Raphael Saadiq: An Exile's Fondness of Oakland

It is easy to listen to neO-soul man Raphael Saadiq packing away his frustrations in the one-way ticket studio version of his song "Uptown" and think that Oakland is comprised of nothing but pusher men, violence and haters. But this is not the case, even by Saadiq's own admission. In fact, the former Toni! Tony! Toné! front man's live version of "Uptown" on his All Hits at the House of Blues album, is quite the rebuttal. The live take features Ray Ray ad libbing his appreciation for his hometown. "I love the air in Oakland. I love the people in Oakland. I love the schools in Oakland. I love the musicians in Oakland. I love the preachers in Oakland. I love the teachers in Oakland. I love everybody in Oakland. But see, I just had to leave."

DL: "Uptown (Live)"- Raphael Saadiq feat. Leslie Wilson

Saadiq's migration is not unique. Neither are his reasons for leaving. Many of The Town's finest have left for greener pastures, and it's typically an extremely difficult choice to so. As VIBE Editor-in-Chief and Oakland expat Danyel Smith writes in next months Editor's Letter, many of the most "creative, ambitious young men and women from Oakland . . . desire . . . to leave The ’Town and underdog cities like it, even as we mourn that decision." Although this pull to the cosmopolitan capitals of the country is real and understandable, as an Oakland native who has now lived in Los Angeles and New York City, I have found that no big city can ever fill the void left by the little town they call Oakland.

In the major metropolises of both coasts I have found myself surrounded by other Bayliens and Town transplants who have huddled close together hoping to preserve the mentality and memories we hold dear. We have adopted, what Christopher Hawthorne dubbed, "an exile's fondness" for Oakland, when describing Danyel Smith's yearning for her hometown. We spread far and wide in search of bigger ponds to thrive in, and though our aspirations may outgrow Oakland, our hearts cannot.
Raphael Saadiq's Ray Ray album cover. Looking oh so Town with the '69 Cougar with East Oakland plates

Raphael Saadiq seemed so eager to leave Oakland in 2002 when he first recorded "Uptown" for his Instant Vintage album, but 2003 found him waxing poetic about The Town on his live House of Blues album. Then in 2004 he was leaning against a '69 Cougar with East Oakland plates on the cover of his Ray Ray album. Now 2008 finds him revisiting East Oakland again after his migration to Los Angeles.

In the above video, Ray Ray returns to his alma mater, Castlemont High School, and reminisces about how fresh Castlemont and Oakland were during his time there in the early 80s. In particular he remembers Oakland's Larry Graham (slap bassist for the Bay's Sly & The Family Stone) bringing his band, Graham Central Station, to play at Castlemont. As a bassist himself, his affection for Castlemont alumni Graham, and the musical environment at the time, is clear.

Raphael Saadiq's alma mater, Castlemont High School, as originally constructed in 1927. Though it was later deemed not earthquake safe, wrecking balls could not level the building and it had to be dynamited.

You can tell he misses Oakland. Like most of us who have left at one point or another in our lives, he probably questions his decision to leave the soil that allowed him to grow into the man he is today. Many of us have these competing conceptions of Oakland warring within us: The pride we have for the city we love and the pain we feel for it's failures and limitations. Danyel Smith may say this struggle is More Like Wrestling than anything else. It certainly is for me.

Raphael Saadiq left Oakland to escape the pitfalls many do. As he relates on "Uptown (Live)," "Just to go to school and come home everyday was a mission. . . but I learned how to be street smart . . . from Oakland." We all have stories of struggle and loss at the hands of Oakland's streets, but we have all learned so much from them too. We leave Oakland for valid reasons but miss it for reasons just as real.

I think the main thing that saddens me is that some leave The Town because it's too small to allow the infinite growth that many of us aspire to. It is true that Oakland currently doesn't afford some of the opportunities the New Yorks and LAs of the world can, but since when have the gritty citizenry of Oakland ever found solace in a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" type mentality? The HBO documentary Rebels of Oakland describes Oakland as a "small town with a large inferiority complex." But it is that complex that has fueled Oaklanders unprecedented ambition and hustle.

I don't ask for everyone who has ever come from Oakland to stay in Oakland. I want us all to spread our wings, see the world and settle where we are most happy. But if when we land, we find ourselves pining for Oaks and estuaries, let us return to our roots. We don't have to always be the second-class city across the Bay, but we will be if we only produce our local luminaries for export. We will be if we don't believe in our unbridled potential. We will be if we don't invest our individual strengths in our collective future. So for all of you who see Oakland as too much of a small pond, remember these words from Tribune columnist Monte Poole, "We might not be huge, we not might be giant, but we're mighty."

And it is that might that can in turn make us giant. But only if we see Oakland as not just a means, but also an end.