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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Rhythm is a deceptively complex pursuit. It’s easy enough to clap along to the band, but when it comes to holding down a solid groove, even musicians proficient on stringed instruments, keyboards or horns can find that they are all thumbs.
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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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The second annual spring edition of the SoFA Street Fair takes over San Jose’s arts district this weekend—bringing deluge of art, music and performance to an already packed weekend.
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Lately, Brandon Leeland says he’s been feeling like the whole world’s gone mad. From watching the everyday struggles of friends and family to attempting to discern the truth amid an endless torrent of tweets and cable news conjecture, Leland, like so many, has been overwhelmed.
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Not long after Chris Manak moved to Los Angeles to live with underground hip-hop producer Madlib, Metro reached out to the founder of Stones Throw Records and asked him to share highlights from his youth growing up on San Jose’s East Side.
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Benjamin Siepak, Nick Veronin on April 19, 2017
When Steve Wozniak was working to launch the first Silicon Valley Comic Con, the Apple co-founder and his partners considered San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Ultimately, they decided against it. “No,” Wozniak says, recalling his final answer. “We want to hold it in San Jose, because San Jose is more representative—over the last…
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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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