.Features

Jul 8, 2025

Fantastic Negrito confronts his past on new album

Three-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Fantastic Negrito is rarely hesitant to travel. Since winning the first-ever NPR Tiny Desk Contest from among 7,000 entrants with a one-take video in 2015, the musician—born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz—has taken his masterful guitar playing and raw-to-silky voice to more than 43 countries. Nor is Dphrepaulezz...
What’s the hype?
Jun 17, 2025

What’s the hype?

One step into West Oakland’s Hyphy Burger and it’s clear the name isn’t just for show. Young diners crowd around tables, laughing loudly as they wait for their order numbers to be called. Old-school and new-school Bay...
Ciel amplifies emerging talent
Jun 10, 2025

Ciel amplifies emerging talent

An empty cup invites a drink. A chrysalis is designed to be broken. A blank page awaits the next adventure. This profound sense of potential lies at the very heart of Ciel Creative Space, a sprawling, 50,000-square-foot...
Northgate nights heat up
Jun 3, 2025

Northgate nights heat up

It’s nice to have options. Whether we’re in the mood for a bar crawl, need to appease various members of our friend-group or feel like Goldilocks-ing our way to just the right spot, Oakland’s Northgate-Waverly District offers...
Alexis Madrigal examines port city costs
Jun 3, 2025

Alexis Madrigal examines port city costs

The Port of Oakland stirs before dawn. Cranes rise like steel giants against a fog-stained sky, the air thick with diesel and salt. A container ship groans into a berth, water churning beneath it. Forklifts beep, chains...
Celebrate summer fun across the East Bay
May 27, 2025

Celebrate summer fun across the East Bay

Summer arts and entertainment come in all sizes, from small-scale, invitation-only  experiences in intimate venues to large events shared with hundreds of people. The East Bay offers options in multiple genres: theater, visual art, music, dance, film,...
Vese tells a tale of two coasts
May 20, 2025

Vese tells a tale of two coasts

It’s not every day one finds a Bay Area rapper who prefers hand-rolled cigars and bleeds orange and blue for the New York Knicks. But Vese, born Jason Anthony, isn’t concerned with expectations. A Bronx native now living...
‘Blood Be Water’ traces a journey of transformation
May 13, 2025

‘Blood Be Water’ traces a journey of transformation

When Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa looks back at his childhood, here’s how he remembers it: “Growing up, I didn’t have the most stable family, and I was alone a lot. I had a lot of free...
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