Read the notes Oaklanders are writing to their beloved city, and submit your own! Shoot us your story, celebration or plea to Oakland at submissions@38thnotes.com with “Notes to Oakland” in the subject.
Daveed Diggs is a soft-spoken maniacal motherfucker. He’s a quiet fellow when you first meet him–no rapper braggadocio or traces of ‘too cool for school’ bravado to speak of. He does stand out though. Aesthetically, Diggs fuses hyphy fashion sensibilities [...]
Deer Valley hoop star cum Berkeley spitter is back with the video for “Winning Pt. 2.” In this Aquavis Warfield-directed video, he finds himself toe-to-toe with a rival emcee in a basement-lit battle scene. He prowls and attacks, starts and stops, something [...]
Etta James is famous for bridging a myriad of genres with her music, but this collaborative effort takes the cake. On New Years Eve of 1982 Etta James and Tower of Power’s famous horn section joined Jerry Garcia’s Grateful Dead on stage for a 30+ minute [...]
There are many who long for a bygone era. A time when ladies and gentlemen stepped into the streets of a glistening downtown adorned in dresses, suits, trench coats and fedoras. An era when there was a certain air of class that made urban Oakland feel [...]
Cali representer and West Oakland educator J. Lately is back with a dope ode to Cali’s world class trees. On it, producer Nima Fadavi blends falsetto ad-libs and lower register horn blasts, before the beat crescendos into a soulful sample (which, I’ve [...]
“Overworked and underbooked,” is how Moe Green describes himself in “Glory.” If you’ve ever met dude, you know that his work ethic is real. But it doesn’t take running in to him on one of his many sleepless nights to know that he’s always working, just [...]
Local apparel company Cre8tive Class launched on Black Friday and has been bubbling worldwide ever since. C8C’s branding and social media expertise had the label buzzing before anyone had even seen a t-shirt, but their Fall 2011 line solidified their [...]
Most folks love a holiday weekend. That extra day off to chill, sleep or play catch up is one that we anticipate. But we here at 38th Notes are hoping you use Monday as more of a day on than a day off. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the good [...]
Scott Weaver is a beast. Using a household item most use to pick Butterfingers out of their teeth, he has made a career, and most famously, a dynamic living model of the city he loves. With San Francisco as his muse, Weaver invested 35 years and 100,000 [...]
When I was in college at UCLA, my roommate Garrett put me up on The Cataracs via their CD Technohop Volume 1. At the time they had a regional hit with The Pack called “Blueberry Afghani,” their T-Pain remix “I’m In Love With a Swisher” was buzzing, and [...]
Siaira Shawn’s debut project The In Between was an EP for 20-somethings attempting to carve out their space in the world, chase dreams, repair hearts, experience real love, wade through murky gray relationship waters, and come to peace with that tinge [...]
On December 8, 1980, Gil Scott-Heron and Stevie Wonder were in Oakland for their Hotter Than July tour, attempting to force legislation making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday (A feat Oakland Tech High School’s class of 1981 accomplished [...]
