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Olympic Gold Medalist Alysa Liu speaks during a press conference ahead of a Welcome Home Celebration Rally held in Oakland.<\/p>\n
Jessica Christian\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Some of the East Bay\u2019s biggest musicians surprised fans of Alysa Liu<\/a> at the figure skater\u2019s homecoming rally<\/a> in Oakland, sharing their love and admiration for the Olympic gold medalist.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCan y\u2019all make some noise for my GOAT? Come on Alysa,\u201d R&B star Kehlani told the screaming crowd that packed Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Thursday, March 12 after performing her Grammy Award-winning hit song \u201cFolded.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Gesturing for Liu to join her at the front of the stage, she ran over to give the U.S. figure skating champ a hug.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually so insane how much talent that Oakland breeds \u2026 Like across all genres of talents,\u201d the singer proclaimed.<\/p>\n Indeed, Kehlani wasn\u2019t the only star with ties to The Town at the event. Pinole rapper P-Lo, who thanked the athlete \u201cfor embodying what Oakland and what the Bay Area represents,\u201d was joined onstage by fellow rapper G-Eazy. Performers at the rally, which was emceed by Oakland native and radio personality Sway Calloway, included dancers from TURFinc and Shaolin Kung Fu in Oakland\u2019s Chinatown.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is a legendary beautiful day of celebration of excellence, especially in Women\u2019s History Month,\u201d G-Eazy told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n The \u201cNo Limit\u201d rapper, who grew up in Oakland and attended Berkeley High School, added that he wasn\u2019t even planning to take the stage at the rally but was simply in attendance to show support for Liu.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful, beautiful example of excellence and greatness at the highest level,\u201d he said, \u201cso shout out to Alysa.\u201d<\/p>\n Oakland-based rapper G-Eazy attends Alysa Liu’s celebration, showing support for Oakland and Alysa at an event in downtown Oakland.<\/p>\n Ryan Curry<\/p>\n Fittingly, P-Lo, co-founder of the Bay Area music collective HBK Gang, released a song about her last week called \u201cS\/O Alysa Liu.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s event marks the first large hometown appearance by P-Lo, Kehlani and Calloway since taking part in various pre-Super Bowl LX<\/a> festivities around the Bay Area last month.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the most special places in the world, historically,\u201d G-Eazy said of Oakland. \u201cThere\u2019s something in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A product of that talent pipeline herself, Kehlani used her time onstage to celebrate her alma mater, Oakland School for the Arts, which Liu attended for one semester during middle school.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be anywhere I am today or doing anything I\u2019m doing without everything that Oakland School for the Arts<\/a> instilled in me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The charter school, founded in 2002, sits just blocks away from Thursday\u2019s rally location at 530 18th St. Other alumni include Golden Globe Award-winner Zendaya<\/a> and her \u201cEuphoria\u201d co-star Angus Cloud<\/a>, who died in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cImma appreciate Oakland \u2018till the day I die,\u201d Kehlani concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n R&B artist\u00a0Kehlani sings at a rally celebrating Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s Olympic wins.<\/p>\n Benjamin Fanjoy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Those at the rally weren\u2019t the first Bay Area stars to fawn over Liu this week. On Tuesday, March 10, the 20-year-old ran into Zendaya at the Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2026 Show<\/a> in Paris. The two were spotted chatting and posing for photos together at Liu\u2019s first major fashion show.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Last month at the Winter Olympics in Milan, the athlete became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal for figure skating in 24 years. The feat, coupled with her easygoing personality and signature bleached halo hair, launched her to global fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think about it too much, because then I would lose my mind,\u201d Liu said at a news conference prior to Thursday\u2019s rally. \u201cEvery time I go outside, someone recognizes me. I have to learn to live my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Others at Thursday\u2019s celebration, during which Liu received a key to the city of Oakland, included her father, Arthur Liu; Oakland filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell<\/a>; Fremont Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi; San Francisco Olympic boxer Andre Ward and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is for y\u2019all,\u201d Liu told Thursday\u2019s crowd, while holding up her medals in the air. \u201cI couldn\u2019t not be more proud to represent Oakland out on the big stage at Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hearst multimedia journalist Ryan Curry contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n