//We *heart* Oakland

What's in a place? Why do we humans so often devote so much energy to repping where we are from? Why is it so much a source of pride? T-shirts, songs, war... Where you from, where you been, where you at? In Be Kind Rewind, Jerry flips on Mike talking bout "What's so great about this city? Why do you even care about it so much?" To which Mike responds,

"The people."

And that my people, is the story. Oakland's not about the Lake or the Coliseum or the AT-AT cranes at the Port. We don't even own that stuff. It's about the people.. Oakland is Barbara Lee and Boots Riley and Pam the Funkstress and Del the Funky Homosapien. Oakland is Raphael Saadiq and Keyshia Cole and Kirby Dominant and En Vogue and the Black Panthers. Oakland is Ledisi and Goapele and Bruce Lee and Mac Dre.

Oakland is the O.G. veteran teachers my first year teaching at Calvin Simmons Middle School way back when. Oakland is that 6th grader we had way back then who was gunned down last week at age 22. Oakland is that 6th grader we had way back then who is at UCLA on a Fulbright. Oakland is the dudes on San Leandro Blvd & High St. waiting to hop on the back of a truck to go on a day job. Oakland is the Persian homie with the fronts at the Seminary Gas station who would give me the playa price on a pack of American Spirits when my wife would make me go buy them (thanks for quitting love). Oakland is San Francisco, Richmond, Berkeley, Alameda and the The Whole Damn Yay too. Oakland is Manila, Managua, Reykjavík, Chicago, Brooklyn..and so on and so forth.

Come thru to WE LOVE THE TOWN this Friday.. it's a celebration of us, the people, and we got mad love for The People! Plus we got free stuff from Oaklandish and OakBook too so you can show your love on your sleeve!

In parting, here's a coupla sure shots from one of The Town's greats, whose new LP drops this September. 1neluv.

Raphael Saadiq "100 Yard Dash" (Sony, 2008)


Raphael Saadiq "Different Times (live at the LA House of Blues f/Ledisi & Goapele)" (Pookie, 2003)




DJ ZITA (B.A.S.S.)
DMADNESS (Knowmadic DJs)

Classic Hip Hop, Dancehall & Oaktown Love!

+Giveaways from our sponsors:

//One in a Million..

1/16/79 - 8/25/01

..hasn't been an r&b diva like her since. In memory of, here is the extra awesome anime clip done for her epynomous 2001 album by the homie Warren Fu who is a dope graffiti artist-turned-Star Wars-designer (and whose earth day, incidentally is today). I always tell my students the story of back in the UC Berkeley days how Warren ran up on Aaliyah at KMEL Summer Jam to give her an illustration he had done of her...and how down the line he ended up doing this. See kids, follow your instincts and your heart (and stop playin video games!). 1neluv.



Aaliyah "Last Night in a Million (DJ Neta remix)" - DJ Neta on myspace


Aaliyah "I Miss U (Remix f/ Jay-Z)"

//Red Alert

Meet DJ RED-i, who just might be the tightest selector in Manila and is a cool-ass homie to boot. On our honeymoon in the motherland me & Z had the great opportunity to link up with kindred spirits:





RED's lady SOUL FLOWA, an established dj in her own right, called us up the day after we touched down in Manila to invite us to spin with them at their Thursday weekly called Rouge at the "MCafe", the Cafe of the Ayala Museum in Makati. The next day, they were taking us digging at secret cutty spots, putting us up on local designers like TeamManila, and flipping records at their fly crib over some iced San Miguel Red Horse.


Red put me up on knowledge that Lupe Fiasco's "Kick, Push" is driven by a sample from an old Filipino record by Celeste Legaspi.. and dropped actual facts with many other ill records he pulled from his shelves.

Celeste Legaspi "Bolero Medley"




On top of all that he laced me with hella volumes of dope mixes we bumped on the beach. Out of all of them, my favorite is called My Show and really exemplifies his eclectic taste and smoove style.



The intro makes me smile every time i hear it: "Well, you see, we are scientists of sound/We're mathematically puttin it down!" Tune in to the A-1 sound:

DJ Red-i | My Show - Mixtape Vol.5


Big shout out to Red & Astrid, thanks for holding us down in Manila. This one goes out to you brother, freshly ripped from the 7" vinyl from one of my favorite riddims of all time, Dave Kelly's Gangster's Anthem. 1ne luv.

Donovan Steele "Red Eye" (Mad House, 1994)

//I Feel Good

I love music that makes you feel good...who doesn't? I love to feel good. I loved FeelGood, the Tuesday night jumpoff that Mai-Lei and Sake1 used to do at Soluna. I love the feeling of good Jamaican 45s. Especially ones by Hugh Beresford Hammond, who incidentally has a late August birthday too. Beres Hammond feels good. How do I know? He has a Stevie Wonder type career...filled with good tunes that feel good. His new tune is called "I Feel Good" and I can tell he wasn't lyin' when he was singing it. He is one of the greats. Press play below and feel good too. 1neluv.

Beres Hammond "I Feel Good" (VP, 2008)