"The scent of copal flowed out of Nexxus Bar and Grill onto the corner of Third and East Santa Clara streets in downtown San Jose. Inside, a young girl welcomed each visitor and handed them a cempasuchil (marigold)-all its golden petals and long stem intact. "Hold onto it until the end," she instructed. On this rainy Monday evening, a steady flow of supporters gathered to celebrate a local album release by Miguel Saucedo, better known as the rapper Miguel Kultura."
"In the center of the bar stood a large, five-tiered altar: Saucedo's personal Día de los Muertos ofrenda, honoring his direct ancestors and musical influences. Flanking the altar were two live painters. On the left, artist Francisco Ramírez fleshed out a hyperrealistic portrait of Saucedo in striking orange acrylics. On the right, artist Miguel Machuca used an old-fashioned draft eraser to etch a vintage microphone, haloed by rose thorns."
"Around them, attendees mingled and waited for the live performances to start. As a bilingual rapper who writes primarily in Spanish, Saucedo had prepared openers with similar values. Sin Fronteras Dreams, an San Francisco-based hip-hop project, performed songs about modern-day resistance. When Saucedo took the mic, he thanked everyone for participating in his collective healing space. "What you normally see in prayer circles or danza, I wanted to bring it to the hip-hop stage," Saucedo says."
Miguel Saucedo, known as Miguel Kultura, released his first full-length project, Mal Entendido, on Indigenous Peoples Day. The release event took place at Nexxus Bar and Grill in downtown San Jose, where copal and cempasuchil set a ceremonial tone and attendees received marigolds to hold through the evening. A five-tiered Día de los Muertos ofrenda honored ancestors and musical influences while live painters created portrait and microphone imagery. Bilingual hip-hop openers performed themes of resistance, and Saucedo led a final offering that blended prayer-circle and danza practices with a hip-hop stage for collective healing.
Read at Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley's Leading Weekly
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