The rest of the world is finally catching on to what Bay Area residents have known for years: Oakland’s culture of originality is unlike anywhere else.
In the first few months of 2026 alone, the Town has seen its homegrown talent reach new levels of success on the global stage, from figure skater Alysa Liu earning Olympic gold in Milan to filmmaker Ryan Coogler winning four Oscars for his blockbuster “Sinners” and R&B powerhouse Kehlani receiving two Grammy Awards for her hit single, “Folded.”
But local artists and educators note that these mainstream victories are not sudden breakthroughs. Rather, they are a continuation of Oakland’s tradition of valuing originality over commercial ambition.
Oakland School for the Arts Abayomi Lewis student rehearses at Hip Hop For Change studio in Oakland, Friday, April 17, 2026. Lewis was recently a contestant on the talent search show American Idol, and is one of many artists, large and small representing Oakland as a hub for creativity and artistic expression.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
On a recent Friday night, 16-year-old Abayomi Lewis embodied that spirit at Oakland’s Hip Hop For Change recording studio. Bright-eyed and laser-focused, the Oakland School for the Arts student exuded an infectious energy despite running on just four hours of sleep after returning from a school trip to China the night before and attending classes all morning.
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Since making it to the top 20 finalists on Season 24 of “American Idol” in the winter, Lewis has approached her music with renewed inspiration.
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“Let me try one more time,” she told her producer, Tendel, before diving back into the second verse of her new song “Destined,” which she co-wrote with her mother.
Though born in San Francisco, Lewis considers Oakland her creative home, and spends most of her time in the East Bay perfecting her craft alongside other artists.
Music producer Tendel, left, speaks with Oakland School for the Arts student Abayomi Lewis, right, at Hip Hop For Change studio in Oakland, Friday, April 17, 2026. Lewis was recently a contestant on the talent search show American Idol, and is one of many artists, large and small representing Oakland as a hub for creativity and artistic expression.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
“Everyone is so fearless and everyone’s OK with being their own individual being,” said Lewis, who brought her talent back across the Bay Bridge on Thursday, May 28, to perform at San Francisco’s Chase Center during the Golden State Valkyries’ upcoming game against the Indiana Fever. “We can be comfortable with each other on a creative level.”
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Oakland School for the Arts student Abayomi Lewis sits for a portrait at Hip Hop For Change studio in Oakland, Friday, April 17, 2026. Lewis was recently a contestant on the talent search show American Idol, and is one of many artists, large and small representing Oakland as a hub for creativity and artistic expression.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
Oakland School for the Arts Abayomi Lewis student rehearses at Hip Hop For Change studio in Oakland, Friday, April 17, 2026. Lewis was recently a contestant on the talent search show American Idol, and is one of many artists, large and small representing Oakland as a hub for creativity and artistic expression.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
Oakland School for the Arts student Abayomi Lewis sits for a portrait at Hip Hop For Change studio in Oakland, Friday, April 17, 2026. Lewis was recently a contestant on the talent search show American Idol, and is one of many artists, large and small representing Oakland as a hub for creativity and artistic expression.
Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle
The impacts of this are impossible to overlook.
Take, for example, filmmaker, musician and writer Boots Riley, whose quirky Bay Area-set satire “I Love Boosters” opened in theaters on Friday, May 22, grossing nearly $5 million over Memorial Day weekend, according to Variety. Or viral rapper Tuesday, who visited a recording studio with her daughters to celebrate a birthday and ended up skyrocketing to online fame. Then there’s filmmaker Shaka Jamal, who won an Emmy Award for his work on the 2020 HBO documentary “We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Martin Luther King Oratorical Fest.”
“Our artists in Oakland, in my experience, their primary goal is not to strive to make it or get to the top. It’s to tell their story and to express themself,” said Mike Oz, OSA’s executive director. “Authenticity is always that secret sauce.”
Kehlani, Alysa Liu, Ryan Coogler
Matt Winkelmeyer, Jamie Squire, Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
Having worked at OSA since 2006, Oz has seen a number of highly-accomplished artists pass through the halls of the East Bay charter school on their rise to success, including “Euphoria” actors Zendaya and the late Angus Cloud, as well as Liu and Kehlani. The connection among alumni is unspoken, yet unbreakable. When Oz asked Kehlani to appear at Liu’s Oakland homecoming celebration on March 12, the singer didn’t hesitate.
