Historian and media activist Rick Prelinger’s popular Lost Landscapes series will be coming to The New Parkway (474 24th St.) for a free presentation of Oakland-specific material on Friday, April 1 as part of First Friday Shorts. Oakland Lost Landscapes is a montage of rediscovered and rarely-seen film clips taken by news cameramen, amateur videographers, and industrial filmmakers at times when the city looked very different than it does today. Although Prelinger — whose archive of 60,000 such films from across the country now lives at the Library of Congress — researched and compiled the Oakland Lost Landscapes collection, his student Alex Cruse will be giving the presentation on Friday. Cruse is an Oakland-based writer, interdisciplinary artist, and educator who worked at the Prelinger Archives between 2012 and 2013 and is now the primary producer of the Lost Landscapes series. Unlike most screenings, talking is encouraged during Lost Landscape presentations. “We should think about not just making films, but making events as well,” Prelinger told the Express in 2014. “I want to use historical film material as an opportunity to get people talking about issues that might be hard to talk about.”

Saturday night’s Too $hort show at The Fox Theater felt like the concert equivalent of a late-career museum retrospective — with as much ceremoniousness and fanfare as one might expect for an artist who has been canonized as an all-time great.

Everyone recognizes Too $hort as a rap legend — and a force in Oakland music, period. But at the concert, which was billed as his anniversary show celebrating thirty years in the industry, Too $hort confirmed his icon status with a hugely entertaining, dynamic set. In addition to flexing his skills on the mic, he punctuated his performance with bits of nostalgic storytelling, Oakland history, and surprise performances from fellow OGs E-40, Raphael Saadiq, Richie Rich, and Freddy B., in addition to younger artists such as Mistah F.A.B., and — in lieu of the late Eazy E — Lil Eazy E, the West Coast legend’s son.

Between songs, Short Dog’s many colleagues and longtime supporters gave impassioned speeches about his significance to rap history. Many people touted the hustle and imagination it took for him to transcend hip-hop trends and stay relevant in a genre that’s typically considered a young person’s game for over three decades.

After all, Too $hort was forty years old when he released “Blow the Whistle” in 2006. And though it’s now regarded as a quintessential hyphy classic, as the rapper pointed out in a recent video interview with the rap blog HipHopDX, he was already well-established in his career when it came out and didn’t need another hit. That’s the thing about Too $hort: Hits flow out of him. He’s unstoppable.

Inside the dimly lit Fox Theater, with its ornate, art deco interior, Too $hort took the stage looking like a rock star in a black shirt and ox blood leather pants — which he later traded for an all-black look decked out with shimmering, gold rhinestones. Instead of a DJ, he performed with a huge, nine-piece-or-so band (the number of musicians, backup singers, and friends on stage seemed to grow throughout the evening, so I wasn’t sure on the final count).

The crowd varied in age and ethnicity, though there was a large presence of Black folks in their forties and fifties. Copes, one of Too $hort’s old friends, was selling reprints of his original Oakland City Players t-shirts emblazoned with a Playboy Bunny over the Town skyline — a design that was popular locally in the Eighties and Nineties. He coined Oakland’s famous nickname, Oaktown, in the Eighties, and he had a binder full of old articles and photos to prove it. The night felt like a celebration of Oakland culture and history that, refreshingly, didn’t promote gentrification.

Though a lot of folks love hyphy-era Too $hort, his set list made it clear that the earlier, funkier parts of his catalogue are what he holds dear. While, sometimes, rap shows with live ensembles can often come off as overwrought, the musicians jived well with Too $hort’s music, and their playing never overshadowed his verbal dexterity. In fact, the band added a new sense of dynamism to Too $hort’s mob music classics.

During “Freaky Tales” — a track from 1989’s Born to Mack in which Too $hort recounts various sexual exploits over a hypnotic bass line for over nine minutes — his band launched into a Phish-style jam session. Too $hort made it a point to highlight that he cares about musicianship throughout the night. At one point, he invited Kev Choice, his pianist who is also a well-known Oakland rapper in his own right, to launch into a lengthy keyboard solo. The crowd gleefully cheered on his ostentatious, jazzy playing.

There were plenty of surprises throughout the night, as a throng of local legends took turns joining Too $hort on stage. E-40 — probably Too $hort’s only living equal in terms of gatekeeper status in the Bay Area rap scene — gave a heartfelt speech about his and $hort’s long friendship and creative partnership. The two of them performed the player anthem “Bitch” off Forty Water’s Revenue Retrievin’, and the elated crowd screamed along to every instance of “biatch” — Too $hort’s favorite word, as he famously explains in “Blow the Whistle.”

Though Freddy B. was one of Too $hort’s lesser-known guests, his appearance was by far one of the most special. He and Too $hort regaled the audience with tales from their days selling tapes together in the Eighties in East Oakland. Freddy B. recalled how people would commission him and $hort to dedicate personalized freestyles to them called “special requests,” which the duo would do for fifty to a hundred dollars a pop. “We were getting paper,” said Freddy B. His understatement provoked uproarious laughter. “In fact, we’re still getting paper.”

