Nef The Pharaoh remembers the exact moment he decided he wanted to become a rapper. At the tender age of 4, the young Pharaoh—born Tonee Hayes in Vallejo—saw the surreal Hype Williams-directed video for Busta Rhymes’ 1997 track “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.”
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Universal Grammar, the San Jose-based party promotion outfit behind The Continental’s weekly neo-soul soiree, The Changing Same, have a knack for pulling forward-thinking funk, R&B and electronic music to the South Bay. And this week’s TCS headliner, Gavin Turek, is no exception. For the past two years, Turek has been building a…
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As the crowd waited for Rihanna to take the stage at the SAP Center last year, the opening DJ put on Too Short’s banger, “Blow the Whistle.” Being a local anthem of sorts, Short’s song got people out of their seats to dance and sing along—never louder than when the East Bay…
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Diana San Juan, Vicente Serna, Benjamin Siepak, Nick Veronin on April 12, 2017
To mark the late Selena’s 46th birthday, Sonido Clash is throwing a party at BackBar SoFa, headlined by San Jose cumbia band Corazon Salvaje. The third annual Selena-themed bash Also this week: Vector Hold, a locally based synthwave duo who deploy heavy metal guitars and a Commodore Amiga 500 to craft the…
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Diana San Juan, Benjamin Siepak, Vicente Serna, Nick Veronin on April 5, 2017
Spring into First Friday. This week brings with it the first South First Friday art walk of the spring season. Be sure to get out there and check out the great galleries. There’s the 19th annual Latino Art Now! show at MACLA, Julie Barrett and David Mejia at KALEID Gallery and Immersion…
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Vicente Serna, Nick Veronin on March 15, 2017
Them bricks is way to hot, you need to cut it! One might presume that Trevor Paglen took the advice of a certain Long Beach trapper when he conceived of his “Trinity Cube”—a block fashioned out of irradiated glass collected from the post-meltdown Fukashima Exclusion Zone in Japan and Trinitite, the mineral…
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Diana San Juan on March 9, 2017
A great song has the power to transcend time and space. A rich harmony, an infectious melody, a sick beat, a beautiful lyric: they all work together to move a listener—whether on the dancefloor, emotionally, or both.
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Diana San Juan, Vicente Serna, Benjamin Siepak, Nick Veronin on March 8, 2017
Sheltering two illegal immigrants from postwar Italy comes with unexpected consequences for Eddie and Beatrice Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge, opening this week at The Pear Theatre. Also this week: John 5, guitarist for Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie brings big, scary guitars to The Ritz Dash Berlin…
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The imposing dude who mans the stool at the door of the neighborhood watering hole might be known by any number of names. He could be a “bouncer,” a “doorman” or even a “cooler.” He is a familiar face to regulars and a mean mug staring down the rowdy and intoxicated.
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Diana San Juan, Vicente Serna, Benjamin Siepak, Nick Veronin on March 2, 2017
For those who weren’t moved by the mascara and brooding synth experimentation of bands like Depeche Mode and The Cure, or the caustic affront of hardcore punk bands like Black Flag and Bad Brains, the 1980s marked a dark time for popular, guitar-driven music. By ’81—the year The Rolling Stones released their…
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