On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in OaklandHow struggles over Black sound have shaped Oakland’s culture, politics, and geography. Chicago has house. Detroit has techno. But Oakland slaps. On Loop explores the role of Black dance music and sonic politics in recurring struggles over race and space in Oakland, California. Insisting on the centrality of sound in everyday social movements—from the mobilization of funk music and boogaloo dance during Black Power to the policing of the Hyphy movement in the 2000s—Alex Werth argues that Black dance music is not merely a soundtrack to or record of urban resistance. Rather, its very sound waves have animated looping clashes over development, dispossession, and Black freedom. Through studies of downtown nightclubs, Lake Merritt, and the Eastmont Mall—geographies rarely considered, yet critical to Oakland’s culture and politics—Werth reveals how the liberatory sonic politics of funk, hip-hop, and hyphy rap have been met with a repetitive "war on nuisance." As both a means of empowerment and a magnet for policing, Black dance music has transformed not only Oakland's nightlife, but also its streets, parks, and neighborhoods. On Loop is a rousing encounter with the sound that moves urban life. |
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African American album amid Area Historical Society artists Bay Area BBQ Becky became Berkeley Black dance music Black Oaklanders Black Panthers Black Power Black residents boogaloo Calif called Center City of Oakland city’s club color crime crowd Cruising dance music dancers Downtown Oakland Earl Watkins East Bay Express event Family Stone funk Geddins gentrification groove Hayward Area Historical hip-hop hyphy interview by author Keak Da Sneak Kozicki Lake Merritt Lake Merritt Park Lakeside Park Lionel Wilson loop Magazine and Newspaper Main Branch MC Hammer migrants musicians neighborhood Newspaper Room nightlife nuisance Oakland Blues Oakland Public Library Oakland Tribune Party Pastori-Ng Pete police popular public records requested race racial racist rapper regulation requested by author San Francisco sideshow social movements songs sonic politics sound soundscapes space spatial struggles studies scholar turned University of California urban vinyl violence West Oakland White youth Zazaboi