn’t an exclusively Filipino phenomenon at all; there were Black, White, Latino and Chinese crews around then too. But the Fil-Am scene flourished above and beyond those other groups because they had distinct advantages coming from an immigrant community with strong social ties and large social networks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Wang says, “Filipino American families have parties for practically any occasion — birthdays, debuts, christenings, graduations, or just plain house/garage parties for the heck of it. Importantly, those parties all wanted music, and that meant that DJs had all these opportunities to find gigs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time breakdancing became popularized through movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’,\u003c/em> Apollo says, “DJing was already here… there were dances every weekend, and DJ battles and showcases almost every other weekend. That’s how it was when I was growing up around the San Francisco and Daly City area in the early ’80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952219\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1163px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1163\" height=\"831\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952219\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs.jpg 1163w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-768x549.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1163px) 100vw, 1163px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Appearing as FM2O (Furious Minds 2 Observe), Qbert, Mix Master Mike and Apollo perform at an ‘eco-rap’ show in San Francisco, circa 1989–1990. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the top mobile DJ crews at that time was Unlimited Sounds. “They were like the biggest group from Daly City, and they were already established,” Apollo says. Many of the crew members were older and attended Jefferson High School. Apollo remembers hanging out at Serra Bowl, becoming friends with Unlimited Sounds and gradually being drawn into the world of DJing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day after school, I would just hang out at their garage and practice,” he says. “All the equipment was there, the records were all there, the lights, everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo saved his allowance and lunch money to buy his first set of turntables, and formed makeshift DJ crews with his friends. “We would gather our parents’ equipment, like home stereo equipment and gather it all up. I would get my parents’ home stereo system combined with my homies’ parents’ stereo system, combined with my other homie’s house system. And then we would put all the equipment together and we saw we had a DJ group.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo started making mixtapes — he still remembers the first time he had enough records to make an all-hip-hop tape — and eventually became good enough to join Unlimited Sounds in 1985, who at the time had gigs all over the Bay Area. That experience gave him a solid foundation in DJing parties and playing a wide variety of records, but he was more interested in “scratching, juggling, trick-mixing — turntablism before it was even called that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952233\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952233\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover.jpeg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rock City DJs at the famed San Francisco graffiti spot Psycho City, January 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prior to joining Unlimited Sounds, Apollo had hooked up with another up-and-coming DJ who was becoming known for his pause-tape mixes and obsessive focus on scratching: Michael Anthony Schwartz, a.k.a. Mix Master Mike, a Filipino-German kid who attended Jeffferson, the same high school as Aquino and Apollo. Rather than practice the blends and beat-matching typically used at parties, though, Apollo and Mix Master Mike would “do more scratching or tricks, routines and that type of stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With those bedroom routines, a reimagining of the turntable’s possibilities had begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Oh, Snap — What Did We Just Do?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike didn’t come up in the mobile DJ scene. His early inspiration was seeing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Jay DJ for DMC and Run, he says, he remembers thinking, “Oh, they’re using records, but they sound more like they’re a full-fledged band, you know? That was just profound to me, that he was using records and rocking the house, \u003cem>with just records\u003c/em>. And that’s when I immediately knew that’s what I wanted to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952222\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1732px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952222\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1732\" height=\"1177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway.jpg 1732w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1732px) 100vw, 1732px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike on the subway in Japan, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not long after Run-DMC brought their Raising Hell tour to a sold-out Oakland Coliseum arena, Apollo and Mike formed an informal DJ crew called Together With Style (not to be confused with the SF graffiti crew of the same name) and held long practice sessions in Apollo’s garage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with Mike, “we did go hard on scratching and tricks and juggling – which later on turned into turntablism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individually, they would take turns on Apollo’s set of turntables. But one day, they decided to work in tandem — a moment that altered the course of DJ history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Apollo remembers it: “Me and Mike were messing around with the turntables and… we’re like, well, let’s just do something together, since we don’t have to wait our turn (to practice). So I grabbed one turntable, and he grabbed the other turntable and we kind of just started making a beat with two records and one mixer. I got the bass kick and he grabbed the snare and we just started making a beat like, \u003cem>boom, cha, boom boom boom cha, boom boom\u003c/em>, you know? And then we’re just like, ‘Oh, snap, what did we just do? That was crazy.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952218\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952218\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rock Steady Crew DJs in 1991. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apollo and Mike would perfect the two-man routine over a period of several years, “and we just started performing it all over the place at showcases and dances, you know, wherever. People were seeing it and being amazed. We were amazed by it ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' align='center' citation='DJ Apollo']I got the bass kick and he grabbed the snare and we just started making a beat like, boom, cha, boom boom boom cha, boom boom, you know? And then we’re just like, ‘Oh, snap, what did we just do?” [/pullquote] \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One witness to the early routine was Richard Quitevis, an acquaintance of Mike and Apollo who went by the name DJ Qbert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Qbert saw it one time and he was amazed by it. He’s like, \u003cem>Oh, what is that?!?\u003c/em>,” Apollo says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Qbert Enters the Picture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>DJ Qbert grew up in San Francisco’s Excelsior district. Like Apollo, his first exposure to hip-hop precedes the term itself. He recalls fishing at Pier 39 at the age of 12 and seeing the Fillmore dance crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weKkAF9NdCI\">Demons of the Mind\u003c/a>. “There would be all these poppers; at the time they were called strutters. They would be playing this really fast electro music. And it was like, ‘Look at these robot-like guys in shiny little outfits with these silver hats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert was fascinated not only with the vibrant dancers, but the sounds. “I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy. I love it, but where are they getting this music from?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1371px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952215\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1371\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna.jpg 1371w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-1020x732.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-768x551.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1371px) 100vw, 1371px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut, Mix Master Mike and Qbert gettin’ up in Bologna, Italy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Qbert remembers early attempts at breakdancing with his friends, who fashioned their own makeshift outfits. But it was the DJ scratch – particularly the skills displayed by Mix Master Ice on UTFO’s 1985 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KE3-IyLsg8\">Leader of the Pack\u003c/a>” – that really drew his interest. “I just started collecting the music, always collecting the music. And that’s what made me become a DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, Qbert was asked to DJ a garage party. “Everybody was about 12, 13, 14, 15, and everybody was breaking in the garage. And we were playing all my records on a big-ass giant box. Like, you open the top and you put the record in, and you just let that play. And the kids were spinning and they couldn’t control themselves. They would spin and they would spin, right into the DJ box, the turntable box. That was my first time being a mobile DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He explains his early attraction to turntables and scratching: “You could manipulate sound by grabbing (the record), moving forward and backward,” he says, imitating a scratch sound. “It was like a toy. A toy that was like a musical instrument. I didn’t even know it was a musical instrument. I was just thinking of it as like, it just sounds crazy. You just pull sound out of the air and move it, like, ‘Oh, what a weird contraption.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Q joined a mobile DJ crew called Live Style Productions, and came to the attention of Apollo and Mix Master Mike, who remember going to Balboa High School to see him spin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Q, we just knew from around the way,” Apollo says. “We would go to different showcases on the weekends and see him perform. And so we knew about Q.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz with the U.S. Championship trophy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1991, Qbert entered the DMCs, winning the U.S. Championships and advancing all the way to the World Finals in London, where he took 2nd place. Aquino claims Qbert’s technical skills were so advanced, they went over most of the audience’s heads, but Qbert admits he got cocky and didn’t practice before his set: “I was sloppy,” he says. That loss instilled in him the importance of practicing, which he took to with rigorous discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Turntables Might Wobble\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hip-hop journalist and author Adisa Banjoko, a friend, recalls once being at Qbert’s house and hearing him scratch the rhythms of Rakim’s verses from Eric B. & Rakim’s “I Ain’t No Joke” – using entirely scratched tones to replicate Rakim’s stanzas. “You gotta record that,” Banjoko told Q, who just shrugged and said, “Nah, I do that all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around this time, Apollo and Mike were honing their two-man routine and making beats with the intention of forming a rap crew, with them as producers and DJs. After returning from London with his U.S. title, Qbert introduced Mike and Apollo to a rapper who used to hang out at his house named Nim-FHD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where it all comes together,” Apollo says. “Me and Mike were making beats, and we always wanted to find a voice for our beats. And so when Qbert introduced us to this rapper, and when me and Mike heard that guy’s voice, Nim’s voice, we were like, ‘Oh man, that’s the voice for our music.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952232\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952232\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875-160x110.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The extended crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apollo explained his vision to Nim, and they enlisted H2O, another emcee they met through Qbert, who also joined the group. “We told Q, do you want to be a part of the ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5gFx001qg\">Peter Piper\u003c/a>’ routine? And he was like, overjoyed. Like, ‘Let’s do it. Absolutely, let’s do it.’ So then we’re like… why don’t we become the DJs for this group that will be the first rap group with three DJs and two rappers? And we’ll do all the beats and scratching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They christened themselves FM2O – an acronym for “Furious Minds To Observe” — the first iteration of what would become the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. As Mike says, “it was definitely a meant-to-be moment, when I hooked up with Q.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group was managed by Aquino, who had left Unlimited Sounds and started throwing parties while trying to establish an independent hip-hop label, Ace Beat. While working on a demo tape, FM2O played local venues and music industry showcases like the Gavin Convention and New Music Seminar. In 1992, they appeared at the Omni in Oakland on a bill with Banjoko’s crew, Freedom T.R.O.O.P. 187, plus Organized Konfusion, Gangstarr and headliner Body Count. Epic as that lineup is, Apollo, Mike and Qbert’s orchestrated turntable segment during FM2O’s set was the absolute showstopper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FM2O’s music was slightly ahead of its time; in the early ’90s, “alternative hip-hop” hadn’t yet established itself in the mainstream. No hip-hop group had ever featured three DJs, all of them scratch fanatics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Aquino tried unsuccessfully to secure FM2O a label deal, the DJs made moves in the battle scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike with his DMC Legend jacket at The Midway in San Francisco, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Major World Titles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Qbert’s second-place 1991 DMC finish earned him props from Clark Kent, a well-respected New York DJ and producer of the New Music Seminar DJ Battle for World Supremacy. Kent asked Qbert to judge the 1992 battle alongside NYC heavyweights like EPMD’s DJ Scratch and Gangstarr’s DJ Premier. Mix Master Mike, meanwhile, entered as a contestant – and ended up winning the battle. (Ironically, Aquino says, instead of practicing before his routine, Mike had stayed up all night.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLRprNA_GSk\">Video of the battle\u003c/a> – during which Mike performs eight different routines, besting Japan’s DJ Honda in the final showdown before taking on defending champ Supreme in a challenge match – confirms he was on a mission to crush all competition. He doubles up Word of Mouth’s “King Kut” with blinding speed and finesse, blends Schooly D and Flavor Flav phrases to dis “sucker DJs,” slows down the records to juggle entirely new beats, deconstructs the wax into a series of melodic tones, and maintains a sense of rhythmic mastery that’s chaotic and jarring but never veers out of control. Boisterous shouts from the crowd testify to Mike’s determined brilliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billed as the Rocksteady DJs (with the blessing of Bronx B-boy legend Crazy Legs, from the Rock Steady Crew), Qbert, Mike and Apollo won the DMCs that same year with the “Peter Piper” routine. The following year, with DJ Apollo unavailable while touring as the Souls of Mischief’s DJ, Mike and Qbert, billed as the Dream Team, again won the DMC World Championship. Mike still remembers the anticipation and energy that went into the preparations for the battle, along with the ginseng they imbibed before their set “like Chinese martial arts masters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"397\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike, pictured at center: ‘It was a discovery. Right? ‘Oh, shit. We could take this and flip it anyway we want to,’ you know?’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These victories were culturally significant. Not only had no West Coast DJ ever been crowned a World Champion before, but no Filipino DJ had ever placed that high in a major competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain just how significant, it’s necessary to understand the evolution of the DJ artform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first development, playing “break” sections of records (known as breakbeats), was initially a clumsy needle-drop technique originated by hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc. Grandmaster Flash refined the DJ vocabulary with backspinning, cueing, cutting, punch phrasing, quick-mixing and reading the record like a clock. Grand Wizzard Theodore developed the basic scratch. Steve Dee invented the beat-juggle. But no DJ was doing synchronized team routines that reimagined the turntables as individual instruments prior to the Rocksteady DJs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was an awesome thing,” Mike says. “It just started from a thought. The collective team, it was like it was a unit. We all had the same aspirations and goals of doing things people had never, ever seen or heard before. And it just spawned this whole movement. And it’s just something that we love to do. It was a discovery. Right? ‘Oh, shit. We could take this and flip it anyway we want to,’ you know? And that was the beauty of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952220\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1536x1029.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-2048x1372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1920x1286.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sporting championship jackets in Tokyo, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Their succession of three major titles in two years elevated the DJ artform and raised the bar for battles. Teams of three or more DJs would soon proliferate throughout the DJ universe, and battle routines became more well-rounded, with emphasis on scratching, beat-juggling, and musicality or rhythmic coherence, as well as sheer technical ability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also led to a backlash of sorts: Mike confirms that after dominating for three years in a row, his crew was politely asked to retire from the DMC competition. He characterizes the request as a “giving other people a chance to win type deal.” But to him and his other Bay Area battlers, “We felt like it wasn’t fair to us because we got a lot in the tank. Let’s go. Keep going. See how far we can go… we were ready to defend the next year. But unfortunately they wanted to make us judges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turned out, stepping away from the competitive battle scene proved to be a blessing in disguise. “After we stopped battling,” Mike says, “I was like, okay, what’s next? We’re going to make records now. I’m gonna become a full fledged artist, you know? I don’t want to be this DJ dude. I don’t want to be a DJ guy that’s playing other people’s records standing up there. We’ve done that already. I’m going to get in the studio and be a producer, and I’m going to make music out of this whole thing, like, springboard into making original compositions. And so that’s what I’m doing, to this day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1430px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952238\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1430\" height=\"1039\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996.jpg 1430w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-800x581.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-1020x741.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-768x558.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1430px) 100vw, 1430px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Hawaii, 1996. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But first, the crew needed a new name. During their time DJing for FM2O, the three DJs were collectively known as Shadow of the Prophet, or simply, The Shadow. A chance encounter with an early-career DJ Shadow – who apologetically offered to change his name – led to Qbert graciously telling him that he could keep the name “Shadow,” and that he’d change his group’s name instead. “Rocksteady DJs” and “The Dream Team” were one-offs, for the most part. They needed something catchy that also reflected who they were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day it came to them. As Qbert recounts, “We was on one, and we were laughing and laughing. And I think Mix Master Mike said, “Why don’t we be called the Invisible Pickles? We were just cracking up and we were thinking about, you know, an invisible pickle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, Qbert got a call from his pal Lou Quintanilla, a.k.a. DJ Disk. “And he said, ‘How about Invisible Scratch Pickles?’ I was like, that kind of sounds dope.” (Though it may sound abstract, the name is rooted in a concrete concept: the turntable as an “invisible instrument” that could be almost any instrument – drums, guitar, vocals, anything.) The crew’s offbeat sense of humor reflected in their new name had long been evident; in 1992, they released \u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em>, one of the first DJ tool records specifically designed for scratching, officially credited to the Psychedelic Scratch Bastards on the Dirt Style label. In later years they would put out various releases under an affiliate record label that they named Galactic Butt Hair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before settling on the new name, though, they ran it by a younger DJ who was asked to join the crew — Jonathan Cruz, a.k.a. DJ Shortkut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952228\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1193\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-1536x1042.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Electro and the Art of the Quick Mix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Growing up in Daly City, Shortkut caught the DJ bug thanks to a Filipino mobile crew who played his 6th grade dance. He started DJing at age 13, after the local Filipino sound system culture had cycled through disco, metal, and New Wave, before arriving at hip-hop, freestyle and Miami bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Shortkut’s first exposures to a DJ battle took place in a large hall.“There would be about four to six sound systems separately set up in the one room with their own individual sound systems. Each group would get about like 20 minutes to do their thing, and then at the end of the night, whoever won. The word got out that group won, and then that’s who everyone wanted to book for school dances or birthday parties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortkut joined a crew called Just 2 Hype, which played freestyle, Miami bass and 808-laced Mantronix singles. “That’s why I think the Bay Area is specifically more scratch-DJ based,” he says, “because everyone scratched to fast beats, all the classic electro stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also worked on perfecting the art of the quick-mix, changing up the record every four or eight bars. But records like DJ Jazzy Jeff’s “Live At Union Square” drew him into the world of scratch-mixing. “When I first started scratching, I just listened to records, basically. All the early records I used to buy, I would just try to copy what I heard on record.”\u003cbr>\nIn the late ’80s and early ’90s, he says, “I really got into embracing hip-hop” – catching up with records that hadn’t been hugely popular in the Filipino scene, and becoming further enthralled with scratching and beat-juggling. “That’s when I was first hearing about Qbert and Apollo and Mix Master Mike,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952223\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1742px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1742\" height=\"1190\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952223\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_.jpg 1742w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-1536x1049.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1742px) 100vw, 1742px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First trip to Japan, 1993. At far left is B-boy and dancer Richard Colón, a.k.a. Crazy Legs from the Rock Steady Crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back then, Apollo was the big name, being from Unlimited Sounds. “He was the party rocker. But he was kind of the B-boy out of all the Filipino guys I knew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he attempted to build his DJ skills, Shortkut remembers listening to cassette tapes of Qbert scratching and mixing. Initially, he had only basic equipment, and used belt-driven turntables. “I got better once I got to direct-drives because I already knew how to handle it and have a certain feel to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert winning the U.S. DMC Championship in 1991 was huge, he says. “We didn’t really have any role models, as a Filipino kid.” He took the win as validation – and inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lived about five minutes from Q’s house,” he says. “I used to go to Q’s house with the guy who taught me how to DJ. We both cold-called Q because we knew he was the one who had all the battle videos. So we would go to his house and dub the videos and while they were dubbing, me and Q would scratch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During this time, Shortkut says, Mike had moved to Sacramento, and Apollo was DJing for Branford Marsalis, “so I would hook up with Q and Disk a lot.” Q used to bring Shortkut and Disk along when he opened up shows in the Bay – affording the younger DJs valuable stage experience. Shortkut, Mike, and Q eventually formed a crew briefly called the Turntable Dragons, pre-ISP. Then, in 1993, Shortkut, Mike, and Q played a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935467/the-bomb-magazine-label-san-francisco-turntablism-djs\">Bomb Hip-Hop\u003c/a> Party – possibly the first time they had been billed as the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952239\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952239\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/invisblskratchp_002-h.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The five-man crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Everyone That Worked There Was Filipino’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Dave Paul, publisher of \u003cem>Bomb Hip Hop Magazine\u003c/em>, coincidentally also began as a mobile DJ in 1984 with a crew called Midnight Connections. He tells a funny story about working an after-school job for Chevron. “I wasn’t that great. So they moved me from, like, the main Chevron on Geary Street over to one on California Street. And everyone that worked there was Filipino. Turned out everyone that worked there was also a DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul knew of Apollo from Unlimited Sounds, and had seen Qbert perform a famous “Mary Had A Little Lamb” routine during a San Jose battle around 1989 or 1990. “That really got his name out,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the annual Gavin Convention in San Francisco, Bomb Hip Hop magazine would present live performance showcases. Paul booked the Piklz on multiple occasions, beginning in 1992, when they were still called the Rocksteady DJs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Paul, the vibe of those early performances “was always sort of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDLzGtQmMyw\">don’t-give-a-fuck style\u003c/a>. Like, things didn’t have to be clean. They were just really raw. And it was just ill. They were doing stuff that no one else was doing at the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10345320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10345320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ QBert. \u003ccite>(Thud Rumble)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After releasing a now-legendary compilation tape that featured Qbert along with a Canadian MC named Madchild, as well as local underground artists like Homeless Derelix, Blackalicious, Bored Stiff, and Mystik Journeymen, Bomb Hip Hop became a record label in 1995 with the release of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937489/best-bay-area-turntablism-scratch-dj-albums\">\u003cem>Return of the DJ Vol. 1\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That record essentially started the movement of turntablism as a musical genre. The Skratch Piklz (at that time, Qbert, Shortkut and Disk) were featured on “Invasion of the Octopus People,” while Mix Master Mike contributed his first official solo production, “Terrorwrist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Return of the DJ \u003c/em>evolved into a compilation series spanning multiple volumes, and inspired numerous others, like Om Records’ \u003cem>Deep Concentration\u003c/em> and Ubiquity’s \u003cem>Audio Alchemy\u003c/em> compilations. Asphodel, an alternative label known for ultra-underground somnolent, ambient, droney electronic music, signed the Skratch Piklz to a deal, which resulted in 1996’s single “Invisibl Skratch Piklz vs. Da Klamz Uv Deth,” which featured Qbert, Shortkut, and Mix Master Mike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1938px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1938\" height=\"1882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca.jpg 1938w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-800x777.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1020x991.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-160x155.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-768x746.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1536x1492.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1920x1865.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1938px) 100vw, 1938px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Invisibl Skratch Piklz vs. Da Clamz Uv Deth,’ 1997. \u003ccite>(Asphodel Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A very strange thing about that (single) is, I had just invented scratch music,” Qbert says. “Which is this thing where every sound is scratched. Drums are scratched, the hi-hats are scratched, the snare and vocals are scratched, the chords, every single thing is scratched! No matter what is in there. So that was tracked out — like, every track was off the turntables, making a complete scratch song.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turntablism spread quickly through San Francisco’s progressive club scene in the mid-’90s. Mark Herlihy’s art/performance collective Future Primitive established itself as an avant garde music label with a live recording of Shortkut and Cut Chemist at Cat’s Alley, on Folsom Street. An outer Tenderloin hole in the wall, Deco, became a headquarters for unfiltered, ultra-creative DJ expression in its basement, via “Many Styles” nights curated by Apollo. Qbert was part of the groundbreaking alternative hip-hop group Dr. Octagon along with producer Dan the Automator and MC Kool Keith, who recorded an indie classic that got re-released nationally by Dreamworks. To this day, Qbert’s scratch solo on Dr. Octagon’s “Earth People” stands out as a particular flashpoint, the turntable equivalent, perhaps, of the guitar solos on “Hotel California” or “Comfortably Numb.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Needless to say, it’s not an empty boast when Mix Master Mike says he and the Skratch Piklz “pretty much created this genre of music.” No one was doing it before them, and many followed in their footsteps. Locally, the Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters (aka the Space Travelers), Supernatural Turntable Artists, and the Oakland Faders all scratched and juggled. Live bands incorporating turntablists included Live Human (DJ Quest) and Soulstice (Mei-Lwun). New York’s X-Ecutioners were probably ISP’s closest counterparts nationally, having formed in 1989. But despite their turntable innovations, even they weren’t performing or recording as a \u003cem>band\u003c/em> until after the Skratch Piklz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back when they were known as the X-Men, the X-Ecutioners faced off against the Piklz in a landmark 1996 battle in New York’s Manhattan Center – a contest so epic, it’s listed among \u003cem>Mixmag\u003c/em>’s \u003ca href=\"https://mixmag.net/feature/the-10-best-dj-scratch-battles-of-all-time\">Top 10 DJ Scratch Battles of All Time\u003c/a>. X-Ecutioners member and DJ historian Rob Swift says Qbert first came on his radar in 1991, when he beat X-Ecutioners founder Steve Dee to win the US DMC Finals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought he was Hawaiian,” Swift says, because Qbert appeared to be wearing a lei in the battle video. “We didn’t know that he was this Filipino DJ that came out of this Filipino community of DJs in the Bay Area. We didn’t know that there \u003cem>were\u003c/em> DJs out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swift later entered the 1991 New Music Seminar battle, where Qbert was a judge; the two exchanged numbers and began calling each other and exchanging videos regularly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When rappers began increasingly excluding the DJ throughout the ’90s, he says he and Qbert would discuss what to do about it., “We would both be like, ‘You’ve got these rappers (not respecting the DJ). Fuck them, and we’re going to create our own DJ scene. If the music industry is going to turn their backs on DJing, we need to figure out a way to just create our own scene.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And,” he adds, “that’s exactly what we did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952225\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952225\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1166\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Lebanon. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Enter the ITF — and D-Styles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the Pilkz battled the X-Ecutioners, it was as much about gaining respect for turntable culture as it was about individual bragging rights. Though the court of public opinion is still split on who won, the battle put a spotlight on both crews. As Swift says, “We started strategizing ways to book our own tours and create all-DJ competitions (like) the ITF, the International Turntablist Federation,” who organized the historic battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded by Alex Aquino with help from Shortkut, the ITF was established in 1995 and stayed active until 2005. It was intended as a cultural organization, and as somewhat of a critique of the DMC, which had become the only major DJ competition, following the demise of the New Music Seminar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without the DMC,” Aquino says, “we wouldn’t have this world stage for the guys to be on. But after Q lost that first battle, we were like, something has to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, the criteria. “And so, we were like, let’s do our own battle. Let’s have real turntablists and DJs judge it, like a New Music Seminar, but instead of just the one-on-one battle, the advancement class for the belt, let’s do a scratching category. Let’s do a beat-juggling category. And let’s do a team category. And that’s how we started out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1366px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952211\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"1834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-800x1074.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-1020x1369.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-160x215.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-768x1031.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-1144x1536.jpg 1144w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a Japanese magazine, date unknown. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJs like Vin Roc, Babu, Craze, and A-Trak all won ITF titles, as did teams like the Allies and Beat Junkies. The ITF succeeded in giving turntablists a visible platform to showcase their skills and in further popularizing the artform in the U.S. and internationally. (In 1999, the DMC would add a team category, and the organization currently rotates additional categories, including Scratch, Portablist, and Beat Juggling.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003cem>Return of the DJ\u003c/em>’s “Octopus People,” with Apollo unavailable and Mix Master Mike pursuing a solo career, the Skratch Piklz needed new blood. For the next few years, ISP membership became somewhat fluid, swelling and contracting as new members joined for a while, before going off to do other projects. DJ Disk, DJ Flare, Canadian teenage prodigy A-Trak, and former Thud Rumble label manager Ritche Desuasido, a.k.a. Yogafrog, were all ISP members at one time or another, along with Shortkut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Beat Junkies member Dave Cuasito, a.k.a. D-Styles, joined the Piklz and became a linchpin for the group; Aquino calls him “the hidden master.” Though not as flashy or famous as Qbert, he’s well-respected in turntablist circles and has helped focus the Pilkz on compositional elements in their music while also being able to scratch, cut and juggle at a high level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in the Philippines, D-Styles grew up in San Jose. Like the other Piklz, he was exposed to hip-hop through breaking and its accompanying soundtrack. “I would hear the songs that they were playing, but then they would scratch certain words and certain parts of that song. And so I was always curious how they were doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952229\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1168\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-1536x1020.