Black Culture

The jazz section in a used record store. Haphazardly sorted bins. Thin cardboard smooth against your fingers as you shuffle the albums like playing cards. Smell of dust, faint crackling in the background. Brigh...

On March 5, Arlo Parks performed at Oakland’s Fox Theater. To kick off the show, Chloe George opened. Her 30 minute set was filled with gratitude and fun. Her joy performing on stage radiated throughout th...

One day on my routine walk to class, “Lovers Rock” by TV Girl came on through shuffle. Call it overstated or cliché, but for some reason, this song always pulls on my heart strings. The sweet swells of vio...

On November 25th, Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton stopped by the Fox Theater on their “Just for the Funk of It” tour, celebrating over 50 years of intergenerational, genre-bending music. Ecle...

Friday night at the Chase Center mounted a glorious celebration of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s seminal debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), commemorating its 25th anniversary with the reunion of Lauryn ...

As a young student, I vividly remember the daily ritual of walking to my middle school. It was the perfect opportunity to plug in my headphones, let the music take over, and shut out the rest of the world. In t...

Note: To read this article properly, listen to the correct music while reading. This could include Jackie Shane, Little Richard, Billy Wright, Esquerita, or  Big Mama Thorton. For a Spotify playlist, click he...

“2023 is the year of female rage,” says the caption on a TikTok showing a conventionally attractive white woman, eyeliner done like Priscilla Presley’s, dress straight out of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)...

When asked how rap music makes you feel, a few things probably come to mind. You might remember your heart rate rising or your mind speeding up against the rapid beat. Whether it’s at a concert among the wild...

Gunk zine issue 4 by Bikceem Ramdasha Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that originated in the 1990s in the Pacific Northweast of the United States, although some argue the genre truly sta...

A few years ago, Ty, Deiondre, and The Babe Gabe were only teenagers, vibing in a basement-turned-bedroom, watching their favorite childhood shows, and making music in Kansas City, Missouri. Now they are the in...

When listening to Brooklyn-based artist BAYLI, you cannot help but be transported to a universe that embraces creativity, authenticity, and community. One look at the cover for her newest EP, stories 2, and you...

Photo by Jane Tyska/Bay Area News “Old Town Road” blew up during my last semester of high school. As the longest-running No. 1 in Billboard chart history it may as well have been the song my class walke...

To an angsty teenager, nothing is more appealing than music that repulses adults, alludes to sex and drugs, and was at one point, banned in the city of Santa Cruz. Rock music, and what it represents, not only d...

In 2015, I stumbled across a YouTube video that would inadvertently alter my consumption of pop music for years to come. After randomly browsing videos for hours, the YouTube algorithm directed me to a new tren...