Sourcing stories from Oakland’s Black community to weave a compelling story, Tales Of The Town is an ambitious accounting of Bay Area history. Today, the team behind the podcast and multimedia project shares “RISEN,“ the latest song from the Tales Of The Town album. The new song is a collaboration between Elujay, the singer-songwriter and ensemble leader from Oakland, CA, and Jane Handcock, the R&B vocalist and singer-songwriter from Richmond. Opening with an excerpt of a speech from famed Oakland resident Tupac Shakur, who denounces income inequality, “RISEN” is outwardly laid-back but burns with a passionate flame, protesting the rising rents that causes gentrification in Oakland’s Black neighborhoods. Elujay’s smooth vocals reflect his tired, but determined dedication to rising up in protest, while Jane’s vocals are less ethereal, as she laments the changes brought upon by gentrification.

Tales Of The Town is a multimedia project that tells the history of Black Oakland, bringing the true stories of The Town’s people and their experiences to thrilling life through a podcast, album, book, and short film. Episode 2 of Tales Of The Town, released on September 27th, focuses on The Black Panther Party, which originated in Oakland, and its ability to mix righteous action and providing programs that meet the material needs of the community. The episode also discusses the creation of People’s Breakfast Oakland, which serves free meals to the houseless community in Oakland, and was inspired by the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program. The second of twelve episodes, following last week’s debut about the First and Second Great Migrations of Black Southerners to Oakland, the podcast covers issues from all walks of life, sourcing stories directly from Black Oakland residents who have lived through history.

“RISEN” is the latest excerpt from the Tales Of The Town album, an 11-track album, featuring contributions from Bay Area musicians. 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, street heroes like ALLBLACK and 22nd Jim, veterans like J Stalin, and many others. Last week, Tales Of The Town shared “F*CK 12” FREESTYLE, an incendiary missive by Guapdad 4000 and LaRussell. Tales Of The Town arrives on October 14th via EMPIRE. 

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” Episodes 1 and 2 wherever you get your podcasts

Listen to “RISEN” ft. Elujay & Jane Handcock: https://music.empi.re/risen

Watch the visualizer for “RISEN”: https://youtu.be/zSO-zDfYcm4

Subscribe to “Tales Of The Town”: http://linktr.ee/hellablackpod