A podcast, an album, and soon-to-be a film, the multimedia project Tales Of The Town tells the story of Oakland’s Black history straight from the mouths of its longtime residents. Embodying The Town’s rebellious spirit and energetic pride, Tales Of The Town recruits Oakland’s 22nd Jim and San Francisco’s Lil Bean for “GET DANGEROUS,“ the latest song from the upcoming Tales Of The Town album. The new song reverberates with the driving pulse that defines East Bay rap music, with acid bass and low-note pianos augmenting the low end and ethereal synths adding a sense of tension familiar to anyone who hails from Oakland’s trenches. Both rappers navigate the instrumental with effortless ease, displaying the dangerous attitude necessary to survive in a hostile world.
The new song “GET DANGEROUS” arrives after the most recent episode of the Tales Of The Town podcast. Episode 3 of Tales Of The Town dropped on Tuesday, covering the student organizing history of Black Panther Party founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who attended Oakland City College in the early 1960s. The episode explores how The Soul Students Advisory, the organization founded by Seale and Newton, paved the way for Black student organizing across the country and globe. Episode 3 draws a direct line to more recent student actions, examining the Afrikan Black Coalitions and their fight to force the UC education system to divest entirely from private prisons.
“GET DANGEROUS” is the latest offering from the Tales Of The Town album, an 11-track effort featuring contributions from Bay Area musicians. The upcoming album welcomes a diverse group of artists with a deep connection to The Town, ranging from stars like G-Eazy, to critically acclaimed acts like Rexx Life Raj, street heroes like ALLBLACK , veterans like J Stalin, and many others. Earlier this fall, Tales Of The Town shared “F*CK 12” FREESTYLE, an incendiary missive by Guapdad 4000 and LaRussell, and last week, TOTT released “RISEN,” a soulful missive against gentrification by R&B group EluJay and vocalist Jane Handcock. Tales Of The Town arrives on October 14th via EMPIRE.
Hosted by People’s Programs’ co-founders and the co-creators of Hella Black Podcast, Abbas Muntaqim and Delency Parham, and produced by award winning documentarian and audio engineer, Maya Cueva, Tales Of The Town hopes to give an in-depth overview of what makes Oakland so special, and inspire others to research the fascinating history of their own hometowns.
Proceeds from the Tales Of The Town album will go towards supporting People’s Programs.
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
