All Videos Tagged Arts (True Skool Network) - True Skool Network

Rapper and Pianist Kev Choice Makes Music to Heal Oakland—and Himself | KQED Arts

2023-08-04T22:00:33.263Z

Kev Choice is a rapper, educator and classically trained pianist who seems to be everywhere in the local music scene. San-Francisco Bay Area concertgoers might recognize him from Yoshi’s or SFJazz, where he’s performed with his Kev Choice Ensemble, or remember him from behind the keys accompanying local artists like Too Short and Rayana Jay.

Choice, who was born and raised in Oakland, says that his main goal with his music is to inspire people of different walks of life and create safe spaces for self-expression. His music is also a way for him to celebrate Oakland’s culture and give back to his community. For Choice, Oakland has always been a mecca for diversity and a center of Black excellence. He grew up with Black teachers and role models who inspired him to pursue his musical aspirations; now as an adult, he pays it forward by regularly mentoring and performing with student musicians from local high schools.

One of Choice’s most important works to date is his Soul Restoration Suite, a piece commissioned by the Oakland Symphony. He says he wrote it when he was going through a period of personal life changes while watching his hometown transform as a result of ongoing gentrification. “It was me trying to restore my soul and also trying to restore the soul of Oakland at the same time,” he says. The piece mixes hip-hop and classical influences (think Ravel meets A Tribe Called Quest), and Choice debuted it at the Oakland Symphony in March 2018 with the Kev Choice Ensemble, Oakland School for the Arts High School Vocal Chorus and vocalists Jennifer Johns and Viveca Hawkins.

Talib Kweli & Masta Ace On 'Disposable Arts,' Rakim, Eminem, Doom, 'Crooklyn' | People's Party Full

2023-03-16T00:17:09.043Z

In this episode of "People's Party With Talib Kweli," Kweli sits down with rapper, writer, producer, and original member of the legendary Juice Crew:

MASTA ACE

Here's what we got into:

• Ace's bars exemplifying rhyme schemes that shaped Talib as an emcee.
• Rakim's innovations of rhyme patterns impacting how Ace approached writing.
• How the song, 'Crooklyn Dodgers' for the 1994 Spike Lee joint, 'Crooklyn' came together.
• Ace being fully immersed in the early stages of hip hop, growing up in Brownsville, BK.
• Going to Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay High School and joining the football team.
• Working as a HS football coach for 11 years, while keeping his identity under wraps.
• Ace winning the first rap contest he entered himself in, in 1986.
• How Ace landed himself a spot on the Juice Crew and the song, 'The Symphony.'
• A young Ol' Dirty Bastard getting himself kicked off the Cold Chillin' tour.
• The impact of Ace's debut, 'Take A Look Around' and how he feels about it now.
• People thinking Ace's voiced impression of Biz was really him on, 'Me & The Biz.'
• Ace's song, 'Jeep Ass N*gga,' and how it was inspired by LL's, 'The Boomin' System.'
• Hearing how much Eminem was influenced by Ace's, 'SlaughtaHouse' album.
• Breaking down how 'Sittin' On Chrome' was Ace's "compromise album."
• His experience with Big Beat Records and how that album fell through.
• Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and keeping it private for 13 years.
• Forming the eMC crew with Wordsworth, Stricklin, and Punchline.
• How his 2001 tour in the UK inspired the penning of 'Disposable Arts.'
• The honesty of 'Dear Diary' and it's pointing to where battle rap was going.
• The song, 'Soda & Soap' with Jean Grae originally being written for Will Smith.
• Ace and Marco Polo's 'A Breukelen Story' leaning into Marco's life.
• How 'MA Doom: Son of Yvonne' was born from Ace's love of 'Special Herbs.'
• Unpacking, 'Home in America' about the impact of systemic racism.
• Ace's work on a hip hop musical based on three of his albums.
• What's next for Ace?

Oakland Boogaloo: The Funk-based Freestyle Dance that Helped Define the Town’s Culture | KQED Arts

2022-02-05T00:26:39.085Z

Oakland, California, home to the Black Panthers, also birthed the pioneering funk-driven freestyle dance Oakland Boogaloo, characterized by strong hits and poses. In the late 1960s and 1970s, before the emergence of hip hop, the city’s African American youth took inspiration from James Brown, the Temptations, Charlie Chaplin, cartoon characters, and sci-fi robots, and created a repertoire of original moves like the “Dime Stop,” the “Hit, the “Mack Pose” and “the Ditallion.” Youth in nearby San Francisco and Richmond soon developed variants of boogaloo, respectively known as strutting and robotting. Today, these techniques are collectively known as “the funk styles,” owing to their development during the funk era. Despite its pioneering status, Oakland boogaloo’s cultural contributions are little-known outside of Bay Area dance circles.

Meet OG Oakland boogaloo dancers who take us back to where the movement began and show us how they are passing the art form onto a new generation—bridging the gap between boogaloo, pop-locking and turf dancing.

'What's a Bong?' w/ B-Real | Arts-N-Raps

2016-02-28T03:50:46.297Z

Legendary hip hop artist, B-Real, joins the kids to answer "What's a Bong?" See the kids decorate some shoes while Dr. GreenThumb spits some knowledge. See it all in this week's episode of All Def Digital's Arts and Raps

Bay Area Hip Hop History: Veteran Dancers Reminisce About Local Styles | KQED Arts

2014-11-18T17:50:04.336Z

We asked veterans of legendary dance crews GroovMekanex and the Black Messengers to show off some signature moves from the streets of Oakland and the Fillmore.

via KQED