Where pa’lante meets sumud: Puerto Ricans organize in solidarity with Palestine
Rythms of Resistance: How Emplegoste Continues the Afro-Boricua Bomba y Plena Legacy
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In Río Piedras, the weekend officially ends with Lunes de Bomba y Plena at El Boricua. In thick humidity, the masses pour into the neighborhood bar’s courtyard for their weekly ritual: bartenders dispatch Medallas, neighbors greet neighbors, and the drummers begin, beckoning the crowd to reply in dance.
The heartbeat of Puerto Rico is bomba y plena, and few know this better than El Boricua’s regular performers and visitors — those like Emplegoste…
Victory for Proposition J
Beneath an arc of oak trees on Golden Gate Park’s JFK Promenade, a large crowd of San Franciscans gathered last week to celebrate the victory of Proposition J. In a high-stake midterm election, Proposition J — the “Safe Parks for All” measure — beat out Proposition I, solidifying JFK Drive as car-free JFK Promenade. At the celebration, state Senator Scott Wiener took to the mic and said, “This took 50 years. It’s been a fight, with ups and downs, different ballot measures but it’s finally over because the people of San Francisco have spoken…”
Cultivating Community: The Mission’s latest Black-and-Brown owned cannabis dispensary
On the corner of Cesar Chavez and Bryant streets, a vibrant mural unfurls into the scene of lush greenery and swinging monkeys. The youthful spirit of art flags a new addition to the block: Poncho Brotherz, a family owned cannabis dispensary devoted to holistic healing and giving back to the Bay Area community.
Behind the Mission’s latest dispensary are the Tapia brothers — Isaiah, Isaac and Elijah — a trio all in their early 20’s whose long-time dream came to life the last weekend of July when the dispensary opened…
What Gisselle Yepes’ poetry can teach us about grief.
I sang publicly for the final time at my cousin Nicky’s funeral. I made it through one verse before my voice broke — lyrics nettled in a chest tightening and closed. Beside Nicky’s body, my grief swallowed me into a long-lasting silence.
Following Nicky’s death, my Spotify analytics would show how little I listened to music and how quiet I had become. I quit singing, writing poetry and barely spoke; I lived in a world without language, which is no world at all. My silence became interrupted when I read Gisselle Yepes’ “Not an Ode to April 22, 2019,” a poem written for their cousin, Steven. For the first time since the funeral, I felt truly held in knowing that this grief is not mine alone…
Street Art & The Fight to Resist Gentrification in Puerto Rico
In Santurce, Puerto Rico, street art climbs the neighborhood walls jousting for the attention of those who frequent the neighborhood. For a tourist visiting Calle Loiza in the search of a trendy cafe, the messages in the art might go unnoticed as they become mere backdrops for social media posts.
In favor of visibility, the Santurce-based women’s collective, Colectivo Morivivi, utilize memory and imagination in their murals to resist a colonial narrative as imposed by the oversight board and recent tax acts furthering gentrification…
Hyper Pop: The Digital Age’s 'Genre' of Transgression
In the summer of 2019, a new micro-genre leapt from Tik Tok to Spotify’s highest ranks. Genre alchemists named the maximalist pop sound "hyper pop" and a frenzy followed— with outlets like The Atlantic calling hyper pop the “countercultural sound of the 2020s”, and Dazed proclaiming it as “the new sound for a post-pandemic world.” The irony in hyper pop's genrefication, is in the artists refusal to conform to any one sound. Hyper pop glitches between, and aggressively mashes together, a multitude of styles: bubblegum pop, emo, nightcore, hip-hop, EDM and more. The resulting sound is fit for a digital age set on breaking down all categories and binaries…
U.S. veterans are no strangers to deportation, documentary ‘American Exile’ reveals.
In a quaint living room, a couple sits and house momentos tell the story of two lives, lovingly lived as one in reverence to exchanged vows of forever.
Seated in a wheelchair beside his wife Ann, is the Pakistani veteran Zahid Chaudhry, who became paralyzed in an army training exercise gone awry. Though the room is awash in hues of honey, a pensive static hangs as the couple reads aloud their fate from a government letter: “Citizenship has been denied.” …
After championing recall, newly appointed DA Jenkins urges patience when it comes to crime
On July 8, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed Brooke Jenkins as the interim District Attorney, replacing the ousted Chesa Boudin. Jenkin’s appointment comes at the heels of a recall election founded on concerns over public safety and sealed by a low voter turnout.
