Tales Of The Town provides crucial context for the vibrant Oakland music scene, telling the story of the city’s rich political and cultural history through a podcast, an album, and eventually a documentary film. Today, Tales Of The Town releases the brand new Tales Of The Town album, Spanning 11 tracks, Tales Of The Town is a project that emphasizes the depth and breadth of Oakland’s music scene. Though some songs, like the searing “F*CK 12” FREESTYLE ft. Guapdad 4000 & LaRussell tackle social issues that affect Oakland’s Black community, other songs like “GET DANGEROUS” ft. 22nd Jim & Lil Beanand “PARTY WITH THE GANG” ft. G-Eazy, P-Lo & FREDOBAGZ show how the community blows off steam.
The album shows off the stylistic diversity of the Town’s scene, offering meditative R&B in the form of “RISEN” ft. EluJay & Jane Handcock, which addresses the issue of gentrification in the East Bay, before switching to creeping mob music–the shimmering production style that defines Bay Area street music–with “BLACK JACOBINS” ft. J. Stalin & Koran Streets, a powerful treatise in favor of revolution and against police violence. Featuring a cast of characters from all over Northern California, from Oakland artists like ALLBLACK, Rexx Life Raj, and ymtk, Sacramento street hero Shootergang Kony, San Francisco rhymer Lil Bean, Richmond native P-Lo, and many others, all of whom donated their verses to benefit the People’s Programs, Tales Of The Town is available everywhere via San Francisco’s own EMPIRE.
The new album arrives alongside the latest episode of the Tales Of The Town podcast. Episode 5 of Tales Of The Town is the second of a two-part installment about the history of Black music in Oakland. While the first part focused on Oakland’s history as a hub for jazz and blues, Episode 5 examines the careers of some of the biggest stars to ever spring from Oakland, and examines the Town’s thriving contemporary scene. The podcast hosts, Abbas Muntaqim and Delency Parham, welcome two crucial Bay Area figures, Tajai of the mighty Souls Of Mischief crew, and acclaimed singer Goapele, to explain the creative processes behind some of their most well-known songs, including Souls Of Mischief’s Bay Area rap classic “93 ‘Til Infinity.“
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.
Listen to “Tales Of The Town” wherever you get your podcasts.
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