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grandmaster DXT and Qbert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His answer came when he saw Grandmixer DST (now known as DXT)’s scratch segment on Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.” After getting a basic Realistic mixer for his birthday, he, too, joined a mobile DJ crew (Sound City), who pooled their equipment like so many others – and spent their meager proceeds on post-gig Denny’s meals. After taking part in typical mobile battles with crews exchanging 20-minute sets, he discovered there was a battle specifically for scratch DJs, and competed in the 1993 DMC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, he moved to San Francisco to attend college, but what he really wanted was to pursue music. He was already familiar with Mike, Qbert and Shortkut from the battle scene, and from hanging out on Tuesday night at Deco, a small speakeasy-style jazz bar with open turntables in the basement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One strange night, I got a phone call on my answering machine and it was Yogafrog and Q, and they were like, ‘Hey, man’ – I don’t know if they were drunk or what – but they were like, ‘we need to talk, man. We think we should all come together and form a crew.” They met up and talked, and soon after, he was asked to officially join the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D-Styles stoic demeanor compliments the other Piklz, yet beneath his focused concentration lies a punk rock attitude that aligns with Qbert’s philosophy that the only rule is there are no rules. Likewise, his turntable-composition approach balances the others’ battle-DJ backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952235\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 636px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952235\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs.png 636w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs-160x119.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut and A-Trak at Qbert’s place, 1997. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As far as a turntable composer, I feel like we definitely embrace the more musical side of it, and less technical,” he says. “For the battle DJs, they really try to spray like a Uzi, you know what I mean? And just get off a bunch of power stuff and try to wow the the crowd and the judges. For music, it’s more about the long-term thing. We want to make music that’s timeless. And it’s not based off of a five-minute routine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the core Piklz now set with Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles, Mix Master Mike – who remained affiliated with the crew – says, “I felt like we had the perfect stew. Everyone had their own style, their own identity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around this time, Mike began putting together his first solo album, \u003cem>Anti-Theft Device\u003c/em>, which he envisioned as “not an underground album (but) a worldwide release.” He imagined himself as a sonic transducer, attracting and reshaping matter into different forms. He drew on inspirations like Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, early Public Enemy, Thelonious Monk, Rage Against the Machine and Ennio Morricone. He contemplated the subtlety of silence, of ghost notes and pregnant pauses. And then he went out and made an album with booming, deafening drums and thumping bass on nearly every track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I focused on the drums first,” Mike says. “I wanted to make sure those drums were hitting really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-800x787.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-160x157.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-768x756.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike’s ‘Anti-Theft Device,’ 1998. \u003ccite>(Asphodel Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On \u003cem>Anti-Theft Device\u003c/em>, the found sounds and quirky vocal samples (“NASA maintains this is \u003cem>not\u003c/em> Colonel Blaha’s voice”) often present on DJ mix tapes resurface often, along with boom-bap beats and scratched phrases, instruments and sound effects. There are elements of intoxicated or altered reality, and bug-out moments that suggest turboized vocoders spouting underwater propellers, or seemingly random musical sample generators harnessing infinite libraries of sound, from raga to reggae to rock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day,” Mike says, “it’s about spearheading the evolution of the battle DJ – as artist, composer, tastemaker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Mike was the first Pikl to make a solo album, Qbert crafted an especially ambitious concept for his first official solo debut. As Mike tells it, he had some extra tracks left over, which he gave to Qbert. “And he fuckin’, just like, went crazy on those beats. And then, yeah. It became \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Qbert’s ‘Wave Twisters,’ 1998. The album spawned a cult-classic 2001 animated film of the same name. \u003ccite>(Galactic Butt Hair Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Wave Twisters, the Beasties and Beyond\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em> holds the rare distinction of being a soundtrack around which a movie was later designed. The album received extremely positive reviews, making many music critics’ year-end lists. To this day, it’s regarded as one of the best turntablism albums of all time. Tracks like “Destination: Quasar 16.33.45.78” took ISP battle routines to new levels, imagining a battle in inner space between a heroic dental hygienist and the minions of a villain named Lord Ook. The track revels in sci-fi tropes, with vocal cues like “Attention, starship!” coloring the scratched, transformed and cut-up audio landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Qbert, \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em> was willed into existence. “I intentionally foresaw it because in the back of my head, I was like, I’m gonna make every song like a storyline. It’s going to be a thing. And somebody’s going to animate this. And then out of nowhere, the universe made it all work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13937489']Meanwhile, Mix Master Mike was setting his own intentions – around becoming a member of the Beastie Boys. A longtime fan of their music, he says, “even before I met them, I always thought I was the fourth Beastie, and I was the missing element.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the Beasties’ MCA during a Rock Steady Crew anniversary in 1996, Mike took an unusual route to make his dreams come true. “I went up to MCA and introduced myself,” he recalls. “He knew who I was through all the competitions and the battles, and we exchanged phone numbers and went back home. And late at night, I would just leave these scratch messages on his answering machine. Two, three in the morning, just leaving these scratches on his machine, hoping that these transmissions would penetrate. Fortunately they did. \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mix-master-mike-becomes-the-beastie-boys-dj\">And the rest is history\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1611\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-768x483.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1536x967.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-2048x1289.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1920x1208.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Mixmaster Mike, Mike Diamond, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, and Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz of The Beastie Boys attend the MTV Europe Music Awards 2004 at Tor di Valle Nov. 18, 2004 in Rome, Italy. \u003ccite>(Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mike joined the Beasties in time for 1998’s \u003cem>Hello Nasty\u003c/em> album, remaining part of the group until MCA died of cancer in 2012 and the Beastie Boys disbanded. “So at the end of the day,” Mike says, “it’s all about power of intention, right? And my intention was to get in the band or work with the band.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the ’90s drew to a close, the Piklz weren’t quite done. They produced Skratchcon 2000, a scratching convention, bringing together pioneering masters and acolytes of DJ scratch music. “That was our old manager, Yogafrog,” Qbert says. “His idea to put on a convention called Scratchcon, that was a genius idea of his, and we should do a Part II. We got all the best, most popular scratchers on the planet to come through. It was huge. Steve Dee was there, even Aladdin, all the X-Ecutioners, everybody. It was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"983\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Shortkut, D-Styles, Mix Master Mike, Yogafrog and QBert in QBert’s garage in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, 1998. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia /The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skratchcon drew fans from all over the country, in addition to current and historic scratch DJs,for live showcases and demonstrations like DJ Radar’s introduction of scratch notation. The convention culminated with a live concert at the Fillmore Auditorium, billed at the time as the ISP’s last official performance. To this day, it stands as one of the highpoints of a decade overflowing with revolutionary developments in hip-hop DJ culture, which saw the Invisibl Skratch Piklz make history and become iconic representatives of turntablism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mix Master Mike says, “There is no ceiling to this. No, it’s whatever you think about is whatever you create and whatever you can apply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A comprehensive history of the pioneering DJ crew, from Daly City garage parties to world domination.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1708071724,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":121,"wordCount":8314},"headData":{"title":"How The Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put San Francisco Turntablism on the DJ Map | KQED","description":"A comprehensive history of the pioneering DJ crew, from Daly City garage parties to world domination.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"How The Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put San Francisco Turntablism on the DJ Map","datePublished":"2024-02-14T16:53:00.000Z","dateModified":"2024-02-16T08:22:04.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13952208/invisibl-skratch-piklz-filipino-djs-daly-city-san-francisco-turntablism-history","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003cem>, KQED’s story series on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> history.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday night in San Francisco, a couple thousand fans of DJ culture crammed into the cavernous main room of a nightclub in Hunters Point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside The Midway, it was elbow room-only from the stage to the back patio; many of those in the crowd were DJs themselves. The scene recalled the late ’90s-early 2000s glory days of the Bay Area, when turntablism seemed destined to become the Next Big Thing, and DJ nights dominated SF’s club scene. No one was there to dance; it wasn’t that kind of party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap stands at a table under fluorescent lighting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-28-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Qbert performs with Invisibl Skratch Piklz during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The occasion was the DMC World Championship DJ Battle Finals, with some of the best DJs in the world competing against each other. But there was another attraction too: live showcases by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and Mix Master Mike, the legendary DJs who transformed the Bay Area into a turntablist Mecca during a seminal era for local hip-hop. DMC event organizer Christie Zee put the proceedings into their proper context: “You can’t have a battle in the Bay without the Skratch Piklz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As midnight approached, the lights dimmed, and the Piklz – Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles – were announced to cheers that echoed throughout the high-ceilinged room. The Piklz opened with the 2015 ISP track “Fresh Out of FVCKs,” with its ominous electric organ melody that transitions into repeating melodic chords. A snare drum beat came in, followed by a rhythmically scratched snippet of a stuttering vocal phrase. The electric organ chords shifted into a chopped melody as the snare dropped out, then returned. And that’s all before the mind-bending scratch solos that followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Piklz proceeded to display their musicality, keeping their technical acumen within the groove pocket with synchronized timing. As is customary with the Piklz, each played the part of a specific instrumentalist: D-Styles as the keyboardist, Shortkut as the drummer, and Qbert as the scratch soloist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952244\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM_DJ_mixer_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2275-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike at the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A live version of “Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts” – a song from D-Styles’ 2019 album \u003cem>Noises In the Right Order\u003c/em> – and several unreleased ISP songs showed that \u003ca href=\"https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/jazzglossary/g/ghost_note.html\">ghost notes\u003c/a> aren’t just associated with jazz music. The turntable trio used the spaces between to impart a sense of presence and feel, a minimalist approach that allowed their scratches, cuts and juggles to resonate with maximum impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would have been a hard act to follow for anyone but Mix Master Mike. The ISP co-founder, who’s been a solo artist since 1995 or so, has a gigantic stage presence and skills to match. A one-man musical blender, MMM unleashed a maelstrom of sonic fury, with bone-crunching drums, an entire range of musical and vocal phrases, and precise turntable cuts that deconstructed the individual pieces of a live performance — only to reconstruct all the fragments into an emotionally-thrilling pastiche. After his set, when Mike was celebrated with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the honor was clearly well-deserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Invisible Skratch Piklz were celebrating, too – 2023 marks their 30th anniversary – and it’s safe to say no Bay Area crew has done more to advance the DJ artform. Along with New York’s X-Ecutioners and LA’s Beat Junkies, ISP have defined the term turntablist, carving out a cultural niche that rests on a hip-hop foundation but exists in its own space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937759\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937759\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People stand in a crowd leaning on a barrier indoors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231103-DMCBattle-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A crowd watches finalists compete during the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Piklz have counted many firsts. As hip-hop’s relationship with the DJ has flipped from essential to inconsequential, they’ve maintained the DJ tradition for future generations, and extended its global reach. Over the past four decades, they’ve gone from students of the scratch to wizened masters of turntable music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And like most cultural icons, their backstory is involved, multilayered and fascinating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952236\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1528px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952236\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1528\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_.jpg 1528w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/q.sta_-768x519.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1528px) 100vw, 1528px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A young Qbert at a community hall mobile DJ dance party. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Garage Party Era\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Invisibl Skratch Piklz story begins in what former ISP manager Alex Aquino calls the “pre-hip-hop era” of the late ’70s-early ’80s, when youth-oriented street dance intersected with pioneering mobile DJ crews and a Filipino-American tradition of garage parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was before breakdancing,” Aquino says. He recalls being 6 or 7 and seeing strutters, poppers and elements of DJ culture – including the Filipino mobile DJ crews who established a scene built around vinyl records, large stereo systems and frequent dance parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those Filipino DJs was Apollo Novicio, a.k.a. DJ Apollo, a founding member of ISP who spent his early childhood roaming around the Mission District. By the time he reached middle school, his family had relocated to Daly City – where he likely attended some of the same parties as Aquino. “Back in the day, they’d have garage parties and there would be a DJ in the corner of the garage, set up on a washing machine and dryer and stuff like that. And at the parties, they would have popping and locking circles. Strutting, popping and locking. Breakdancing wasn’t even here yet, really. This was, I’d say, early ’80s, and that was pretty much my first exposure to the DJing and dancing element of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1004px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1004\" height=\"674\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952292\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty.png 1004w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-800x537.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobiledjparty-768x516.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1004px) 100vw, 1004px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Setup for a typical mobile DJ party in the early 1990s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1982, Aquino remembers, a New York transplant named Oscar Sop had introduced B-boying and fat laces to the neighborhood, becoming one of the Bay Area’s first breakdancers. Meanwhile, the DJ crews were becoming more professional, and getting hired for weddings, quinceaneras, traditional Filipino celebrations and the occasional school dance party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo recalls “doing the strutting, popping, locking thing before B-boying got here.” Back then, “I didn’t even know it was hip-hop. I was such a young age. I’m like, just doing it and like, later on find out, oh, this is a hip-hop culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to dancing being popular among Filipino youth, he remembers DJ groups proliferating at local high schools. “It was just kind of like the thing to do,” he says. “All the kids would form DJ groups.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know how to explain (why), but there was a lot of Filipino mobile disc jockey groups,” says DJ Apollo. ”Back in the seventies, my older brothers and sisters, they used to collect music and listen to music. Everybody had to go to the record store and buy vinyl.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952212\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1030px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952212\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1030\" height=\"778\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty.jpg 1030w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.mobileDJparty-768x580.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mobile DJ party in 1991. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dr. Oliver Wang, author of \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dukeupress.edu/legions-of-boom\">Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area\u003c/a>\u003c/em> and a professor of sociology at CSU Long Beach, explains that “the mobile DJ scene that the Piklz’ members got their start in wasn’t an exclusively Filipino phenomenon at all; there were Black, White, Latino and Chinese crews around then too. But the Fil-Am scene flourished above and beyond those other groups because they had distinct advantages coming from an immigrant community with strong social ties and large social networks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Wang says, “Filipino American families have parties for practically any occasion — birthdays, debuts, christenings, graduations, or just plain house/garage parties for the heck of it. Importantly, those parties all wanted music, and that meant that DJs had all these opportunities to find gigs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time breakdancing became popularized through movies like \u003cem>Beat Street\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Breakin’,\u003c/em> Apollo says, “DJing was already here… there were dances every weekend, and DJ battles and showcases almost every other weekend. That’s how it was when I was growing up around the San Francisco and Daly City area in the early ’80s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952219\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1163px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1163\" height=\"831\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952219\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs.jpg 1163w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/rscdjs-768x549.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1163px) 100vw, 1163px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Appearing as FM2O (Furious Minds 2 Observe), Qbert, Mix Master Mike and Apollo perform at an ‘eco-rap’ show in San Francisco, circa 1989–1990. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the top mobile DJ crews at that time was Unlimited Sounds. “They were like the biggest group from Daly City, and they were already established,” Apollo says. Many of the crew members were older and attended Jefferson High School. Apollo remembers hanging out at Serra Bowl, becoming friends with Unlimited Sounds and gradually being drawn into the world of DJing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day after school, I would just hang out at their garage and practice,” he says. “All the equipment was there, the records were all there, the lights, everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo saved his allowance and lunch money to buy his first set of turntables, and formed makeshift DJ crews with his friends. “We would gather our parents’ equipment, like home stereo equipment and gather it all up. I would get my parents’ home stereo system combined with my homies’ parents’ stereo system, combined with my other homie’s house system. And then we would put all the equipment together and we saw we had a DJ group.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apollo started making mixtapes — he still remembers the first time he had enough records to make an all-hip-hop tape — and eventually became good enough to join Unlimited Sounds in 1985, who at the time had gigs all over the Bay Area. That experience gave him a solid foundation in DJing parties and playing a wide variety of records, but he was more interested in “scratching, juggling, trick-mixing — turntablism before it was even called that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952233\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952233\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover.jpeg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/RSC-DJs-Psycho-City-Cover-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rock City DJs at the famed San Francisco graffiti spot Psycho City, January 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Prior to joining Unlimited Sounds, Apollo had hooked up with another up-and-coming DJ who was becoming known for his pause-tape mixes and obsessive focus on scratching: Michael Anthony Schwartz, a.k.a. Mix Master Mike, a Filipino-German kid who attended Jeffferson, the same high school as Aquino and Apollo. Rather than practice the blends and beat-matching typically used at parties, though, Apollo and Mix Master Mike would “do more scratching or tricks, routines and that type of stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With those bedroom routines, a reimagining of the turntable’s possibilities had begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Oh, Snap — What Did We Just Do?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mix Master Mike didn’t come up in the mobile DJ scene. His early inspiration was seeing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Jay DJ for DMC and Run, he says, he remembers thinking, “Oh, they’re using records, but they sound more like they’re a full-fledged band, you know? That was just profound to me, that he was using records and rocking the house, \u003cem>with just records\u003c/em>. And that’s when I immediately knew that’s what I wanted to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952222\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1732px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952222\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1732\" height=\"1177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway.jpg 1732w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.MMM_.japan_.subway-1536x1044.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1732px) 100vw, 1732px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike on the subway in Japan, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not long after Run-DMC brought their Raising Hell tour to a sold-out Oakland Coliseum arena, Apollo and Mike formed an informal DJ crew called Together With Style (not to be confused with the SF graffiti crew of the same name) and held long practice sessions in Apollo’s garage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with Mike, “we did go hard on scratching and tricks and juggling – which later on turned into turntablism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individually, they would take turns on Apollo’s set of turntables. But one day, they decided to work in tandem — a moment that altered the course of DJ history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Apollo remembers it: “Me and Mike were messing around with the turntables and… we’re like, well, let’s just do something together, since we don’t have to wait our turn (to practice). So I grabbed one turntable, and he grabbed the other turntable and we kind of just started making a beat with two records and one mixer. I got the bass kick and he grabbed the snare and we just started making a beat like, \u003cem>boom, cha, boom boom boom cha, boom boom\u003c/em>, you know? And then we’re just like, ‘Oh, snap, what did we just do? That was crazy.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952218\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952218\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/10423_136960922731_697132731_2526758_2429020_n-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rock Steady Crew DJs in 1991. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apollo and Mike would perfect the two-man routine over a period of several years, “and we just started performing it all over the place at showcases and dances, you know, wherever. People were seeing it and being amazed. We were amazed by it ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"I got the bass kick and he grabbed the snare and we just started making a beat like, boom, cha, boom boom boom cha, boom boom, you know? And then we’re just like, ‘Oh, snap, what did we just do?” ","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"large","align":"center","citation":"DJ Apollo","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One witness to the early routine was Richard Quitevis, an acquaintance of Mike and Apollo who went by the name DJ Qbert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Qbert saw it one time and he was amazed by it. He’s like, \u003cem>Oh, what is that?!?\u003c/em>,” Apollo says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Qbert Enters the Picture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>DJ Qbert grew up in San Francisco’s Excelsior district. Like Apollo, his first exposure to hip-hop precedes the term itself. He recalls fishing at Pier 39 at the age of 12 and seeing the Fillmore dance crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weKkAF9NdCI\">Demons of the Mind\u003c/a>. “There would be all these poppers; at the time they were called strutters. They would be playing this really fast electro music. And it was like, ‘Look at these robot-like guys in shiny little outfits with these silver hats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert was fascinated not only with the vibrant dancers, but the sounds. “I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy. I love it, but where are they getting this music from?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1371px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952215\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1371\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna.jpg 1371w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-1020x732.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-bologna-768x551.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1371px) 100vw, 1371px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut, Mix Master Mike and Qbert gettin’ up in Bologna, Italy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Qbert remembers early attempts at breakdancing with his friends, who fashioned their own makeshift outfits. But it was the DJ scratch – particularly the skills displayed by Mix Master Ice on UTFO’s 1985 single “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KE3-IyLsg8\">Leader of the Pack\u003c/a>” – that really drew his interest. “I just started collecting the music, always collecting the music. And that’s what made me become a DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, Qbert was asked to DJ a garage party. “Everybody was about 12, 13, 14, 15, and everybody was breaking in the garage. And we were playing all my records on a big-ass giant box. Like, you open the top and you put the record in, and you just let that play. And the kids were spinning and they couldn’t control themselves. They would spin and they would spin, right into the DJ box, the turntable box. That was my first time being a mobile DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He explains his early attraction to turntables and scratching: “You could manipulate sound by grabbing (the record), moving forward and backward,” he says, imitating a scratch sound. “It was like a toy. A toy that was like a musical instrument. I didn’t even know it was a musical instrument. I was just thinking of it as like, it just sounds crazy. You just pull sound out of the air and move it, like, ‘Oh, what a weird contraption.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Q joined a mobile DJ crew called Live Style Productions, and came to the attention of Apollo and Mix Master Mike, who remember going to Balboa High School to see him spin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Q, we just knew from around the way,” Apollo says. “We would go to different showcases on the weekends and see him perform. And so we knew about Q.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/600_us_champ_trophy-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz with the U.S. Championship trophy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1991, Qbert entered the DMCs, winning the U.S. Championships and advancing all the way to the World Finals in London, where he took 2nd place. Aquino claims Qbert’s technical skills were so advanced, they went over most of the audience’s heads, but Qbert admits he got cocky and didn’t practice before his set: “I was sloppy,” he says. That loss instilled in him the importance of practicing, which he took to with rigorous discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Turntables Might Wobble\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hip-hop journalist and author Adisa Banjoko, a friend, recalls once being at Qbert’s house and hearing him scratch the rhythms of Rakim’s verses from Eric B. & Rakim’s “I Ain’t No Joke” – using entirely scratched tones to replicate Rakim’s stanzas. “You gotta record that,” Banjoko told Q, who just shrugged and said, “Nah, I do that all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around this time, Apollo and Mike were honing their two-man routine and making beats with the intention of forming a rap crew, with them as producers and DJs. After returning from London with his U.S. title, Qbert introduced Mike and Apollo to a rapper who used to hang out at his house named Nim-FHD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where it all comes together,” Apollo says. “Me and Mike were making beats, and we always wanted to find a voice for our beats. And so when Qbert introduced us to this rapper, and when me and Mike heard that guy’s voice, Nim’s voice, we were like, ‘Oh man, that’s the voice for our music.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952232\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952232\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"604\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/n1071373619_171639_1875-160x110.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The extended crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Apollo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apollo explained his vision to Nim, and they enlisted H2O, another emcee they met through Qbert, who also joined the group. “We told Q, do you want to be a part of the ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5gFx001qg\">Peter Piper\u003c/a>’ routine? And he was like, overjoyed. Like, ‘Let’s do it. Absolutely, let’s do it.’ So then we’re like… why don’t we become the DJs for this group that will be the first rap group with three DJs and two rappers? And we’ll do all the beats and scratching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They christened themselves FM2O – an acronym for “Furious Minds To Observe” — the first iteration of what would become the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. As Mike says, “it was definitely a meant-to-be moment, when I hooked up with Q.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group was managed by Aquino, who had left Unlimited Sounds and started throwing parties while trying to establish an independent hip-hop label, Ace Beat. While working on a demo tape, FM2O played local venues and music industry showcases like the Gavin Convention and New Music Seminar. In 1992, they appeared at the Omni in Oakland on a bill with Banjoko’s crew, Freedom T.R.O.O.P. 187, plus Organized Konfusion, Gangstarr and headliner Body Count. Epic as that lineup is, Apollo, Mike and Qbert’s orchestrated turntable segment during FM2O’s set was the absolute showstopper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FM2O’s music was slightly ahead of its time; in the early ’90s, “alternative hip-hop” hadn’t yet established itself in the mainstream. No hip-hop group had ever featured three DJs, all of them scratch fanatics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Aquino tried unsuccessfully to secure FM2O a label deal, the DJs made moves in the battle scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_MMM_jacket_PhotobyJeffStrawBranding-2387-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike with his DMC Legend jacket at The Midway in San Francisco, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The First Major World Titles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Qbert’s second-place 1991 DMC finish earned him props from Clark Kent, a well-respected New York DJ and producer of the New Music Seminar DJ Battle for World Supremacy. Kent asked Qbert to judge the 1992 battle alongside NYC heavyweights like EPMD’s DJ Scratch and Gangstarr’s DJ Premier. Mix Master Mike, meanwhile, entered as a contestant – and ended up winning the battle. (Ironically, Aquino says, instead of practicing before his routine, Mike had stayed up all night.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLRprNA_GSk\">Video of the battle\u003c/a> – during which Mike performs eight different routines, besting Japan’s DJ Honda in the final showdown before taking on defending champ Supreme in a challenge match – confirms he was on a mission to crush all competition. He doubles up Word of Mouth’s “King Kut” with blinding speed and finesse, blends Schooly D and Flavor Flav phrases to dis “sucker DJs,” slows down the records to juggle entirely new beats, deconstructs the wax into a series of melodic tones, and maintains a sense of rhythmic mastery that’s chaotic and jarring but never veers out of control. Boisterous shouts from the crowd testify to Mike’s determined brilliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billed as the Rocksteady DJs (with the blessing of Bronx B-boy legend Crazy Legs, from the Rock Steady Crew), Qbert, Mike and Apollo won the DMCs that same year with the “Peter Piper” routine. The following year, with DJ Apollo unavailable while touring as the Souls of Mischief’s DJ, Mike and Qbert, billed as the Dream Team, again won the DMC World Championship. Mike still remembers the anticipation and energy that went into the preparations for the battle, along with the ginseng they imbibed before their set “like Chinese martial arts masters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"397\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952237\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/l_f99accf3c766cef703abeb72c042e21e-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike, pictured at center: ‘It was a discovery. Right? ‘Oh, shit. We could take this and flip it anyway we want to,’ you know?’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These victories were culturally significant. Not only had no West Coast DJ ever been crowned a World Champion before, but no Filipino DJ had ever placed that high in a major competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain just how significant, it’s necessary to understand the evolution of the DJ artform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first development, playing “break” sections of records (known as breakbeats), was initially a clumsy needle-drop technique originated by hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc. Grandmaster Flash refined the DJ vocabulary with backspinning, cueing, cutting, punch phrasing, quick-mixing and reading the record like a clock. Grand Wizzard Theodore developed the basic scratch. Steve Dee invented the beat-juggle. But no DJ was doing synchronized team routines that reimagined the turntables as individual instruments prior to the Rocksteady DJs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was an awesome thing,” Mike says. “It just started from a thought. The collective team, it was like it was a unit. We all had the same aspirations and goals of doing things people had never, ever seen or heard before. And it just spawned this whole movement. And it’s just something that we love to do. It was a discovery. Right? ‘Oh, shit. We could take this and flip it anyway we want to,’ you know? And that was the beauty of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952220\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1536x1029.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-2048x1372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.jackets-1920x1286.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sporting championship jackets in Tokyo, 1993. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Their succession of three major titles in two years elevated the DJ artform and raised the bar for battles. Teams of three or more DJs would soon proliferate throughout the DJ universe, and battle routines became more well-rounded, with emphasis on scratching, beat-juggling, and musicality or rhythmic coherence, as well as sheer technical ability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also led to a backlash of sorts: Mike confirms that after dominating for three years in a row, his crew was politely asked to retire from the DMC competition. He characterizes the request as a “giving other people a chance to win type deal.” But to him and his other Bay Area battlers, “We felt like it wasn’t fair to us because we got a lot in the tank. Let’s go. Keep going. See how far we can go… we were ready to defend the next year. But unfortunately they wanted to make us judges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turned out, stepping away from the competitive battle scene proved to be a blessing in disguise. “After we stopped battling,” Mike says, “I was like, okay, what’s next? We’re going to make records now. I’m gonna become a full fledged artist, you know? I don’t want to be this DJ dude. I don’t want to be a DJ guy that’s playing other people’s records standing up there. We’ve done that already. I’m going to get in the studio and be a producer, and I’m going to make music out of this whole thing, like, springboard into making original compositions. And so that’s what I’m doing, to this day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1430px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952238\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1430\" height=\"1039\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996.jpg 1430w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-800x581.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-1020x741.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP-in-Hawaii-1996-768x558.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1430px) 100vw, 1430px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Hawaii, 1996. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But first, the crew needed a new name. During their time DJing for FM2O, the three DJs were collectively known as Shadow of the Prophet, or simply, The Shadow. A chance encounter with an early-career DJ Shadow – who apologetically offered to change his name – led to Qbert graciously telling him that he could keep the name “Shadow,” and that he’d change his group’s name instead. “Rocksteady DJs” and “The Dream Team” were one-offs, for the most part. They needed something catchy that also reflected who they were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day it came to them. As Qbert recounts, “We was on one, and we were laughing and laughing. And I think Mix Master Mike said, “Why don’t we be called the Invisible Pickles? We were just cracking up and we were thinking about, you know, an invisible pickle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, Qbert got a call from his pal Lou Quintanilla, a.k.a. DJ Disk. “And he said, ‘How about Invisible Scratch Pickles?’ I was like, that kind of sounds dope.” (Though it may sound abstract, the name is rooted in a concrete concept: the turntable as an “invisible instrument” that could be almost any instrument – drums, guitar, vocals, anything.) The crew’s offbeat sense of humor reflected in their new name had long been evident; in 1992, they released \u003cem>Battle Breaks\u003c/em>, one of the first DJ tool records specifically designed for scratching, officially credited to the Psychedelic Scratch Bastards on the Dirt Style label. In later years they would put out various releases under an affiliate record label that they named Galactic Butt Hair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before settling on the new name, though, they ran it by a younger DJ who was asked to join the crew — Jonathan Cruz, a.k.a. DJ Shortkut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952228\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1193\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-800x543.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.shortkut-1536x1042.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Electro and the Art of the Quick Mix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Growing up in Daly City, Shortkut caught the DJ bug thanks to a Filipino mobile crew who played his 6th grade dance. He started DJing at age 13, after the local Filipino sound system culture had cycled through disco, metal, and New Wave, before arriving at hip-hop, freestyle and Miami bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Shortkut’s first exposures to a DJ battle took place in a large hall.“There would be about four to six sound systems separately set up in the one room with their own individual sound systems. Each group would get about like 20 minutes to do their thing, and then at the end of the night, whoever won. The word got out that group won, and then that’s who everyone wanted to book for school dances or birthday parties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortkut joined a crew called Just 2 Hype, which played freestyle, Miami bass and 808-laced Mantronix singles. “That’s why I think the Bay Area is specifically more scratch-DJ based,” he says, “because everyone scratched to fast beats, all the classic electro stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also worked on perfecting the art of the quick-mix, changing up the record every four or eight bars. But records like DJ Jazzy Jeff’s “Live At Union Square” drew him into the world of scratch-mixing. “When I first started scratching, I just listened to records, basically. All the early records I used to buy, I would just try to copy what I heard on record.”\u003cbr>\nIn the late ’80s and early ’90s, he says, “I really got into embracing hip-hop” – catching up with records that hadn’t been hugely popular in the Filipino scene, and becoming further enthralled with scratching and beat-juggling. “That’s when I was first hearing about Qbert and Apollo and Mix Master Mike,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952223\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1742px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1742\" height=\"1190\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952223\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_.jpg 1742w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-800x546.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan1_-1536x1049.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1742px) 100vw, 1742px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First trip to Japan, 1993. At far left is B-boy and dancer Richard Colón, a.k.a. Crazy Legs from the Rock Steady Crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back then, Apollo was the big name, being from Unlimited Sounds. “He was the party rocker. But he was kind of the B-boy out of all the Filipino guys I knew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he attempted to build his DJ skills, Shortkut remembers listening to cassette tapes of Qbert scratching and mixing. Initially, he had only basic equipment, and used belt-driven turntables. “I got better once I got to direct-drives because I already knew how to handle it and have a certain feel to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Qbert winning the U.S. DMC Championship in 1991 was huge, he says. “We didn’t really have any role models, as a Filipino kid.” He took the win as validation – and inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lived about five minutes from Q’s house,” he says. “I used to go to Q’s house with the guy who taught me how to DJ. We both cold-called Q because we knew he was the one who had all the battle videos. So we would go to his house and dub the videos and while they were dubbing, me and Q would scratch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During this time, Shortkut says, Mike had moved to Sacramento, and Apollo was DJing for Branford Marsalis, “so I would hook up with Q and Disk a lot.” Q used to bring Shortkut and Disk along when he opened up shows in the Bay – affording the younger DJs valuable stage experience. Shortkut, Mike, and Q eventually formed a crew briefly called the Turntable Dragons, pre-ISP. Then, in 1993, Shortkut, Mike, and Q played a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935467/the-bomb-magazine-label-san-francisco-turntablism-djs\">Bomb Hip-Hop\u003c/a> Party – possibly the first time they had been billed as the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952239\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952239\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/invisblskratchp_002-h.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The five-man crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Everyone That Worked There Was Filipino’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Dave Paul, publisher of \u003cem>Bomb Hip Hop Magazine\u003c/em>, coincidentally also began as a mobile DJ in 1984 with a crew called Midnight Connections. He tells a funny story about working an after-school job for Chevron. “I wasn’t that great. So they moved me from, like, the main Chevron on Geary Street over to one on California Street. And everyone that worked there was Filipino. Turned out everyone that worked there was also a DJ.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul knew of Apollo from Unlimited Sounds, and had seen Qbert perform a famous “Mary Had A Little Lamb” routine during a San Jose battle around 1989 or 1990. “That really got his name out,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the annual Gavin Convention in San Francisco, Bomb Hip Hop magazine would present live performance showcases. Paul booked the Piklz on multiple occasions, beginning in 1992, when they were still called the Rocksteady DJs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Paul, the vibe of those early performances “was always sort of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDLzGtQmMyw\">don’t-give-a-fuck style\u003c/a>. Like, things didn’t have to be clean. They were just really raw. And it was just ill. They were doing stuff that no one else was doing at the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10345320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10345320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ QBert. \u003ccite>(Thud Rumble)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After releasing a now-legendary compilation tape that featured Qbert along with a Canadian MC named Madchild, as well as local underground artists like Homeless Derelix, Blackalicious, Bored Stiff, and Mystik Journeymen, Bomb Hip Hop became a record label in 1995 with the release of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937489/best-bay-area-turntablism-scratch-dj-albums\">\u003cem>Return of the DJ Vol. 1\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That record essentially started the movement of turntablism as a musical genre. The Skratch Piklz (at that time, Qbert, Shortkut and Disk) were featured on “Invasion of the Octopus People,” while Mix Master Mike contributed his first official solo production, “Terrorwrist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Return of the DJ \u003c/em>evolved into a compilation series spanning multiple volumes, and inspired numerous others, like Om Records’ \u003cem>Deep Concentration\u003c/em> and Ubiquity’s \u003cem>Audio Alchemy\u003c/em> compilations. Asphodel, an alternative label known for ultra-underground somnolent, ambient, droney electronic music, signed the Skratch Piklz to a deal, which resulted in 1996’s single “Invisibl Skratch Piklz vs. Da Klamz Uv Deth,” which featured Qbert, Shortkut, and Mix Master Mike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1938px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1938\" height=\"1882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca.jpg 1938w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-800x777.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1020x991.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-160x155.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-768x746.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1536x1492.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ezgif-3-ae00e595ca-1920x1865.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1938px) 100vw, 1938px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Invisibl Skratch Piklz vs. Da Clamz Uv Deth,’ 1997. \u003ccite>(Asphodel Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A very strange thing about that (single) is, I had just invented scratch music,” Qbert says. “Which is this thing where every sound is scratched. Drums are scratched, the hi-hats are scratched, the snare and vocals are scratched, the chords, every single thing is scratched! No matter what is in there. So that was tracked out — like, every track was off the turntables, making a complete scratch song.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turntablism spread quickly through San Francisco’s progressive club scene in the mid-’90s. Mark Herlihy’s art/performance collective Future Primitive established itself as an avant garde music label with a live recording of Shortkut and Cut Chemist at Cat’s Alley, on Folsom Street. An outer Tenderloin hole in the wall, Deco, became a headquarters for unfiltered, ultra-creative DJ expression in its basement, via “Many Styles” nights curated by Apollo. Qbert was part of the groundbreaking alternative hip-hop group Dr. Octagon along with producer Dan the Automator and MC Kool Keith, who recorded an indie classic that got re-released nationally by Dreamworks. To this day, Qbert’s scratch solo on Dr. Octagon’s “Earth People” stands out as a particular flashpoint, the turntable equivalent, perhaps, of the guitar solos on “Hotel California” or “Comfortably Numb.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Needless to say, it’s not an empty boast when Mix Master Mike says he and the Skratch Piklz “pretty much created this genre of music.” No one was doing it before them, and many followed in their footsteps. Locally, the Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters (aka the Space Travelers), Supernatural Turntable Artists, and the Oakland Faders all scratched and juggled. Live bands incorporating turntablists included Live Human (DJ Quest) and Soulstice (Mei-Lwun). New York’s X-Ecutioners were probably ISP’s closest counterparts nationally, having formed in 1989. But despite their turntable innovations, even they weren’t performing or recording as a \u003cem>band\u003c/em> until after the Skratch Piklz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/AAA_Q_ISP_11_JeffStraw-2144-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz at the DMC World DJ Finals at The Midway in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jeff Straw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back when they were known as the X-Men, the X-Ecutioners faced off against the Piklz in a landmark 1996 battle in New York’s Manhattan Center – a contest so epic, it’s listed among \u003cem>Mixmag\u003c/em>’s \u003ca href=\"https://mixmag.net/feature/the-10-best-dj-scratch-battles-of-all-time\">Top 10 DJ Scratch Battles of All Time\u003c/a>. X-Ecutioners member and DJ historian Rob Swift says Qbert first came on his radar in 1991, when he beat X-Ecutioners founder Steve Dee to win the US DMC Finals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought he was Hawaiian,” Swift says, because Qbert appeared to be wearing a lei in the battle video. “We didn’t know that he was this Filipino DJ that came out of this Filipino community of DJs in the Bay Area. We didn’t know that there \u003cem>were\u003c/em> DJs out there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swift later entered the 1991 New Music Seminar battle, where Qbert was a judge; the two exchanged numbers and began calling each other and exchanging videos regularly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When rappers began increasingly excluding the DJ throughout the ’90s, he says he and Qbert would discuss what to do about it., “We would both be like, ‘You’ve got these rappers (not respecting the DJ). Fuck them, and we’re going to create our own DJ scene. If the music industry is going to turn their backs on DJing, we need to figure out a way to just create our own scene.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And,” he adds, “that’s exactly what we did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952225\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952225\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1166\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Lebanon.trophy-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invisibl Skratch Piklz in Lebanon. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Enter the ITF — and D-Styles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the Pilkz battled the X-Ecutioners, it was as much about gaining respect for turntable culture as it was about individual bragging rights. Though the court of public opinion is still split on who won, the battle put a spotlight on both crews. As Swift says, “We started strategizing ways to book our own tours and create all-DJ competitions (like) the ITF, the International Turntablist Federation,” who organized the historic battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded by Alex Aquino with help from Shortkut, the ITF was established in 1995 and stayed active until 2005. It was intended as a cultural organization, and as somewhat of a critique of the DMC, which had become the only major DJ competition, following the demise of the New Music Seminar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without the DMC,” Aquino says, “we wouldn’t have this world stage for the guys to be on. But after Q lost that first battle, we were like, something has to change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, the criteria. “And so, we were like, let’s do our own battle. Let’s have real turntablists and DJs judge it, like a New Music Seminar, but instead of just the one-on-one battle, the advancement class for the belt, let’s do a scratching category. Let’s do a beat-juggling category. And let’s do a team category. And that’s how we started out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1366px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952211\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"1834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine.jpg 1366w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-800x1074.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-1020x1369.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-160x215.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-768x1031.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.japan_.magazine-1144x1536.jpg 1144w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a Japanese magazine, date unknown. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DJs like Vin Roc, Babu, Craze, and A-Trak all won ITF titles, as did teams like the Allies and Beat Junkies. The ITF succeeded in giving turntablists a visible platform to showcase their skills and in further popularizing the artform in the U.S. and internationally. (In 1999, the DMC would add a team category, and the organization currently rotates additional categories, including Scratch, Portablist, and Beat Juggling.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After \u003cem>Return of the DJ\u003c/em>’s “Octopus People,” with Apollo unavailable and Mix Master Mike pursuing a solo career, the Skratch Piklz needed new blood. For the next few years, ISP membership became somewhat fluid, swelling and contracting as new members joined for a while, before going off to do other projects. DJ Disk, DJ Flare, Canadian teenage prodigy A-Trak, and former Thud Rumble label manager Ritche Desuasido, a.k.a. Yogafrog, were all ISP members at one time or another, along with Shortkut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Beat Junkies member Dave Cuasito, a.k.a. D-Styles, joined the Piklz and became a linchpin for the group; Aquino calls him “the hidden master.” Though not as flashy or famous as Qbert, he’s well-respected in turntablist circles and has helped focus the Pilkz on compositional elements in their music while also being able to scratch, cut and juggle at a high level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in the Philippines, D-Styles grew up in San Jose. Like the other Piklz, he was exposed to hip-hop through breaking and its accompanying soundtrack. “I would hear the songs that they were playing, but then they would scratch certain words and certain parts of that song. And so I was always curious how they were doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952229\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1759px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1168\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_.jpg 1759w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.qbert_.dst_-1536x1020.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grandmaster DXT and Qbert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alex Aquino)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His answer came when he saw Grandmixer DST (now known as DXT)’s scratch segment on Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.” After getting a basic Realistic mixer for his birthday, he, too, joined a mobile DJ crew (Sound City), who pooled their equipment like so many others – and spent their meager proceeds on post-gig Denny’s meals. After taking part in typical mobile battles with crews exchanging 20-minute sets, he discovered there was a battle specifically for scratch DJs, and competed in the 1993 DMC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, he moved to San Francisco to attend college, but what he really wanted was to pursue music. He was already familiar with Mike, Qbert and Shortkut from the battle scene, and from hanging out on Tuesday night at Deco, a small speakeasy-style jazz bar with open turntables in the basement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One strange night, I got a phone call on my answering machine and it was Yogafrog and Q, and they were like, ‘Hey, man’ – I don’t know if they were drunk or what – but they were like, ‘we need to talk, man. We think we should all come together and form a crew.” They met up and talked, and soon after, he was asked to officially join the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D-Styles stoic demeanor compliments the other Piklz, yet beneath his focused concentration lies a punk rock attitude that aligns with Qbert’s philosophy that the only rule is there are no rules. Likewise, his turntable-composition approach balances the others’ battle-DJ backgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952235\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 636px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952235\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs.png 636w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/SK-A-TRAK-1997-at-Qs-160x119.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortkut and A-Trak at Qbert’s place, 1997. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Shortkut)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As far as a turntable composer, I feel like we definitely embrace the more musical side of it, and less technical,” he says. “For the battle DJs, they really try to spray like a Uzi, you know what I mean? And just get off a bunch of power stuff and try to wow the the crowd and the judges. For music, it’s more about the long-term thing. We want to make music that’s timeless. And it’s not based off of a five-minute routine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the core Piklz now set with Qbert, Shortkut and D-Styles, Mix Master Mike – who remained affiliated with the crew – says, “I felt like we had the perfect stew. Everyone had their own style, their own identity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around this time, Mike began putting together his first solo album, \u003cem>Anti-Theft Device\u003c/em>, which he envisioned as “not an underground album (but) a worldwide release.” He imagined himself as a sonic transducer, attracting and reshaping matter into different forms. He drew on inspirations like Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, early Public Enemy, Thelonious Monk, Rage Against the Machine and Ennio Morricone. He contemplated the subtlety of silence, of ghost notes and pregnant pauses. And then he went out and made an album with booming, deafening drums and thumping bass on nearly every track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I focused on the drums first,” Mike says. “I wanted to make sure those drums were hitting really hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952249\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952249\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-800x787.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-160x157.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/MMM.antitheft-768x756.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mix Master Mike’s ‘Anti-Theft Device,’ 1998. \u003ccite>(Asphodel Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On \u003cem>Anti-Theft Device\u003c/em>, the found sounds and quirky vocal samples (“NASA maintains this is \u003cem>not\u003c/em> Colonel Blaha’s voice”) often present on DJ mix tapes resurface often, along with boom-bap beats and scratched phrases, instruments and sound effects. There are elements of intoxicated or altered reality, and bug-out moments that suggest turboized vocoders spouting underwater propellers, or seemingly random musical sample generators harnessing infinite libraries of sound, from raga to reggae to rock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day,” Mike says, “it’s about spearheading the evolution of the battle DJ – as artist, composer, tastemaker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Mike was the first Pikl to make a solo album, Qbert crafted an especially ambitious concept for his first official solo debut. As Mike tells it, he had some extra tracks left over, which he gave to Qbert. “And he fuckin’, just like, went crazy on those beats. And then, yeah. It became \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/R-16932444-1610670653-3566-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Qbert’s ‘Wave Twisters,’ 1998. The album spawned a cult-classic 2001 animated film of the same name. \u003ccite>(Galactic Butt Hair Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Wave Twisters, the Beasties and Beyond\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em> holds the rare distinction of being a soundtrack around which a movie was later designed. The album received extremely positive reviews, making many music critics’ year-end lists. To this day, it’s regarded as one of the best turntablism albums of all time. Tracks like “Destination: Quasar 16.33.45.78” took ISP battle routines to new levels, imagining a battle in inner space between a heroic dental hygienist and the minions of a villain named Lord Ook. The track revels in sci-fi tropes, with vocal cues like “Attention, starship!” coloring the scratched, transformed and cut-up audio landscape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Qbert, \u003cem>Wave Twisters\u003c/em> was willed into existence. “I intentionally foresaw it because in the back of my head, I was like, I’m gonna make every song like a storyline. It’s going to be a thing. And somebody’s going to animate this. And then out of nowhere, the universe made it all work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13937489","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, Mix Master Mike was setting his own intentions – around becoming a member of the Beastie Boys. A longtime fan of their music, he says, “even before I met them, I always thought I was the fourth Beastie, and I was the missing element.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the Beasties’ MCA during a Rock Steady Crew anniversary in 1996, Mike took an unusual route to make his dreams come true. “I went up to MCA and introduced myself,” he recalls. “He knew who I was through all the competitions and the battles, and we exchanged phone numbers and went back home. And late at night, I would just leave these scratch messages on his answering machine. Two, three in the morning, just leaving these scratches on his machine, hoping that these transmissions would penetrate. Fortunately they did. \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#mix-master-mike-becomes-the-beastie-boys-dj\">And the rest is history\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952251\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1611\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-768x483.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1536x967.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-2048x1289.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Beasties.MixMasterMike.2004-1920x1208.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) Mixmaster Mike, Mike Diamond, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, and Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz of The Beastie Boys attend the MTV Europe Music Awards 2004 at Tor di Valle Nov. 18, 2004 in Rome, Italy. \u003ccite>(Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mike joined the Beasties in time for 1998’s \u003cem>Hello Nasty\u003c/em> album, remaining part of the group until MCA died of cancer in 2012 and the Beastie Boys disbanded. “So at the end of the day,” Mike says, “it’s all about power of intention, right? And my intention was to get in the band or work with the band.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the ’90s drew to a close, the Piklz weren’t quite done. They produced Skratchcon 2000, a scratching convention, bringing together pioneering masters and acolytes of DJ scratch music. “That was our old manager, Yogafrog,” Qbert says. “His idea to put on a convention called Scratchcon, that was a genius idea of his, and we should do a Part II. We got all the best, most popular scratchers on the planet to come through. It was huge. Steve Dee was there, even Aladdin, all the X-Ecutioners, everybody. It was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"983\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/ISP.Garage.Group_-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Shortkut, D-Styles, Mix Master Mike, Yogafrog and QBert in QBert’s garage in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, 1998. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia /The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skratchcon drew fans from all over the country, in addition to current and historic scratch DJs,for live showcases and demonstrations like DJ Radar’s introduction of scratch notation. The convention culminated with a live concert at the Fillmore Auditorium, billed at the time as the ISP’s last official performance. To this day, it stands as one of the highpoints of a decade overflowing with revolutionary developments in hip-hop DJ culture, which saw the Invisibl Skratch Piklz make history and become iconic representatives of turntablism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mix Master Mike says, “There is no ceiling to this. No, it’s whatever you think about is whatever you create and whatever you can apply.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11687704\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"60\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-400x30.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/06/Turntable.Break_-768x58.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13952208/invisibl-skratch-piklz-filipino-djs-daly-city-san-francisco-turntablism-history","authors":["11839"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_2854","arts_21712","arts_2852","arts_10278","arts_831","arts_17218","arts_21940","arts_1146","arts_19347","arts_21711"],"featImg":"arts_13952226","label":"arts"},"arts_13950520":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13950520","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13950520","score":null,"sort":[1707948014000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"ruth-beckford-dance-black-panthers-free-breakfast-program","title":"The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program","publishDate":1707948014,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8978,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the late 1960s, an uncommonly energetic 43-year-old named Ruth Beckford was teaching an Afro-Haitian dance class in Oakland. A dancing pro since the age of eight, Beckford had a habit of taking a close personal interest in her students. She taught the youngest ones a combination of life skills and etiquette to set them up for bright futures. She encouraged teens and young women to love themselves and pursue their dreams. And when one of her students told Beckford about her involvement with the Black Panther Party, Beckford was keen to be of assistance with that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student in question was LaVerne Anderson, who happened to be the girlfriend of Huey P. Newton. Beckford began by accompanying Anderson to some of Newton’s 1968 trial dates. In September of that year, when the idea for the Panthers’ Free Breakfast for School Children Program first came up, it was Beckford who sprang into action and made it happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13874853']Beckford had long been a parishioner at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://staugepiscopal.org/\">St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church\u003c/a>, then situated at West and 27th Streets. Beckford approached her priest there, Father Earl A. Neil, to find out if St. Augustine’s was willing to host a daily program there to feed neighborhood kids. Father Neil agreed, and he and Beckford went about building a health code-safe kitchen and dining space, as well as a nutritionally balanced menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the first day — a Monday in January 1969 — 11 children came to eat. By Friday, that number had swelled to 135. Beckford and Father Neil made such a success of the free breakfasts, the program was soon mandatory in all Black Panther chapters nationwide. It was also a shining example of Beckford’s ability to turn ideas into action, and to plant seeds that would one day create mighty forests. That’s something she had already been doing in her dance classes for 22 years before she got involved with the Panthers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-939585344-scaled-e1707777665615.jpg\" alt=\"Several young Black boys, one of whom is wearing a suit, raise their hands to speak as they sit around a table, paper plates of food in front of them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1298\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for Children program — like this one in New York City in 1969 — combined education and good nutrition. \u003ccite>(Bev Grant/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]B[/dropcap]eckford was born on Dec. 7, 1925 in Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://localwiki.org/oakland/Providence_Hospital\">Providence Hospital\u003c/a> to a Jamaican father and a mother from Los Angeles. Beckford was the youngest of four — she had a big sister and a pair of twin brothers — and was raised on 38th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. She grew up in a household so supportive that, when they saw her kicking along to music in her crib as a baby, her parents pledged to get her into dance class as soon as she was old enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At three years old, Beckford began training in “every kind of dance,” her dedicated mom sewing all her costumes. It was clear from the beginning that the young girl was naturally gifted, and that dance was indeed her calling. By eight, she was a vaudeville dancer. By 14, she was teaching other children. At 17, she toured with the prestigious Katherine Dunham Company, where she fully embraced African and Caribbean dance for the first time. Beckford loved the work but declined a seven-year contract from Dunham so she could attend UC Berkeley instead. (Dunham remained a mentor and friend for life, and Beckford taught in her New York dance school in 1953.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13926548,pop_102326,arts_13916612']During her studies, Beckford was the only Black dancer in UC Berkeley’s dance club, Orchesis. The experience prepared her for working in majority-white companies later on. In her 20s, as the only Black dancer with the \u003ca href=\"https://calisphere.org/item/8c65bcebbbc335b04faa0cd457e3ebd7/\">Anna Halprin and Welland Lathrop\u003c/a> modern dance company, Beckford said she could sometimes hear the audience gasp as she arrived on San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once Beckford had graduated with a modern dance degree, she was keen to serve her community while doing what she loved most. First, she started an annual modern dance showcase that ran for over a decade. Then in 1947, aged just 21, Beckford started the Oakland Recreation Modern Dance Department — the first city-funded dance classes in the United States — and remained project director there for 20 years. Beckford insisted the classes be free so that anyone, no matter their means, would be able to attend. By the time she left in 1967, the department was running 34 modern dance classes for 700 students of all ages and abilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the importance of this program, Beckford later stated: “My philosophy for the young girls was, I would get them in through dance, but my whole goal was to make them be strong, free spirits. The girls got a lot of doses of self-empowerment training, self-esteem training,” she said. “Out of the thousands of girls that I taught, I knew a few would be dancers, but they all had to become women. I wanted them all to be strong young ladies — and it worked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These relationships were so important to Beckford, she prioritized them over having children of her own. “I feel if I had had children,” she said in 2000, “I would not have been the mentor to the hundreds and hundreds of girls I mentored. I would give them all the attention. I would tell them they were special.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 1954 on, Beckford was also running her own company, the Ruth Beckford African Haitian Dance Company. Her understanding of traditional styles was so exhaustive, she was invited to choreograph a folk festival in Haiti in 1958. At home, her company’s performances — comprised of six dancers accompanied by three drummers — were unlike anything most dance fans had seen in the Bay Area before. For a start, the company was comprised entirely of Black dancers — a refreshing contrast to the companies Beckford had grown up in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951198\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13951198 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/GettyImages-576842076-scaled-e1706578196329.jpg\" alt=\"A Black male dancer does the splits in mid-air, while two Black women dance either side of him.