Guapdad 4000 And LaRussell Appear On First Single From Tales Of The Town Compilation Album
Tales Of The Town, a multimedia project about Oakland’s rich Black history, announces Tales Of The Town Album.
Guapdad 4000 and LaRussell vent their fury in “F*CK 12″ FREESTYLE the first single from the album. Hosted by Abbas Muntaqim and Delency Parham of the Hella Black podcast, Tales Of The Town details nearly 100 years of Oakland history.
An ambitious multimedia project that tells the full story of Black Oakland, Tales Of The Town brings the true stories of Oakland’s people and their experiences to thrilling life through a podcast, album, book, and short film. Over the course of 12 episodes, the podcast focuses on everything from Oakland’s history of radical activism, crucial stories in sports, the economics of houselessness and gentrification, and much more, telling the story through interviews with Oakland residents whose families have been in The Town for generations. The first episode of Tales Of The Town, released on September 20, focused on the Second Great Migration, examining how Oakland developed into a hub for Black culture and liberation.
As part of the multimedia project, which will also include a book and a short film currently being pitched for festival consideration, Tales Of The Town prepares to release an 11-track album, featuring contributions from Bay Area musicians, on October 14 via EMPIRE. 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 and Elujay, street heroes like ALLBLACK and 22nd Jim, veterans like J Stalin, and many others.
Today, Tales Of The Town shares “F*CK 12” FREESTYLE, the first single from the Tales Of The Town album, a collaboration between Bay Area natives Guapdad 4000 and LaRussell. Over a creeping piano-led instrumental, both rappers vent their anger and frustrations about the legal system and other forces that conspire to bring down Black people. On his hook, Vallejo native LaRussell curses out Fox News, the police, and other architects of oppression, and celebrates his rise from the mud to the top. In his anchor verse, Oakland’s own Guapdad delivers a deadpan missive against rising gentrification and misappropriated budgets that pour money into cop coffers: “But look at what we got tho, n****/Police got a tank and we got potholes with em?/I remember when the Town had a few new people/I get tacos look around like ‘who are you, people?’.”
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 toward supporting People’s Programs.
Tales Of The Town Tracklist
1. 23 IN THE 4TH – Tales of the town & Mani Draper ft. Rexx Life Raj
2. ALL BLACK POWER – ALLBLACK & YMTK ft. Kevin Allen
3. RISE UP – White Dave & Pallavi aka Fijiana
4. GET DANGEROUS – 22nd Jim ft. Lil Bean
5. WE MADE IT – Prada Mack ft. Samaria
6.RISEN – Elujay & Jane Handcock
7. PARTY WITH THE GANG – Tales of the Town ft. G-Eazy, P-LO, FREDOBAGZ
8. BLACK JACOBINS – Fully Folks & J.Stalin ft. Koran Streets
9. “F*CK 12” FREESTYLE – Tales of the Town ft. LaRussell & Guapdad 4000
10. HOLLA – Shy’an G & Ian Kelly ft. Myl3z
11. TO THE STREETS/ CLIPPED WINGS – ShooterGang Kony & Wantmoren8 ft. Jalil Muntaqim
The podcast details nearly one hundred years of Oakland history through the people whose families have called Oakland home for generations, the stories of Oaklanders and their experiences in “The Town” are brought to life through a podcast, album, book, and short film.
Tales of The Town explores the first and second Great Migrations that brought Black southerners to Oakland en masse, Oakland’s historic sports teams and players, legendary musicians, the first Black Student Union at Merritt College, houselessness, gentrification, The Huichin Chochenyo Ohlone people, and much more!
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.
Abbas and Delency teamed up with artists from all over the Bay Area to produce 11 original songs and put together a Tales of The Town album. Every artist and producer featured on the album donated their voice and production, and all proceeds from the album go towards supporting People’s Programs. The album features music from artists such as Rexx Life Raj, G-Eazy, P-LO, LaRussell, Guapdad4000, and more!