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“Her manager told me, ‘She’ll do anything for OSA,’” Oz recalled. “That’s family.”
After her surprise performance at the rally, which Lewis also performed at, Kehlani returned to the school to teach a music masterclass for students. In a clip of that visit shared with the Chronicle, Kehlani sits in the corner of a classroom as various students take turns performing. The “Out the Window” singer seemed to disappear into the room of people, simply vibing with the music and letting the students shine.
“People don’t come here to acquire a sense of celebrity,” director Oz said. “In fact, we don’t have it. I think we reject it,” he continued. “Our successful artists can come home and be themselves.”
Rapper G-Eazy, for instance, attended Liu’s rally simply as a fan and loyal supporter of the Town, as Oakland residents often like to call it. The artist, who grew up in Oakland and went to Berkeley High School, was eventually invited to make an onstage appearance to congratulate the figure skater.
U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Ice Skater Alysa Liu is given the key to the city by Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee during a Welcome Home Celebration Rally held outside of Oakland City Hall in Oakland, California Thursday, March 12, 2026.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
Oakland “is one of the most special places in the world,” he told the Chronicle during the event. “There’s something in the water.”
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Other artists who have found commercial success but stayed true to their roots agree with G-Eazy’s assessment.
Berkeley screenwriter and “Blindspotting” film and television series star Rafael Casal believes Oakland’s creative identity is shaped by a cross-exposure to various cultures, races and religions, combined with the region’s political viewpoints — which he noted are, along with the Bay Area at large, “10, 15 years ahead of the rest of the country.”
“There’s so many different populations that have found their home and their footing in the Bay Area and are, I think, encouraged to be loud and proud of who they are,” said Casal, who has been working professionally as a creative for nearly two decades.“What I think formed, for at least my generation, was that there was pride in that … there’s social reward for authenticity because it separates you from the pack.”
Rafael Casal speaks at a screenwriter’s salon event at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley on Thursday, July 25, 2024.
Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle
Oakland comedian, documentarian and author W. Kamau Bell, known for his blending humor with activism and public discourse, dove deeper into the “why.”
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“You’re not under the bright light of scrutiny, so you don’t feel as much pressure to be mainstream or regular,” said Bell, who is among the creatives Casal enlisted to help with his Bay List endeavor, which aims to support Bay Area screenwriters with resources and exposure. “People are allowed to grow in their own way up here.”
Lewis, the “American Idol” finalist, confirmed that the culture of authenticity influences how she approaches her music.
“It’s like, ‘OK, I don’t have to fit in this box. I don’t have to get caught up in all of these trends,’” she explained. “I could just really be my own self.”
W. Kamau Bell performs during a stand up comedy show at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley on Saturday, March 2, 2024.
Benjamin Fanjoy/The Chronicle
But while Oakland’s creative culture may seem in many ways insular, the excellence stems from hard work and focus.
“Jeopardy!” legend Amy Schneider, who moved to Oakland from Ohio, said that visualizing the calm confidence of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry when he’s playing basketball and Liu skating during the Olympics are great reminders.
“I couldn’t believe how ‘Oakland’ it felt to watch Alysa Liu at the Winter Olympics,” she said. “Every other skater there seemed to be carrying this weight with them, and she was the one that had that same sort of freedom,” similar to how Curry has the joyful audacity to launch shots from anywhere on the court.
But Casal emphasized that Oakland’s recent run of success is about more than the trophies and medals.
A portrait of Amy Schneider in Alameda, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Schneider — the most successful woman ever to compete on the quiz show Jeopardy! — released a new book “Who is Amy Schneider?”
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
“I’m glad that people are winning their awards, but what I really like is that they’re being showcased on the biggest stages,” he said, noting that such visibility shows future generations across Oakland and the greater Bay Area that it is possible to build a successful career as an artist.
“Some people grow up in an environment where they feel very much that their talent is despite where they’re from, that they managed to escape it or they managed to escape the mundanity or the lack of creativity,” Casal continued. “I think we’re a little the opposite.”