But local artists and educators note that these mainstream victories are not sudden breakthroughs. Rather, they are a continuation of Oakland\u2019s tradition of valuing originality over commercial ambition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Don Feria\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
On a recent Friday night, 16-year-old Abayomi Lewis embodied that spirit at Oakland\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Since making it to the top 20 finalists on Season 24 of \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d in the winter, Lewis has approached her music with renewed inspiration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLet me try one more time,\u201d she told her producer, Tendel, before diving back into the second verse of her new song \u201cDestined,\u201d which she co-wrote with her mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Don Feria\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is so fearless and everyone\u2019s OK with being their own individual being,\u201d said Lewis, who brought her talent back across the Bay Bridge on Thursday, May 28, to perform at San Francisco\u2019s Chase Center during the Golden State Valkyries\u2019 upcoming game against the Indiana Fever. \u201cWe can be comfortable with each other on a creative level.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Don Feria\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n The impacts of this are impossible to overlook.\u00a0<\/p>\n Take, for example, filmmaker, musician and writer Boots Riley, whose quirky Bay Area-set satire \u201cI Love Boosters\u201d 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\u2019s filmmaker Shaka Jamal, who won an Emmy Award for his work on the 2020 HBO documentary \u201cWe Are the Dream: The Kids of the Martin Luther King Oratorical Fest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur artists in Oakland, in my experience, their primary goal is not to strive to make it or get to the top. It\u2019s to tell their story and to express themself,\u201d said Mike Oz, OSA\u2019s executive director. \u201cAuthenticity is always that secret sauce.\u201d<\/p>\n Kehlani, Alysa Liu, Ryan Coogler<\/p>\n Matt Winkelmeyer, Jamie Squire, Frank Micelotta\/Getty Images<\/p>\n 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 \u201cEuphoria\u201d 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\u2019s Oakland homecoming celebration<\/a> on March 12, the singer didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHer manager told me, \u2018She\u2019ll do anything for OSA,\u2019\u201d Oz recalled. \u201cThat\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cOut the Window\u201d singer seemed to disappear into the room of people, simply vibing with the music and letting the students shine.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t come here to acquire a sense of celebrity,\u201d director Oz said. \u201cIn fact, we don\u2019t have it. I think we reject it,\u201d he continued. \u201cOur successful artists can come home and be themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Rapper G-Eazy<\/a>, for instance, attended Liu\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Jessica Christian\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Oakland \u201cis one of the most special places in the world,\u201d he told the Chronicle during the event. \u201cThere\u2019s something in the water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Other artists who have found commercial success but stayed true to their roots agree with G-Eazy\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n Berkeley screenwriter and \u201cBlindspotting<\/a>\u201d film and television series star Rafael Casal<\/a> believes Oakland\u2019s creative identity is shaped by a cross-exposure to various cultures, races and religions, combined with the region\u2019s political viewpoints \u2014 which he noted are, along with the Bay Area at large, \u201c10, 15 years ahead of the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d said Casal, who has been working professionally as a creative for nearly two decades.\u201cWhat I think formed, for at least my generation, was that there was pride in that \u2026 there’s social reward for authenticity because it separates you from the pack.\u201d<\/p>\n Rafael Casal speaks at a screenwriter\u2019s salon event at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley on Thursday, July 25, 2024.<\/p>\n Benjamin Fanjoy\/Special to the Chronicle<\/p>\n Oakland comedian, documentarian and author W. Kamau Bell<\/a>, known for his blending humor with activism and public discourse, dove\u00a0 deeper into the \u201cwhy.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cYou’re not under the bright light of scrutiny, so you don’t feel as much pressure to be mainstream or regular,\u201d said Bell<\/a>, who is among the creatives Casal enlisted to help with his Bay List<\/a> endeavor, which aims to support Bay Area screenwriters with resources and exposure. \u201cPeople are allowed to grow in their own way up here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lewis, the \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d finalist, confirmed that the culture of authenticity influences how she approaches her music.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018OK, I don\u2019t have to fit in this box. I don\u2019t have to get caught up in all of these trends,\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cI could just really be my own self.\u201d<\/p>\n W. Kamau Bell performs during a stand up comedy show at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley on Saturday, March 2, 2024.<\/p>\n Benjamin Fanjoy\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n But while Oakland\u2019s creative culture may seem in many ways insular, the excellence stems from hard work and focus.<\/p>\n \u201cJeopardy!\u201d legend Amy Schneider, who moved to Oakland from Ohio, said that visualizing the calm confidence of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry when he\u2019s playing basketball and Liu skating during the Olympics are great reminders.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn’t believe how \u2018Oakland\u2019 it felt to watch Alysa Liu at the Winter Olympics,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery other skater there seemed to be carrying this weight with them, and she was the one that had that same sort of freedom,\u201d similar to how Curry has the joyful audacity to launch shots from anywhere on the court.<\/p>\n But Casal emphasized that Oakland\u2019s recent run of success is about more than the trophies and medals.\u00a0<\/p>\n A portrait of Amy Schneider in Alameda, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Schneider \u2014 the most successful woman ever to compete on the quiz show Jeopardy! \u2014 released a new book \u201cWho is Amy Schneider?\u201d<\/p>\n Santiago Mejia\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n \u201cI’m glad that people are winning their awards, but what I really like is that they’re being showcased on the biggest stages,\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSome people grow up in an environment where they feel very much that their talent is despite\u00a0where they’re from, that they managed to escape it or they managed to escape the mundanity or the lack of creativity,\u201d Casal continued. \u201cI think we’re a little the opposite.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rest of the world is finally catching on to what Bay Area residents have known for years:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[329,332,838,330,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-338982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-east-bay","tag-movies-and-tv","tag-music","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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