Kid ‘n Play headlines Oakland house party
February 21, 2018
On Jan. 27, two Oakland-based collectives, DopeOnly and Regulars Only, hosted a backyard house party that featured legendary hip-hop duo, Kid ‘n Play.
Kid ‘n Play, a hip-hop duo from New York, rose to fame in the late 1980s and became best known for their “House Party” movie franchise, thanks in large part to their musical and dancing abilities.
The duo danced in the backyard of the house party, which was hosted by Regulars Only, a collective of six friends who came together over their lost of interest in clubs, parking fees and stiff environments associated with nightlife. They decided to utilize their favorite hangout spot, the backyard, as a place where they could host events for others who also enjoy community life with the theme of a classic backyard get-together. One of the members of Regulars Only, Pendarvis Harshaw, made a connection with DopeOnly founder Rod Campbell, whom he followed on Twitter for years. Their relationship began when Harshaw took the cover picture for one of Campbell’s books.
Campbell secured Kid ‘n Play thanks to his longtime relationship with his former boss, Rob Love of Def Jam Records. Campbell used to work as a Bay Area promotional representative at Def Jam’s San Francisco office. During the event, Kid ‘n Play shared their story on how the Bay Area, specifically Oakland, had an influence on them.
“Back then they called us Sid ‘n Clay,” Play said. “They didn’t even know how to pronounce our names.”
Kid recalled a previous trip to the Bay Area. “Back then we could go anywhere and we were no big deal until we got here,” he said. “We started walking around in downtown Oakland and first of all we were looking at each other like there’s a whole lot of Black people here man. This is alright. And then people started recognizing us. We couldn’t understand it, we just had two little joints out. But then we realized later that there was an old video show called Soul Beat. And unbeknownst, Soul Beat was killing us, and they brought us up so much, so we got so much love for the Bay.”
According to SF Gate, Soul Beat was a public access television channel based in Oakland, and was founded by Chuck Johnson that helped musicians such as MC Hammer, Digital Underground and Too Short.
DopeOnly and Regulars Only created a new style of party that was perfect for two hip-hop pioneers to headline an authentic house party in Oakland.
