Uncategorized

Bay Area African American Women in Music: Kehlani on the Verge of Major Stardom

Published

10 years ago

August 10, 2015

A sea of smart phones rose above heads to capture singer-songwriter Kehlani Parrish’s dark, waist-length, wind-machine-blown hair flutter on stage during her July 26 show at Slim’s, the first of two sold-out engagements at the San Francisco club.

The mostly standing audience of young Blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in many ways reflected the 20-year-old Oakland-born vocalist’s own mixed ethnicity.

“Something about all these mixtapes. Man, they charting like albums. Underground’s one thing. Stadium music is how our s— sounding,” Kehlani sang on a tune titled “Preach,” backed instrumentally by DJ Noodles and keyboardist Jahaan Sweet. Many in the adoring crowd joined in without prompting, as they did on the show’s other 21 songs.

Kehlani, who goes by her first name only professionally, is presently one of the hottest artists on the national R&B underground. When her largely sold-out two-month cross-country tour ends August 23 in Las Vegas, she will resume working on her debut album for Atlantic Records, due out early next year.

It will be her first physical CD. Although dozens of songs from Kehlani’s two self-released mixtapes and other sources can be downloaded from Amazon.com or on YouTube and Soundcloud. Her latest mixtape, “You Should Be Here,” generated a million plays on Soundcloud within 24 hours of its May release.

The singer’s career has been greatly assisted by entertainer Nick Cannon. They first met four years ago when he was hosting NBC-TV’s “America’s Got Talent” and she competed as a member of PopLyfe. The teenage Oakland R&B sextet placed in the top five for the show’s 2011 season but broke up not long after.

“We weren’t really allowed to associate,” Kehlani said of initially meeting Cannon, in a phone interview from Southern California. “He was super nice. He was nice to all the acts. He’s a very good person. A couple of years later, he hit me up.

“He saved my life,” she said. “When I was living in the Bay, I was couch-hopping. He got me down to L.A. and set me up with being able to record in his studio when I wanted to and being able to work with him when I wanted to and allowed me to stay somewhere.”

After briefly coming back to the Bay Area to get her high school diploma from Berkeley Technology Academy, she returned to Southern California where, she said, Cannon “got me my first apartment.”

“We’ve built a very good, like, mentor, uncle/niece relationship,” she added.

With heavy promotion from Atlantic Records and sold-out shows across the country, Kehlani seems on the verge of major stardom.

“I don’t even think about those things,” she said. “I just wanna play bigger shows and touch more people and make more songs. Stardom is a crazy thought. If that’s what my path is, then that’s where I’m excited to be headed.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.