Sunday, August 5, 2012

First Friday with Zumbi of Zion I & A-1 @ Oaklandish 8/3/2012

Oh Oakland, how I love thee. The whole day I was rushing to get to Oakland, & on my way home from work, my friend tells me that Zion I was scheduled to perform at Oaklandish!! Last month I went there & saw Los Rakas & had the most amazing evening, dancing the night away; I knew this was gonna be another good one.

Finally, I get all my little errands out of the way & head to Oakland. We get there, & of course the first stop is the food trucks. Love, love, love all the food vendors, never a disappointment. Everybody is just out there, chillin', eating, enjoying the music. We walk to the burger joint down the street & check out the classic cars. Spot Chuy Gomez, was gonna say hi since he knows my fam, but I didn't want to bother him.
It was 9 & I tell my friend it was time for us to head to Oaklandish before it got crazy packed.

We get there, & indeed it is packed.


It was lovely to see that Zion I draws an audience of every different type of background there is, it just shows that their music has a universal aspect to it.
We're waiting there & Dion Decibels (resident Oaklandish DJ) was spinning all the tracks, keeping the audience energized for the anticipated performance. Then I feel someone moving me & I turn around: security moved me to make way for Zumbi & I look at my friend like "OMGGG!!"


Zumbi was standing next to me the whole time he waiting for sound to be ready. We're waiting some more, than Dion Decibels asks the audience if anyone had a thumb drive lol. Some more waiting had to be done in order for A-1 to get his beats transferred over to the DJ's laptop. 

It's just so funny, this is the third local Bay Area artist event I've been to & see A-1. Each time I see him perform, the more I respect him & his hustle. I remember seeing him at Precita Park for the Youth Arts Festival with his headphones on, concentrating, getting in his performance mode, practicing his raps. He has a great work ethic, that one.
Finally, sound is set, beats are transfered, & Zumbi introduces A-1.


The first song he performs was just so beautiful, something every good kid with a humble upbringing dreams of: finding someone good to marry & have children with, just wanting happiness at the end of the day. A track called "On My Way" (which a former classmate of mine helped shoot). Lovely, lovely song.



after that, he hit us with one last song. Had the whole crowd going, feeling it fa sure!


As you can tell by my footage, sound wasn't the greatest, but things kept going & the audience was definitely ready for Zumbi to hit the stage!

Zumbi starts things off, the crowd is going, he tells us "JUMP!" we are BOUNCING pogo style. Hands are in the air, echos of what Zumbi raps is heard throughout the audience, especially dude who was standing next to me. I have no clue who this guy is, except that he came with the Zion I crew. Then out of nowhere, dude starts spitting on the mic, straight up on BEAST mode!


Turns out his name is Deuce Eclipse, one part of Bang Data. Honestly, I had never heard of him before, but after that dope ass performance, I became a fan. I'm always looking for Latino hip hop artists to get into, and Deuce Eclipse definitely impressed me (and the whole audience).

Zumbi gets into some "Bird's Eye View," getting the audience into a beautifully unified mode. He tells the DJ to drop a track & him, Deuce, & A-1 get into the dopest freestyle ever!! I am sooo sad because I had caught the whole thing on camera, but something happened where the video didn't save properly into my camera. It was just beautiful. Zumbi was amazing, Deuce was beatsting, A-1 admitted that he didn't know how he was going to top Deuce's freestyle, but did his thing regardless.



THEN! Zumbi hits us with "The Bay." Everyone was bouncing, feeling it, singing the unofficial Bay anthem, yelling "And we claim Tupac as a source of pride!" Soon after, we get some "Coastin'".


A couple of songs later, we are left wanting more, but due to the technical difficulties brought on by the turn tables, we were left with the wants lol. Zumbi was so nice, taking the time out to get to as many fans/supporters as he could & taking pictures with them. My friend & I were one of the lucky few & got out picture with him (notice Dustin Sharpe in the background hella posing LOL! Love it).


I never noticed before how beautiful Zumbi was lol, pretty eyes. But after that I told him how dope he was & he really appreciated the love. I appreciate him as an artist & even more as a person.

We go outside & I see Deuce Eclipse; I tell my friend I wanted to give him props on his performance. Props are given, respect is shown, & a lady (who might be his girlfriend or good friend) is hyping him up, telling us that he's opening for Cafe Tacuba at the Fox Theater; she was a very lovely lady. She then asks us if we wanted to take a picture with him, & we of course don't turn the offer down.


We leave Oaklandish extremely happy. You see, my friend & I love Zion I & have been trying to catch a show of theirs for the longest, & finally without even trying, we get to see Zumbi perform for free! I love how the universe plans thing out for you.

This is my friend Natalie's First Friday ever, so we walk around to see some street performances & some art.


I mentioned to her before how much I love Oakland. San Francisco is beautiful, but people are trying so hard to gentrify it, but we are fighting, trying to keep the affordable areas & not trying to leave without a fight. Oakland though...Oakland is ours, Oakland is of the people. I love First Fridays because it promotes tourism, of both a local & international level, you feel a wonderful sense of community, it just feels well connected & loved. I love love love it. It motivates people to display their art, from fine art, to music, to dance. One kid definitely caught the attention of many with his style of dance.


from what I over heard with this conversation he was having with this lady who was trying to recruit him to her dance school/group, his name is Levi. Levi is an amazingly talented dancer. His style is of that contortionist style with hints of ballet; it was sick & elegant all at the same time. Talent fills the streets of Oakland & I love the Art Murmur for allowing all the talented ones to come out & display their skills.


Art galleries of all different types of artists who work with different mediums have their doors open to the public, allowing us to admire the adorned walls.


Even the street sidewalks of Oakland possess art.


The only thing about not living in Oakland is having to leave early, or else BART will leave you 1. stranded or 2. looking for a taxi, having to pay hella money to go home. End of the night, we were feeling euphoric. I mean even the sky was feeling it! Look at those clouds!


If you ever have the chance, head out to Oakland for the first Friday of the month, it's an amazing experience. Don't be skurred of Oakland, it's not even nearly as bad as people make it seem.

Zion I's Twitter:

@ZIONI



Zumbi's Twitter:

@zumbi808



Amp Live's Twitter:

@amplive



A-1's Twitter:

@adamraps



Deuce Eclipse's Twitter:

@deuceeclipse



Dustin Sharpe's Twitter:

@DUSTTHEREAL

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