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1516\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students and members of Ruth Beckford’s dance group rehearse a number in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Ted Streshinsky/ CORBIS/ Corbis via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter Beckford retired from teaching in 1975, there was still no stopping her. She became an author, writing an autobiography, two cookbooks and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/2784188\">Katherine Dunham biography\u003c/a>. She also co-authored \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.everand.com/book/502678421/The-Picture-Man-From-the-Collection-of-Bay-Area-Photographer-E-F-Joseph-1927-1979\">The Picture Man\u003c/a>,\u003c/em> about Black Bay Area photographer E.F. Joseph. Her final work, \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Still-Groovin-Affirmations-Women-Second/dp/0829813373\">\u003cem>Still Groovin’\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, was a book of spiritual advice and affirmations aimed squarely at mature women. “Women are sort of out there by themselves,” she said, “and women have to mentor each other. My book is a tool to help them become stronger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Still Groovin’\u003c/em> wasn’t her only means of trying to empower her peers. Between 1984 and 1988, Beckford wrote a trilogy of plays titled \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">’\u003c/span>\u003cem>Tis the Morning of My Life\u003c/em>, about a woman named Roxie Youngblood who finds herself in a relationship with a much younger man. Beckford admitted the story was inspired by her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_102855']“I have a different energy, I think, to most men my age,” she once explained. “As long as I have this energy, I’m going to use it and have fun with younger people. Younger men have the energy I have, and I feel mine is worthy of that.” On another occasion, she noted: “Older women are marrying younger men nowadays because they find they have much more in common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a New York theater asked permission to stage her first play, Beckford agreed only if the original Bay Area cast could perform it. “It’s time for New York to see what the West Coast can do,” she insisted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a lot of people, co-founding the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast program would have been the pinnacle achievement of a lifetime. That Beckford then went on to mentor generations of young Black women was a huge deal. And the sheer number of ways Beckford sought to be of service throughout her life is ultimately breathtaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She served on the Board of Oakland\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">’s\u003c/span> African American Museum and Library, where she also founded an oral history program. She counseled homeless people in Berkeley, and women in shelters and prisons around the state. She served on a dance panel at the National Endowment for the Arts and campaigned for better theater facilities in Oakland. She founded a women’s golf club. She even spent Thursday afternoons in the late 1990s volunteering in Jack London Square’s information booth so that she might pass on her passion for all things Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruth Beckford remained indefatigable (despite surviving five back surgeries and a hip replacement) until her death at age 93. Shortly before her passing on May 8, 2019, Beckford reflected on a life thoroughly well lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a joyous life, I have a good time,” she said. “I choreographed my life. Step-by-step, year-by-year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Ruth Beckford used dance as a means to mentor thousands of young women in Oakland. She never stopped serving her community.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1710265590,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":23,"wordCount":1542},"headData":{"title":"The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program | KQED","description":"Ruth Beckford used dance as a means to mentor thousands of young women in Oakland. She never stopped serving her community.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program","datePublished":"2024-02-14T22:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-12T17:46:30.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/6767ea25-cddc-42bd-baac-b12c0136bde8/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13950520/ruth-beckford-dance-black-panthers-free-breakfast-program","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n the late 1960s, an uncommonly energetic 43-year-old named Ruth Beckford was teaching an Afro-Haitian dance class in Oakland. A dancing pro since the age of eight, Beckford had a habit of taking a close personal interest in her students. She taught the youngest ones a combination of life skills and etiquette to set them up for bright futures. She encouraged teens and young women to love themselves and pursue their dreams. And when one of her students told Beckford about her involvement with the Black Panther Party, Beckford was keen to be of assistance with that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student in question was LaVerne Anderson, who happened to be the girlfriend of Huey P. Newton. Beckford began by accompanying Anderson to some of Newton’s 1968 trial dates. In September of that year, when the idea for the Panthers’ Free Breakfast for School Children Program first came up, it was Beckford who sprang into action and made it happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13874853","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Beckford had long been a parishioner at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://staugepiscopal.org/\">St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church\u003c/a>, then situated at West and 27th Streets. Beckford approached her priest there, Father Earl A. Neil, to find out if St. Augustine’s was willing to host a daily program there to feed neighborhood kids. Father Neil agreed, and he and Beckford went about building a health code-safe kitchen and dining space, as well as a nutritionally balanced menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the first day — a Monday in January 1969 — 11 children came to eat. By Friday, that number had swelled to 135. Beckford and Father Neil made such a success of the free breakfasts, the program was soon mandatory in all Black Panther chapters nationwide. It was also a shining example of Beckford’s ability to turn ideas into action, and to plant seeds that would one day create mighty forests. That’s something she had already been doing in her dance classes for 22 years before she got involved with the Panthers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-939585344-scaled-e1707777665615.jpg\" alt=\"Several young Black boys, one of whom is wearing a suit, raise their hands to speak as they sit around a table, paper plates of food in front of them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1298\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for Children program — like this one in New York City in 1969 — combined education and good nutrition. \u003ccite>(Bev Grant/ Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">B\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>eckford was born on Dec. 7, 1925 in Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://localwiki.org/oakland/Providence_Hospital\">Providence Hospital\u003c/a> to a Jamaican father and a mother from Los Angeles. Beckford was the youngest of four — she had a big sister and a pair of twin brothers — and was raised on 38th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. She grew up in a household so supportive that, when they saw her kicking along to music in her crib as a baby, her parents pledged to get her into dance class as soon as she was old enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At three years old, Beckford began training in “every kind of dance,” her dedicated mom sewing all her costumes. It was clear from the beginning that the young girl was naturally gifted, and that dance was indeed her calling. By eight, she was a vaudeville dancer. By 14, she was teaching other children. At 17, she toured with the prestigious Katherine Dunham Company, where she fully embraced African and Caribbean dance for the first time. Beckford loved the work but declined a seven-year contract from Dunham so she could attend UC Berkeley instead. (Dunham remained a mentor and friend for life, and Beckford taught in her New York dance school in 1953.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13926548,pop_102326,arts_13916612","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During her studies, Beckford was the only Black dancer in UC Berkeley’s dance club, Orchesis. The experience prepared her for working in majority-white companies later on. In her 20s, as the only Black dancer with the \u003ca href=\"https://calisphere.org/item/8c65bcebbbc335b04faa0cd457e3ebd7/\">Anna Halprin and Welland Lathrop\u003c/a> modern dance company, Beckford said she could sometimes hear the audience gasp as she arrived on San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once Beckford had graduated with a modern dance degree, she was keen to serve her community while doing what she loved most. First, she started an annual modern dance showcase that ran for over a decade. Then in 1947, aged just 21, Beckford started the Oakland Recreation Modern Dance Department — the first city-funded dance classes in the United States — and remained project director there for 20 years. Beckford insisted the classes be free so that anyone, no matter their means, would be able to attend. By the time she left in 1967, the department was running 34 modern dance classes for 700 students of all ages and abilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the importance of this program, Beckford later stated: “My philosophy for the young girls was, I would get them in through dance, but my whole goal was to make them be strong, free spirits. The girls got a lot of doses of self-empowerment training, self-esteem training,” she said. “Out of the thousands of girls that I taught, I knew a few would be dancers, but they all had to become women. I wanted them all to be strong young ladies — and it worked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These relationships were so important to Beckford, she prioritized them over having children of her own. “I feel if I had had children,” she said in 2000, “I would not have been the mentor to the hundreds and hundreds of girls I mentored. I would give them all the attention. I would tell them they were special.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 1954 on, Beckford was also running her own company, the Ruth Beckford African Haitian Dance Company. Her understanding of traditional styles was so exhaustive, she was invited to choreograph a folk festival in Haiti in 1958. At home, her company’s performances — comprised of six dancers accompanied by three drummers — were unlike anything most dance fans had seen in the Bay Area before. For a start, the company was comprised entirely of Black dancers — a refreshing contrast to the companies Beckford had grown up in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951198\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13951198 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/GettyImages-576842076-scaled-e1706578196329.jpg\" alt=\"A Black male dancer does the splits in mid-air, while two Black women dance either side of him.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1516\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students and members of Ruth Beckford’s dance group rehearse a number in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Ted Streshinsky/ CORBIS/ Corbis via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">A\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>fter Beckford retired from teaching in 1975, there was still no stopping her. She became an author, writing an autobiography, two cookbooks and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/2784188\">Katherine Dunham biography\u003c/a>. She also co-authored \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.everand.com/book/502678421/The-Picture-Man-From-the-Collection-of-Bay-Area-Photographer-E-F-Joseph-1927-1979\">The Picture Man\u003c/a>,\u003c/em> about Black Bay Area photographer E.F. Joseph. Her final work, \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Still-Groovin-Affirmations-Women-Second/dp/0829813373\">\u003cem>Still Groovin’\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, was a book of spiritual advice and affirmations aimed squarely at mature women. “Women are sort of out there by themselves,” she said, “and women have to mentor each other. My book is a tool to help them become stronger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Still Groovin’\u003c/em> wasn’t her only means of trying to empower her peers. Between 1984 and 1988, Beckford wrote a trilogy of plays titled \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">’\u003c/span>\u003cem>Tis the Morning of My Life\u003c/em>, about a woman named Roxie Youngblood who finds herself in a relationship with a much younger man. Beckford admitted the story was inspired by her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"pop_102855","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I have a different energy, I think, to most men my age,” she once explained. “As long as I have this energy, I’m going to use it and have fun with younger people. Younger men have the energy I have, and I feel mine is worthy of that.” On another occasion, she noted: “Older women are marrying younger men nowadays because they find they have much more in common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a New York theater asked permission to stage her first play, Beckford agreed only if the original Bay Area cast could perform it. “It’s time for New York to see what the West Coast can do,” she insisted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a lot of people, co-founding the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast program would have been the pinnacle achievement of a lifetime. That Beckford then went on to mentor generations of young Black women was a huge deal. And the sheer number of ways Beckford sought to be of service throughout her life is ultimately breathtaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She served on the Board of Oakland\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">’s\u003c/span> African American Museum and Library, where she also founded an oral history program. She counseled homeless people in Berkeley, and women in shelters and prisons around the state. She served on a dance panel at the National Endowment for the Arts and campaigned for better theater facilities in Oakland. She founded a women’s golf club. She even spent Thursday afternoons in the late 1990s volunteering in Jack London Square’s information booth so that she might pass on her passion for all things Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruth Beckford remained indefatigable (despite surviving five back surgeries and a hip replacement) until her death at age 93. Shortly before her passing on May 8, 2019, Beckford reflected on a life thoroughly well lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a joyous life, I have a good time,” she said. “I choreographed my life. Step-by-step, year-by-year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13950520/ruth-beckford-dance-black-panthers-free-breakfast-program","authors":["11242"],"programs":["arts_8978"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_966","arts_7862","arts_11615"],"tags":["arts_6775","arts_1346","arts_10278","arts_7408","arts_1143","arts_21841"],"featImg":"arts_13951421","label":"arts_8978"},"arts_13937270":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13937270","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13937270","score":null,"sort":[1699894805000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"the-pregnant-teen-who-captained-a-clipper-ship-in-1856","title":"The Pregnant Teen Who Captained a Clipper Ship in 1856","publishDate":1699894805,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The Pregnant Teen Who Captained a Clipper Ship in 1856 | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8978,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>On Nov. 13, 1856, witnesses on San Francisco’s shoreline were astonished by the sight of a pregnant 19-year-old girl guiding a grand, 216-foot-long clipper ship into port. Mary Ann Patten had spent the previous two months leading the crew and cargo of the Neptune’s Car to safety from Chile’s Cape Horn. It was a role the young woman stepped up and took on after her husband — respected captain and master mariner, Joshua Adams Patten — contracted \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541015/#:~:text=Tuberculous%20meningitis%20(TBM)%20is%20caused,to%20be%20infected%20with%20MTB.\">tuberculous meningitis\u003c/a> and pneumonia, rendering him blind, incoherent and bedridden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Mary had successfully overseen the ship’s safe passage — even while nursing her ailing husband — made her an instant celebrity. That she was the first American woman to captain a merchant vessel made her a nautical legend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13932525']The end of the Pattens’ journey on Neptune’s Car in many ways stands as a testament to their partnership. Joshua and Mary were married when she was just 16. The refined and intelligent girl was born in East Boston to immigrant parents from England, and always had a passion for learning. Joshua was widely viewed as a man of strong principles and good character. Though he was ten years Mary’s senior, the pair quickly developed a deep dedication to one another that was rooted in mutual respect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That dedication was in evidence after the original captain of the Neptune’s Car became ill and Joshua was asked to take his place on an 18-month around-the world voyage. Keen to accept the business opportunity but loathe to leave Mary for so long, Joshua contacted New York’s Foster & Nickerson shipping company and said that he would accept the job only under one unusual condition — that his wife be allowed to go with him. His bosses agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1596px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937748\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A 19th century painting of a vast clipper ship at sea.\" width=\"1596\" height=\"1130\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM.png 1596w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-800x566.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-1020x722.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-768x544.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-1536x1088.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1596px) 100vw, 1596px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neptune’s Car, the ship that Mary Ann Patten would later captain, as seen in Hong Kong Harbor in the early 1850s.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Conditions aboard clipper ships in the 1850s were far from romantic. Everyday life was cold, wet and grueling. Food rations were limited, illness was common on long journeys and, though sick sailors were isolated as soon as possible, it wasn’t unusual for disease to spread in the tight living quarters. Despite what was sure to be a challenging environment, Mary had no fear about joining Joshua on the epic journey. Having been born into a family of seafarers, she held a reverence and love for the open ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her first year aboard Neptune’s Car, Mary spent her time wisely and constructively. She studied marinery in Joshua’s library. She assisted her husband with his duties, even keeping the captain’s log. She also took the time to learn how to use the ship’s chronometers — tools to aid celestial navigation. Thanks to her curious mind and diligent personality, by the time Joshua fell ill, Mary had a solid understanding of how to run the ship effectively. It’s a good thing: If she hadn’t, the fate of Neptune’s Car would have been much bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13892514']The reason it was left to Mary to captain the vessel was because the ship’s first and second mates were incapable of doing so themselves. The second mate had never learned how to navigate, and the first — a man named Keeler — was grossly incompetent to the point of dangerous. (Keeler was a hasty replacement for the original first mate, who had broken his leg just before Neptune’s Car set sail.) Keeler was such a liability that he was removed from duty while Joshua was still in charge. One 1877 newspaper article even reported that Keeler was “put in irons” after trying to start a mutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after Mary took over, Keeler wrote her a letter from the brig to try and persuade her that she was ill-equipped to take charge of the ship. He, rather absurdly, suggested that he might take the job instead. Mary responded simply that her husband had not trusted Keeler, so she wasn’t inclined to either. Mary already knew that she had the trust of the rest of the crew, who had adapted remarkably quickly to taking orders from a woman — a diminutive one at that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 1857, the \u003cem>Star of the North\u003c/em> newspaper reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The rough sailors all obeyed the ‘little woman’ as they called her, with a will, and eyed her curiously and affectionately through the cabin windows while deep in the calculations on which her life and theirs depended … Her time was spent between the bedside of her delirious husband and the writing desk, working up the intricate calculations incident to nautical observations, making entries in the log book in her own delicate penmanship and tracing out with accuracy the position of the ship from the charts in the cabin.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>When Neptune’s Car finally arrived in San Francisco safely, Mary’s first priority was getting Joshua home and to medical attention. Because he was a member of their fraternal organization, the California Masonic Temple quickly arranged travel for Joshua and Mary back to Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13908327']Soon, news broke that Foster & Nickerson were refusing to pay Joshua’s wages. The resulting public outcry was so great that the New York Board of Underwriters awarded Mary $1,000 and the companies whose cargo she had safely delivered gave her an additional $1,500. (All told, that adds up to around $90,000 in 2023 money.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After receiving the money, Mary responded with a humble and widely circulated letter. In it, she wrote: “I … endeavored to perform that which seemed to me, under the circumstances, only the plain duty of a wife towards a good husband.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, just eight months after the Pattens’ return home, and four months after Mary had given birth to their son, Joshua finally succumbed to his long illness at the McLean Asylum in Somerville, Massachusetts. An obituary published July 25, 1857 stated:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Deaf and blind and sick as he has been for months past, [Joshua’s] heroic wife refused to surrender him to the care of strangers. It was not until Friday, when it was apparent that his reason was gone and he was utterly unmanageable, that she consented to his removal to the Asylum. Mary had a fever herself at the time. The patience in suffering and the energy in emergencies which she has hitherto displayed may carry her over this, which she regards as the greatest of her sorrows.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Mary was not long without Joshua. She died of tuberculosis just one month before her 24th birthday, leaving her son, Joshua Jr., to be raised by his maternal grandmother. Today, Mary and Joshua are buried side-by-side in Woodlawn Cemetery, Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearby, there is a white stone etched with the words: “Are there seas in heaven, Joshua? And is there such a vessel as our Neptune’s Car? If there is, wait for me and we shall explore the vast and boundless reaches of eternity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Mary Ann Patten was aboard Neptune's Car when her husband, the captain, fell ill. She navigated the vessel to safety.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705092195,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":21,"wordCount":1237},"headData":{"title":"The Pregnant Teen Who Captained a Clipper Ship in 1856 | KQED","description":"Mary Ann Patten was aboard Neptune's Car when her husband, the captain, fell ill. She navigated the vessel to safety.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Pregnant Teen Who Captained a Clipper Ship in 1856","datePublished":"2023-11-13T17:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T20:43:15.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/07cbfb3d-2008-4e9f-b066-b0bc01444a1f/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13937270/the-pregnant-teen-who-captained-a-clipper-ship-in-1856","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Nov. 13, 1856, witnesses on San Francisco’s shoreline were astonished by the sight of a pregnant 19-year-old girl guiding a grand, 216-foot-long clipper ship into port. Mary Ann Patten had spent the previous two months leading the crew and cargo of the Neptune’s Car to safety from Chile’s Cape Horn. It was a role the young woman stepped up and took on after her husband — respected captain and master mariner, Joshua Adams Patten — contracted \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541015/#:~:text=Tuberculous%20meningitis%20(TBM)%20is%20caused,to%20be%20infected%20with%20MTB.\">tuberculous meningitis\u003c/a> and pneumonia, rendering him blind, incoherent and bedridden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Mary had successfully overseen the ship’s safe passage — even while nursing her ailing husband — made her an instant celebrity. That she was the first American woman to captain a merchant vessel made her a nautical legend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13932525","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The end of the Pattens’ journey on Neptune’s Car in many ways stands as a testament to their partnership. Joshua and Mary were married when she was just 16. The refined and intelligent girl was born in East Boston to immigrant parents from England, and always had a passion for learning. Joshua was widely viewed as a man of strong principles and good character. Though he was ten years Mary’s senior, the pair quickly developed a deep dedication to one another that was rooted in mutual respect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That dedication was in evidence after the original captain of the Neptune’s Car became ill and Joshua was asked to take his place on an 18-month around-the world voyage. Keen to accept the business opportunity but loathe to leave Mary for so long, Joshua contacted New York’s Foster & Nickerson shipping company and said that he would accept the job only under one unusual condition — that his wife be allowed to go with him. His bosses agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1596px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937748\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A 19th century painting of a vast clipper ship at sea.\" width=\"1596\" height=\"1130\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM.png 1596w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-800x566.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-1020x722.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-768x544.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.15.33-PM-1536x1088.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1596px) 100vw, 1596px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neptune’s Car, the ship that Mary Ann Patten would later captain, as seen in Hong Kong Harbor in the early 1850s.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Conditions aboard clipper ships in the 1850s were far from romantic. Everyday life was cold, wet and grueling. Food rations were limited, illness was common on long journeys and, though sick sailors were isolated as soon as possible, it wasn’t unusual for disease to spread in the tight living quarters. Despite what was sure to be a challenging environment, Mary had no fear about joining Joshua on the epic journey. Having been born into a family of seafarers, she held a reverence and love for the open ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her first year aboard Neptune’s Car, Mary spent her time wisely and constructively. She studied marinery in Joshua’s library. She assisted her husband with his duties, even keeping the captain’s log. She also took the time to learn how to use the ship’s chronometers — tools to aid celestial navigation. Thanks to her curious mind and diligent personality, by the time Joshua fell ill, Mary had a solid understanding of how to run the ship effectively. It’s a good thing: If she hadn’t, the fate of Neptune’s Car would have been much bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13892514","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The reason it was left to Mary to captain the vessel was because the ship’s first and second mates were incapable of doing so themselves. The second mate had never learned how to navigate, and the first — a man named Keeler — was grossly incompetent to the point of dangerous. (Keeler was a hasty replacement for the original first mate, who had broken his leg just before Neptune’s Car set sail.) Keeler was such a liability that he was removed from duty while Joshua was still in charge. One 1877 newspaper article even reported that Keeler was “put in irons” after trying to start a mutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after Mary took over, Keeler wrote her a letter from the brig to try and persuade her that she was ill-equipped to take charge of the ship. He, rather absurdly, suggested that he might take the job instead. Mary responded simply that her husband had not trusted Keeler, so she wasn’t inclined to either. Mary already knew that she had the trust of the rest of the crew, who had adapted remarkably quickly to taking orders from a woman — a diminutive one at that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 1857, the \u003cem>Star of the North\u003c/em> newspaper reported:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The rough sailors all obeyed the ‘little woman’ as they called her, with a will, and eyed her curiously and affectionately through the cabin windows while deep in the calculations on which her life and theirs depended … Her time was spent between the bedside of her delirious husband and the writing desk, working up the intricate calculations incident to nautical observations, making entries in the log book in her own delicate penmanship and tracing out with accuracy the position of the ship from the charts in the cabin.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>When Neptune’s Car finally arrived in San Francisco safely, Mary’s first priority was getting Joshua home and to medical attention. Because he was a member of their fraternal organization, the California Masonic Temple quickly arranged travel for Joshua and Mary back to Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13908327","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Soon, news broke that Foster & Nickerson were refusing to pay Joshua’s wages. The resulting public outcry was so great that the New York Board of Underwriters awarded Mary $1,000 and the companies whose cargo she had safely delivered gave her an additional $1,500. (All told, that adds up to around $90,000 in 2023 money.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After receiving the money, Mary responded with a humble and widely circulated letter. In it, she wrote: “I … endeavored to perform that which seemed to me, under the circumstances, only the plain duty of a wife towards a good husband.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, just eight months after the Pattens’ return home, and four months after Mary had given birth to their son, Joshua finally succumbed to his long illness at the McLean Asylum in Somerville, Massachusetts. An obituary published July 25, 1857 stated:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Deaf and blind and sick as he has been for months past, [Joshua’s] heroic wife refused to surrender him to the care of strangers. It was not until Friday, when it was apparent that his reason was gone and he was utterly unmanageable, that she consented to his removal to the Asylum. Mary had a fever herself at the time. The patience in suffering and the energy in emergencies which she has hitherto displayed may carry her over this, which she regards as the greatest of her sorrows.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Mary was not long without Joshua. She died of tuberculosis just one month before her 24th birthday, leaving her son, Joshua Jr., to be raised by his maternal grandmother. Today, Mary and Joshua are buried side-by-side in Woodlawn Cemetery, Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearby, there is a white stone etched with the words: “Are there seas in heaven, Joshua? And is there such a vessel as our Neptune’s Car? If there is, wait for me and we shall explore the vast and boundless reaches of eternity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13937270/the-pregnant-teen-who-captained-a-clipper-ship-in-1856","authors":["11242"],"programs":["arts_8978"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_7862","arts_11615"],"tags":["arts_10278","arts_21841"],"featImg":"arts_13937666","label":"arts_8978"},"arts_13932525":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13932525","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13932525","score":null,"sort":[1693577313000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"mother-thompson-san-francisco-tavern-owner-bay-area-history","title":"The Eccentric Saloon Owner Beloved and Defended by 19th-Century Sailors","publishDate":1693577313,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The Eccentric Saloon Owner Beloved and Defended by 19th-Century Sailors | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":8978,"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>Sailors called her “mother,” thieves cursed her name, and for decades she entertained both at her Embarcadero saloon. Mother Thompson, as she was known, may have shared a nickname with a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Thompson\">well-known temperance campaigner\u003c/a>, but her business was booze, banter, then more booze. It was also her to job to boldly defend her bar during a time when it was dangerous to be a woman behind one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13931837']Mother Thompson’s establishment, named Mrs. Thompson’s, was opposite today’s Rincon Park. Its front door was on Embarcadero between Howard and Folsom, with an additional rear entrance on Steuart Street that faced a vacant lot. \u003cem>The San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> reported in 1901 that one patron attempting to use the back entrance was robbed of his pocket watch by three men. The front entrance wasn’t much safer. In 1918, the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em> reported that a 41-year-old sailor named John McMahon was shot in front of the bar by an unknown assailant and died on his way to the Harbor Emergency Hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trouble didn’t always stay outside the saloon either. On one occasion when a customer refused to pay for his drinks, Thompson simply came out from behind the bar, walked up to the man, and slammed him in the throat with a length of rubber hose. \u003cem>The Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> later reported that “he went down as though struck by a pile driver,” and “a couple of swampers [men who performed odd jobs] picked him up and tossed him to the sidewalk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933424\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-800x946.jpg\" alt=\"An historical image of crowds of men gathered with mules on a busy corner. Behind them is a city block of wooden structures and shops.\" width=\"800\" height=\"946\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-800x946.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-160x189.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-768x908.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367.jpg 846w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view, in 1900, of Embarcadero facing north from Folsom St. Mother Thompson’s bar was on the block visible behind the crowds in the foreground. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp37.02367)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thompson’s regulars — mostly sailors — treated her with the utmost respect, often bringing her gifts from their travels including fine silks, wooden carvings and artificial flowers. When her tavern caught fire in 1916, sailors assisted the firemen tasked with extinguishing the blaze. \u003cem>The Chronicle\u003c/em> reported that during the fire, six men in the bar refused to leave, saying “If she goes down, we go with her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927137']Thompson returned these kinds of favors by offering tabs and free drinks to friendly seafarers who were down on their luck. In a 1911 story in \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em>, Thompson — apparently “getting on in years” with gray hair and a “very ample” waistline by then — was quoted as saying, “The sailor byes [boys] has a hard life with nothin’ but a plank between him and death. And so they likes to have what fun they can ashore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These men often felt protective of Thompson and assisted her when she was faced with unruly patrons. “Niver have I been insulted by sailor men,” Thompson told \u003cem>The Call\u003c/em>. “One or twice a man has started to say something, but always it was a landsman and the byes put him out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1913, when a towboat captain named Joseph C. Powell demanded repeatedly that someone else in the bar pay for drinks he’d already consumed, Thompson’s regulars were said to have set upon him, beaten him senseless and taken $5 from his pocket to pay her. \u003cem>The Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> reported shortly thereafter that Powell was “laid up at the harbor hospital for repairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933422\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933422\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-800x630.jpg\" alt=\"A black wooden shack marked PIER 10 sits before ships docked on the San Francisco Bay. The air is thick with smoke. The ferry building is visible off in the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-800x630.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-768x605.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scene across the street from Mrs. Thompson’s back in 1900. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp4.1330)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It is fairly likely, based on the manner in which she was quoted in \u003cem>The Call\u003c/em>, that Thompson originally hailed from England. This would also explain her popularity with British sailors — she was the only bartender in San Francisco who served English ale in pewter mugs, as was customary in the U.K. at the time. Sailors from Liverpool flocked to see Thompson every chance they got. One report in \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em> also mentioned “a swarthy, black-haired Highland Scotchman and a gray-haired old Welsh bosun” enthusiastically singing the sea shanty “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItFqjjLPjcA\">Blow the Man Down\u003c/a>” at the end of the bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thompson, though well equipped to deal with even the roughest of customers, was also known to sit behind the bar knitting on slow nights. She had raised several children — when they were young, they stayed with her at the bar while she worked — and kept a large gray cockatoo as a pet. The bird hung out at the tavern and was known to occasionally shout “Belay, there!” at noisy customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just how long Mrs. Thompson’s was in operation is now difficult to ascertain. Some turn-of-the-century newspaper articles said only the oldest of sailors would remember exactly when it opened. Based on when newspaper reports about the bar disappeared, it was likely put out of business by Prohibition in 1920.