(soft music)
(upbeat music)
- Oakland is a city unafraid
to speak up and speak out.
With residents who loudly and
proudly claim it as their own.
I'm one of them.
Art and activism go hand in hand here,
and drive this city's culture.
Its beauty is inside and out.
We see it in the galleries and buildings.
Engage through vibrant
neighborhood murals,
graffiti and performances.
And add our voices through
powerful community protests.
Art is the language of the people's heads,
hands and hearts.
And hip hop brings it all together.
(upbeat music)
- Oakland has always had
a strong hip hop scene,
especially for a city on the West Coast.
That independent hip hop hustle
is really deeply embedded in
the music culture of Oakland.
It really just kind of started a movement
of artists just creating their own sounds
and selling them directly to
the people without any labels,
without any, business support.
Just kind of doing it on their own hustle
and that still is prevalent to this day.
The sound, being that heavy
sound of funk and base,
it's really about that
slap what we call it,
that knock that 808.
It's like the boom,
almost like the timpani,
like that timpani that boom boom,
is very prevalent in the Oakland sound.
And it was a driving force
around a lot of the early
creation of hip hop in Oakland,
even as it got more advanced
with people bringing
in more samples from jazz
and soul and whatever
they could get their hands on.
(upbeat music)
- There was never a time
in my life that I didn't
have hip hop in it.
As an artist I do feel
a deep responsibility
to be socially engaged,
to know what's going on
with social justice, to
know what's going on locally
and nationally, especially
being an MC and my art form,
having to deal with words.
I deeply believe that my words have power.
I think they have the power
to communicate a feeling,
to tell the truth, to tell
my story and the power
to invoke change and
to invoke conversation.
- Well, hip hop music
has always been the music
of the people in the communities,
in the hood, in the
ghettos, the people who are,
facing so much oppression,
whether that be from government,
whether that be from police
brutality, whether that be
from, just poverty or,
the effects of capitalism
on, people of color, just all these things
that our neighborhoods, our communities,
these issues that we face.
So it definitely comes out in the music.
It's an important aspect of the music.
Like we're the storytellers
of what we're going through.
- I want my story to be
heard, knowing that I'm not
an island onto myself.
Knowing that my story
is many people's story
as first generation American,
as a queer black woman,
as a full-figured woman,
as someone who's lived
a lot of different lifetimes in this life,
I am grateful that I have
the platform to speak out on,
and I take it with great responsibility.
- We're not scared to speak
out and speak up about
what we see and tell these
stories when there's people
in these streets and
represent them in a way,
with our music, with our voices.
(sober music)
(bright music)
♪ It's a movement, movement, movement ♪
♪ I captivate (indistinct)
with the Afro pic ♪
♪ Raise the black fist activist ♪
♪ Shut down the establishment catalyst ♪
♪ No category for this no data recorded ♪
♪ Hip hop musician rooted
classical origins ♪
♪ I'm so pained with the
pain full of emotion ♪
♪ Shine bright under the
moonlight the black backed oven ♪
♪ Revolutionary music must be Oakland ♪
♪ The street opus this is
a movement not a moment ♪
♪ It's another (indistinct) ♪
♪ Bravado was clever over
four four measure to measure ♪
♪ Phenomenal efforts
unclosed loud of applause ♪
♪ Side walks to concert halls
who can rock it this hard? ♪
♪ I'm bridging the gap
this is bigger than rap ♪
♪ Liberation (indistinct) ♪
♪ I free the people with
these conscious Concheros ♪
♪ I conduct like (indistinct) ♪
♪ With a barton and score to settle ♪
♪ When Michael Morgan put on
that's a whole another level ♪
♪ I was put on this platform
as a vessel for the rebels ♪
♪ Black lives matter and
that's just keeping real ♪
♪ If you heard a Mozart
but not William Grant ♪
♪ Still (indistinct) ♪
♪ To miss his case so
others deserve life ♪
♪ Time to decolonize the rapture ♪
♪ Assimilate those that organize
uprise protest and march ♪
♪ (indistinct) ♪
♪ COVID brought the world to a halt ♪
♪ George Floyd murder broke
my heart but it was a spark ♪
♪ Amplified the charge ♪
♪ Same call my ancestors
died and fought for ♪
♪ No justice no peace equality for all ♪
♪ Till we all in harmony ♪
♪ I write music my cause
rights (indistinct) ♪
♪ Good trouble John Lewis hip
hop the music led the struggle ♪
♪ It's a movement ♪
♪ Not a moment ♪
♪ 'Cause you know we
gonna be here forever ♪
♪ And ut feels so good
when we do it together ♪
♪ And it's how you start a movement ♪
♪ We make progress when
we open our minds ♪
♪ Open our hearts open our eyes ♪
♪ We on the frontline for our healing ♪
♪ Hear the sounds of our freedom ♪
♪ It's a movement, movement,
movement, come on ♪
♪ We got us we got us until
the day that there is justice ♪
