Journalism & Interviews
Music+Tech+Crumbling Industry=We’re not sure yet, but it’s gonna be cool!
Right now the music biz is living somewhere between the Blade Runner future and the Kitty Hawk past. On one side we're at the dawn of a new tech age and battles to determine the shape of what's to come are being waged on all levels-from the indie foot soldiers pushing...
Young, Gifted, Black and Avant Garde
This is already snowballing into something bigger. I woke up this morning to the usual coffee, smokes and words and an article I'd been meaning to get to for a while. Back in March, over at Esther Ivereem's excellent Seeing Black site, black American experimental...
Literature 2.0? It’s about damned time
When Mark Amerika created Grammatron 16 (?) years ago, who knew it would take the rest of the world so long to catch up? Still, you have no idea how exited this article in the NYT makes me-enough to get me blogging again after umpteen months. It's always annoyed the...
Cultural Criticism 2.0?
So in my previous post I wondered about the death of Cult. Crit. as posed in this piece from the SA Times. It's an interesting article but the more I think about it, and with the help of some smart journo friends, I really have to wonder just which medium the author...
A Prince in MC’s clothing
"You've seen the slogan, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution" alongside renderings of the late Emma Goldman plastered on the T-Shirts and bumper stickers of progressives and liberals from here to Cuba. And while it's doubtful that the famous...
Lost, Found and Famous-Ledisi takes Center Stage
Lost, Found and Famous (Published on Oakbook.com 2007) By Kwan Booth A year ago, trying to get an interview with former Oakland songbird Ledisi would have been as simple as picking up the phone and dialing the same 510 phone number she's had since 1995. Let's say that...
NetRadio: The Day the Music Died, Maybe
The Day the Music Died, Maybe By Kwan Booth July 15 could mark the end of the web as we hear it. That is the day new royalty rates take effect for Internet radio stations based in the United States. Opponents say the new fees, which will increase the yearly amount...
Remembering Journalist Chauncey Bailey
This is Bailey… Remembering Chauncey Bailey, newspaper editor, mentor and friend. By Kwan Booth (August 3, 2007-Novometro.com) Deadline nights in the newspaper business are sacred. Nothing compares to that last minute rush of writing, editing and designing, trying to...
PeaceOut HomoHop Festival
PeaceOut Festival Brings Homo Hop to the world By Kwan Booth (September 22, 2007-Bay Area Reporter) In the 7 years since its inception, the PeaceOut Festival has come a long way.When the small group of LGBT hip hop performers and fans gathered together in Oakland’s...
The Blue Door to History
Lineage can be a tricky thing. The need to understand where you come from sometimes contradicts the desire to fit in and be a part of the larger world. This can be especially true for black people, with our complicated relationship with this country. Some choose to...
Hurston’s “Spunk” Still Sings
Spunk Still Sings: Hurston's blues tales shape performance By Kwan Booth Fiction writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston was one of the most celebrated and controversial black cultural figures of the 20th century. Her feminist stance and dedication to traditional...
Passing Strange
For the last couple of weeks, downtown Berkeley has had a serious Negro Problem, and it's name is Stew. Since mid October, Stew has been appearing in the play, "Passing Strange", a coming of age travelogue that follows a young man's search for self, art and "The Real"...