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929998']What we do know is that between 1900 and 1940, women like Mother Thompson made up just 2% of the bartending workforce. Things got even worse in 1948 when \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goesaert_v._Cleary\">a Supreme Court ruling stopped women from working as bartenders\u003c/a> in any establishment that wasn’t owned by their father or husband, or in any town that had a population over 50,000 people. The law was designed to force women back out from behind the bar after the boom in female bartending that had happened during World War II. That law wasn’t overturned until 1971.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mother Thompson had neither the time nor the inclination to worry about whether or not her profession was suitable for someone of her gender. This undoubtedly eccentric woman was concerned only about living her life on her own terms from beneath her signature black straw bonnet. But Thompson also served as an important early example of just how successful a female bar owner could be — not to mention how beloved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She has a deal of kindness in her eyes,” \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em> once noted, “and she smiles when she talks of the seafaring men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Mother Thompson’s Embarcadero tavern was rough and ready, but it was a home away from home for sailors.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705092279,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":17,"wordCount":1055},"headData":{"title":"Mother Thompson’s San Francisco Tavern Was a Sailor’s Paradise | KQED","description":"Mother Thompson’s Embarcadero tavern was rough and ready, but it was a home away from home for sailors.","ogTitle":"The Eccentric Saloon Owner Beloved and Defended by 19th-Century Sailors","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"The Eccentric Saloon Owner Beloved and Defended by 19th-Century Sailors","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","socialTitle":"Mother Thompson’s San Francisco Tavern Was a Sailor’s Paradise%%page%% %%sep%% KQED","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"The Eccentric Saloon Owner Beloved and Defended by 19th-Century Sailors","datePublished":"2023-09-01T14:08:33.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T20:44:39.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/31669622-87e3-42ec-aad5-b07c01210b6c/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13932525/mother-thompson-san-francisco-tavern-owner-bay-area-history","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sailors called her “mother,” thieves cursed her name, and for decades she entertained both at her Embarcadero saloon. Mother Thompson, as she was known, may have shared a nickname with a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Thompson\">well-known temperance campaigner\u003c/a>, but her business was booze, banter, then more booze. It was also her to job to boldly defend her bar during a time when it was dangerous to be a woman behind one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13931837","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mother Thompson’s establishment, named Mrs. Thompson’s, was opposite today’s Rincon Park. Its front door was on Embarcadero between Howard and Folsom, with an additional rear entrance on Steuart Street that faced a vacant lot. \u003cem>The San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> reported in 1901 that one patron attempting to use the back entrance was robbed of his pocket watch by three men. The front entrance wasn’t much safer. In 1918, the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em> reported that a 41-year-old sailor named John McMahon was shot in front of the bar by an unknown assailant and died on his way to the Harbor Emergency Hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trouble didn’t always stay outside the saloon either. On one occasion when a customer refused to pay for his drinks, Thompson simply came out from behind the bar, walked up to the man, and slammed him in the throat with a length of rubber hose. \u003cem>The Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> later reported that “he went down as though struck by a pile driver,” and “a couple of swampers [men who performed odd jobs] picked him up and tossed him to the sidewalk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933424\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-800x946.jpg\" alt=\"An historical image of crowds of men gathered with mules on a busy corner. Behind them is a city block of wooden structures and shops.\" width=\"800\" height=\"946\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-800x946.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-160x189.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367-768x908.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp37.02367.jpg 846w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view, in 1900, of Embarcadero facing north from Folsom St. Mother Thompson’s bar was on the block visible behind the crowds in the foreground. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp37.02367)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thompson’s regulars — mostly sailors — treated her with the utmost respect, often bringing her gifts from their travels including fine silks, wooden carvings and artificial flowers. When her tavern caught fire in 1916, sailors assisted the firemen tasked with extinguishing the blaze. \u003cem>The Chronicle\u003c/em> reported that during the fire, six men in the bar refused to leave, saying “If she goes down, we go with her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13927137","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Thompson returned these kinds of favors by offering tabs and free drinks to friendly seafarers who were down on their luck. In a 1911 story in \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em>, Thompson — apparently “getting on in years” with gray hair and a “very ample” waistline by then — was quoted as saying, “The sailor byes [boys] has a hard life with nothin’ but a plank between him and death. And so they likes to have what fun they can ashore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These men often felt protective of Thompson and assisted her when she was faced with unruly patrons. “Niver have I been insulted by sailor men,” Thompson told \u003cem>The Call\u003c/em>. “One or twice a man has started to say something, but always it was a landsman and the byes put him out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1913, when a towboat captain named Joseph C. Powell demanded repeatedly that someone else in the bar pay for drinks he’d already consumed, Thompson’s regulars were said to have set upon him, beaten him senseless and taken $5 from his pocket to pay her. \u003cem>The Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> reported shortly thereafter that Powell was “laid up at the harbor hospital for repairs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933422\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933422\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-800x630.jpg\" alt=\"A black wooden shack marked PIER 10 sits before ships docked on the San Francisco Bay. The air is thick with smoke. The ferry building is visible off in the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-800x630.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330-768x605.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/opensfhistory_wnp4.1330.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scene across the street from Mrs. Thompson’s back in 1900. \u003ccite>(OpenSFHistory / wnp4.1330)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It is fairly likely, based on the manner in which she was quoted in \u003cem>The Call\u003c/em>, that Thompson originally hailed from England. This would also explain her popularity with British sailors — she was the only bartender in San Francisco who served English ale in pewter mugs, as was customary in the U.K. at the time. Sailors from Liverpool flocked to see Thompson every chance they got. One report in \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em> also mentioned “a swarthy, black-haired Highland Scotchman and a gray-haired old Welsh bosun” enthusiastically singing the sea shanty “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItFqjjLPjcA\">Blow the Man Down\u003c/a>” at the end of the bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thompson, though well equipped to deal with even the roughest of customers, was also known to sit behind the bar knitting on slow nights. She had raised several children — when they were young, they stayed with her at the bar while she worked — and kept a large gray cockatoo as a pet. The bird hung out at the tavern and was known to occasionally shout “Belay, there!” at noisy customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just how long Mrs. Thompson’s was in operation is now difficult to ascertain. Some turn-of-the-century newspaper articles said only the oldest of sailors would remember exactly when it opened. Based on when newspaper reports about the bar disappeared, it was likely put out of business by Prohibition in 1920.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13929998","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What we do know is that between 1900 and 1940, women like Mother Thompson made up just 2% of the bartending workforce. Things got even worse in 1948 when \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goesaert_v._Cleary\">a Supreme Court ruling stopped women from working as bartenders\u003c/a> in any establishment that wasn’t owned by their father or husband, or in any town that had a population over 50,000 people. The law was designed to force women back out from behind the bar after the boom in female bartending that had happened during World War II. That law wasn’t overturned until 1971.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mother Thompson had neither the time nor the inclination to worry about whether or not her profession was suitable for someone of her gender. This undoubtedly eccentric woman was concerned only about living her life on her own terms from beneath her signature black straw bonnet. But Thompson also served as an important early example of just how successful a female bar owner could be — not to mention how beloved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She has a deal of kindness in her eyes,” \u003cem>The San Francisco Call\u003c/em> once noted, “and she smiles when she talks of the seafaring men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To learn about other Rebel Girls from Bay Area History, visit the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/rebelgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebel Girls homepage\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13932525/mother-thompson-san-francisco-tavern-owner-bay-area-history","authors":["11242"],"programs":["arts_8978"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_7862","arts_11615"],"tags":["arts_6660","arts_10278","arts_21529","arts_21841"],"featImg":"arts_13933547","label":"arts_8978"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"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 />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","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":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"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","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"}},"considerthis":{"id":"considerthis","title":"Consider This","tagline":"Make sense of the day","info":"Make sense of the day. Every weekday afternoon, Consider This helps you consider the major stories of the day in less than 15 minutes, featuring the reporting and storytelling resources of NPR. Plus, KQED’s Bianca Taylor brings you the local KQED news you need to know.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Consider-This-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"Consider This from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/considerthis","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"7"},"link":"/podcasts/considerthis","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1503226625?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/coronavirusdaily","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM1NS9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3Z6JdCS2d0eFEpXHKI6WqH"}},"forum":{"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":"8"},"link":"/forum","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"}},"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":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","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"}},"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.","airtime":"MON-FRI 7pm-8pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/fresh-air","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"}},"here-and-now":{"id":"here-and-now","title":"Here & Now","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.","airtime":"MON-THU 11am-12pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/here-and-now","subsdcribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"}},"how-i-built-this":{"id":"how-i-built-this","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":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/how-i-built-this","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"}},"inside-europe":{"id":"inside-europe","title":"Inside Europe","info":"Inside Europe, a one-hour weekly news magazine hosted by Helen Seeney and Keith Walker, explores the topical issues shaping the continent. No other part of the globe has experienced such dynamic political and social change in recent years.","airtime":"SAT 3am-4am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Inside-Europe-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Deutsche Welle"},"link":"/radio/program/inside-europe","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-europe/id80106806?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Inside-Europe-p731/","rss":"https://partner.dw.com/xml/podcast_inside-europe"}},"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":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"}},"live-from-here-highlights":{"id":"live-from-here-highlights","title":"Live from Here Highlights","info":"Chris Thile steps to the mic as the host of Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion), a live public radio variety show. Download Chris’s Song of the Week plus other highlights from the broadcast. Produced by American Public Media.","airtime":"SAT 6pm-8pm, SUN 11am-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Live-From-Here-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.livefromhere.org/","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"american public media"},"link":"/radio/program/live-from-here-highlights","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1167173941","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Live-from-Here-Highlights-p921744/","rss":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/a-prairie-home-companion-highlights/rss/rss"}},"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","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/","rss":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"}},"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":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","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":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/morning-edition"},"onourwatch":{"id":"onourwatch","title":"On Our Watch","tagline":"Police secrets, unsealed","info":"For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"On Our Watch from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/onourwatch","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"1"},"link":"/podcasts/onourwatch","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"}},"on-the-media":{"id":"on-the-media","title":"On The Media","info":"Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us","airtime":"SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm","meta":{"site":"news","source":"wnyc"},"link":"/radio/program/on-the-media","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/","rss":"http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"}},"our-body-politic":{"id":"our-body-politic","title":"Our Body Politic","info":"Presented by KQED, KCRW and KPCC, and created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.","airtime":"SAT 6pm-7pm, SUN 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Our-Body-Politic-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://our-body-politic.simplecast.com/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kcrw"},"link":"/radio/program/our-body-politic","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-body-politic/id1533069868","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9feGFQaHMxcw","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4ApAiLT1kV153TttWAmqmc","rss":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/_xaPhs1s","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Our-Body-Politic-p1369211/"}},"pbs-newshour":{"id":"pbs-newshour","title":"PBS NewsHour","info":"Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.","airtime":"MON-FRI 3pm-4pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"pbs"},"link":"/radio/program/pbs-newshour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/","rss":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"}},"perspectives":{"id":"perspectives","title":"Perspectives","tagline":"KQED's series of of daily listener commentaries since 1991","info":"KQED's series of of daily listener commentaries since 1991.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Perspectives-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/perspectives/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"15"},"link":"/perspectives","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"}},"planet-money":{"id":"planet-money","title":"Planet Money","info":"The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.","airtime":"SUN 3pm-4pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/sections/money/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/planet-money","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"}},"politicalbreakdown":{"id":"politicalbreakdown","title":"Political Breakdown","tagline":"Politics from a personal perspective","info":"Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.","airtime":"THU 6:30pm-7pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Political Breakdown","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"11"},"link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5Nzk2MzI2MTEx","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"}},"pri-the-world":{"id":"pri-the-world","title":"PRI's The World: Latest Edition","info":"Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.","airtime":"MON-FRI 2pm-3pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world","meta":{"site":"news","source":"PRI"},"link":"/radio/program/pri-the-world","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/","rss":"http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"}},"radiolab":{"id":"radiolab","title":"Radiolab","info":"A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.","airtime":"SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/radiolab","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/","rss":"https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"}},"reveal":{"id":"reveal","title":"Reveal","info":"Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.","airtime":"SAT 4pm-5pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/reveal","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/","rss":"http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"}},"says-you":{"id":"says-you","title":"Says You!","info":"Public radio's game show of bluff and bluster, words and whimsy. The warmest, wittiest cocktail party - it's spirited and civil, brainy and boisterous, peppered with musical interludes. Fast paced and playful, it's the most fun you can have with language without getting your mouth washed out with soap. Our motto: It's not important to know the answers, it's important to like the answers!","airtime":"SUN 4pm-5pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Says-You-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.saysyouradio.com/","meta":{"site":"comedy","source":"Pipit and Finch"},"link":"/radio/program/says-you","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/says-you!/id1050199826","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Says-You-p480/","rss":"https://saysyou.libsyn.com/rss"}},"science-friday":{"id":"science-friday","title":"Science Friday","info":"Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.","airtime":"FRI 11am-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/science-friday","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/","rss":"http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"}},"science-podcast":{"id":"science-podcast","title":"KQED Science News","tagline":"From the lab, to your ears","info":"KQED Science explores science and environment news, trends, and events from the Bay Area and beyond.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-News-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/category/science-podcast/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"kqed","order":"17"},"link":"/science/category/science-podcast","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqed-science-news/id214663465","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2Jsb2dzLmtxZWQub3JnL3NjaWVuY2UvZmVlZC8","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed-science-news","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/category/science-podcast/feed/podcast"}},"selected-shorts":{"id":"selected-shorts","title":"Selected Shorts","info":"Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen.","airtime":"SAT 8pm-9pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Selected-Shorts-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pri.org/programs/selected-shorts","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"pri"},"link":"/radio/program/selected-shorts","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=253191824&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Selected-Shorts-p31792/","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/selectedshorts"}},"snap-judgment":{"id":"snap-judgment","title":"Snap Judgment","info":"Snap Judgment (Storytelling, with a BEAT) mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic, kick-ass radio. Snap’s raw, musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. WNYC studios is the producer of leading podcasts including Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, Note To Self, Here’s The Thing With Alec Baldwin, and more.","airtime":"SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/snapJudgement.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://snapjudgment.org","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/snap-judgment","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=283657561&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Snap-Judgment-p243817/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/snapjudgment-wnyc"}},"soldout":{"id":"soldout","title":"SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America","tagline":"A new future for housing","info":"Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/soldout","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":3},"link":"/podcasts/soldout","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america","tunein":"https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vc29sZG91dA"}},"ted-radio-hour":{"id":"ted-radio-hour","title":"TED Radio Hour","info":"The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.","airtime":"SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/ted-radio-hour","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"}},"tech-nation":{"id":"tech-nation","title":"Tech Nation Radio Podcast","info":"Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.","airtime":"FRI 10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://technation.podomatic.com/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"Tech Nation Media"},"link":"/radio/program/tech-nation","subscribe":{"rss":"https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"}},"thebay":{"id":"thebay","title":"The Bay","tagline":"Local news to keep you rooted","info":"Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED The Bay","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/thebay","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"6"},"link":"/podcasts/thebay","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM4MjU5Nzg2MzI3","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"}},"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","imageAlt":"KQED The California Report","officialWebsiteLink":"/californiareport","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"9"},"link":"/californiareport","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1MDAyODE4NTgz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"}},"californiareportmagazine":{"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","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/californiareportmagazine","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"10"},"link":"/californiareportmagazine","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"}},"theleap":{"id":"theleap","title":"The Leap","tagline":"What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?","info":"Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED The Leap","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/theleap","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"14"},"link":"/podcasts/theleap","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM0NTcwODQ2MjY2","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"}},"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"}},"the-moth-radio-hour":{"id":"the-moth-radio-hour","title":"The Moth Radio Hour","info":"Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.","airtime":"SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://themoth.org/","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"prx"},"link":"/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/","rss":"http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"}},"the-new-yorker-radio-hour":{"id":"the-new-yorker-radio-hour","title":"The New Yorker Radio Hour","info":"The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.","airtime":"SAT 10am-11am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"}},"the-takeaway":{"id":"the-takeaway","title":"The Takeaway","info":"The Takeaway is produced in partnership with its national audience. It delivers perspective and analysis to help us better understand the day’s news. Be a part of the American conversation on-air and online.","airtime":"MON-THU 12pm-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Takeaway-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/takeaway","meta":{"site":"news","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/the-takeaway","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-takeaway/id363143310?mt=2","tuneIn":"http://tunein.com/radio/The-Takeaway-p150731/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/takeawaypodcast"}},"this-american-life":{"id":"this-american-life","title":"This American Life","info":"This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.","airtime":"SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.thisamericanlife.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"wbez"},"link":"/radio/program/this-american-life","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","rss":"https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"}},"truthbetold":{"id":"truthbetold","title":"Truth Be Told","tagline":"Advice by and for people of color","info":"We’re the friend you call after a long day, the one who gets it. Through wisdom from some of the greatest thinkers of our time, host Tonya Mosley explores what it means to grow and thrive as a Black person in America, while discovering new ways of being that serve as a portal to more love, more healing, and more joy.","airtime":"","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Truth-Be-Told-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Truth Be Told with Tonya Mosley","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.kqed.ord/podcasts/truthbetold","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr","order":"12"},"link":"/podcasts/truthbetold","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/truth-be-told/id1462216572","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS90cnV0aC1iZS10b2xkLXBvZGNhc3QvZmVlZA","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/719210818/truth-be-told","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=398170&refid=stpr","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/587DhwTBxke6uvfwDfaV5N"}},"wait-wait-dont-tell-me":{"id":"wait-wait-dont-tell-me","title":"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!","info":"Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.","airtime":"SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"}},"washington-week":{"id":"washington-week","title":"Washington Week","info":"For 50 years, Washington Week has been the most intelligent and up to date conversation about the most important news stories of the week. Washington Week is the longest-running news and public affairs program on PBS and features journalists -- not pundits -- lending insight and perspective to the week's important news stories.","airtime":"SAT 1:30am-2am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/washington-week.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"pbs"},"link":"/radio/program/washington-week","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/washington-week-audio-pbs/id83324702?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Current-Affairs/Washington-Week-p693/","rss":"http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/weta/washingtonweek-audio"}},"weekend-edition-saturday":{"id":"weekend-edition-saturday","title":"Weekend Edition Saturday","info":"Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.","airtime":"SAT 5am-10am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"},"weekend-edition-sunday":{"id":"weekend-edition-sunday","title":"Weekend Edition Sunday","info":"Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.","airtime":"SUN 5am-10am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"},"world-affairs":{"id":"world-affairs","title":"World Affairs","info":"The world as we knew it is undergoing a rapid transformation…so what's next? Welcome to WorldAffairs, your guide to a changing world. We give you the context you need to navigate across borders and ideologies. Through sound-rich stories and in-depth interviews, we break down what it means to be a global citizen on a hot, crowded planet. Our hosts, Ray Suarez, Teresa Cotsirilos and Philip Yun help you make sense of an uncertain world, one story at a time.","airtime":"MON 10pm, TUE 1am, SAT 3am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/World-Affairs-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg ","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.worldaffairs.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"World Affairs"},"link":"/radio/program/world-affairs","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-affairs/id101215657?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/WorldAffairs-p1665/","rss":"https://worldaffairs.libsyn.com/rss"}},"on-shifting-ground":{"id":"on-shifting-ground","title":"On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez","info":"Geopolitical turmoil. A warming planet. Authoritarians on the rise. We live in a chaotic world that’s rapidly shifting around us. “On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez” explores international fault lines and how they impact us all. Each week, NPR veteran Ray Suarez hosts conversations with journalists, leaders and policy experts to help us read between the headlines – and give us hope for human resilience.","airtime":"MON 10pm, TUE 1am, SAT 3am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2022/12/onshiftingground-600x600-1.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://worldaffairs.org/radio-podcast/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"On Shifting Ground"},"link":"/radio/program/on-shifting-ground","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/on-shifting-ground/id101215657","rss":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/36668/rss"}},"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.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain","airtime":"SUN 7pm-8pm","meta":{"site":"news","source":"NPR"},"link":"/radio/program/hidden-brain","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"}},"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/"}},"white-lies":{"id":"white-lies","title":"White Lies","info":"In 1965, Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma, Alabama. Three men were tried and acquitted, but no one was ever held to account. Fifty years later, two journalists from Alabama return to the city where it happened, expose the lies that kept the murder from being solved and uncover a story about guilt and memory that says as much about America today as it does about the past.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/White-Lies-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510343/white-lies","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/white-lies","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/whitelies","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1462650519?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM0My9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/12yZ2j8vxqhc0QZyRES3ft?si=LfWYEK6URA63hueKVxRLAw","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510343/podcast.xml"}},"rightnowish":{"id":"rightnowish","title":"Rightnowish","tagline":"Art is where you find it","info":"Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/rightnowish","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"kqed","order":"5"},"link":"/podcasts/rightnowish","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"}},"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","imageAlt":"KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/jerrybrown","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"16"},"link":"/podcasts/jerrybrown","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/","tuneIn":"http://tun.in/pjGcK","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9zZXJpZXMvamVycnlicm93bi9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qv"}},"the-splendid-table":{"id":"the-splendid-table","title":"The Splendid Table","info":"\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.splendidtable.org/","airtime":"SUN 10-11 pm","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/the-splendid-table"}},"racesReducer":{"5921":{"id":"5921","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 7","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":158422,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.97,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Doris Matsui","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":89456,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tom Silva","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":48920,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Mandel","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":20046,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-09T01:00:38.194Z"},"5922":{"id":"5922","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 8","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Rudy Recile","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John Garamendi","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5924":{"id":"5924","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 10","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":185034,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.07,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark DeSaulnier","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":121265,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katherine Piccinini","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34883,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nolan Chen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":19459,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Sweeney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":7606,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mohamed Elsherbini","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1821,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-09T01:02:32.415Z"},"5926":{"id":"5926","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":153801,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.88,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lateefah Simon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":85905,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jennifer Tran","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":22964,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tony Daysog","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":17197,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stephen Slauson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9699,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Glenn Kaplan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":6785,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4243,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Abdur Sikder","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2847,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ned Nuerge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2532,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Andre Todd","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1629,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-16T00:22:36.062Z"},"5928":{"id":"5928","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 14","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":125831,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.14,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Eric Swalwell","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":83989,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Vin Kruttiventi","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":22106,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Alison Hayden","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11928,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Luis Reynoso","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":7808,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:51:36.366Z"},"5930":{"id":"5930","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 16","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":182135,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.91,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","timeUpdated":"3:04 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sam Liccardo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":38489,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Evan Low","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":30249,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Simitian","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":30249,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Peter Ohtaki","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":23275,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Peter Dixon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14673,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Rishi Kumar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":12377,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Karl Ryan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11557,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Julie Lythcott-Haims","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11383,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ahmed