Phono del Sol: Queens D.Light’s not-so-quiet revolution
Photos by Salihah Saadiq Words by Jody Amable "I feel like in the Bay it’s OK to be weird." Perched on a blue sofa in Qulture Collective, a queer and POC-focused coffee shop and arts hub in Oakland, Queens D.Light has been talking about her influences, her upbringing, and life leading up to the moment she's in now. As a full-time artist in the Bay Area — co-founder of creative agency House of Malico, filmmaker, and rapper — she feels a little bit lucky to have grown up in, and still live in, in an area that embraces the weird. [...]
Jay Stone and Queens D.Light are figuring it all out, together
Jay Stone could be cut from a cloth of the “last real MCs,” except his swatch would be some thrifted, metallic, purple-and-gold synthetic hemp (despite being born and raised in Oakland, Jay is a diehard a Lakers fan). The stream-of-consciousness flow and elasticity in his delivery marked Jay as a tried-and-true lyricist on his last project, the 2015 Foreign Pedestrians collaboration with producer Monster Rally. Considering himself more of a “rhythmic observationalist” than a rapper, Jay’s long-awaited Calibration of an Altered Mind (primarily produced by Micah Aza) released last November on Gold Robot Records, is his subconscious let loose into [...]
Best Of 2018: Women Sound Off on the womxn making waves in Bay Area music
2018 was an instrumental year for womxn-identifying musical artists in the Bay Area and beyond. As an intersectional platform celebrating creative women from all industries and walks of life, Women Sound Off (formerly known as Women in Music Festival) is honored to have worked and collaborated with a variety of Bay Area talent since its founding in 2016. In the spirit of reflection and in celebration of phenomenal womxn in music, we bring you just a few notable artists who made waves in the Bay Area music scene in 2018. These are the ones to watch. FR333 Comprised of producer [...]
Jay Stone, Queens D. Light, newcomers highlight SMART BOMB v.53
With the shuttering of Los Angeles' legendary Low End Theory in August, it's comforting to know a like-minded spirit lives on and is recognized in the Bay Area through Oakland's SMART BOMB. Championing the cross-pollination of heady, experimental sounds in hip-hop, the upcoming volume (volume 53) shines an especially bright light onto Queens D. Light, Jay Stone, plus newcomers, producer Heru and producer/rapper Demahijae. Both Queens D. Light and Jay Stone have blessed 2018 with new albums. The hip-hop on Queens' spiritually energetic Flavor of Green EP was produced by Monster Rally, the same producer who gave us Jay Stone's [...]
Mixtape: Over a dozen of the Bay Area’s best new and emerging rap artists
(Originally posted at KQED Arts) http://media.libsyn.com/media/thebaybridged/Bay_Area_Rap_2016.mp3 Download: Mixtape: Over a Dozen of the Bay Area's Best New and Emerging Rap Artists (Podcast #386) We haven't done a deep dive into the independent hip-hop scene in some time, but that certainly isn't due to a lack of new local rap talent. While artists like Iamsu and G-Eazy are among the latest Bay ambassadors to have gained mainstream attention, many exciting and relatively unknown MCs are emerging out of the San Francisco Bay Area. This mixtape collects 13 songs showcasing some of the best emerging rappers from the Bay. As you'll hear [...]
Bandcamp’s first City Guide spotlights Oakland: Bells Atlas, Waterstrider, Kid Trails, and more
Recently, Oakland's music scene has been raking in the national press. In February, it was Fantastic Negrito delivering the winning video for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert contest filmed inside of a freight train: "behind a desk made of a steel slab and a work bench, this soulful character won our hearts" was Bob Boilen's praise. The winnings included a place on the bill for a SXSW showcase alongside the likes of Charles Bradley and King Tuff, and now he's slated to perform at this year's Outside Lands. Now, Bandcamp – or more specifically, content curator Andrew Jervis – has taken notice. Jervis explains, "Oakland is considered home to [...]
The Bay Bridged & Gold Robot Records Present: Monster Rally & Jay Stone’s LP release show
The Bay Bridged is happy to announce that we will be partnering with Gold Robot Records to present the release show for LA beatmaker Monster Rally (aka Ted Feighan) and Oakland MC Jay Stone's collaborative LP, Foreign Pedestrians. On January 24, the duo will be joined at Leo's in Oakland by Queens D. Light and Kid Trails, with Yalls playing a DJ set. Check out all you need to know about the show along with a video version of the flier from Feighan (who also designed the static flier above and Foreign Pedestrians' album art. Feighan and Jay Stone were [...]
Video: DUCKWRTH – “TRAVEL”
I can't rave enough about Bay Area hip-hop - local hip-hop artists consistently push boundaries with their music and have an eye for the visual, as well. DUCKWRTH is no exception. The LA native currently living in San Francisco just released a short film, "TRAVEL", connecting his tracks "TRAVEL", "VOLTRON", and "FATLACE CHUX" into a trip through SF, a magical corner store, and Crenshaw. The video was directed by Israel Ramos of Hungrie Ones and costars Oakland's Queens D. Light, (who just released an album you can listen to after the video.) DUCKWRTH released TAXFREE V.1 earlier this year, and [...]