Come the Nov. 23 special election, San Francisco voters will determine the fate of the DA office, but until then the reins rest with Jenkins, a long-time critic of Boudin and his office’s criminal justice reform measures.
Puerto Ricans Organize to Survive the Blackout.
Earlier this month, I entered the Oakland coliseum for Bad Bunny’s anticipated “Un Verano Sin Ti” concert. The lights shut off and he began to perform “El Apagon” (The Blackout), Puerto Rico’s reggaeton anthem. In the sea of light blue flags and bodies jumping, we screamed “Puerto Rico ta bien cabron!” (Puerto Rico is f—ng great!) The beat split and a hypnotic voice sang, “Esta es mi playa, esta mi sol, esta es mi Tierra, esta soy yo.” (This is my beach, this is my sun, this is my land, this is who I am.)
How San Francisco’s Criminal Justice Reform Became Undone
On June 7, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin conceded defeat following the success of Proposition H. The result was the conclusion of a billionaire-funded recall campaign that hinged upon concerns of incompetence, rising crime rates and public safety.
At an outdoor bar crowded with Boudin supporters, the votes rolled in, and the ousted DA resolutely called out: “This was never about one vote count. It was never about one election. This is a movement, not a moment in history.”…
Lealani & Making Waves: Backseat Challenge
Last month, our favorite LA-based electronic art-pop artist and extraterrestrial, Lealani returned to earth with her anticipated album, Lealani, SnakeFoot. Weaving stardust into sonic waves, Lealani transports listeners into her world through metaphors and melodies sung over experimental electronic beats….
What is Synth-Punk?
An anxious beat pulses as the synth-punk band, Suicide performs “Frankie Teardrop,” the iconic track off their 1977 debut album, Suicide. Synths grind and singer Alan Vega teeters towards insanity as he tells the story of a family killing Vietnam vet. Pioneers of synth-punk like Suicide and The Screamers replaced electric guitars with synthesizers and drums with drum machines, a bold and risky move; The sound created is an industrial, avant-garde dissonance that led us to the synth-punk genre and artists we love today.
For Suicide, inspiration came from New York’s streets and the Vietnam protests of the ‘70s. In interview with The Guardian, Vega says: “We were talking about society’s suicide, especially American society. New York City was collapsing, the Vietnam war was going on. The name Suicide said it all to us…”
THE415, Kaly Jay Incognegreaux
Born in Oakland, Bay Area rapper and multimedia artist, Kaly Jay Incognegreaux is on the rise. In alignment with love for community and his craft, Incognegreaux brings people out, and together, through energetic live performances and genuine, emotion-led lyrics. Check out his new song, "Most Likely" and join us in conversation with Kaly Jay Incognegreaux on his vision for 2022. Let's get into it!…
Keeping Analog Alive in a Digital World
In the ‘90s Berlin techno scene, Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke of Monolake experimented with homemade software to bring their music to live audiences. By playing around with Max code to create Ableton Live, the two unleashed a revolution in electronic music music production that has transformed numerous genres, from pop to experimental.
Despite the amazing capabilities of modern DAW based production, the timeless beauty of its analog predecessors remains – analog gear captivates listeners with its nostalgia and a distinct way of breathing life into sound. To balance the old with the new, we’ve compiled a guide to bring analog elements into your digital home studio…
As Climate Change Worsens, Puerto Rico Continues to Drown Under the Weight of U.S. Imperialism
Despite the recent media attention surrounding the ousted Gov. Ricardo Rossello, a critical tenant remains absent in mainstream dialogue on the political and social landscape of Puerto Rico: colonialism.
Colonialism has designated Puerto Ricans to a state of second class citizenship and heightened vulnerability, leaving its civilians ill equipped to face the consequences of climate change…
To Those We Lost in 2021
As we welcome in the new year, we remember the artists who shaped us – artists who revolutionized music as we know it, giving us new sounds and new visions. Among those who departed, we’ll dive into the lives and careers of five innovators whose profound effect on music paved a path forward for artists today…