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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Some of the talented artists & musicians we've had the pleasure & honor of working with

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Mani Draper
The Brand. — Grand Nationxl
IG: (@manidraper)
 
Born Armani Jackson, rapper/producer from Richmond, CA attended Pinole Valley High School and earned an athletic basketball scholarship to Southern Oregon University where he would major in criminal justice and minor psychology.
 
While DJing at local bars in his college town, he was encouraged to pursue music fully by his mentor. Mani eventually headed back to the Bay Area where he recorded his debut “The Unauthorized Biography of Ella Mae”. With this, he went on tour opening for IAMU for the "Eyez on Me," tour.
 
Between his musical debut release and a growing audience, Mani gained enough traction for his next independent release to be distributed by EMPIRE.  “Last Marauder” features production by IAMSU and Bryan Simmons and includes the beautiful vocals of Jane Handcock.
 
Teaming with DJ Flow of At The Ave Records, Mani released a 7” vinyl record. The A side “Reloaded'' landed them a 5 show Europeon run. While in Europe the duo dug and recorded songs in each city creating their joint album “RAWK” which features the musical talent of P-Lo and Kevin Allen.
 
Mani Draper wasted no time following up with another solo indie release titled “Mercy”. Mercy, with production from DJ Flow, SNDTRAK and Zenan  Mercy also has features from Locksmith & Michael Sneed. From there Mani would take on an ever greater feat of producing a full- length album “TV Babies”. TV Babies was produced primarily by artists Mani Draper had worked with before attempting to bridge The Bay like never before. 
Mani kept himself busy and would find himself in the midst of the golden era for the bay. Alongside Brookefield Duece and DJ D Sharp, the trio created what would eventually be released to the world as Eastshore Highway. Just on the other side of town, sessions were being held for what ultimately become Grand Nationxl Twice on Sunday Season 1 which would debut at #3 on the iTunes Charts. Wasting no time, Mani would immediately lead the production charge for the live album and Grand Nationxl’s BTS to Season 1. 
 
He’s produced for IAMSU, Jane Handcock, Rexxliferaj and most notably critically acclaimed Nothing Last Forever by Kevin Allen, formerly Erk Tha Jerk. Mani is a podcaster creating shows like Meet The Brave. He’s a member of Grand Nationxl’s Venture Studio as well as co-owner of The Reef Studios in Oakland, CA. 
Zoe Boston
Audiopharmacy
Home | audiopharmacy
IG: (@audiopharmacy)

Audiopharmacy is not just a musical collaboration, it’s a way of being rooted in creativity, a passion for raising the vibrations, respectful cultural-exchange, and a deep love for the healing of our planet. Audiopharmacy’s performance is a global journey that fuses live instrumentation, turntablism, electronics, poetry, prayer and technical lyrics that stir, heal, and reveal.

Internationally, the ensemble has taken the stage at festivals, concert halls, clubs, cultural centers, orphanages, schools, and events in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, France, the UK, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Samoa, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Ecuador, Morocco, Oman, Cyprus and Tanzania. Domestically, Audiopharmacy has performed throughout the US.

Audiopharmacy has also toured as music/cultural ambassadors globally, and has successfully fostered cross-cultural understanding by leading community engagements, music and cultural workshops, film showings/Q+ A, and intimate jam sessions. On March 19, 2013, the band received a Mayoral Proclamation from the City & County of San Francisco for artistic excellence, the promotion of cross-cultural understanding abroad, and representing the values of the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can watch their latest project “Lose Your Mind”  https://youtu.be/L79fvZM66dw
It hit 10k views in less than 1 month! 
Zoë Boston
ZoeBostonArt.Com
IG: (@zoeadiahboston)
SoundCloud:https://m.soundcloud.com/user-881911888

Zoe Boston was born in Southern California, raised in upstate New York, and has now lived in the Oakland Bay Area for 6 years. She is an artist in almost every sense of the word, as she paints, sings, and writes. she uses her gifts to show God to this world and give glances into a world unseen.
Her inspirations come from God, life, love, music, and everything in between. She has been drawing all her life, however, didn't start painting until she came back to the west coast. 
 
In 2019, Zoë Boston received the Jan Hart Schuyers Artistic Achievement Award through The Art of Living Black, establishing her as one of The Art of African Diaspora’s 2020 Spotlight Artist and featured speakers. She has exhibited at the Richmond Art Gallery in conjunction with The Art of Living Black, Jingletown Art Studios, American Steel Studios, Abrams Claghorn Gallery, The Grove salon, and Joyce Gordon Gallery.
 
The motif of the pieces she is exhibiting is the process of a journey. Everyone’s journey has similar phases; The ups, the downs, the importance to keep going, and to trust God. At the same time, everyone’s journey is wildly different, and that is part of what makes us who we are. Through the viewing windows into her world, That she calls art pieces, you can see how her journey has shaped and prepared her.
 
She calls it art to simplify the means of expression. These pieces were birthed from the revelations of her life experiences so far. She grows with each new piece. You are not just witnessing art but, portions of her life's journey.

New merchandise coming soon.
Audiopharmacy
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Tiffany Conway
www.projectgetfree.com
IG: (@projectgetfree)
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Art has provided me with the tools to communicate in a way that was not able to do before. And for that, I am forever grateful for the practice. Art allows me to retreat, restore, and express all that I have learned from moving through the world as an African American woman. Art connects me to the power that lives within that I’m not always able to see.