Mostafa","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":5811,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Greg Tanaka","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2421,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joby Bernstein","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1651,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:32:05.002Z"},"5931":{"id":"5931","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 17","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":117534,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.92,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ro Khanna","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":73941,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Anita Chen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":31539,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Ritesh Tandon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":5728,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mario Ramirez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4491,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Dehn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":1835,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-08T01:50:53.956Z"},"5932":{"id":"5932","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 18","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":96302,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.93,"eevp":98.83,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Zoe Lofgren","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":49323,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Peter Hernandez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":31622,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Charlene Nijmeh","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":10614,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Lawrence Milan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2712,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Luele Kifle","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2031,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:26:02.706Z"},"5963":{"id":"5963","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":139085,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.62,"eevp":98.6,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Greer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":38079,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Chris Rogers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":27126,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rusty Hicks","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25615,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ariel Kelley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19483,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Frankie Myers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":17694,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ted Williams","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":9550,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Cynthia Click","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1538,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-22T21:38:36.711Z"},"5972":{"id":"5972","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":99775,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lori Wilson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":50085,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Dave Ennis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":26074,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Wanda Wallis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14638,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jeffrey Flack","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":8978,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-08T02:01:24.524Z"},"5973":{"id":"5973","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":143532,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:38 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Damon Connolly","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":111275,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andy Podshadley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":17240,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Eryn Cervantes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15017,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-21T00:25:32.262Z"},"5975":{"id":"5975","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 14","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":106997,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.06,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Buffy Wicks","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":78678,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Margot Smith","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":18251,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Utkarsh Jain","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":10068,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-15T01:30:34.539Z"},"5976":{"id":"5976","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":97144,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.98,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sonia Ledo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":30946,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Anamarie Farias","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":29512,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Monica Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":24775,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Karen Mitchoff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11911,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T00:19:38.858Z"},"5977":{"id":"5977","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 16","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joseph Rubay","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rebecca Bauer-Kahan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5978":{"id":"5978","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 17","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":111003,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"8:25 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Matt Haney","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":90915,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Manuel Noris-Barrera","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":13843,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Otto Duke","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":6245,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:36:19.697Z"},"5979":{"id":"5979","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 18","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":86008,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.1,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mia Bonta","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":73040,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andre Sandford","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"AIP","voteCount":4575,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mindy Pechenuk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4389,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Cheyenne Kenney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4004,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T08:03:23.729Z"},"5980":{"id":"5980","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 19","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":113959,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.8,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Catherine Stefani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":64960,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":33035,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nadia Flamenco","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":8335,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Arjun Sodhani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":7629,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-11T23:50:23.109Z"},"5981":{"id":"5981","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 20","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:36 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Liz Ortega","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5982":{"id":"5982","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 21","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark Gilham","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Diane Papan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5984":{"id":"5984","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 23","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":116963,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.91,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Marc Berman","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":67106,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Lydia Kou","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":23699,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Gus Mattammal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":13277,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Allan Marson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":12881,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T01:13:06.280Z"},"5987":{"id":"5987","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 26","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":72753,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Patrick Ahrens","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25036,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tara Sreekrishnan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19600,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Sophie Song","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15954,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Omar Din","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":8772,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Bob Goodwyn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":2170,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ashish Garg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1221,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T21:06:29.070Z"},"5989":{"id":"5989","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 28","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Gail Pellerin","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Liz Lawler","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6010":{"id":"6010","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 49","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:36 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Fong","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Long Liu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6018":{"id":"6018","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":229348,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.05,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:38 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jared Huffman","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":169005,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Chris Coulombe","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":37372,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tief Gibbs","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":18437,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jolian Kangas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":3166,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Brisendine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1368,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:46:10.103Z"},"6020":{"id":"6020","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":187640,"precinctsReportPercentage":96.32,"eevp":96.36,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Thompson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":118147,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John Munn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":56232,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andrew Engdahl","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11202,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Niket Patwardhan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":2059,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-07T00:30:57.980Z"},"6025":{"id":"6025","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 9","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":121271,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.17,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Josh Harder","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":60396,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Kevin Lincoln","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":36346,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John McBride","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15525,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Khalid Jafri","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9004,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:49:44.113Z"},"6031":{"id":"6031","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Anna Kramer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Kevin Mullin","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6035":{"id":"6035","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 19","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":203670,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.11,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jimmy Panetta","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":132540,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jason Anderson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":58120,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Sean Dougherty","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Grn","voteCount":13010,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-07T00:23:46.779Z"},"6066":{"id":"6066","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 3","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jamie Gallagher","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Aaron Draper","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6067":{"id":"6067","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 4","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Cecilia Aguiar-Curry","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6087":{"id":"6087","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 24","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":66643,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Alex Lee","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":45544,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bob Brunton","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14951,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marti Souza","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":6148,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T23:23:49.770Z"},"6088":{"id":"6088","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 25","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":69560,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.31,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ash Kalra","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":35821,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Ted Stroll","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":18255,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Lan Ngo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":15484,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T02:40:57.200Z"},"6092":{"id":"6092","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 29","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Robert Rivas","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"J.W. Paine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6223":{"id":"6223","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 46","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:16 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lou Correa","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Pan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6530":{"id":"6530","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 3","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":222193,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Thom Bogue","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":61776,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Christopher Cabaldon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":59041,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rozzana Verder-Aliga","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":45546,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jackie Elward","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":41127,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jimih Jones","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14703,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-15T01:24:31.539Z"},"6531":{"id":"6531","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":171623,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.09,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jim Shoemaker","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":74935,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jerry McNerney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":57040,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Carlos Villapudua","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":39648,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T20:07:46.382Z"},"6532":{"id":"6532","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 7","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":192446,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.72,"eevp":98.78,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jesse Arreguín","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":61837,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jovanka Beckles","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":34025,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Dan Kalb","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":28842,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Kathryn Lybarger","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":28041,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sandre Swanson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":22862,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jeanne Solnordal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":16839,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-16T00:58:11.533Z"},"6533":{"id":"6533","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 9","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Tim Grayson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marisol Rubio","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6534":{"id":"6534","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":228260,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.09,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Scott Wiener","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":166592,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Yvette Corkrean","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34438,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Cynthia Cravens","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":18513,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jing Xiong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":8717,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T02:01:51.597Z"},"6535":{"id":"6535","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 13","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":227191,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.88,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Josh Becker","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":167127,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Alexander Glew","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":42788,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Christina Laskowski","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":17276,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T01:56:24.964Z"},"6536":{"id":"6536","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":180231,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.81,"eevp":98.95,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Dave Cortese","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":124440,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Robert Howell","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34173,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tony Loaiza","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":21618,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T01:15:45.365Z"},"6548":{"id":"6548","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 39","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:55 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Akilah Weber","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bob Divine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6611":{"id":"6611","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":188732,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.89,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"8:25 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Nancy Pelosi","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":138285,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bruce Lou","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":16285,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marjorie Mikels","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":9363,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Bianca Von Krieg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":7634,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Zeng","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":6607,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Boyce","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4325,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Larry Nichelson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3482,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eve Del Castello","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2751,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:31:55.445Z"},"8589":{"id":"8589","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. Senate, Class I","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":7276537,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Adam Schiff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2299507,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Steve Garvey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2292414,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katie Porter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1115606,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Barbara Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":714408,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Early","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":240723,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"James Bradley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":98180,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Christina Pascucci","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":61755,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sharleta Bassett","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":54422,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sarah Liew","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":38483,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Laura Garza ","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":34320,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jonathan Reiss","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34283,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sepi Gilani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":34056,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Gail Lightfoot","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":33046,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Denice Gary-Pandol","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":25494,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"James Macauley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":23168,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Harmesh Kumar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21522,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"David Peterson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21076,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Douglas Pierce","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19371,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Major Singh","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":16965,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"John Rose","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14577,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Perry Pound","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14134,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Raji Rab","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":13558,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mark Ruzon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":13429,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Forrest Jones","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"AIP","voteCount":13027,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stefan Simchowitz","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":12717,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Martin Veprauskas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9714,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Don Grundmann","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":6582,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T05:01:46.589Z"},"8686":{"id":"8686","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"President,","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":3589127,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:48 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joe Biden","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":3200188,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marianne Williamson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":145690,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Dean Phillips","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":99981,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Armando Perez-Serrato","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":42925,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Gabriel Cornejo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":41261,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"President Boddie","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25373,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stephen Lyons","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21008,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eban Cambridge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":12701,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:12:27.559Z"},"8688":{"id":"8688","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"President,","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":2466569,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Donald Trump","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":1953947,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nikki Haley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":430792,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ron DeSantis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":35581,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Chris Christie","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":20164,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Vivek Ramaswamy","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11069,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Rachel Swift","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4231,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"David Stuckenberg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3895,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ryan Binkley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3563,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Asa Hutchinson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3327,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:13:19.766Z"},"81993":{"id":"81993","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. Senate, Class I Unexpired Term","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":7358837,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Steve Garvey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2444940,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Adam Schiff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2155146,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katie Porter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1269194,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Barbara Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":863278,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Early","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":448788,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Christina Pascucci","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":109421,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sepi Gilani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":68070,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:31:08.186Z"},"82014":{"id":"82014","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"Proposition, 1 - Behavioral Health Services Program","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":7221972,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":null,"voteCount":3624998,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":null,"voteCount":3596974,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-21T00:11:06.265Z"},"timeLoaded":"April 25, 2024 4:02 PM","nationalRacesLoaded":true,"localRacesLoaded":true,"overrides":[{"id":"5921","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 7","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5922","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 8","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5924","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 10","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5926","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 12","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/congress-12th-district"},{"id":"5928","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 14","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5930","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 16","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/congress-16th-district"},{"id":"5931","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 17","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5932","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 18","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5963","raceName":"State Assembly, District 2","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5972","raceName":"State Assembly, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5973","raceName":"State Assembly, District 12","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5975","raceName":"State Assembly, District 14","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5976","raceName":"State Assembly, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/contracosta/state-assembly"},{"id":"5977","raceName":"State Assembly, District 16","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5978","raceName":"State Assembly, District 17","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5979","raceName":"State Assembly, District 18","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5980","raceName":"State Assembly, District 19","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5981","raceName":"State Assembly, District 20","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5982","raceName":"State Assembly, District 21","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5984","raceName":"State Assembly, District 23","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-assembly-23rd-district"},{"id":"5987","raceName":"State Assembly, District 26","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/state-assembly-26th-district"},{"id":"5989","raceName":"State Assembly, District 28","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6010","raceName":"State Assembly, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6018","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 2","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6020","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6025","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 9","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6031","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6035","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 19","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6067","raceName":"State Assembly, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6087","raceName":"State Assembly, District 24","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6088","raceName":"State Assembly, District 25","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6092","raceName":"State Assembly, District 29","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6223","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6530","raceName":"State Senate, District 3","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-senate-3rd-district"},{"id":"6531","raceName":"State Senate, District 5","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6532","raceName":"State Senate, District 7","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-senate-7th-district"},{"id":"6533","raceName":"State Senate, District 9","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6534","raceName":"State Senate, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6535","raceName":"State Senate, District 13","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6536","raceName":"State Senate, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6611","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"8589","raceName":"U.S. Senate (Full Term)","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/senator"},{"id":"8686","raceName":"California Democratic Presidential Primary","raceDescription":"Candidates are competing for 496 delegates.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/president/democrat"},{"id":"8688","raceName":"California Republican Presidential Primary","raceDescription":"Candidates are competing for 169 delegates.","raceReadTheStory":"https://kqed.org/elections/results/president/republican"},{"id":"81993","raceName":"U.S. Senate (Partial/Unexpired Term)","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election."},{"id":"82014","raceName":"Proposition 1","raceDescription":"Bond and mental health reforms. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/proposition-1"}],"AlamedaJudge5":{"id":"AlamedaJudge5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":200601,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Terry Wiley","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":200601}]},"AlamedaJudge12":{"id":"AlamedaJudge12","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":240853,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark Fickes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":133009},{"candidateName":"Michael P. Johnson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":107844}]},"AlamedaBoard2":{"id":"AlamedaBoard2","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":33580,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"John Lewis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6943},{"candidateName":"Angela Normand","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":26637}]},"AlamedaBoard5":{"id":"AlamedaBoard5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":26072,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Guadalupe \"Lupe\" Angulo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7521},{"candidateName":"Janevette Cole","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13338},{"candidateName":"Joe Orlando Ramos","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5213}]},"AlamedaBoard6":{"id":"AlamedaBoard6","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 6","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":30864,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"John Guerrero","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9989},{"candidateName":"Eileen McDonald","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20875}]},"AlamedaSup1":{"id":"AlamedaSup1","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":41038,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Haubert","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":41038}]},"AlamedaSup2":{"id":"AlamedaSup2","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":31034,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Elisa Márquez","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":31034}]},"AlamedaSup4":{"id":"AlamedaSup4","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":57007,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jennifer Esteen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22400},{"candidateName":"Nate Miley","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":34607}]},"AlamedaSup5":{"id":"AlamedaSup5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":81059,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ben Bartlett","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13518},{"candidateName":"Nikki Fortunato Bas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":27597},{"candidateName":"John J. Bauters","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":16783},{"candidateName":"Ken Berrick","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7520},{"candidateName":"Omar Farmer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1240},{"candidateName":"Gregory Hodge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3419},{"candidateName":"Chris Moore","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7428},{"candidateName":"Gerald Pechenuk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":305},{"candidateName":"Lorrel Plimier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3249}]},"AlamedaBoard7":{"id":"AlamedaBoard7","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Flood Control & Water Conservation District Director, Zone 7, Full Term","raceDescription":"Top three candidates win seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top3","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":134340,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Alan Burnham","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":15723},{"candidateName":"Sandy Figuers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22454},{"candidateName":"Laurene K. Green","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":30343},{"candidateName":"Kathy Narum","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23833},{"candidateName":"Seema Badar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7468},{"candidateName":"Catherine Brown","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":34519}]},"AlamedaAuditor":{"id":"AlamedaAuditor","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Oakland Auditor","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":59227,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Houston","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":59227}]},"AlamedaMeasureA":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Alameda County. Civil service. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":282335,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":167903},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":114432}]},"AlamedaMeasureB":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Alameda County. Recall rules. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/measure-b","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":282683,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":182200},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":100483}]},"AlamedaMeasureD":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Oakland. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":79797,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":59852},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":19945}]},"AlamedaMeasureE":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Alameda Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":22692,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":17280},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5412}]},"AlamedaMeasureF":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureF","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure F","raceDescription":"Piedmont. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":4855,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3673},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1182}]},"AlamedaMeasureG":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Albany Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":5898,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4651},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1247}]},"AlamedaMeasureH":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Berkeley Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":33331,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":29418},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3913}]},"AlamedaMeasureI":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureI","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure I","raceDescription":"Hayward Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":21929,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14151},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7778}]},"AlamedaMeasureJ":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureJ","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure J","raceDescription":"San Leandro Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":12338,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7784},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4554}]},"CCD2":{"id":"CCD2","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":45776,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Candace Andersen","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":45776}]},"CCD3":{"id":"CCD3","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":25120,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Diane Burgis","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":25120}]},"CCD5":{"id":"CCD5","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/contracosta/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":37045,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Barbanica","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14338},{"candidateName":"Jelani Killings","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5683},{"candidateName":"Shanelle Scales-Preston","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":12993},{"candidateName":"Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4031}]},"CCMeasureA":{"id":"CCMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Martinez. Appoint City Clerk. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":11513,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7554},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3959}]},"CCMeasureB":{"id":"CCMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Antioch Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":17971,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10397},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7574}]},"CCMeasureC":{"id":"CCMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Martinez Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":9230,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6917},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2313}]},"CCMeasureD":{"id":"CCMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Moraga School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":6007,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4052},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1955}]},"MarinD2":{"id":"MarinD2","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/supervisor-2nd-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":18466,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Brian Colbert","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7971},{"candidateName":"Heather McPhail Sridharan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4851},{"candidateName":"Ryan O'Neil","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2647},{"candidateName":"Gabe Paulson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2997}]},"MarinD3":{"id":"MarinD3","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":13274,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Stephanie Moulton-Peters","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13274}]},"MarinD4":{"id":"MarinD4","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":12986,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Dennis Rodoni","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10086},{"candidateName":"Francis Drouillard","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2900}]},"MarinLarkspurCC":{"id":"MarinLarkspurCC","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Larkspur City Council (Short Term)","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":4176,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Stephanie Andre","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2514},{"candidateName":"Claire Paquette","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1008},{"candidateName":"Lana Scott","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":654}]},"MarinRossCouncil":{"id":"MarinRossCouncil","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Ross Town Council","raceDescription":"Top three candidates win seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top3","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1740,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Charles William \"Bill\" Kircher, Jr.","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":536},{"candidateName":"Mathew Salter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":502},{"candidateName":"Shadi Aboukhater","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":187},{"candidateName":"Teri Dowling","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":515}]},"MarinMeasureA":{"id":"MarinMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Tamalpais Union High School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":45345,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":24376},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20969}]},"MarinMeasureB":{"id":"MarinMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Petaluma Joint Union High School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":132,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":62},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":70}]},"MarinMeasureC":{"id":"MarinMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Belvedere. Appropriation limit. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":870,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":679},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":191}]},"MarinMeasureD":{"id":"MarinMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Larkspur. Rent stabilization. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/measure-d","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":4955,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2573},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2382}]},"MarinMeasureE":{"id":"MarinMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Ross. Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/measure-e","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":874,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":683},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":191}]},"MarinMeasureF":{"id":"MarinMeasureF","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure F","raceDescription":"San Anselmo. Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":5193,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3083},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2110}]},"MarinMeasureG":{"id":"MarinMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Bel Marin Keys Community Services District. Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":830,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":661},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":169}]},"MarinMeasureH":{"id":"MarinMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Marinwood Community Services District. Appropriations limit, fire protection. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1738,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1369},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":369}]},"MarinMeasureI":{"id":"MarinMeasureI","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure I","raceDescription":"Marinwood Community Services District. Appropriations limit, parks. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1735,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1336},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":399}]},"NapaD2":{"id":"NapaD2","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":8351,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Liz Alessio","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6340},{"candidateName":"Doris Gentry","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2011}]},"NapaD4":{"id":"NapaD4","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/napa/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":7306,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Amber Manfree","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3913},{"candidateName":"Pete Mott","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3393}]},"NapaD5":{"id":"NapaD5","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/napa/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":5356,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mariam Aboudamous","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2379},{"candidateName":"Belia Ramos","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2977}]},"NapaMeasureD":{"id":"NapaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Howell Mountain Elementary School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":741,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":367},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":374}]},"NapaMeasureU":{"id":"NapaMeasureU","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure U","raceDescription":"Lake Berryessa Resort Improvement District. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":86,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":63},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23}]},"NapaMeasureU1":{"id":"NapaMeasureU1","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure U","raceDescription":"Yountville. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":925,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":793},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":132}]},"SFJudge1":{"id":"SFJudge1","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Seat 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/superior-court-seat-1","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":202960,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Begert","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":124943},{"candidateName":"Chip Zecher","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":78017}]},"SFJudge13":{"id":"SFJudge13","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Seat 13","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/superior-court-seat-13","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":202386,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jean Myungjin Roland","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":90012},{"candidateName":"Patrick S. Thompson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":112374}]},"SFPropA":{"id":"SFPropA","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition A","raceDescription":"Housing bond. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-a","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":225187,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":158497},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":66690}]},"SFPropB":{"id":"SFPropB","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition B","raceDescription":"Police staffing. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222954,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":61580},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":161374}]},"SFPropC":{"id":"SFPropC","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition C","raceDescription":"Transfer tax exemption. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":220349,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":116311},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":104038}]},"SFPropD":{"id":"SFPropD","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition D","raceDescription":"Ethics laws. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222615,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":198584},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":24031}]},"SFPropE":{"id":"SFPropE","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition E","raceDescription":"Police policies. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-e","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222817,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":120529},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":102288}]},"SFPropF":{"id":"SFPropF","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition F","raceDescription":"Drug screening. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-f","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":224004,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":130214},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":93790}]},"SFPropG":{"id":"SFPropG","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition G","raceDescription":"Eighth-grade algebra. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222704,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":182066},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":40638}]},"SMJudge4":{"id":"SMJudge4","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":108919,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sarah Burdick","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":108919}]},"SMD1":{"id":"SMD1","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanmateo/supervisor-1st-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":29650,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jackie Speier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20353},{"candidateName":"Ann Schneider","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9297}]},"SMD4":{"id":"SMD4","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanmateo/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":22725,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Antonio Lopez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5730},{"candidateName":"Lisa Gauthier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10358},{"candidateName":"Celeste Brevard","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1268},{"candidateName":"Paul Bocanegra","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1909},{"candidateName":"Maggie Cornejo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3460}]},"SMD5":{"id":"SMD5","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":19937,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Canepa","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":19937}]},"SMMeasureB":{"id":"SMMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"County Service Area #1 (Highlands). Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":1549,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1360},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":189}]},"SMMeasureC":{"id":"SMMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Jefferson Elementary School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":12234,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8543},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3691}]},"SMMeasureE":{"id":"SMMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Woodside Elementary School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":1392,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":910},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":482}]},"SMMeasureG":{"id":"SMMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Pacifica School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":11548,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7067},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4481}]},"SMMeasureH":{"id":"SMMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"San Carlos School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":9938,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6283},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3655}]},"SCJudge5":{"id":"SCJudge5","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":301953,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jay Boyarsky","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":142549},{"candidateName":"Nicole M. Ford","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":52147},{"candidateName":"Johnene Linda Stebbins","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":107257}]},"SCD2":{"id":"SCD2","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/supervisor-2nd-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":44059,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Corina Herrera-Loera","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10519},{"candidateName":"Jennifer Margaret Celaya","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2394},{"candidateName":"Madison Nguyen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":12794},{"candidateName":"Betty Duong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14031},{"candidateName":"Nelson McElmurry","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4321}]},"SCD3":{"id":"SCD3","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":42549,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Otto Lee","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":42549}]},"SCD5":{"id":"SCD5","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":88712,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Margaret Abe-Koga","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":37172},{"candidateName":"Sally J. Lieber","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":21962},{"candidateName":"Barry Chang","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6164},{"candidateName":"Peter C. Fung","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":17892},{"candidateName":"Sandy Sans","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5522}]},"SCSJMayor":{"id":"SCSJMayor","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José Mayor","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":167064,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Matt Mahan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":144701},{"candidateName":"Tyrone Wade","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22363}]},"SCSJD2":{"id":"SCSJD2","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14131,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joe Lopez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4950},{"candidateName":"Pamela Campos","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3436},{"candidateName":"Vanessa Sandoval","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2719},{"candidateName":"Babu Prasad","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3026}]},"SCSJD4":{"id":"SCSJD4","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14322,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Kansen Chu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5931},{"candidateName":"David Cohen","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8391}]},"SCSJD6":{"id":"SCSJD6","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 6","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":25108,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Cohen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9875},{"candidateName":"Alex Shoor","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3850},{"candidateName":"Angelo \"A.J.\" Pasciuti","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2688},{"candidateName":"Michael Mulcahy","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8695}]},"SCSJD8":{"id":"SCSJD8","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 8","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":21462,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Tam Truong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6982},{"candidateName":"Domingo Candelas","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8466},{"candidateName":"Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5513},{"candidateName":"Surinder Kaur Dhaliwal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":501}]},"SCSJD10":{"id":"SCSJD10","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 10","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":22799,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"George Casey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8805},{"candidateName":"Arjun Batra","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8354},{"candidateName":"Lenka Wright","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5640}]},"SCMeasureA":{"id":"SCMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Santa Clara. Appointed city clerk. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":20315,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6580},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13735}]},"SCMeasureB":{"id":"SCMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Santa Clara. Appointed police chief. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":20567,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5680},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14887}]},"SCMeasureC":{"id":"SCMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Sunnyvale School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14656,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10261},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4395}]},"SolanoD15":{"id":"SolanoD15","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Department 15","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":81709,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Thompson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":36844},{"candidateName":"Bryan J. Kim","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":44865}]},"SolanoD1":{"id":"SolanoD1","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/supervisor-1st-district","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":13786,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6401},{"candidateName":"Cassandra James","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7385}]},"SolanoD2":{"id":"SolanoD2","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":19903,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Monica Brown","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10951},{"candidateName":"Nora Dizon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3135},{"candidateName":"Rochelle Sherlock","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5817}]},"SolanoD5":{"id":"SolanoD5","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":17888,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mitch Mashburn","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":11210},{"candidateName":"Chadwick J. Ledoux","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6678}]},"SolanoEducation":{"id":"SolanoEducation","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Sacramento County Board of Education","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":3650,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Heather Davis","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2960},{"candidateName":"Shazleen Khan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":690}]},"SolanoMeasureA":{"id":"SolanoMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Benicia. Hotel tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/measure-a","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10136,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7869},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2267}]},"SolanoMeasureB":{"id":"SolanoMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Benicia. Sales tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/measure-b","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10164,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7335},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2829}]},"SolanoMeasureC":{"id":"SolanoMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Benicia Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10112,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6316},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3796}]},"SolanoMeasureN":{"id":"SolanoMeasureN","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure N","raceDescription":"Davis Joint Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":15,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10}]},"SonomaJudge3":{"id":"SonomaJudge3","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":115405,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Kristine M. Burk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":79498},{"candidateName":"Beki Berrey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":35907}]},"SonomaJudge4":{"id":"SonomaJudge4","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":86789,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Paul J. Lozada","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":86789}]},"SonomaJudge6":{"id":"SonomaJudge6","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 6","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":117990,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Omar Figueroa","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":42236},{"candidateName":"Kenneth English","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":75754}]},"SonomaD1":{"id":"SonomaD1","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":30348,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Rebecca Hermosillo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23958},{"candidateName":"Jonathan Mathieu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6390}]},"SonomaD3":{"id":"SonomaD3","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sonoma/supervisor-3rd-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":16312,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Chris Coursey","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":11346},{"candidateName":"Omar Medina","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4966}]},"SonomaD5":{"id":"SonomaD5","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":23356,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lynda Hopkins","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23356}]},"SonomaMeasureA":{"id":"SonomaMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":13756,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10320},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3436}]},"SonomaMeasureB":{"id":"SonomaMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Petaluma Joint Union High School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":24877,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":15795},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9082}]},"SonomaMeasureC":{"id":"SonomaMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Fort Ross School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":286,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":159},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":127}]},"SonomaMeasureD":{"id":"SonomaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Harmony Union School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":1925,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1089},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":836}]},"SonomaMeasureE":{"id":"SonomaMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Petaluma City (Elementary) School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":11133,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7622},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3511}]},"SonomaMeasureG":{"id":"SonomaMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Rincon Valley Union School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":14577,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8668},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5909}]},"SonomaMeasureH":{"id":"SonomaMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Sonoma County. Sales tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sonoma/measure-h","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":145261,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":89646},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":55615}]}},"radioSchedulesReducer":{},"listsReducer":{"posts?tag=featured-arts&queryId=7135290ab2":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":1},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":1,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":1864,"items":["arts_13956683"]},"posts?tag=featured-arts&queryId=e5ca918ab2":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":1},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":1,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":1864,"items":["arts_13956683"]},"posts/arts,forum?category=arts&queryId=e5ca918ab2&excludePost=late-night-filipino-food-24-hour-cafe-colma-lucky-chances":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":5},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":5,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":6023,"items":["arts_13956676","arts_13956615","arts_13956388","arts_13956528","arts_13956554"]},"posts?program=rightnowish&queryId=6c2502488c":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":249,"items":["arts_13956388","arts_13956528","arts_13956068"]},"posts/food,arts?tag=editorspick&queryId=53ed0f75d9":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":487,"items":["arts_13955969","arts_13955781","arts_13955679"]},"posts/?tag=thedolist&queryId=2a5e4d56a6":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":1105,"items":["arts_13956615","arts_13956604","arts_13956493"]},"posts/bayareabites,arts,food?category=food&queryId=faa58b2855":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":2677,"items":["arts_13956683","arts_13956497","arts_13956326"]},"posts/arts?tag=tmw-latest&queryId=88787c95c6":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":79,"items":["arts_13955802","arts_13952260","arts_13952208"]},"posts?tag=rebelgirls&queryId=10b31cf65ee":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":3},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":3,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":49,"items":["arts_13950520","arts_13937270","arts_13932525"]},"posts/arts?&queryId=11f821d2269":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":7},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":7,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":17311,"items":["arts_13956683","arts_13956676","arts_13956615","arts_13956388","arts_13956528","arts_13956554","arts_13956604"]}},"recallGuideReducer":{"intros":{},"policy":{},"candidates":{}},"savedPostsReducer":{},"pfsSessionReducer":{},"siteSettingsReducer":{},"subscriptionsReducer":{},"termsReducer":{"about":{"name":"About","type":"terms","id":"about","slug":"about","link":"/about","taxonomy":"site"},"arts":{"name":"Arts & Culture","grouping":["arts","pop","trulyca"],"description":"KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.","type":"terms","id":"arts","slug":"arts","link":"/arts","taxonomy":"site"},"artschool":{"name":"Art School","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"artschool","slug":"artschool","link":"/artschool","taxonomy":"site"},"bayareabites":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"bayareabites","slug":"bayareabites","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"bayareahiphop":{"name":"Bay Area Hiphop","type":"terms","id":"bayareahiphop","slug":"bayareahiphop","link":"/bayareahiphop","taxonomy":"site"},"campaign21":{"name":"Campaign 21","type":"terms","id":"campaign21","slug":"campaign21","link":"/campaign21","taxonomy":"site"},"checkplease":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"checkplease","slug":"checkplease","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"education":{"name":"Education","grouping":["education"],"type":"terms","id":"education","slug":"education","link":"/education","taxonomy":"site"},"elections":{"name":"Elections","type":"terms","id":"elections","slug":"elections","link":"/elections","taxonomy":"site"},"events":{"name":"Events","type":"terms","id":"events","slug":"events","link":"/events","taxonomy":"site"},"event":{"name":"Event","alias":"events","type":"terms","id":"event","slug":"event","link":"/event","taxonomy":"site"},"filmschoolshorts":{"name":"Film School Shorts","type":"terms","id":"filmschoolshorts","slug":"filmschoolshorts","link":"/filmschoolshorts","taxonomy":"site"},"food":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"type":"terms","id":"food","slug":"food","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"forum":{"name":"Forum","relatedContentQuery":"posts/forum?","parent":"news","type":"terms","id":"forum","slug":"forum","link":"/forum","taxonomy":"site"},"futureofyou":{"name":"Future of You","grouping":["science","futureofyou"],"parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"futureofyou","slug":"futureofyou","link":"/futureofyou","taxonomy":"site"},"jpepinheart":{"name":"KQED food","relatedContentQuery":"trending/food,bayareabites,checkplease","parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"jpepinheart","slug":"jpepinheart","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"liveblog":{"name":"Live Blog","type":"terms","id":"liveblog","slug":"liveblog","link":"/liveblog","taxonomy":"site"},"livetv":{"name":"Live TV","parent":"tv","type":"terms","id":"livetv","slug":"livetv","link":"/livetv","taxonomy":"site"},"lowdown":{"name":"The Lowdown","relatedContentQuery":"posts/lowdown?","parent":"news","type":"terms","id":"lowdown","slug":"lowdown","link":"/lowdown","taxonomy":"site"},"mindshift":{"name":"Mindshift","parent":"news","description":"MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.","type":"terms","id":"mindshift","slug":"mindshift","link":"/mindshift","taxonomy":"site"},"news":{"name":"News","grouping":["news","forum"],"type":"terms","id":"news","slug":"news","link":"/news","taxonomy":"site"},"perspectives":{"name":"Perspectives","parent":"radio","type":"terms","id":"perspectives","slug":"perspectives","link":"/perspectives","taxonomy":"site"},"podcasts":{"name":"Podcasts","type":"terms","id":"podcasts","slug":"podcasts","link":"/podcasts","taxonomy":"site"},"pop":{"name":"Pop","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"pop","slug":"pop","link":"/pop","taxonomy":"site"},"pressroom":{"name":"Pressroom","type":"terms","id":"pressroom","slug":"pressroom","link":"/pressroom","taxonomy":"site"},"quest":{"name":"Quest","parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"quest","slug":"quest","link":"/quest","taxonomy":"site"},"radio":{"name":"Radio","grouping":["forum","perspectives"],"description":"Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.","type":"terms","id":"radio","slug":"radio","link":"/radio","taxonomy":"site"},"root":{"name":"KQED","image":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","imageWidth":1200,"imageHeight":630,"headData":{"title":"KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California","description":"KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."