Raphael Saadiq joined Too $hort on stage for a large portion of the night, which was also a rare treat. Though he was the original lead vocalist of Toni! Tony! Toné!, the group reunited without him in 1998 following a hiatus during the early Nineties. Saadiq has enjoyed a successful solo career and done notable behind-the-scenes work with D’Angelo and The Roots, but his work with Toni! Tony! Toné! is one of his biggest contributions to Oakland music history and R&B in general. He regaled the crowd with his impressive vocal chops and, at one point, even brought out his bass.

Mistah F.A.B., who is famous for his incredible ability to freestyle for indefinite lengths of time (Fabby Davis is the prince of the O / The freestyle king, man, everybody know, as he rightfully declared in “N.E.W. Oakland”), also joined Too $hort for an extensive portion of the evening. F.A.B. freestyled at length about the history of the hyphy movement and Too $hort’s cultural importance, upping the concert’s sentimental factor even more as a slideshow of Too $hort’s album covers played in the background.

The show’s plush setting and flashy presentation was befitting of Too $hort’s extensive accomplishments as an artist. But it also spoke to how much mainstream America has embraced hip-hop. Too $hort’s sleazy stage banter and raunchy rhymes contrasted with The Fox Theater’s museum-like environment, and I felt a sense of satisfaction from witnessing him flagrantly subvert the Eurocentric concept of “low” and “high” art forms.

Too $hort came up during the Reagan era, at the height of the AIDS and crack epidemics — a time when mainstream media vilified rappers for creating art that reflected the struggles Black communities were facing. Hearing Too $hort perform his timeless piece of storytelling rap, “The Ghetto” — with Saadiq crooning its soulful hook — was a poignant reminder that, inherently, hip-hop is an affront to white supremacy and the police state.

While Too $hort is well known for his pimp persona, his sexually explicit lyrics often overshadow the strong contingent of socially and politically conscious content in his music. And while much of his ouvre is admittedly pretty sexist, Too $hort had something of a feminist awakening in 2012 following an in-depth Ebony interview with the scholar Dream Hampton, in which they had a frank conversation about the dual burdens of racism and misogyny that Black women face.

While it would be an overstatement to say that Too $hort has wholly reformed the misogynistic tendencies in his work, it was commendable that at one point in the night, he announced that there were too many male voices on stage. He later brought out a female MC to finish the last verse on “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” from his first studio album, Life Is … Too $hort. (Sadly, I didn’t catch her name, but she was raw.)

The evening ended with an unexpected speech from Peggy Moore, Mayor Schaaf’s Senior Special Adviser. She honored Too $hort with a letter of recognition for his contributions to the performing arts in Alameda County. Seeing Too $hort get an official designation from the local government was as much a testament to his artistic accomplishments as it was a reminder that Oakland is an exceptional place thanks to people like him — not because of its recent influx of yuppies.

After Moore left the stage, Too $hort brought back E-40, Saadiq, Richie Rich, Mistah F.A.B., Freddy B., and the rest of the guests from throughout the night. He gestured to his band as if he wanted to do an encore, but the house lights had already been turned on and venue staff were beginning to usher people out of the theater. As with all magical evenings, the show didn’t feel nearly long enough. But Too $hort already knew that in 1988 when he pointed out that Life Is … Too $hort. 

It’s officially spring ! Go out and celebrate:

SALTA Dance Collective: Pseudo, Anti, and Total Dance
SALTA, an East Bay experimental dance collective that holds a monthly roaming dance series with the goal of activating unlikely spaces with movement, is teaming up with the similarly non-traditional performance platform AUNTS to take over the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2155 Center St., Berkeley) on Friday, March 25, from 6–9 p.m. The dancers aim to turn the museum’s new home into a “dance deck, disco, shrine” by performing throughout the galleries, responding to the architecture and the artwork within it. SALTA and AUNTS have curated a lineup of over sixty performers to fill the space, ranging widely in discipline. More than fifteen video artists will also be there to light up the galleries with projected imagery. The first one hundred people to attend will receive free entry. After that, the event will be free with museum admission.— Sarah Burke
Fri., March 25, 6-9 p.m. Free with museum admission. BAMPFA.org


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DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown (AKA Erykah Badu) 
Not only is Erykah Badu the queen of late Nineties/early Aughts neo-soul, she was also a key figure in bringing Afrofuturist thought and aesthetics into the pop culture zeitgeist. Basically, everything Badu does is next level — from her socially conscious lyrics that speak out against oppression to her public actions that challenge harmful social norms. She proudly takes selfies that showcase her graying hair — giving the middle finger, so to speak, to unattainable beauty standards — and, in addition to being a Platinum-selling recording artist, she’s also a practicing doula. Until 2015, Badu had been quiet since the release of her phenomenal 2010 album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). But last year, she dropped the mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone, a collection of quick, fun, “Hotline Bling”-inspired tracks that stoked fans’ appetites for her next album. Badu DJs at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco on March 25 under her alter ego, Lo Down Loretta Brown. — Nastia Voynovskaya
Fri., March 25, 10 p.m. 1015 Folsom (1015 Folsom St., San Francisco). $35-$50. 1015.com