 I focus on the transmutation of grief to beauty. And creating a dialog with myself through painting. I have an interest in using color as a language for emotions and the body as a vehicle. Even though my work displays the beauty of others, what lies behind that initial layer are parts of my personal evolution.

 

I believe that it is important to unmask the myth of what strong should be. My overall vision is to create art that empowers vulnerability, as I believe that this is the ultimate superpower. When creating, I try to portray “softness” through my technique with skin tone in the attempt to portray my community, with humanity. When looking at my work I would like my audience to also see themselves with beauty, without hard lines, multidimensional, and navigating the world from the inside out.

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Bryce Savoy
www.brycesavoy.com
IG: (@brycesavoy510)

Bryce Savoy is an Independent Rapper, Entrepreneur & founding member of The Black Neighborhood, a nationwide non-profit headquartered in his hometown, East Oakland, CA. In 2019, Bryce launched his #INDEPENDENCE campaign with the release of "Bryce Savoy II", a 4-track EP, available for purchase exclusively through his website Brycesavoy.com for $10. Over 160 digital downloads have been sold. This campaign & release strategy, led to Bryce headlining his first self-funded 5-city tour, the #INDEPENDENCE tour. On December 11, 2020, Bryce released his first full-length project, "Neighborhood Diamonds" which is now available on all streaming platforms here.
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Pops
www.wulffvnky.com
IG: (@wulffvnky)

Esteban AKA Pops or Wulffvnky is an Oakland based artist from Sacramento CA. He uses all types of mediums but his bread and butter is charcoal/pastel. The inspiration for Pop's work is based on his trials and tribulations as a youth as well as family and old school music/pop culture. He tries to display complete emotional transparency through his work in hopes that his viewers can relate to the ups and downs of his life. Pop's goal is to spark the conversations for mental health awareness and to bring together different cultural backgrounds.
Toure
DJ Toure
www.djtouremusic.com
IG: (@djtourehiero)

Toure “DJ Toure” Duncan is a renowned producer, DJ, and drummer from Oakland, CA. Beginning with Hieroglyphics, Toure has been instrumental in creating and evolving the Bay Area’s distinctively bass-heavy sound.
Toure was born and raised in the Oakland hills where music was abundant and turnt up at home, at church, and after-school. Free time turned into drum lessons, piano lessons, and a lasting passion for production. Toure grew up with Casual and the Hiero crew, their mutual love for hip-hop turned into performing at parties and showcases. He has been the official DJ for the legendary collective since day one.
 
Toure continues to tour and produce records for Casual, Hieroglyphics, and other artists. As a producer, Toure is both mentor and contender. His sound is a vibe, his catalog is bonafide, his hard drive is full of surprises. Seek and you shall find.
 
DJ Toure’s first solo album Toure’s Theory dropped in 2013 to critical acclaim. His much-anticipated album The Thesis will be released via Hiero Imperium and 101Percent Music.
 
Toure collaborates with a rich roster of emerging and established artists via his production company 101Percent Music. Toure and 101Percent are committed to incubating new talent, worldwide.
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Damion X
YouTube: Damion X UNPLUGGED
IG: (@itsdsquare)
 
Born in Alabama, Damion moved to California in 2010 shortly after being expelled from high school. The move was, not only to leave a poverty stricken area with little to no opportunities, but more importantly to step outside of his comfort zone to find out who he really was, and what he was truly capable of in his life. 

Damion is a former Board member of the San Francisco State University Black Student Union, and former Co-President of the BSU at Santa Rosa Junior College. In 2013, he led an initiative to re-establish the Black Student Union that had been dormant for over 10yrs. The BSU went on to build a classroom in Tanzania, Africa after raising over $18,000 in two semesters at SRJC. In his last year, Damion would later develop a free food program for financially stricken student athletes.
 
Damion is currently at San Francisco State University completing a double-major in Africana Studies and Media Studies. One of his goals is to weaponize Hip-Hop, and utilize it to uplift, empower, and inspire marginalized people in general, but Black and Brown youth in particular. 
 
You can find Damion's music on all digital platforms under his name Damion Square. 
 
Revolutionary, political propaganda Hip-Hop with a conscious!
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Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith
www.rachelwolfegoldsmith.com
IG: (@wolfe_.pack)

Immersed in fringe cultures, fascinated by science and ancient mystics, an avid traveler, and of African-American and Jewish heritage, her subject matter never settles in one place. Applying mediums with palette knife aerosol oil crayon, and brush, her focus and applications constantly evolve through each body of work. Spending her summers as a large scale muralist, her studio work is sometimes influenced by elements of graffiti and street art. She has been hosted as a muralist at events in the US, Costa Rica, and Australia, and her works have been displayed in galleries throughout California, Oregon, New York, and Miami. Wolfe-Goldsmith  currently lives and works in Oakland, CA.
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Kiss My Black Arts
www.kissmyblackarts.bigcartel.com
IG:®️ (@kissmyblackarts)

We are a well-organized community of artists who teach and demonstrate aspects of cultural expression through our art. We, the collective, should work together to have an overall agenda and help other artists sell their work. We provide education within the collective. We do not practice racism or sexism. We are not a single voice community. We produce art that fosters freedom of expression and speech to the push for social reform and demonstrate equitable sustainability. We exemplify each other in all areas of creativity.
We make art that doesn’t rely on supremacy or capitalism to exist.
We Create art that articulates the realities of living in an unjust society. We Create art that envisions liberty for the unjust. We dismiss the parameters of defining creativity. We are artists that dismantle all stereotypes. We organize art shows and creative projects in our hoods.
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