Oakland Style Lab and The HiiiWAVFest

KPFA - Hard Knock Radio

In a Hard Knock Radio conversation, host Anita Johnson spoke with Olivia Cueva, a bio-fashion designer, educator, and co-founder of Oakland Style Lab and Jeff Perlstein an activist / educator who worked as program director at Food First and as executive director of Media Alliance. More recently, he’s co-founded Oakland Style Lab and the new sustainability-focused maker space, SoleSpace LAB. Oakland Style Lab is a nonprofit fashion incubator building a more inclusive and robust fashion ecosystem in the Bay Area. They provide training, workspace, and business development opportunities to support the growth of BIPOC fashion designers.

Perlstein and Cueva talked about mitigating fashion’s often wasteful practices and sustainable fashion technology that doesn’t harm the earth. Oakland Style Lab launched a campaign to raise funds for the SoleSpace Lab: a sneaker making & upcycling community workshop. Did you know that from the moment of production until their end of life, shoes harm the planet. Shoes release toxic chemicals that negatively affect our health. They are also bad for our planet and the health of wildlife. Every year in the US, people throw away over 300 million pairs of shoes, 95% of which wind up in landfills. To learn more: https://bit.ly/solespacelab

In a Hard Knock Radio conversation, host Davey D spoke with Milton Dotson, a musician and technologist, and Bosko Kante, a Grammy-winning songwriter and talkbox artist, about their co-founded nonprofit, HiiiWAV. HiiiWAV is a creative incubator for Black artist-led music and tech startups, and they discussed their upcoming Highway Fest in Oakland, which highlights the intersection of music and technology.

Dotson explained that Highway Fest is an extension of Highway, their music and technology accelerator. The event aims to showcase the impact of technology on artistry and ensure the community benefits from technological advancements. Bosko, renowned for his work with Kanye West, Dua Lipa, and Bay Area music, emphasized the black community’s significant contributions to tech innovation, particularly in music, citing examples like sampling and auto-tune. Despite these contributions, the recognition often goes to the tech industry rather than the artists.

Davey D and Bosko highlighted the evolving music industry, noting the shift from traditional production methods to technology-driven models allowing for global output. However, they pointed out that the industry often resists this change, especially for black artists. Bosko suggested that creating their platforms and companies could help black artists gain more ownership and value from their art.

The conversation also touched on AI in music production, with both Davey D and Bosko seeing it as a valuable tool despite some resistance from traditionalists. They discussed the potential of AI to democratize the industry, shifting ownership from large corporations to individual creators. However, they acknowledged that this shift might be challenging for established musicians.

Dotson and Davey D emphasized the importance of nurturing new talent and using technology to enhance creativity. They mentioned the upcoming “Highway Fest,” featuring local artists, vendors, and musicians, with workshops on AI and music production. The festival will showcase startups like Choice Scores and Worth.AI and provide tech demonstrations from Meta.

Overall, the conversation underscored the need for black artists to innovate and own their creative processes while leveraging technology to expand their impact.

Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.

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