Book Signing and Chill w/Author Juliana “Jewels” Smith of (H)afrocentric: The Comic
Oakland educator, writer, and organizer Juliana “Jewels” Smith started her comic book series (H)afrocentric in 2011 while teaching at community colleges, in order to better engage with her students. The series stars a group of undergraduate students of color navigating their way through life at the fictional Ronald Reagan University. Smith is now ready to release volume four of the series, which she has likened to a feminist version of The Boondocks. On March 25, Smith will be at the Betti Ono Gallery (1427 Broadway, Oakland) for a “Book Signing and Chill” from 7–9 p.m. The event includes a Q&A with Melorra Green of KPOO’s Ibeji Lounge ($10–$15 suggested donation). And on March 26, from 5–7 p.m., Smith will sign copies of the comic at the African American Museum & Library (659 14th St., Oakland). The African American Museum will also host a symposium called “Afro Surrealism, Comics, and Speculative Fiction” from 1–4 p.m. that day, featuring a robust lineup of readings and discussions.— S. B.
Fri., March 25, 7-9 p.m.
510-473-5919. $10-15. BettiOno.com

AKA Frank
There are a number of ways to take a stand on important social issues. East Bay rapper Aka Frank did so in an unabashedly sleazy fashion with his single “Racist (My Dick Ain’t),” an anthem for those whose attraction knows no bounds as far as culture and ethnicity are concerned. The song was an underground hit when it came out three years ago and was played frequently at local dance parties and DJ nights. Since then, Aka has been hugely prolific. As a former member of Diligentz, a teenage rap group that was active in the Aughts and also featured Jay Ant from HBK Gang, he frequently works with HBK and Shmoplife artists and released an excellent collaborative mixtape with IAMSU last summer titled Biggie Smalls. The tape featured gems such as the morning-after soundtrack, “Backwoods and Backrubs,” as well as “Lane Switching,” which features Lil Uzi Vert, who has since become a viral sensation. Now, Aka Frank is back with Aka Frank Vol. 3, a nineteen-track album rife with hyperactive party tracks and features from prominent East Bay artists such as Lil B and J. Stalin. He celebrates the album’s release with a day party at Brick & Mortar Music Hall this Saturday.— Nastia Voynovskaya
Sat., March 26, 3 p.m. $14, $30. BrickAndMortarMusic.com

Sake and Science with Harold McGee
Part of the received wisdom of Japanese sake drinking culture is that certain types of sake taste better when they’re heated while others are better served cold or at room temperature. Harold McGee, noted food science expert and author of the groundbreaking On Food & Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, made a name for himself by debunking a number of widely-held cooking myths — the idea that searing meat “seals in the juices,” for instance. In this lecture and Q&A session at the Takara Sake Tasting Room (708 Addison St., Berkeley), McGee will talk about the science behind how temperature affects our sense of taste and smell — and how that applies to sake specifically. Before participants leave, they will taste three types of sake — served cold, warm, and at room temperature — to experience the difference themselves.— Luke Tsai
Sat., March 26, 3-6 p.m. $20–$25. TakaraSake.com

“Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984-1992”
The seminal poet and professor Audre Lorde is known mostly for her work as a queer, radical feminist and US civil rights activist. But Dagmar Schultz’ 2012 documentary, Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984-1992, focuses on a lesser-known chapter in Lorde’s life, during which she helped to ignite the Afro-German Movement by mentoring Black German women to write and publish essays about their identities and worked with white German women to check their privilege and use it constructively. The intimate feature will be shown at Kehilla Community Synagogue (1300 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturday, March 26, from 7–9 p.m. Following the screening, Schultz will be joined by Lorde’s close friend and colleague Ika Hügel-Marshall, who co-authored the film’s script, for a discussion about the film and Lorde’s influential work.— S. B.
Sat., March 26, 7-9 p.m. $5-$15. KehillaSynagogue.org

Shlohmo
LA producer Shlohmo is a native Angeleno, but most fans don’t realize that he got his start in the Bay Area as a student at California College of the Arts. While he initially moved up north to study fine art after high school, Shlohmo eventually returned his focus to the music collective he founded as a teenager in LA, WeDidIt, which also features DJ-producers RL Grime and D33J. Shlohmo has proven himself to be a dynamic beat maker, deconstructing traditional hip-hop rhythms with psychedelic effects. On his latest album, Dark Red, he creates slow, pared-down, oceanic beats that incorporate static and glitchy effects amid lush layers of synths. Catch him live at the Mezzanine on Saturday. — N. V.
Sat., March 26, 9 p.m. $20. MezzanineSF.com

If your pockets are feelin’ light and you’re still yearning for more suggestions, we’ve got a ton, and these ones are all FREE! We’re Hungry: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Feed us at Sa*********@************ss.com.

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