♪ Then there is just us ♪
♪ Bring your people to the
street tell them fist up ♪
♪ We coming for them seats
with receipts best believe ♪
♪ But you no go steal our hope ♪
♪ Like you trying to steal these polls ♪
♪ And we still gonna vote
'çause we all know our role ♪
♪ Prayers work fast like a candle ♪
♪ Light up action and
intention now dismantle ♪
♪ We coming for that office
so you can get off it ♪
♪ No you cannot stop us ♪
♪ Actually we can run for office ♪
♪ Yes I'm really talking
to whoever is listening ♪
♪ 'Çause this is the people's movement ♪
♪ And this moment it is everything ♪
♪ Hold your visions close put
your focus on the offense ♪
♪ Say the names of the
fallen not forgotten ♪
♪ (indistinct) the calling double down ♪
♪ Tell me are you all in ♪
♪ All in unites as one ♪
♪ My recital was vital
instrumental essential ♪
♪ Remind you how music
meant to inspire you ♪
♪ 440 how my skills fine tuned
shine through (indistinct) ♪
♪ Impressionistic, effortless
how I speak it with words ♪
♪ Reminiscing (indistinct) ♪
♪ How I paint these pictures
on curves like exhibitions ♪
♪ Look around the wold shifting ♪
♪ This is the soundtrack
why you envision ♪
♪ What you want to see ♪
♪ For the heart never miss a beat ♪
♪ It's the art on the street
that speak to the issues ♪
♪ That seek to uplift you. ♪
♪ Deliver us from the
lesser of two evils ♪
♪ Realize the true
power is in the people ♪
♪ Our movements are (indistinct) ♪
♪ We occupy the algorithms
orchestrated wisdom ♪
♪ (indistinct) to mission (indistinct) ♪
♪ We came to spit it ♪
♪ It's a movement it's not a moment ♪
♪ 'Cause you know we
gonna be here forever ♪
♪ And it feels so good
when we do it together ♪
♪ That's how you start a movement ♪
♪ We make progress when
we open our minds ♪
♪ Open our hearts open our eyes ♪
♪ We on the frontlines for our healing ♪
♪ Hear the sounds of our freedom ♪
♪ It's a movement, movement,
movement, come on ♪
(classical music)
♪ It's the movement ♪
(classical music)
♪ It's the movement ♪
(classical music)
Classical music has been a reflection
of things that have been
going on in the world
and the societies as
well, all the way back to,
Tchaikovsky ,Stravinsky
Bach, Ravel, and they all
kind of told their own stories
of their current times as
well through their music.
And I was really trying to show how that,
how that relates, just like
the artists that I studied.
The Box, the Stevie wonders,
the John Coltrane's, the Rock Hymns,
A Tribe Called Quest.
From all these different genres,
they made music that's gonna last forever.
And that's having a certain
element that touches people
in a certain way.
- If I listen to Shostakovich,
I can feel the pain
and the anger and the
fear that he was feeling
during a tumultuous time.
And I feel a connection to
that because I understand those
on some level.
So during a time, like right now,
when the there's fires around
us, there's a pandemic,
there's a social movements happening.
I wanna hear those voices and I wanna gain
a better understanding for
myself because I can always
learn more musically or
socially just to make me
a more well rounded human.
So I think the connection between hip hop
and classical music is that
they can teach you something
about yourself and they can
connect to you in similar ways.
- I really see classical
music and hip hop music,
sharing an energy of innovation,
an energy of collaboration.
I think they're both really
passionate music forms.
I think they both pull
from different influences.
- Being a classically
trained pianist and also,
a student of the hip hop movement.
I've always wanted to see
these worlds come together.
I think its really
important for institutions,
organizations, such as SF Symphony
with such a vast wealth of number one,
just musical creativity,
musicianship access
and actually a lot of
privilege with just the things,
the resources that they
have to be able to expose,
other cultures or other
genres or other people
who don't, usually come
to a symphony performance
or who may not have access
to classical education.
How can that know the
access and that privilege
be spread out to other people to get
a better appreciation of
music and just the beauty
that a space like this orchestra creates.
I feel like any young kid
or any person of color
or any person of any
socioeconomic background
would appreciate being
able to experience that.
- At the end of the day,
something that I would love
my listeners to walk away
with is a sense of connection.
A sense of being seen, of being
heard of being acknowledged.
I think representation is everything.
And if I hadn't seen my own
versions of representation
in this music, I don't
know if I would have even,
stepped up to this art form.
I'd love for there to be a
conversation for it to be
a 360 cipher as we say
in the hip hop community.
Connection is a powerful thing.
Connection breeds compassion,
compassion breeds empathy,
and empathy, breeds change.
And so music has the power to do that.
It has the power to cross cultural lines,
to cross language
barriers, to cross borders.