},"type":"terms","id":"root","slug":"root","link":"/root","taxonomy":"site"},"science":{"name":"Science","grouping":["science","futureofyou"],"description":"KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.","type":"terms","id":"science","slug":"science","link":"/science","taxonomy":"site"},"stateofhealth":{"name":"State of Health","parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"stateofhealth","slug":"stateofhealth","link":"/stateofhealth","taxonomy":"site"},"support":{"name":"Support","type":"terms","id":"support","slug":"support","link":"/support","taxonomy":"site"},"thedolist":{"name":"The Do List","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"thedolist","slug":"thedolist","link":"/thedolist","taxonomy":"site"},"trulyca":{"name":"Truly CA","grouping":["arts","pop","trulyca"],"parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"trulyca","slug":"trulyca","link":"/trulyca","taxonomy":"site"},"tv":{"name":"TV","type":"terms","id":"tv","slug":"tv","link":"/tv","taxonomy":"site"},"voterguide":{"name":"Voter Guide","parent":"elections","alias":"elections","type":"terms","id":"voterguide","slug":"voterguide","link":"/voterguide","taxonomy":"site"},"source_arts_13956683":{"type":"terms","id":"source_arts_13956683","meta":{"override":true},"name":"The Midnight Diners","link":"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners","isLoading":false},"arts_1":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Arts","slug":"arts","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Arts Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/arts"},"arts_12276":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_12276","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"12276","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Food","slug":"food","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Bay Area Food Archives, Articles, News, and Reviews | KQED","description":"Explore the Bay Area culinary scene through KQED's food stories, recipes, dining experiences, and stories from the diverse tastemakers that define the Bay's cuisines.","ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":12288,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/food"},"arts_10278":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_10278","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"10278","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"featured-arts","slug":"featured-arts","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"featured-arts Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":10290,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/featured-arts"},"arts_14183":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_14183","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"14183","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Filipino food","slug":"filipino-food","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Filipino food Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":14195,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/filipino-food"},"arts_1297":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1297","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1297","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"food","slug":"food","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"food Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1309,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/food"},"arts_8805":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_8805","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"8805","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"late night","slug":"late-night","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"late night Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":8817,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/late-night"},"arts_21928":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21928","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21928","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"The Midnight Diners","slug":"the-midnight-diners","taxonomy":"tag","description":"The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.","featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"The Midnight Diners Archives | KQED Arts","description":"The Midnight Diners is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.","ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21940,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners"},"arts_21866":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21866","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21866","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Arts and Culture","slug":"arts-and-culture","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Arts and Culture Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21878,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/arts-and-culture"},"arts_21865":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21865","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21865","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Food and Drink","slug":"food-and-drink","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Food and Drink Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21877,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/food-and-drink"},"arts_21874":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21874","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21874","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Peninsula","slug":"peninsula","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Peninsula Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21886,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/peninsula"},"arts_75":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_75","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"75","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Pop Culture","slug":"popculture","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Pop Culture Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":76,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/popculture"},"arts_990":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_990","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"990","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"TV","slug":"tv","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"TV Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1008,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/tv"},"arts_3226":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_3226","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"3226","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"lgbtq","slug":"lgbtq","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"lgbtq Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3238,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/lgbtq"},"arts_3324":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_3324","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"3324","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Netflix","slug":"netflix","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Netflix Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3336,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/netflix"},"arts_769":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_769","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"769","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"review","slug":"review","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"review Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":787,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/review"},"arts_137":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_137","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"137","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"NPR","slug":"npr","taxonomy":"affiliate","description":null,"featImg":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2014/04/logo-npr-lg1.png","headData":{"title":"NPR Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":138,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/affiliate/npr"},"arts_21879":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21879","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21879","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Entertainment Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21891,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/entertainment"},"arts_140":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_140","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"140","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"The Do List","slug":"the-do-list","taxonomy":"program","description":null,"featImg":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2015/11/The-Do-LIst-logo-2014-horizontal-015.png","headData":{"title":"The Do List Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":141,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/program/the-do-list"},"arts_835":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_835","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"835","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Culture Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":853,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/culture"},"arts_70":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_70","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"70","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Visual Arts","slug":"visualarts","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Visual Arts Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":71,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/visualarts"},"arts_820":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_820","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"820","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"art","slug":"art","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"art Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":838,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/art"},"arts_11374":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_11374","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"11374","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"arts-featured","slug":"arts-featured","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"arts-featured Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":11386,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/arts-featured"},"arts_8167":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_8167","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"8167","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"community","slug":"community","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"community Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":8179,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/community"},"arts_1143":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1143","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1143","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Oakland","slug":"oakland","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Oakland Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":692,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/oakland"},"arts_822":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_822","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"822","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"photography","slug":"photography","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"photography Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":840,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/photography"},"arts_585":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_585","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"585","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"thedolist","slug":"thedolist","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"thedolist Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":590,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/thedolist"},"arts_8720":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_8720","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"8720","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Rightnowish","slug":"rightnowish","taxonomy":"program","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Rightnowish Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":8732,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/program/rightnowish"},"arts_73":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_73","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"73","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Books","slug":"literature","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Books Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":74,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/literature"},"arts_968":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_968","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"968","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Comedy","slug":"comedy","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Comedy Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":986,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/comedy"},"arts_69":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_69","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"69","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Music","slug":"music","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Music Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":70,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/music"},"arts_1003":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1003","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1003","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Performance Art","slug":"performance","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Performance Art Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":73,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/performance"},"arts_549":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_549","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"549","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"comedy","slug":"comedy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"comedy Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":550,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/comedy"},"arts_7584":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_7584","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"7584","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"comic books","slug":"comic-books","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"comic books Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":7596,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/comic-books"},"arts_1942":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1942","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1942","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"comics","slug":"comics","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"comics Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1954,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/comics"},"arts_2855":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_2855","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"2855","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Filipino","slug":"filipino","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Filipino Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2867,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/filipino"},"arts_831":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_831","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"831","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Hip Hop","slug":"hip-hop","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Fresh Off the Streets: Get Amped by the Bay's Hottest Hip-Hop Stories","description":"Discover rising stars, hidden gems, and live events that'll keep your head nodding. Find your next favorite local hip hop artist right here.","ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null,"socialTitle":"Fresh Off the Streets: Get Amped by the Bay's Hottest Hip-Hop Stories","metaRobotsNoIndex":"index"},"ttid":849,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/hip-hop"},"arts_1072":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1072","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1072","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"theater","slug":"theater","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"theater Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1089,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/theater"},"arts_21871":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21871","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21871","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"East Bay","slug":"east-bay","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"East Bay Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21883,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/east-bay"},"arts_4533":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_4533","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"4533","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Youth Takeover","slug":"youth-takeover","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Youth Takeover Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":4545,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/youth-takeover"},"arts_22112":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_22112","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"22112","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"youth takeover","slug":"youth-takeover","taxonomy":"collection","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"youth takeover Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":22124,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/collection/youth-takeover"},"arts_21876":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21876","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21876","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Education","slug":"education","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Education Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21888,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/education"},"arts_966":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_966","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"966","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Dance","slug":"dance","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Dance Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":984,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/dance"},"arts_76":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_76","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"76","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Fashion/Design","slug":"design","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Fashion/Design Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":77,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/design"},"arts_11615":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_11615","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"11615","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Local","slug":"local","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Local Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":11627,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/local"},"arts_235":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_235","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"235","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"News","slug":"news","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"News Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":236,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/news"},"arts_1257":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1257","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1257","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Mission District","slug":"mission-district","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Mission District Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1269,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/mission-district"},"arts_1146":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1146","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1146","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"San Francisco","slug":"san-francisco","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"San Francisco Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":701,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/san-francisco"},"arts_2852":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_2852","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"2852","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"DJs","slug":"djs","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"DJs Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2864,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/djs"},"arts_12080":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_12080","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"12080","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"queer culture","slug":"queer-culture","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"queer culture Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":12092,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/queer-culture"},"arts_2227":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_2227","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"2227","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"BAMPFA","slug":"bampfa","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"BAMPFA Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2239,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/bampfa"},"arts_10342":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_10342","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"10342","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"editorspick","slug":"editorspick","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"editorspick Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":10354,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/editorspick"},"arts_13952":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_13952","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"13952","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"great migration","slug":"great-migration","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"great migration Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":13964,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/great-migration"},"arts_21872":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21872","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21872","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Berkeley","slug":"berkeley","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Berkeley Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21884,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/berkeley"},"arts_74":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_74","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"74","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Movies","slug":"movies","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Movies Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":75,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/movies"},"arts_21958":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21958","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21958","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Documentary","slug":"documentary","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Documentary Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21970,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/documentary"},"arts_977":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_977","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"977","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"film","slug":"film","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"film Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":995,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/film"},"arts_1686":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1686","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1686","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"beyonce","slug":"beyonce","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"beyonce Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1698,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/beyonce"},"arts_1556":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1556","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1556","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"drag","slug":"drag","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"drag Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1568,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/drag"},"arts_10555":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_10555","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"10555","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Oasis","slug":"oasis","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Oasis Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":10567,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/oasis"},"arts_5826":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_5826","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"5826","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"politics","slug":"politics","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"politics Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":5838,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/politics"},"arts_21864":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21864","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21864","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Local Politics","slug":"local-politics","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Local Politics Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21876,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/local-politics"},"arts_21859":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21859","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21859","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"San Francisco","slug":"san-francisco","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"San Francisco Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21871,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/san-francisco"},"arts_1050":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1050","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1050","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"interview","slug":"interview","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"interview Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1067,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/interview"},"arts_22110":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_22110","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"22110","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Ivan McClellan","slug":"ivan-mcclellan","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Ivan McClellan Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":22122,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/ivan-mcclellan"},"arts_22111":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_22111","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"22111","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"rodeo","slug":"rodeo","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"rodeo Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":22123,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/rodeo"},"source_arts_13956497":{"type":"terms","id":"source_arts_13956497","meta":{"override":true},"name":"Food","link":"https://www.kqed.org/food","isLoading":false},"source_arts_13956326":{"type":"terms","id":"source_arts_13956326","meta":{"override":true},"name":"Food","link":"https://www.kqed.org/food","isLoading":false},"arts_2438":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_2438","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"2438","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"African diaspora","slug":"african-diaspora","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"African diaspora Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2450,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/african-diaspora"},"arts_1987":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1987","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1987","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Museum of the African Diaspora","slug":"museum-of-the-african-diaspora","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Museum of the African Diaspora Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1999,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/museum-of-the-african-diaspora"},"arts_14729":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_14729","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"14729","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"soul food","slug":"soul-food","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"soul food Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":14741,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/soul-food"},"arts_21870":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21870","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21870","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Events","slug":"events","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Events Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21882,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/events"},"arts_21727":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21727","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21727","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"chinese food","slug":"chinese-food","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"chinese food Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21739,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/chinese-food"},"arts_22099":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_22099","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"22099","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"farmers market","slug":"farmers-market","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"farmers market Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":22111,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/farmers-market"},"arts_1785":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1785","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1785","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"lake merritt","slug":"lake-merritt","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"lake merritt Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1797,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/lake-merritt"},"arts_21860":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21860","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21860","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Oakland","slug":"oakland","taxonomy":"interest","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Oakland Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21872,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/interest/oakland"},"source_arts_13955802":{"type":"terms","id":"source_arts_13955802","meta":{"override":true},"name":"Food","link":"https://www.kqed.org/food","isLoading":false},"source_arts_13952260":{"type":"terms","id":"source_arts_13952260","meta":{"override":true},"name":"That's My Word","link":"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop","isLoading":false},"arts_21883":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21883","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21883","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"andre nickatina","slug":"andre-nickatina","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"andre nickatina Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21895,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/andre-nickatina"},"arts_5397":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_5397","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"5397","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"bay area rap","slug":"bay-area-rap","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"bay area rap Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":5409,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/bay-area-rap"},"arts_1601":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1601","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1601","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"E-40","slug":"e-40","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"E-40 Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1613,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/e-40"},"arts_3771":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_3771","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"3771","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"guapdad4000","slug":"guapdad4000","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"guapdad4000 Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3783,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/guapdad4000"},"arts_21738":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21738","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21738","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"IAMSU!","slug":"iamsu","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"IAMSU! Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21750,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/iamsu"},"arts_1558":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1558","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1558","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"kamaiyah","slug":"kamaiyah","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"kamaiyah Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1570,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/kamaiyah"},"arts_9337":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_9337","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"9337","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"larry june","slug":"larry-june","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"larry june Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":9349,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/larry-june"},"arts_1803":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1803","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1803","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"p-lo","slug":"p-lo","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"p-lo Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1815,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/p-lo"},"arts_19942":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_19942","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"19942","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"That's My Word","slug":"thats-my-word","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"That's My Word Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":19954,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/thats-my-word"},"arts_19347":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_19347","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"19347","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"tmw-latest","slug":"tmw-latest","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"tmw-latest Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":19359,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/tmw-latest"},"arts_3478":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_3478","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"3478","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Too Short","slug":"too-short","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Too Short Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3490,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/too-short"},"arts_3800":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_3800","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"3800","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"vallejo","slug":"vallejo","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"vallejo Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3812,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/vallejo"},"arts_2854":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_2854","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"2854","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"daly city","slug":"daly-city","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"daly city Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2866,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/daly-city"},"arts_21712":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21712","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21712","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"dj qbert","slug":"dj-qbert","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"dj qbert Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21724,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/dj-qbert"},"arts_17218":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_17218","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"17218","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Invisibl Skratch Piklz","slug":"invisibl-skratch-piklz","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Invisibl Skratch Piklz Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":17230,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/invisibl-skratch-piklz"},"arts_21940":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21940","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21940","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"mix master mike","slug":"mix-master-mike","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"mix master mike Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21952,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/mix-master-mike"},"arts_21711":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21711","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21711","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"turntablism","slug":"turntablism","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"turntablism Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21723,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/turntablism"},"arts_8978":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_8978","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"8978","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Rebel Girls from Bay Area History","slug":"rebel-girls-from-bay-area-history","taxonomy":"program","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Rebel Girls from Bay Area History Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":8990,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/program/rebel-girls-from-bay-area-history"},"arts_7862":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_7862","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"7862","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"History","slug":"history","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"History Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":7874,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/category/history"},"arts_6775":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_6775","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"6775","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"black panther party","slug":"black-panther-party","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"black panther party Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":6787,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/black-panther-party"},"arts_1346":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_1346","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"1346","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Black Panthers","slug":"black-panthers","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Black Panthers Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1358,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/black-panthers"},"arts_7408":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_7408","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"7408","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"modern dance","slug":"modern-dance","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"modern dance Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":7420,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/modern-dance"},"arts_21841":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21841","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21841","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"rebelgirls","slug":"rebelgirls","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"rebelgirls Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21853,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/rebelgirls"},"arts_6660":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_6660","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"6660","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"bay area history","slug":"bay-area-history","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"bay area history Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":6672,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/bay-area-history"},"arts_21529":{"type":"terms","id":"arts_21529","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"arts","id":"21529","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"historic bay area bars","slug":"historic-bay-area-bars","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"historic bay area bars Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21541,"isLoading":false,"link":"/arts/tag/historic-bay-area-bars"}},"userAgentReducer":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isBot":true},"userPermissionsReducer":{"wpLoggedIn":false},"localStorageReducer":{},"browserHistoryReducer":[],"eventsReducer":{},"fssReducer":{},"tvDailyScheduleReducer":{},"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer":{},"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer":{},"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer":{},"userAccountReducer":{"routeTo":"","showDeleteConfirmModal":false,"user":{"userId":"","isFound":false,"firstName":"","lastName":"","phoneNumber":"","email":"","articles":[]}},"youthMediaReducer":{},"checkPleaseReducer":{"filterData":{},"restaurantData":[]},"reframeReducer":{"attendee":null},"location":{"pathname":"/arts/","previousPathname":"/"}}