KQED is a proud member of
Save ArticleSave Article
upper waypoint
The Do List

Hiero Day Is Free This Year, With Common, Abstract Rude, Cellski and More

Gabe Meline
Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

Hip-hop recording artist Common, pictured in New York City in 2015. The Chicago MC will headline Hiero Day in Oakland on Sept. 4, 2023.  (Noam Galai/WireImage)

Hiero Day, the long-running annual Oakland block party, will be free this year, organizers have announced. The initial lineup announcement includes Chicago legend Common, L.A.’s Project Blowed maestro Abstract Rude, Ultimate Breaks and Beats co-creator Breakbeat Lou and others, with more to come. As is custom, the Hieroglyphics crew and its various incarnations will also perform.

Update, 8/30: Added performers include Cellski, Medusa, Macarthur Maze, the Architect, DJ Black Woman, Kev Choice, DJ D-Sharp, Oke Junior and Kingmakers. Paris, previously announced, is no longer on the final lineup, seen below.

Hiero Day takes place Monday, Sept. 4, and serves as a de facto 30th anniversary celebration of Souls of Mischief’s debut album 93 Til Infinity. Now that admission will be free, those who had bought tickets for his year’s Hiero Day will be refunded, organizers announced.

Hiero Day will also move locations this year, and be held in Frank Ogawa Plaza directly in front of City Hall, reflecting the event’s new association with the City of Oakland. Other sponsors include the Oakland A’s, Bartable, and Soul Beat.

Sponsored

Numerous ancillary events are scheduled around Hiero Day, including pre-parties as well as a Souls of Mischief mural reveal in East Oakland.

More details can be found on Hiero Day’s Instagram or website.

lower waypoint
next waypoint
The Bay Area’s Great American Diner Is a 24-Hour Filipino Casino RestaurantHow a Dumpling Chef Brought Dim Sum to Bay Area Farmers MarketsNetflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’: A Dark, Haunting Story Bungles its Depiction of QueernessSFMOMA Workers Urge the Museum to Support Palestinians in an Open Letter5 New Mysteries and Thrillers for Your Nightstand This SpringThe Stud, SF's Oldest Queer Bar, Gears Up for a Grand ReopeningEast Bay Street Photographers Want You to Take ‘Notice’A New Bay Area Food Festival Celebrates Chefs of Color and Diasporic UnityOn Weinstein, Cosby, OJ Simpson and America’s Systemic Misogyny Problemnic feliciano Is Blessed With The ‘Curse of an Overactive Creative Mind’