And hip hop music, just
like classical music is one
of those art forms, it's
the language of the ghetto.
It's the language of the people,
it's the language of my generation.
(upbeat music)
♪ Lifted at the PO gift
that it could be shifted ♪
♪ Energy that is a dozen
and when it gets twisted ♪
♪ You decide every time
get it if you want it ♪
♪ If you don't let it go,
we don't serve tickets ♪
♪ Obsessions of the heart can
be stronger than your will ♪
♪ Impressions from the star
last longer then these thrills ♪
♪ Our fleeing every time you
step outside of your frame ♪
♪ Pictures paint themselves
yet the message is the same ♪
♪ But the game is played out ♪
♪ Won't anybody change
the reality we share ♪
♪ Called up by many names ♪
♪ I shared with us for life that
goes beyond the common norm ♪
♪ This is my birthright to
represent the coming storm ♪
♪ Born alone, die alone hope in between ♪
♪ I am part of the whole
I'm playing for the dream ♪
♪ Pathetic to meet you here
in the middle of this moment ♪
♪ Namaste I see you
honored when we own it ♪
(classical music)
♪ I wanna feel good in my life ♪
♪ Like every day is a new day, new way ♪
♪ Let go of the strife like a knife in ♪
♪ Release the sad and open wide open eye ♪
♪ Tell my spiritual god
a channel lyrical high ♪
♪ Challenge despicable lies
with them ticklish cries ♪
♪ I lay down my pride and
reach for another's hand ♪
♪ I'm trying to over stand
I'm trying to understand ♪
♪ I stay warm in the coldness of men ♪
♪ Stay human stand bold in who I am ♪
♪ Imprinted statements
illuminate the vacant ♪
♪ Incantations furthering recreation ♪
♪ Self dispelling affirmation,
taking half the patients ♪
♪ Ask for what I want
then I'm left waiting ♪
♪ Harder than I thought
or it's what I'm making ♪
♪ My desire got me caught
unmasked the craving for ♪
♪ My molding handholding, let me go ♪
♪ Then these wishes all
been built with laughing ♪
♪ I will bam blue just to
get through what it do ♪
♪ Knowing tomorrow will happen ♪
(classical music)
♪ Why the acting funny in
my land of milk and honey ♪
♪ When it ain't about the money ♪
♪ And the weather is always sunny ♪
♪ While some are fighting it
we working hard on uniting it ♪
♪ Bring your gifts to the
altar of enlightenment ♪
♪ Get you so excited fire is ignited ♪
♪ You should be delighted
you officially invited ♪
♪ To the next level step up, stand up ♪
♪ This is about surrender let go show up ♪
♪ Time to show grace show fate show face ♪
♪ Where we let them all know
right time, right place ♪
♪ Star seeds calling
home in the deep space ♪
♪ I'm one of seven sisters
keep up, keep pace ♪
♪ I go by many names soul
searcher, dream catcher ♪
♪ Demand and I claim I'mma
work you i'mma get you ♪
♪ Worldwide reaching
back to your own town ♪
♪ Wherever I be well you
know what's going down ♪
(classical music)
♪ On your mark get set
rock steady stay ready ♪
♪ Eyes closed spirit
open when them heady ♪
♪ Vibe deep motion slow gimme that body ♪
♪ Trust me when I say it's
a dreamer type of party ♪
♪ On your mark get set
rock steady stay ready ♪
♪ Eyes closed spirit open when I'm heady ♪
♪ Vibe deep motion slow gimme that body ♪
♪ Trust me when I say it's
a dreamer type of party ♪
♪ On your mark ♪
♪ Get set ♪
♪ Rock steady ♪
♪ But stay ready ♪
♪ On your mark ♪
♪ Get set ♪
♪ Rock steady ♪
♪ Stay ready ♪
(classical music)
♪ On your mark get set
rock steady stay ready ♪
♪ Eyes closed spirit open when I'm heady ♪
♪ Vibe deep motion slow gimme that body ♪
♪ Trust me when I say it's
a dreamer type of party ♪
♪ On your mark get set
rock steady stay ready ♪
♪ Eyes closed spirit open when I'm heady ♪
♪ Vibe deep motion slow gimme that body ♪
♪ Trust me when I say it's
a dreamer type of party ♪
(classical music)
- The expressions, the ideas, the goals,
especially the social goals
within the world of hip hop
are incredibly important to the world
and we should all be
working in those directions.
And then once you understand that you have
that connection already
to the world of hip hop,
then you basically open
your mind and you listen.
- I think in this time where
we've seen the most solidarity
probably ever around social
justice and anti-racism
and environmental justice,
I would just love to share that
you're not alone.
We're all experiencing
a similar feeling.
We're all trying to figure
out what our next step is,
what our next move is.
And I would just love to say
that together we're stronger.
The power of collaboration.
Again, the power of connection,
is a power of the people
and that together we're unstoppable.
(classical music)
